Imagine.
A relationship.
A relationship.
So painful.
So needed.
Never.
What it needs.
To be.
Yet the
Desire.
For what.
For what.
Imagine.
A relationship
That’s not.
Doesn’t exist.
Isn’t.
A relationship
That strives
To go.
No where.
A relationship
Of fear.
Regret.
A grave.
Of nothing.
Imagine.
Never having.
Peace.
Honesty.
Truth.
Love.
But instead.
Loss.
Grief.
Emptiness.
A vacuum.
Imagine.
Needing.
Safety.
Craving
Life.
Time.
Needing.
The pain
To end.
Imagine.
Life.
Without.
Those who cause
Harm.
Detriment.
Yet.
Somehow.
Love
You.
As only
They can.
And it must
Be enough.
It is.
Enough.
Imagine.
Feeling.
Love
Born.
From birth.
Not from
Nurture.
Not from
Care.
From duty.
Deep seeded
Love.
Exists.
If only
Deep.
In a soul.
Felt only
Because.
Of Birth.
Innate.
Not from
Returned
Love.
Or acceptance.
Imagine.
The time
When.
Those
Who cause
Harm.
Are gone.
Will it be
More
Empty.
Void.
Cavernous.
Or.
Relief
With sorrow.
For what
Never was.
Never could have
Been.
Never had.
Needed.
Never.
Had.
Wanted.
Imagine.
A relationship.
Without words.
That
Hurt.
Sting
Create hatred.
Of self.
Of them.
Imagine.
Actions that
Show desire.
To see.
You.
To know.
You.
Imagine.
A relationship.
With
Them.
Old.
Mean.
Decrepit.
Ill.
Sick.
Blood.
A relationship
With one.
Who isn’t
Likable.
Yet somehow
Lovable.
Imagine.
How
It feels.
To love.
To hate.
Have anger.
Despair.
At what
Is.
Was.
Will be.
Never.
Never.
Without
Pain.
Always.
With sorrow.
Always.
Always.
With question.
Why.
Why.
Why don’t you.
Stop.
Hurting.
And instead.
Love.
Me.
Love me.
Just love.
Me.
Imagine.
A relationship.
That boasts.
I am broken.
I am broken.
I was broken
At birth.
As you are.
And have been
Broken.
Can we be.
Broken.
Together.
Imagine.
A relationship.
Karen Leslie Hernandez is a theologian and interfaith activist. She has published with several media outlets including the Women’s United Nations Report Network, The Journal of Inter-Religious Dialogue/Studies, the Interfaith Observer, and she is the only Christian to have published an ongoing Op-Ed Column with OnIslam out of Cairo, Egypt. Some of her past gigs include designing and teaching an Interfaith Dialogue workshop with Meadville Lombard Theological School in Chicago, as well as spending three years working with United Religions Initiative, in several different positions. An Over-Achiever, Karen has not one, but two theological master’s degrees – one from Andover Newton Theological School, the other from Boston University School of Theology. She did her BA at Wellesley College, graduating with honors in her major, Peace and Justice Studies, where she wrote her thesis on Al Qaeda and their misuse religion for political gain. Karen currently lives in California, works at two faith based non-profits, teaches workshops throughout the Bay Area, is pursuing a Doctor of Ministry degree at Claremont School of Theology, and she is also a certified domestic violence advocate.
feminismandreligion.com 
The word “Broken” has resonance for me today, personally and on a collective level – it is thanksgiving – I wonder how many people think about the stolen lands – Bears Ears included, the stripping away of Indigenous people’s rights, identity, the loss of their women – these people who were the “First Peoples” who LOVED this land – cherished it – were one with it – surely these people aren’t celebrating thanksgiving today – and as a woman with Indigenous roots either am I. With the Earth in such peril, all I can do is to remember that once this beautiful land was intact and treated with respect. And then I weep for that which has been irrevocably broken.
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