Climate Control

Climate Control

Climate control is something many are concerned with these days.
Some think it is part of our infrastructure
and others do not.
Some think it is an issue
and others do not.
While the climate most are concerned with
is environmental.
The one I am working on daily
is emotional, mental, and spiritual.
It is about me monitoring
the energy I radiate to others,
the thoughts I allow to live within me
the words I use in communicating with others,
and the actions I take throughout the day.
I am about controlling the pollutants
I contribute to the environment.
I want my life to be about controlling
the negative energy,
which pollutes and harms people’s lives.
How I move through this world can
either contribute to a healthier environment
or a more polluted one.
Today I renew my commitment and invite you
to join me in reducing
the emotional and mental pollution
in our world.

Donate

it's About us

It’s About Us.

It’s about us.
Those are the words I ended my last poem with.
It’s about us.
They are words which remind me,
how what I do and say
is not about me,
it’s about us.
It’s the little things like when
I put my sweater on to keep warm
and pray that we all keep
our hearts and spirits warm.
Or when I feed myself
and pray that we all
feed ourselves spiritually.
When I make what I say and do
about us,
it makes me rethink all I say and do
because it’s not just about me.
it’s about us.

100% our donations go to support our ability to provide low and no cost offerings to those seeking to grow and evolve spiritually.

Donate

Make It Work

Make It Work

I am not sure who taught me to just
make it work.
Life does not always happen the way we envisioned.
Sometimes we are challenged,
disappointed,
and left wondering
how are we going to make it through.
That is when I remember my Bubby
teaching me to give thanks
in all circumstances,
not just the ones I want to give thanks for,
but all of them.
Life has taught me to make it work
and find the blessings in all situations,
the ones I love and the ones I don’t.
Life has taught me to
make it work.
it’s not about what life brings me,
but about how I go through it.
and make it work for me,
and for others.
We all find ourselves in situations
that can seem like a bind,
but even then we can
adopt an attitude that is about
making it work.
Our attitude is the difference
between it working
and it not.
So make it work.

100% our donations go to support our ability to provide low and no cost offerings to those seeking to grow and evolve spiritually.

Donate

My Expectations

My Expectations

I hate expectations.
Even though I have worked to release them,
they find their way back into my life,
only for me to have to do the work
of letting them go.
My expectations
cause me the most suffering.
It’s not about others.
It’s about me.
It’s about people not living up to
my expectations of them.
It hurts when people violate
an agreement, but at least
there was some reciprocity.
With expectations,
there is no agreement with anyone
other than myself.
Usually the other does not know
they did not live up to my expectations
I suffer from what they did not do
and never knew they were
expected to do.
It’s like being disappointed
because someone did not come to an appointment
they did not know they had.
My expectations are about me.
My suffering is because
of what I have decided
and nobody else agreed to.
My journey has me being mindful
and releasing
my expectations

100% our donations go to support our ability to provide low and no cost offerings to those seeking to grow and evolve spiritually.

Donate

Unexpected

unexpected

It is always amazing
when we find things in
unexpected spaces.
Like hope in the middle of disaster,
love in the middle of loss,
joy in the midst of grief.
We tend to look for things,
as the song says,
in all the wrong places,
because they seem like the right place,
but they are not always.
I found friendship
in the midst of stress, grief and a stranger.
I wasn’t looking for it,
but in the midst of the pain and the stress,
I found a friend.
We knew of each other,
but didn’t know each other.
It was one of those moments
that only the Ultimate can create.
So strangers came together
for a reason which had nothing to do
with their bonding or camaraderie.
It was all about finding caring
in an unexpected space, place, and person.
God works
in the unexpected.

100% our donations go to support our ability to provide low and no cost offerings to those seeking to grow and evolve spiritually.

Donate

Dreaming with God

Dreaming with God

I remember my preaching teacher
giving me this 25 step process
for developing a sermon.
I came to class and preached my sermon.
She asked about my process.
I told her I got to step 5 and fell asleep
When I woke up I had the sermon.
All I remembered was praying
and then I fell asleep.
I prayed and then
I dreamed with God.
The same is true of my poems
I pray, I sleep and
then I write what
I dreamed with God.
What if prayer is about us
dreaming with God?
What if it is about us envisioning
what we seek and
dreaming about it with God?
I love dreaming with God.
Maybe its because I am quiet,
at peace,
alone with the Ultimate,
in a world where only the two us exist.
What if we spent more time
dreaming with God?

100% our donations go to support our ability to provide low and no cost offerings to those seeking to grow and evolve spiritually.

Donate

Judge Not

Judge Not

Judge not, lest ye be judged.
yet how often do we judge.
We judge people’s stories,
experiences,
work,
lives,
and words.
Learning to listen
without evaluating or judging,
is a process which requires
mindfulness,
presence,
and self-monitoring.
It means we see things
for what they are,
not good or bad, just is.
It’s about letting go
of our need to evaluate,
to see things as good or bad,
or to hold things to a standard.
It’s about the process
of not only releasing the need
to judge others,
but ourselves.
Learning to be non-judgmental
is a process
and part of our journey.
Let’s begin by working on
not judging ourselves
and modeling for others
how to do the same.

