My parents
taught me how to judge
from an early time in my life . . .
I think they would have called it
teaching ‘discernment’.
They were not racists,
but they had their own measuring stick.
The welcomed a Chinese family with open arms,
when the father,
a high ranking scientist they admired,
part of a team that worked together,
was smuggled out of China,
each scientist carrying a piece of the technology,
so no one person would have it all.
They embraced two young Yugoslav men
who escaped their home country during political upheaval,
one using a tourist visa to Italy,
and the other
making a harrowing escape over hills and mountains
to find his freedom.
There was Lal Moti Lal . . .
a tall, bronze Pakistani man
who captured my heart when I was very young . . .
he carried me on his shoulders
and covered his body with white
from his turban to his toes.
In later years
he taught me how to make chapatis and lentil soup.
Long after I left home
my parents belonged to the Sanctuary movent in Santa Fe,
where they haunted thrift shops
for clothes,
cooking utensils, and furniture
for immigrants coming from the south,
escaping prison and torture
in their own countries.
But they judged
and taught me how to judge . . .
a habit that I’ve shed
since living my life among the types of people
they rejected . . .
the ne’er do wells,
the disenfranchised,
drug addicts,
criminals and prostitutes,
alcoholics . . .
people out of control of their own destinies.
I was one of those people
for a very long time,
and learned how easy it is
to get to where they got.
Through them
I learned that everyone has a story.
No one starts out their life with this goal . . .
it happened to me.
That is when I found peace and compassion in my heart
for all wounded souls on this planet,
and when confronted with an opportunity to help
I do what I can to help.
We are all the same
under the skin,
behind the masks,
beyond our stories.
We are all beings who want to be loved
for who we really are,
even when we don’t know who we are. ♥
Ne’er do wells and the disenfranchised. I get it and the lesson of nonjudgement, dear Sparrow. Your feelings are expressed with equanimity. Gratefulness in written words. Thank You.
By praying weekly at my church with all the other parishioners. By trying to be quietly aware of what is going on in the world and doing what I can locally.
Also showing kindness to all that comes across my path. Everyone has some sort of burden they carry ✌️
I think one of the biggest ways I personally can contribute is by keeping chaotic energy to myself. I tend to “troll” people online who might be spewing negative energy themselves, but adding negative energy only creates more. I need to shift the energy into something positive or keep it to myself for something more worth it. Remember every word you speak to another, out loud in general, is an exchange and transfer in energy.
Today’s quote from Saint Oscar Romero says it all: Peace is the generous, tranquil contribution of all to the good of all. We must be the peace we seek. It is the “contribution of all to the good of all.” I share a morning med I wrote in 2021.
Morning Meds Sep 2 2021 Peace
“The peace that we are looking for is not peace that crumbles as soon as there is difficulty or chaos. Whether we’re seeking inner peace or global peace or a combination of the two, the way to experience it is to build on the foundation of unconditional openness to all that arises. Peace isn’t an experience free of challenges, free of rough and smooth, it’s an experience that’s expansive enough to include all that arises without feeling threatened.” Pema Chodron
Good Morning, I read this Chodron quote several times and the key for me was “Peace is…an experience that’s expansive enough to include all that arises without feeling threatened.” What would it mean to stay calm in all situations so as to respond to what is occurring not react to it. Who might I be today if I had been taught to cultivate this stance? How might the world function if faith instead of belief had been accented. How might our species function if we had cultivated such awareness. Alan Watts got it right back in the 1970’s when he said, “Belief clings. Faith lets go.” Belief is easily threatened. Faith is not. Belief is often a man-made dogma that often nurtures fear. Faith is the hard earned ability that nurtures trust and accountability. It takes courage to choose love that grows with trusting self and the higher power that has many names. Blessings, Carol
‘Belief’ and ‘faith’
are words
that are so often used interchangeably
that it can be very confusing,
dear Carol Ann.
Sometimes I feel very clear on it
and sometimes I don’t.
Some people
cling to their belief or their faith so tightly
that there is no room for understanding
and flexibility of thought
left. ♥
I can slow down, take a breath and a pause, and consider how to bring the self I want to be into a conversation or situation that carries the potential for difficulty and differences of opinion. I can seek to stay calm, curious, and compassionate. I can check in with my physical responses to note when I’m leaving my optimal zone and heading into a defensive zone, do a reset with breathing and changing my body with a stretch to open up, and bring my system back toward space for peace.
I think of the slight smile my yoga teacher invites us to place on our faces at the end of practice as we sit together and breathe. What do I have to smile about in every situation, even if it’s ever so slightly? Maybe I’m smiling at my own learning taking place even when it may sting a bit. If I bring calmness and an inner smile, I bring peace and create space for others to be peaceful.
