tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8679422539318098902024-03-04T21:23:14.202-08:00Living Values ~ Valuing LivesCalled by Faith, Trying Hard to Listen!Rev. Wendy von Zirpolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07868999424016745518noreply@blogger.comBlogger77125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-867942253931809890.post-62619195867851802282014-11-29T23:47:00.000-08:002014-11-29T23:47:13.522-08:00A Word About Ferguson ~ <div style="text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Early on in my ministry in Marblehead, I received a phone call
from a young woman who wanted to talk to me about race. She was
considering a cross cultural adoption and, as a white woman, had some
questions about the complexities and challenges of adopting a child who was
African American. At the time, I was President of UU Allies for
Racial Equity and had some answers. Together we journeyed through the
difficult questions of the disconnect between Marblehead's view as a place
that embraced diversity and the reality of its lack of diversity. I shared my
own perceptions of that divide. I shared knowledge I had from young
people of color who felt targeted in the schools whenever there was a
problem, stories of 'extra' attention in shops and by police and of racist
comments being hurled from a passing car at a young woman of color and in
a different instance, a young boy. Although the instances were far fewer
than I knew of in some other communities, so too, was the number of people of
color. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><strong> </strong><em>Our conversation continued and we talked about the complexity of
race in our larger culture. What does it mean for a white person to
be adopting a child of color? How will this child learn about their
story in that larger culture? I will never know if I was helpful in that
conversation but I hoped to simply witness that in addition to the very
real questions present in all cross-cultural adoptions, there are
different realities her child would face. Further, these realities
would include some things that might be unfathomable, and perhaps even
unbelievable, to her when they arose. I cannot tell you whether this woman
decided to adopt or not, or whether the child was or was not African
American. I can tell you that since that time, any couple in similar
situations have found themselves in an identity group they perhaps did not
expect to join. They, like every parent of a child of color in this
country, have questions I never asked. Questions like "At what age
should I tell my child that if they are stopped by the police, they should put
their empty hands out the window first to show clearly that they are
unarmed? Should I tell my child to run toward a police officer if they are
in trouble or run away or just freeze with their hands in the air? What do
I tell them when they get into a tussle in school with mostly-white
friends who don't believe they are treated differently? Do I let them see
the coverage of deaths like Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and Tamir Rice?
Do I let them see my tears?</em> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> And what of us, who are not parents of children of color. One
might first say, we are all parents of all children. But, as much as we
wish to live in a world in which that plays out in real ways, every moment of
every day, most of us will not be tucking in a child tonight and
wondering 'is this the moment? Is this the moment that I should tell
this beautiful child that his life is in danger? That the world is less
safe and less just for him? Last night I told him he was special
because of his artwork and creative soul. The night before I told him I loved
how his eyelashes felt when he gave me a butterfly kiss on the cheek. And the
night before that I called him my special angel for how kind he was to a
friend. Is tonight the night I tell him he is special in this other way?
Or is age 8 too soon? Age 12 was too late for Tamir Rice, murdered this
past week by police who then did not offer any care for four minutes. <o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><strong> </strong><em>We, who are not parents of children of color have difficult
questions to wrestle with too. The difference is that while our souls are
certainly at stake, our lives are not. My prayer today is that we
take the health of our souls seriously but the sake of the lives
of all children of color more seriously. My prayer today is that we
believe that life and justice are different for people of color
in our country. My prayer today is that we resist the voices
who cry out 'oh, no, ALL lives matter' and miss the point that our
collective reality does not agree. And that we are not distracted by the
specifics of any single incident but look at the collective and understand that
a policeman shooting a 12-year old playing in a park alone, despite the fact
that he was waving a fake gun, is a 12-year old playing in a park alone and he
should not have been murdered before they even got out of the car to
ask a question! And that we hear the voices that cry out in despair
over and over and over and over again that this is not new. My prayer today is
that we are not lost in our own assessment of the rioting in Ferguson that
violence should not beget violence and recall instead the words of Rev. Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. three years after his I Have A Dream speech and
two years before he was murdered "I contend that the cry of "black
power" is, at bottom, a reaction to the reluctance of white power to make
the kind of changes necessary to make justice a reality for the Negro. I think
that we've got to see that a riot is the language of the unheard." </em></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><em> </em><strong>My
prayer is that each of us will find a way to step deeper into our own
understandings of the systems of racism at play in our country, in
our communities and within our own heads and hearts. That we pledge ourselves
anew to the goal of justice for all people and that we begin right now
with the recognition that we are far from there for any child for whom tonight
might be the night they gaze up from their bed expecting a word of affirmation
and a kiss goodnight and instead hear the words "I've decided there
is something I need to share ...."<o:p></o:p></strong></span><br />
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<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Yours on
the Journey,<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Rev.
