Category Archives: holidays

12/12/23 – Time to Leave the Airport

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life is a series of flights

we think we choose when to leave, when to arrive and where to go

but the variables are innumerable

plans, if made at all, are often challenged

and sometimes thwarted

dearly departed, dearly encountered,

traveling companions have plans too

and preferences and dreams

god, a good night’s sleep would be so helpful, i think

get me to the airport on time

Today’s free verse soliloquy is the result of dreams, texts, and holiday travel challenges. May we all be safe, healthy, and patient during this holiday season.

Nov 23 – Be Thankful for Pets

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Today, I am especially mindful of the lost loved animal companions that have passed since this time last year. For me, that includes two cats and two dogs: Leezy, Lexie, Tilly and Zorro.

I’m also remembering the cats and dogs that have been honored by sister and brother grief companions in the St. Louis region. They are Duke, Ellie, Journi Ray, Kitty, Lovey-Dovey, Maggie, Moses, Sangria, Stella, Stewie, Sunny Marie, Tully, and Whitey.

Below is a repost of a beautiful reminder of the many reasons we love our animal companions. Thank you, Katya Lidsky-Friedman, for all you do to recognize both human and more-than-human animals today.

Be Thankful for Pets: 10 Reasons to Be Grateful This Thanksgiving

BY KATYA LIDSKY-FRIEDMAN
On Thanksgiving, we all get to set aside some time to reflect and be thankful. To be grateful. To count our blessings and feel lucky for what we have. Hopefully, you can give thanks for your health, your loved ones, and your many achievements and opportunities. But how about your pets? Let’s all vow to give a special moment this holiday season to give thanks to our furry friends for the unique love they provide and the countless ways in which they enrich our lives. Here are 10 reasons to be grateful for pets this Thanksgiving.

1. They make us laugh.

Pets are always finding new ways to make us laugh. Whether they be old pets, new pets, or foster dogs and cats — we find ourselves in stitches over their hilarious antics. All pets have their own personalities, their own jokes, and their own way of being funny. Thank you to our four-legged friends for keeping us cracking up.

2. They keep us present.

Pets don’t live in the past or in the future. They’re living in the present like a furry little Buddha. They remind us to be mindful, to take deep breaths, to let go of past or future moments, and to be in the now. We thank pets for reminding us that the present is a gift.

3. They keep us company.

Who doesn’t love a good snuggle buddy to enjoy a good movie with? Pets make fantastic friends because they are simply masters of loyalty and companionship. It’s hard to be lonely when you have a devoted pal to spend your time with. We appreciate our furry friends for their incredible friendship.

4. They give us purpose.

Helping homeless pets feels good. It feels right. It feels worthy and meaningful because it is, in fact, worthy and meaningful. Because regardless of how you do it or how much time you have to share, giving back to animals is a wonderful way to volunteer and be of service. We’re thankful to help animals and, in turn, be given a mission we can believe in.

5. They make great teachers.

They’re non-judgemental. We can make mistakes in front of them and they don’t mind. They’re always there to lick away a tear or cuddle next to us when we need support. Pets allow us to learn as we go, to fail, and to be imperfect – and they love us anyway. We are indebted to animals for accepting us just as we are.

6. They keep us active.

Pets keep us active because they need regular walks, playtime, and socialization to keep both mentally and physically stimulated. Dogs make terrific running, walking, or hiking buddies. Cats love to play. By providing bunnies with a safe and enclosed area to frolic outside, rabbits can encourage us to soak up some sunshine. Horses pull us towards nature. High fives or high paws to all our pets for keeping us full of life and energy.

7. They challenge us.

Some pets are easier than others. Some are a more natural fit for your lifestyle. But we believe all animals deserve a chance at a happy life. Time and time again, we see that even pets who challenge us offer tremendous value and always reward us with as much as we put in. Whether it’s a more difficult pet with behavioral or health issues, a dog who takes extra time to smell the grass on a walk, or a kitty who just can’t get where the litterbox is, all animals require consistency, patience, and love from us in order to succeed. We get to become a team with our pets as we work with them.

8. They make us feel like rock stars.

Let’s be real — we all love how excited our pets get each and every time we come home. Even when you just step out of the shower, the display of adoration and dedication is good for the ego. Animals aren’t afraid or embarrassed to shower us with love and to show us how much we mean to them. We are so grateful to our dogs for making us feel as awesome and interesting as rock stars.

