Meeting You

\It’s that season
where we plant
and then watch
for the blooms.
No two plants bloom
or grow in the same manner.
Neither do people.
We must meet each other
and allow each other
to bloom and grow
in our own ways.

We all go through times like this
in our own way.
For some it brings out the best,
for others the worst.
Some of us deal better
with the stress
than others
What is important
is that no matter the circumstance,
we meet each other
where we are
and support each other
along the journey.

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The Least of Thee

In these days,
we find so many who
feel beaten down and
who feel pushed
to the edge.

There are those who
feel as if making it through
each day is like
walking a gangplank
and every action or inaction
feels personal.

There are those
for whom living
in quarantine
feels like they are
living in the borderlands.

There are those who
feel as if they are running
from a bomb which
will blow up their lives,
living in fear of being homeless,
hungry,
and without health care.

May we be mindful
that not all are coping
or have a social network
and someone is in
need of us to reach out
to those who have been
or are feeling like
the least of thee

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Paradise

I remember a Rabbi once saying
Sit in Paradise when you read,
when you study Torah,
when you pray, and
anytime you seek to be
with God

Paradise has always been
hard for me to envision, to see,
to experience,
so it has felt as if there is a barrier
to being in the deepest state
with God

Paradise now
for me is not anything special, but
those everyday moments that
bring me to a place of peace,
joy, and
openness.

Paradise
is that feeling of being
wrapped in God’s loving arms
like a warm, cozy blanket.
It is the smell of freshly mowed grass.
It is the tastes,
touches,
sounds,
feelings, and
appearances,
which bring me to a space
of closeness and intimacy
with God

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Goodness

If I look for the goodness
in you
and
you look for the good ness
in me, then we raise the
vibrational frequency
in the world
by focusing on goodness and love

Goodness
is about seeing the Divine
in each other.
It is about seeing the
reflection of ourselves
in others.

Goodness is about
knowing we can transform
the world one person,
st a time, because
we look for the presence
of the Divine
in all of humanity.

We teach others
by how we treat them.
We teach them to
see goodness in others
when we see the goodness
in them

May we teach each other
and transform this world
one person,
one community,
one city,
one state,
one country, and
one world at a time.

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An Apple a Day

An apple a day, they say,
keeps the doctor away.
That is fine and great,
but what about the non medical struggles
An acquaintance of mine used to say,
a good heart
keeps away the farts.
Those people who smell
up your life

My gratitude journal
keeps me humble.
My inspiration journal
keeps me open.
My intention journal
keeps me focused.
My joy journal
keeps me balanced
My writing
keeps me growing

What are the apples
in your life?
Is your heart
keeping away the farts?
What do you practice
to keep you healthy?

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Breaking the Spell

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You have had the power
all the time, Belinda said to Dorothy
in the Wizard of Oz,
How many times in our lives
have we waited for someone
to tell us what we already know?
Why are we still waiting for someone
to ride into our lives and
break the curse
with some magic words.

What if we remembered
we were like Dorothy and
knew that we had the power
We have the words.
They may not always be the same,
but we have them.

We have
I do not know.
Grateful for the journey.
The best is yet to come.
I can make it through.
We all have magical words
that seem to break the spells of life.
What are yours?

Hold Up the World

What if we thought about prayer
as a building block,
as a foundation
which holds up the world?

What if the only reason
the world still exists is
because there are those who pray
and hold up the world with
their faith,
their belief,
and their prayers.

May we hold up the world
each day
by offering up our prayers
for ourselves,
for others,
for our communities
for our countries
and for the world

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I Do Not Know

It is okay, I tell my students
to say I do not know.
There is nothing wrong
with saying I do not know.
Saying I do not know
opens us up to learning,
growing,
and receiving knowledge
from the Divine.

There are always things
at work,
at home,
at school
and with our friends
that we do not know.
We all know something
but none of us know everything.
When we say
we do not know,
we allow others to share
what they know with us.

There are also things
we may never know,
because it is not our time
or our season
or our lifetime time to know.
Our ways are not God’s ways
and our understandings are not God’s
So saying
I do not know
simple recognizes
our humanity
and that we are not
the Divine.
Today may we become comfortable
owning we do not know

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Greatness

It’s not the old time religion
which inspires me.
It is the old time wisdom
passed down from generations
which does, like what my Bubby
taught me about greatness.
Greatness, she would say,
is not about being great, but
about being humble,
ordinary, and
ignorant.

She would remind me
that I was great simply because
I am me. and she was great
simply because she was her.
Our greatness came because
we were all of who
we were created to be.

She taught me that what I viewed as ordinary,
others saw as
unique and different.
Where I thought I was ignorant
Others saw me as intelligent.
What made me great,
she would say,
is that I was humble
and gave thanks for
being the ordinary
and ignorant person
I was created to be

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Love Heals

Sadly, I am so often reminded
we live in a world where we are
taught to see divisions.
This is what fear and hatred do
they divide
They build walls and construct barriers
which divide us from one another
and keep the systems in place;
systems which divide and conquer.

Love heals.
Love teaches us to see
the whole
Love unifies.
Love builds bridges which
enable us to meet,
talk,
discuss,
and understand.
Love enables us to transform the world
one person,
one relationship,
one community
at a time.

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Hospitality

There is a peace which surpasses understanding
when we open our hearts to strangers.
We want to draw a line between us and them.
We would rather turn away or disconnect,
then build a bridge.
We are focused on walls which separate,
then bridges that connect.

Hospitality is about building bridges.
It is about living in a way which opens us up
which challenges us to act out of love.
It is about taking the risk
and finding joy in the unknown.
It is about finding positive energy
where we sought not to look.