I can contribute to peace around me and in the world by living a life in words, thoughts, and actions that I want to experience from other beings through my senses. Through being loving, compassionate, kind, grateful, … to myself and blessing other beings with the same qualities I give to myself, I can contribute peace to myself and other beings. “Peace is the generous, tranquil contribution of all to the good of all.” St. Óscar Romero “Peace comes from being able to contribute the best that we have, and all that we are, toward creating a world that supports everyone. But it is also securing the space for others to contribute the best that they have and all that they are.” Hafsat Abiola,
Thank you for sharing the quotation from Hafsat Abiola, Kansha. It’s absolutely wonderful. I hadn’t heard her name before and am now reading about her work thanks to you.
These are wonderful thoughts,
dear Kansha,
and your quotes
speak
to the deepest heart
of all of us.
Thank you . . . ♥
The Divine in me
bows to the Divine in you.
🙏
I can contribute to the peace around me…
by listening and trying to be as nonjudgmental as possible. I can also try to not contribute to gossip.
And I can make eye contact and smile and acknowledge those around me.
Charlie, I’m certainly guilty as charge. It’s important to care about our appearance as a business man. Business is cut-throat. I’m most likely to judge others if they don’t align with my bran rooted in protection and stay competitive. When looking at the big picture, I’m able to see clearly that the same people who I deem as being “Incompatible with my business ventures” are protecting me from myself.
I can contribute to peace in the world around me by coming from a place of peace within.
I can spread my peace by being kind, loving, patient, understanding, silently blessing all who cross my path. And with smiles….
🕊️❤️
Thinking before I act or speak is my primary caution to myself. Then when I do act or speak, do so with kindness and consideration, empathy, compassion and hope.
I can donate to my local food bank, because those who are chronically hungry surely find it hard to feel peaceful. I also think about unaddressed trauma as something that creates conditions for inner and outer volatility and violence. What is within my reach to help those afflicted? Art and music programs, for example. Free writing classes. There are many ways to bring peace, I just need to look.
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When there is judgment
there can be no peace.
My parents
taught me how to judge
from an early time in my life . . .
I think they would have called it
teaching ‘discernment’.
They were not racists,
but they had their own measuring stick.
The welcomed a Chinese family with open arms,
when the father,
a high ranking scientist they admired,
part of a team that worked together,
was smuggled out of China,
each scientist carrying a piece of the technology,
so no one person would have it all.
They embraced two young Yugoslav men
who escaped their home country during political upheaval,
one using a tourist visa to Italy,
and the other
making a harrowing escape over hills and mountains
to find his freedom.
There was Lal Moti Lal . . .
a tall, bronze Pakistani man
who captured my heart when I was very young . . .
he carried me on his shoulders
and covered his body with white
from his turban to his toes.
In later years
he taught me how to make chapatis and lentil soup.
Long after I left home
my parents belonged to the Sanctuary movent in Santa Fe,
where they haunted thrift shops
for clothes,
cooking utensils, and furniture
for immigrants coming from the south,
escaping prison and torture
in their own countries.
But they judged
and taught me how to judge . . .
a habit that I’ve shed
since living my life among the types of people
they rejected . . .
the ne’er do wells,
the disenfranchised,
drug addicts,
criminals and prostitutes,
alcoholics . . .
people out of control of their own destinies.
I was one of those people
for a very long time,
and learned how easy it is
to get to where they got.
Through them
I learned that everyone has a story.
No one starts out their life with this goal . . .
it happened to me.
That is when I found peace and compassion in my heart
for all wounded souls on this planet,
and when confronted with an opportunity to help
I do what I can to help.
We are all the same
under the skin,
behind the masks,
beyond our stories.
We are all beings who want to be loved
for who we really are,
even when we don’t know who we are. ♥
Ne’er do wells and the disenfranchised. I get it and the lesson of nonjudgement, dear Sparrow. Your feelings are expressed with equanimity. Gratefulness in written words. Thank You.
🙏
You tell your stories so beautifully, Sparrow, and have learned so much through living your life. Thank you for this gift.
I am happy,
dear Barb,
that some of my stories speak to you.
I have been fortunate
to have a varied life. ♥
Stop talking bad about everything, haha. It’s hard but I will try.
By praying weekly at my church with all the other parishioners. By trying to be quietly aware of what is going on in the world and doing what I can locally.
Also showing kindness to all that comes across my path. Everyone has some sort of burden they carry ✌️
I think one of the biggest ways I personally can contribute is by keeping chaotic energy to myself. I tend to “troll” people online who might be spewing negative energy themselves, but adding negative energy only creates more. I need to shift the energy into something positive or keep it to myself for something more worth it. Remember every word you speak to another, out loud in general, is an exchange and transfer in energy.
