The Gospel of Arrival

And your friends will be properly astonished to see you laughing as you look up at the sky! Then you will say to them, ‘Yes, the stars always make me laugh!’ And they will think you are crazy.”
― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

We have never seen anything like this, have we?

This upheaval, this tumult, this daily dance on the edge of death, while the pandemic consumes everybody in its path, and the country and culture crumbles around us. Civility, already teetering on the edge since November, 2016, has gone by the wayside.

There are four gospels (“good news”) in the Christian Bible: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. There are also the apocryphal ones like the Gospel of Thomas (my favorite). I think the 21st century is ready for a new gospel. I wrote this poem a few years ago and included it in my 2019 collection Dissolve. I hope you find it meaningful.

We are already home. We have arrived. We have just forgotten it, just like we have forgotten how to breathe deeply and take care of ourselves in more meaningful ways (acceptance of self, finding joy, knowing a higher power).

If it takes a pandemic to instill spiritual renewal, then I’m all for it. Here’s a manifesto. I invite you to write one of your own. We need more gospels, now.

photo by author: Sunset Potrero Hill, SF