Dancing

Dancing

I may not be able to
dance like I once could,
but I dance in other ways.
Watching others dance reminds me
that dancing is about more then the moves.
it is about making your partner look good.
It is about being Fred to Ginger
and Ginger to Fred.
it is about understanding each other
and knowing how to show off their strengths
and minimize their weaknesses.
It is about practicing with each other,
learning with and from each other
It is about dancing with each other daily,
not just on special occasions
or when others are watching.
It is not about the physical movements,
but the way we dance with each other
emotionally,
mentally,
and spiritually.
It is not about the style
but about the skills that go into
the dance.

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Yak Yak Yak

Yak Yak Yak

Sometimes that is what
my brain is saying to itself.
Yak Yak Yak – absolutely nothing.
It is what happens when I allow
fear into my mind.
it starts creating stories
about stuff and tries to make itself
bigger and more important then it is.
Fear is nothing more then
false
evidence
appearing
real.
When the yakking starts,
I have to be intentional about stopping it
and turning my hearing towards truth.
I have to
face
everything
and
rise.
I have to rise above the yakking
and listen to the
wisdom and the truth
not the fear.

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Look at the View

Look at the View

These were the words of wisdom
from a homeless man
who said
“look at the view.”
He had nothing,
but he had everything.
He could see the world
and the beauty in it.
He saw the view
not just what was in front of him.
His philosophy taught me to see
not just what was in front of me,
but to pay attention to the world and
look at the view.

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The First Agreement

The First Agreement

I was talking about The First Agreement
with a friend.
it sounds simple -
Be impeccable with your words.
But your words come from your thoughts
which come from your beliefs
which come from your experiences.
My experience of someone
are not just about what they say
but their body language
and their facial gestures.
Then it hit me,
I not only need to
be impeccable with my words,
but with my body and my face.
My words may be sounding loving,
but what you are seeing may not.
If I am not impeccable with all of me
then I limit my ability to experience all of you
and your ability to experience all of me.
When we are impeccable with all of our communication,
we allow ourselves to see more of the
Divine in each other.
Perhaps the first agreement
should just be --
be impeccable.

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Designer Label

Designer Label

I remember it like it was yesterday.
It was a line from one of my first sermons.
I said, “We are divine by design,
because were designed by the divine.”
When I look at people,
I try to remember they are wearing
a designer original.
They too are divine by design
because they are designed by the divine.
I remember that
to remind me to treat others with reverence.
Cambodians lift people they rever up
so their heads are above theirs.
Others fold their hands together
and bow their heads in reverence.
Whatever your gesture,
practice something to show
that the Divine in you
sees the Divine in them.
For me, it is just seeing that
imaginary designer label.

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silence

Silence

Silence is one of my favorite
spiritual exercises.
You would think silence
would be easy to practice,
but it’s not.
It requires practice
to silence all the noise in my world
enough I can hear
the symphony of silence
in the universe.
The more I am able to silence
the world around me
and the noises in my head,
the more I am able to hear
the ways the universe
is speaking to me
and the symphony
which I can only hear
in my silence.

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Enough

Enough

I love window shopping.
It is an ongoing reminder
I have enough.
it is not that I do not see things I like,
I do,
but in all honesty,
I have enough.
If I need it,
then I get it,
but wanting is not needing
and with most things
I have enough.
Twice a year we go through
and share what we no longer need
with others,
because sometimes
we have more than enough.
I do not need
clothes I never wear
or things I never use
or books I no longer read.
Having what I need
is enough
and that is plenty.
Sharing what I no longer need
ensures others have enough too.

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Listen

Listen

I have long said that listening
is a sacred gift we give to each other.
We all want someone to listen to us.
When they really listen, we feel loved.
We can do the same for others
and truly listen.
It is more than people who are asking us to
listen.
If I just sit outside and
listen
I can hear the world speaking to me.
I listen to the words of the wind.
I hear the water touching the ground
whether it is rain or a riverbed.
I hear them in the sounds of the birds
I hear the music
I hear the messages of my ancestors
I just have to
Listen

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Thank You

Thank You

Every day I take the time to give thanks.
I write in my gratitude journal
about those things I am grateful for in my life.
I give thanks for people, places, things and
that which I cannot classify.
At times I give thanks for things I have been spared,
like situations, illnesses, and
other parts of life I never have to consider.
This morning I realized how easy it is for me to say
thank you
to those who think like me
or share my opinion.
However, I have to also say
thank you
to those who I do not agree with.
I cannot say
thank you
to one group and not the other.
Whether I agree with them or not,
we are all seeking a deeper understanding of truth
and in the process we both contribute,
willingly or not,
to each other’s search.
Today, whether we share opinions or not,
I just want to say
thank you.

