Last night, I lit a candle for the people of the United States.
Many are bereft at the news and find fear the occupier of their thoughts.
Tonight, I will light a candle for the people of the United States.
May loyalty to the Constitution rather than loyalty to one man be the underlying motivator for honest responses.
Each night, I will light a candle for the people of the United States for hope.
Whether we light a candle in our imagination in our prayers in real time and space, may hope be lit.
It only takes one match to light one candle … one voice to light a conversation … one conversation to light a change in one person’s vote to something that could potentially mean the end of democracy.
Let’s light a candle. Let’s light many candles. Let’s light conversations. And who knows – maybe those conversations will turn into votes. At this point in time, it’s about HOPE. Let’s keep hope lit! Let us light a candle.
· in the midst of tears light raindrops on flower petals reveal beauty something about which one can be grateful if so in the midst of personal tears what are you grateful for today if so in the midst of political tears what can we be grateful for today if so in the wider scheme of life what can humanity be grateful for today name them name them out loud name them by writing name them so they will never be forgotten even in the midst of tears
Have a look through the peekhole … what is on the other side, if the head of the ultra-conservative very radical-sounding Heritage Foundation and architect of Project 2025, Kevin Roberts, has his way, is devastating. He stated: “We are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.”
WHAAAT?
American lawyer Joyce Alene Vance who served as the United States attorney for the Northern District of Alabama (2009 – 2017) has written an intro to Project 2025’s ideology starting on page 34) and says “He’s (Kevin Roberts) talking about using violence if the majority of American voters don’t agree with his vision for our country. He’s endorsing another January 6, a bloodletting if liberals won’t cave into his view of how the country should be run. If the left won’t “allow” him to have his way, he’s going to make us give in. That’s the man behind Project 2025.”
Please, look through the peekhole – learn about Project 2025 … share what you learn about the Project (which, btw, has already begun) on social media … recognize that this isn’t “pie in the sky” it is as real as were the warnings in Germany in the 1930’s. https://www.project2025.org/about/about-project-2025/https://www.project2025.org/
There is only one way to stop Project 2025 and that is to exercise the right to vote – ignore the hype about the candidates – ignore the rhetoric about what Trump promises – just don’t ignore what undergirds Trump or what undergirds the Kevin Roberts’ of this world.
Today Americans mark their independence from a monarchy. Kevin Roberts is trying to re-create the monarchy.
Remember Roberts’ words: “We are in the process of the second American Revolution”. Not “going to be”. It’s begun. But it can be stopped by one simple act … voting blue – voting the Biden/Harris ticket – choosing democracy not fascism.
Btw, here’s a list of some of the actual things on the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 list:
It’s real. Its implementation has already begun. Read – digest – and recognize where/how you/your loved ones will be affected. No one will *not* be affected.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision took the United States back to July 3, 1776, the day BEFORE the Declaration of Independence. That SCOTUS decision gave Americans the thing that caused them to break away from England – away from a a president-king who’s above the law.
Peek through peep-hole and learn about the depth of the plan of Project 2025. It is not good. It is anything but good. If it succeeds, it will mean the end of democracy. Don’t let that happen – exercise your right to vote and vote for democracy: blue.
“It’s hopeless. You just have to accept that. Your child will never be a contributing member of society. I can make arrangements for him to be institutionalized. It’s all for the best.”
Those were the words the doctor spoke, telling the young mother that her son was “hopeless.”
Hopeless? There are many situations that many think of as hopeless … a marriage on the verge of collapse … a relationship that was desperate for reconciliation … war … a family that was estranged … a body that had run a good race for decades … corrupt politicians – hopeless?
When human problems beset us … when our personal lives disintegrate … when the world seems as if it has gone crazy – it seems that we seek answers from every other physician before we dare to “let go” and “let God” – before we resist putting our prejudices, our loneliness, our anger, our frustrations, our pride, our hatreds, our fears into the transforming hands of G_d, the Holy One, the Creator, the Personification of Love, the Bearer of Hope.