Wendy von Zirpolo<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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Rev. Wendy von Zirpolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07868999424016745518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-867942253931809890.post-18134358526640092772014-07-07T22:38:00.000-07:002014-07-07T22:53:36.799-07:00Walk Toward Trouble–Stop the Deportations July 31st<div class="h1" style="background-image: url(http://www.standingonthesideoflove.org/wp-content/themes/ssl/images/h1-bottom-bg.gif); background-position: 0% 100%; background-repeat: no-repeat; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 7px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
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Walk Toward Trouble–Stop the Deportations July 31st</h1>
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Jul 07, 2014</div>
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Last week during the UUA General Assembly Ware Lecture, immigration reform advocate Sister Simone Campbell, organizer of “Nuns on the Bus,” made a passionate call for us to “walk toward trouble.” Our General Assembly delegates did that when they passed an Action of Immediate Witness calling on President Obama to stop the deportations of our immigrant siblings and called for Unitarian Universalists to participate in a broad coalition of faith groups and immigrant advocates at the <strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">July 31-August 2 <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Pray for Relief! Not One More Deportation actions in Washington, D.C.</em></strong> Now is the time to walk- or roll, or move- toward trouble and fulfill that call.</div>
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Organizers hope 100 faith leaders will engage in civil disobedience to protest the cruelty brought by the over 1,100 daily deportations and that hundreds more will come in support to the Faith Summit and Not One More Deportation Day of Action. Imagine if 25 of those faith leaders arrested were Unitarian Universalists. We have walked toward trouble before to protest the separation of families and we have pledged to do so again at this action.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">From July 31 through August 2 we will be in Washington, DC. Will you be there with us? Will you be there for families, for children, for justice? </strong>You can sign up to attend the July 31-August 1 summit, engage in witness and/or civil disobedience, and stay for the National Day Laborer Organizing Network’s Not One More Deportation Day of Action on August 2nd at<a href="http://standingonthesideoflove.org/immigration/pray-for-relief-take-actions-to-stop-deportations/" style="border: 0px; color: #c93438; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Standing on the Side of Love—Pray for Relief—Take Actions to Stop the Deportations!</a></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">And this Thursday, July 10 at 4pm EST/1pm PST, join Standing on the Side of Love and the UU College of Social Justice for a joint call-in and update from the US/Mexico border. Call 605-475-4000 and use code 476389#.</strong></div>
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President Obama has said that he will take action in the event of Congressional inaction on immigration reform. The president has the power to bring relief to the millions of families living under the threat or already suffering from mass detention and deportation. The President needs to hear from those who can bring to this moment the moral voice. A voice that values the worth and dignity of all people, over profit and politics. A voice that hears the cries of human suffering and moves in solidarity against injustice. A voice – joined with voices of other faiths – to say Not One More Deportation!</div>
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We know many of you have been working to achieve compassionate immigration reform and stop the deportations. UUs and our partners all over the country have been witnessing, fasting, advocating, and marching together calling for action. We have been leaders within the faith community in standing boldly on the side of human dignity, boldly on the side of love with immigrant families. We know what trouble looks like. Children fleeing violence in their own countries, reaching the United States only to be warehoused and face deportation. Families torn apart every day because of detentions and deportations. Immigration laws and US foreign policy, including trade policies, have created an exploitable workforce of undocumented people and unsettled the stability and economies of countries south of the border. <strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Now is the time to move toward trouble, to bring a light to it and witness for a better way.</strong> We have acted. We must act again. We must urge President Obama to act.</div>
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On July 31- August 2, faith leaders and human rights activists will gather in Washington to say, “Not one more family separated, not one more deportation”- in demonstrations and in an act of civil disobedience. We will also gather to strategize next steps and further build our communities of resistance and hope. We hope to see many Unitarian Universalists and their partners show up in the face of trouble. <a href="http://standingonthesideoflove.org/immigration/pray-for-relief-take-actions-to-stop-deportations/" style="border: 0px; color: #c93438; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Will you be there to stand on the side of love?</a> We hope to see you there.</div>
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In faith and solidarity,</div>
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Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray<br />
Lead Minister, <a href="http://www.phoenixuu.org/" style="border: 0px; color: #c93438; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Phoenix</a></div>
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Rev. Wendy von Zirpolo<br />
Minister, <a href="http://uumarblehead.org/" style="border: 0px; color: #c93438; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Unitarian Universalist Church of Marblehead MA</a></div>
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PLEASE CONSIDER MAKING A DONATION (See button on right) TO HELP UUs and DREAMERS MOMS USA ATTEND THIS IMPORTANT EVENT! IT'S A CHARITABLE DONATION TO UUCMarblehead and ALL $ WILL GO FOR THIS PURPOSE! IF YOU HAVE MILES INSTEAD OF $ TO DONATE, PLEASE EMAIL ME AT REVWENDYVON@GMAIL,COM</div>
