The chief priests and the elders of the people
came to Jesus as he was teaching, and said,
“By what authority are you doing these things,
and who gave you this authority?”
—Matthew 21.23
“Just who do you think you are?”
It’s a favorite question of people
locked in a ladder universe,
a skinny two-dimensional hierarchy
in which everybody knows their place,
and it’s small:
the dominant caste at the top,
subservient castes beneath,
all in order.
And the job of the people above
is to keep the people below from rising.
No one, of course, not even death itself,
could keep Jesus from rising.
Or raising up his Beloved.
You are not on a ladder.
You have the authority
of being created in God’s image.
God gave it to you.
That is the highest authority.
So let your light shine.
Live as God’s Beloved.
Speak the truth, embody resurrection.
Be the glory of God.
That’s Who You are.
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
September 24, 2020