My pause is coming back into reflection and study. Tomorrow I open my books again. But first, one more reflection on the power of action. Tonight my family and I were fortunate to attend an amazing gathering in our city. We live in a diverse community and the strength, vibrancy and energy that comes from this is one of the things that makes our city so special. This evening as we gathered as citizens; talking, hugging, and sharing, I saw our presence together as an act of love, a statement to how we would move forward as community, and it lifted my spirit. I realized how easy it is to get in our minds. To write, to reflect, to study... and while each is important, the power in going out and pursuing our acts is where we are set free. Free from stagnancy, from reflecting in isolation, free to move rather than sit, act rather than fear. Love is the force and using our action to ensure we were present tonight, that we were there for the brave and amazing hosts who were reached out to us all in community, that we were there for us too, was powerful. Hosted by leaders of our Somali community and attended by thousands of community members of all shades, beliefs, loves, and sizes we could all feel our collective lifting. We felt togetherness, we felt light. Our bodies were nourished by delicious food, our hearts by one another. It was powerful. And it has encouraged me to move in pursuit of as many acts of love as I can on this journey. For study and action together is the best way to comprehend and be love in our world. And that is my goal.
As we walked away, hand in hand, bathing in moonlight I reflected on this familiar call to love, on our call to be the light and change we want to see in the world, on our responsibility to one another. As we walked this calling, this song, began to play in my head. It is a favorite of mine, and highlights the path I want to be on as I move toward love. Enjoy it! Enjoy each other. May we all be the love and light we wish to see in the world. We are bound.
Shed a Little Light Lyrics by James Taylor
Let us turn our thoughts today to Martin Luther King
and recognize that there are ties between us, all men and women living on the Earth.
Ties of hope and love, sister and brotherhood, that we are bound together
in our desire to see the world become a place in which our children can grow free and strong.
We are bound together by the task that stands before us and the road that lies ahead.
We are bound and we are bound.
There is a feeling like the clenching of a fist
There is a hunger in the center of the chest
There is a passage through the darkness and the mist
And though the body sleeps the heart will never rest
Shed a little light, oh Lord, so that we can see, just a little light, oh Lord.
Wanna stand it on up, stand it on up, oh Lord,
wanna walk it on down, shed a little light, oh Lord.
Can't get no light from the dollar bill, don't give me no light from a TV screen.
When I open my eyes I wanna drink my fill from the well on the hill,
do you know what I mean?
Shed a little light, oh Lord, so that we can see, just a little light, oh Lord.
Wanna stand it on up, stand it on up, oh Lord,
wanna walk it on down, shed a little light, oh Lord.
There is a feeling like the clenching of a fist, there is a hunger in the center of the chest.
There is a passage through the darkness and the mist
and though the body sleeps the heart will never rest.
Oh, Let us turn our thoughts today to Martin Luther King
and recognize that there are ties between us.
All men and women living on the Earth, ties of hope and love, sister and brotherhood.