January, 2012 Minister’s Message
I can’t decide whether it’s my socks
That go on first, or my pants, indecision
On the edge of my bed. Should I brush my teeth, then shave,
Or shave first, then rinse my mouth of a night’s swollen journey?
I know that my eyes must first open to be awake,
And each clumsy step toward the kitchen
Leads me to the same bowl and coffee cup.
I look ahead. The boarded-up century sweeps the dust
Of previous minutes, my time on earth.
God, savior in a bright robe, tell us what to do,
Provide order, make it simple as sock or pants,
As certain as the old face I see in morning’s new mirror.Gary Soto, from Prayers for a Thousand Years, eds. Roberts and Amidon
Dear Friends,
When I read this poem it both made me chuckle and nod knowingly. It seems the perfect summary of January hopes. How often do we look back at the previous year and shake our heads at the indecision and chaos of it all? Disorder seems to rule both in our world and in our personal lives, and reviewing a year somehow highlights all the messy places. Soto’s plea to God to ‘provide order, make it simple as sock or pants’ can be heard in our own hopes and dreams for the upcoming year as well.
Of course we know that we cannot simply be told what to do. Our God does not work that way. All too often we must muddle through, trying to figure out where we are called, what is the best, or at least the better, thing to do. But there are ways to find guidance, to listen, and to hear how to order our lives.
One day this week as I was bundling my children up and out the door, trying to get Zeph to school, I heard a cry, ‘moon, moon!’ Wren was pointing up into the sky, and there, sure enough, bright even in the morning light, was the moon glowing down on us. We stood there for a moment, the three of us, all in wonder that the moon could be seen so clearly in the light of day, our breath frosty in the cold morning air. Then, with that picture still in our minds, together we went on our way, to school, to work, to our routines.
Perhaps this is the order we are called to in 2012. May we listen for the cry, ‘moon, moon!’ drawing attention to that which requires attention, even if that makes us late and takes our minds away from the necessary.
With love,
Rev. Sara