How long will it be before we reach out, like the woman with the hem who touched Jesus’ garment – or before we are like the story of Jairus, the ruler of a synagogue, who was searching desperately for some hope. He’d tried everything and now, one last attempt. When he finally found the man Jesus, he fell on his knees and repeatedly cried … “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hand on her so that she may be made well and live.” Without a word, Jesus went with Jairus. And while that’s all that Matthew’s Gospel tells us, the story appears in Mark’s Gospel as well and carries this story further as we learn that a messenger from Jairus’ home comes and says “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble Jesus any further?” To the messenger, the little girl’s death was the end of the story. There was no hope. There was no point in trying to go further. It was hopeless. Fear set in.
Like the day a phone call brought fear to a priest who the evening of the phone call, wrote about The Not-Knowing-Time:
“An ordinary medical test was done. Anticipating nothing unusual, and yet there was. “Redo the test” said the physician. “Nothing to worry about – but let’s rule out …” So, the test was redone and there it was. Again! “A specialist. I want you to see a specialist” she said Friday morning. The rest of that day was a blur other than that ugly four letter word: FEAR.“Get me to the specialist. Now! Let me know what I’m dealing with so decisions can be made and life can be planned. The fear is not of dying – the fear is of the not-knowing.”
When we are in such fearful and seemingly hopeless situations, is the God-of-All-Knowing the first we consider turning to? Or turn to at all? Jesus said to Jairus: “Don’t fear, only believe.”
In the story of the woman who touched the hem of Jesus’ garment, the social context of the time was a significant factor. She would have been looked upon as ‘unclean’. She was bleeding – she was a woman, a person with no rights, and would have been shunned at the very least for daring to be in the company of the men who surrounded Jesus and to touch reach out and touch the hem of his garment. Perhaps she prayed/hoped that her fears would be relieved.
What of the priest who wrote about “The Not-Knowing Time”? A week after the phone call, another entry in her journal: “Unraveling the Not-Knowing Time.” Sunday night I wanted to stay home and curl up in bed and watch some inane television program, but I couldn’t. I had responsibilities, but in that moment, I hoped that no one would want Eucharist and I could go home. But, there they were … the two of them. “When two or three are gathered together, there am I, in your midst.” Maybe something happened for the two who came to church that evening, but not for me. Nothing happened. I felt no relief – no peace. “The Unknown” still haunted me as walked home.
Home at last. A cup of hot tea brought solace, but no relief from the Fear of the “Not-Knowing Time”. Then came the realization! The panic had subsided. Monday arrived. The panic was no longer there – it was still gone! The phone rang with a message “Your appointment with the specialist is scheduled.” The “Not-Knowing Time” had begun to unravel.”
~~~~~~~~ Many others have desperate situations. Perhaps they arefacing a seemingly hopeless financial crunch … a marriage that is on the rocks … a teenager or toddler that you can’t handle … a parent who no longer can communicate with anyone in ways others remember … a spouse who is imprisoned either in body or mind … living in poverty and/or war, addicted with nowhere to turn … grieving over the death of someone loved very much … a child/spouse/partner/parent who is ill or dying … dealing with their own medical crisis. And the list goes on.
There are countless stories that remind us that no situation is hopeless. Does this mean that if there is enough faith, every dead person will be raised to life on earth? … that money for every financial need will appear?… that everyone who is terminally ill will be cured? … that a job will be provided for all the unemployed? No. What it means is that we will be met in our fears and uncertainties and comforted in our Not-Knowing-Times.
~~~~~~~~ Long ago, there was a wealthy woman, an atheist, who lived in Hanover, Germany. She wanted to prove to the world that there could be no resurrection. She gave orders to those who were to take care of her money after she died, to build a tomb of stone around her, so strong that her body could never rise out of it. Since there was nothing illegal about her request, the men built her a great tomb, and around it, they built an iron fence. What the builders didn’t notice was that a tiny seed fell into a crevice between two of the massive stones and one spring some years later, it sprouted. As the seedling grew into a tree, it pushed aside the heavy stones and the unbreakable tomb was cracked open.
