You know how to interpret
the appearance of earth and sky, but why
do you not know how to interpret the present time?
—Luke 12.56
Oh, we see the orange blades of fascism
knifing out through the leaves.
We feel that autumn edge to our easy days,
the coming frost of fear.
We know what we’re seeing,
the erasure of truth, the hoarding of power,
soldiers in the streets
and neighbors disappearing.
We know how to interpret these.
But there are other signs hidden in the present moment:
the great tidal movement of compassion,
strangers holding hands,
the tilting of the earth toward light,
the buds of God swelling,
the hands of Love on the clay as it turns on the wheel.
The present moment is not just these minutes.
(Relax; you will arrive in time.)
It’s not jut these days, or even years.
(Yes, this will get harder before it gets easier.)
The present moment belongs to the eternity of grace;
this moment, this year and this eon are enfolded.
The final resurrection is also today.
The Suffering One is already present,
who inhabits every tragedy with mercy.
The end, in which all is made well and whole,
is also in this moment.
The present time isn’t just one phrase,
but the whole story.
Eyes open, friends. Even now the Mystery expands.
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
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