Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘attack on the US Capitol Building January 6’

If A Sweet Gum Could Speak

Posted in inspiration, tagged , , , , , , , on January 21, 2022| Leave a Comment » 

If A Sweet Gum Could Speak
 
Don’t pray for lighter burdens, but for stronger backs. Nothing 
endures but personal qualities. Those who endure, conquer. 
(Rodney A. Winters)
My partners and I in the yard share the same name, sweet gum. 
In the autumn our star leaves create a varied pallet of orange, 
yellow, and green. A scene worth painting or watching from the 
window as birds visit.
We stand bare now. My branches reach out at a different angle 
than the trees next to me. We are individual, beautiful, rooted in the earth.
Touch my surface. Cold is okay. More than okay. 
Can you imagine how weak you would be if high winds never tested you. 
Yes, I am aware of the rest of the earth. It affects me. When you
 trim my dead branches. When leaves appear or drop. I don’t have speech.
 I do have presence.
Thanks for celebrating this moment with me. 
January, like life itself, ends. Celebrate it while it is here.

Read Full Post »

Woundedness and Light

Posted in inspiration, tagged , , , , , , on January 14, 2021| 2 Comments »

The wound is the place where the Light enters you. (Rumi)

The mission. To fill aching cracks. In people with warring views. In the world. With glue that connects more than bones or moments. With one glue known as truth, another known as love.

Should be, words as vacant as a cup with no bottom. Who owns the should-be privilege? A limited few or a diverse population? A political circle or a world team? Violence at the Capitol Building in Washington DC. Because an angry mob wanted a different leader. How did it help?

Destruction, obvious. Wounds, untouched, made deeper.

Light. May it find a way to reach universal suffering.

 

Read Full Post »

More Than a Resolution

Posted in inspiration, tagged , , , , on January 6, 2021| Leave a Comment »

If you asked me for my New Year Resolution, it would be to find out who I am. (Cyril Cusack)

 When a close friend asked me about my resolution for this year, I gave her one of those toothless, emotion-hiding smiles and replied, “Same as last year.” A vague answer. I haven’t recovered enough from 2020 to make a resolution.

 When my husband and I visited Ireland several years ago, we pretended to be Canadian. I was ashamed of the so-called home of the free and the brave. That situation has deepened since the mob riot attack on the United States Capitol today.

The news continues in a loop. I don’t know where or when it will end. Growth and learning can happen. The hard way, but it can happen.

I refuse to claim importance because of my birthplace. America. White ethnic heritage. I prefer saying I was dropped off by aliens from another planet. I am one human being. One. My size, shape, color, ancestry, and religion are random like an ace pulled from a deck of cards.

Growing up in the middle of the twentieth century, I was told by parents, teachers, and peers who to be. The ten commandments carried all the answers.

Life isn’t that simple.

The view from an airplane shows no detail. Areas of land have clear borders. Yet, houses, cars, and people hide. I could decide now to do a thousand things, from using time better, to writing daily, to turning into a 74-year-old muscle master.

Instead, I plan to keep my inner-eyes open. To listen to valid criticism with clear ears. To accept honest compliments. I am alive today. It is not too late. For me or for my country.

 

 

 

Read Full Post »