Flags?

 RantWoman AGAIN spent a considerable part of her Meeting for Zoom Worship in Elon's sandbox. RantWoman does not pay Elon for any of her accounts on X / Twitter. RantWoman does find enough content and exchange to make the time worthwhile even though RantWoman would prefer a lot less of other parts of the platform. RantWoman is also argumentative about whether letting this particular media stream flow into her worship experience is appropriate. RantWoman just has to trust about this.

One of today's media topics: protests against ICE raids in Los Angeles and President #StableGenius sending in 2000 national guard troops to quell "violence" and "riots. Few media voices characterized the situation has masked armed thugs from ICE rounding up hardworking people at DANGEROUS locations like Home Depot. Even fewer noticed that there was no violence until law enforcement got out the flash bangs and tear gas.

One theme of RantWoman's encounters: today 

a post by Adam Kinzinger, hero of the #January6 hearings and presumably aspiring presidential candidate. The post was something like "Protest all you want but there is no place for violence and for God's sake no Mexican flags, only US ones."

RantWoman found it VERY exhilarating to read all the quote posts taking Kinzinger to task on various grounds.

--Mexico is one of the US and California's biggest trading partners, never mind that our felon President started a stupid trade war and his 's love affair with tariffs.

--Clearly Kinzinger has either never been to CA or never interacted with what a melting pot the place is. Many people in CA and in the US have loved ones on both sides of the border.

--Thank HEAVEN there are leaders like Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum able and willing to stand up to the #ApricotAntichrist.

--#DueProcess applies to EVERYONE not just white career criminals like the current White House resident.

--Who on earth expects ANYONE just easily to acquiece to masked armed thugs. #UnmaskICE. 

RantWoman is posting the queries from an online worship sharing because one of RantWoman's responses to the queries is about instruments and taking care of instruments relates to writing and social media and whether RantWoman should start a substack, find an editor, add other platforms...

RantWoman may or may not get around to a post about dijeridoos and transit advocacy that came from the same set of queries.

And if RantWoman is REALLY generous she may let literature brain loose on all the elements above that resonate with the queries below.

The queries

Rumi paints a portrait of a “city of the soul”

alight with the song of God. If we are indeed meant to be a chorus:

-   How do I listen closely to harmonize my voice with others?

-   What habits/wounds/frustrations hold me back from the listening and the singing?

- How am I tending my instrument?

The readings: 

Each Note

 

God picks up the reed-flute world and blows.

Each note is a need coming through one of us

a passion, a longing-pain.

 

Remember the lips

where the wind-breath note originated,

and let your note be clear.

Don’t try to end it.

Be your note.

I’ll show you how it’s enough.

 

Go up on the roof at night

in this city of the soul.

Let everyone climb on their roofs

and sing their notes!

Sing loud!

Jalāl, Al-Dīn Rūmī. “Each Note.” The Essential Rumi. Trans. Coleman Barks. San Francisco, CA: Harper, 1995

 

Give over Thine Own Willing

 

Give over thine own willing;

give over thine own running;

give over thine own desiring

to know or to be anything;

and sink down to the seed

which God sows in the heart...

 

Isaac Pennington - 1661