Slowing Down

Slowing Down

I used to love listening to Simon and Garfunkel
who reminded me to slow down
because I moved to fast.
Today working three jobs from home
and cramming in time for
God, family, and friends
I truly need to slow down
because I am moving too fast
and need to fully experience each moment.
Slowing down is not always easy.
For me it meant letting go of some responsibilities,
saying no to opportunities, and
focusing on what is most important in my life,
my relationship with God, my family and my friends.
I have let things go,
put things down
and picked up time for
self care,
relationship building
and embracing life.
May we each slow down,
and focus on being
fully present in the moment.

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Rescue

Rescue

Do you remember the first animal rescue effort?
Noah and his family loaded them
into the ark to rescue them
from harm’s way.
Today, many of my friends
run animal rescue’s and shelters.
They create ways out of no ways
to be the Noah’s of today.
They take the least of thee,
those who have been abandoned,
abused,
neglected,
wounded,
and opened their doors
providing unconditional love,
medical attention,
food,
water,
shelter,
and hope for the future.
What are you doing for the least of thee?
How can we work together
to help those who offer us
unconditional love
and ask for us to just
treat them with dignity and respect.
How can we work together
to rescue them
and keep them out of harm’s way.

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SACRED LISTENING

Sacred Listening

If you listened to your thoughts
that float through your mind
would you feel like a garbage collector
like I do sometimes.
I try to catch the toxic waste which
floats through my mind before it has a chance
to settle and poison other aspects of my life.
I try to catch those thoughts and
question the beliefs which
I would not want to share with the sacred.
If I work on healing while I gather
it allows me to help my thoughts and ideas
heal and transform,
becoming increasingly sacred
with each passing day.
I would love to say this is easy,
but its not
and many moments I fail.
However, I continue to transform
and work on helping the internal stream
become increasingly sacred.

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I Wish You Well

I Wish You Well

Each day I choose how
I treat others, regardless of
how I feel about them personally.
I do not have to like you
but because I am called to love you,
I wish others well,
even if it is from a distance.
I was asked how I can do that.
The answer is simple,
the golden rule,
which reminds me to do unto others,
as I would have them do unto me.
Or as I once heard a nun say,
Go with God, but go.
I am called to love humanity,
it does not mean I have to like them.
So whether I like others or not,
I wish you well,
and pray that you do the same for me.

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Choices

Choices

“Do you remember the day you had us drink Listerine?”
it was a question asked decades
after a spiritual class for kids.
He remembered me giving them two paper cups
one with a little bit of mouthwash and one with fruit punch.
The mouthwash, to him,
tasted horrible
and he just wanted to spit it out.
The fruit punch
tasted awesome
and he wanted more.
To this day, it reminds him
his words and actions
are a reflection of his relationship
with the Divine.
What if we remembered
each word and action
is important
and serves the Ultimate?
What if we thought,
as did my students,
what taste our words and actions
leave with the Ultimate?
Do we even consider how momentous
our words and actions are
and the legacy they leave behind?

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It is Done

It Is Done

This past week,
people, plants, horses, cats, dogs,
and other creations of the Ultimate
have transcended to another realm.
As I celebrate their lives and legacies,
I am reminded their purpose here
has been fulfilled.
Their departure may not have been
on my time line or yours,
but once they have completed
their purpose,
it is time for them to move on, because their time here
is done.
I try to remember this
when I think about those I have lost
and those I am losing.
When I wake up I remember,
I have not yet completed my purpose here on earth.
The Ultimate is not done with me yet
and if you woke up this morning,
you have not completed your purpose yet either.
May we all continue to be of service,
being loving and kind with others,
until the Ultimate says,
it is done

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Set God Free

Set God Free

Whenever I think about God
or the one I call the Ultimate Consciousness,
I have to remind myself
to set God free.
My ways are not God’s ways
and God’s understanding and knowledge
are not mine.
So why do I keep trying to pretend
like I understand
because I never will.
I have to stop
putting God in a box,
especially the one I created.
I have to stop trying to understand
in ways that I will never understand
because I have not evolved to that place.
My comprehension,
my vision
my understanding
are so limited
and that is ok for now
because I am human.
God is not,
I may remember that
for a second,
but then it fades
and I keep trying to ask
what would God think
or do,
or why do hard things happen to good people.
then I spare myself the torture
and set God free and
tell myself its ok
that I am not God.

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Seeing the Blessing

Seeing the Blessing

I remember my Bubby’s wisdom.
When you can see the blessing in any situation
then you will b4 ok.
Every time I complained,
she would say and the blessing is?
Complaining was not an option,
at least not between she and I.
Even now, I try to find the blessings
in any situation.
I give thanks for not being able to leave my home
because it protects me from things
which might bring me harm.
I am grateful for the bearings
in my wheelchair which are burning out and in need of repair.
They remind me how unpredictable things are
and how we must go with the flow.
It reminds me to listen to the noises in my life,
as they are trying to tell me something.
I am grateful for those things which are stressful,
as they teach me to be patient, loving and kind.
I am blessed when parties cancel,
as it reminds me to get up and work even harder.
We all face disappointments,
it is not the disappointment,
but how we respond to it.
This is where the blessing hides.
Thank you for the blessings,
even when they come in
unexpected ways.

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Pain in the A**

Pain in the A**

We all know someone
we consider to be a
pain in the A**.
I have met quite a few people like that
in my life.
They are the ones who get on your last nerve,
who are like heat sinking missiles
They do not stay in your life long,
but they are there for a reason.
They have been some of the greatest teachers
in my life.
They have saved me thousands of dollars
in therapy.
pressing every button
I  have to be pressed.
They have taught me invaluable lessons,
helped me develop some of my gifts
showed me what I need to work on next and
then left when they were done.
They have reminded me of how much I appreciate
some of the most challenging teachers I had in college.
Grateful for them, but
glad to see them go at the same time.
They are the ones who make me say
Thank you for being a
pain in my a**.

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Community

Community

There is a story I have heard
about community and potatoes
which reminds me how important
and powerful it is for us to work together as a team
because teamwork is dreamwork.
We can either clean potatoes one at a time,
or we can put them all in a container,
stirring them so they rub against each other,
and clean each other as a community.
When we come together to bring about change,
as a community,
as a team,
we can bring about change
in less time than
when we work as individuals.

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Knowing When

Knowing When

We have to
know when to speak and
when to be silent.
My friends often encourage me
to know when I need to take center stage
and make myself heard.
I am not one to dominate the conversation
or take center stage.
it is about balance.
It’s about knowing when
one is dominating the conversation
and when one needs to step back
and silence one’s self
making room for others
to speak,
to share their ideas
and to leave their gifts
at the table.
May we be intentional
about knowing when
and how to keep the stage
open to all and not just one.

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Acronyms

Acronyms

I love acronyms.
Mostly because
sometimes you see them
and think they mean something other
then they mean to you.
I remember once seeing the acronym
PMS
and thinking it was pre menstrual syndrome,
or post menopausal syndrome,
and then realizing it was none of the above.
it was about pressing on the emotional break
and then taking time to breathe and meditate
and then sitting in the silence with the Ultimate
and gaining a deeper understanding
of the situation
and what I am being led towards and to.
So now when I am going through
a challenging situation
I remember to
Pause
Meditate
Sit.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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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?

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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.

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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.

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