Cats and a Duck Couple

Cats are squaring off to claim territory,
Though there are ordinances against them.
They had no interest in claiming the pool
Until a duck couple came in for a swim.

Of course neither are the ducks welcome
Anywhere on the condo property.
Maybe the cats think it their duty
To keep the pool duck couple free.

Watching creatures who are not trained
Reminds me that we're all animals;
Without exercising our judgement and will
We're subject only to instinct's pulls.

It is sad, but true, that there are some of us
Who are unable to make informed choices;
Shouldn't the rest of be evolved enough
Not to follow those who make the most noises?

From the beginning of recorded history,
We are told of the destruction of greed;
And yet, just like the cats and ducks in the wild
We claim much that we neither want nor need.

Why I Walk Away

If I live every day as if it is my last
And honor the energy of others;
I may act like a person of the god
Believed in by my father and mother.

They never told me what their god looked like;
I knew by their lives what they believed.
They believed they should destroy the sin
In every child that they conceived.

They didn't do this with bonding;
They did it with rules and punishment.
This was the mission, they both believed,
For which parents and priests were sent.

They worshiped a god of wrath,
A terrible task master at best,
Who demanded his own son's blood
To put our ancestors' sins to rest.

Where my beliefs differ from theirs,
Is in how we see Divine Energy.
Rather than focusing on death and sin,
I look for The Life in all that I see.

This way is not always easy,
As this world is full of such pain;
But focusing on the light in others
Helps to make me feel whole again.

I am not good at holding hands
Of those who seek healing punishment.
I don't believe that punishing others
Is why any of us on earth were sent.

And so when I walk away
From another in deep distress,
It is only because I am weakening
In my ability to give my best.

It is not because hate the person
Or that I judge them to be wrong;
It is simply that in sight of their pain,
I know I'm not able to be strong.

Saga of the Cents, Part II

Well, washing coins makes them worse.
Went to the bank with bags of soon-to-be bucks;
Started feeding the coin counter with great speed;
Soon broke the machine, and ran clear out of luck.

The bank management said don't continue.
The coins were clean, but water caused oxidation.
A man behind me explained with great authority
The rough surfaces caused mechanical constipation.

He suggested that I tumble the coins with sand
I knew I didn't want to buy this equipment
He said casinos clean their coins this way;
Maybe a casino will make this commitment.

I don't think washing is considered
The same thing as laundering money,
But the whole thing of cleaning coins
Just naturally seems to be quite funny.

The Wishing Well

We used to come home and cook; now we count coins. Well, we don't actually count them; we sort and wash them as the first part of the process of putting coins from the SMH wishing well (or fountain, to be exact) to good use.

SMH Foundation has long been receiving the coins retrieved from the lovely fountain at the Medical Office Building attached to SMH hospital. The SMH Foundation exists to help fund state-of-the-art medical care in the local community.While going through supplies that may be needed for the May 18 Rooftop Rendezvous "Beach Party Above the Boulevard" we came upon stashes of coins in several places. When asked about these bags of bucks, Jen Berger said, "We can't turn them in until they're washed." "Looks like a job for my favorite volunteer -- my husband!" I thought.

I should have had heavy duty shocks installed before loading all these coins in my car, but I did make it home without mishap. We stood at the sink for several hours, him sorting and me vinegar washing, rinsing, and drying assorted coinage from assorted countries. As I stood at the sink, I thought about all the people who must have stood at the fountain wishing that their loved one's cancer was cured or that the results of a PET scan or MRI would come back with good news.

Fifty pounds of pennies later, we're about a third of the way through the project, but we don't know if our bounty is clean enough for the coin counters. It's off to the bank with what we washed, so far. I certainly hope that this money can be put back into circulation; it may help somebody's wishes come true.

Faithful Friends

Is there anyone who knows you better than
The people who helped you become yourself?
And once we settle on who we will be,
Should we seek to please others or ourselves?

I've long felt wary of the public figures
Who seem like they are always on stage,
And who must mold and fit their personas
Into the tastes of every audience of every age.

I have come home to be with the people
Who help me be who I was meant to be.
They have high expectations of themselves,
But they make no demands on me.

They are people of high moral fiber
Who live lives that are the message.
Sharing my questions and beliefs with them
Doesn't take great amounts of courage.

They listen to me with ears of love,
Fitting mine into their sets of beliefs,
Rather than accusing me of heresy,
Which still can bring me great grief.

I don't claim to be a good Christian
Because my life just doesn't measure up,
But we are so blessed that in this great universe
We have friends who drink from the same cup.

Not at the cups offered at the altars in church,
But at supper tables with foods we have cooked.
We do this in memory of the oneness of faithful friends,
This most sacred of bonds that is often overlooked.

What We Must Ask Ourselves

Gayle wrote on her blog today: "Biblical poetry seems to be telling us that if we want to see God, the creator of heaven and earth, we should look to 'his image and likeness:'  that is, mankind in union with (of the same breath with) his creator, his fellow - man, and with the earth itself.  That is the harmony of paradise, where God freely walks and talks with man, where man freely walks and talks with his companion(s), and where man freely walks and talks with all of the earth."

The question we must ask ourselves is whether we are to wait for paradise after our deaths, or are we responsible for helping to create the harmony that we look forward to in Eternity while we walk the earth?

A "Dear Divinity" Kind of Question

A dear niece, who is the mother of two young boys, wrote to me: 'I saw this on fb recently and thought it might be just the right topic for your blog about spirituality. A church sign had this quote on it- "God is more welcoming and likely to give blessings to a kind atheist than to a hateful Christian." your thoughts? I think it's "on point." bc of all the hypocrisy and judgement that so many so called Christians practice. It seems to me that God's rule of thumb and clearest messages have to do with "love thy neighbor" and "he who is without sin should cast the first stone." kindness and purity of intention and heart are what it seems Jesus tried to demonstrate most to man. What do you think?"


She went on to ask: "Who is more likely to burn in Hell, the Christian who judged and hated everyone proudly, or the Athiest who was more understanding and accepting and loving though he denied knowing God?"


This led me ask myself, "What is an atheist?" and what is a "Christian?" It seems to me that only an idiot would deny that there is a Divine Power that is so much greater than anything on earth and that imbues everything on earth. Is an atheist one who believes that there is no such Awesome Power? Or is an atheist one who doesn't believe that anyone has the absolute answer to what this Power "looks" like? Over centuries, people have recorded their perceptions of the manifestations of this Power in their experiences. We have accepted some of them as sacred scriptures; others we have rejected.


I choose to believe that any experience that leads people to be their best and treat all of nature with respect is sacred, and that Christianity is a method for following the lead of many manifestations of Divinity embodied in one man. Christendom, however, is a political system that forces acceptance of the codification of one set of scriptures into the laws governing all of creation. My "god" is bigger than this.


What do all of my spi(ri)t sisters think?