Now is not the time to be afraid of the dark

Two responses to the 2024 elections

From Jennifer Henry, United Church of Canada national staff and former director of KIROS Ecumenical Justice Initiative (shared Wednesday November 6)

I don’t have any place in my head or heart for pundits or analysts today. Certainly no place for “I told you so’s” or “who cares anyway.” I admit to fear, real tangible fear, for marginalized communities in the US and for vulnerable communities around the globe. I had that yesterday too. But I do have lots of space for ordinary people all around the world who are trying to make things better through acts of kindness, gestures of justice, persistence towards peace, borrowing hope from one another. It is your witness that I am inviting into my head and heart today. And it is my belief that God is hope incarnate that is resonating in my soul.

Shared by Jane Doull, United Church of Canada minister and academic

It’s when the earth shakes
And foundations crumble
That our light is called
To rise up.

It’s when everything falls away
And shakes us to the core
And awakens all
Of our hidden ghosts
That we dig deeper to find
Once inaccessible strength.

It’s in times when division is fierce
That we must reach for each other
And hold each other much
Much tighter.

Do not fall away now.
This is the time to rise.
Your light is being summoned.

Your integrity is being tested
That it may stand more tall.

When everything collapses
We must find within us
That which is indomitable.
Rise, and find the strength in your heart.

Rise, and find the strength in each other
Burn through your devastation,
Make it your fuel.

Bring forth your light.
Now is not the time
To be afraid of the dark.

Poem by Chelan Harkin