Make Love Known
In the midst of the hardest days, shaped by the most tedious of moments when the heart breaks open and the spirit is weary — Speak to me of love
When the earth cries out in despair under the weight of trash and debris, choking on poisonous plumes and darken dust — Speak to me of love
When bodies are rejected, dejected, and subjugated by fear, misunderstanding, and a sheer lack of imagination — Speak to me of love
When humanity is ensnared by virus deadly and individual rights are lauded as supreme — Speak to me of love
When in a supposed democracy where all are equal and the ability to vote is a right, yet we make false idols of procedures in tainted halls for the pure sake of greed and contempt — Speak to me of love
When peoples of hues vast and varied, rich as the cosmos are criminalized, brutalized, and theorized — Speak to me of love
In the midst of the hardest days, shaped by the most tedious of moments when the heart breaks open and the spirit is weary. Lament, dear ones, without apology, for this is all too much to bear.
For what is love in a moment such as this? It is a force which drives and sustains us through the wilderness valley to the mountaintop. It is the force behind the plough which gives forth abundant nutrients and sustenance. It is the force that rebuilds and makes all things new / It is a force that shields us in truth and resiliency / Love, indeed, is an action.
It is the reality of relationally, of mutuality. It calls us into a space of transformation, betwixt and between. While overcoming the teething, tearing desires for perfection. It is grace made known for all of us
Love, lament, and rebuild — dear one. For from the impossible to the real, to the here, to the now, to the love which binds the world together.
May love be made known here.
This poem was composed as part of the Unitarian Universalist Association’s (UUA) Thirty Days of Love, and in particular, the Side with Love Sunday Worship, and was inspired by the words of Rev. Ali KC Bell and Rev. Anya Sammler-Michael. This is an annual celebration that runs approximately from Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in January through Valentine’s Day in February. It is an opportunity to lift up the ways Unitarian Universalists and partner organizations are building and organizing by taking bold, courageous action for intersectional racial justice.
