Yesterday, I read a newspaper article. It doesn’t matter about what. After that, I spent an inordinate amount of time working on a horrible poem. Poems are not motivated by righteous anger. I am often filled with grief and anger when I read the news. Everybody I know lives close to the boiling point of their emotions these days.
We still haven’t grieved enough for the global pandemic. Climate disasters continue to intensify, while climate deniers make up lies. Democracy is under assault, and my home state is making it illegal to use state roads in order to reach a safer state to receive reproductive health care.
How many of you live with this simmering tension in your mind and heart? No wonder we feel as if we are barely keeping our head above water, even when things go well. The poem will be kept locked up.
My sermons are ready for the Days of Awe. I am sucked into the usual worry waves. Is this enough to describe the current challenges? Is it asking too much? Does it ask for too little? Is it the right message for someone that comes to shul maybe twice a yea? What about someone who comes weekly?
“You’ve drafted your sermons…
