Author: Laurie Gauer
Dear LFUU Members and Friends,
Every morning, I do a 10-minute guided meditation. On Tuesday it was about using poetry to express and feel our emotions. It reminded me that last year I used a journal with writing prompts and I instinctually wrote in verse. I loved it! It was a 3-month journal and when it was done, I was done writing poetry. I’m thankful for that meditation: I’m going to start journaling again . . . in verse.
Last week, I came across a Word doc on which I had saved a few lines from Matthew’s March 3rd blog post: Revolutionary Love. I saved them because they are beautiful and powerful. So, I wanted to share them with you some day. I re-read those lines out loud, instinctually reading in verse. So, I reformatted them as a poem. Then I went back to Matthew’s blog and pulled out a few more lines and added them. Then some more. And some more. I read the entire poem out loud: I felt the grief rising inside me, but then quickly, I felt joy! It helped me deeply feel my emotions during this turbulent time, and then gave me hope.
I shared the poem with Matthew and copied Marnie, suggesting she might want to use it for opening or closing words some Sunday. She did so last Sunday. Marnie’s reading made Matthew’s words even more beautiful and powerful; I heard audible gasps from the audience. I asked Matthew if I could share the poem, and he said yes. So, here’s the day I get to share them with you! I encourage you to read it out loud. I think you’ll agree that Matthew is a particularly gifted writer!
Revolutionary Love
She reminded us of an uncomfortable truth:
The world we knew is over.
Old norms are crumbling.
The ground beneath us is shifting.
But revolutionary love is not about despair. It is about possibility.
She invites us to see this moment not as the darkness of the tomb, but the darkness of the womb.
We have a choice.
Will we see this moment as an ending?
Or, as the painful, messy beginning of something new.
Life can be an experiment in revolutionary love.
To see this moment as a beginning does not mean we are lost.
It means we are pioneers.
Not just resisting the world we don’t want but creating the world we do.
Love is the way through.
It is not passive.
It is not weak.
It is not sentimental.
It is the most powerful thing we can do.
She invited us to imagine a world where dignity and justice are not the exception but the norm.
She offered joy, and joy itself is resistance.
To love with joy, to dream bigger than the nightmare, is how we move forward.
The path forward is one of love.
Will you walk it?
-- Lines are from "Revolutionary Love and the Heart of Yoga" by Matthew Tift, March 3, 2025, a reflection on the intersection of yoga and Revolutionary Love, as described in a talk by Valarie Kaur at The Interfaith Symposium, Augsburg College, Minneapolis, MN on February 27, 2025. Lifted and formatted by Laurie Gauer. Shared with Matthew's permission.
How do you express and feel emotions? Have you tried writing and reading poetry to do so?
In Fellowship,
Laurie Gauer