In Need of a Better Resistance Text

I value having a religious foundation for many reasons, but the one that has become more and more valuable through the years is that through my religious faith, I have a variety of resistance texts.  They remind me that what the world tells me may not be true.  They remind me that there may be a larger picture that I can't see.  They remind me that even in times of deepest oppression, relief may come.

Almost every day at work, I'm reminded of the value of a good resistance text.  I'm lucky to have good bosses and to work for a company which treats me fairly and humanely.  However, those facts don't prevent my co-workers from complaining.  They complain about the larger corporation that owns us.  They complain about the politicians who may or may not want to do us in.  They complain about the media.

I realize that some people will complain regardless.  I wrote a poem about this fact, which you'll find at the end of this post.

But people also complain because they're frightened.  And people are often frightened because nothing in their experience suggests that liberation is possible.  Most religious traditions, on the other hand, insist that liberation is possible and often unavoidable.

From the Exodus story to the Easter story and all the stories before, in between, and after, Christians hear that good news over and over again:  liberation is already underway, even if we can't perceive it yet.   Simmering below the surface of everything, freedom waits for recognition.




Pies in Heaven


She would complain about the taste of pies in heaven.
And I would be that angel, so desperate
to please, bringing her slice after delectable
slice. Crust, light and flaky as clouds;
fillings, sweet and full as ambrosia.
She would find fault with them all,
and I would collapse, crying celestial tears.