Parenting and Potential

What is it with parents who insist,
"They didn't get that from me."
What is it about "we choose with whom we mate"
Don't these carefree parents see?
This isn't the case in rape and incest,
But it certainly is our nation's norm.
All the excuses we make for ourselves
Do our children irreparable harm.

Genetics has shown us conclusively
The strongest animal and plant breeds
Are not formed by accident and
Don't come from propagating non-hybrid seeds.
We may want to begin pointing out
That the weaknesses of one,
No matter who thinks themselves best,
Are balanced in the genetic sum.

Of course, in the animal kingdom,
Most don't mate for life, it seems.
In humans, competition for most importance
Is what hatches the ugliest schemes.
What may be seen as a lacking
Of necessary strength by the one
May be best and strongest of what,
When bonded to another, we'll become.

Sharing Our Souls

A piece of our souls we pass on to each child
That we are allowed to hold and guide for a while.
Do we really honor this great responsibility
By attempting to become the best that we can be?
Or do we pretend, "Do as I say, not as I do."
Is the message on which our children will follow through?

We now salve our consciences with, "I did the best I could."
Acting as if, by saying this, we turn our guilt into good.
Guilt is not to be confused with destructive shame;
Guilt accepts responsibility; shame seeks to place blame.
We must allow our children to question authority;
They will never become truly adult if we fear honesty.

The problem with being a child is that the power is uneven;
How are dependent babies expected to stand toe-to-toe with men?
If we truly felt that our souls existed in these vulnerable creatures,
Wouldn't we stop competing with them, and become their teachers?
I don't believe that my soul will rest until the pain I caused is undone.
If not by me, I hope by the families of my daughter and my son.

Sneering, snarling, calling names, certainly doesn't show
That both involved parties are attempting to grow.
It does take equal commitment to a relationship,
Or when the going gets rough, one party will certainly quit.
We must ask for an atmosphere of mutual respect
This is the piece that so many conversations neglect.

Enough Holy Ground to Go Around

Why don't we want to belong to a non-exclusive club?
Is there something to be gained by leaving others in the mud?
Why couldn't Cain accept Abels' gift to his god
Without feeling that, on his rights, Abel trod?
Is there not enough salvation to go around?
Is there a finite amount of Holy Ground?

I prefer to have a very large and inviting family tent;
This doesn't mean that we allow actions of every bent.
There are things that children should not see
Because their futures, from our baggage, should be free.
Our songs to our children should only include
The things in life, like them, for which we feel gratitude.

I don't think that children should be freely exposed
To the things that we adults, as adults, chose.
I don't have to do the same as my perpetrator.
I am responsible for being my own future's creator.
I will protect my children and their progeny
From my pain from which they should be free.

Some parents are afraid of being left behind
If they allow their children to expand their minds.
I will not inflict my prejudice on another generation;
I will help them learn at each of their life's stations.
And when they are exposed to something they don't understand,
We will explore how it fits with the universal plan.

We are born to be citizens of all of creation,
We can hand down our own fears, or embrace education.
My world is expanded by stories of discoveries
Whether adventures abroad or what a child sees.
My hope is that, as the children grow,
They will come back and share some of what they know.

I am hoping this generation will have less jealousy
And will embrace the knowledge that, for them, is free.
I hope they are learning to set boundaries,
Based on defining what, for each, is their need.
I hope they are learning with only themselves to compete,
And to honor the value of each person they meet.

Eternally In Communion

I love to hear about people's faith,
But please don't continue to tell me
That your experience is universal truth
And mine is, from truth, free.

Since the beginning of recorded time
Humans have had the sense to know
That no person is the Ultimate Authority
In all that we need to know.

Each subsequent generation of our ancestors
Sought valiantly to define
The unique thing in the human spirit
That is the spark of The Sublime.

I will never quite understand
Why we try to prove each other wrong.
The power of accepting without knowing
Is what makes the value of faith strong.

