Only three days left in the first quarter of 2023. Are you satisfied with what you have been able to complete so far? How will you use your last 72 hours?
Today’s senryu: Only 3 More Days
accomplished so much
but still plenty yet to do
time to re-focus
“We are living in a time of unprecedented danger, and the Doomsday clock time reflects that reality. 90 seconds to midnight is the closest the clock has ever been set to midnight, and it’s a decision our experts do not take lightly,” Rachel Bronson, the president and CEO of BAS, said at a news conference on Tuesday (Jan. 24).”
Today’s senryu: Just Another Monday
spy balloon shot down …
do you feel safer today?
proceed with caution
Below is today’s Daily Meditation from Richard Rohr‘s Center for Action and Contemplation. It highlights a teaching from Brian McLaren on the positive gift and use of anger. See https://cac.org/daily-meditations/ for more information on this valuable resource.
Prophets are often known for their anger against injustice. CAC teacher Brian McLaren makes a connection between anger and love:
I think about things I love … birds, trees, wetlands, forested mountains, coral reefs, my grandchildren … and I see the bulldozers and smokestacks and tanks on the horizon.
And so, because I love, I am angry. Really angry.
And if you’re not angry, I think you should check your pulse, because if your heart beats in love for something, someone, anything … you’ll be angry when it’s harmed or threatened.
To paraphrase René Descartes (1596–1650): I love; therefore, I’m angry. […]
Anger makes most sense to me through an analogy of pain. What pain is to my body, anger is to my soul, psyche, or inner self. When I put my hand on a hot stove, physical pain reflexes make me react quickly, to address with all due urgency whatever is damaging my fragile tissues. Physical pain must be strong enough to prompt me to action, immediate action, or I will be harmed, even killed.
Similarly, when I or someone I love is in the company of insult, injustice, injury, degradation, or threat, anger awakens. It tells me to change my posture or position; it demands I address the threat.
McClaren shares scriptural passages that urge us not to react in anger, and describes how contemplative practice can direct our anger into loving action:
Don’t be overcome with evil. Overcome evil with good. (See Romans 12:21).
When someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other cheek. (See Luke 6:29).
Do not return evil for evil to anyone. (See Romans 12:17).
Bless those who persecute you. Bless, and do not curse. (See Romans 12:14).
In each case, we’re given alternatives to our natural reactions, alternatives that break us out of fight/flight/freeze, mirroring, and judging. In the split second when we take that long, deep breath, we might breathe out a prayer: “Guide me, Spirit of God!” We might pause to hear if the Spirit inspires us with some non-reactive, non-reflexive response. […]
Anger does its work. It prompts us to action, for better or worse. With time and practice, we can let the reflexive reactions of fight/flight/freeze, mirroring, and judging pass by like unwanted items on a conveyor belt. Also, with practice, we can make space for creative actions to be prompted by our anger … actions that are in tune with the Spirit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control (see Galatians 5:22) … actions that overcome evil with good and bring healing instead of hate.
So, yes, you bet I’m angry. It’s a source of my creativity. It’s a vaccination against apathy and complacency. It’s a gift that can be abused—or wisely used. Yes, it’s a temptation, but it’s also a resource and an opportunity, as unavoidable and necessary as pain. It’s part of the gift of being human and being alive.
Brian D. McLaren, “Anger, Contemplation, and Action,” Oneing 6, no. 1, Anger (Spring 2018): 84, 85, 89, 90. Available in print and PDF download.
wallup.net
It’s 29 degrees Fahrenheit with a wind speed of 13mph so it feels like 17 degrees. It’s brutal here in St. Louis this morning.
Today’s haiku: Flying In
no snow yet but the
bitter wind reminds me that
Winter’s flying in
May you be warm wherever you are.
heatholders.com
freeprintme.com
We are halfway through the final month of 2022. Let’s make the most of the time remaining.
Today’s senryu: Love All the Way
we are still alive 🙂
our very breath can be joy –
let’s love all the way
Today’s daily meditation from Richard Rohr, Love Does No Harm, is a great reminder of why we can be joyful. (https://cac.org/daily-meditations/) Here’s a brief extract:
Father Richard invites us to trust the Inherent Goodness of the universe:
The goal of the spiritual journey is to discover and move toward connectedness on ever new levels. Of course, we won’t become vulnerable enough to connect unless we learn to trust over and over again. We must ask ourselves, “Is the universe a friendly place or not?” The spiritual experience is about trusting that when we stop holding ourselves, Inherent Goodness will still uphold us. Many of us call that God, but it isn’t necessary. It is the trusting that is important. When we fall into such Primal Love, we realize that everything is foundationally okay.
(Adapted from Richard Rohr, Essential Teachings on Love, selected by Joelle Chase and Judy Traeger (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2018), 104–105.)
I’m a work in progress with no clear finish line in sight. Yet, I aspire to being and doing better.
Below is my latest senryu and the quote that inspired it.
Today’s senryu: Love Everything?
