via shuck and jive

Non Credo by Lucy Reid

I want to say No.
I want to stand up and proclaim
as boldly
as any believer
the creed of my unbelief.

I do not believe
in God as an Almighty Father,
the King of kings, and Lord of lords.

I do not trust in that God of power and might
for there is too much blood
on his hands.

He is the god of genocide,
the god of savage crusades
and holy wars.

He is the god who commands
perfect obedience.
Punishment, death and hell
Are his weapons.

He is the Godfather God,
watching us from a distance
and judging all our deeds.

He allows immeasurable pain,
permits undeserved suffering
for reasons beyond our knowing.

His ways are inscrutable
as far beyond us as heaven
from earth.

We are not worthy
to gather up the crumbs
under his table.

But I do not want those crumbs.
I decline the invitation to that table.
I do not believe in that God
so I have to say No.

I will shout it and sing it.
I will weep it and pray it.
I will paint it on my walls
and wear it on my clothing.

And after a thousand years of saying No to him,

I will be ready

to say Yes

to you.

mama

it’s mother’s day and my baby is blessed to have the mama she does.

it’s not just that she got mama’s good looks, or her dance moves, or artistic spirit (she can sometimes lay down and draw for an hour on her own), or intelligence ( she is counting and learning her second language

aza’s mama always finds attention to give, and dosn’t bother to mention that she has a half dozen or more deadlines in the air. she has done every bit of research humanly possible about how to best look after babies health, which of course means that she is always doing more. she is up all hours of the night to play and dance when baby has nightmares, she clues in the clueless papa to what he is missing and puts up with his sulkiness at not knowing it all, and her hugs and kisses are not only the best they are endless.

more than all though she has a mama who is teaching her every day to respect herself and be herself. already at two she gets asked her opinion all the time (not one of those hippy mama’s who dosn’t believe in saying no, but one who respects baby’s “nos”), and her mama is planning out a life that makes her a partner and looking at her writing and art through the lense of accountability to her and to her perception as she grows up..she is commited to taking care of herself so that she will be there for baby and to being herself so that baby will grow with that same freedom. and she constantly opens the space around her for others to do the same, becuse she believes that our spiritual discipline is radical love.

baby is blessed to have the mama she does