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silencing the stranger



There’s icky stuff happening.


Everywhere you turn there’s strife, displacement, floods and fires. My heart goes out to those affected by hurricane Harvey, as well as all of the wildland firefighters here in Oregon, as we watch our forests be consumed by the flames.


Taking it a step broader, our culture, our world can’t agree on anything. Everybody’s right and nobody is wrong; or is it vice versa? We live in a gritty world of real needs and hurts. The stranger crawls in, abusing, demeaning and using. How will we emerge?


I trust you see the optimism in the last lines, for there is always hope, no matter how desperate situations appear. It takes a resolute effort on our part to see the woven crosses and to stand strong, not silent.


“Hush, be silent,” crouched in quiet
             words of warning heard all too often

“Plug your ears, don’t listen,” put it out of your mind
                still, the sound of slamming doors and objects crashing … or people
                                seeps into the consciousness

“Escape, escape, flee”
                run from the inexplicably accepted darkness

The cycle repeats in the daylight
                higher-ups damaging and demeaning the ill-informed, helpless, lonely ones
                                pinching unseen bruises into the soul

Lured and snatched, sold into slavery of the body
                traffickers lord it over the misled downcast

Rampant, pulsing through the veins of society
           choking life like a smoke-filled room, abuse is your identity
              an ill-fated companion inexplicably linked to an endless array of humans

Multiple crosses woven into the complexity of the massive iron structure
                broadcasts freedom, opportunity

Is hope visible in the crush of oppression inflicted by this familiar stranger
                in determined fearlessness, stand strong, capable, tenacious
                      no longer silent and crouched in uneasy fear…an abled warrior emerges


 Grasping onto hope -

Missy


If you have been mildly amused, challenged or inspired by what you have read, please pass on my blog to a friend, colleague, family member or even random acquaintance




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