Time To Do It

Time To Do It

I love the lessons my students share with me.
Recently a former student told me,
We know how to be good students
we just don’t use what we know.
It’s like my wife said,
I know how to lose weight,
I’ve read all the books,
I just don’t do it.
How much different would our lives be
if we did what we know how to do.
Perhaps it is time to stop procrastinating
and start doing.

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To My Angel

To My Angel

You may not be identified as an angel,
but you are to me.
I remember the first time you flew into my life.
I was three, scared, hurting and confused,
and you came into my bedroom,
lifted me on to a cloud,
promised me it would be ok
and I would be safe there.
You returned and wrapped your trunk around me
bought me back to my bed
and tucked me in.
You always flew into my dreams
to help me when life got tough and
I was facing what seemed impossible.
You would always fly in
bring me to this cloud,  
assure me of my safety
and then leave.
what I learned was that you returned when
the obstacles had been removed
and the paths cleared.
You not only removed the obstacles,
but created new beginnings.
I remember the day I learned others knew you too.
It was when a friend sent me a picture of you
she was paining on her garage.
That was the day I learned your name.
Ganesha

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What a Ride

What a Ride

It was Gail Ricciuti
my favorite seminary professor,
who shared this Hunter S. Thompson quote
“Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming, “Wow what a ride!”
Can you say that?
Life is like a roller coaster
it is filled with ups and downs.
it is not about the ride
but the journey.
It is about learning from the downs
as they are what helps us get to and appreciate the ups.
If we are living our spiritual life to its fullest,
we experience our share of bumps and bruises.
Often it is in the losses,
the trials,
the challenges, and
the obstacles
that we learn how to
become an overcomer.
It is through the times others have said,
I am not sure how you survived that,
that I give thanks for the chance to learn
just how strong I am.
It is through the losses,
that I have learned
just how wealthy and blessed I am.
My journey,
and I am sure most of yours,
has not been easy.
Yet I hope you can join me
in celebrating and shouting
WOW! What a ride!!!

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The Ultimate Affair

The Ultimate Affair

My wife and I are both Geminis,
so we joke about how we are
having an affair with each other.
While we have been having this affair
for over 20 years now,
it has not been the ultimate affair
in my life.
That affair,
the ultimate one,
has been the one I have with
myself.
It is that time I spend with the parts of me
I am just meeting
and getting to know.
it is the parts of my soul
which have hidden themselves from me
and which I have hidden from others.
It is through our getting to know them
that I am slowly able to bring them
into the affair my wife and I have with each other.
I would like to say that one day this affair will end,
but my sense is that there will always be
a part of me that will make itself known
and I will continue to have this
ultimate affair
with myself.

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Claiming the Moment

Claiming the Moments

I listen to my friends who are mobile
and able to leave their homes freely.
They complain about waiting on trains, buses and rides.
They complain about standing in line.
They complain about being stuck in traffic.
After listening to them
I think about the opportunity to relax and pray
while I wait for my paratransit to arrive.
I think about the ways spirit can bless me while I sit in line.
I think about all the moments I have to claim the blessings.
I may rarely claim an entire day to experience sabbath,
but I claim the moments.
I claim the time I am waiting on the microwave.
I claim the time I am letting my computer restart.
I claim those moments when I am
waiting,
sitting,
and doing nothing
while I wait on something.
I claim those moments as Sabbath moments
to relax,
be with the Ultimate
and be blessed.

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Listening to the Garbage

Listening to the Garbage

How you see the least of thee
is how you see me.
I know it’s a slightly different version
then most have heard,
but this is one of my Bubby wisdoms.
She taught me to value the garbage
as much as I valued the groceries in my pantry.
Each she taught me has a message,
a piece of wisdom,
a lesson about life,
and a gift for me to carry forward.
Does it really belong in the garbage
or is there still potential in it.
As I watch chefs increasingly focusing
on reducing food costs
by using all of the plant
and not just the obvious parts
I remember this Bubby lesson.
I give thanks for the leaves
and the peels
and the nutrition and flavor
each brings to the plate.
I have come to think of the garbage
as offerings of gratitude
for all that contributed to my
sustenance and well-being.
How do you think about yours?

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Curtains to the World

Curtains to the World

It was years ago
as I gathered with a group of friends
from a diversity of cultures and ethnicities.
I remember how they each found something
in my space that spoke to them
and made them feel at home.
it was the paintings, drawings, gardens,
music, food, and symbols of life.
That day continues to remind me
that looking out is a curtain to the world,
but looking in to my home and life
is a curtain into all that I value and appreciate.
We all need to feel welcomed,
loved,
appreciated and
valued.
What am I doing to always create
a space that feels like home
not just for me,
but for humanity.