If you go to a place in Hanover, Germany called Gartenfriedhof (Garden Cemetary), ask to be shown the Geoffnetes Grab (the grave that was opened). You’ll have no trouble finding the tomb, because out of its great crack grows the finest tree in the garden. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The grave was opened. Hope – Love – God – the Creator stepped into Jairus’ life. Hope stepped into the life of the woman with the hemorrhage and healed her body. Hope stepped into the life of the child whose doctor pronounced him to be hopeless. Hope stepped in – into the life of the priest – who wrote “Knowing Time … Holy Refuge”
“Procedures have begun. Nothing untoward showing up so far. Other complications on the horizon. Getting older and having the body not move as it once did is not fun. I must try to “let go and let God.” The talk about the “peace that passes understanding” isn’t just ‘talk.’ It really exists. Should fear well up within me again… should the unknown frighten me … should the “Not-Knowing Time” seem to engulf and entrap and overwhelm and I can’t move beyond it, I hope/I pray I will relax into the gentle, caring, loving hand of God – of Hope – of Love – of the Creator – and allow myself to move into “Knowing-Time” which, from God’s perspective – from Hope’s perspective – from Love’s perspective – from the Creator’s perspective is “Knowing-Time.” Kairos … not Chronos. “Knowing-Time” exists … whether I feel it or not. ~~~~~~~~~~~~
No matter what situation you may be in now – or you may have to face in the future – with God, there are no “Not-Knowing-Times.” There is always hope! Consider this
—- on a wall in Dachau prison, these words were scratched: I believe in the sun even when it isn’t shining. I believe in stars even when I see them not. I believe in God even when God is silent.” In a tiny room in a refugee camp in Sri Lanka, four women were teaching songs to barefoot, dirty, scantily-lad children. Since there was no room to sit, they all stood for this brief respite from the noisy, hot, humid, dusty and impossibly crowded communal living area. On the door, crudely printed, were these words “Life is a gift from God.”
The refugees in war-torn Sri Lanka, the concentration prisoners in Dachau – they knew Hope – they knew Love – they knew another word for Hope, for Love – they knew the Creator, God, By Whatever Name … even in the midst of a terrifying yesterday, a bleak and often hungry today, and a potentially fearful tomorrow.
In many Christian churches today, people are marking Pentecost Sunday – a reminder that the Holy Spirit offers Hope – Love. May we never forget that even sturdy tombs crack open! May we never forget that Hope/Love/God enters lives – enters the “Unknown Times” – enters the moments of apparent hopelessness.
In the midst of it all … just as in the midst of all of our painful pasts, hurtful today’s and unknown futures … we never need to live in “The Not-Knowing Time.” How do I know? The “Not-Knowing Time” story is my story. The words are from my journal.
The Creator – Hope – Love – God – By Whatever Name – is … in all our times: yesterday – today – tomorrow.
******************* Your comments on this and any Soulistry blog reflection are always very welcome and appreciated here.
Quote: “Happily may I walk. Happily with abundant dark clouds may I walk. Happily with abundant showers, may I walk. Happily with abundant plants, may I walk. Happily on a trail of pollen, may I walk. With beauty before me, may I walk. With beauty behind me, may I walk. With beauty above me, may I walk. With beauty below me, may I walk. With beauty all around me, may I walk. Wandering on a trail of beauty, lively I walk.
Author: Navajo chant
Soul-Questions
1. What moments in your life have you experienced – “abundant dark clouds” – “abundant showers” – “abundant plants” – “a trail of pollen”
2. How can you “happily” walk, regardless of outdoor weather conditions, your own inner emotional state, the global political angst?