Hospitality
is about love,
light,
positive energy,
joy,
courage, and
love.
Hospitality is
intentional
and radical.
It is about seeing
the Divine
in the stranger
and the strange.

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Unrewarded Motivation

Different things motivate
different people.
Some of us want things
tangible rewards
and some of us want time
with those we love and
deeper relationships.
But what motivates us
when we will never see
the reward
or not be told of how
we rewarded others.

We know how to act when
we know what to expect,
what we will receive,
how we will be recognized, or
how we will be rewarded.
However, what motivates us
when we release those expectations.
When we act knowing we may not be
recognized or rewarded.

Unrewarded motivations are about us
being present in the experience
of what we are doing,
of what we are creating, and
of what we are experiencing
in the process.
We may never know the rewards of
our actions
but we can find peace and joy
in knowing that the fruits
of our work
are touching others.

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Silliness

The message came again
take time
and be silly
because
silliness
is a blessing.

Silly
has its roots in
being blessed.
When I am
silly I am
blessing others.

Silliness
allows me to
help others and
experience the Ultimate
in ways which
transform,
lighten,
and help us
see the humor in the
one we take all too
seriously.

Be silly.
Be sacred.
Be blessed.

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Consistency Compounds

Consistency compounds,
this message rings in my head.
It reminds me to be consistent
in the performance of my
spiritual practices.
So every day I take time to think
and reflect on
my  thought for the day
and then I write in my gratitude journal,
inspiration journal,
and intention journal

It is no longer something
I think about doing,
it is something I just do.
It is like breathing
or brushing my teeth.
It no longer is about me
being intentional about doing it.
It is about me feeling
like I am missing something
when I do not.

Consistency compounds in my life.
The blessings compound
the growth compounds.
the understanding compounds
and the testimony I offer to others
compounds.

There is a blessing in the
repetition.
The doing the same thing
over and over,
but knowing the blessings
of consistently working
at being more in tune with
the Ultimate
continues to help me
grow and evolve.
All because
consistency compounds

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Fantasy

We all fantasize,
but how many of us
fantasize
about being of greater service
to the one we call our Higher Power

What do you fantasize about?
Is it about fighting for equality
amongst all of humanity?
Or is it about working to bring about
world peace?
Perhaps it is about practicing patience
or compassion with all of humanity.
Perhaps it is about promoting
healing and wholeness

May we open
our heart, mind, and soul to
fantasizing about
making it on earth
as it is in Heaven
or at least
as we fantasize
it to be.

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Brave

I want to hear you be brave,
Sara Bareilles sang.
I want us to silence
the voices of fear,
the voices which tell us
what we cannot do and
that encourage us to fail.

When we release the fear
that has tortured us
and kept the sunlight
from shining through us.
What if we stopped listening
to the insecure part of self
and were brave.

Brave is about
staring down the enemy
and finding our way out
of the lies and the chains
which keep us in cages of fear.

Brave is about
breaking the silence
and speaking our truth
and letting the world
experience us for the fullness
of who we are.

Brave is about
not caring what others think
when we step out in faith
and express ourselves
to the fullness of who we are.

Brave is about
amazing ourselves
when we release the fear
and speak the words
which have been fighting to
be spoken and heard

Brave is about
us being the spiritual warriors
we were created to be;
the artists of our life
who know how to paint
the life
we were created to live.
If just for today
be brave.

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Blame

It is so easy
to point the finger at others
and blame them
for the condition
of my life, however
it is not their fault.

When I blame others,
it means I am giving away
my power,
my honesty,
my integrity
and my spiritual wealth.

it means I am giving away
the opportunities for me to grow,
to evolve,
to transform
and to take responsibility
for my own life

I may not be able to change
the legacy I inherited,
however, I can create the life
I choose to live.
I begin by taking responsibility
and not blaming others

What I have done
or not done in my life
is about me
not you.
What you have done
in your life is about you.
How I respond to it
and what I do with it is about me

if I do not like my life
then I cannot blame you.
I have to accept
responsibility
and then be responsible
for doing what I can
to transform my dreams
and my realities

So when I hear myself blaming others
I need to stop and
focus on my own life
and begin to be the change
I want to see in my life
and in my world.

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Inspirations

Every month,
every day
someone leaves us
to live in a different space.
Friends, family members, and furbabies
have died before us

The older we get,
the more we experience people
 leaving before us, and
leaving us behind.

I miss those who have gone,
but in their own ways
they live on.
They exist in our memories.
Their spirits exist in our remembering them.
Their wisdom and lessons taught
continue to inspire us
in this day and those to come.

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Like the Earth

I look at the earth
for inspiration.
it revolves,
it grows,
it transforms
and it keeps on going.
It never stops.

I can be like the earth.
I can grow
evolve,
transform
persevere,
and be persistent.

I can have my seasons of
spring,
summer,
fall, and
winter.
I grow,
I play,
I change
and I rest.

I am like the earth.
it effects me and
is effected by me.
We have the power
to energize ourselves
and celebrate the
beauty in which we were created
by the Creator

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Apologizing

i woke up this morning
thinking about the person
who said I was nagging her
even though it was not my intent.
Sometimes we hurt people
whether we intend to or not.
Regardless the damage is the same.

Today I apologize because
I regret anytime I hurt someone
intentionally or not.
I apologize to all those I have hurt
and never knew I hurt.
I apologize for anything
and everything I have done
which has bought about
harm to anyone in my life.

I apologize to myself
for all the times I did not treat
my mind, body or soul
with the utmost respect.
I apologize to myself for the times
I did not stand up and speak out
when others were trying to harm me
I apologize to the world
for all the times I did not cry,
did not pray
and did not contribute to the healing
over global atrocities

if you are reading this
and I have hurt you
or you have been hurt
I apologize and pray
for your healing

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