Fairness and Family

I knew that my upbringing was not the path I wanted to follow;
I could either seek a new path, or in my history's misery, wallow.
I chose to seek a way that made compassionate sense to me,
So I could bring up my children with personal responsibility.

The hardest thing I've ever done is to stay true to my spirit,
Especially when persecuted when anyone else would hear it.
I am one individual woman, with a determined place on our earth;
Told I must not question the rules under which I'd been given birth..

My parents followed, precisely, the rules in which they were raised.
At least the rules forbade murder; for that they should be praised.
I chose to push for faster progress in the path to full humanity,
Sooner than my siblings, friends, and their society could agree.

I have held fast, alone, to my visions of enlightenment;
This is not a path on which I'd have chosen to be sent.
It is simply the path that I received by my parents' default,
In looking for family that taught by example, not assault.

Will humans ever see that peace is brought on by example?
The stories of this leadership should be, at this time, ample.
The missions of Moses, Jesus, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King
All lead to earthly paradise that non-violent resistance brings.

When will we accept that killing only breeds more of the same?
War isn't a path by which peace on earth will ever be gained.
I have raised my children and helped with theirs; I'm now free
To stand in the way of abusers, so peace can finally come to be.

Do not take my grandson in your quest for supremacy;
I have more experience than the warrior you want him to be.
There is no greater power than a mother protecting her young;
This is the warrior's true song that must be, eternally, sung.

Do not try to convince me that God is a father of fury;
I am, as a mother, a more powerful lawyer, judge, and jury.
I will not banish my children, but I will stand firm;
They can't live in my home without the lessons I insist they learn.

This isn't a way to resist differences of cultures or opinions;
It's to stop us, from excitement of differences, becoming minions.
There are many things that intrigue us in our vast universe,
That we can and should explore in order to intelligently converse.

This is not, and should not, be meant to be an open invitation
To adopting or accepting these new influences in our nation.
These differences should be seen as possible spices in the mix
To a recipe that, from the beginning of our country, has been fixed.

The religion of my children is the Constitution of the United States;
This is the belief system to which I, before their births, could relate.
I will not return to the religion of my parents before me; and theirs.
The United States' freedoms are those to which my children are heirs.

I am very aware that the founders, in their leadership, were flawed,
But I know that they were greatly gifted humans, not completely gods.
We are uniquely, with the blessings bestowed on us by democracy,
From the patterns, of our parents and theirs, allowed to break free.

There are many in my country who, in their fear, want to go back
To the world of their parents in which much freedom they lacked.
I do understand the fear of change with all its uncertainty,
But, from the bonds of our parents' faults, we must break free.

We learn from their example, that killing leads to more of the same.
Do we want for our universal peace, on our human earth, regain?
If we want to live in harmony with our sisters and brothers,
We must listen and follow the cries of our suffering mothers.

We give birth to our children, risking the lives of our own;
Killing of your siblings is not the seed we wish to be sown.
Any father telling you to risk your sacred life for enemies of theirs
Is not promoting the sacred divinity in which you should share.

I am your mother, telling you to stand against oppression;
Not to join others in the vulnerable ones' repression.
I have never stood behind you to shield myself from danger;
It is time that you learn to channel your own outrage and anger.

The quest that you began for fairness when you were young
Is not a song that you should never have freely sung.
It is simply that, until you saw your individual strengths,
You couldn't understand the position for which you're meant.

I am no longer able to guide what you should become;
I know that my input, in fact, makes you from me, run.
I wait with open heart, mind, and spirit to welcome you
As part of me and my partner's values to which we're true.

I simply can't stay silent as you succeed at fitting in
By denying the love we share in the presence of other men.
I have lived my life attempting to break history's mold,
Working for the peace on earth that has been foretold.

This can only be accomplished through redefining men
As, not only protectors, but also as women's friends.
Why are you so ashamed to feel such love for me?
My spirit will live in you and your children for eternity.

I may die without your beautiful face and your family,
But the gift of your Sacred Spirit will, eternally, live in me.
How blessed I have been in life to be the vessel of your birth.
Your love for me has been part of my heaven on this earth.

Love Our Land or Leave

"Government Angreizi aur Jihad is an Urdu booklet written in 1900 by Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas, the Promised Messiah and the Founder of the Ahmadiyyah Muslim Jama‘at. In this booklet, he refers to the Holy Qur’an and the ahadith (sayings) of the Holy Prophet Muhammadsa in order to explain the true nature of the Islamic concept of jihad.

The author points to the peaceful nature of the Islamic faith and explains that Muslims resorted to defensive war early in their faith’s history only after suffering thirteen years of brutal oppression. Divine permission to retaliate was granted for the specific purpose of self-defense, to punish aggressors, and to uphold freedom of conscience."

