While on a Zoom with a group of teenagers, one of them quoted the 1988 movie Heathers, well before her time: “If you were happy every day of your life, you wouldn’t be a human being. You’d be a game-show host.”
Thanks, kiddo, for that gem. I’ll share that one from time to time. And I’ll tell myself too.
—Renee Roederer
We welcome the new moon.
Cheshvan,
month to turn inward.
Inward, to review and reflect
a time to dive deep
a place of quiet stillness.
But the New Year festivities
Music and rejoicing
were interrupted.
Marred by violence.
Murder of innocents
in their beds, homes, fields.
How can we witness such brutality
while our aching hearts
yearn for peace?
We cry out for an end to
Smoldering hatred
Continual violence
Danger for our children.
Do we not learn anything
traveling this human path
In these mortal bodies?
Must history repeat itself?
We cycle in circles
with cries of revenge
leading us to despair.
Oh, Shechinah, Holy One of Blessing,
Teach us to deepen in awareness
Lift ourselves from
desperate repetition.
Brother killing brother.
Release us from this bondage.
Help us find a place of balance
where darkness transmutes to light.
Let us return to the natural rhythms of
body and earth
Resonate with water and wind
Touch our inner well of wisdom
Come home to our unity
with all sentient beings
And find comfort in heart openings
connecting us to each other and the One.
–Lucinda Kurtz
Every day at the close of his television show, Fred Rogers would often say,
“I love you just the way you are.”
One day, while filming, Francois Clemmons made a connection and felt like those words were being directed at him. Afterward he asked, “Were you talking to me?”
And Fred Rogers said, “Yes, I’ve been talking to you for two years, and you finally heard me today.”
May our ears perk up. May we hear those kinds of messages. May we know they are true — perhaps newly heard, yet shared with longevity.
I was cycling down the road in the bike lane, and I was moving pretty fast. I didn’t realize I was about to be a disturbance. But as I neared a fir tree on the side of the road, a flock of little sparrows suddenly retreated into the tree. It’s almost as if they were about to take off collectively, then at my presence, they swarmed right back into their safe hiding space in one, big, collective pivot.
“Sorry!” I said aloud, as I zoomed on by, smiling. I also thought it was pretty cute.
They moved in concert with one another completely, and they knew exactly where to go. It made me wonder, do we know the people and places with whom we can retreat and rest?
After a caterpillar spins itself inside a silky chrysalis, it turns into goo. It liquifies inside the cocoon. Between its intricate life as a caterpillar and its intricate life as a butterfly, it is truly a gooey mess. It’s hard to believe that something so beautiful emerges, but this is indeed the messy, mystical process.
So if any part of us feels like goo right now, we might be transforming.
P.S. A study has revealed that butterflies remember their lives as caterpillars. Given the goo process, and the fact that butterflies move, eat, and sense differently than caterpillars, that’s pretty incredible.
By Emily McDowell (@EmilyOnLife)
Hi, it’s me. While bike riding, I have nodded to and/or waved at an embarrassing number of decorative scarecrows during this season.
Ope.
A friend and colleague posted this tweet yesterday. I agree with the importance of what he shares here:
Public health folks: I know that we are not all experts on Israel & Palestine. But we ARE experts on what happens when water & electricity are shut off, when borders are closed, when food & medicine are unattainable. Speak on these things. This is why we study what we studied.
I know people whose family and friends are living in this region, and they are deeply afraid.
I try to imagine what the fear, trauma, and powerlessness must feel like on the ground. On Monday, I posted an article on social media about hospitalized people in Gaza who were unable to be evacuated with the 24-hour notice. Medical personnel were unable to move them safely. On Tuesday, 500 people were killed in a strike that landed on a hospital.
What is the psychological terror like of being hospitalized, waiting with knowledge that a building could collapse upon you at any moment? That feels nearly unfathomable, but that is real for people right now. And then…the building does. Who will tell the stories of those patients and those medical personnel?
What is the psychological terror like of being a hostage, unsure if you will be free again, or if you’ll see your families and friends again, yet fully aware that a full blown war is now underway and escalating while you’re still trapped in the same place? That feels nearly unfathomable, but that is real for people right now. Who will tell the stories of those hostages?
And, of course, many people watch with fear at a distance as well, also feeling powerless.
I am hoping, praying, and advocating for a cease fire. We can also call our elected officials to advocate for this. I want to encourage us to do that.
No one is free until we are all free.
No one lives in peace until all have peace.
And wherever you are today in thinking on these realities — whether close and connected, or much farther away — please take good care and know that you are valuable, as are all people in that region. We are often more connected than we realize.
—Renee Roederer
Smuggling Grace 