I know I love you
and animals and plants – but –
purists, not so much
“Love the animals, love the plants, love everything. If you love everything, you will perceive the divine mystery in things. Once you perceive it, you will begin to understand it every day. And you will come at last to love the whole world with an all-embracing love … Things flow and are indirectly linked together, and if you push here, something will move at the other end of the world.” Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov as quoted by Richard Rohr in Immortal Diamond (c) 2013, Jossey-Bass, p.159
https://www.amazon.com/Immortal-Diamond
https://www.amazon.com/Brothers-Karamazov-Bicentennial-Novel-Epilogue
Simple pleasures, shared. Photo by Jonas Vincent on Unsplash
“NATIONAL JOY DAY is marked on December 7 every year as a day to appreciate all the people named Joy around the world. Joy is a popular name that means ‘happiness’ or ‘joyful.’
Joy is the English word that is used to describe extreme happiness or elevated pleasure. It is a synonym of words such as ‘delight,’ ‘elation,’ and ‘bliss.’ In the Middle Ages, English took the word from the Norman-French word ‘joie,’ meaning ‘delight’ or ‘gladness.’
Joy is considered a sweet name that conveys the emotions and values of the child’s parents. It is a virtue name, just like Grace, Faith, and Hope. Joy has an obviously positive meaning. Many people prefer it as a middle name instead of a first name because Joy is such a simple, obvious, one-syllable name. With the name Joy, a child is believed to be destined for happiness.” https://nationaltoday.com/national-joy-day/
Sometimes we have to speak a word before we feel it. Sometimes we have to ease into a smile before it takes full form. Sometimes we have to give joy before we can receive it.
May we all pause, breathe and smile today.
May we all enjoy joy today.
Today’s senryu: Joy
Silently walking
she brushes up against me
furry love surprise
Remembering Lexie brings me joy.
Fanny Mendelssohn, sketched in 1829 by her husband, Wilhelm Hensel
“Fanny Mendelssohn (14 November 1805 – 14 May 1847) was a German composer and pianist of the early Romantic era who was also known, after her marriage, as Fanny Hensel (as well as Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel). Her compositions include a piano trio, a piano quartet, an orchestral overture, four cantatas, more than 125 pieces for the piano, and over 250 lieder, most of which went unpublished in her lifetime….Due to her family’s reservations, and to social conventions of the time about the roles of women, six of her songs were published under her brother’s name in his Opus 8 and 9 collections.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanny_Mendelssohn
How sad that patriarchy feels threatened by the creativity and talent of their sisters. How fortunate that the United Nations has been celebrating international girls and women’s events to correct the inequities of the past.
Today’s homage haiku: Happy Birthday Fanny Mendelssohn
Due honor withheld
until later in life – we’re
grateful you played on
Fanny Hensel, 1842, by Moritz Daniel Oppenheim
Known as the “Father of the Nation” of India, Mohandas Gandhi was also called Mahatma (Great Soul) or Bapu (Papa). Gandhi’s birthday, 2 October, is celebrated in India as a national holiday, and worldwide as the International Day of Nonviolence.
“Gandhi grew up in a Hindu and Jain religious atmosphere … which were his primary influences, but he was also influenced by his personal reflections and literature of Hindu Bhakti saints, Advaita Vedanta, Islam, Buddhism, Christianity, and thinkers such as Tolstoy, Ruskin and Thoreau… At age 57 he declared himself to be Advaitist Hindu in his religious persuasion but added that he supported Dvaitist viewpoints and religious pluralism.” (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahatma_Gandhi)
“Time magazine named The 14th Dalai Lama, Lech Wałęsa, Martin Luther King Jr., Cesar Chavez, Aung San Suu Kyi, Benigno Aquino Jr., Desmond Tutu, and Nelson Mandela as Children of Gandhi and his spiritual heirs to nonviolence.” (See “The Children of Gandhi” (excerpt). Time. 31 December 1999.)
One of his most famous sayings is “Be the change you want to see in the world.” (See https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/5810891.Mahatma_Gandhi)
Today’s humble haiku response: Happy Birthday Mahatma Gandhi
Complicated man
demonstrating persistence –
truth will overcome
Family lore suggested my first great grandfather Cole had emigrated from Ireland to Canada. After a personal genealogy study, I surprisingly discovered three great grandfathers had been born in Canada, their five predecessors came from New York before my oldest known six great grandfathers were born in Holland. So far, the oldest records go back to 1450.
Yesterday was Ancestors’ Day in Cambodia which is a far distance from North America or Europe but why quibble. I’m choosing to recognize my ancestors today because my eighth great-grandfather, Jacob, was born on 9/25/1639 in New Amsterdam. Note: New Amsterdam was founded by the Dutch in 1624 and was renamed New York by the English in 1664. My grandfather would have been 25-years old when New York was established. He went on to live another 55 years and died at the age of 80 in 1719.
Here is today’s haiku: Remember Your Ancestors
It’s a miracle
or crazy coincidence –
grateful for my life
Life Matters 