Debra Basham

Living and Loving

Tag: gratefulness.org

  • Lily Yeh – Lily, Yeah!

    The 2:00 am WhatsApp “ping” from my Singaporean friend woke me. I was able to fall back asleep, but was then awakened by a dream. These disturbances resulted in my reading the thoughts for today that bless my inbox.

    I followed my passion and was guided by the light inside of me. That light does not belong to me alone. It is innate in all of us. Everyone has it. But more often than not, we choose not to see it.

    ~ Lily Yeh (Gratefulness.org)

    I did not know this author. As I lie in the dark listening to a five-part interview my heart and mind was witnessing the importance of being awake even when the body would seem to need to sleep.

    Now that I am awake and showered in readiness for the 6:30 am EST online meditation with Still Mountain, I am having difficulty keeping my fingers on the keyboard because I am distracted by the desire to find the interview that so moved me. Please search and meet this amazing individual for yourself. I see lots of other videos, but I cannot find what I had and I want that again.

    This now moves me to profound compassion. I know my beloved friends in Canada are likely feeling this as they navigate her journey with Glioblastoma — a highly aggressive and malignant brain tumor that originates from glial cells, which support and protect neurons in the brain. Understandably, Jane Foster understands as she continues to deal with complications of the ileostomy in the aftermath of a 12-hour surgery. Michael, now at Caratel after yet another long hospital stay. He has been in more than out since May. The list goes on and on…. So many navigating so much.

    I also read the daily quote from Aaron:

      There are many ways of working with discomforting arising. They all have one thing in common, which is the opening of the heart. Eventually you may become quite skilled at making space for that which arises in the emotions and at making space for physical sensations and thoughts as well, without reactivity or fear of any of these. You are still caught in the illusion. You are busy being somebody who possesses sensations, emotions, and thoughts. And you are also busy being somebody who works skillfully with them. Eventually you must let go of the illusion without denying the illusion its place as a catalyst for learning. You must come to know who you truly are when you are not somebody who is being busy learning to be skillful.

    Today will be a bit of a break from packing and loading in preparation for our planned departure on Thursday. It seems other worldly to anticipate not sleeping in my own bed for over five months. I am feeling homesick before I have left.

    I will draw from the delicious days spent loving and being loved by family and friends and people I do not even know.

    Another step on the path reading the The DailyTejaniya:

      To recognize whether or not you have the right attitude is more important than experiencing peaceful states, or having a “good sit.”

      Right attitude is accepting, observing, and learning from your experience just as it is.

    AS I WAS LOOKING FOR A PHOTO FOR THIS POST, I FOUND THE LINK TO WHAT I HAD LISTENED TO!

    A Conversation with Lily Yeh: Art is Change.

    May you be free from suffering and know the roots of suffering.

    May you live in harmony and know the roots of harmony, living in the present moment with an open heart.

    May you have peace and know the roots of peace, acceptance.

  • Wholesome and Wonder-full

    In meditation, the aim is to
    know the whole experience: the
    thoughts, feelings, and sensations
    surrounding an emotion, and the
    behavior of the mind — especially
    whether its motivation is whole-
    some or unwholesome.

    ~ The Daily Tejaniya

    This recognition of wholesome or unwholesome motivation is a game changer. In the same way that the right amount of spice is delicious and too little or too much spice is not, that tender lane of wholesomeness brings a yummy peace. For one thing, it keeps you in the present moment.

    Yesterday, Stacey and Rachel and I spent the morning garage sale shopping. Adam and Rachel just bought a BIG house in Lebanon. The house is very empty right now and with so many possibilities everything can feel a bit overwhelming. We had a wonderful time getting to know Rachel’s vision and went home with some really good finds!

    The round mirror ($5) is currently hanging near the front door entry way. Will it stay there as they continue to furnish their home? Only time will tell. Below the mirror is a piece she got for half price at an estate sale. Sometimes we can be uncomfortable with what is happening. We might not notice if we are missing blessings that are also unfolding. I certainly experienced this supporting clients through the birthing process while I was a working as a doula.

