Citizen Of Dark Times

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Hand-drawn art by Rupali Bhuva
Image of the Week
Ciudadano de tiempos oscuros

--por Kim Stafford

Agenda en tiempos de miedo: No tengas miedo. Cuando las cosas van mal, haz lo correcto. Parte de la penumbra del buscador. Porque el problema bien iluminado comienza a sanar.

Aprende el tropismo hacia lo difícil. No hemos llegado para explicar, sino para cantar. El idealismo joven madura en una vida ética. Poda el arrepentimiento para dejar que crezca la fe.

Cuando llegues al fondo, escarba más profundo. El dolor es la semilla del canto, la vergüenza la semilla de la canción. Sigue viendo lo que no estás diciendo. Desvalija tu reticencia.

El pájaro cantor guarda una ramita, su única arma es el canto.

Preguntas semilla para la reflexión: ¿Cómo te relacionas con la afirmación de que no hemos llegado para explicar, sino para cantar? ¿Puedes compartir una historia personal de una ocasión en la que el dolor se convirtió en la semilla de tu canto? ¿Qué te ayuda a podar el arrepentimiento para dejar que crezca la fe?

Del libro Miel silvestre, sal dura.

Seed Questions for Reflection

How do you relate to the assertion that we have not arrived to explain, but to sing? Can you share a personal story of a time grief became the seed of your singing? What helps you prune back regret to let faith grow?

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Add Your Reflection

7 Past Reflections
CH
Sep 17, 2024
Ever so power full ever so beauty full. Yes. Thank you for sharing this perfection of Love In Action.
FK
Sep 17, 2024
we have all passed through these times; some linger; some move on. we recognize each other.
GA
Sep 17, 2024
What came to mind as I read was: we were born for these times. Back on 9/11 I was working and we were sending employees home. I embraced them, made sure they had somewhere to go so they would not be alone and called those who had not arrived at work yet to make sure they were okay. I locked the doors and headed to my church where I was the head of our prayer ministry. Once there, I opened the sanctuary, called prayer chaplains to come and be ready to pray and receive people. And people began to trickle in slowly and then in greater numbers. We prayed together, cried and held one another. I learned I must be a beacon of Light in every storm.
DD
Sep 13, 2024
My understanding is that explain means to make something clear by flattening it out. To explain is also to defend. To sing is to use one's voice to produce musical sounds. I think we exist to live and blossom, and we can let our feelings in living be expressed in singing, and we are not here to flatten life in order to understand it better, not here to flatten ourselves, and not here to defend ourselves. When my father died, I sobbed like I don't remember having done before. As far as I know, my sobbing was my grief and was the seed of sobbing about many additional sadnesses that I felt and was sobbing at the birth of a new chapter in life. For me, faith is accepting that life is unknown and always changing, which helps me prune back regrets that life isn't known or set, and that lets faith grow further.
AM
Sep 12, 2024
It’s not a day that goes by without regret of something not yet now and yet as we watch the bird on the wing, we often anticipate the way as we all go along…
JP
Sep 12, 2024
Like a bird I sing my own song. it is natural for a singing bird to sing. I sing my song not for an audience. I sing my song because it delights me. A song represents me. A song sings my authentic self. When I sing a song from my heart, it expresses me. It is my own song. It's my own life story with different colors. Each color of the story represents different emotions. It's like different colors of a rainbow. Different but real. I like the phrase " unity in diversity." Each color represents its own unique and authentic story yet each color has something in common. I describe it as "oneness in manyness." Like all human beings, I go through a wide spectrum of emotions-glad, mad, sad. I have learned that all emotions are sacred. I have learned to accept them without resistance. Accepting all emotions mindfully frees me from myself-created bondage and helps me fly freely in the sky. In my opinion we all go through ups and downs in life. Life is not like a straight line. It ha... View full comment
ST
Sep 12, 2024
Where I AM From Where I come from the alphabet is composed of 186 million stones Which are never enough to spell out how we really feel. I come from under but I also come from over and most of all come from within. When my zygote formed there were genes from so many stars and water molecules And the room was so overflowing with uncles and aunties That we had to rent another planet for my reception. I’m from a place where gravity is acknowledged but usually ignored. We hear music so deep in our skin that we do not need to eat for years at a time. The dance we create is a call to all the organisms to join our ebullient ecumenical colony. The song I sing rings out like Himalayan bells punctuated by scat solos and throat chants Taught in Kivas and caves that could express grief or the only other possibility. This place that I am from would never care or even notice what you wear. We love playing with our stones and arranging and rearranging them So that the smell of their co... View full comment