Dear One’s of St. C’S, 

This summer has been filled with wrestling with COVID-19, mitigating risk, and facing so many of the injustices of our day.  Our country’s military force, racism, our poor treatment of immigrant farmworkers, how underpaid all the people are who we most rely on to keep our economy going; our grocery workers, teachers, farmworkers, and childcare providers to name a few.  

And I need a week to write you all to say, breathe.  Take a deep breath.  Go on a hike, drive to some water, or just breathe in this summer air.  Connect with God and yourself.  I love one of the questions Paul asks in his letter to the Corinthians, are you not merely human?  We are, each of us, so human.  Remember your humanity.  The beauty and goodness of this humanity.  Remember what you are grateful for, a time when you saw justice done, and a moment when kindness broke your heart open.  “What does the Lord require of you?  But to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah: 6)  Let’s all spend some time this week to walk humbly with our God. 

I will leave you with this poem, “Being Human” by Climbing PoeTree 

with care and gratitude, 

Meghan

BEING HUMAN

I wonder if the sun debates dawn

some mornings not wanting to rise

out of bed from under the down-feather horizon

if the sky grows tired

 of being everywhere at once 

adapting to the mood swings of the weather

if clouds drift off 

trying to hold themselves together 

make deals with gravity

 to loiter a little longer

I wonder if rain is scared 

of falling 

if it has trouble letting go

if snow flakes get sick

of being perfect all the time 

each one trying to be one-of-a-kind

I wonder if stars wish 

upon themselves before they die

if they need to teach their young 

how to shine

I wonder if shadows long 

to just-for-once feel the sun 

if they get lost in the shuffle 

not knowing where they’re from

I wonder if sunrise 

and sunset 

respect each other 

even though they’ve never met

if volcanoes get stressed

 if storms have regrets 

if compost believes in life 

after death

I wonder if breath ever thinks of suicide

 if the wind just wants to sit

 still sometimes

 and watch the world pass by

if smoke was born 

knowing how to rise 

if rainbows get shy back stage 

not sure if their colors match right

I wonder if lightning sets an alarm clock 

to know when to crack

if rivers ever stop 

and think of turning back

if streams meet the wrong sea 

and their whole lives run off-track 

I wonder if the snow wants to be black

if the soil thinks she’s too dark 

if butterflies want to cover up their marks 

if rocks are self-conscious of their weight 

if mountains are insecure of their strength

I wonder if waves get discouraged 

crawling up the sand 

only to be pulled back again 

to where they began

if land feels stepped upon 

if sand feels insignificant

if trees need to question their lovers 

to know where they stand

if branches waver at the crossroads 

unsure of which way to grow

 if the leaves understand they’re replaceable 

and still dance when the wind blows

I wonder 

where the moon goes 

when she is in hiding 

I want to find her there

and watch the ocean 

spin from a distance 

listen to her

 stir in her sleep

effort give way to existence

by Naima