    Every moment with our great grandson, Jackson, brings this home. He is still nonverbal and not potty trained yet. But he is doing things this visit he could not do when we were with him on our way back to Michigan from Florida the first week of April.

    Everybody is coming here today for pool time and burgers. Tomorrow John and I will go to Lebanon and spend some time helping Adam and Rachel. Tuesday we will head back home.

    I posted this wisdom from Gratefulness.org on my Facebook page a few days ago, along with a fun filtered photo of Stacey and me laughing:

      Let the laughter come, even if it has not been heard for a very long time, especially if times are hard and the future uncertain. Laughter is as important in adversity as wisdom and courage.

      ~ Steven Charleston

    Moments here include laughter and the wholesome motivations mean our days are wonder-full….

  • Trust Your Own Story

    Early Saturday morning I woke up dreaming. I knew the symbols were significant so by the light of the digital watch I keep on the nightstand I wrote in my journal:

      Dream

      Am sliding head-first down a piece of card stock to show a friend she can “trust your own story/writing….”

    My scribbled note was at the bottom of a page, so I flipped to the next sheet and crawled back into bed. At 8:38 am my cell phone rang in the great room. The call, from a Michigan State police trooper, had gone to voice mail before I got there, so I returned the call. The news was quite upsetting, and I apologize for needing to mention having gotten the call without sharing the details of the information in the call. My upset state of mind is what is most relevant, and that I forgot about having had the dream….

    I am grateful Stacey was available to talk with me about the call, and thankful we genuinely affirmed for one another the importance of taking things as they come. I calmed down enough to go out for a bike ride.

    Making a right turn off one road and onto another, there was a very attractive young woman (well-dressed) with a little white pug-faced dog on a leash in the yard. I didn’t think anything about it until I came around the corner and the dog ran to the end of the leash and W-H-O-O-S-H was off the leash and chasing me down the street!

    A car was driving toward us at a pretty fast clip and showed no sign of slowing down. The dog’s owner was running hard, desperately trying to catch the dog. I knew she was terrified the dog was going to run out in front of the car. I kept moving to stay between the dog and the car.

    I’ve been bitten by a dog, so I don’t have a lot of confidence when I am being chased. As the dog caught up to me I stopped peddling, began coasting, and raised my feet up so that the dog wouldn’t have access to my feet or legs. After the car passed and the owner yelled, “PLEASE STOP!” I stopped and she caught the dog.

    I was sooooooo aware of all of the aspects: I didn’t want to get bitten by the dog, I didn’t want the dog to cause me to fall of my bike onto the pavement, I didn’t want the dog to get hit by the car, I didn’t want the driver of the car to hit the dog…. Each of these aspects of things I didn’t want pointed to the vital truth: I truly wanted the best possible outcome for all.

    The owner and I apologized to one another. She did not realize I had kept riding to keep the bike between her dog and the car. We shared a few tears mingled with the stress and the relief. She kept saying she could not understand how the dog got off the lease; that had never happened. With shaking legs but a grateful heart, I rode on.

    All I wrote in my journal that morning was that I had gotten the call from the trooper with the upsetting news and “Dog got off leash and chased me.”

    Sunday morning I went for another easy ride. It was one of the most pleasant early morning rides in weeks because the temperature was mild and the wind was calm. After I got home I touched base with a dear Michigan friend, Linda Higbee, (another snow-bird) who just had back surgery here in Cape Coral. A headache had her still in the hospital, lying flat.

    She wrote: “The nursing assistant, Kristin, came up with getting me high protein ice cream. It’s sticks to the spoon and l can eat it lying down 😋 . I’ve been able to rest well and ask for some spirit help. Stepping back to see both the positive and negative happening is very introspective and kind of calming too.”

    The dream flashed into my mind! I could totally see how this had played out with my experience of having been chased by the dog. I wrote back to her, “All good news…. and I’m sharing that awe and calming of seeing both the positive and the negative (maybe it’s more accurate to say both the pleasant and the unpleasant) at the same time. I’ll write up and share my experience of having been chased by a dog on my bike today!”

    I hope you are able to see with me how my dream was a gift from Holy Spirit. The symbol was speaking to me about the phone call from the trooper AND speaking to my friend about her recuperation.