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Crabgrass

Crabgrass

It was bell hooks who taught me
how when I shift the margin to the center,
I gain a whole new perspective on life.
It taught me when I shift my perspective,
I redefine,
reimagine, and
deconceptualize the situation.
It’s like crabgrass,
everyone tries to get rid of it,
yet few ever can.
There is always something
that is like crabgrass in our lives.
It seems like no matter how hard you work,
it never quite goes away.
You can be frustrated with its existence,
or come to appreciate it.
It's not the crabgrass I hate,
but the way I think about it
which makes me want to get rid of it.
But why?
Crabgrass doesn’t cause my yard any harm.
It isn’t killing anything,
it just isn’t the prettiest grass
but that depends on how you define pretty.
It's about perspective.
It’s about seeing the blessings in a situation and
the gifts we could not see before
because we were not willing
to change our perspective
about crabgrass
or whatever the crabgrass
is in our lives.

.

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Time

Time

If only I had more
time.
I keep running out of
time.
How many excuses do we make about
time?
We may say we don’t have enough time,
but we all get the same amount.
Time is not slipping by,
it keeps coming to us
one second at a time.
What we do with the time
which keeps flowing toward us
is about us.
It is about what we make a priority in our lives.
It is about us no longer making excuses,
but making efforts.
We make the time
for what is important in our lives.
So today ask yourself who and what is important
and make the time for them.
As long as you are here,
you will be blessed with time.
Get ready, the next second is coming.

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Doubt

Doubt

I was once taught that doubt is a sin.
However, now I give thanks for
any time I doubt.
It is an invitation
to learn,
grow,
and evolve.
Doubt is
like reading a mystery novel
trying to figure out
the who,
the what,
the when,
the why
and the where.
When we embrace doubt
we hold a mirror
to our own beliefs,
and gain a deeper understanding
of ourselves,
of others
and of
the one who provided
us with the very situation
in which we experience
doubt.

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Little Deaths and Births

Little Deaths and Births

It was Alice Walker who once said,
“it is never the same river twice.”
and it’s not.
The same spot in the river
may look the same,
but the soil is different,
the water is different,
everything about that spot is different,
even when it looks the same.
We are that way too.
We may look like the same person
but we are never the same person
at any two seconds in time,
our cells are different.
They are constantly dying and
new ones being reborn.
We are inhaling new
and exhaling old.
We are constantly growing and evolving.
We are in a constant state
of death and resurrection.
it is not a once year event,
but an ongoing process
we are all engaged in.
Our lives are full of daily
little deaths and births.
As a scripture says
“I am about to do a new thing,
did you see it.”
Do you see the little deaths and births in your life?
They just happened,
did you see them?

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Messages of Hope and Renewal

Messages of Hope and Renewal

“Thank you,” she said,
this stranger at the store,
who in all honesty,
I have no memory of ever seeing.
Apparently,
years ago I had seen her,
on a day she was feeling hopeless
and considering suicide.
She said I had given her
a message of hope and renewal.
I don’t remember what I said or did,
but what I do know is this.
The Ultimate uses us as
messengers of hope and renewal,
in ways we may not remember,
but to those who need to know
that today is a new day,
every day is a new day,
they are loved,
valued,
wanted,
and make the world
a better place.
Her words made me wish
I had been a messenger for
friends of mine who
took their own lives.
Then I remember being told
that I gave one of my friends
their last happy day in this world
while feeding her face
with lasagna and orange brownies.
I had no phone service
the day she died,
or I would have reached out
and been a messenger of
hope and renewal.
Each day now,
I strive to make myself available to others
to offer a simple,
but life changing message
of hope and renewal.

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Health

Health

It’s funny the things about our health
we take for granted.
Then one day something happens
and we realize how blessed we were.
Like the day I woke up unable to pee
or the day I lost the feeling in my leg
or the gradual decrease in my vision.
The list of things we take for granted
seems never ending
like how the blood flows,
or our senses,
or breathing
or sleeping
or waking up rested
or how each organ functions.
Why is it that we forget
until we are reminded?
Why is it we forget to
cultivate our health
and do what we can
to live out our lives
in the healthiest ways possible.
Today may we give thanks
for the health we have
and the gifts we have been given.

