#inspiration
KEEP THE CANDLE BURNING
May we be blessed every day we are alive
to keep an open mind
keep an open heart
and never to stop learning
To keep the light of love
acceptance
compassion
liberty
and the light of justice burning
I KNEW SHE WAS A CANDLE
The first lesson of a candle
is how it loses nothing when it shares it’s light
In fact…when used to light another candle
it then burns twice as bright.
I knew she was a candle from the day I met her…
always willing to share her light…to help in any way.
She possessed the power of a candle
the ability to brighten up a day.
The second lesson of a candle
be it day or be it night
within the beauty of its flame
is the resilience of its light.
I knew she was a candle because the more she burned down
the more light she seemed to gain…
and even when she stopped burning…
her candle light remained.
I do not know the exact day her flame burned out
by that time she had long ago moved away…
but I do know the flame she shared with me
still lights my heart today.
I knew she was a candle the day I met her…
I could see the light within her eyes…
What I didn’t know is once she shared her light with me
Her light would never die.
SAFE IN HERE
I was wearing my tie-dye rainbow colored hat
in the bookstore the other night…I’ve worn it a lot this year…
when a lady came up to the counter and said,’
“When I saw your hat through the window…I knew I’d be safe in here.”
It’s fitting as I’m writing this…that I’m walking in the rain….
why is this important…let me take a moment to explain…
There’s a reign of terror falling from our skies
that, unfortunately, generations of people have felt before…
A human-made reign of terror that yesterday…
found it’s way into our store.
You see there is a blatant disregard for human life…
for what is fair, unbiased and just…
and it’s difficult, while it’s raining…
to know who we can…and cannot trust.
As with open arms we smiled and welcomed this women into our store
I couldn’t help thinking of the Native Nations, people of color
anyone who is feeling…or…who has felt this way before….
And I was glad my little hat…that’s been my lucky hat all year
played a part in letting this woman know there was nothing she need fear.
When terror is raining down…with so much out of our control…
when we see it hardening so many hearts…and infecting so many souls
It’s up to us to walk tall and bravely through the rain each day…
to do our best tot stop this reign of terror from washing our world away
Perhaps the best that we can do…until this reign of terror is through
and the light of truth, kindness and justice once again appear…
is to provide a place where people can say…
I know I’ll be safe in here.
EVERYBODY HAS A STORY
We went to our Ava, our granddaughter’s, soccer game the other night
and once again I was shown
how everybody…every family…has a story of their own.
We saw some familiar faces (as at Ava’s soccer games we always do),
people who’s stories we’re familiar with…because we’re in a chapter or two.
Of course when it came to the other team and their families
I did not recognize a face…
In fact this night might be the only night our stories interlace.
And though we had our eyes on Ava while the game was on…
in those moments in between…
we had a chance to visit with some parents from the other team.
We talked to a couple all bundled up because the night was Florida cold
and another couple with a baby who just turned one month old.
Since Ava is the goalie we tend to do our cheering as we stroll
back-and-forth along the sideline closest to her goal.
As we were rooting for Ava to block every shot…
her goal posts to control….
next to us was a father from the other team
cheering his daughter, Ryan’s, shots would find their way into the goal.
I complimented his daughter Ryan…he complimented Ava…
and we reached this harmonious accord….
because Ava blocked a lot of shots…and his daughter Ryan scored.
It was a pleasant evening…as for one night our lives intertwined…
being a part of their story…as they were part of mine.
And I was once again reminded…as Ava’s soccer game began…
how we should try to walk into each other’s stories…
as gently and lovingly as we can.
EVERYHTHING IS BORROWED
May we be blessed to comprehend
to one day understand
what was obvious..what was clear
to the first people who walked this land
How when we look at time, the air we breathe,
the rivers, the mountains,
the trees, the animals…the flowers
there is no mine
there is no yours…
there is only ours.
A PERFECT WORLD
When I stop to ponder this subject…I’m not as perfect as I think…
I have never been able to whistle…my left eye…I can’t wink.
Without my glasses I can’t see clearly…I have a huge gap between two toes…
My hair has stopped growing on my head…
but it keeps growing on my back
and in my ears and nose.
I could go on and on…but that’s enough about me….
What if I’m exactly the person my Gods created me to be?
What if the Gods in all their wisdom…as part of their mystique…
decided to make none of us perfect…but all of us unique?
What if when they got together to create us…
after choosing human as our name
they decided to make everyone a little different…
so no two people are the same?
And what if they hoped we’d come to accept the differences in ourselves..
as well ads in each other…
differences large and small?
Knowing only when we do…
will we have a perfect world after all.
MERRY EVE
The magic of Christmas Day is truly wonderful…
but I happen to believe…
there is also something magical and exciting about its predecessor…
Christmas Eve.
Perhaps it’s because I was born on New Year’s Eve
that I cherish and adore…
and have such an affinity and fondness for the day and night before.
Every day and night before is filled with hope and expectation.
There’s anticipation and excitement as we wait.
I remember the day before the first Christmas I can remember…
I remember the day before my first date.
I am blessed that the walls of my mind
are decorated…enhanced…and adorned…
with memories like the day before my wedding…
the days before all our children and grandchildren were born.
It comes down t basic calendarial logic
dating back, I’m sure, to days of yore.
for where would any Christmas, birthday or special day be…
without the day before.
So Merry Eve of whatever holiday or special day you celebrate today
and the rest of your life too…
because there should be a place in all our hearts
for the day before
the day our dreams came true.
I LOVE YOUR GLASSES
We utter around 16,000 words a day…some days sixteen-thousand and two.
And every now and then, if we’re blessed, we come face to face
with the good our words can do.
A mother and her daughter walked into the bookstore.
The daughter was ten maybe eleven years old…
and I had no idea the wonder that before me would unfold.
They came to the counter to purchase a book
after browsing through the store for while….
When I said to the daughter, “I love your glasses!”
She looked startled, thanked me and she smiled.
Her mother was smiling too and as she wiped away a tear
She said, “You don’t know how important that was for us to hear.”
It seems they had just picked up her new glasses earlier that day…
and she was nervous and self-conscious about how she looked
and what other people might say.
I told her not to worry that I’ve been wearing glasses since Grade 2…
And, “With my glasses is can see your glasses look beautiful on you.”
Her mother thanked me again and her daughter smiled and waved
as she exited the store….
It’s possible my glasses were a little blurry but I’m pretty sure
She walked out a little taller and a little prouder than she had a minute before.
Of the 16,000 words I say each day…I never would have guessed
that ‘I love your glasses’ would be the four words
that stood out from all the rest.
A LITTLE BETTER THAN WE WERE THE DAY BEFOREE
We’re blessed with a wonderful opportunity each morning as we head out our front door
blessed with a chance to be a better person than we were the day before.
It begins the exact moment when our feet first hit the floor
and we realize we’re not exactly the same person we were the day before.
Yes, we’re another day older…be we know there’s something more….
That it’s not just our age that makes us a little different than we were the day before.
There were things that happened yesterday..things our heart and mind could not ignore
that can’t help but make us a little different than we were the day before.
Every day brings a new adventure…which means every moment we’re awake
we have a chance to learn as much from our successes…as we do from our mistakes.
So…with each new adventure…as out into the world we soar…
we hope today we will be a little better than we were the day before.
A little kinder, more compassionate, more accepting…and what’s more
perhaps a little wiser than we were the day before.
If we fail, however, at being a better person than we were the day before…
there is one consolation…life provides us an encore….
Because tomorrow we will be blessed with another opportunity as we walk out our front door
another chance to be a better person than we were the day before.