    An unpleasant experience does not have to be labeled as negative. As Morgan Harper Nichols is quoted by Gratefulness.org, “Peace is an invitation in daily life to breathe deep, right here, in the uncertainty.”

    You are able to “Trust Your Own Story,” right here, in the uncertainty.

  • Bison as Beacon

    This morning’s Gratefulness.org message by John A. Powell is so perfect as follow up to my having gotten triggered yesterday: “When people’s stories are recognized, it does something. It creates a possibility.”

    As so often happens, the Daily Reflection from Deep Spring also spoke so well to this.

      Think of somebody in your life who is difficult for you, the ‘famous person’. Watch the way, as soon as you get near this person, you contract. You want to push them away. But that person is not the problem; your mind’s idea of that person is the problem. “Oh, this is that person who is always making snide remarks and is always bitter, is always attacking me.” Of course you want to push them away. But this person is just being how they are. Can you find the place of openness in yourself that can see that this person is as they are because of various conditions, and your reaction to this person is because of your interior conditions and it has nothing to do with them?

      The next step is seeing this is not about them but about me. And for me, my reaction is my reaction. Ah, who am I that’s reacting? Can I watch my response to this famous person, or to anything — let’s say the whole Ukraine situation, or the recent school shootings. “AAAH!” Can I watch my reaction to it? It’s a strong object. I don’t want this. But as soon as there’s that contraction into the personal self, it becomes very hard to hold space around what’s happening.

      We look at the famous person, whatever it may be, as a gift and say, “Thank you, teacher. What have you come to teach me?” Then we can begin to open our hearts to our own fear, our own sense of limitation, powerlessness or sadness. ~ Aaron

    Of course, it’s never about the trigger. I sat on the lanai in the predawn anticipating the coming of the light and meditating on the trigger as gift or teacher. The trigger is like a divine finger pointing to the “story” outside of our awareness waiting for us to see clearly.

    The sky changes were magnificent. One minute no color could be seen, the next minute the sky was alive with hues of bright pinks and reds and yellows woven together with the deep gray clouds.

    Clouds make the most colorful skies….

    A bit later I saw an amazing photo of a frozen-faced bison on Facebook with the following caption: Bison are the only animal that turn into a snowstorm rather than away from it because they instinctively know that walking into the storm will get them out of the weather quicker. There may be a life lesson for humans in this. It also makes for some epic pictures. ~ Neil deGrasse Tyson


  • A Special Kind of Mystic

    I listened to the first 20 minutes of a talk by Mosab Hassan Yousef. A dear friend (who happens to be Jewish) sent me a link to the talk on Youtube. “‘Son of Hamas’ Tackles University Antisemitism, Exposes Hamas ‘Holy War’ to Wipe Out Jews” was given at University of Michigan last week.

    Opening email, I appreciated Gratefulness.org for posting this beautiful quotation from Brother David Steindl-Rast today, “The mystic is not a special human being – every human being is a special kind of mystic.”

    I grabbed my journal and did a sacred drawing.

    The drawing invoked this Haiku:

      So busy —— this mind
      but space and peace await
      One need only be

        Be

      the change you seek
      wait for nothing to come first
      You already are

    As I wrote today’s date on the top of the page, the breath caught in my chest: Thursday, December 7, 2023.

    82 years ago today 2,403 were killed in Pearl Harbor.

    We cry “Peace, peace”…. while hating our neighbor and fearing our inner demons.

    We need only to lay down our swords —— “S” words —— like should and should not and somebody.

    Today’s “Daily Tejaniya”:

    Faith Keeps Us On the Path

    When we practice meditation,
    faith should increase. Only if we
    have trust and confidence in some-
    thing, can we actually apply ourselves
    to it. We must recognize the faith we
    have — however little or much. It’s
    what keeps us on the path.

    This path is perhaps to each human being living fully as a special kind of mystic….

  • What Do You Wish?

    Even if our efforts of attention seem for years to be producing no result, one day a light that is in exact proportion to them will flood the soul. ~ Simone Weil

    This morning I did laundry rather than go to the community room to ride the stationary bike because I am currently starting a novel and it is easier for me to keep my thoughts on the theme/s of the retreat without reading something else.