9. They make us better.

Our pets improve us in so many ways. Studies show that petting an animal can reduce a person’s heart rate as well as their blood pressure, and animals keep us physically healthier overall because they keep us moving. And the endless joy they bring increases our mental health. By focusing on positive reinforcement with our pets, we learn to pay attention to what we love about others, and it keeps us focusing on the good. Thanks to our pets for all the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual benefits they grant us.

10. They let live with gratitude.

Look at the list above. We thank our own pets and all pets for keeping us thankful. With their help, every day can be Thanksgiving.

Katya Lidsky is a published writer, host of “The Animal That Changed You” podcast, and a life coach for Dog People. 

11-22-23 – Seagull on a Dock

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As I prepare for Thanksgiving Day in America, it’s helpful to remind myself that everything in life matters. I hope you enjoy the holidays ahead. I hope you enjoy the poem below.

photo by author

SEAGULL ON A DOCK by Patrick J Cole

You may see the bird,

or the many posts beyond it.

You may even see the harbor shoreline not that far ahead 

or the ripples on the water below

or heavily clouded sky above.

But, if you don’t know me by now,

I see the birdshit splotches.

White artwork on the dock

that tells me this is real.

No lotus without the mud.

No seagull without the birdshit.

No love without grief.

No joy without suffering.

Aug 26 – International Dog Day

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Can you feel the love,

see the desire to be close?

Nose to nose, we see.

“INTERNATIONAL DOG DAY: A SPECIAL DAY TO CELEBRATE ALL DOGS AROUND THE WORLD!

The International Dog Day is observed annually on August 26 to honor all dogs – no matter shapes, sizes, age and breeds – and encourage adoption to all those who have yet to find a home and a family forever.

It is a good and symbolic occasion to celebrate man’s best friend and to remember that every dog around the world should deserve a better life: a life of joy, love, protection, care and respect. A special day to raise awareness about dog adoption because if you are looking for a life’s companion, shelters are full of four-legged friends who are waiting for their chance and will bring just happiness to your days.

Today we also want to give special thought to all dogs that are still left behind in many parts of the world because people, government or local authorities do not care. We should remember all dogs killed, abused, mistreated, but also those who live homeless, in suffering with no care and need to be helped and rescued.

This day was created in 2004 by Colleen Paige, a pet and family lifestyle expert and animal advocate who chose to celebrate the day on August 26 as it was the date that her family adopted their first dog ‘Sheltie’ from an animal shelter home.

Since the first celebration in 2004, National Dog Day has grown in popularity and is now celebrated across the world as International Dog Day.

Today choose to celebrate by giving your dog an extra cuddle, but also do not forget the others and help them by volunteering in a shelter, making a donation or consciously adopting your friend forever.

Be sure to spend this day acknowledging how wonderful and valuable dogs are and give them something positive back as they deserve.”

https://www.oipa.org/international/international-dog-day/

Apr 10 – After Easter – Now What?

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Below is a repost of a provocative reminder from Sr. Joan Chittister.

https://joanchittister.org/

What Easter is Really About

“The true division of humanity,” Victor Hugo wrote in Les Miserables, “is between those who live in light and those who live in darkness.” Victor Hugo, it seems, understood Easter.

We love to think of Easter as the feast of dazzling light. We get up on Easter Sunday morning knowing that the sorrow of Good Friday is finally ended, that the pain of the cross has been compensated for by a burst of brilliant victory from the gates of the grave, that Jesus is vindicated, that the faith of the disciples is confirmed for all to see, and that everyone lived happily ever after. We love fairy tales. Unfortunately, Easter is not one of them.

On the contrary, Easter is raw reality. Easter stands in stark witness, not to the meaning of death, but to the meaning of what it is to go on despite death, in the face of death—because of death. To celebrate Easter means to stand in the light of the empty tomb and decide what to do next. Until we come to realize that, we stand to misread the meaning not simply of the Easter gospel but of our own lives. We miss the point. We make Easter an historical event rather than a life-changing commitment. We fail to realize that Easter demands as much of us now as it did of the apostles then.

Most of all we miss the very meaning of the Easters that we are dealing with in our own lives, in our own time. 

