No self-congratulations

No hateful accusations

 

This is the day the LORD hath made.

Rejoicing, gladness He hath bade.

 

We may not be, yet, all together.

We may be tossed in stormy weather.

 

But our thoughts, not His thoughts,

And our ways not His ways , we stretch forth.

We press on.

Not everything rhymes or falls into our rhythm

.

We are products of thinking that has shaped our thought.

We are shaped by the forces and truths, we've been taught.

We are trapped in the whirlpools where we have been caught.

We are loved by a lover who has loved those He has sought.

 

We are temporally conditioned.

But we are ultimately free.

We are proximately blind.

We are ready to see.

And we shall see

And we shall know

As we are seen and know.

 

We prefer a simplicity we mistake for sincerity.

We take shortcuts with slogans that belie fullest verity.

And so we arrive at different conclusions

Are trapped in and perpetrate multiple confusions.

 

But we are loved and that statement stands alone.

We are cherished, and that too, emerges from our deepest groan.

 

We are called and appointed that's who we are,

Beloved and chosen. This is our North Star.

 

We voted with confidence and chose with conviction

Believing the high ground was ours, but our addiction

Is often the comfort that says, "Mine is the right way,"

And I know it is right, whatever you say."

 

We need some of that.

We need some resolve.

But it sometimes goes flat.

There are problems to solve.

 

Remember, Beloved, you're beloved and your neighbor

Is also, and more so. Holster your saber.

 

Do justly; love mercy; walk humbly with God.

This is your daily devotion while walking this sod.

In the end and beginning after thankless venialities

It's about what is truth and that transcends personalities.

 

And partisan bickering

And rude, crude, lewd snickering

And insults and assaults

And greedy, lustful dickering.

I may disagree with you.

I may not see just what you do.

You may not see what I see

Or believe my decree.

 

But that does not mean I don't love and respect you

I cannot convince you if I yell till I'm blue.

Whatever you believe, perceive, or conceive,

I think common ground is something to achieve.

If not, I grieve.

 

You took your stand. I took mine and someone is vexed.

But what really matters is what we do next.

Our ideas are important and and some nonnegotiable

And the unity we seek far transcends being sociable.

 

The Kingdom of God is not drink nor meat.

We come to His table, but He has the head seat.

There is more to be said and saying's my thing.

But I defer to the Head, and it's time now to sing.

 

I just want to say this one more thing and I'll end.

Rather, I'll pause, and breathe, and suspend.

 

There are hills that I'll die on. If I must, then, I will.

But there are none that I'll kill on. I just will not kill…