Leslye's Labyrinth

In my research on Thomas Merton, I have come across a number of references to jazz music. While I appreciate the genre, I am quite far from being an aficionado. A longtime fan of Mary Lou Williams, I was pleased to learn that Merton also shared an appreciation of her musical genius. Then, there was a reference to John Coltrane's Ascension. The Catholic me was quite intrigued by both the title and Merton's fascination with the piece. I promptly went online and ordered the CD. The first time, I listened for less than five minutes as the cacophony of musical instruments reminded me of being in a club in my younger years. Remember when the music was so loud that it was like noise making it difficult to have a conversation? With my second attempt, I was pulled into the experience of hearing the sounds of individual instruments ascend amidst the perceived chaos. It was quite fascinating. As I type, I am listening to this work of Coltrane for the third time. It is having a diffe...

T hese times are  so painfully difficult. In my almost 62 years, I had never seen a person use  a part of his body  to kill another person. Knees are for prayer not murder. How do we get out of this deep hole initially dug 400 years ago? It was deepened as its walls were reinforced  by each subsequent privileged generation taking great pride in asking, "How low can we go?" It appears to be a bottomless pit with a stench from four centuries of dehumanization - a stench worst than the bowels of the ships used in the Middle Passage - a deathly stench offering only an olfactory assault denied by  the pretenders . When do they choose to work with us to build a ladder strong and secure to bring each of us to a new level ground with an abundance of sunlight and fresh air?

Before seeing a white man murder a handcuffed black man by kneeling on his neck in public, in broad daylight, how many times did you not believe perceived outrageous claims of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color because they were unfathomable to you?

Lord, have mercy. George Floyd of Minnesota. Your nation failed you. Rest in God's peace. Kyrie eleison. Christ, have mercy. Breonna Taylor of Kentucky. Your nation failed you. Rest in God's peace. Christe eleison. Lord, have mercy. Ahmaud Arbery of Georgia. Your nation failed you. Rest in God's peace. Kyrie eleison. Christ, have mercy. Tony McDade of Florida. Your nation failed you. Rest in God's peace. Christe eleison. Four people whom I never new have been murdered. It is merely the tip of an iceberg. The details of each heinous act are so horrifically unjust that there is no sense to be made of them. Each of the four was victimized. Each of them was Black, but their race was not the cause of death. Each was murdered because of the systemic structures that endow white people with an unimaginable authority and privilege based on the perpetuation of lies. The onus is not on the victims but on the perpetuators and their oppressive and unjust sys...