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P.S. Standing on the Side of Love will be raising $ to pay the $50-$100 fines for UUs and our partners who are joining the civil disobedience action. We are working to get the donate link up by Wednesday so please<a href="http://standingonthesideoflove.org/immigration/pray-for-relief-take-actions-to-stop-deportations/" style="border: 0px; color: #c93438; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> check our page here</a> for updates.</div>
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Tags: <a href="http://standingonthesideoflove.org/tag/immigration-reform/" rel="tag" style="border: 0px; color: #c93438; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Immigration Reform</a>, <a href="http://standingonthesideoflove.org/tag/pray-for-relief/" rel="tag" style="border: 0px; color: #c93438; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Pray for Relief</a>, <a href="http://standingonthesideoflove.org/tag/rev-susan-frederick-gray/" rel="tag" style="border: 0px; color: #c93438; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Rev. Susan Frederick Gray</a>, <a href="http://standingonthesideoflove.org/tag/rev-wendy-von-zirpolo/" rel="tag" style="border: 0px; color: #c93438; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Rev. Wendy von </a></div>
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Rev. Wendy von Zirpolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07868999424016745518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-867942253931809890.post-1687017694395035602014-05-10T09:26:00.004-07:002014-05-10T09:38:04.368-07:00Dear Mr. President, let this be the last Mother's Day that a child has to wonder ....<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIlHmHH017mQqPcpWyuBN7qtfwNxPU_P6fdItO5Dn76zpgCvLYN1Cm4bQ9qKsiw0hHfuM8lhZ_H-BrPwG3x20KqGhMZb7wumnJx6mvK8kT8DXtRT_ImOUGIcAmbbiILHD4Lo7UJwA7tEeS/s1600/children.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIlHmHH017mQqPcpWyuBN7qtfwNxPU_P6fdItO5Dn76zpgCvLYN1Cm4bQ9qKsiw0hHfuM8lhZ_H-BrPwG3x20KqGhMZb7wumnJx6mvK8kT8DXtRT_ImOUGIcAmbbiILHD4Lo7UJwA7tEeS/s1600/children.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
Dear Mr. President,<o:p></o:p></div>
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Last week I said I'd be writing you each week as part of my
weekly 48 hour fast for immigration reform and a stop to the deportations. As I
enter the final 6th of this week's fast for immigration reform I offer these
reflections. I thought it would get easier each week. It has not. It is taking
an increasingly larger amount of mental effort to go without food for two days
and keep focused on what is good and right in the world. I cherish that
reflection because it invites me to think of what it takes to work day in and
out for months and years to have your child returned to your arms after they
were sent back to a country they never knew, to stop worrying that an unjust
and abusive system of immigration 'control' won't rip away a piece of your
family each day and night, to suffer abuses in workplaces, homes and other
settings because you cannot risk reporting, to show up with energy and love and
engage in justice seeking work because you know it is the only way forward for
our species.</div>
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<b><i> So, yeah it's harder this day but it is this one small piece I can
do this day as we continue to press upon our representatives to move the vote
forward, continue to raise awareness among our own family and friends and
communities of connection, as we continue to write and call our leaders and say
'stop the deportations of people who are important pieces of who we are,
together, in this beautiful fabric of humanity and fix our immigration system
now.'</i></b><br />
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Mr. President, I'm heading off now to lead a sleepover at my
Unitarian Universalist Church. There, children and youth will make Mother's Day
presents, enjoy playing games and even play hide and seek in the sanctuary.
They will have a great time and so will I. In the morning they will greet their
mothers with breakfast goodies and then we'll enjoy a Sunday worship service in
which we are dedicating children and babies. We'll remind them of how important
they are and how wonderful they are, exactly as they are! It will be joyous but
on the inside, a slice of me will be weeping. I will weep for the many Mothers
who will be in pain.</div>
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<o:p></o:p><i><b>Please let this be the last Mother's Day in which children wonder ‘Will my mother be taken today?’ </b></i></div>
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<i><b>Yours on the journey, Rev. Wendy von Zirpolo</b></i></div>
Rev. Wendy von Zirpolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07868999424016745518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-867942253931809890.post-46305752353667665652014-05-03T09:39:00.001-07:002014-05-03T09:39:47.109-07:00Dear Mr. President ~ <div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><i>Dear Mr. President,<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
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I hope this finds you well. You have brought so much integrity, hope and
vision into the White House. Thank you. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHF9Boz7T06Bm_sCnMJR7xxbepCpATD9A8Mmz24xSr0aI8qrXqtA4WGKXqd4yuexnsa0JpNrlB_QmrEFXpNveneSJl6x4rbU07lNP4H1pdTOcYzUMov2ok9CkY28YVTp_BAZg7k7PZnSFv/s1600/48+hour+group+photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHF9Boz7T06Bm_sCnMJR7xxbepCpATD9A8Mmz24xSr0aI8qrXqtA4WGKXqd4yuexnsa0JpNrlB_QmrEFXpNveneSJl6x4rbU07lNP4H1pdTOcYzUMov2ok9CkY28YVTp_BAZg7k7PZnSFv/s1600/48+hour+group+photo.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a><b><i>I’m writing today with an empty
stomach and heavy heart. April 7<sup>th</sup> I joined 104 women in the We
Belong Together fast and am continuing to fast 48 hours each week. During my fast
I am working to raise awareness and act toward the end no child goes to bed
worried a knock on door might rip away a parent or send a sibling away. This
week I used social media to debunk 24 myths about immigrants and now I am
writing to you. I’ll be writing weekly until immigration reform passes and the
deportations of non-violent undocumented immigrants stops.<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg-7gemyIwxYqm98nQqeP2tEpW2CWjctGZqRuzi3pz7bFE4miYbbf5N8ObgUMQDzSQ84rKgTlPjLLLBr8-1sS3efQz1gox1Xw0y77JMruFVgLh5XgF0QCW7mRWSMYhG6Mq1N6lqSilBa6X/s1600/arrest+dc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg-7gemyIwxYqm98nQqeP2tEpW2CWjctGZqRuzi3pz7bFE4miYbbf5N8ObgUMQDzSQ84rKgTlPjLLLBr8-1sS3efQz1gox1Xw0y77JMruFVgLh5XgF0QCW7mRWSMYhG6Mq1N6lqSilBa6X/s1600/arrest+dc.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Mr. President, I have been to
jail twice for this cause because there is a higher law to which we are called.