    That opening quotation by Simone Weil was posted today by Gratefulness.org and it asked me to mindfully post today as a part of the noble silence of the retreat.

    I have been listening again to the opening words and share some excerpts:

    I’ve seen so many on this earth with fear of, “I will die.”

    Every sentient being wants to survive….

    The heart of the shift comes from your truly knowing our nonduality….The tree is you and you are the tree….gradually your heart opens to knowing absolutely everything inter-is. ~ Aaron

    Last evening Barbara shared a significant guided meditation asking us to imagine being a young child, playing with friends, enjoying the larger community. Then imagine now you are not allowed to play with your friend because he or she is the wrong race, religion, or ethnicity. And then the friend is hungry because his or her parent is not allowed to go into the store to buy food. Before long the friend is cold and has no shelter, everything having been burned. What do you wish for your friend?

    I had memory of a story about a young child who was spending time with an elder neighbor who had recently lost his wife. The child’s mother was curious what the boy was doing with the old man for hours at a time. When she asked, the boys said, “Mostly, I help him cry.”

    Speaking about the two sides in any conflict Aaron continued: “You must support both and you must say not to both….” and reminded us we are not just our brothers’ keeper, we are our brothers.

    In closing Aaron spoke gently but firmly, “We truly are all one and all must live or all will perish….The choice is within you and in your dedication.”

    During the night a text message (likely a wrong number) woke me up. As I lay in the darkness I knew what I wished for my friend was what I wished for all beings. I wish hearts open enough to feel the pain and to feel also the gratitude. If I am not hungry, if I am not ill, if I am not afraid…. feel the gratitude and share that with the world.

    If feeling the pain generates only more pain, where is the relief?

    If not feeling the pain generates ego’s separation, who will help?

    The scripture in Daily Word for today:

    But those who look into the perfect law,
    the law of liberty,
    and persevere,
    being not hearers who forget
    but doers who act — they will be blessed
    in their doing.

    ~ James 1:25

    It is not just, what do you wish for your friend, it is also, “What do you wish for?”

  • I Wish to Give My Share

    Today’s “Word for the Day” from Gratefulness.org is by renowned poet and author, David Whyte: Being unappreciative might mean we are simply not paying attention.

    I have shared previously that we have been on an accelerated path with my nephew. He has now signed a lease, paid his first month’s rent, and this David and his emotional support animal, Junior Bear, have moved into an unfurnished space in the walk-out basement of a co-worker. David has known Terry for close to forty years. Terry’s mother lives there too. She is 80-something.

    David needed EVERYTHING.

    I sent a message to our Interfaith Fellowship list. Gifts began to arrive. A toaster oven; pillow and comforter; bath towels; odds-and-ends for the kitchen; small flat-screen TV; etc.

    I stopped at a garage sale while out riding my bike and bought a floor lamp for $3. The guy ended up gifting David a small table with three chairs and a desk.

    In response to my email, news from a friend home recovering from Covid came that her church was having their huge garage sale this week and giving me the name of a woman in charge. Patty is a long-time friend AND a former teacher who knows David from elementary school!!!!

    The church gifted David a queen-sized bed, complete with headboard and mattress pad. A friend loaned us his pick-up truck for delivery. (If you do not see the photo here, please click on the title link in this email and read from the website.)

    Another friend sent $100 for “whatever is needed” and we were able to purchase a twin-recliner sofa, end table, and chest of drawers from the church’s sale. The friend loaned me his truck again and he and his wife and Larry Gunter helped me deliver the sofa. (If you do not see the photo here, please click on the title link in this email and read from the website.)

    And David still has $15 dollars left!

    The past several days have brought some challenges. Heavy rain meant no driving the cement delivery truck and work at the shop resulted in a very painful shoulder that sent David home before daybreak. Later that day he discovered his pay had not gone onto his debit card, and his mom and Larry had to help him get that straightened out. The next day he knew he was sick with that nasty respiratory stuff going around…. The rent goes on even with three days of work missed this week.

