This Sunday, I offer you a question: Who's in charge? Those of you who knew Dr. Larry Morris will recognize that question as Larry's favorite response to people who shared their difficulties with him as they passed through the greeting line on Sunday mornings. Sometimes he was met with confused uncertainty, or a concrete societal answer, like "the judge", or my "boss", but those who came regularly to a Sunday service, learned the answer he wanted to invoke was simply "God", or a variation like "my Higher Power", or "the Universe". "Who's in charge?" is a reminder to return to spiritual ground, no matter what the situation may be, or the surrounding opinions and interpretations of others.
To be clear, this phrase is not about cause, but rather about resolution and healing, pondering the causes of events is another kind of meditation; there are layers of belief and perspective in our search for cause. In the world of science and particularly medicine, if we are investigating a possible cure, it is certainly helpful to investigate cause. But when we turn to the unfathomable vastness of the cosmos and the larger field of Earth and human intelligence, we simply cannot know all. When there is a pull within us, we wonder and we sense meaning, and our capacity to weave faith is activated. To turn to and to trust, to surrender to a greater Good, to give way to that which you sense, is to realize both your personal limitations and your capacity for the transcendence we name spirituality, God, or simply: The Good.
This week collectively includes snow storms, fires, a controversial inauguration and government shift, Martin Luther King Day, and the living events of your personal life. Here, in L.A. County, life is on the move with the incredible skill, bravery and dedication of Fire Fighters, support staff, government officials, FEMA, social services, local clubs, and so many more. I am awed by the recovery staff and those who are still in the field. Yet, we don't know what the winds will bring this week, so I will have to wait a few more days to schedule my next Zoom talk. Who's in charge?
There are chains of command in every field, but ultimately, the human world, the world of nature beyond humanity, the microbial world, the world of weather and the changing movements of life are their own mystery within The Good. Martin Luther King wrote: "If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps life moving, you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite of it all. And so today I still have a dream." "My obligation is to do the right thing. The rest is in God’s hands." "In a real sense faith is total surrender to God."
(Susan Nettleton)
https://hillsidesource.com/.../2018/4/10/rigid-or-flexible?
https://genius.com/Amanda-gorman-the-hill-we-climb-annotated https://allpoetry.com/If-I-Were-In-Charge-of-the-World https://allpoetry.com/.../15794790-Who-Is-In-Charge...