WITH GOD, I CAN PROVE MY TRUST

Whatever reconstruction we’re going to do cannot be based on fear or on reaction. It has to be based on a positive and fully human experience of God as a loving Presence. True religion is ready to let God be God, and to let God lead us into a new future that we do not yet understand—and no longer even need to understand.--  Fr Richard Rohr, "Daily Meditation," January 6, 2021 

Notice the date of that Rohr quote. How prescient! That very afternoon, a misguided mob determined to inflict on America one of the most un-American  events in our history descended on Washington, DC. It strutted through our Capitol, doing  destruction, murder and mayhem, leaving five dead and innumerable injured. All in its self-determined notion of justice.

Blinding flash of the obvious: That Rohr quote is directed at me...for me...for my personal benefit...for my necessary spiritual growth. 

It is a fact that even as the ugly was happening, I was watching it play out on television with my thoughts churning...how to punish these fools, these killers...how to make them writhe in shame and sorrow, regret and remorse for their actions...for their very thoughts that birthed their actions.

I recall how I have for sometime now been pondering the importance of our thoughts...how our every thought determines our life. Hate begets hate, love conquers all, etc., etc., etc. 

My concern today...my sliver of gold...is to hold to those truths. Hate does beget hate, love does conquer all...but only when (not if) we lose the hate, find the love within. Loose them and let them go...hate to the dustbin of uselessness, love to whomever stands in need...including me, my own self.

I know that is the "right" answer, of course; I also know there is not a snowball's chance I can do it based on that knowledge alone. Preach it, yes; do it, no.

Precisely as Fr Richard wrote, "Whatever reconstruction we’re going to do cannot be based on fear or on reaction. It has to be based on a positive and fully human experience of God as a loving Presence."

The always answer, still more spiritual growth, soothes my angry gut. I have made my decision to be a forgiving person...consider the instigator of all this chaos and consciously seek to find forgiveness of him. Consider the crowd, each member of the crowd, and seek forgiveness for them. 

Kiss thoughts of retribution on the lips, hug shame and blame, pray thank You, and let them go. 

There...that is the prize I must keep my eyes on...forgiveness. Nonresistance. Love. All stored within me. With God as my guide, I can prove my trust.

Thank you.