Easter is the feast that gives meaning to life. It is the feast that never ends. After Easter, the tomb stands open for all of us to enter. If Jesus is risen, then you and I have no choice but to go into the tomb, put on the leftover garments ourselves, and follow Jesus back to Galilee where the poor cry for food and the sick beg to be taken to the pool and the blind wait for the spittle on their eyes to dry. All the fidelity in the world will not substitute for leaving the tomb and beginning the journey all over again. Today. Every day. Always.

That’s what Easter is really about. It is the “division of humanity” to which Hugo refers in his dramatic rendering of the struggle between light and dark. Yes, Easter is about dazzling light—but only if it shines through us.

              —In the Light of the Messengers: Lenten reflections by Joan Chittister, OSB 

Feb 14 – Happy Birthday “Little Valentine”

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“Frederick Douglass was born in February 1818. Though the exact date of his birth is unknown, he chose to celebrate February 14 as his birthday, remembering that his mother called him her “Little Valentine.” Douglass, Frederick (1882). The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass: From 1817–1882. London: Christian Age Office. p. 2

Frederick Douglass was an American social reformer, abolitionist, social reformer, orator, writer, and statesman.

In 1848, Douglass was the only black person to attend the Seneca Falls Convention, the first women’s rights convention, in upstate New York. Elizabeth Cady Stanton asked the assembly to pass a resolution asking for women’s suffrage. Many of those present opposed the idea … Douglass stood and spoke eloquently in favor of women’s suffrage; he said that he could not accept the right to vote as a black man if women could also not claim that right. He suggested that the world would be a better place if women were involved in the political sphere.

‘In this denial of the right to participate in government, not merely the degradation of woman and the perpetuation of a great injustice happens, but the maiming and repudiation of one-half of the moral and intellectual power of the government of the world.‘

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Douglass

After Douglass’s powerful words, the attendees passed the resolution.

On February 20, 1895, Douglass attended a meeting of the National Council of Women in Washington, D.C. During that meeting, he was brought to the platform and received a standing ovation. Shortly after he returned home, Douglass died of a massive heart attack. He was 77.

Douglass’s coffin was transported to Rochester, NY, where he had lived for 25 years, longer than anywhere else in his life. His body was received in state at City Hall, flags were flown at half mast, and schools adjourned. He was buried next to Anna (his first wife) in the Douglass family plot of Mount Hope Cemetery, Rochester’s premier memorial park. Helen (his second wife) was also buried there, in 1903. His grave is, with that of Susan B. Anthony, the most visited in the cemetery. A marker, erected by the University of Rochester and other friends, describes him as “escaped slave, abolitionist, suffragist, journalist and statesman, founder of the Civil Rights Movement in America“. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Douglass

“America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future.” https://www.writerswrite.co.za/literary-birthday-14-february-frederick-douglass/

Feb 1 – The Mixed Messages of February

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What comes to mind when you first realize it’s February? What memories, historical events or important people come to mind? What about February do you look forward to this year?

Personally, I first think of another Valentine’s Day that I won’t be celebrating. My partner doesn’t like this day and I became less interested myself when my beloved grandfather died on this day. This “holiday” has become more of a dirge than a celebration, a personal St. Valentine’s Day massacre.

Next, I think of Groundhog Day. A funny day and an even funnier movie. Did you know that the Groundhog Day movie is considered a great metaphor for life from a Buddhist perspective?

Then I remember the U.S. Presidential holidays which quite frankly are another mixed message, from my perspective. George Washington was a rich slave owner and Abraham Lincoln was a lawyer who used the Emancipation Proclamation as a war tactic. Fortunately, both of these thoughts remind me that February is Black History Month in the U.S. which is a very good thing to celebrate.

My life has benefited greatly from African American contributions and specific individuals who have demonstrated honor and nobility in their own lives. Many black Mindfulness practitioners have especially role-modeled the benefits of nonduality and nonviolent principles.

Now I’m looking forward to this month and the topics I will be blogging about.

Finally, this mixed-emotional month reminds me of a poem published last year in a self-published book Natural Beauty and Other Poems (c) 2022 Patrick J. Cole

Here’s the poem:

One Tree, One Lonely, February Afternoon

In the middle of a field, far apart from others, that lie in the woods to the West,

stands a tree, alone, exposed on every side; a tree looking different from the rest.

How did this tree end up here, all alone? Does a tree ever have a choice?

Perhaps our ancestral seeds blow where they will and all we have is our voice,

to tell what we know, however small it may be, in whatever field we find ourself.

