In a Catastrophe

In a Catastrophe

If you were in the midst of a catastrophe,
what would you bring?
You have limited time to gather your valuables
what do you bring?
The first things that came to me were,
and in no specific order,
my wife,
my wheelchair,
my cpap machine,
and my phone.
Most of what I would bring, however,
take up no space
externally,
because they are packed within me
and they are the gifts and talents
I have been given by the Ultimate.
I would bring my wisdom,
my faith,
my compassion,
and my capacity to love.
I would bring my ability to teach,
to listen,
to hear,
to love,
to minister
and to be fully present for others.
Would I need food and water,
sure,
but my faith is telling me
we will be fed,
spiritually,
mentally,
emotionally and
physically.
In the midst of it all,
I will take a moment  
to look at the storm
and tell myself
and the catastrophe,
Shalom
Peace
Be Still
and then I will grab Zoe’s hands
and know together
we have all we need.

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February

February

February is about ____
Groundhog’s Day, Valentine’s Day and Game Day.
or so others told me.
As I look at the whiteness of the snow,
I am reminded me of purity and preparation.
nothing can hold back the spring,
while we wait
we prepare,
for a time of cleansing and cleaning.
We prepare to let go of
all which weighs us down.
We make room for
the growth in us
and in our environment
which is about to spring forth.
It is a time for reflection,
self-compassion,
healing,
and releasing.
it is a season for decluttering,
for clearing out the old
and making room for the new.
It is a time of transformation
as we release all that prevents us
from moving towards and in
our spiritual purpose in life.
February is not about
a series of commercialized days
it is about compassion, caring and cleansing.

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The Sum of its Parts

The Sum of its Parts

The whole is greater then the sum of its parts,
I think it was Aristotle,
who offered this piece of wisdom.
Together,
we create a synergy
we cannot create by ourselves.
We are gifted on our own,
but together,
as a whole,
we create a beauty
and a power that
defies description.
We create a spiritual value
that exceeds us individually.
It is not just our existence,
but the way we work together
that creates a synergy and a power
we cannot create on our own.
It is through our working with
and supporting each other that
we create something beautiful and complex.
that emerges out of our combined forces
and creates a harmony
and a consciousness
we cannot achieve by ourselves.
The whole which we create
is not what any of us are individually,
but something we create out of the
gifts and talents which flow out of us.
It is through our interconnectedness,
through the way the Ultimate
flows in and through us
weaving a tapestry,
a symphony,
a piece of art
that is not one
but all of us.
We are the parts,
and the sum of it
which says we are one
but together we are the whole.

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Cradling

Cradling

There have been several times in my life,
where others have held me in their arms,
rocking me in their arms,
whispering affirmations in my ear
and blanketing me with love.
They not only taught me
how it felt to be cradled,
but how to cradle myself.
We all have those moments
when we just need to be held,
and affirmed,
and wrapped in love,
but sometimes
we have to do it ourselves.
In those moments we can wrap our arms around ourselves,
put our hands on our heart,
and rock ourselves into healing.
We acknowledge and give thanks
for all we love and appreciate about ourselves,
for our strengths,
for all we have contributed and will contribute to this universe.
for all the love we give and the love we receive.
With each moment
we ground ourselves
in the goodness in the world,
in all things true and beautiful,
in ourselves and in the universe.
We cradle ourselves
with all the love,
the Ultimate
has given us
and remember it will heal us
and move us through
all life brings.

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Blessed

Blessed

I bought my BFF a duck
that has a pile of sh__ in one hand,
and it happens on its front.
In all honesty, sometimes it does.
There are times though,
we think it will
and it does not.
Like when a friend of mine
left a pot of eggs boiling on the stove,
for more than an hour
and it did not catch fire.
Or when the hospital thought
I would be in ICU and on dialysis
and I was sent home recovered in 3 days.
If we stop and look back at our lives,
we often times see them.
We see the things that did not happen,
all the things we have not gone through
and never gave thanks for.
We see the things we didn’t know,
and would have been challenging
if we had.
We see what we could not see before,
because it was not our time
to see them
or for them to see us.
There are times and things and information
we may never see or think or know,
but it doesn’t mean they do not exist.
it is just that they were not meant for us,
at least not in this part of our journey,
so give thanks for what you know and what you don’t.
give thanks for what you see and do not
and what happens and what does not.
__it happens and we know it when it does,
but sometimes __it happens and we do not.
Whether __ it happens or not,
remember this
you are blessed.

