or the things it brings,
though the years will come
when you will think
all your sacrifices
for the cause
entitle you to something
(now the seductive part-
what, really, do you deserve
for choosing that which is right?)
You cannot love power
or influence. Not its raw forms-
the fawning we offer the famous;
the heady decisions put in your kind hands for “the voiceless”-
but also not its subtle disguises:
someone offering the best seat at the table;
gushing (I wish I could do what you…):
sitting at your feet to listen to
your wise, radical words.
Some contend it is best
not to love too much
a lover, child, hearth,
though that passion might be what
first sends you into the churning night;
and these same can also
give you back your soul.
Revolution is hard on loved ones.
You cannot embrace certainty.
She is sure to betray,
smothering you in
her black and white robe
until you will not be able
to grasp the unfolding of even
one intricate human heart.
Conviction, on the other hand,
will be the staff in your right hand.
She is relentless for justice
and endlessly patient.
She can smell out
water in the desert.
Be wary of movements
with their slippery entourage-
pecking orders, coalitions,
influence, compromise,
wealth, power-
though revolutions often find
themselves trying to enter
by that narrow gate,
and perhaps one or two
have survived intact.
Every day, oh warrior of change,
ask yourself:
who is growing your crops,
cooking your food,
receiving your waste,
caring for your father, mother,
son, daughter? Who
is maintaining
the infrastructure
of your revolutionary life (oh luxury
of single-mindedness)
while you save the world?
The baptized God-son
named the Beloved
by the banks of the Jordan
left that place to go wandering forty days
in the desert.
To bring him low,
the tempter offered three things-
bread, spiritual influence, political power-
each cloaked in the Word
(what seductress is greater
than religious righteousness?)
Three times that beloved one
rebuked the tempter
until at last he was left alone
among the angels and wild beasts,
to stare at an old tree
against the sky.
He made that long journey
so that you too might
learn your name-
beloved-
and understand:
heroics were never needed;
no sacrifice to prove oneself
worthy.
Go out, I tell you,
and stare into the night,
heavy & luminous
with stars, streetlights,
the drone of moving things
(buses, cicadas). Go Out.
At dawn, find one shaft of light
in which to wrap your broken self.
Touch this love
until it
makes you weep.
Start from there.
- Dee Dee Risher
- - - - A friend sent that to me today. I thought it was interesting and worth sharing. :)
will be the staff in your right hand.
She is relentless for justice
and endlessly patient.
She can smell out
water in the desert.
Be wary of movements
with their slippery entourage-
pecking orders, coalitions,
influence, compromise,
wealth, power-
though revolutions often find
themselves trying to enter
by that narrow gate,
and perhaps one or two
have survived intact.
Every day, oh warrior of change,
ask yourself:
who is growing your crops,
cooking your food,
receiving your waste,
caring for your father, mother,
son, daughter? Who
is maintaining
the infrastructure
of your revolutionary life (oh luxury
of single-mindedness)
while you save the world?
The baptized God-son
named the Beloved
by the banks of the Jordan
left that place to go wandering forty days
in the desert.
To bring him low,
the tempter offered three things-
bread, spiritual influence, political power-
each cloaked in the Word
(what seductress is greater
than religious righteousness?)
Three times that beloved one
rebuked the tempter
until at last he was left alone
among the angels and wild beasts,
to stare at an old tree
against the sky.
He made that long journey
so that you too might
learn your name-
beloved-
and understand:
heroics were never needed;
no sacrifice to prove oneself
worthy.
Go out, I tell you,
and stare into the night,
heavy & luminous
with stars, streetlights,
the drone of moving things
(buses, cicadas). Go Out.
At dawn, find one shaft of light
in which to wrap your broken self.
Touch this love
until it
makes you weep.
Start from there.
- Dee Dee Risher
- - - - A friend sent that to me today. I thought it was interesting and worth sharing. :)
Am I a fool for putting all of my trust in Jesus?
Well, I'm inclined to say so, but without this hope, I'm dead.
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