It's Raining

It’s Raining

I still remember the day
I got caught in the rain without an umbrella.
It wasn’t a physical rain,
but an emotional, mental and spiritual one.
It was the day I learned I might have cancer.
it was the day I felt as if I was caught in the heaviest of rain
without an umbrella.
The only one who could be my umbrella was me.
I had to look within me and
find the strength which would see me through.
I had to reach out to the Ultimate as if
it was the umbrella I could open up
to stay dry.
It did, but not in a physical sense.
It kept me focused on the future,
the possibilities,
the strength,
and the endurance to go through.
It is what I still tap on today
when I need to remember
I am an overcomer.
My rain reminded me of
my strength,
my faith,
and all the storms
I have walked through.
It reminded me of the peace
I have had while it is raining
harder then ever
and harder then I can imagine.
It may be raining
and pouring,
but in the midst of it all,
I am the umbrella
and the one who will keep me dry.

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Peace Be Still

Peace Be Still

I remember reading the story
of Jesus and the disciples,
where in the midst of the storm
he looks at the storm and says
peace be still.
There are times in my life
when I am in the midst of a storm,
some worse then others,
and I can fill the shift in energy,
as if there is a source within me that is saying
peace be still.
Other times I can see the storms all around me
but the energy surrounding my life
is peaceful and calm.
it is like there is a protective force around me
which has said peace be still.
It makes me wonder how many times
have I felt peace in my life
and not been aware of the storms
I have been protected from.
How differently might I move
through life if I was conscious
of the force in my life which constantly whispered
peace be still
and thus there was peace.

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Wisdom

Wisdom

As I look back on my life,
I realize it is filled with teachers.
Teachers who have blessed me with wisdom.
They have blessed with a precious gift
wisdom.
They have taught me to have reverence
for my life
and for the life of all of creation.
Some of those teachers
have been people,
others have been situations,
experiences, and illnesses.
Wisdom has come during my
seasons of health and illness,
times of grieving and of celebration, and
every moment of our lives.
As I move through each day,
I am mindful of the teachers
that have filled and continue to fill
my life with wisdom

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Freeing

Freeing

I was once taught
I needed to forget
to free myself and grow.
if I live my life as if everything is now,
with a beginner’s mind,
then everything is new,
freeing,
and open to possibilities.
If I forget that I am supposed to be afraid,
then I free myself from anxiety and fear.
If I forget what I expect others to do
or how I expect a situation to be,
then I free myself from the disappointments
and suffering from when they are not met.
If I forget what I understand
then I open myself to new understandings.
If I forget what an experience was like,
then I free myself from the positive and negative
that shape my willingness to experience life and people.
So today I am working on
freeing myself
and experience all
with a beginner’s mind.

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We Care

We Care

It’s the end of a long day
and I was sitting at my computer exhausted
after another 16 hour day
when the surprise came.
An unexpected message from someone
asking me how I was.
It dawned on me
how authentic her message sounded.
It wasn’t like the how are you
that you hear as somebody walks past you
before you can even answer.
It was an authentic how are you
followed by this level of awareness.
I know this is a stressful and hectic time for you
I noticed you are still up
which means you are probably still working
so I wanted to see how you were
and let you know you are in my prayers.
There is something powerful
when you know that people care
and that they really want to know
how you are.
It’s that real and powerful
how are you,
not the one that
feels like you are asking
to be polite
but don’t have the time
or the intention to really listen.
During these times,
which are stressful for all,
may we remember to let people know that
we care.

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Shadows

Shadows

So often we think about shadows
as haunting,
dark,
scary,
and
causing us to doubt.
Shadows remind me of
how I move through fear.
I Face
Everything
And
Rise.
Shadows can be
gifts from the Ultimate.
They can be
stepping stones to
healing,
transformation,
and emancipation.
When we learn to face them,
learn from them,
grow with them,
and evolve,
then they provide us
with love,
light,
and positive energy.
Shadows are something we all have
in our lives.
It is not about having them,
but what you do with them.