Munir-ud-Din Shams
Additional Vakil-ut-Tasnif
London, March, 2006

This seems to be the justification all three Abrahamic religions have for continuing to kill our brothers, sisters, and babies, "They did/do it to us." Is this not the time to finally put an end to retaliation by one generation for the persecution of a previous generation?

My grandmother used to have a saying when we children were fighting, "I don't care who started it; I'm finishing it." Who among us has the authority and willingness to stand on the battlefield and say, "I'm finishing it," even at the threat of his/her own death. I thought that Jesus had done this, but Christians continue to kill in the name of "Christ." This says to me that they don't actually follow Jesus as their "Christ."

It is so much easier to hate those who are different than we are than it is to learn about them and decide how we can live, in peace, as neighbors. It takes great respect to do this. I can't imagine that a Muslim woman would be happy to visit a nudist colony, nor have one next door to where she was bringing up her children.

This does not necessarily mean that there is anything intrinsically wrong with nudism, but it does create stress for imparting her values in rearing her young. For this reason, in multi-cultural society, parenting takes great commitment to one's own beliefs and very close bonding and monitoring of one's children. In the United States of America, we have been working this out for a couple of centuries.

We have a saying by Robert Frost, "Good fences make good neighbors." The same could be said for solid walls. We live in nuclear families, that presumably, share a set of values. We have the right to offer hospitality only to those who will adhere to our values on our property. We do not have the right to dictate what our neighbors do in their own homes, unless it is infringing on our own property or rights.

The United States of America, long ago, adopted a language as our common language. We have a set of rules prohibiting any one religion from setting the rules for our nation, even though there are many who have attempted to apply their own religion to the law of the land. It is time that all in the United States of America insist that we focus our energies on living our values in our own homes and minding our own business when other "children" want to fight.

The United States is our home with our set of values, which includes multi-culturalism and freedom from religious oppression. Those who break our laws should not be welcome in our home, as guests or otherwise. This is our home where we live by the laws of the land. Love our land by obeying our laws or leave.

True Church

Cruelty does not go away; it is simply passed on to others. These acts become the demons seeking to destroy The Sacred Spirit inside of ourselves. Without enough strong support for the goodness in us, we may have too many demons to fight at one time. This can lead to despair.

When we despair, it is our own personal "End Times." All the horrible predictions in Revelations visit us in our waking and our sleeping lives. All the things that gave us joy and brought us beauty suddenly look like ashes covering all the earth. We are reduced to bodies without a living spirit. Only through allowing others with intact extra spirit can we hope to survive, and yet these are the very people that most hurt our eyes and our insides. We can't stand to be in their light while in our stripped naked state. It seems to burn our very souls.

We must allow ourselves to be sheltered while we die by the "hands" of our own demons. This entails allowing the demons to finally stop eating us from the inside and have their ways with us on the surface of our lives. When we expose them to the light from which we have been sheltering them, because of our own shame in knowing they are parts of us, they will eventually burn themselves out.

Mental hospitals are not safe places, as there are few with living spirits, and many who will share their own demons which you previously didn't have. Medications simply quiet the demons while they continue to eat the spirit inside you. This is often necessary to allow you to fight one demon at a time. But who will hold you as the demons fight against their own deaths?

Avoid those who fear you or want to rush your recovery. There are many that will bring your demons out to fight. They must be strong fighters, with a strong support system themselves, or they will simply drown with you. Do not be afraid of confrontation of your demons (not confrontation of you, but of your demons) by those who have fought the same battles. They can help you to recognize the pitfalls of engagement with them. They can often show you the path to a new peace.

Surround yourself with those of strong, safe, Sacred Spirits. They will wait and watch with you. They will breathe new life into you when you stop fighting and surrender to their ministry. This is your true family, your true church.

I am blessed by many in my life who are strong demon slayers.

Super or Simple Heroes?

We all seem to want super heroes instead of being ourselves simple heroes. We look up to others on earth as gods, rather than looking inward for the energy of The Sacred Spirit inside of ourselves. It is easier to dismiss our own inaction and evil action if we continue to pretend that we have no godliness in us right here on earth. We are to use that godliness to help bring heaven to our own earth, not for some future super being status that we will enjoy in an afterlife.

I don't care by what action a child is conceived. I care about how the child is brought to recognize the godliness in him or herself and use it to improve life on earth. I don't care about great miracles on earth. I care about the everyday acts of selflessness and responsible compassion shown to me and others every moment of every day. I care more about how heroically a person lived than how horribly, and possibly heroically, he or she died.

It is in doing the very things at which we feel least able, for the sake of peace on earth, that we expand The Sacred Spirit inside of ourselves to the point that it "infects" others. "God" needs nothing from us, but the earth needs so much that we can give. We are all called to be simple heroes.

Heaven on Earth -- When Will We Listen?

“He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.” (Isaiah 2)

From the blog http://www.patheos.com/blogs/bibleandculture/2013/05/26/what-counts-as-home/

We are told, over and over, to create heaven on earth. When will we listen???