The law of our collective soul, some call God. </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The law that cherishes all
creation's children and insists each of are due respect, safety, justice and
love. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-_WW4dsZgA9um2yddICtHrxl2_GSvyC_p8JtLKd12evDPoyBKTvv2A5dvtt-tm7amdnkUqHDo9SFUXTupSlQipa6qa-D_eia8AWVss6osXyzT0CiX-FxEvckAWbFoe_QztdaOT8iuJyA_/s1600/jail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-_WW4dsZgA9um2yddICtHrxl2_GSvyC_p8JtLKd12evDPoyBKTvv2A5dvtt-tm7amdnkUqHDo9SFUXTupSlQipa6qa-D_eia8AWVss6osXyzT0CiX-FxEvckAWbFoe_QztdaOT8iuJyA_/s1600/jail.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
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Now, I forgo food because there is a greater sacrifice being paid by
children each day. I appreciate your efforts but more must be done. Here in the
country we love and share, this is the greatest human rights issue of our time
and we are stained.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><i>I recall the autobiography of
Anne Moody, an African American woman who grew up in the midst of the battle
for civil rights in Mississippi. A story she told mirrors what is happening
today in the name of border patrol and protection against immigrants. She
tells of a young man being yanked from a gathering, dragged by police, not
resisting arrest but unable to stand because of how he was dragged. He was
beaten by officers and taken away, bloodied. I can tell you first hand
that this kind of violence is taking place today and in the name of “immigrant
control.’ I have been in its presence in an Arizona jail. And I have born
witness to many more stories. This, nearly half a century since the horrific
instances of racism were brought to a country finally willing to see, to own
and to correct such horrific human rights abuses.<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
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In Anne's accounting, two white
men sat watching in a car, unwilling to participate. Silent. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><i>Mr. President, the fact that
deportations are occurring in record numbers and that immigration reform is
stalled feels like silence. Please use your power. Speak so loudly that every
child fearing that this day their family will be torn apart hears your voice.</i></b></div>
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<b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkZ-3F4tc4aTSUOh8o8hnPnp5tAxUfa0bOAqLyCinyn6GXu1vtx_kZhHXwUDrmnFnk6xmtXOuAerSnhbFJv9mTx3GCBB089oZYvi0JmAL7NVIyexx7qd2eh9k0erEI_ZniOGhMQimAiOBX/s1600/IMG_0131.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkZ-3F4tc4aTSUOh8o8hnPnp5tAxUfa0bOAqLyCinyn6GXu1vtx_kZhHXwUDrmnFnk6xmtXOuAerSnhbFJv9mTx3GCBB089oZYvi0JmAL7NVIyexx7qd2eh9k0erEI_ZniOGhMQimAiOBX/s1600/IMG_0131.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></i></b></div>
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Respectfully yours ~ Rev. Wendy von Zirpolo<o:p></o:p></div>
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Rev. Wendy von Zirpolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07868999424016745518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-867942253931809890.post-87077787796364732092014-04-20T03:34:00.001-07:002014-04-20T03:34:30.225-07:00<div align="center" style="background-color: #d7eaea; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-align: center;">
<strong>I Woke Up ~</strong></div>
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<span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1052796312" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">Friday</span></span> morning with stunning clarity. Clarity that I would fast for 48 hours each week until Congress moves forward on fair immigration reform. The 48 hour fast will be a repeat of the 48 Fast for Families I just had the privilege of participating in on the Mall in Washington, DC. The fast, organized by the group We Belong Together (<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" shape="rect">http://www.webelongtogether.<wbr></wbr>org</a>) , was a terrifically well-planned, well-executed action to call upon Congress to bring a vote to the floor on an immigration bill that already has widespread support with the American people and bi-partisan support that should see its approval. Between <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1052796313" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">March 8</span></span> and April 9, more than 1500 women fasted in 80 events in 35 states, DC and in Mexico City, and 105 of women, including me fasted for 48 hours on the National Mall in DC. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEh2gwZMBTo5KIwDF_BG41qSqifSm7REb3RCsecnjBliiFj7_RuWDN2Imp1aFSgefpr0D1NLREAvJX1G3rLxc1pvGkqsxLwbl9Tsx5jV0FsJcrj2DZYNy9e3fHDj5pIbaOQaLXDo9r9BSwS-hgaD7db5TbHFq3kX3qFEauvhCg=s0-d-e1-ft" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" hspace="5" name="1457eb0562a58022_ACCOUNT.IMAGE.359" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEh2gwZMBTo5KIwDF_BG41qSqifSm7REb3RCsecnjBliiFj7_RuWDN2Imp1aFSgefpr0D1NLREAvJX1G3rLxc1pvGkqsxLwbl9Tsx5jV0FsJcrj2DZYNy9e3fHDj5pIbaOQaLXDo9r9BSwS-hgaD7db5TbHFq3kX3qFEauvhCg=s0-d-e1-ft" vspace="5" width="332" /></a>Together we went without food to feed the courage of House Republicans to give us a vote on a fair reform bill now, and of the Obama administration to take immediate action to stop deportations for 11 million undocumented immigrants. While we fasted, many congressmen & women visited the tent to address the group, listen to stories from women most impacted by our current, broken and abusive system and answer questions. Among the visitors some of President Obama's top aides. First Lady Michelle Obama's office applauded the group in a tweet and Vice President Biden met with a contingent following the fast.<img border="0" hspace="5" name="1457eb0562a58022_ACCOUNT.IMAGE.356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEiz87KQGWqMfKZXu33fVw1BMUQ5pIYNBA1e6b34ymWLPaMdqqRpH8KTGx1s5pVyaDvU7P_agasYrhyphenhyphenk7On9MEXcFwWTJCY8kuyy6SXVFT6ym8sx0y4WI9iq5qRCI5cB7E3nzzVFPkAjx5iRFPyzpETW9eO05UBxiIG8mtbbJQ=s0-d-e1-ft" vspace="5" width="332" /></div>