Today’s quote from Saint Oscar Romero says it all: Peace is the generous, tranquil contribution of all to the good of all. We must be the peace we seek. It is the “contribution of all to the good of all.” I share a morning med I wrote in 2021.
Morning Meds Sep 2 2021 Peace
“The peace that we are looking for is not peace that crumbles as soon as there is difficulty or chaos. Whether we’re seeking inner peace or global peace or a combination of the two, the way to experience it is to build on the foundation of unconditional openness to all that arises. Peace isn’t an experience free of challenges, free of rough and smooth, it’s an experience that’s expansive enough to include all that arises without feeling threatened.” Pema Chodron
Good Morning, I read this Chodron quote several times and the key for me was “Peace is…an experience that’s expansive enough to include all that arises without feeling threatened.” What would it mean to stay calm in all situations so as to respond to what is occurring not react to it. Who might I be today if I had been taught to cultivate this stance? How might the world function if faith instead of belief had been accented. How might our species function if we had cultivated such awareness. Alan Watts got it right back in the 1970’s when he said, “Belief clings. Faith lets go.” Belief is easily threatened. Faith is not. Belief is often a man-made dogma that often nurtures fear. Faith is the hard earned ability that nurtures trust and accountability. It takes courage to choose love that grows with trusting self and the higher power that has many names. Blessings, Carol
‘Belief’ and ‘faith’
are words
that are so often used interchangeably
that it can be very confusing,
dear Carol Ann.
Sometimes I feel very clear on it
and sometimes I don’t.
Some people
cling to their belief or their faith so tightly
that there is no room for understanding
and flexibility of thought
left. ♥
Thank you for sharing the quotation from Pema Chödrön.
I can slow down, take a breath and a pause, and consider how to bring the self I want to be into a conversation or situation that carries the potential for difficulty and differences of opinion. I can seek to stay calm, curious, and compassionate. I can check in with my physical responses to note when I’m leaving my optimal zone and heading into a defensive zone, do a reset with breathing and changing my body with a stretch to open up, and bring my system back toward space for peace.
I think of the slight smile my yoga teacher invites us to place on our faces at the end of practice as we sit together and breathe. What do I have to smile about in every situation, even if it’s ever so slightly? Maybe I’m smiling at my own learning taking place even when it may sting a bit. If I bring calmness and an inner smile, I bring peace and create space for others to be peaceful.
I can contribute to peace around me and in the world by living a life in words, thoughts, and actions that I want to experience from other beings through my senses. Through being loving, compassionate, kind, grateful, … to myself and blessing other beings with the same qualities I give to myself, I can contribute peace to myself and other beings. “Peace is the generous, tranquil contribution of all to the good of all.” St. Óscar Romero “Peace comes from being able to contribute the best that we have, and all that we are, toward creating a world that supports everyone. But it is also securing the space for others to contribute the best that they have and all that they are.” Hafsat Abiola,
Thank you for sharing the quotation from Hafsat Abiola, Kansha. It’s absolutely wonderful. I hadn’t heard her name before and am now reading about her work thanks to you.
These are wonderful thoughts,
dear Kansha,
and your quotes
speak
to the deepest heart
of all of us.
Thank you . . . ♥
The Divine in me
bows to the Divine in you.
🙏
I can contribute by helping those who i can, and helping myself so I have the ability to help others.
I can contribute to the peace around me…
by listening and trying to be as nonjudgmental as possible. I can also try to not contribute to gossip.
And I can make eye contact and smile and acknowledge those around me.
Charlie, I’m certainly guilty as charge. It’s important to care about our appearance as a business man. Business is cut-throat. I’m most likely to judge others if they don’t align with my bran rooted in protection and stay competitive. When looking at the big picture, I’m able to see clearly that the same people who I deem as being “Incompatible with my business ventures” are protecting me from myself.
I can contribute to peace in the world around me by coming from a place of peace within.
I can spread my peace by being kind, loving, patient, understanding, silently blessing all who cross my path. And with smiles….
🕊️❤️
Thinking before I act or speak is my primary caution to myself. Then when I do act or speak, do so with kindness and consideration, empathy, compassion and hope.
Yes, this.
I can donate to my local food bank, because those who are chronically hungry surely find it hard to feel peaceful. I also think about unaddressed trauma as something that creates conditions for inner and outer volatility and violence. What is within my reach to help those afflicted? Art and music programs, for example. Free writing classes. There are many ways to bring peace, I just need to look.
The first thing I must do is to be at peace with myself.
You are so right,
dear Richard . . .
peace starts within. ♥
To hold and carry out the words of St Francis.
I can contribute to peace around me by saying words of empathy, validation, not criticism and judgment.
My Ngoc, how we say things certainly makes a difference.