2. What questions have been more important to you than the answers?
3. Consider your understanding of walking and the Navajo understanding. Is there a difference? If so, what?
4. What might prevent you from walking Navajo-style in your life?
5. What is your understanding of ‘beauty’?
6. What do you understand to be the Navajo chat understanding of ‘beauty’?
7. When you go for a walk, reflect on the ‘beauty’ you see “before me”, “behind me”, “above me”, “below me.”
In your journal, reflect on the above questions and how you might move beyond whatever blocked you in those circumstances.
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How to use “Soulistry Soul-Questions” You may want to begin a Journal so your responses are all in one place. Write the quotation. Add the first question and write your response.
Take your time in writing your replies. This is your time. These are your answers.
Then at your leisure, add the second Soul-Question and respond and continue on. Btw, it helps to put the date after each Soul-Question response.
The “Soul-Questions” group on Facebook can be found www.facebook.com/groups/soulquestions
The “Soul-Questions” website can be found at https://soulistry.com/soul-questions-blog-posts
Welcome to “Soul-Questions” one of the Soulistry *umbrella* groups.
The“Soulistry: Artistry of the Soul – Creative Ways to Nurture Your Spirituality”publication offers 80 quotes by a wide variety of authors along with Soul-Questions to encourage readers to listen to the “still, small Voice within” and know themselves more deeply.
The book’s Preface, Prologue and Appendices supplement the Soul-Questions and are available in the print ‘book’ version available through Amazon, the author, your local bookstore, Gumroad. Over time, more of the quotes and their accompanying “Soul-Questions” from the book will find their way to this Facebook group. If you have a particular title from the list below you would like posted here, feel free to write me here on this site or: june at soulistry dot com.
Please note that if you subscribe to this website, you will receive all Soulistry postings directly into your inbox. No record is kept of your email address – no selling of your personal information either.
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TITLES of Quotes and their authors (all with permission to publish) are as follows.
Aging … Mark Twain Aiming High … Michelangelo All Shall Be Well … Julian of Norwich And the Day Came … Anais Nin A Spiritual Experience … Pierre Teillard de Chardin A Spirituality of Play … Margaret Guenther A Spirituality of Work … Confucius Being Remembered … Mattie Stepanek Believing … Verna Dozier Blessed Are You … Jesus of Nazareth Challenge Your Limits … Jerry Dunn Come to the Edge … Guillaume Apollinaire Courage … Ambroe Redmoon Darkness Deserves Gratitude … Joan Chittister Deeping the Mystery … Francis Bacon Doing Good … John Wesley Doing What You Think You Cannot Do … Eleanor Roosevelt Draw the Circle Wide … Gordon Light Excursions to Enchantment … Thomas Moore Faith … Patrick Overton Feeding the Wolf … Cherokee Legend Finding God’s Presence … Herbert O’Driscoll Forgiveness .. Mahatma Gandhi Friends … Kahlil Gibran Gift … Denis Brown Gladdening the Hearts … Henri Amiel God’s Milk … Anne Sexton Gratitude … Meister Eckhart Happiness … Chinese Proverb Hatred Ceases … Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha) Holding Fast to Dreams … Langson Hughes Hope Has Two Daughters … Augustine Journey Inward … Dag Hammarskjold Keening … Lara Keeping Secrets … Paul Tournier Laughing At Ourselves … Katherine Mansfield Life Goes On … Robert Frost Light From Within … Elisabeth Kubler-Ross Living Life With Confidence … Henry David Thoreau Look Well to This Day … Sanskirt Provert Loving Your Enemy … Jesus of Nazareth May I Walk … Navajo Chant May You Be Blessed … St. Francis of Assisi Mystery … Martin Buber Nothing You Can Do … Desmond Tutu Open Doors … Alexander Graham Bell Peace Within … Jill Jackson Problem-Solving … Anthony D’Angelo Questions That Speak … Chinese Proverb Radiating Intrinsic Goodness … Wangari Maathai Rekindling the Light … Albert Schweitzer