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<em><strong> The important work of this group and many others continue. We are protesting the Republican Leadership's failure to bring HR 15, a bipartisan immigration reform bill, to the House floor for a vote and President Obama's failure to stop deportations that are tearing up families now. The hope is the vote will be brought to the floor before the break in August. And the hope is that President Obama uses his executive power now to halt deportations.<img border="0" hspace="5" name="1457eb0562a58022_ACCOUNT.IMAGE.358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEjMNpobw3ob-MMmHcRld_ZKetDt8KhFy_xFEFO37Lf93xjRmlt9T3i5wJdEU3ULCTnjB0k6_9liQERf2ToLhXONhO-7LeUaku7XyQiEZYsqJTeL96cZIn3uwMpVGkc3SUo7BEQ-o4id03eV1GlNcVgTm7Me_valuhBW1cLkNw=s0-d-e1-ft" vspace="5" width="332" /></strong></em></div>
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My decision to recreate the 48 hour fast each week until Congress acts is one that I did not make lightly. Fasting is not an easy task nor does it come without some risks. But it was an easy decision. I awoke <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1052796314" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">Friday</span></span> morning with the clarity that this was the thing I could do to keep my commitment present in my weekly life. That with each weekly fast I could write our representatives and others to plead for action. That with each weekly fast I could share more information debunking the many myths and propaganda about our immigrant communities. That with each weekly fast I could remain connected with the deep call for justice that compels me to be part of building a better <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1052796315" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">tomorrow</span></span>.</div>
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<em><strong> Fasting is not new to people of religion. It has long been a tactic for change, utilized by Gandhi, Jr. Cesar Chavez, Nelson Mandela and other leaders and many more. It has also served as spiritual practice in religious life, providing a focused time of sacrifice that one might become closer aligned with inner spirit and the divine.</strong></em></div>
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For me, the fasting is a time of sacrifice and connection. Sacrificing food that our bodies, minds & souls can focus on listening to the call for justice/connection with spirit/God/etc. (I'm a religious humanist) and on power. For me, the physical deprivation connects me to the oppression though it is such a small piece. I know I will eat again. I know food awaits. I know I will not be hunted and harmed or killed because of my skin color or where it looks like I'm from. I do not worry when a knock on the door occurs. I do not worry my children will be parentless or that I will be parentless or lose my partner. For me it's not just about immigrants as the racism in this structure is rampant and ICE policies creates scapegoating and racial profiling of all people who are black and brown so the deprivation piece helps me connect with a wee piece of not having what our bodies and souls need and deserve.</div>
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<em><strong> For me, fasting in this manner also keeps me connected to the 104 other women who fasted and the many who supported us. Participating with this group stands as one of the most powerful times of living faith I have experienced. It, along with my two arrests for this human rights issue, were not tests of my faith, rather they were expressions of my faith. The experience of participating across cultures and theologies for the greater good was and continues to be powerful and hopeful as we seek to build the world we profess to seek. <img border="0" hspace="5" name="1457eb0562a58022_ACCOUNT.IMAGE.357" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEg8BqAgPxrjr0XnOBKalvxXlrxRNafsKm0WHiwPGhjniLhMffw3TtMWHCG1RKVA1NsVa2LHcAla15597M-GRN3nl-ktfRkv2ITvWPXhcnQGRdLx-u3Mzb6sit6rlHOz7FfbDU4SewXfUq5Y7hB4clbPGY1QYcCklsZ0q2fprw=s0-d-e1-ft" vspace="5" width="332" /> </strong></em><br /> Finally, for me, this is about my commitment to my religion and my call to religious leadership. These fasting days allows me space to hone in on soul and action. With food out of the equation I find my connection to my inner moral compass and my call to spirit-led life and the golden thread of humanity that connects us all readily accessible. Even more so than usual. It's part intentionality and part a complete absence of energy spent on food preparation and consumption gone! Well, almost gone as I learn to quell the voice asking for food. This, in turn allows me to take advantage of whatever I bring into that space. In this case, certainly a focus on my commitment to this specific cause, but also my call to ministry in the context of my service to parish ministry with the Unitarian Universalists of Marblehead, MA.</div>