Sometimes, what stands out, catches our eye, ends up on a mantle or a shelf.

Alone and lonely are two separate states but sometimes they’re intertwined,

like the branches of a tree, one lonely afternoon, in a late February state of mind.

Photo taken by the author in a nearby nature park.

Jan 16 – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

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Today we honor the American prophet, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his legacy dedicated to building and maintaining a Beloved Community.

Today’s senryu: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

The highest honor

is continuation of

the wisdom received.

A big part of MLK’s legacy are his children, especially his daughter, Dr. Bernice A. King who serves as CEO of The King Center. As her mother Coretta Scott King has said, “if you receive a blessing, you have a duty to share it with others.”

Dr. Bernice A. King – Chief Executive Officer, The King Center @ https://berniceking.com/

“Dr. King is a global thought leader, strategist, solutionist, orator, peace advocate, and the CEO of the Martin Luther King, Jr., Center for Nonviolent Social Change (The King Center)”

Be A King – Our Time for Change Is Now

Jan 15 – Tomorrow is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

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Change is difficult, for us and for the collective. Unfortunately, when we make progress, it’s easy to assume that it will continue without our continued effort. No, we must not give up. Our efforts to sustain the progress is needed today and everyday going forward. It takes all of us to make a Beloved Community.

Today’s senryu: Tomorrow is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

listen to prophets,

become a prophet, and change

the future for good

Martin Luther King, Jr. and Thich Nhat Hanh statues in the Beloved Community Garden at Magnolia Grove Monastery https://magnoliagrovemonastery.org/photo-gallery/#bwg2/25

See today’s daily meditation from the Center for Action AND Contemplation below and here: https://cac.org/daily-meditations/disrupting-the-status-quo-2023-01-15/

Disrupting the Status Quo

Richard Rohr describes how speaking truth to power is an essential part of the prophet’s mission:

One of the gifts of the prophets is that they evoke a crisis where one did not appear to exist before their truth-telling. In the 1960s, Martin Luther King Jr. was blamed for creating violence—but those who had eyes to see and were ready to hear recognized, “My God, the violence was already there!” Structural violence was inherent in the system, but it was denied and disguised. No one was willing to talk about it. Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and others said, “We’re going to talk about it.”

Prophets always talk about the untalkable and open a huge new area of “talkability.” For those who are willing to go there, it helps us see what we didn’t know how to see until they helped us to see it. That’s how we begin to recognize a prophet—there is this widening of seeing, this deepening of a truth that was always there.

Prophets generate a crisis, so it’s almost understandable why they’re usually called troublemakers and so often killed. They generate the crisis because while everybody else is saying the emperor is beautifully clothed, they are willing to say, “No, he’s naked.” We’re not supposed to say that the emperor has no clothes!

It’s the nature of culture to have its agreed-upon lies. Culture holds itself together by projecting its shadow side elsewhere. That’s called the “scapegoat mechanism.” René Girard, Gil Bailie, and others have pointed out that the scapegoat mechanism is the subtext of the entire biblical revelation. It’s the tendency to export our evil elsewhere and to hate it there, and therefore to remain in splendid delusion. If there isn’t a willingness to be critical of our country, our institution, and ourselves, we certainly can’t be prophets. [1]

When the prophet is missing from the story, the shadow side of things is always out of control, as in much of the world today, where we do not honor wisdom or truth.

It seems the prophet’s job is first to deconstruct current illusions, which is the status quo, and then reconstruct on a new and honest foundation. That is why the prophet is never popular with the comfortable or with those in power. Only a holy few have any patience with the deconstruction of egos and institutions.

The prophets are “radical” teachers in the truest sense of the word. The Latin radix means root, and the prophets go to the root causes and root vices and “root” them out! Their educational method is to expose and accuse with no holds barred. Ministers and religion in general tend to concentrate on effects and symptoms, usually a mopping up exercise after the fact. As someone once put it, we throw life preservers to people drowning in the swollen stream, which is all well and good—but prophets work far upstream to find out why the stream is swollen in the first place. [2]

[1] Adapted from Joan Chittister and Richard Rohr, Prophets Then, Prophets Now (Albuquerque, NM: Center for Action and Contemplation, 2006). Available as MP3 download.

[2] Adapted from Richard Rohr, Soul Brothers: Men in the Bible Speak to Men Today (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2004), 31, 39, 40.