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Do Something

Do Something

I wake up and give thanks for all I have.
I look at my things to do list
and give thanks the Ultimate knows what my life is like.
Sometimes I feel overwhelmed
as I look at what is before me
because I am just one person
and there are only 24 hours in a day.
Then I remember
I am one amazing human being
created by the Ultimate
who know what I must do
and will help me overcome
all the challenges.
I am not asked to do it all
or to do it all at one time.
I am simply asked to do something,
to take one baby step at a time,
and know that if I work
at my piles everyday
in time will all get done.
I just have to keep doing something.

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I DON'T KNOW

I Don’t Know

Growing up there were magical words
like Abracadabra or someone other word
that made everything transform
in some magical way.
Today the words I use
when I don’t have an answer or solution
are simply
I don’t know.
There is nothing wrong with saying
I don’t know
because sometimes
I just don’t.
Not only are these worlds
magical for me,
but they are magical for others.
When I give myself permission
to say I don’t know,
I am also giving permission to others
to do the same.
None of us has to have all the answers
or all the solutions
and feel shamed when we don’t,
because the magic words now are
I don’t know.
It’s not saying I won’t know,
but that I don’t know now
and then we have the time and space
to know.
thus we begin the journey to learn and grow
which begins when we say
I don’t know.

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Alone Time

Alone Time

I have always enjoyed my alone time,
but in all honesty
I was not alone.
My alone time
is really about me
hanging out with the Ultimate
and just being
in each other’s presence.
Usually my alone time
is in mini blocks of time
but yesterday I spent
the whole day alone.
I experienced what it was like
to have Sabbath
to have a major block of
alone time
where we were together.
It doesn’t mean we are talking,
we are just being present.
Being alone with the Ultimate
allowed me to travel to a space
of peace, rest, clarity and rejuvenation.
It was a time of enjoyment,
laughter,
and dreams.
Alone time
can be any place,
any time,
for any length.
it is just about being alone
with the one you know
created you,
sustains you and
transforms you.

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Just a Piece

Just A Piece

Each day, we are given the opportunity
to build bridges that connect us
or walls that separate us.
We can think about life in a way
that makes the world smaller
or larger.
We can see ourselves as the puzzle
or a piece of the puzzle.
When we strive to control,
we fail to see the wonder and mystery of life.
When we remember
we are just a piece of the puzzle,
we can marvel at how
all the pieces come together
to create and form something
which enables us to celebrate
the mystery and the wonder
of which we are a part.

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Fred and Ginger

Fred and Ginger

I have always been amazed as I watched people
like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers
and other dance couples perform.
It seems like they are all about
making the other look amazing.
Watching them dance has reminded me
that in my dance with my spouse,
I need to practice the moves
which maker her look good
on the dance floor of life.
We each are the Fred Astaire
to each other’s Ginger Rogers.
My newest question is to think about
what can I do to make her look amazing today.
How can I turn  her,
dip her,
and move her around
on the dance floor of life
in a way that makes us
look seamless and breathtaking.
Thinking about this brought me back
to when she was in school
and how I would make her look amazing
by editing her papers and projects.
Now it is the little things like
preparing meals that are healthier for her
encouraging her to release stress and tension
and celebrate the beauty of each day.
She makes me look awesome by
giving me love,
support and
believing in my dreams.
What if we all practiced our dance moves
with the ones we love?

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Bridges

Bridges

For most of my life,
I have learned to be a bridge.
Growing up black and white,
it was never about one side or the other,
it was about both.
It was about me celebrating all
of whom I was created to be
and seeing the awesome in everyone.
It was about building bridges, not walls.
It was about celebrating the God
I came to know in the Black Baptist church
and the God
I came to know in the Jewish temple.
It was about learning that God
is greater then any single way of thinking or believing.
It was about celebrating everything
I learned as a greater diversity of people
joined me at my table.
It was about the bridges we crossed with each other
as we broke breads,
shared meals,
traditions,
stories,
beliefs,
and testimonies.
Communities form through
the building of bridges.
This is why we build bridges,
not walls.