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Go With the Flow

Go With the Flow

You always just seem to
go with the flow
Appearances are sometimes deceiving.
we all have moments we want to fight,
because we want to be in control.
Then I remember,
and I am sure you do too,
the importance of trusting and believing
in your Higher Power,
however you define it.
So I surrender control,
I release my ego,
I accept the path the Universe
is leading me down instead of fighting it.
I live in harmony with the flow
letting things happen naturally.
I surrender
and trust in the process.
I live in the moment
and go with the flow,
like a river,
knowing I will
flow over obstacles
and through calm waters.
I may not know where
the journey is taking me,
but I trust in the journey,
knowing I will do and go where led,
and along the way
I will just go with the flow.

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Suppose

Suppose

Suppose we thought of ourselves as artists.
If only, we could stop negating our own abilities
and our own creativity.
Suppose we gave ourselves permission to go with the flow
and allowed all the pieces to come together on their own
and trust we would see it create itself in the process.
Suppose we allowed ourselves to relate
to ourselves,
to others,
and to the world.
I remember, once being told,
to relate is to create.
When we learn to relate to each other,
we fit all the pieces of who we are together
and create a beauty in who we are
and what we have
we could not have done alone.
We become a work of art.
We become the puzzle of life,
solved and revealing.
Suppose we took this ability
to fit things together
and create art in all we do.
Whether it is the way we fit words together,
or ingredients
or textures,
or cells,
or moments of time
each time we fit things together,
we create art
and we allow the world to see us
for the artist we are.
Our work may not hang in a museum,
but who we are
and what we create
circulates
in the gallery of life.

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Starts with Gratitude

Starts with Gratitude

Are you ever not happy?, she asked.
Of course.
Like anyone else,
I experience losses and challenges in life.
The secret is that I begin each day
by giving thanks.
yes, I am grateful to be happy,
but more so I am happy because
I give thanks.
I was taught early on
to give thanks in all circumstances.
Some situations are easier
to give thanks for than others,
but I still give thanks.
Some situations I have asked for and
others I have not,
but I still give thanks.
It is the process of giving thanks,
that I feel the happiness and joy
filling my heart and soul.
That is why I say I give thanks for being happy
but I am also happy because I give thanks.

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What Are You Watching

What Are You Watching

Just about everyone I know
owns at least one television
and watches it with someone.
Everyone I know, but us.
I stopped about 20 years ago
when I was working full time and
going to school full time.
There was no time.
Today, I fill my life with so many things
reading,
writing,
teaching,
grading,
listening,
helping,
and evolving.
It is not that I do not watch things,
but I watch people,
I watch my responses,
I watch what the Ultimate allows me
to see,
to hear,
to feel,
and to know.
I listen for the sound my wife makes
which says I want to share a story.
I feel the guidance and inspiration
to be of service
or to share a poem
or to message someone
and let them know
they are loved.
I do not sit and watch a show,
although I do watch the foodnetwork
when getting an infusion,
but mostly I watch life
looking for the signs and symbols
and know that they are the preview
of where the Ultimate is guiding me next.
so when you ask me what I am watching,
I often times just take a moment
and answer life.
When you tell me I sometimes look like
I am in a different world,
it is because I am.
When you ask me what I am watching,
I cannot always answer,
I am watching with all my senses,
not just my eyes.

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Tis the Season

Tis the Season

Tis the season
to be jolly
or so the song says.
Why do we need a season
to be jolly?
Why can’t we find something
in each day to be happy about
or to show warmth about?
Rather then this being a season
to be jolly,
let’s focus on just being jolly.
let’s focus on speaking kind words to others
or finding things to laugh at
or help others to get in touch
with their own jolliness.
Instead of getting jolly because
we are decking the halls
let’s deck them because we are jolly.
Tis the season to just be jolly
and to help others
learn how to be jolly
in all seasons,
not just one.