Religious Belief … Dalai Lama Rising Every Time … Confucius Risking Frustration … Thomas Merton Secret of the Spiritual Life … Gerald Heard Seeing the Spirit Sparkle … Gwen Weaver Six Letters … Gemma Black Soul Alive … Eleonora Duse Soul Harvest … Lao Tzu Soul Stars … Pamela Vaull Starr Spiritual Mountain-Climbing … Sri chinmoy Success … Henry Ward Beecher The Acquisition of Wisdom … Solomon ibn Gabirol The Art of Being Kind … Ella Wheeler Wilcox The Idea of God … Madeleine L’Engle (Miguel de Unamuno) The Mark of Wisdom … Ralph Waldo Emerson The Only Journey … Raider Maria Rilke The Web of Life … Chief Seattle (traditionally attributed) The Well Within … Thich Nhat Hanh Today I Am Asking … Alice Hancock Today’s Road … Nagarjuna (traditionally attributed) Tomorrow’s Seeds … Chinese Proverb Trusting the Unseen … Ralph Waldo Emerson Vulnerability … Sigmund Freud Walking In and Out … Joy Harjo What Does Love Look Like … Augustine What is Spirituality … Dan Wakefield What We See … Peter Thornton Worldly Inexperience … Joseph Addison In the Appendices: How to Make Your Own Journal The Soulistry “story” Author Biographies About the Author – Who Am I?
It’s not a good day for many in the world. And especially not for those in Ukraine. Two years ago today, Russia invaded Ukraine.
And on this, the second anniversary of that terrible event, tangling in colour helps distract me from the sterile black/white images in my mind of menacing trucks rolling down city streets, people hovering in bombed-out hospitals, children growing up terrified and democracy on a fragile thread in that and far too many countries.
As we move about each day – as we create our art – as we drive into town – as we shop and attend our meetings, appointments, go to work/school/worship, may we think of the people of Ukraine and other places in the world where that same scenario is commonplace.
Let us think hope. Let us pray peace. Let us send thoughts of protection.
The freedom we enjoy this day is not theirs. May that reality change soon and in the meantime, may the people of Ukraine know that the world has not forgotten them.
I send them colour – and hope – this, and all, days.
We need colour and hope in this world as reminders that rainbows still cross skies – somewhere; reminders that children still dance and sing – somewhere; reminders that freedom still exists – somewhere. Colour and Hope!
Artwork: I don’t find ‘scratch paper’ easy to work with/tangle on (this is a Zentangle® HQ fragment called ‘Obawa’,) but I do love the surprising and unexpected colours that emerge each time.
Tomorrow, February 14th is going to be an unusual day for those who like to mark Valentine’s Day and for whom Ash Wednesday is part of their faith. This year, they both occur on the same day!
Around the world, people will gather to receive the ashes on their forehead and hear the words “Dust thou art and to dust thou shalt return” on what is known as Ash Wednesday – the first day of what is known as the Season of Lent.Those words are certainly not anyone favourite words, but they represent a truth which is important to remember from time to time – our own mortality. Ash Wednesday every year, is a sober reminder that we are mortal – not immortal. Acknowledging our humanity, our vulnerability, our mortality, helps us to live more fully.
Do we need to be a Christian to do that? No. Do we need to have experienced an Ash Wednesday service before? No. Do we need to be connected to a church to do that? No. All we need to do is accept our mortality, allow the ashes to be a sign – an outward symbol of what is hoped would happen internally and a commitment to be the best we can be – that we recognize that our mortal life is a gift, and commit ourselves (with the help of the Holy One if that is part of our belief), to use the rest of our mortal life to the very best of our ability.
Side bar – interestingly, the imposition of ashes, is not just a Christian tradition. It was an ancient Jewish tradition and was a public sign of an individual’s repentance. By the seventh century, the Christian church adopted it as part of the Church’s Lenten preparation before the Season of Easter.