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Bending

Bending

Yesterday, the wind was blowing like crazy.
Looking out the window,
I watched the trees bending
one way and then the other,
as the wind blew them
in one direction and then another.
What got me was that the branches
just seemed to go with the flow.
I am not sure whether they wanted to bend
or not, but they did.
Sometimes we are like the branches
and just have to go with the flow,
knowing that at the end of the day,
we will be ok.
It may not be how we wanted to move,
but it was how we had to.
Sometimes, we have to
bend so we do not break.

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Easing out the Ego

Easing out the Ego

I know we all have one,
but I am working on easing mine out.
I am ever mindful about how my ego
gets in the way.
My ego is filled with creativity,
but not in a good way.
it creates stories
which can fill me with fear,
distrust,
and worry about what might happen,
what others might do,
and scenarios based on fallacy.
Ego is about easing God out.
So if I ease out my ego,
I make greater room in my soul
to ease God in.

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Sacred

Sacred

I sit here at Zoe’s computer
and I give thanks that we have one computer
which has access to the intenet.
It is one of those things we take for granted.
until we do not have it.
Then we see the sacred in it.
It makes me wonder what else I
do not see the sacred in.
Do I see it in the air,
the water,
the earth, or
the fire.
Do I see the sacred
in my food,
in my clothes
in the furniture
or in anything I touch or see today.
What if
we aw the sacred in everything?
How would the world be different if
we saw and honored
the sacred in our lives

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Celebrating their Legacy

Celebrating their Legacy

Anyone who survived 2020 and 2021
can say it has been a year filled with challenges.
Over the last two years, I have lost
43 friends, customers, and students to
the two C words I have come to dislike
Covid and Cancer
I know I am not alone
in being in an ongoing state of grief.
However, I keep going back to a lesson
I learned decades ago.
I should remember them and
allow them to inspire me
in all that I say and do.
This is the way that I honor them
and their lives.
I allow them to inspire me,
to guide me
and to fill me
with grace, mercy and wisdom.
In celebration of all those
who touched my life
thank you for being
an ongoing source of inspiration.

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Giving

Giving

Over the course of my life,
I have learned I get the greatest joy,
the greatest blessings,
from giving and not receiving.
I appreciate receiving,
but there is a joy from giving
that surpasses explanation.
Whether I am giving of my time,
energy,
or resources,
I feel the blessings,
which come from the sharing
of my gifts.
Whether it is through volunteering,
donating,
or just being present,
what I receive from my giving
fills my heart in ways
I cannot describe.

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Friends

Friends

I may not get high
with a little help from my friends,
but it is through their unconditional love
that I get by.
It is not that you do not appreciate
your friends in the good time,
but when you are going through challenging times,
sometimes a friend is what you really need.
That person who will just listen while you vent,
or be with you while you cry,
or cheer you on and remind you that
you will make it through.
Friends are those manifestations of God,
who pray with you,
offer you wisdom,
and remind you
that you are not alone in this journey.
Friends are the ones
who love you in good times and bad
and upon which you can call
as the song says,
winter spring, summer or fall.
I am grateful for the friends I have
and pray I can be that support to others.

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Joyful Moments

Joyful Moments

My heart is overflowing right now
with joy.
For the first time in years
I am leaving my home on my own
to see the doctor.
It is one of those moments,
when I am so filled with joy
that all I can do is cry.
Most people come and go all the time
and so it may not seem like much,
but for more than a decade
my paratransit services have been on hold
and now they are back
and so leaving my home
is like doing something awesome
for the first time.
It is those first and last times
that can bring us so much joy.
What if we stopped taking things for granted
and thought about everything as the first
or the last time
we were doing X
or spending time with Y
or tasting Z?
If everything and everyone and every where
was the first or the last time
how much more would we give thanks
for it.
May we find joy in everything
and have days filled with nothing but
joy

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Carrying A Bone

Carrying A Bone

I remember the day she said,
A dog that will bring a bone,
will carry a bone.
She was talking about people who gossip.
This wisdom was shared
while she was bringing me a bone.
While she may not have been practicing,
she did present me with a wisdom.
If someone is willing to bring you gossip,
they are letting you know they are talking
about you as well.
A person who will bring you gossip,
is also gossiping about you .
When you are gossiping about others,
you are letting people know you will
gossip about them as well.
What do you do when someone
brings you a bone.

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