100% our donations go to support our ability to provide low and no cost offerings to those seeking to grow and evolve spiritually.

Donate

It Is Me

It Is Me

I am tired of pointing fingers
and taking sides
and creating or reinforcing an us vs them.
It is not about you vs me,
or good vs evil,
or them vs us
because we are all complicit.
I can’t talk about racial equity
without looking at my own complicity.
I can’t speak about gender inequality
without looking at how I contribute to the system.
I cannot speak against systemic oppression,
without owning my own contributions.
It is not about intentional or not,
it is about owning how we are all
a part of the solution as well as the problem.
The one I need to work on the most
is the one I want to run from the fastest.
I have to be the change I want to see in the world.
I have to be the solution
I have to be the one who is brave enough
to say I too am guilty.
Now let’s work together
to make this world
a space of love and radical humanity.

100% our donations go to support our ability to provide low and no cost offerings to those seeking to grow and evolve spiritually.

Donate

Doubt

Doubt

Doubting is ok.
For the longest time,
I was told it meant I had no faith.
Doubt means I have faith.
Doubt means I am open to the unknown.
Doubt is about me being willing
to question my need to be in control
Doubt is about exploring myself
and being at peace with not knowing
what will happen or when.
Doubt is about me doubting
my own doubt
and being open to exploing
the mysteries of life
and embarking on a daily adventure.

100% our donations go to support our ability to provide low and no cost offerings to those seeking to grow and evolve spiritually.

Donate

Embrace It

Embrace It

It comes into my life,
the things I want,
the things I don’t
and that which I dread.
Sometimes I want to push things away,
run from them,
place barriers between us,
and create ways to avoid
what I do not want to embrace.
Yet I remember that
what life brings me
is a gift,
an opportunity to grow,
a chance to embrace the grace
and the goodness from the Ultimate.
It is not about the challenge,
but how I address it.
So when people bring me their hate
their bias,
and their prejudice
how do I respond.
Do I respond out of hurt,
anger,
pain,
resentment,
and hate?
Or do I remember
that they have not been exposed to
the same teachings of the Ultimate
I have.
Do I embrace this
as an opportunity
to share a truth
I have been given from above.
Do I embrace this opportunity
and offer all the grace
offered to me
and love others
as I have been loved.
Do I love you,
even when you do not love me?
Do I remember to embrace you,
even when you
do not want to embrace me?
Today I embrace all,
even if from a distance,
because all is helping me
to grow.

100% our donations go to support our ability to provide low and no cost offerings to those seeking to grow and evolve spiritually.

Donate

I <C < T

 I <C < T

I <C < T
I know this sounds like a mathematical formula,
but its not. It’s about
Improvement,
Change and
Transformation.
Improvement is good,
but all too often it is only temporary.
We say we are going to improve,
but then we hit a bump in the road,
and we stop. 
How often do we put on the improved label
and then forget we are even wearing it.
Improvement is good,
but change is better.
Change tends to be not just about behavior,
but about our will.
As long as we will it into being it is,
and when we don’t, its not.
Transformation is about our metamorphosis.
It’s about us undergoing an internal change
that comes when we allow Spirit
to crack us open as if we were a seed,
allowing what was within us
all this time
to burst forward,
and to begin to grow
and evolve
in a way we could not before.
This is why
I < C < T

100% our donations go to support our ability to provide low and no cost offerings to those seeking to grow and evolve spiritually.

Donate

United

United

I am who I am.
You are who you are.
There is nothing wrong with
us being who we are .
Difference is not the problem,
It is when we do not unite
in celebrating each other
for who we are.
When we stand united
we celebrate our uniqueness,
our individuality,
and our gifts.
When we fail to unite
we create walls,
instead of bridges.
We pit one against each other,
and promote hate
instead of unity.
Uniting does not take away
our uniquenss or
our individuality.
Rather it brings us together
united, like the states,
where we each get to be
who we are and
honor and celebrate each other
for who we are.
United we celebrate,
divided we grieve.

100% our donations go to support our ability to provide low and no cost offerings to those seeking to grow and evolve spiritually.

Donate

Thank You

Thank You

Have you ever had something
which had served its purpose
and was no longer of use.
Like socks that are now holey
or shoes that are no longer repairable
or clothes that have been worn out.
As soon as my new shoes arrive,
I will say goodbye to the ones
who have served me for 14 years.
As I think about all they have seen me through,
all the steps they have taken with me,
and all the protection they have given me,
it seems wrong
to just throw them
in the trash.
So instead,
I will wrap them in love,
bury them in a box
and say thank you.
Somehow it seems
like that is the right thing to do.

100% our donations go to support our ability to provide low and no cost offerings to those seeking to grow and evolve spiritually.

