Right turn

The waves were fantastic this morning. I was mesmerized by the ephemeral rainbows in the spindrift - breaker after breaker freeing spray for the light to play in. So as I was walking, my eyes were trained to the left, on the water, not the path in front of me. And if the path hadn't turned right abruptly, I would have missed this beauty, standing so still, plumage the same shades as the dunes.

Sometimes our vision is so fixed on one thing that we miss others. And sometimes, there is so much to take in that we simply don't see anything clearly. This week I have felt, again, that I am at my limit of anxiety. There is too much to focus on (and not much of it is the beauty you see in this picture). Have we hit the bottom yet? Are things as bad as they're going to get, either with the pandemic or the grave threat to our democracy? I fear not. But I will not give into that fear; I will not let it overwhelm me.

Many of us are experiencing "fight or flight" moments daily. I believe there is a third way. We cannot run away, because the problems we are facing will not disappear on their own. We cannot approach the world eager to fight, because that exacerbates division and pits me or us against you or them.

The third way I will call "right," just because it rhymes. I'm not talking about being right. I'm talking about seeking right. Right relationships with God and with our fellow humans. To walk the path of righteousness we must walk in love, firm in the conviction that every person has inherent worth and dignity and that the world will not be whole and healthy until each person is free to fully inhabit theirs.

Let me be clear. I am not talking about civility, which is like a fresh coat of paint on a condemned house. It may look better but it is still going to fall eventually because it is rotting. I am talking about restoration. The recognition of the need for change, the deconstruction of dangerous structures and the rebuilding, on a firm foundation of love, of structures that work equally well for all.

I don't pretend to know exactly what this deconstruction and reconstruction will look like. I am under no illusion that it will be easy. But I do know that the strongest force in the universe is love, and that love's power is transformation and resurrection. And I know we each have a part to play.

Will you choose fight, flight, or right? Let us choose right.