Everything is holy by Roger Delmar

Roger and his wife Diane moved to Port Townsend in 2005, living in a trailer on their property for a year while they participated in building their small home. They are active members of the local Unitarian Universalist congregation and live on 3 acres of land, 80% of which are still natural, that they share with myriad animals. They even saw a cougar there a few years ago. His love of nature and deep spirituality are reflected in his words.

Police take a knee in solidarity with George Floyd protesters—Florida Today

‘Outraged’: Trump faces condemnation for clearing protesters, threatening military force—Politico

Biden to attend George Floyd funeral, Floyd family attorney says—The Hill

June 2, 2020

Everything is holy
by Roger Delmar, Port Townsend, Washington

At times I feel so torn apart. Between Donald Trump doing his best to take down American democracy, a total botched federal response to a raging pandemic, and now the brutal murder of a black man in Minneapolis with nationwide repercussions — I am in grief and pain. I feel both despair and hope. Despair — that we as a nation lack the moral and ethical courage to stand up and say, “Enough is enough, we are better than this” — and demand change in Washington, D.C. by voting this morally bankrupt crowd out on their heels. Hope — that maybe it really is possible, maybe there are enough of us that this can be done.

There are some who feel that giving voice to the fear and despair is wrong. We should focus only on the positive and the good feelings. I just can’t buy that. All too often the attempt to focus only on the positive thoughts and good feeling results in a denial of the reality of what is going on. The bad is shut out, swept under the rug, and thrown out of awareness. Too often it results in inaction, an unwillingness to join the fight for a better world. It happened in Germany that way. Too many said and did nothing.

My experience is that it is possible to hold both despair and hope equally in awareness and to honor both, almost simultaneously, to allow the full measure of both emotions to come forth in body and voice, to give voice to the hope by getting in the middle of things.

This is where I am. When despair becomes overwhelming, I can go out in the backyard and simply listen and watch. The birds at play and in song, the squirrels squabbling over who owns the seed tray, the sunshine shimmering off the spring foliage, the smells, the sounds, and I know again, as this song says, “Everything is Holy Now.” I am at peace.