    I sent him this big message posted on Facebook by a dear friend, Sandy, who is losing her vision from complications as a result of treatment for cancer:

    I think it’s inevitable that all of us will experience some difficult setbacks in life…we’ll be dealing pretty effectively with challenges (of all kinds) when an unexpected issue crops up and we find ourselves temporarily overwhelmed. Please don’t hesitate to share your feelings with the empathic listeners in your life. Don’t fall into the trap of pretending that your troubling feelings don’t exist OR that those feelings are the place you need to stay. Recognizing all the blessings that remain can be so helpful in finding our best head space. Today I am blessed with a great care team, a generous blood donor, creative physicians, a loving partner and adult sons who are tracking my comings and goings. There is SO much to be grateful for; I’m hoping that all of you who are facing life challenges can find your way to a hopeful and peacefilled resolution. 💖

    This morning I was reading story number 29 in Forty-Seven Stories of Jesus You Have Probably Never Heard, by Aaron, channeled by Barbara Brodsky. Jesus and his companions were attacked by bandits and left without shelter from the sun, food, and only one small container of water for all of them. When they came across a sole sheep and her newborn lamb, knowing without water there could be no milk for the lamb, Jesus said, “I wish to give my share of the water.”

    I plan to share the rest of the story at St. John UCC on October 29, so I won’t say more about that now.

    David has expressed desire for a Britta water pitcher because the water at the rental house has a lot of iron. I don’t have iron in our water here but we do have city water so we have chlorine. I actually use two Britta pitchers — filtering once for cooking and coffee or tea, then filtering a second time for drinking.

    Today I wish to give David my extra Britta pitcher….

  • Radical Noticing

    How do we see the world as sacred again?
    By radical noticing.
    Looking for awe in all of life.

    ~ Lucy Jones posted on Gratefulness.org July 12, 2023

    Yesterday riding my bike I was inundated by awareness of the propensity to criticism. John’s clothes, the way someone says something, the decadent use of disposable bottles of water, the literal interpretation of the Bible, the killing of native grasses and planting of invasive species…. the list is endless.

    I long to see the world as sacred again.

    The world does not need to change for that to happen, but my consciousness does.

    The past few weeks I have been Zoom hosting a gathering of beings present with our meditation teacher, Barbara Brodsky. She is navigating a serious infection which got into the bone in her toe. After months of not being able to bear weight, and 9 weeks on antibiotics, she is in the wait-and-see if the infection is gone mode. Expressing that she was feeling some fear around all of this, the gathering of those willing to be with her was born.

    Barbara has spoken of our intention as “one foot for all” and “one heart for all.”

    Barbara’s closing comments Sunday, July 9, 2023:

    As I was talking with Aaron earlier this week and I was still meditating with the fear and concern about a possible amputation, he said is there any need to explore that reality of an amputation.

    I said no, but it could happen so I have to be prepared.

    He said being prepared doesn’t mean looking at the possible amputation. It means just watching fear as it comes up and knowing how to relate to that fear with love, but if you go into practicing having equanimity with a possible amputation, in some ways you are bringing energy to inviting the amputation. If instead, you simply practice loving kindness toward anything, even the mosquito bite, the thunder, whatever has disturbed your environment, just practicing love and continue to envision the perfectly healed foot.

    Last week a friend shared a body of work titled “How to Turn Your Client’s Negative Emotions into Positive Growth,” presented by Charles M. Jones. While it was not totally new information, I did have a very strong insight about the fear around managing John’s medical issues. Charles contrasts what he calls the “circumstantial view” with the “effectiveness view” of difficult emotions. The emotion we were working with was frustration. I was identifying the frustration around most of John’s complaints being the side-effects of medications: low energy, little stamina, lethargy.

    Following his process, I gained the insight that hidden beneath the surface frustration with all the medications was the concern of loss of financial independence if John would become disabled and need long-term care!

    From my journal this morning:

      V: Being prepared is fueled by fear. Notice now the thought about losing one’s money because of long-term care. Find that sweet spot of being guided in love verses being driven by fear.

    While we were in the meditation with Barbara on Sunday I kept seeing the image of an icicle. I saw aspects including the conditions which led to the formation, and both the beauty and the possible destruction. Later I read that the symbolic meaning of icicle is TEMPORARY DIFFICULTIES.

