Pandemic Pilgrimage

A few weeks back I was trying to write a newsletter and what came out was more like a poem. I eventually put together something a bit closer to a traditional newsletter (you can read it here) but I thought I’d also share the original version with you.

Pandemic pilgrimage

eight months into this unexpected season
so much fear and uncertainty
tragedy, cruelty, callousness 
on display at every turn
what are you doing, God?
are you speaking?
sometimes I hear you crying,
feel your tears on my cheeks
then I think I see you—
people paying attention, 
reaching out, listening to their neighbors
picking up the pieces
on the streets, showing love
settling for nothing less than justice

here in my sixth home city 
I check in on neighbors who share their food with me, 
following the gentle quotidian rhythms of life
far from my first roots, yet connected on a screen across the miles
connecting, too, with colleagues around the world
time flows like water
gathering in leisurely pools 
then rushing and bubbling
restfulness aroused by new urgency
hours on the phone and computer
writing advocacy letters, sharing hopes
Bible studies, sermons, prayers
spoken “live” or recorded for later
not a morning person 
nonetheless
I am grateful to arise at dawn
and talk with white friends about how to dig 
white supremacy culture
up by the roots
plant something healthy in its place

six months into this intimate, long-awaited season
for my body, life, heart
new life kicking and squirming inside me
attunes my senses to newness all around
laughter bubbles up
I remember mother Sarah’s laughter in the Bible
and marvel, scarcely believing,
at what grows within, what lies ahead
in my own life
in the life of the world

God, are you doing a new thing?
I believe; help my unbelief