Notes From West Mountain The Rev. Mark Diters
The front page of the New York Times’ Sunday Review section yesterday dropped the headline to well below the fold, leaving the top three-quarters of the page blank. And the “Bottom line” read:
The World is Broken
I do not know if it was their intent to, in a creative way, announce that “The World is Broken” is the bottom line. But it did say that to me. It seems to be the collective sense at this moment…we have sunk that low. The bottom line is where we find the “sum of it”, where we look to when we want to see the “damage”, right? And when one looks at the bottom line, takes stock of what one is perceiving…it is bleak and frightening.
It has been suggested as well that what is occurring now is a combination of 1918 (pandemic) …1929 (stock market crash) …and 1968 (Civil strife over Vietnam, racial unrest, multiple assassinations), all years when the world seemed on its head and out of options.
But…and there is a significant but…the world has always been broken…but it is also redeemable. If our Judeo-Christian story, deep in our roots instructs us at all, we need to be aware that there is brokenness, want, and need in all times. Our call, our challenge and our privilege is to live into our lives with love and regarding others as our selves. Our call is to find communion and share the sense of the sacred that no doubt is in our midst. During less catastrophic times the majority of people are able to live lives with a sense of self-determination, safety, and wellbeing. We are deceived by our privilege.
There is another side of the mess we are in. And we will get to the other side. The truth is that we do not know how long it will take or how much harder it will become. But God is with us. God weeps as we weep. God will be here when we rejoice as well. There is light, there is love, and there is hope.
Peace,
Mark
Pandemic’s Beginning
I wrote a poem but it is not done
Something changed once it was begun
So I wrote a poem, another one…
But it’s not ready to be read
So I offer these words instead:
He Turns Away, She Turns Away
He turns away…she turns away
It hurts some, no matter what you say
In grocery store in passing
Just the other day…
He turns away…she turns away
Shunning message on display
He turns away…she turns away
A nature’s walk with room to spare
Masks are down no intent to share
Accusing glances from those you meet
Or eyes downturned at one’s feet
Intrinsic feelings, explicit acts convey
He turns away…she turns away
Look down, look aside,
hold your breath, try to hide
Fear compels the message sent
Avoiding others, time well spent
Intrinsic feelings, explicit acts betray
He turns away…she turns away.
JUNE SECOND MILE OFFERING
Foodshare is a regional food bank serving Hartford and Tolland Counties. Foodshare plays a vital role in operating 60 neighborhood Mobile Foodshare sites and teams up with more than 200 local partner programs to distribute food to those in need. Since the COVID-19 crisis began, they have seen a 35% increase in demand at these locations.
In addition to their regular work, Foodshare has been leading a massive weekly food drive at Rentschler Field in East Hartford. Each day nearly 1500 cars line up and approximately 30,000 pounds of food is distributed. Foodshare estimates that 70% of those served at the East Hartford drive-thru are new to food insecurity. Jason Jakubowski, President and CEO of Foodshare, said in a statement, ” Our goal is to keep this operation running throughout the duration of this crisis.”
Please consider contributing to this extremely vital organization. For more information visit their website at www.foodshare.org.