    As I visited with a friend recently we spoke of our longing to see the world as sacred. We have both navigated so much…. we share a legacy of shame.

    On the back cover of the book by Jenna Blum, one short sentence speaks volumes: “Those Who Save Us is a profound exploration of what we endure to survive and the legacy of shame.”

    Very near the end of the book the main character, Trudy (a German), is stunned that a man she has recently found such happiness and bliss with, Ranier (a Jew), is leaving. She begs him to tell her why and suggests reason after reason which in her own mind it might be. Finally, he speaks the saddest words in the world, “I do not deserve to have this. I am not meant to be this happy.”

    Trudy knew she could not argue with him because she knew that feeling all too well.

    Whoa….

    Looking again at Ken Wilber’s 3-2-1 process, I wonder if that is the key to our seeing the world as sacred. Maybe this is what allows us to see that it is all sacred. It already IS sacred. Perhaps we must do the shadow work and bring it all into the heart.

    These steps are summarized as FACE-TALK-BE and here’s how the
    technique is explained in Wilber’s little instruction book, The Integral
    Vision    : (See: 3-2-1 Process for the Shadow pdf)

      1. First thing in the morning (before getting out of bed), review your
      dreams and find someone who showed up with an emotional charge,
      positive or negative.
      2. FACE that person, holding them in mind.
      3. Then TALK to that person, or simply resonate with them.
      4. Finally BE that person by taking their perspective. For the sake of this
      exercise there is no need to write anything out—you can go through
      the whole process right in your mind.
      5. Before going to bed, choose a person who either disturbed or
      attracted you during the day. FACE them, TALK to them, and then BE
      them.

      This technique can be used not only with people who bring up an emotional
      charge, but also with situations and memories that create a disturbance.

    The same six letters make up both words.
    S C A R E D
    S A C R E D

    Whoa….

    This is the format of our time together with Barbara Brodsky on these Sunday noon gatherings: “We express our gratitude for the opportunity to come together as a group. We hold this highest intention not only for ourselves, but for the benefit of all. May all be blessed. May all be free from suffering. May all be healthy. May all be happy. May all feel joy. May all beings realize their intrinsic perfection and find perfect peace. Namaste’”

    I think I will add “May all see the world as sacred.”

  • The Birds Still Sing

    We wake up to snow flurries this morning…. so grateful one week ago today we arrived home in Michigan in gorgeous sunshine. We had beautiful warm, sunny days all week. Until yesterday…. and now snow today. But the birds still sing!

    Yesterday John and I went to St. John UCC in New Buffalo where I was guest pastor. When I spoke with Rol about coming I asked him if there was a theme he would most like me to reflect on, and he said he would like an update about our time in Florida. The title was Reflections from Florida: No Victims, Only Volunteers. Here are some notes from the sharing.

    According to Merriam-Webster, “suffering” implies conscious endurance of pain or distress.

    I did not cry a lot, but I did cry often.

    In some ways I am perhaps the least prepared, and in other ways I am perhaps the best prepared for sharing a talk.
    o Easy drive home
    o Most pleasant week of weather we have ever returned to
    o John’s getting sick right after we arrived home (stomach bug)
    o My having a histamine storm a few days later (eyes swollen nearly shut and face on fire)

    For all that has been — thanks. For all that shall be — yes.
    ~ Dag Hammarskjöld, Grateful Living Word for Today, Gratefulness.org

    Opening Music: “Our Thoughts are Prayers” by Eric Hansen

    Nothing is the same. Disorienting. Collective loss. Hard to stay in the present moment.
    o The view
    o The thoughts
    o The feelings
    o The actions

    For all that has been — thanks. For all that shall be — yes.

    Reading from: When a Loved One is Suffering

      I will continue to try to help where I can.

