I Thirst:

A meditation for Ash Wednesday

On the cross (John 19:28), Jesus said; "I thirst."

Just those two words are enough

To fill an entire Lent with contemplation.

Jesus wanted water,

But that wasn't all.

He thirsted for justice.

He thirsted for peace.

He thirsted for healing.

He thirsted for the life

On the other side of the cross,

For himself, and for us all:

For the life beyond the crosses

On which each of us are crucified

By our grasping, our greed,

Our obsessions, our addictions,

Our forgetfulness

Of who we really are.

Do we thirst with him

For water- clean water - for all,

For access to health care,

For economic democracy

And equality of opportunity

For all?

Do we thirst

For ethnic and cultural and religious pluralism,

For the interests of people over profit,

For human rights over corporate power,

For respect and dignity

For all?

"I thirst," said Jesus.

Let us thirst with him

This season of Lent.

PS: Let us fast from hate, and feast on love and inclusion this Lent, in a very specific way. Let us all prepare to respond in our local communities around the US to counteract the Republican assault against the dignity of Muslim Americans that will begin tomorrow in Congress with the hearings targeting Muslims regarding terrorism. It's un-American, it's un-Christian, it's even contrary to the historic values of the Republican Party, and it's bound to be counter-productive. Republicans are cynically using Muslim-baiting to energize the basest instincts of their "base", and you can see the results in the video at this site:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NutFkykjmbM&feature=player_embedded

We can expect more of this spectacularly disgusting behavior after the Peter King hearings. Those who believe in what our American flag really represents need to show up, in person, in significant numbers, to overwhelm hate with love when such incidents occur.

Those of you "musings" readers who are Republicans, I especially urge you to write your Republican lawmakers and urge them to denounce the King hearings in Congress and the behavior of the members of Congress in this video. This kind of behavior ought to be far beneath the moral standards of all elected officials in this country.

I went to a gathering at Immanuel Presbyterian Church in LA last night. It was a protest against the hearings about to be conducted by Rep. Peter King, Republican, in Congress tomorrow, targeting Muslims. Our LA County Sheriff, Lee Baca, outlined the facts: very many of the terrorist plots fomented in the US by Muslim Americans were foiled by Muslims who turned in the perpetrators. If we want Muslims to keep America safe, as they have been doing, we must show them respect. There was a major Islamophobic event in S. California recently when a big protest occurred in the town of Temecula against a proposal to build a mosque in the community. Happily, the voices of reason and religious pluralism turned out from all over the region, and outnumbered the blatantly xenophobic and racist opponents 3 to 1, and the approval by the city council was unanimous. Not that the city council had any real choice: the Constitution guarantees the right of mosques to be built in America. Thank Allah! (Spread the word - in the Arabic language version of the Christian Bible, Allah is the word for God.)