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Savoring, Not Swallowing

Savoring, Not Swallowing

The last few weeks I have to admit,
I have not really been savoring anything
except for getting closer to the end of grading frenzy.
Even then I was not savoring it until the end,
until the last grade was submitted
and I knew I was done.
That moment of nothing more to dol
that I savored.
I swallowed up the papers to be graded,
the chores to be done,
the meals to be made,
all of it I had so much on my plate
that all I was doing was swallowing.
I didn’t realize how much I was
just swallowing
until now when I have so little on my plate
that I can savor.
I can savor what I am reading,
savor what I am learning
savor what the Ultimate is doing in each moment.
now I can just savor.
I am in a space where I can seek and not just do.
I can sit and fully experience the moment,
rather then rush off to the next things to do.
I may find myself with times I have to swallow,
but as I sit here and savor,
I realize I need to seek out more time
to savor and not swallow.

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A Fresh Perspective

A Fresh Perspective

There are those moments in my life,
when I look at a situation
and all I can see is what I am used to seeing.
Sometimes I need to have a fresh perspective.
Sometimes I need to forget what I think I know
and what I am used to seeing
and thinking
and feeling and
open myself up to it being the first time.
It is about having a beginner’s mindset
where I can see and understand things
that I could not comprehend before.
It was like when I was learning from Dr Riciutti
and she said when you are writing a sermon
forget all the ways you have heard it preached
and look for something new in the scripture.
It is especially in those moments
when I feel frustrated, hurt or angry
that I stop and wash the muck from my eyes
and work to find the beauty and the blessings
in all situations.
It is like a peacock,
one moment I do not see the beauty
and the next moment I do.
I have to look for the beauty
by always bringing a fresh perspective
into the experience

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Self caSelf care?re?

Self care?

Self care?
LOL me?
I am so much better at caring for others then myself.
My soul sister and wife
have been modeling for years
what self care looks like.
I am great at taking naps,
and making sure I am rested,
but doing things that bring me joy
has been hard,
especially since my paratransit disappeared.
Zoe tells me to buy what I want from the store,
make dishes I enjoy.
Eileen reminds me I deserve to do little things
like get my hair cut,
buy new clothes,
do things that bring me joy.
I am worthy of doing things that bring me joy,
of going places I want to go,
doing things I want to do,
re-exploring the world
now that I can leave my house again.
It is time for me to practice a different kind of self care.
the kind that involves friends,
pampering,
adventure,
and re-exploring the world.
this is why I am arranging
adventures with my soul sister
and my wife -
my two best friends/
This journey began a fewe months ago
with new socks, shoes,
and a new wardrobe.
Today it included things only I enjoy eating
like pickled tomatoes and half sour pickles,
ordering some vegan halva
taking a grading break
and rolling around the block
It may take me a moment to rediscover
what I enjoy
but what an awesome time of discovery
and self care.

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Four Rooms

Four Rooms

There are 7 rooms in our house,
but we spend most of or time in 3 or 4;
our bedroom, bathroom and office
and I spend time in our kitchen.
We were talking about this the other day and
how we need to air out all the rooms,
whether we use them or not
and so we are.
This conversation reminded me of an Indian proverb.
It taught that we are each a house of four rooms
a physical room,
a mental room,
an emotional room
and a spiritual room.
How many of these rooms do you spend time in.
Do you spend time in one of these rooms
or all four?
What if we were to spend time in all four each day,
even if it is just to air things out,
like a physical room?
This week I am spending more time in my physical room
as this has been the room I have spent the least time in.
I am still spending time in the other 3
but to help myself grow and evolve
I am remembering to value
all four rooms
and not just one.

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Life

Life

This path
it is not always easy.
The last few years especially
as we have learned how to
move through life being masked
not seeing people’s faces,
and not knowing who we could trust
being around and who we could not.
Students struggled through school
and then could not attend proms
or graduation ceremonies
other than on zoom.
Familiar life markers disappeared.
People lost employment and
companies had to pivot
just to keep their businesses alive.
Other industries emerged
and became household names
and continue to grow and evolve today.
In the midst of all these changes,
people died.
Those voids remain today with
empty chairs around the tables.
The C word used to be about cancer,
then it became about Covid.
We pretend as if it is gone,
but for some it never will be.
So many places I go still require masking
and I still mask even if its not.
I cannot risk being exposed
and I will not risk dying.
Life is not easy,
but nobody promised it would be.
Nobody promised me a rose garden,
just an adventure filled life
that would be more like a roller coaster;
a crazy ride I would be on forever,
until I got off
and gave thanks for all the adventures
in my life.