The ‘imposition of ashes’ can take various forms: sprinkle ashes into the palm of one’s own or a family member’s hand and apply it to the forehead; use a cotton Qtip, dipped into the ashes and placed on the forehead. Some groups/congregations give members dirt, seed and water instead of ashes, acknowledging that from the dust of the world, new hope springs.
Some churches encourage people to mark their hearts with the sign of a heart (or the Cross) as an outward and visible sign of their intention to turn their heart to God and experience God’s unconditional love and forgiveness in a new way, saying the words “Dust I am and to dust I shall return.” Whatever way each of us chooses to observe Ash Wednesday, may we enter with humility and gratitude.
This year, Valentine’s Day is also happening tomorrow on February 14th. It is a day where people talk about love and try to express love by giving flowers/heart-shaped cards, chocolates. But could there be more? Could something more happen on this duo-day of emotion?
This year on Ash Wednesday/Valentine’s Day, could we love our families sufficiently that we have the “I don’t want to have this discussion with you, but it’s time” conversation with them? You know the conversation … it’s about the reality of our death.
Could we talk about the inevitability of death in general and about our own death in particular … talk about how we hope we would die (most of us want to be home, go to sleep and not wake up); talk about the “What if’s” (what if we don’t die at home in our sleep? what if we are riddled with pain? what if we face a future of permanent care in an institution etc); talk about, what would we want to have with us if we find ourselves in institutional care or are receiving palliative care in a facility or at home and even our view about MAiD (Medical Assistance in Dying).
Such a talk would not only be for ourselves, but for our loved ones, so that should something terrible happen, should “it” – or the illness get to a level where institutionalization, palliative care etc. need to be addressed and our families have to make decisions on our behalf, they will be doing so in accordance with our wishes.
But if we don’t have “the conversation” with our adult children/partner/best friend – whoever – they will be at a loss and their confusion about ‘what to do’ will be added to the fear, anxiety, grief they feel when they get “the phone call/text/email.”
I have sat by the bedside over the years of countless people who did not have any such conversation with their loved ones because they “didn’t want to worry them,” “didn’t want to upset them”, “stress them”. So, they did not have that conversation. When “it” happened, their family members, dealing with a wide variety of emotions, were faced with a parent/partner/loved one dealing with a stroke/untreatable illness/inoperable results from a vehicle accident, would tell me how much they wish they knew what their loved one would want them to do at such a time.
So in keeping with the theme of Valentine’s Day “love” and the theme of Ash Wednesday’s “mortality”, let’s have that difficult conversation – for them.
Let’s sit down for a serious conversation and begin in your own words. For me, with my adult son, it was along these lines — “This is a difficult subject and I want to talk about it with you.” I wasn’t seriously ill; I wasn’t facing a traumatic event; no “reason” to have such a discussion at that time other than I loved him enough to talk about the eventuality of my death and let him know my wishes.
So I told him where my Will was, told him about the specifics of my wishes (duly signed and witnessed via a Representation Agreement – in some places it is Living Will); spoke to him about which of the three levels of DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) I would want if faced with such a situation; we spoke of ‘service’ should I die and that would be his decision at the time – no “must have” a service; mentioned where I would want my cremains to rest; what funeral home had my pre-paid plan; showed him where I kept paperwork about lawyer / house / car / insurance / banking / computer / social media / income tax info / etc.; gave him a list (if I had to go into permanent institutional care), of things which I thought might help my transition. And, I put some of that (esp. the DNR info) in an envelope on the front door of my fridge as that is the only place First Responders go to check such information.
Such a talk would not be an easy discussion, by any stretch of the imagination. But it is one that we all need to have. And have that conversation now – while we are able to make our wishes known.
Don’t wait. Do it on Valentine’s Day/Ash Wednesday this year. Then it will have been done, and you can be at peace, knowing that you will be helping your loved ones at a time when they must deal with the reality of the serious illness/death of someone they dearly love – you.
June Maffin is a Creative Spirituality Artist, workshop leader, and author of several books books. She lives on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. [more]