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<em><strong><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1052796316" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">Friday</span></span> morning I woke up, to a new level of religious awareness and commitment. </strong></em></div>
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<em><strong>And I am glad.</strong></em></div>
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Yours on the journey,</div>
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Rev. Wendy</div>
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For more information about the ongoing fasts and call for fair and compassionate immigration reform, and/or to support these courageous groups, visit <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" shape="rect">http://www.webelongtogether.<wbr></wbr>org/</a> and<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" shape="rect">http://fast4families.org/</a>. </div>
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To join the fast, in whatever manner you choose or to support UUs fasting, join the facebook group UUs Fasting for Immigration Reform.</div>
<span style="background-color: #d7eaea; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: justify;"> </span>Rev. Wendy von Zirpolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07868999424016745518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-867942253931809890.post-62561524722712114422013-12-16T10:00:00.005-08:002013-12-16T11:28:50.646-08:00<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://fast4families.org/">~Fast for Families ~</a></div>
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When I sit down with my family for our traditional Christmas
Day dinner, it will be with an empty plate.
Beginning just after our Solstice Service on December 22 I will be starting
a 72 hour Solidarity Fast for Immigration Reform. This effort is taking place all over the
nation. Some are fasting for a single day.
Some for many more. All are adding their effort to a group Fasting in
Washington, DC. The DC fast began in November with 17 fasters and continues
today with groups and individuals lending their support. The original group said they do not fast out
of hate or anger but have hope that change is within reach. They noted frustration that there has been
little action and the organizers at Fast For Families say “This fast is our way to highlight
the moral crisis that this nation faces with this badly broken immigration
system. “ The DC group has drawn attention from many politicians and leaders
and included a visit from President and Michelle Obama. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><i> I thought long and hard about the timing. There was never a
question that I would lend my support. For me, this is the civil rights issue
of our time. It’s not about border control. It’s not about US citizens losing
jobs. It’s not about undocumented people draining our system. Each one of those
myths continue to be used to manipulate public opinion. The money issue is the
most egregious. It’s sinful how much money, our money by the way, is being
pocketed by big business incarcerating people for as long as they can get away
with it and disallowing any contact. Families are being broken up. Children put
at risk. And they aren’t Canadian. That we are participating in such blatant human
rights violations is unconscionable. If more people knew what the facts were, how
racism is at work and how the primary victims are women and children, it would
stop. Given that this is a time of year that so many of us honor the birth of a
child and the hope of a different tomorrow, it seemed fitting to time my fast
to include Christmas.</i></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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For those wishing to join in the effort, please consider a
donation to MIRA (Massachusetts Immigrant & Refugee Advocacy Coalition)
at <a href="https://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/50862/p/salsa/donation/common/public/?donate_page_KEY=9403" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.666666984558105px;" target="_blank">https://salsa3.salsalabs.com/<wbr></wbr>o/50862/p/salsa/donation/<wbr></wbr>common/public/?donate_page_<wbr></wbr>KEY=9403</a>/or Centro Presente(member-driven Massachusetts Latin American org) at <a href="http://www.cpresente.org/donate">http://www.cpresente.org/donate</a> or by using the donate button on this page.<br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
Rev. Wendy von Zirpolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07868999424016745518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-867942253931809890.post-50917411098438655462013-12-14T09:49:00.003-08:002013-12-14T09:49:44.138-08:00Sacred Gifts ~<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.666666984558105px; text-align: center;">
When I woke this morning, I knew I was going to write a newsletter article about gifts. What I didn’t know is that I would encounter one that brought tears and hope to my eyes. Tomorrow, Dec 14, marks the anniversary of a death that shook our household. My 24 year-old niece, Sarah, was on her way to work. She was a respiratory therapist. She was newly engaged to be married. She was a treasured older cousin to our school-aged children. <b><i>She was beautiful inside and out. She was ours.</i></b></div>
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Sarah was also grieving the death of her father, who just six weeks earlier had succumbed after a decade-long battle with Lupus. She had been a central player and angel in his care and in his peaceful passing.</div>