Donate

BEING HUMBLE

Humble

Why don’t you brag about yourself?
That is what I was asked today,
and I found myself very uncomfortable.
My accomplishing something
is not about me,
it is about me using the gifts and talents
I was given to make this world a better place.
I don’t see these things as being about me,
but about my thanking the Ultimate
for all I have been blessed with.
I am also willing to talk about how blessed I am,
but I have never been one to brag.
I am important,
but I am not of the greatest importance.
I strive to put others needs and concerns
before mine.
That doesn’t mean
I don’t take care of myself.
It just means that loving others,
honoring others,
respecting others
Is of utmost importance.
It means I know we all
bring a piece of the truth
to the table.
It means I am open to the
knowledge of others, ?
the solutions others bring
to the table
Being humble is about
knowing that I am
surrounded by greatness
and being open to
the gifts others bring to the table
to help me grow
and be humble.

100% our donations go to support our ability to provide low and no cost offerings to those seeking to grow and evolve spiritually. 
  

Donate

It's A New Day

t’s A New Day

It’s a new day.
I woke up this morning.
That is a blessing.
I know of at least one person
who is no longer with us,
but I still am.
So I celebrate their life and legacy
by finding the joy in all I do.
I keep coming back to that basic.
I woke up and it’s a new day.
It’s another opportunity
to be of service.
It’s another chance
to make a difference in the world.
Nobody promised me this day,
nobody promises me tomorrow,
or even that I will complete this day.
It’s a new day,
so let me fill it with love,
light,
positive energy,
and find joy in all that I do.
It’s a new day.
Let’s appreciate it
for what it is.

100% our donations go to support our ability to provide low and no cost offerings to those seeking to grow and evolve spiritually.

Donate

Slow Down

Slow Down

Simon & Garfunkle
once sang a reminder to
slow down you move to fast,
you’ve got to make the morning last.
So often we fill our lives to capacity
and multitask,
forgetting to slow down,
fully appreciating all life has to offer.
We move from one task to another,
rarely being fully present
to anything or anyone.
We become absent
to the experience,
to the blessings,
to the opportunities
and to the lessons.
What if we embraced
a counter cultural message
and slowed down,
and made each moment last.

100% our donations go to support our ability to provide low and no cost offerings to those seeking to grow and evolve spiritually.

Donate

Mystery

Mystery

Twinkle, twinkle little star
how I wonder what you are.
There is something about no knowing,
about wondering,
about the mysteries of life,
which make us feel uncomfortable,
especially as adults.
As a child
I loved mysteries,
I loved wondering about things I did not know.
I loved reading them,
with all their twists and turns,
with clues being revealed along the way.
Life is a mystery.
We do not know where
we are being led
or what will happen.
So let’s just enjoy the ride,
pay attention to the clues,
and slide home at the end,
having lived the mystery of life
to its fullest.

Donate

100% our donations go to support our ability to provide low and no cost offerings to those seeking to grow and evolve spiritually.

Hope

Hope

One of the greatest gifts
I was given
was hope for the future.
It came from my elders.
They taught me to never stop hoping,
to never stop working,
to never stop believing
that the best was  yet to come.
Now, I find the greatest gift
I can give others
especially those who are younger than me,
is that same desire to hope.
In the midst of all the crises
we are in as a country,
we have to have faith and hope
that together we can
make a difference.
Hope is about believing in our dreams.
Hope is about knowing that the best is yet to come.
My faith enables me to know
that the answers are coming and
my hope keeps me positive and optimistic.
It reminds me to look for the blessings
in all situations
and to never stop dreaming or believing.

100% our donations go to support our ability to provide low and no cost offerings to those seeking to grow and evolve spiritually.

Donate

Re-membering

Re-Membering

When we look at each other,
we see features,
we see skin color,
body sizes,
shapes,
hair textures,
heights,
and so many other features.
We are taught
to focus on differences,
valuing one over another.
We are taught to dis-member ourselves from each other
instead of re-membering our common humanity
Now is the time to celebrate diversity,
not difference.
It is the time to honor,
not hate.
It is time to remember to learn
from others,
while we teach others.
It is time to remember
we have each been exposed to lies,
mistruths,
and then open ourselves up
to being transformed.
It is time to remember we are all
part of humanity.
It is time for us to re-member.

100% our donations go to support our ability to provide low and no cost offerings to those seeking to grow and evolve spiritually.

Donate

Words

Words
They are an integral part of our lives.
We read them,
hear them,
write them,
listen to them,
think them, and
speak them.
Words are powerful.
They can harm or heal.
They can empower or disempower.
They can incite or inspire.
We live in a time where we have witnessed both.
What if we took a moment
to think before we speak
to others
or in response to others,
so we are focused on
unifying and not dividing.
What if before using our words,
we asked ourselves
this ancient teaching before we spoke.
Are our words truthful,
necessary,
and kind.

100% our donations go to support our ability to provide low and no cost offerings to those seeking to grow and evolve spiritually.

Donate