When The World Is On Fire

This is exquisitely challenging encourgement for this time.

"Douse every angry conversation with unexpected kindness."

I hope with every fiber of my being I can find 

what it requires to do this.  

Anger is hard for me to respond to because

it jangles all the alarm bells within me and 

ignites a blast of defensiveness rather than kindness. 

"Flow gently through the streets where people

have grown hard because they are sad and 

sad because they are tired and tired because

they are breaking."

This is soft rebellion. 

Hope is what softens us and

 softens those around us.

"Flood the earth with goodness.

Without asking who deserves it."

This is a extremely difficult in light

of cruel and vindictive behavior.

It requires vast amounts of 

almost hopeless mercy 

and mutual respect 

the size of the universe.

(Emphasis on mutual.)

"When the world is on fire, be water."

Be the river...

Namaste'

 

Fly Away

I suspect we've all felt the desire to fly away.

There are any number of reasons one might want to.

"You are here because your life is still so full

of gold and grace and holding on."  

We thrive on the gold and the grace when 

things are so hard all we want is to escape.

I swear, if I had any say in it, life would

not be so hard.  It seems to me a truly benevolent

creator would give us a world without meanness.

And yet..."as hard as it gets, be still and know,

the world is more beautiful with you inside it". . .

you're the antivenin to meanness.

Namaste'

Because The World Is In Need of Mercy

This is the kind of gentle, quiet beauty that sends chills 

starting in my bones and spreading through my skin cells.

"Because I am in awe of her silk-spun funnel like a gossamer tent

cascading over a green metal trowel."

How can we not marvel at the magnificence 

contained in a garden glove?  

As well as the human who notices

and shares such a splendid description

for the rest of us hurrying folks who

might miss the wonder?

I want to be like the spider...

"gathering raindrops and sweeping away 

winged seeds after a storm."

Whatever the human equivalent of this might be.

Recognizing how briefly I am here

and how swiftly I will be gone.

Namaste'

 

One Of The Worst Storms

This feels so timely, right now.

Even as dreary feelings assail me in weaker moments.

"Each drop whispered, you don't have to be much;

you just can't quit."

So I'm shoring up the banks of my inner river and continuing

to do whatever I can, no matter how small 

and ineffective it feels. 

I will not quit.

There's always a way.

May we each find ours 

and travel it with grace 

and soft, defiant, determined dignity.

Namaste'

 

Gratitude

With these words, I'm picking up my 

"flashlight with half-dead batteries" and heading out.

Hope has been described in a similar fashion.

Neither comes easy...especially in gruesome circumstances.

I will say, gratitude has realigned my thoughts

more times than I can count.

It marches in when I'm feeling sorry for myself

and sorts things out with quick efficiency.

Although, I still pitch a fit for a minute or five

when things go awry.  

I believe we deserve a cuss or a curse in fleeting moments of mayhem.

And considerably more in tragic happenings.

It requires deep, deep digging to find any sliver of gratitude then.

My heart goes out to those in the midst of these.

My "hope" is for each of us to find exactly what we need,

when we need it, to make our way, even with stumbling baby steps, 

through the rubble and the riches of our one precious life.

Namaste'

 

With The Stones of Our Stories

"Every day, the heart finds a new way to ache."

I knew humans could be cruel from books I've read about the past,

and places far away.  I'm now experiencing it nearby in real time.

It's not exaggerating to say I ache all over.

"Every day, our most sacred selves try to build a stone wall

around the heart, as if to keep the ache away."

I don't know about you, but I'm gathering stones

as big as coffee tables to distract and deny the hurt in my heart.

I'm not sure my "most sacred self" is ready to 

"dismantle the wall".  And yet, if you were to ask me

what is the one thing I wish I could do, it would be

to build bridges across the divides where folks

from all sides can dwell with decency, respect and equality,

and cruelty would be no more.

Namaste'

 

And When Your Time

"I hope [we} leave this world with a heart that is worn out and tender all over, 

with a heart that aches from loving, and feeling, and caring in the best way possible."

Does being "civilized" numb us from feeling all the vast sensations

that pass through us as we make our way?

Does the sheer volume of images and words we are presented with anesthetize us,

causing us to detach from our own humanity?

The capability for humans to behave in vicious, cruel ways 

has stunned and appalled me since I was a child reading about martyrs.

How do I keep ourself vulnerable enough to live from the center of my heart?

The thought of it exhausts me, yet it is how I want to live my life.

"I hope you leave this world knowing that you poured hope into everything you did..."

I have enormous gratitude for those people who remain hopeful

even when everything around us seems to say otherwise.

If it were possible, I would eagerly take transfusions from them regularly.

I wish things like respect and decency could be administered in the same fashion.

May we continue to let our hearts be open and soft...fierce and resilient.

May those who are soul damaged find whatever medicine is needed to heal

their brokenness and transform their behavior.

Those of us seeking true justice and dignity for all will prevail!

Namaste'

 

Defend Your Heart

This entire quote could be a list of how to stay sane, don't you think?

* Keep my heart open no matter what is happening around me?

Talk about vulnerable, right? I get nervous when I think of this yet,

I know its the way to go but that doesn't make it any easier.

 * Forgive myself first so then I can be forgiving of others?
This is no small feat, although I am getting better at remembering

that forgiving myself is important no matter how much cringe/shame I feel.

 * "Slow down - taste and touch and feel and care?"
A long way to go in this department.  I seem to be programmed for rushing.

I'm doing my best to change that.

  * Creating what I want to see in this world, and staying curious?
It's so easy to mirror what is already here and what is here 

these days on the public stage and in much of the media is decidedly

not what I want to see in this world.  It takes effort to disconnect from

fear and dismay and concentrate on bravery and changing the tone.

* Honouring my joy, and not shying away from the good that is trying to reach me 

—and convincing myself  that I am  worthy of it"?

Whoa!  This is where things require intense scrutiny on the inner plain...the outdated

scripts have hummed so long and are so deeply rooted that repotting them takes real effort.

* "Strong enough to be gentle? Brave enough to break?"
I'm ok with being gentle most of the time.  Am I brave enough to break?

I tell myself I am, but I wonder how that will hold up in a moment of reckoning?

* "Being all that I can be"?  

I don't see any way to avoid that! 

I am who I am for better or worse, thank you very much.

Namaste'

 

Maybe In Another Lifetime

Fighting is a word I avoid.

I much prefer the word "cherish",

or "treasure", or "defend".

"So please, just cherish the things 

that crack light into our life. 

Treasure the things that soften [us].""

When pondering the cracks of light in my life,

and the things that soften me,

I am greeted with an embarrassment of bounty.

What are you greeted with?

"Protect the people [we] love, leave them better than [we] found them."

I gather these words to my heart and renew my vow...

to be present, to praise, to appreciate, to cheer for

those who I have the privilege of loving in this one precious life.

With that, I sincerely hope I leave them better than I found them.

For that is the purpose of a lifetime, I'm thinking.

Namaste'