    Fortunately “suffering” implies CONSCIOUS endurance of pain or distress.

    o Work day volunteers (each left work on their own damaged or destroyed home to come help at the Civic Center)
    o Cajun Navy (group of boat-owner-turned-first-responder post Katrina that now respond to other post-Hurricane)
    o Christ in Action (demolition of damaged homes free of charge, including removing debris and cleaning site)
    o Nancy’s going with us to make deliveries/buying baked goods and juice (her need to also GIVE)
    o Linda Higbee making dinner for us our last day of deliveries (undergoing cancer treatment this winter as they work to repair the previous rental home that was severely damaged but they purchased post hurricane)

    For all that has been — thanks. For all that shall be — yes.

    All solutions breed new problems – because both problems and solutions are simply arising and ceasing out of conditions.
    o Linda and Larry creating meals for a family of 8 who still had no stove (or beds) after 4 foot of water surge
    o Birthday blog resulting in the purchase of a stove for the family
    o Joan (owner of Molly, the dog I met) donating a gift certificate, blankets, pillows, canned goods, dry goods
    o Beth and David (Linda’s sister and brother-in-law) buying linens for three of the younger children
    o Basham Bargain Bazzar – not giving away but giving back (awareness when I dropped off precious Indian Tree pattern china I had used and loved for ten years to a friend who’s family had that pattern)

    For all that has been — thanks. For all that shall be — yes.

    Ed’s gifting me a copy of Jingles’ Promise – meeting Norm and Rochelle. Ed calling this week with the story of Norm’s hiking in Japan.

      Posted April 14, 2023 in Sacred Stories
      Hiking in Japan
      By Debra Basham

      The conversation about traveling to Japan started decades ago when his best friend for over fifty years asked him to accompany him to Japan. He had always said no, but as the years went by it became evident that the challenges of getting older would limit their ability to travel the world, and the chance may never present itself again, so this time he said, “Yes, I’ll go with you.”

      While in Japan he went for a hike and came across a woman on the trail who had taken a spill. A seasoned hiker himself, he had supplies in his pack so he stopped to offer her some first aid. She was not seriously injured.

      He told her he was from Florida, USA. She said she was from Holland – not the city, but the country.

      When he mentioned having previously hiked the Appalachian Trail, she quickly added that she had just read a book about a guy who had done that. “What is the name of the book you read?” he inquired before continuing, “My wife and I recently wrote a book about my trip.”

      “Jingles’ Promise,” she said.

      Reaching into his pack, he pulled out a copy of their book, Jingles’ Promise: A Father’s Quest for Truth on the Appalachian Trail.

      “This is our book,” he was holding up a copy of Jingles’ Promise. “I am Jingles,” he said broadly smiling. They were both so moved by their having made this connection!

      “How did you find out about the book?” he asked.

      “A friend from another country in Europe told me about it.”

      What are the odds these two individuals — he from Florida and she from Holland — would be hiking at the same time and in the same place in Japan?

      They were standing on holy ground. They saw the significance. Even if they had been hiking there at the same time they likely would never have made the connection if she had not taken the spill.

      They could both see clearly there is no “chance” experience….

      Though he and his wife had done nothing to promote their book, here he was hiking in Japan and meets a woman from Holland — not the city but the country — who had learned about Jingles’ Promise from a friend in another country in Europe.

      Amazing….

      (ALL PROCEEDS FROM THE SALE OF JINGLES’ PROMISE WILL BE DONATED TO HELP PEOPLE RECOVERING FROM TRAUMA AND LOSS.)

    Closing Music: “This is My Father’s World” by Amy Grant

    Let us pray. “Suffering” implies conscious endurance of pain or distress – knowing there are no victims, only volunteers – remembering there are no “chance” experiences – continuing to try to help where we can – for all that has been, giving thanks, and for all that shall be, saying yes. Mark Nepo said joy is the transformation of our suffering, not the escape of all we have to face. Amen.

    So today is cold and snowy. The weather conditions of our lives change. We navigate challenging conditions, pleasant conditions, neutral conditions. It is not what happens to us that is most important. It is how we respond to what happens.


    The birds still sing….

  • Dissent with Love

      WORD FOR THE DAY

      Love takes off the masks
      we fear we cannot live without
      and know we cannot live within.