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Searching

Searching

I woke up to someone singing
looking for love in all the wrong places.
Throughout the day it had me thinking
about how often I look for reflections of myself
in others and in the world.
What if I am searching in the wrong place?
What if I am looking for the Ultimate in all the wrong places?
What if I looked for the stranger walking their dog in me?
What if I looked for the path in me?
What if I looked for the plants in me?
What if I looked for the sky in me?
What if I looked for the earth, air, fire and wind in me?
If I remembered that everything created by the Ultimate is within me,
would I be better able to see it all in me?
Would I stop searching for the Ultimate
in places other than myself?

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Spud Lessons

Spud Lessons

I was going through a bag of potatoes
when I heard my father’s voice
asking me if I remembered how to clean them.
I knew better then to say of course,
because I knew he was there to teach me a lesson,
or at least remind me of one.
I remember the day he taught me
how to clean potatoes.
He used to hate cleaning potatoes,
during the Korean war.
One at a time, he would clean them,
whenever he was on kitchen duty,
which seemed quite often.
His coming back to me was to remind me about
community.
I could be like he used to be,
cleaning them one at a time,
or I could put them all in a tub of some type
and create a washing machine kind of movement,
where the potatoes rubbed against each other,
connecting to,
interacting with,
and cleansing each other.
The potatoes were not cleansed one at a time,
they were transformed as a community.
Perhaps we all need to get in the tub together,
connect,
interact,
and help each other
grow, evolve and become more
then we can alone.

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Transforming

Transforming

Have you ever sat in amazement at how
God works in mysterious ways.
whether it is how people are bought together
or situations which arise to teach us lessons,
the Universe works in mysterious ways
to help us grow, evolve, and transform.
I keep learning how to transform how I see the situation.
Whether it is moving out of the stress and into peace
or releasing the victim role it is easy to fall into,
creatively transforming the situation
moves me through and teaches me lessons about life.
Like when my wheelchair was not running properly
and I felt my stress level rising
because my fairly new wheelchair was not working.
Before I completely lost it,
I remembered to stop and look for the blessings.
I began to give thanks for the warranty,
the spare chair in the garage,
the friend who cleared the drive of snow so it could come in the
house.
I remembered that prayer and meditation relieve my stress,
so I stopped, napped and released my concerns to the Ultimate.
I remembered I can still walk very short distances
and I have a wife who helps me when I need assistance.
By looking for the blessings,
thanks to my Bubby’s wisdom,
this situation, and others,
transformed itself from frustrating to fruitful,
all because I was willing to learn and transform.

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Boring?

Boring?

I remember telling my Bubby once,
just once mind you,
that I was bored doing something.
Honestly I don’t remember what it was.
I just remember her saying,
“oh really?  Keep doing it then.”
She would make me keep doing it
until I was enjoying what I was doing.
She would always ask me
“Are you enjoying it yet?”
The amazing thing is that
when I persevered and kept at it,
the most mundane task
would become interesting
and take on value.
One day she said to me,
“Do you think God is boring?”
God has never been boring to me,
but our conversation taught me
that every thing I do is about
honoring how I have been blessed.
So daily chores can be interesting,
when I think about them as a blessing.
When I can see the Ultimate in the simplest of things
like being able to wash my hands,
brush my teeth,
go to the bathroom,
dust my furniture,
file my papers,
and the list goes on,
then I can see the importance of what I am doing
and the simple task of keeping my desk clean,
becomes an opportunity to give thanks
for the desk I have,
the room it is in,
the home it is in
and the list goes on.
Dusting is no longer a boring chore,
but a way of giving thanks
as are so many other things in my life.  

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Great Conversations

Great Conversations

Sometimes talking with someone is so easy.
Other times,
I honestly just want to leave.
I stay, not because it is easy,
rather because it is needed.
Neither of us can grow if we stop.
We stay the same,
we do not change.
When we love each other,
we stay at the table and commit
to listening, hearing, and talking it through.
It doesn’t mean we like what we hear,
but we hear it anyway.
We think about what we do not like
and why we don’t
and talk through the discomfort.
the challenges,
the pain,
the truths,
and we keep talking through the tears
and the pain
and the discomfort
until we arrive at a place
of deeper understanding
and a closeness that only comes
from talking through the tough times.
Years from now it is not what was said we remember,
but the closeness we gained
in the greatest of conversations.

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Being Present

Being Present

Have you ever been having a conversation with someone,
but feel like you are in a conversation by yourself.
There seems to be a lack of reciprocity,
a lack of energy and focus,
and the inability to be present.
It is hard to have a meaningful conversation
when others are not present.
The same is true for me.
I have had to learn how to stop
and explain that I want to be present,
but at the moment I just can’t.
I belive in being honest,
present,
and polite
with those trying to engage with me.
When I can’t I honor all of us,
by politely exiting the conversation
and rejoin when I can be present

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