Saturday Morning News

Randall Mullins, Feb 25

Expecting a light morning for news,

I turn on the tv, 

coffee in hand, 

feeling at ease, 

until a baby boy’s face appears on the screen. 

His father, 

who must have loved his son,  

“lost it,” as we say, 

shook him too hard, 

and killed him. 

He was charged with murder, 

and is now in custody.

This, brothers, 

all over the world,

from our lonely workplaces 

to fields of battle, 

is our harsh invitation 

to transformation. 

Those among us 

who also have lost it, 

or who came close 

(I am one), 

but managed to stop short of tragedy, 

recognize the hard truth.

“Love your enemies” 

must include 

loving those 

wounded parts 

of ourselves where we

have not yet learned 

to weep our way toward home.

Is it not clear 

that most of the destruction 

of Things Sacred comes 

from the wounded hearts of men?

Let us hold one another accountable, 

but let us not condemn this man 

before remembering 

that we are in this struggle together.

Is he not Everyman?

a brother?

wounded like us, 

but never beyond repair?

He deserves time apart, 

a place of penitence, 

a penitentiary, 

a space 

where the soul can come forth.

It can happen.

Someone has said that 

the young man 

who does not weep 

is a savage, 

and the old man 

who does not laugh 

is a fool.

Transforming our pain, 

healing, 

includes the sacred work 

of grieving, 

and we can never 

complete this work alone.

We too are in custody, 

but not in a prison. 

We are in custody of the Beloved,

helping us turn toward home.

We have a True Home 

at the Sacred Center of Everything.

waiting there to embrace us.

Even if it seems 

thousands of miles away, 

let us turn toward home, 

walking shoulder to shoulder, 

with brothers 

drawn to the same sweetness, 

knowing ourselves as Beloved.

– Randall Mullins (Dedicated to my Illuman brothers)

Subscribe
Notify of
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x