Responding to the Epiphany Storming of our Capitol
“The sea does not reward those who are too anxious, too greedy, or too impatient. One should lie empty, open, choiceless as a beach - waiting for a gift from the sea.”—Anne Morrow Lindbergh.
It is still painful to think about and respond to events at our Capitol on Epiphany, January 6th, 2021. First, it was disbelief that it was happening in the country we so love.
I go to the safest place in our house, our bedroom, and lie down. Then, the fear that lives in my body about having the COVID-19 virus before we can get the vaccine transfers to the stability and safety of our country. A group of men and women without masks carrying metal pipes, chemical irritants, and other weapons are breaking windows and doors to enter the sacred halls of our country, where our Congress is meeting to certify the presidential election.
All the tasks ahead of me for the day have lost energy. My entire energy goes to fear. Our daughter, who has been in tears, soon calls. We share the news. We are powerless. We both decide to have some soul food while we try to re-center. Popcorn.
Will our government be overturned and taken over by people like those we see on television? They tell reporters this is only the beginning. They will be back. I see anger and fear on their faces. We both share fear. They mirror my fear.
Preparing for the Epiphany service that night slows down my fear. First, I sit quietly in St. Mark’s for over an hour before the service. Then, slowly, I become less anxious. I honestly believe the prayers of the many people who have worshiped there in the past calm my soul. I have put myself in a place where many before me have gone to meet God. Their prayers and their love begin to heal me.
Family Systems dynamics teach us that if we can maintain a state of having the least anxiety during any conflict in a relationship with others or be a non-anxious presence, we will contribute to keeping any tensions from growing and eventually solve the difficulty. Unfortunately, I know few people who can remain non-anxious, for it is not a human trait. Staying less anxious, however, is a real possibility.
With Grace, we may be the least anxious presence in a situation. In that case, we can keep the arteries in our body from tightening up, taking minutes or weeks off our lifespan, pushing us to become more fearful, maybe even violent.
Believe we can go to the place inside or outside our body, where an inner and outer presence leads us to become calmer. There we can become a vessel to become part of the relationship or situation that can solve any problems we encounter.
This is my only offering from that day. Go literally or figuratively to a place of healing in the past, where you have met God, and perhaps where so many have done the same before. Sit, just sit, and be enveloped by a presence that goes by the name of love.
It may not be in a place of worship. It may be by the sea where the waves’ rhythm or the sea’s stillness slows down our anxious hearts. It may be a walk where the trees photosynthesize our energy back to love, back to a presence attributed to Julian of Norwich where “all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.”
So, we search for our sacred space, where we may find the strength to meet the day, reach out to others, and become the less anxious presence who can hold together in love the people of our family, our community, and our country.