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Day Tripping

Day Tripping

Do you remember your last day trip?
Who were you with?
What were you doing?
What made it memorable?
I remember one of my last day trips.
It wasn’t anything special,
we had just taken paratransit
to the local Target
and were sipping on a Starbucks.
We had just made plans
for future daytrips.
I called to make a ride reservation
when her phone rang.
I rolled away,
so we both could have privacy.
I rolled back in shock,
only for her to be in shock.
What should have
and had been,
a simple day trip,
had us tripping
and not for good reasons.
I had been told
I no longer had paratransit.
We were no longer in the service area
She had been told
You have cancer.
We rode home in utter silence,
not knowing what to say
as we processed
the day our lives changed.
It is now 14 years later
and we are more then survivors.
She overcame cancer
and I have overcome
learning how to shelter in place
long before we even had words for it.
It's a day trip
we will always remember
because we were reminded
how precious each moment is.
We never know
what will happen,
or when,
or how,
or why.
We learned this
each moment is precious
for what it is.
Don’t worry about the past
or the future,
just focus on the adventure
of each moment
and enjoy the day trip.

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Everyday Activism

Everyday Activism

When I stop and think about the world,
i realize there are so many things I
want to do something about.
I have spent so much of my life
protesting,
boycotting,
and lobbying politicians
to bring about change.
I have been arrested and
stood trial for civil disobedience,
criminal trespassing,
and so much more.
All this is important,
but so are the everyday things like
voting,
making conscious consumer choices,
volunteering,
and having respectful conversations about social issues.
It's the little things we do every day
like recycling,
saving water,
and avoiding single use plastics.
It's as simple
as writing letters
engaging online,
paying it forward,
or just showing up
and being present.
The big things matter,
but so do the little things
we can commit to doing
every day or week.
Activism is not just about
the big things we are a part of,
it’s about the ways we work for change
every day.

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What is Hidden?

What is Hidden?

Have you ever found something
and not even been looking for it?
I opened a purse I rarely use
and found some rewetting drops for my eyes.
Another time, I cleaned out a desk drawer
and found a twenty dollar bill.
It seems when I am not looking
I find things in unexpected places
like purses, wallets, desk drawers,
clothing pockets, coffee tables, or medicine cabinets.
Yesterday, I found $50 in gift cards.
WAHOO!
Why do we not see things
or remember these things.
Like I remember who gave me one gift card
but not the other.
I had to call the company
to even see if it still had money on it
and it did.
Are we like that in our spiritual lives as well?
Do we forget things
we once learned?
Do we find things
we didn’t even know we needed.
Do we wonder
why we still have candy wrappers
or used tissues or other things
we really do not need and
yet for some reason have kept?
Maybe it’s time for us to
enter the mystery worlds we rarely go
and thus rarely seek and find.
What if we made the time
to let go
and have fun
and discover what is hidden,
so we can make use of what we need
and let go of what we don’t.

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Whatcha Gonna Do About It?

Whatcha Gonna Do About It?

Whatcha gonna do about it?
How many times have I been asked this?
The question suggests
I am powerless
and cannot do anything.
So go ahead and taunt me,
challenge me,
dare me to do something.
I am powerful and strong.
I may not be able to resolve the problem
but I can do what I can to make it better.
I tap into my inner Shirley Caeser
“I can’t sweeten the entire Atlantic Ocen,
but I can take a pitcher of it
and sweeten that.
There is always something I can do.
I will not respond because you challenge me to,
but because the Ultimate has asked me to.
If you really want to know
what I am going to do,
then first ask without an attitude.
What I am going to do
is start with prayer
and ask the Ultimate
what am I to do about it.
Then I do what I have been called to do.
Whether you come with attitude or not,
my response is the same
I am going to do
what the Ultimate leads me to do
and so now,
What are you going to do about that?
or would you prefer it if I sald
whatcha gonna do about it?

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Why?

Why?

Do you ever get angry
or filled with rage
and just want to scream?
Does anyone or anything ever
make you want to say something
that is not gentle, loving and kind.
Seriously, just once,
just once,
I would love to see you get angry.
I sat, listened, and got quiet.
It is not that I do not get angry,
I do.
It is just that I try to think before I speak.
I take a moment to not take it personally.
I think about what I really want to say
and ask myself is it truthful – most likely,
is it necessary – at this moment it might feel like it
is it kind – not at all
and then i quietly said.
Yes, there are people and moments
that press my buttons
and get on my last nerve
and then I realize that they are MY buttons
and MY last nerve
and I become grateful for them or the situation
because I know where I must heal next.
What I struggle with the most
is watching social injustice,
hatred of any kind against any people,
even my adversary.
We have all been exposed
to lies and disinformation.
My job is not to build walls
by furthering the divide.
My calling in my life is to build bridges,
which is so much harder,
and takes more time.
I thank others for sharing their opinion,
but ask that next time,
because there will be one,
they ask if I would like it
because I most likely do not
or already know it
or that they offer me their truth
with the same love
they would like me to share mine.
I express what I am feeling,
just not in a way that
might sound like it.
These words might not sound angry,
but it is how I sound
and what my heart, mind, and soul
allow me to say
and then it gives me permission to ask you
why?

