Religion that is pure and undefiled
before God, the Creator, is this:
to care for orphans and widows in their distress,
and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
—James 1.27
What if you tried to stay spotless
from one stain and were marked
by a completely different one instead?
What if you are a carrier?
What if no amount of washing,
even a baptism by immersion,
can remove the germ in you,
silently replicating,
passing to everyone you touch,
outfoxing the authorities,
leaping boundaries,
outpacing all our defenses,
changing you forever?
What if you self-quarantine
and still it gets into you,
whether or not you are prepared,
or worthy, or strong enough,
upsetting your life,
your plans, your control?
What if you’re too late,
you’ve already eaten the bread
unwashed, drunk undefended?
What if by some impossible turn
or by an ordinary encounter
it has infected you
and you need to be careful
in touching people
because it spreads,
and soon it will change the world,
this living entity,
with a life and will of its own,
gushing up to eternal life,
this virus of divine love?
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
March 11, 2020