“A Voice through the Door” by Rumi
Coleman Barks, Translator
Sometimes you hear a voice through the door
calling you, as fish out of water
hear the waves, or a hunting falcon
hears the drum’s Come back. Come back.
This turning toward what you deeply love
saves you. Read the book of your life,
which has been given you.
A voice comes to your soul saying,
Lift your foot. Cross over.
Move into emptiness
of question and answer and question.
Last week, I shared that I ended up behind a car with an introspective bumper sticker. It read, “WHO AM I TO JUDGE”
In that post, I came up with a few additional ideas for introspective bumper stickers, and I asked you what you would create.
Now I’ve asked ChatGPT for some ideas, and ChatGPT delivered:
“Do I smell toast, or is that just me?
“”Why do I always talk to myself?”
“Do penguins have knees?”
“Am I secretly a superhero?”
“Did I leave my brain at home?”
“Why is there no ‘Z’ in the alphabet song?” (Renee: Here I am thinking introspectively… ” But isn’t there one? I think there is one… yes?”)
“Is it socially acceptable to wear pajamas to work?”
“What if I accidentally summoned a demon?”
“Do aliens think we’re weird?”
“Did I just swallow a bug?”
“Is my car judging me?”
“Can I claim napping as a hobby?”
“Do fish get thirsty?”
“Am I an NPC in someone else’s game?”
“Why do I argue with my GPS?”
“Did I just run over a speed bump or a really big squirrel?”
“Do ghosts get stuck in traffic?”
“Am I a potato in disguise?”
“Is my life secretly a reality TV show?”
“Why do I laugh at my own jokes?”
“Is my cat plotting against me?”
“Did I just invent a new dance move?”
“Why do I forget everything except song lyrics?”
“Am I a wizard and don’t know it?”
“Do clouds have feelings?”
“Why is it always the last place I look?”
“Is my mirror lying to me?”
“Did I just time travel?”
“Do trees eavesdrop on our conversations?”
“Is this the real life, or is this just fantasy?”
Enjoy imagining these on the back of cars!
— Renee Roederer/Chat GPT
. . . Cities can arrest us when we’re homeless and sleeping outside because we have no other place to go or afford,
yet…
. . . the President of the United States can assassinate us, arrest us, call the national guard on us, or orchestrate a coup on us with immunity as long as it’s an “official” executive action of that Presidency, or something that a Congress in cahoots also supports, or something that Congress allows, because I don’t know, because they could be killed “officially” too…
No matter who is elected, this year or well into the future, this dichotomy and more like it should absolutely bring us to resolve to take care of one another. We need one another and all our gifts, talents, and supports lifting one another up.
— Renee Roederer
Nick Cho (@nickcho) is a great follow on Instagram. He’s our “Korean Dad,” and he loves to build us up.
I hope you know this is true!
Hello, Dear Friends,
I want to take a moment to thank you personally for following my writing on Smuggling Grace. Each week, I enjoy connecting with you here. I greatly appreciate the ways you add yourselves and initiate conversations within these pieces. Thank you so much.
Twice per year, I like to invite people to give a gift to support this work. Donations large and small allow me to keep writing free of charge, and that support also contributes toward the larger vision of what I am doing in Southeast Michigan as well.
If these pieces have been meaningful to you, and you are able to give, would you like to contribute $5 or $10? No gift is too small, and every bit is appreciated!
Click here to support Smuggling Grace.
Your presence is also a gift. Many thanks to you all!
Renee Roederer
While at a stop light, I saw a car ahead with a bumper sticker that took me by surprise: “WHO AM I TO JUDGE,” it read.
This took me by surprise because… aren’t bumper stickers often identity-claiming at best and highly-judgmental at worst? And pretty frequently? I wonder what motivated this driver to paste, “WHO AM I TO JUDGE” on their car.
Maybe it invites me to ask that question of myself. Or maybe it means, “Hey, don’t judge my driving!” Or “Just letting you know I’m not judging you and your terrible driving?”
Or maybe it just means what it means: Maybe it’s an introspective question.
And this has me wondering what other sort of introspective bumper stickers we could create for ourselves and others.
Perhaps…
“Am I being kind?”
“Am I living my values?”
“Have I ever apologized for that pain I caused you?”
“What would my dog say about me?”
“Did I turn off the oven?”
Possibilities abound. What introspective bumper stickers would you create?
— Renee Roederer
On Sunday morning, I was in a sanctuary, sitting in a circle with a loving community, and together, we had a time of prayer. During a portion of this prayer, people in the circle were invited to share their joys and concerns, and each time they mentioned a need or a gratitude aloud, they would conclude with,
“God in your mercy…”
and the whole circle of people would respond with, “… Hear our prayer.”
One of the things I noticed during this time was the energy I felt as people named those joys or concerns. I felt in my own body a “yes,” agreement, and it seemed we were all connected in the same energy.
I think this is much of what prayer is about, as well as an address to a Higher Power.
We hear each other deeply, and we
agree,
affirm, and
align.
We cast our hopes in the same direction.
I remember a mentor of mine concluding such moments with the phrase, “May we be a part of the prayers we make.”
The moment of this prayer — this address, this agreement, this alignment — is an invitation to care and act in these very directions. When we address together what’s most Ultimate for us, we align ourselves too. There is great love in the act of agreement.
— Renee Roederer
When I was six years old, I would wait for the school bus at the end of my driveway, and every morning, I would make up little songs daily, singing to God. I don’t remember at all what sorts of things I would sing but I know it wasn’t praise choruses or something like that (there was no 7-11 music, i.e. seven words sung eleven times). I think I would just tell stories but sing them.
Anyway, one night a neighbor was taking an evening walk. She was someone who lived not on my street but on the street well behind my house. She saw me outside, and she said, “I hear you singing every morning.” Of course, she was delighted to say this a six year old, but I was mortified to learn I was that loud.
If you fast forward all these decades later, I’ve had two, quirky, overly-specific hobbies over the last year and a half. Since January 1, 2023, I have spent a solid hour+ per day learning German. I am about 30 days away from finishing German DuoLingo, and it’s very satisfying. (Es ist sehr zufriedenstellend!) Meanwhile, since I bought my e-bike last September, I’ve been biking to the streets in my town in alphabetical order. I’m about mid-way through the Cs.
We had a big heatwave recently, so I found myself riding my bike in the early morning, and whatever time of day it is, if I may reveal something silly, when I’m on my bike, I sometimes zoom down the street, singing in German. (Keine sieben-elf musik.) I just find myself singing auf Deutsch about things I see while I Zoom past.
I’m not so loud this time. No one can hear me but the wind in my face. But I’m having fun. And suddenly, making a turn down a particular street, I remembered being six at the edge of my driveway, and I thought, “Oh, this is a throughline.”
Renee, you’re a delightful weirdo. A weirdo, who loves spotting things that delight. And… singing about it. Warum nicht?
—Renee Roederer
Smuggling Grace 