Sabbath Rest

God created and

it was good. Freedom from

perfection’s tyranny.

George Floyd

George Floyd.

Say his name.

Honor his memory.

Murdered

by Officer Derek Chauvin.

Murdered

by a white supremacist

militarized police state.

Murdered

for being black

and living.

But now

some semblance of justice

through accountability.

Chauvin found guilty

on all 3 charges.

2nd Degree Murder:

40 years –

but George Floyd is still dead.

3rd Degree Murder:

25 years –

but black people continue to die.

2nd Degree manslaughter:

10 years –

but a murder each day of the trial.

While we await sentencing,

we sigh a collective exhalation of relief

at this brief respite of accountability.

But we cannot replace George Floyd,

God’s beloved child,

and God’s beloved children,

who have been lost –

past and present.

But the future

is present

and we are all called

to the Christ-modeled work

of dismantling white supremacy

and demanding

imagining

transforming

an alternative to

the death dealing

militarized police state.

Say his name.

Honor his name

And let’s get to work.

Rest in power,

George Floyd.

Amen.

A Pigeon and God’s Presence

I scratch and crawl

through fatal attempts

at prayer perfection;

seeking the right words

and phrases to crack

the code of Divine Engagement.

But then, a glance

out the window –

the vibrant blue sky and

the awkwardly fluttering pigeon –

I found God

looking at me

deeply and desirously

with an audible hearty chuckle.

The pigeon landed on a telephone wire

and shit without shame

sure of its belonging and being.

And I laughed,

deeply and uproarously,

prayer punctuating the giggles

as I felt God’s gentle caress

to not take myself

too seriously.

But to rest in the seriousness of

God’s love and desire

for me; in my

most basic needs and desires,

without shame,

as with the bumbling and shitting pigeon,

God is present with me.

What is ‘Basebuilding?’

Basebuilding:

Foundations built on faith, conviction, and justice.

Collaboration with community, church,

ancestors, prophets,

and future generations.

Unique in poetic and prophetic imagination

speaking and doing

an alternative narrative and

story into being.

Renouncing and denouncing

the narrative and

story of domination and supremacy

through a communal vision,

achievable and concrete,

grassroots grown,

in our ecclesial spaces

and beyond

for the queering and decolonizing

and expanding

and including

of Beloved Community.

Basebuilding:

Intentional connections and relationships,

with imagination,

as power

and wholistic transformation

for the well-being

of all people and creation.