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On that fateful day, a drunk driver ended her life. The entire family, still actively mourning the death of her dad, gathered. There at the same funeral home, the same church, the same group gathered, wept and tried to make sense of a world in which this could happen. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAj1uJiE79L1bXSqFtcNgNFYtfrhTR2tLq_5Ih9G98x0V1ffLjaUXbN6T3cS8mW0J2maNVVLvGSICe33IBvrwT7CSC1lZ3j-KrOfXr4UMQ4xTLhUGy4C3Bxv9SyyzN-cOVONrhWwn3Am6j/s1600/beaniesarah.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAj1uJiE79L1bXSqFtcNgNFYtfrhTR2tLq_5Ih9G98x0V1ffLjaUXbN6T3cS8mW0J2maNVVLvGSICe33IBvrwT7CSC1lZ3j-KrOfXr4UMQ4xTLhUGy4C3Bxv9SyyzN-cOVONrhWwn3Am6j/s1600/beaniesarah.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.666666984558105px;"><b><i> I</i></b></span><b style="font-size: 12.666666984558105px;"><i>n the midst of the sadness stood one little blonde girl with a soulful look in her eyes and a broken heart. You see, Sarah was also a central figure in the life of her own niece, <span class="il" style="background-color: #ffffcc;">Beanie</span>. Within 6 weeks, this little girl had lost two people who were arguably the people who held her closest in all ways. With a complicated family situation, her grandfather played a strong role in her daily life and she lived with Sarah. Of all those shedding tears, hers were perhaps the most difficult for me to witness</i></b><span style="font-size: 12.666666984558105px;">.</span></div>
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And yet …. And, yet. These were the words that greeted me this morning:</div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #37404e; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 9.5pt;">"My aunt Sarah was killed at 24 years old by a drunk driver on Route 16 in Milton NH at the 30 mile marker December 14th 2000, she was on her way to work where she was a brilliant respiratory therapist.. I do not carry anger or hate in my heart, because no matter how much you hate someone for something so horrible.. It doesn't help you heal. It just breeds hate. Don't breed hate."</span></i></b></div>
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<span style="color: #37404e; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 9.5pt;"> Sometimes we receive gifts that aren’t necessarily intended for us specifically. They aren’t wrapped. They don’t have tags. They are offered into the universe for those who might see their value. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #37404e; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 9.5pt;"><b><i>Thank you, dear one for passing this one along to me. </i></b></span></div>
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Rev. Wendy von Zirpolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07868999424016745518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-867942253931809890.post-7137125675927315822013-10-17T15:46:00.001-07:002013-10-17T15:46:15.475-07:00Road Trip for the Soul!!! <div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigYwWdIj-wMu9h0SkEDNAG7CKEc8OCx9MkfOY608L5ksE2Shv6S5dUpEkDMo22WwuO2UokGRREU5fn9bI2hj15HaRTDotPQKLPilGRYKYn3OQDD_dMgppH48xopmNWhOCd9hQH_251QYZC/s1600/soul.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigYwWdIj-wMu9h0SkEDNAG7CKEc8OCx9MkfOY608L5ksE2Shv6S5dUpEkDMo22WwuO2UokGRREU5fn9bI2hj15HaRTDotPQKLPilGRYKYn3OQDD_dMgppH48xopmNWhOCd9hQH_251QYZC/s1600/soul.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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</span><i style="font-style: italic;">Tomorrow I will be heading up to
Ferry Beach in Saco, Maine. The actual
departure will be no doubt harried. On a ‘regular day’ I seem incapable of
leaving the house without running back in at least once for something I’ve
forgotten. Planning for an entire
weekend increases the odds of it being at least two ‘run-back-ins’ if not more.
To be fair, it’s a lot to think
about. Sleeping bag? Air mattress?
Bathing suit? (Yes, you read that correctly!) Glow sticks for the late night
youth sharing circle on the beach? Bananagrams? Toll money? Singing bowl? Robe & stole? Graham
crackers+chocolate+marshmellows? As I said, a lot to think about! All important ingredients to help make our
annual UUCM retreat, an actual treat for our souls.</i></b></b></div>
<b><i><o:p></o:p></i></b><br />
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Road trips for the souls can
take time and effort but they are so well worth the effort. They needn’t be trips to Maine, however. They needn’t even involve a car. They only require the delivery of yourself to
‘that place,’ even if it’s in your own backyard!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBhuDdGcYiO8vEo7gROBBtpI6kalf900cZaoXOBQodTFt5LjRb7Em7Infh9_1pVFKqe-bkYZerWRIp-qTeNkEWPXEM7K1uKaa9QD75gu7vfGUa3ERchoNFRIEbxC9c62IDm5CzkgGLBlIc/s1600/IMG_6285.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBhuDdGcYiO8vEo7gROBBtpI6kalf900cZaoXOBQodTFt5LjRb7Em7Infh9_1pVFKqe-bkYZerWRIp-qTeNkEWPXEM7K1uKaa9QD75gu7vfGUa3ERchoNFRIEbxC9c62IDm5CzkgGLBlIc/s1600/IMG_6285.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a><b><i> I love the outdoors but I can count on one
hand ‘those places’ that own a piece of who I am. One is Lighthouse Beach in Annisquam (Gloucester,
MA). My soul takes over my body as soon
as my feet hit the path and suddenly I find myself on the rocks, my shoes
somehow shed and my feet moving me effortlessly to the sand and sea. My soul humming its way into song and then
flight! Another is our property in Michigan.
