Book of Hours/ 7:00 p.m.

BOOK OF HOURS/ 7:00p.m.

In the dark I rest, unready for the light
which dawns day after day, eager to
be shared.  Black silk, shelter me.  I
need more of the night before I open
eyes and heart to illumination.  I must
still grow in the dark like a root not
ready, not ready at all.

 ~~~Denise Levertov

7:00p.m. Hour

Is it the dark we fear,
or do we fear what we have been told lurks in the dark?
Darkness shades the world…it reminds us of death.
How many so frightened to speak of death?  How many
will not broach the subject until it is staring them in
the face and a cry heard, “Why?”  So many believe
that through the death of one man humankind was
saved.  Did humankind need saving?  What about
everything that was before this person?  Was the
Incarnation a reality that was simply not seen in life each day,
every hour, and yes, seconds?
I love the man who said himself to be the Son of Man [Humankind].
He spoke to all, reached out to the lowly,
was transformed through others who asked for his
aid.  He guided others to ‘see’ differently.
Love, his only message…no matter the price.
He chose death in his final hours…he cried out to his
God, “Where are you?”  Then whispered in tears, “Forgive them, they know not
what they do.”  I pray you God…
weep and continue to weep when you see violent
destruction, bloodshed, cruelty.  I cannot imagine you
turning over your son, whom you love, to fall victim to an inhumane act of
torture. 
I see you standing with
others in tears—pleading for Peace, working for Justice,
Feeding the Hungry, removing children
from cages and bringing them, re-uniting them with their kin.
These hours, the months of the pandemic…death wove itself across our world…
Our entire World.
So many lives taken by an unseen predator.
I, too, lost a loved one who lights the stars over my head. 
I join hands and hearts with countless
Others.  We were, we are The Synagogues, The Temples,
The Mosques, The Cathedrals
standing together in the forests, the mountains, alongside the rivers and oceans
to remember.
How we will meet again is not clear…at least not for me. 
I trust we meet now, each day in these hours.
Although we do not touch physically, we touch. 
I know this as YOU hold this pen, and the words write themselves.

Pray with me in this hour.
8:00 p.m. will arrive next Monday—
Promise you will stay…invite another!
No worries if you pass.  I hold you in the hours remaining.

NOW and every day hereafter, join me in a moment of Silence.
In Unity, let us remember the 10 persons who lost their lives in an unspeakable act of violence in Buffalo, NY.
So many persons are losing their lives to senseless acts of horror.
May they rest beneath the brown, rich soils of Mother Earth and Rise shining like stars.
May we respond ONLY in Love…may our tears water the ground where their human shells will lie
AND 
May we trust their Souls dwell in the air we breathe…
Let us live each day so that they are never forgotten.