Sweet

 Sweet 

This morning, I read this in Cry, the Beloved Country. The characters are talking about quiet; there are no quiet places. Everywhere is noise. Yes, Kumalo says:

Everywhere it is so. The peace of God escapes us.

Later, I went for a walk and saw this sign:

I am walking to get out of the house. I have a prescription from Dr. Feight: “Get out of the house every day. Take a walk.”

What does it mean? - I wonder as I am walking on. It is a lovely late morning, mild. The sun is shining. There are yellow crocuses. There’s the slight smell of yellow in the air.

     What does it mean that even as I lose faith in God, even as I have lost my Faith, I believe there is such a thing? - such a thing as the peace of God: that it may be possible to come to a peace that that is more than what we normally mean by the word, walking away from a fight or the absence of conflict. It may be impossible to come to such a peace, but it, the peace of God, is imaginable. And it cannot be unimagined even if we cease to believe in God.

     Also that there is a love beyond what we normally mean by love, the putting aside of hate and becoming friends or lovers. I cannot unimagine that either.

     These things, romantic - impossibly romantic - as they are, you can’t leave behind as if you hadn’t picked them up. Once picked up, you can’t leave them behind at all. You can’t.

     But culture?

to be continued

02.18.20