Welcome

Welcome

There are so many things that we welcome
like good times,
friends,
good news,
and things which bring us joy.
However, one thing my Bubby taught me
was to welcome everything,
especially that which I want to avoid.
So I welcome all the gifts
the Universe is sending me
those I can’t wait to unwrap
and those I would rather not.
I was taught there is a gift in each and
I cannot receive the gifts
if I do not welcome them.
I may not like their arrival,
but when I welcome and accept them,
then I welcome the gift and blessing in them
and I learn to see blessings
in all I am given,
whether I want to welcome them or not.

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Hugs from Above

Hugs from Above

Have you ever had one of those moments
where you just want to be held
and comforted
and feel like you are wrapped
in the arms of the Ultimate?
There is something about being held
and cuddled that makes one feel loved.
It seems like no matter how old I am
there are those days and moments
when I wish I was small and
cuddled up in my parents arms.
When my son and I were living apart
and he was younger
I would give him these hugs over the phone.
He would wrap his arms around himself
and listen to me make this squeezing sound
which made him feel like he was in my arms.
Today when I am needing that hug
I have learned to hug myself as tightly as I can
and rock back and forth
as if I am in the cradled arms of the Ultimate
and then I feel it
the warmth and love
of the one who has loved me
before my arrival.
The love which lives within me
and which I can access anytime
I just stop, hug myself and rock.

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Cybergrace

Cybergrace

It’s funny how naming something
changes everything.
We name people, pets, and cars
but how about machines.
What if we named our phones,
our computers,
all the machines which serve us every day.
What if we gave thanks for the technology
and all that is present for us in this digital world.
What if our technology knew we care about it
and recognized it as a gift from the Ultimate?
I remember hearing how abusers
dehumanize the ones they abuse
by identifying them by role, not name.
By not naming that which supports us
are we devaluing it?
If we say hello to Candice, the Computer,
or Monica, the mouse,
or any other cyber sources in your life,
do we give them a value and energy
that makes them feel loved
and lets us experience them differently.
Does doing so allow us to show and experience
a new form of grace?

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It’s Not About Me

It’s Not About Me

I don’t know about you,
but I have a love/hate relationship
with lessons that come to me from several directions
at the same time. 
Like the reminder that it’s not about me.
The Four Agreements tell me
to not take things personally.
Through Pampered Chef I’ve been told
it's about your hosts and your guests.
Through teaching, I’m reminded
it's about helping your students and
what is best for them.
From my computer repair guy
who says happy Spouse, happy life.
All remind me that when I step out of the way,
when I stop thinking it is about me,
then I am better able to serve others.
It doesn’t matter who the other is and
that is not to say that my self care and needs are not important
but that being of service is not about me.
Being of service is about me present
and doing what is best for those
I have been sent to serve.
When I remember it’s not about me,
and put others first,
it seems like God blesses me
through the actions and deeds of others.

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They’re Free

They’re Free

It costs nothing
to be compassionate,
to offer others a smile,
to speak loving words,
to be of service,
to radiate warmth to others
to offer people a seat
or a roof over one’s head.
These offerings cost nothing.
It costs nothing to learn from spiritual teachers.
It doesn’t matter who the teacher is,
rather that we open our hearts, minds, and souls
to learn.
It costs nothing to perform random acts of kindness.
Being loving is free.
May we continue to give and do unto others
all that is free.

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Inexplicable

Inexplicable

I love looking at artwork.
There is something about doing so
that reminds me it is ok to not know,
to not understand,
and for things to be inexplicable.
It is ok to live in a state of mystery,
because it is about walking in faith
and trusting that the one who has guided you
to this stage in your life,
will guide you to all the stages.
You do not have to understand the how
or when
or why
or where
but know you are going to arrive where you are headed
and when you are supposed to be there.
Everything in life is filled with
the inexplicable.
We may seek to understand something,
but there may always be aspects we never quite understand.
It  is ok to not know and
to live with the inexplicable.

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Walking

Walking

Keep walking,
just one step at a time.
So often in my journey
I have stopped walking out of fear
instead of walking in faith.
We may not know what is at the end of the journey
or even what is ahead of us,
but that is when we have to decide to keep walking
Every step we take is about faith.
It is about remembering that the source
that bought us this far,
is the source that will bring us to our destination.
Keep walking.
Just one step at a time,
consistently walking in faith
and never walking in fear.
We just keep walking
knowing the best is yet to come.

