Rumi asks,

"Why,
when God's world is so big,
did you fall asleep in prison
of all places?"

What imprisons me?
What keeps me from living a full and conscious life?
What must I do to remove the prison bars?

Let us escape the prisons of o

When I feel excluded,
on the fringe,
alienated,
ignored,
I remember the mainstay of my faith :
I am loved.
No actions, words, rituals, rubrics, mandates, encyclicals
can deny me that love.

I hold fast to these words by Irene Zimmerman SSSF:

All the way to Elizabeth
and in the months afterward,
she wove him, pondering,
"this is my body, this is my blood"

Beneath the watching eyes
of donkey, ox and sheep,
she rocked him, crooning,
"this is my body, this is my blood."

In the search for her young, lost boy
and the foreboding day of his leaving,
she let him go, knowing,
"this is my body, this is my blood"

Under the blood smeared cross
she rocked his mangled bones,
re-membering him, moaning,
"this is my body, this is my blood."

When darkness, stones and tomb
bloomed to Easter morning
she ran to him shouting,
"this is my body, this is my blood."

And no one thought to tell her,
"Woman, it is not fitting
for you to say those words,
You don't resembe him."

Delight in knowing you are loved.

When do I begin ...
when I have a dedicated space?
when I have enough money?
when I have time?
when I receive a sign?
when I am strong and healthy?
when the children leave home?
We can create excuses when NOT to begin.
But Anne Frank challenges us with,
"How wonderful it is that
nobody need wait a single moment
before starting
to improve the world."

May every beginning bless you. Take heart.

Catherine of Siena said,

"Your neighbours are the channel
through which all your virtues
come to birth "

Let us bless our neighbours.
May they bless us.

"The miracle is not to walk on water
but on the earth."
Thich Nhat Hanh

May your footsteps be moments of grace.

If prayer would do it
I'd pray.

If reading esteemed thinkers would do it
I'd be halfway through the Patriarchs.

If discourse would do it
I'd be sitting with His Holiness
every moment he was free.

If contemplation would do it
I'd have translated the Periodic Table
to hermit poems, converting
matter to spirit.

If even fighting would do it
I'd already be a blackbelt.

If anything other than love could do it
I've done it already
and left the hardest for last.

Stephen Levine in "Breaking the Drought"

May you be blessed with love.

"We must turn inward
and destroy in ourselves
all that we think
we ought to destroy in others."
Etty Hillesum in "An Interrupted Life"

Through which filter do I engage with my world:
appreciation?
aspiration?
resentment?
gratitude?
fear?
haste?
Kerry Walters in 'Jacob's Hip' says,
"Christianity is all about looking at the world in a new way.
One of Jesus' favorite words is "behold,"
and in inviting us to "behold," he offers a therapy
by which we learn how to see."

May we be filled with delight as we 'behold' our world with a new vision.

What are my 'care instructions' for life ...
a rule of some kind for my physical, spiritual, emotional and intellectual well-being?
a guide that shapes my relationship with the earth, with others, with disaster and tragedy?
a goal which gives my life a sense of purpose and direction?
We can only create our own 'care instuctions':
they cannot be imposed upon us nor can we impose them upon others.
And these instructions are fluid, organic and dynamic. They are not rigid and inflexible.

May your 'care instructions' protect you an

Today is the Christian feast of All Saints.
I try to recall;
to honour;
to embody;
to thank
all those, throughout time,
who have contributed to who I am at this moment of time.
My whakapapa, especially my matriarchal lineage.
My ancestors in faith: biblical, traditional, prophetic, pragmatic, wise.
Those who have loved me; those who have hurt me; those who have ignored me.
Soul friends I have encountered through film, poetry, books, music, dance, art.
I am richly blessed.

Let us remember with grateful hearts, all those who have shaped our world.
May each one of them be filled with grace and blessing.