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Holy Ground

Holy Ground

“I am standing on Holy Ground
and I know that there are angels all around.”
Those lyrics remind me
that the ground I am on
is holy
the space my wheelchair sits on
is holy,
the place my body sleeps
is holy.
What happens to me may not be,
but even then, I am not always
aware of how I am being protected.
I did not die during situations
when other people did.
I have been spared a cancer diagnosis,
when my oncologist and I were fairly certain I did.
I may not always see the angels
but they are there to protect me
because they know I am
on holy ground.
Perhaps I need to remind myself
that where I am at every moment
whether I am
sitting,
standing,
or sleeping,
is holy ground.

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Crumbs

Crumbs

I stared at the plate
and all that was left
were the crumbs of
my grandmother’s cake.
Her cakes were one of those
that made you not want to miss
a single crumb.
I was a child,
but I remember her
taking the crumbs
and putting them in a container.
She never wasted a crumb.
She would then
take her collection of crumbs
and combine them with a few other ingredients
and they would become this crumb topping
on her amazing crumb cake.
Her crumb cake
reminds me that even that
which goes unused,
that which others consider useless,
are of great value.
Had those crumbs been eaten,
we would not have had her cake
and I would not have these memories
of crumbs.

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Revereance

Reverence

My Buddhist friends taught me
to press the palms of my hands together and bow
to show reverence.
They taught me to bow
for people,
places,
and things.
I am to bow
for the seen
and the unseen.
Sometimes I cannot physically bow
but I can still envision myself bowing
and showing reverence.
People may not see me bow,
but what is important
is that I take a moment
to show reverence
for those who have been sent into my life.
Each of you is worthy of
reverence.

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Everyday Transformations

Everyday Transformations

Transformations
are sometimes significant
and life changing.
Other times,
they occur in
everyday moments of life.
I see these moments in my
students posts in our online classes
as they have these aha moments
they share with everyone.
I see them in my own life
when I remember to not
take things personally and
use life as a chance to grow and evolve.
I thought about it as I ate
my udon noodles the other day
and was reminded of how
every strand’s movement
affected another strand,
transforming the entire plate.
I thought about it as I watched
my wife fill the gas tank
and how each day our lives are
filled with what we need
to keep us going and growing
in our lives.
There is nothing major
in any of these little
everyday transformations
but together
they each make a difference
in the bigger transformations
in life.

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Habits

Habits

How often do I just do what is routine?
Even my spiritual practices are routine.
I wake up
and then I begin by typing in my gratitude journal,
my inspiration journal,
my intention journal
and finally my joy journal.
Rarely do I write by hand anymore
but when I do
it is normally with my right hand,
after all I am right-handed.
Yet when I need guidance and wisdom
I often times pick up,
with my left hand,
 whatever writing utensil my spirit feels led to
and the writing flows.
it is never what I would write,
but always wisdom that comes
through me but not from me.
I am always amazed when I
step out of my own habits
and do something different,
how Spirit speaks to and through me
Sometimes I need to just move beyond
my habits and open myself up
to experiencing the presence of the Ultimate
which only happens
when I move beyond my habits
and open myself up to so much more.

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See the Blessings

See the Blessings

I love Bubby wisdom,
at least that is what I call it.
It is those pearls of wisdom,
left to me by my Bubby,
who passed over decades ago.
She would say Sara Bella,
my Hebrew name,
when you can see the good
in a bad situation,
then you know you will be ok.
She would remind me to always
look for the good
in all situations.
No matter what it was,
I was to look for the good.
So as I have lost so many people
from my life,
I have learned to remember
I have one more person
looking out for me from above.
The blessings are there,
in the midst of all situations.
Sometimes it is in the midst of them
that we find the blessings and goodness.
If it were not for injuring my back,
I would never have met so many people
who also use wheelchairs
and see me as someone who can relate to them.
If it weren’t for the storms,
I would not have the experience
of sailing through them.
It is not about the challenges
it is about how we journey through them.
I am grateful for the challenges in my life
they have helped me
grow, evolve, and transform.
They are what has helped me
to see the blessings
each and every day of my life.

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Kaleidoscope

Kaleidoscope

As a child,
I always thought these were magical.
As an adult,
I find them therapeutic.
They are an ongoing reminder of
how many different ways there are
to see a situation
or to understand a person
or to experience life.
when I change the lens
through which I look at life,
I see things in a whole new way.
What if we tried to recognize
that humanity is like a
kaleidoscope.
We may all be in the same world,
but we experience it all differently.
Each seeing an arrangement
unique to who they are
and the lens they are looking through
at that moment.
With one turn of the kaleidoscope,
everything changes,
new truths are revealed,
new understandings seen.
May we remember
to be open to
experiencing the kaleidoscope
that is life.

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