Good morning…
The first two emails I receive today whisper to my soul, “Wholeness is happening.”
One email looks outside; the other looks inside. Over time, I sense the two merging and multiplying.
The photo above came from the country of Norway, which for me in Atlanta, Georgia is the far side of the globe. “These days the moon never descends below the horizon,” explains my forever friend. “This photo was taken at 9 AM from my porch.” What a breathtaking view of peace and wholeness.
This unique week, we are all looking from different angles at different times at the very same full moon. Each of us may be experiencing varying degrees of darkness with each passing night, but the light of the moon still pierces and permeates. With a quiet, predictable rhythm of waxing and waning, the reliable presence of moonlight whispers, “Wholeness is happening.”
I open my next email and here is what I read.
******
On Election Night by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
Marvel
On election night, Thanos grabs some popcorn.
Adds extra butter. Gets cozy in his sweatpants
and sits on his throne of stone. Feels no urge to snap.
He knows he need not do anything but watch
as humanity destroys itself with righteousness, with blame.
He chuckles as he follows the polls, the news.
How the humans cry. They shout. They attack.
What’s a villain to do but sit back and enjoy?
He sips Jack and Coke, keeps an eye on the cosmos.
If there is a song of peace rising in the hearts of some,
he doesn’t hear it beneath the scowling, the jeers.
But I hear peace swelling as if it is necessary, inevitable.
In fact, I am singing it, the way a star sings
hidden inside an apple. And I am not alone.
******
This playful poem encourages me to look inward for the growing edge of God’s wholeness.
Feeling a bit left in the dark, I google “Thanos” to read from Wikipedia: “Thanos is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.” Oh, okay, some new insight dawns. On election night, Thanos grabs some popcorn and sits back to watch the worst of our human nature cast blame and level attacks. We are all tempted to self-destruct.
At the same time, on this morning after America’s midterm elections, there is a song of peace rising in the hearts of some, rising like the full moon in God’s expansive sky. I am grateful to be one who hears God’s peace swelling. It is necessary. It is inevitable. Healed wholeness is our destiny.
Remember the enduring promise spoken through the prophet Isaiah?
For a child has been born—for us!
the gift of a son—for us!
He’ll take over
the running of the world.
His names will be: Amazing Counselor,
Strong God,
Eternal Father,
Prince of Wholeness.
His ruling authority will grow,
and there’ll be no limits to the wholeness he brings (Isaiah 9:6-7a, MSG).
When it comes to the wholeness blossoming among us …neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is significant, but God, who keeps everything growing, is the one who matters (1 Corinthians 3:7, ISV). Beginning inside each one of us and growing out into the world, healed wholeness is God’s evolving gift to our hurting world.
Safely tucked inside the ruling authority of the Prince of Wholeness, we are all held together. Like a star full of seeds living inside each apple, regenerative seeds of God’s wholeness are secreted in our depths. Because the life of the risen Christ now rises up in us, this morning I am spurred to boldly sing: “Wholeness is happening.”
Day and night, will you keep watch with me as God keeps growing everything?
…Sue…
