God is Good

p When God made you...henbsp;had a lot to do/p p --Sparkling in the Sand/p p nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p p God is good,nbsp;my auntie saysnbsp;when I see her.nbsp; It seems the older she gets, the younger and more alive she becomes.nbsp; She always said ldquo;God is goodrdquo; but when she says it now itrsquo;s different, as if the words have turned over in her mind and before her eyes.nbsp; God is good she says while she offers you a seat at her table filled with the spices, the dishesmdash;thenbsp;span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="adobo" data-scaytid="1"adobo/span, gumbo, span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="pancit" data-scaytid="3"pancit/span, span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="lumpia" data-scaytid="5"lumpia/span, span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="bittermelon" data-scaytid="7"bittermelon/spanmdash;the hot, sweet, bitter flavors that make up her experience, her life./p p nbsp;/p p My soulful auntie who always asks if yoursquo;re hungry and always packs something for you to take home. God is good, she says, and when she says it, it isnrsquo;t intended as a commandment but rather a declaration of what is, of the sensations and emotions that pass before her eyes as life happens, as unexpected and out of sequence and as ridiculous and senseless and tragicnbsp;and beautifulnbsp;as it sometimes can be.nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p p A preacher once said, ldquo;God is in the healing businesshellip;can I get an amen somebody?rdquo;nbsp; And an elder responded: emAmen and Amen/em.nbsp; nbsp;Such is the case with my auntie.nbsp; When God made her, he must have thought of healing.nbsp; God is good.nbsp; My auntie, who phones just to ldquo;Check up on yourdquo;, to see whatrsquo;s going on, going down, and whatrsquo;s happening in your love life.nbsp; My Fillmore span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Pinay" data-scaytid="9"Pinay/span black brown flashy auntie who can dance and shoot hoops and talk circles around you while reading the writing on your face before you say a word./p p nbsp;/p p God is good she says because shersquo;s walked on this earth that sometimes ainrsquo;t so good, so nice, but always making sure shersquo;s giving something goodmdash;a word, a touch, a laugh, a song, a poemmdash;in a humble way, not expecting but giving./p p nbsp;/p p God is good.nbsp; These words are sweeter now, more meaningful now when I see my auntiemdash;thankful for the things she has at her table, thankful for being able to share those things--knowing shersquo;d share even more if she had it--but it#39;snbsp;always enough./p p nbsp;/p p My auntie is occupied by these words, this phrase that goes beyond mere utterance. It is her living breathing revolution that is filled with spirit, fire, love and poetry.nbsp; The world is occupied with Occupy movements--whichnbsp;is important--but my auntiersquo;s words, her life, her spirit--is what itrsquo;s about for me.nbsp; God is good...emamen and amen./em/p