When I look at a cumulus cloud,
The perfect picture that I see
Doesn't negate the validity or beauty
Of what, in your mind's eye, it seems to be.

And if we believe that all sincere humans
Are eventually brought back to The Whole,
Why do we argue that only through one door
Can we each find a home for our souls?

Isn't it true that we're all connected;
One soul's salvation depends on another?
Would I really be fully who I am
If I had different sisters and brothers?

We're all seeking the same thing;
The meaning of life is plain to me:
Full belonging where we count for something,
And are in communion eternally.

Partners in the Process

The building of new families comes at a price;
Parts of our selves, we must sacrifice.
It is a joy that we are now each free to plan
How many children and with which woman or man.

When girls become women, they may choose to gestate;
This comes with the necessity of learning to wait.
They must give over power to someone outside themselves
To protect them while new life, in them, dwells.

Those who are most blessed are kept from harm
In a loving mate's sheltering arms.
But their community also must gather round
To nourish the family as holy ground.

Women must no longer die a little each day
To keep themselves and their children from becoming prey.
There is no more excuse for the martyrdom
That so much of parenting had become.

And if a person has falsely stolen one's soul
We are free to attempt to, once again, become whole.
No longer will the veils that women wore so proud
At the same time become their death shrouds.

We must not accept that women were born to bear pain
While men are born to conquer time and again.
Men make a mistake believing their only worth
Is in fighting for ascendancy on this earth.

If men are partners in pleasure, they must be willing to be
Partners in the process of becoming family.
We are not wolves that need an alpha;
It is time that communities learn to share power.

Savoring Serenity

I don't know if I'm ready to begin again;
I feel there are more messes to be cleaned.
Can we ever right all of our wrongs,
Or pledge to do better with lessons gleaned?

It pains me to watch my loved ones suffer,
Knowing there is nothing I can do to assist.
I must focus on what we share today,
And stop mourning the opportunities we missed.

I have carried generations of sorrow on my back;
So many came to me for compassionate counsel.
Feeling with another is fraught with danger
That the darkness will blacken one's own soul.

I have done much work in the last few years,
Reclaiming the pieces of me I gave away.
I am beginning to feel some serenity again;
My hope is that, this time, it will stay.

Lies About Loneliness

I'm tired of people telling me that I won't be lonesome if I pray;
If God hadn't been lonesome, why would we on this earth play?
If Adam and Eve were made to keep God, and each other, company,
Why should I believe that adults are, from this need, free?

We need people who understand us and want to share our lives;
This is how The Spirit of Wholeness is meant to thrive.
Men and women are afraid to admit to their vulnerability;
It is truly not a good idea without shared responsibility.

In my marriage, the man is the one whose arms are strong,
And he fills me with the strength to sing our joyful song.
In other marriages, it is the man with the tender heart;
Does it really matter who plays which important part?

We have given to each other the keys to our spiritual doors;
I have tried with others, but our society's soil for growth was poor.
It takes absolute commitment to something bigger than oneself
To give our egos over to becoming partners with someone else.

New families, like new trees, must be nurtured until they grow roots,
But the young couples must be freed to find their own unified truths.
The elders may act as wind breaks in the many coming storms,
But to stand too closely and hold too tight will bring the new tree harm.

Even with our best care, some sapling relationships wither and die;
Our hope is that the broken and lonely souls will continue to try
To find one who completes the circle of strength with Holiness an the center.
This can only happen to those who keep their souls open to being entered.

We have lost the ritual dance of courtship that gave couples strong bonds;
It is not enough that two people, for each other, feel fond.
There should be a learning of the resources each one brings;
For a new family to be strong requires many things.

We must all have the moral courage to say to one another
The truth about the strengths and weaknesses of our sisters and brothers.
When we don't seek the blessings of others in our support network,
Why are we surprised when, their community duties, they shirk?

Holy marriage is like the sun emitting life-giving rays;
It is not meant that the energy, only in the marriage, stays.
We are to radiate to others all that Holy Power of shared life.
This, I believe, is the purpose of becoming man and wife.