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Perfectly Imperfect

Perfectly Imperfect

There is not a day that goes by
that someone does not point out
something I have failed at.
I am too much of
or not enough of
something which in their eyes
would make me perfect.
It is in those moments,
that I smile and remember
that is about them,
not me.
It is only about me
if I believe it is about me
and what I believe is
I am perfectly imperfect
just as I am
at any moment.
I am a work of art,
created by the Ultimate,
ever evolving and
ever transforming.
What you cannot appreciate about me
is about you,
I am what the Ultimate has,
is,
and is constantly creating
and am perfectly imperfect
just as I am
at any moment
of any day
and so are you.

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Spiritual Resiliency

Spiritual Resiliency

Resiliency
is about being able to bounce back
from difficult and tough times.
Spiritual resiliency
is about more than bouncing back.
It is about finding meaning
in the midst of the storm.
It is about seeing the blessings,
in the midst of what looks chaotic.
Spiritual resiliency
is about staying true
to your values and beliefs
and never letting go of
the beauty that flows through you.
Spiritual resiliency
is about using all the tools
the Ultimate has given you
to navigate through the storm.
it's about pulling on your strengths
and the strengths surrounding you
and staying positive and focused.
Spiritual resiliency
is about maintaining an
attitude of gratitude
as we persevere
through good times and bad
and never forgetting
this too shall pass.
Maintaining our spiritual resiliency
is not always easy.
Remind yourself
of whose you are
and why you are here.
Practice, practice, practice.
Build community with whom you can practice,
share and focus on creating a better world
filled with those who have
spiritual resiliency.

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No

No

No. it’s a complete sentence.
No, it like yes is a simple and powerful word
and has made me think about what, when, and to whom I say no.
No, is what I say when my intuition tells me to say no.
No, is what I say when I am asked to intentionally cause harm to myself or others.
No, is what I have said to myself when I hear lies about myself.
No, I will not believe them or internalize them.
No, I will not focus on being perfect, but just doing the best I can
and remembering that my best varies from moment to moment.
No, to procrastinating because as I always say eventually I will have to eat the frog, so let me eat the frog first.
No, to taking things that are not mine.  If I were meant to have it, I would.
No, to staying in relationships that are toxic in any way shape or form and at least limiting it if I cannot completely end.
No, to gossip because I know that one who brings me gossip, will also gossip about me, so don’t bring it to me.
No, to being jealous that I am not you because I am who I am and you are who you are and we are both who we were created to be
No, to trying to make sure people like me, because I have no control over that and neither do you,
No, to not taking the best care of me.  I didn’t always say no to bad habits, but I do now.
No to not getting enough sleep or eating foods that are healthy for me.
No, to clutter in my life, whether it is physical, emotional or mental.  I am learning to say no.
No, to meetings I do not need to be in.
No, to tasks I do not need to do.
No, to constantly checking messages and emails. There are set times for everything.
No, to anything that violates my core principles and values.
No, to anything that leads me away from my ever growing relationship with the Ultimate.
No, to saying yes to everything because I am not meant to do it all.
No.
No is what I say when I know at the core of who I am I am supposed to say.
No, when do you say that simple word – no.

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October

October

Overcoming
Challenging
Teaching
Organizing
Believing
Educating
Reviving

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Dancing with Death

Dancing with Death

Each week, I dance with death.
I am not saying it to sound morbid,
rather I am saying it because my life
is filled with moments of transformation.
There are these moments when something within me dies
and as it does,
it makes room for the new moves, twists and turns my life is about to take.
Death is constantly dancing with life.
The move of one part
brings about the movement of the other.
The death of a wound in my heart
gave birth to a voice of braveness and adventure.
The death of fear from my past
gave birth to courage in my future.
The death of abandonment
gave birth to security.
Our lives are filled with these moments
when we allow death to dance with us
and then thank it for the dance,
release it and began
that which has come to
take us further in the mystery
and adventure within our soul.
Thank you death
for all the dances in my life
and all the mysteries you have led me to.

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