Find The Lily

 

First we will listen to our Fear.

Today I am told  to look to God for company

In my fear but

I am afraid of our new leaders. 

I fear the danger pointed at anyone who is not them.

I am afraid for myself, I am afraid for you, I am afraid for everybody.

I am afraid for the future. 

And I am afraid for the people who oppose our leaders.

And now we must be strong

And I am not strong. 

Then we will only feel our Despair.

The enemy is so strong

And we are divided.

We keep losing

And this is no game.

Lives are ruined,

Animals are going extinct,

The planet is on fire,

Cruelty enjoys itself

And we can’t get away from it. 

No distractions work for long.

The grief won’t go away
I think I must say the Kaddish 

And properly mourn. 

Then…what?

There is a parable in the Sefer Ha-Aggadah,*

The Book of Legends, 

About a king who had a beautiful orchard 

Which, when he had to leave for a year,

He left in the hands of a keeper.  

And when the king returned, 

The orchard had been terribly neglected,

Overgrown with thorns and thistles.

He was going to tear the orchard down

But looking down at the thorns

He noticed among them

A rose-colored lily.

And the king said

“Because of this lily, let the entire orchard be spared.”

Listen to the fear and despair and then

Look for all the lilies among the thorns. 

Amen