EPIC FAIL!

Oh I had such hopes for 2020!  We all have high hopes when the new year begins, right?  I mean, I ever used an optimist image!  

But then...there was Covid.  But even if there hadn't been Covid, how could I have been so optimistic when it was also an election year.  And what a horrible mess that was.  Yet what a wonderful result!  Too good to be true!  And I do worry that The Evil Cheeto will stop President-Elect Biden and Vice President-Elect Harris from taking office, but I am thankful that so many people turned away from evil, turned away from greed, turned away from hate and turned to love.  SO many people!  

My pastor, Rev. Dr. Randy Bush at East Liberty Presbyterian Church gave a beautiful message on Christmas Eve.  Here is one part that I found so moving:

Mary and Joseph, the shepherds, the magi—like us they walked in darkness. But they were not destined to be defined by the darkness—and neither are we. In the words of the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Darkness is something we push back against. We let our pupils widen and we accustom our eyes to the darkness so that we can still make out shapes amid the shadows and find a way forward even when it’s difficult. Thankfully we have not let the darkness of the past months defeat us. If you can hear my voice, you have not withdrawn into the shadows but have chosen to stay connected—to be part of the body of Christ worshiping and praying for a hurting world. You have seen the nobility of spirit residing in those around us who serve the common good in thankless jobs—who stock shelves, clean hospital floors, teach in schools, parent full-time and work fulltime from the same kitchen tables. Despite this year’s isolation, after the death of George Floyd we broke the silence to cry out that Black Lives Matter and flooded the streets in protest. Despite our political cynicism, we voted in numbers not seen in over 120 years. Despite prejudices that would despise the stranger and the migrant, the global pandemic has shown us that borders are human chalk lines pretending to be walls—for if one person, one child anywhere, is at risk, all our lives are touched. That is why we have not gone quietly into that good night. By God’s grace, we know this world holds more than darkness and disruption.

It reminded me of what I need to remember every moment of every day, even as hateful people still fly their Evil Cheeto flags and their All Lives Matter signs sit along side manger scenes on their lawns that have Back the Blue signs next to notices that their homes are protected by security.  Hmm...black the Blue...but let me just protect my gun case and my autographed picture of Clint Eastwood.  

Ah but here lies the problem that I still have...I have such anger in my heart for those who claim to follow Christ and yet support this man who is responsible for so much hate and destruction.  And I don't know what to do with that.  

But John Lewis had an idea:  

Study the path of others to make your way easier and more abundant. Lean toward the whispers of your own heart, discover the universal truth, and follow its dictates. Know that the truth always leads to love and the perpetuation of peace. Its products are never bitterness and strife. Clothe yourself in the work of love, in the revolutionary work of nonviolent resistance against evil. Anchor the eternity of love in your own soul and embed this planet with goodness. Release the need to hate, to harbor division, and the enticement of revenge. Release all bitterness. Hold only love, only peace in your heart, knowing that the battle of good to overcome evil is already won. Choose confrontation wisely, but when it is your time don’t be afraid to stand up, speak up, and speak out against injustice. And if you follow your truth down the road to peace and the affirmation of love, if you shine like a beacon for all to see, then the poetry of all the great dreamers and philosophers is yours to manifest in a nation, a world community, and a Beloved Community that is finally at peace with itself.  from  John Lewis with Brenda Jones, Across That Bridge: A Vision for Change and the Future of America (Hachette Books: 2017, ©2012), 208.

And so I will keep trying, trying to live in the love that I claim is so important to me.  And I will stop raising my middle finger at the houses that are still decorated with signs that support the horrors we have experienced these past four years.

As for this blog...well, at this writing I have blogged about my reading through mid-June.  I have read 198 books and some have been incredible.  But I have not written about more than half of them.

And I can't pretend I will continue with any regularity.  But I will be recording my reading on goodreads, for what that is worth!

And so I leave you with this for now...