      ~ James Baldwin (Gratefulness.org)

    Group 2 sharing last evening was active with exploring the question of the value of being ordained (in Buddhism). This was not so much an intellectual discussion, but a sincere reflection of the yearning many expressed toward living in a community that honors, respects, and supports those deeper dynamics of mindful living. Several in our group have been exploited by spiritual leaders in this lifetime — emotionally or mentally or sexually — and sometimes all three.

    Many said the time of hero worship or guru gazing have personally passed us by.

    Interesting, just yesterday morning out on a bike ride, Larry was telling me about the great-grandmother of a child Linda had the privilege of doing a baptism for last week. He said this woman is Hispanic, and he assumes she likely has a Catholic background. She also has dementia and, although she never said a word, he felt he could see in her eyes the accusation, “That woman is no priest!”

    Over the years, many miles on this Yellow Brick Road have been walking away from the past where patriarchy choked the rights of women out of our collective lives. This morning, two daily writings address the benefit of having “right view.” The first is from Neale Donald Walsch (author of the series of Conversations with God books).

      … that a point of view different from your own might be well worth entertaining. Sometimes it is not easy hearing an idea that is different from the one you are advancing — yet it might be that second idea for which you were actually reaching. Answers arrive in more ways than one. Sometimes they come through us, and sometimes they come to us.


    Brandon Morton’s son with a baby goat!

    Our bicycle-riding conversation continued, “The church Linda’s brother and sister-in-law and her sister and brother-in-law go to still will not allow women in leadership. The husband is the head of the house, and the wife is by scripture ordered to be submissive to his will. Do you think Linda would go along with that?”

    I responded to Larry, “I would hope she would not, and more than that, I would hope you would not ask that of her.”

    Reading online this morning from The Discrimination of Women in Buddhism: An Ethical Analysis: “Men and women are considered the two wheels of a cart. They should be considered equal if we want the cart to move ahead. If one wheel is smaller than the other, the movement will definitely be impaired.”

    One of the headings in that article leapt off the page: Is Buddhism a Sexist Religion?

    I would also ask, Is Christianity a Sexist Religion?

    Perhaps (blatant or latent) sexism, along with other forms of discrimation, is within all religions and all of our human history. It is HIStory, for heaven’s sake…. But where do we go from here? We only pretend to repair a cart with imbalanced wheel size by exchanging it for a different cart that also has an unbalanced wheel size.

    The second writing that speaks us forth in love and wisdom and respect for all beings comes from Deep Spring Center for Meditation:

    Thought for Today by Aaron

    As we work with these practices, please realize that they are leading you in the direction of trusting your own ability not to enact anger or other negative movement when it arises. To hold it in the heart with compassion until it dissolves. To reclaim your power as higher density beings— no longer a third density human but higher density, able to trust that those around you will not be projecting negativity so it’s safe to share, and you will not be projecting negativity so it’s safe to share. But that you are still capable of saying, “No, I disagree with this or that.” That’s very different than expressing negativity. Expression of view is not an expression of negativity, it’s simply an expression of view. And we learn how to hold different views and deeply hear each other. Then one unified understanding arises and we move forward with it. Or, if one is not in full agreement, one sees that the rest of the group is and abstains from obstructing the process. But if one person thinks, “This will be totally destructive,” one will still hold, “I cannot agree. Go ahead and do what you need to do, but I dissent. But I dissent with love.”

    I was just about ready to push “publish” when I received this additional confirmation from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation Thought for Today:

      The wise person questions himself, the fool others. ~Henri Arnold

      We pray for wisdom, and sometimes we achieve it. The strongest and wisest of men are not threatened by questioning their own answers. If we draw conclusions and blindly stick to them, we can never learn anything new. We have often made the mistake of avoiding the appearance of ignorance.

      Instead, we are at our best when we give ourselves the privilege of being a learner. When someone tells us something we don’t understand or agree with, our best response is to ask for more information. We can take our ego out of the equation, surrender our need to be right, and simply try to learn what is being told to us. What is it that I don’t understand here? What does the other person see that I am missing? When we attain a moment of wisdom, we are open to learning.

      Today, I will give myself the privilege of being a learner.

      From the book Stepping Stones: More Daily Meditations for Men.

    Once your intention is clear, perhaps the answer is also already clear!