Seventh Day

Amos 7.7-9

7 This is what the Sovereign YHWH showed me:

God was standing by a wall, a plumb line in hand.

8 "What do you see, Amos?" YHWH asked me.

"A plumb line," I said.

Then God said to me,

"Look, I am going to measure my people Israel by plumb line.

I will no longer excuse their atrocities.

9 The high places of Isaac are going to be ruined,

the sanctuaries of Israel destroyed.

With sword in hand,

I will attack the House of Jeroboam."

“For Calling the Spirit Back from Wandering the Earth in its Human Feet”

by Joy Harjo (b. 1951)

found in Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings (WW Norton, 2015)

Put down that bag of potato chips, that white bread, that bottle of pop.

Turn off that cellphone, computer, and remote control.

Open the door, then close it behind you.

Take a breath offered by friendly winds. They travel the earth

gathering essences of plants to clean.

Give it back with gratitude.

If you sing it will give your spirit lift to fly to the stars' ears and back.

Acknowledge this earth who has cared for you since you were a

dream planting itself precisely within your parents' desire.

Let your moccasin feet take you to the encampment of the guardians

who have known you before time, who will be there after time. They sit

before the fire that has been there without time.

Let the earth stabilize your postcolonial insecure jitters.

Be respectful of the small insects, birds and animal people who

accompany you.

Ask their forgiveness for the harm we humans have brought down

upon them.

Don't worry.

The heart knows the way though there may be high-rises, interstates,

checkpoints, armed soldiers, massacres, wars, and those who will

despise you because they despise themselves.

The journey might take you a few hours, a day, a year, a few years, a

hundred, a thousand or even more.

Watch your mind. Without training it might run away and leave your

heart for the immense human feast set by the thieves of time.

Do not hold regrets.

When you find your way to the circle, to the fire kept burning by the

keepers of your soul, you will be welcomed.

You must clean yourself with cedar, sage, or other healing plant.

Cut the ties you have to failure and shame.

Let go the pain you are holding in your mind, your shoulders, your

heart, all the way to your feet. Let go the pain of your ancestors to

make way for those who are heading in our direction.

Ask for forgiveness.

Call upon the help of those who love you. these helpers take many

forms: animal, element, bird, angel, saint, stone, or ancestor.

Call your spirit back. It may be caught in corners and creases of

shame, judgment, and human abuse.

You must call in a way that your spirit will want to return.

Speak to it as you would to a beloved child.

Welcome your spirit back from its wandering. It may return in pieces,

in tatters. Gather them together. They will be happy to be found after

being lost for so long.

Your spirit will need to sleep awhile after it is bathed and given clean

clothes.

Make a giveaway, and remember, keep the speeches short.

Then, you must do this: help the next person find their way through

the dark.

Today’s Art Practice

What You’ll Need

From Your Home:

• Labyrinth Pattern Base from last week's practices

• Glue or Mod Podge (if you don't have glue, here is an easy DIY recipe for wheat paste)

• a space where you can work freely

• Scissors (Optional)

From Your Envelope:

• White Tissue Paper

Today, we will complete the third step of our Finger Labyrinth.

The third step is about preparation.

If you haven't already, complete the Art Practice from Day 3.

Step One: Cut or tear the white sheet of tissue paper into several small strips. (You don't need to be fussy about size, but you'll want them wide enough to cover the string and adhere to the surface without covering two lines of string and the same time.)

Step Two: Slather glue, Mod Podge, or wheat paste on a section of string. Add a strip of paper and cover the paper with more glue, etc. (The best way to do this is with your fingers, so be prepared to get a little messy.)

Step Three: Keep going until you have the whole labyrinth covered with strips of paper. Some spots are tricky, so you'll have to let go of your inner perfectionist and let it be a little imperfect. (If you need more paper any lightweight paper such as newspaper will do.) Make sure it's all well coated with glue, etc. Let it dry.

Step Four: (Optional) After it dries, put one more layer of adhesive, smoothing it out with a brush. Let it dry. (This will create a smoother surface for the decoration step.)

Try to commit 20 minutes to this activity. If you like, this playlist can help you keep track of time. Once it stops playing, 20 minutes will be over.

Let’s Pray…

Many of us are crucified with you

by José Oscar Beozzo

Many of us are crucified with you - abandoned in jails, on trash heaps, in the streets, in cardboard shelters, under bridges, with nothing to eat but what others throw away. May we say with you, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

At the same time, there are those among us who crucify you still. We weep at the thought of the cruel persons who crucified you; but we continue to do the same thing, when we abandon our children, or the elderly, when we enjoy our coffee with sugar while farm workers are being subjected to a cruel, unjust exploitation, when we make fun of the imaginary inferiority of blacks, the poor, or other races. Forgive us, Lord, for all the times we have lynched, scourged, tortured, and murdered the poor, blacks, or immigrants, when we have robbed them of their lands, despised them for their customs, and expelled them from our countries because we want to "foreigners" among us.

Lord, stir up in me a great sorrow and sense of scandal at having crucified you by abusing the weak in our country, and grant me a desire to change my life. Help me see the invisible wickedness of my people, that I may repent and begin to walk a new way. Lord, do not permit us to pursue the paths that crucify whole populations. Help us crucify our false values, that we may rise to new values. Lord, I know not the way. But you can do all things. You can accomplish this in me and in my people. Amen.