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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The Lies of Our Leaders

While The Almighty's words may be infallible, human words have never been;
The scriptures are the retelling of stories spoken to friends.
Each one of us, when repeating our personal stories,
Focuses on the parts that bring our beliefs most glory.
We must look for common messages in all words we consider holy;
What makes them seem to reach a place that is not simply worldly?

There seems to be a common thread of honoring all creation,
Instead of building boundaries that separate the nations.
There also seems a common thread of responsibility
Of caring for the needs of those given less than me.
The ten commandments are the basis for communities to get along,
So that less sacred energy is consumed in righting personal wrongs.

Our passions don't necessarily have to lead to prejudices;
This is something that, I believe, true holiness addresses.
If we are strong in disciplining our own behaviors,
We will not look for any humans to be our earthly saviors.
We will look to each other for ways that are eternally right,
Not letting the greed of our officials lead us to act in fright.

Instead of paraphrasing what others have already written,
Why aren't we hearing how, by right living, each other is smitten?
There has been so much sacred written by people with a purpose,
It is for each others' sacred voices that our communities thirst.
But needing to have someone dictate The Spirit's voice to us
Seems to have long caused suffering and is humanity's greatest curse.

This is where I fear that much in organized religion
Is actually leading away from the attainment of a heaven.
We allow our religious leaders to pretend that only they hear
The voice that is whispered into each listener's ear.
We must be alert to hear the voice, and to teach our children
That we are each chosen to have a part in leading our nations.

The Soul and the State

What will it cost for each of us to sell our souls?
What are our priorities when we set our relationship goals?
Do we want to be the ruling class, no matter the moral cost,
Or do we want to attempt to reclaim the paradise humanity lost?
The old rules of fear that permeated patriarchal rule
Have been shown to be the province of jealous frightened fools.

We now know that thinking and informed decision making
Is within the province of each whole human's undertaking,
Except perhaps for those who have been mentally handicapped;
For those we still have boundaries that hypocrisy has collapsed.
We have begun to pretend that our Creative Energy
Shows distinct preferences for the groups of you and me.

I believe that each of us chooses a group with which to travel;
The denial of this has caused our society to unravel.
Nobody should not be forced by any ruler or by any nation
To support that which they believe works against the balance of creation.
The United States of America claims separation of church and state,
But until we stop attempting to force to Judeo-Christianity, we wait.