outbursts of hope

 

Outburst of hope

A great armored machine gnaws toward us

on cruel tractor treads, venting fumes

of sorrow and dread, a friendly logo

of terror painted on its side,

boasting invincibility.

We stand in its path, naked and fragile.

But not helpless. Not afraid.

We don't await heroic intervention.

Our flesh is Word made flesh.

We love courageously.

We tell truth. Make noise. Sing lustily.

We give wildly. Take every hand extended.

We impede the wheels. We don't stop.

Our joy is disturbing, our peace unsettling,

our confidence reorienting.

We live every day as an outburst of hope.

Every day we rise.

                                Steve Garnaas-Holmes

Outburst…starburst; explosive, powerful, surprising. Explosive and powerful are words which trigger these days and not all of us like surprises. Trigger murder, violence, capture, and corruption. Hard to see the hope in any of those bursts of physical power. 

Love, hope, justice and compassion…those are invisible and equal and opposite powers. Energies which heal, motivate, reconcile. 

And yet I am intrigued by the notion of an outburst of hope.

There is something surprising about outbursts. There is something surprising when in the midst of chaos and controversy, hope shows itself. There is something surprising when it turns out we have this hope, have had it all along, just as the water flows underground without obviousness. 

I am hoping that hope erupts like a snoozing volcano or like those bubbling and gushing springs in the national parks. I am hoping that the lava of love flows from those openings, from previously covered cracks, from barely perceptible vulnerabilities in creation.

I am praying for disturbance, unsettling reorientation. I am praying for an outburst.