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Open for Business

Open for Business

I have seen so many creative
open for business signs.
Looking at them has made me wonder
if I am open for business.
Am I open for what the Ultimate has for me.
Am I open minded or
am I closed to new ideas and opportunities.
Do my fears,
keep me from receiving my blessings?

Do my doubts,
keep me from believing that an opportunity is really for me?
Why do I put up my closed sign
when the Ultimate is asking me to be
open for business.?
Perhaps this is my season
to be open
and receptive
and be open to all
that was intended for me to have
and to release the doubts that
I am not worthy.
I need to be open
to all the Ultimate has in store
and help others find the courage
to stay open for business as well.

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CRACKFINDERS

Crackfinders

I have always been a crackfinder.
My major professor used to say that about me.
She said I found ways of seeing the people
society had pushed between the cracks.
Matthew Fox taught me to look in the cracks
and see the beauty that grows within them.
Spending time seeing the beauty in the cracks
reminded me of those who lived below the surface
like in Beauty and the Beast.
What makes people beautiful
is not how they look on the outside,
but what is adorning the inside
and all the things in life that have
created cracks,
which bring their inner beauty and brilliance
to the surface.
What if we each became crackfinders
and looked for the beauty in everyone we meet.
The beauty in life is everywhere.
We can see it in the cracks and that which grows within it.
It is in the color of the flowers
and the leaves
and the smell of freshly cut grass
and all the things which scream out at you
and say I am a gift from the Divine
just letting you know I am here
hidden in a crack only you can see.

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Joyous

Joyous

Rather then being jealous of others,
I am spending my time being joyous.
Joyous for them and their blessings.
joyous for their gifts and talents.
Joyous for all that is going well with them.
My being joyous is not just about them,
but me.
Being joyous for others
gives me joy in my hard times.
Celebrating others
helps me celebrate myself.
Judy’s passion for advocacy reminds me
I am a fighter and can slay the storms.
Eileen’s going to concerts and loving music
reminds me I can go places virtually and enjoy life
even when I can’t go physically.
So many of my friends make me joyous.
I would much rather be joyous with them
then jealous of them.

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This is Me

This is Me

Make a collage I was told,
or a sculpture
or a painting of you,
but that is not me.
it’s not how I express myself.
this is me.
I am simple, yet complex.
I am a kaleidoscope.
I am consistent and evolving.
I am spiritual and human.
I am a brook,
quiet but babbling.
I am a down comforter,
warm, cuddly, and comforting.
I am more then I know and
more then you see.
I am who the Ultimate is
sculpting me to be.
This, my friends, is me.

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Inspirations

Inspirations

It’s part of my daily ritual,
writing in my inspiration journal.
it is something I do without thinking
until I realized that many do not know
what inspires them or
how to inspire themselves.
It started when someone asked me
what inspires me and all I could think of was
the world.
So many things inspire me,
move me emotionally,
mentally,
physically, and
spiritually.
It can be a quote I read,
or a story someone told me,
a song I heard,
time by the canal
or at a beach,
the flowers or grass in our gardens
images,
photographs,
a cup of tea
a name that makes me stop like ming’s bings
a sound like a cat purring,
a feeling like the heat which keeps me warm,
a smell like freshly cut grass,
the taste of hot chocolate
and so much more.
What inspires me is truly anything
and sometimes it is someone I know
or someone I may never meet
like you

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Soulprints

Soulprints

We talk about so many kinds of footprints;
human
animal, and
carbon, but how about
soulprints.
Everyday,
every moment,
every place,
every person,
we leave our soulprint
on the world.
It is a spiritual trace
of who we are
and the legacy we are leaving behind.
Even though I have not left my computer today,
other then to cook a meal
and go to the bathroom,
I am still leaving a soulprint virtually
on every person I have written to
or engaged with.
What is my soulprint saying about me?
What is yours saying about you?

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Needing Who

Needing Who

How often have I heard someone say
I need Jesus
I need Muhammed
I need Buddha
or whatever they call their Higher Power.
I too need to have my relationship
with the one I call the Ultimate.
I need that presence in my life.
Yet what I also need are those
in my life who inspire me,
touch me,
challenge me,
and force me to grow.
I need the Higher Power in them
to touch me.
I need my relationship with the Ultimate,
but what I also need is all the people
who have been sent into my life
to answer my prayers
and provide guidance along the way.
I need this because I also know someone needs me
to reflect their Higher Power for them
May we not only see the Divine in each other
but reflect the Divine for each other.