Poached Eggs and Pentecost

I was blessed by having breakfast with my best Jewish friend, and one of my dearest soul sisters, Susan, at Russell's Marina Grill in  New Orleans. Not only is the food pure New Orleans (I had crab cakes with poached eggs and shrimp hollandaise.), so is the coffee and the wait staff.

It is important in New Orleans restaurants that the place really welcomes children, especially if one has a two-year-old in tow. Russell's fit the bill as well as, or better than, Shoney's used to when my children were small. But so much better coffee and food, Oy Vey! You can't imagine.

Susan's granddaughter is an absolute angel with beautiful blue eyes and Titian gold angel curls. (She and her mother, Katy, got curls from Susan, just like princesses in fairy tale books.) Audrey's an active angel, but and angel, none-the-less. For the first half hour she hid her sleepy eyes on her mother's shoulder. When her sweet potato pancake came, she gladly sat in her high chair. This was good for another hour of in-depth conversation.

Susan and I are always deeply involved in discussions of how our faith views fit into our family lives. When   I said, "Well, Katy, I guess you didn't know you were coming to a Bible study," Susan didn't miss a beat before she quipped to Katy, "Well, that's just how we roll."

Remembering my grandmother days, I had come equipped with something for Audrey's entertainment, sidewalk chalk and a Mickey Mouse spatula. It was an absolutely perfect spring at the New Orleans Lakefront kind of morning, so we adjourned outside. Not to worry, we over-tipped both the waitress who had to clean up after Audrey spilled her whole cup of milk in the restaurant and the waiter who had to continue climbing over her as she decorated the patio with baby graffiti.

I wrote fifty prayers for Pentecost, hoping to get other views on the meaning, of this season of the year. Susan is, not only a very devout Jewish wife, mother and grandmother, she's also a professional journalist. I figured it was fair to ask why she hadn't given more feedback on the subject. After explaining her faith's (and I assume her personal) meanings, she suggested that I'd get more response if I asked specific questions in my blog. We also discussed a longing to hear from the third leg of our family tree of Abraham, Muslim, point of view, in addition to the faith backgrounds that already participate.

I am now asking, "What, if any, rituals do you perform during the season of Easter/Passover/Spring? Are there any rituals following this beginning spot to count the days until a specified end point? How many days does this last? What is the meaning of the end point of the counting of days process?"

Empowering Play

So many are now earning political points by asking , "What world are we leaving to our children?" We would be better off asking, "What world are we now offering our children, and the children of others?"

What we have to offer our earth is our time and our attention to the tiny details of life. Only by slowing down and being fully in each moment do we come to appreciate anything, and only in this aware way can we pass on our ethics of what is important. Are we even overloading ourselves with children to where we have no time for each of them as a uniquely gifted (and challenged) individual?

Observing the universe without disturbing it is the only way to learn the true nature of a person, place, or thing. How many of us are willing to observe without adding our input? How many of us actually want to know The Sacred Spirit of anything on earth?

When my grandson was a toddler, he ran to touch the big red ball, as he called the setting sun. In his beautiful baby mind, he was absolutely certain this could be done with his tiny reaching hand. Perhaps he will be a cosmologist and learn to actually touch the sun. He loved listening to the seagulls, and would turn to me and say, "Listen, Granny, the seagulls are laughing." It turns out that they are called "laughing gulls." Perhaps he will grow up to be an ornithologist and identify species of birds. This is the magic in a child's heart that we attempt to explain away with our greater "knowledge." Parents are to assist them in learning, not squelch their curiosity and wonder with our limiting "facts."

Why must we always choreograph every moment of our lives and those of the world's children? Would we be wiser to learn attentive appreciation from them? A small child needs nothing more to play happily than his or her own powers of observation and his or her own imagination, with inclusion in our work. Most of what I know of The Sacred Spirit, I learned watching small children simply live.

Touching the warm, wet earth and tasting blades of grass are too often interrupted by an adult's disgust or calls of danger. Can we not teach them science as easily by letting them experience it out in the fields among nature or in the great science labs of our own kitchens? And wouldn't the questions they asked bear more interesting answers that what some scientist put in a dusty book?

Some of the most remarkable memories I made with my children and grandchildren were catching, growing, and cooking our food, building a brick and board bookcase, painting a door, and identifying edible wild plants. In each endeavor, we all learned much from each other and from the effort itself, not the least of which was cooperation and appreciation.

To watch as a child learns is the best way that I have come to know what's sacred. Unchain them from their desks. Help them plant a field or milk a cow while we teach them about what they ask. Teach them to count as they walk beside you, carrying groceries or laundry. Let them learn colors from the earth's beauty. Help them play at important empowering work for themselves. The lessons will be forever placed in their very spirits, not only in their brains. That on which we expend our energy, we won't soon allow to be destroyed. Stop protecting them from what is most precious in life, wonder at being open to whatever is happening around us, in the here and now, and their power to affect it.