Monday, October 31, 2011

The Sweetness of the Sacred

The sweetness of life is all the sacred that I have ever needed;
It is also, I understand, with death and destruction seeded.
But to continue waiting to attain a heaven or a hell after death
Gives my uneasy, longing human heart and soul very little rest.

I suffer the pain of separation every time I lose sight of a loved face;
I try to remind myself that I'm always left with the loved ones grace.
The consolations that I have in losing someone to the hereafter
Is in the remembrance of our shared lives, love, and laughter.

I will not save these enjoyments until after my loved ones are gone;
Continually celebrating the joys of my people is what I depend upon.
I can't say that it doesn't sometimes hurt to be so emotionally open,
But the faith that every day is sacred is the faith on which I depend.

Saturday, October 29, 2011

The Core of Community

I've always been most comfortable with people who discipline themselves,
Instead of depending on rewards and punishments administered by someone else.
These are people who can be trusted not to be manipulated
By the many moods or the whims that others have strongly stated.
The rules in which they operate create a comfortable fence
In which their steadfastness is our community's best defense.
Those of strong emotions are sometimes called upon for fuel,
But their fiery passions are not allowed to be the final rule.
It takes quite a lot of courage to handle emotional hurricanes,
But without people of strong moral courage, no boundaries remain.
It is also true that those who have closed their minds to reason
Can't be counted on to survive through the stormiest of seasons.
Every community must be balanced with people of adventure,
Without ever losing sight of the core values at its center.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

The Haze of Our History

There are so many things that our men can't seem to say,
As if the forming of the right words gets in their way.
In email, chat, and messaging they communicate many things,
That if dependent on spontaneity, their thoughts would grow wings --
Not to tell us what they think, feel, or want for themselves
But in trying to please what in each of their communicants indwells.

I had a message conversation with a beloved nephew today;
The many topics we touched on were of a varied array.
He's intelligent, compassionate, and politically interested,
But none of my personal opinions has he actually requested.
He did, however, ask for some of my remembered information
About the family we had shared before his life's creation.

I hope he knows that all my most vivid recollections
Are actually made up, in part, by others' reflections.
There is no absolute truth in any telling of history;
Every reflection is colored by the person who did see.
Nothing would please me more than to our history hear
From the mouths of the people my nephew holds most dear.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Patience and Priorities

Our western way is not one of patience; it is more like the restlessness of a teenager seeking instant salvation through saying a few magic words or instant gratification through demands that we be given whatever are our whims or risk the creation of chaos.

How easy it is to be swayed by those that cause us to feel fascinating by their wooing of our attentions, and how hard it is to find true friends who will help us to simply be the best we can be, no matter the cost to themselves. This seems to be the segment of relationships that we aren't taught, the patience part. Without patience, all relationships are doomed to failure, even our relationships with our better selves.

Setting priorities seems to be the most important part of relationships. This setting of priorities necessarily means the exclusion or delay of gratification in other things. Our worldly, scared selves can be convinced that this discipline is snobbery or cowardice, but it is actually the only way to become truly whole.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Attaining My Aspirations

As a child I was surrounded by sounds of humans all around;
In a family of nine children, great energy abounds.
As we lived in the cathedral atmosphere in the forest
I came to know how much the sounds of children I missed.

My granddaughters who lived convenient to me
Are young women now, this we plainly could see.
Their mother and father didn't so much appreciate
The wild energy my presence seemed to create.

So it's back for me to a wilder place,
Where people like me are simply given their space.
Where there are still children young enough to be,
The embodiment of divine energy, flowing free.

It is true that I can't do this alone
And that Richard requested life in his home.
I warned him often before we were wed
That he may not be ready for the life I led.

But he's true to his word in everything,
And welcomes with joy all the life children bring.
Guiding young relatives is married bliss,
All I ever really aspired to is this.

Monday, October 17, 2011

All Are Our Neighbors

It seems to me that the question is not do we love our neighbors as we love ourselves, but how do we love ourselves and who do we consider our neighbors? Do we coddle ourselves, allowing our weaknesses free reign in our lives or do we discipline ourselves to use our strengths for the "feeding" of those less gifted (blessed) than we?

Do we hoard our talents and other gifts in fear that someone will be perceived as equal to or better than we and/or our tribe members if they learn what we know? In a true community we are honest about our strengths and weaknesses. False humility is a form of denial of the sacred in ourselves. Asking for assistance with a humble heart is a way to honor the sacred in others. Sharing our gifts freely is a way to build partnerships, which I believe is the pattern for paradise on earth as it is in heaven. Pride in the efforts of others without honor for the dignity and sacred spark in the achievements of those on whom we depend for what we shall eat, what we shall drink, and what we shall put on seems to me to be false pride.

I spent many years in food service management, where I worked with many people who had marginal job skills and very poor education. Some were of very limited intellect. The joys of watching them achieve a sense of wonder in their own abilities as they slowly learned how to properly make a sandwich or sanitize a sink full of pots was a great reward to me. It pained me to see the owners of the firms for which I worked cheating people out of their hourly wages because many of them had no math skills and didn't know how to add up their own hours or read their own pay stubs. Management by intimidation and success by climbing on the shoulders of those we hold down seems to me the sin of false pride.

We fool ourselves into believing that we have no caste system in our America. Those that provide the most basic of our needs are treated like untouchables and held down with poor wages and lack of access to conception control. When will we get past the "divine rights of kings" mentality and truly act as if we are all created equal? When we get it right in our country, we will be an example to all our neighbors, no matter their race, religion, creed, or gender. All are our neighbors in an interconnected world.