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Cracking Open

Cracking Open

It’s crazy how the simplest of things
can crack open your mind and your life
to a new world.
I was watching someone crack an egg.
they were so careful to separate the yolk from the white.
They had to crack it open to let it go.
What do I need to crack open and let go in my life.
What do I need to let go of
so I can evolve?
What if I am like a pinata,
needing to be cracked open
so all my blessings can flow out?
What beliefs do I need to let go of?
What if I let go of one thing a month,
or a week,
or a day?
What is keeping me from walking in the
fullness of the gifts and blessings
the Ultimate has inside me?
Perhaps today I need to start cracking myself open
and open myself up to
the adventures and blessings
on this amazing journey.

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Celebrate Yourself

Celebrate Yourself

When you look in the mirror
what do you see?
Perhaps more importantly
what do you say?
Do you speak
affirmations to yourself
and tell yourself you are amazing just as you are.
Do you give yourself a high five
for something amazing you have done
in your life.
Do we do as Walt Whitman did
and say “I celebrate myself.”
What if we celebrated the beauty
in which we were created?
What if we celebrated our achievements,
no matter how tiny?
What if we found a reason each day to celebrate
our life, our experiences, and our friends.
What if we took a moment,
like now,
to celebrate something
amazing in our lives.
Just stop for a moment
and say
I celebrate myself.

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Memories of a Teacher

Memories of a Teacher

“Write about bridges.”
This was one of those powerful
life changing messages
given to me by the late
Rev Dr James Evans.
My heart still trembles
as I type his name.
He was the one who made me
fall in love with theology.
He told me to find myself
and my way of interpreting scripture
that built bridges.
He challenged me to read scripture
for the stories of bridge builders.
The people who were not one tribe or the other,
the people who told stories about building bridges, and
the people who knew about the vertical
and the horizontal beams of the cross.
He encouraged me to be a liberator,
one who both taught about how the perfect form of slavery
was not even realizing you were enslaved
and a liberator from those
invisible shackles which enslaved.
He taught me to own my Sophia
and created spaces for me,
a humble m.div student
to teach d. min students
in a course on activism and advocacy.
I know I am not the only one he liberated.
He did more than write about
black liberation theology,
he created keys
which unlocked so many of our gifts.
I know he unlocked many of mine.

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Grilled Cheese Grace

Grilled Cheese Grace

I am not sure I know anyone that
does not like grilled cheese sandwiches.
There is nothing like an ooey gooey grilled cheese sandwich.
Some people like a single slice of cheese
and others, like me, want more.
Regardless there is the buttery goodness
and the gooeyness of the cheese
and the warmth when it first comes off the stove.
As I was making some last night,
I realized that grilled cheese sandwiches
are like God’s grace.
Grace is like the butter being spread on the outside,
and sometimes the inside of the bread too.
It is like the cheese being piled on the sandwich.
Sometimes it is just that one slice of cheese,
other times it is this crazy mixture of toppings,
plopped between the slices of bread
with a sense of joy and engagement.
When it is done
the golden brown gooeyness
screams come taste me,
enjoy me,
and know you are loved.

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Storytelling

Storytelling

We are each storytellers,
whether we realize it or not.
Every day of our lives
is like a chapter in the book
we are writing for the world.
Our book, like our lives,
is filled with characters and themes.
We invite people to sit with us
around the fireplace of our heart,
as we share the love and wisdom
which lives within us.
We share cups of hot cocoa
and travel together in ways and to places
that only our imaginations can take us.
We are the writers of our own books
and the readers of the stories that others have
written us into.

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Finding Wisdom

Finding Wisdom

I remember when I was young
there would be these picture puzzles
where you had to find certain things.
A friend of mine still plays them,
but now on their computer,
where they look for hidden objects
and try to find them in a certain amount of time.
Isn’t that how many of life’s wisdoms come to us,
as objects hidden right in front of us,
waiting for us to discover it.
Wisdom rarely just walks up to us and says
here i am,
your wisdom for the day,
rather we receive it
in the most unexpected of ways
and places
and the most unexpected of people.

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