My soul begins a slow hum as we turn onto Zue Road. As we pull into the driveway it begins to
sing. As I my feet land upon the dirt driveway
and head in any direction – orchard, forest, corn field, garden, yard or grape arbor,
my soul soars. There are other places,
each engaging my soul in different ways.
Familiarity inviting newness. Newness tickling an already happy
soul. Each place claiming me as much as
I claim my spot within that special, sacred slice of the universe. Special because we’ve claimed one another as
home. Sacred because there my soul leads, letting my body and mind tag along.</i></b></div>
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And so, tomorrow I will scurry
about, running in for ‘last’ things. I’ll
head north. Somewhere on Route 95, after the tolls & after the rest stop,
my soul will take notice. I will relax a
bit into knowing that whatever I’ve brought I’ve brought and whatever I’ve
forgotten, I can do without. Worry about
logistics won’t leave entirely but will fade. And the hum will begin, becoming
louder as we exit into Saco. When we
turn the corner by the shuffleboard court and glimpse the ocean, the hum will
turn into soul song. As we pass the
marsh grass and channels that wind out to the shore the song will grow
strong. As the door opens and the sound
of the powerful waves reaches my soul, I will let go. Moments later I’ll find myself on the beach,
shoes left far behind. My feet will be in the water. My arms will hang loosely
by my sides. The wind will push at my
opened hands. My face will lean into the sun and sea spray. And my soul will
soar. And I will be glad.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">~May your days
include many trips for your soul ~</span></i></b><o:p></o:p></div>
Rev. Wendy von Zirpolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07868999424016745518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-867942253931809890.post-57396604219712588002013-10-11T19:25:00.003-07:002013-10-11T19:25:44.893-07:00If We Mean What We Say ~ UU Principle #1 If We Mean What We Say ~ (An excerpt from a sermon series exploring the 7 principles of Unitarian Universalism <a href="http://www.uua.org/beliefs/principles/">http://www.uua.org/beliefs/principles/</a> )<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">If We Mean What We
Say ~<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 13.5pt;">(</span><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"><span style="font-size: small;">An excerpt from a
sermon series exploring the 7 principles of Unitarian Universalism </span><span style="color: windowtext;"><a href="http://www.uua.org/beliefs/principles/" style="font-size: 12pt;">http://www.uua.org/beliefs/principles/</a><span style="font-size: small;">. </span><span style="font-size: medium;">Image by fabulous UU Tim Atkins!</span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 13.5pt;">)</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Inherent
worth and dignity of every person.” We tend to always read this
principle as being about how we view and treat other people. We use it to fuel
our efforts to impact change for ‘other’ communities. It is the subtext of all
of our justice work. Using that principle as an anchor we have made
great strides in making more of our spaces accessible. We have journeyed
further in understanding how racism is embedded in our system, benefitting some
and harming others. We have learned to value multi-generational community, and
in particular, our youth. This principle is at the heart of our efforts around
securing equal rights for people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender,
queer & questioning. All of these are good, honorable. Important.</span></b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But there is a more
powerful way we are called to let this principle change us and through us, our world. It
requires enormous intentionality. It requires that we first apply the principle
to ourselves. That we embody the respect in a manner that alters
us. That we look in the mirror and say “There I am. Flawed.
Beautiful. Worthy.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“
There I am. Flawed. Beautiful. Worthy. There I am. Flawed.
Beautiful. Worthy. I will make mistakes today. I will blunder. I will take
responsibility for my mistakes. There I am, flawed, beautiful, worthy. I will
do good deeds today. I will show up. I will try to add goodness and beauty to
our world. There I am. Flawed. Beautiful. Worthy. I will
say the right thing today. I will say the wrong thing today. Either way, I will
speak up. There I am. Flawed. Beautiful. Worthy. This day is a gift
and out into the world I go. Flawed. Beautiful. Worthy.”</span></b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And if we can do
that…. Here’s step 2. Before you leave that mirror say “I will
encounter others. They are flawed. They are beautiful, they are worthy. They
will make mistakes today. They will blunder. They may or may not take responsibility
for their mistakes. There they are. Flawed. Beautiful.
Worthy. Some will do good deeds today. They will show up. Some
will try to add goodness and beauty to our world. There
they are. Flawed. Beautiful. Worthy. Some will say the right thing today. Some
will say the wrong thing today. There they are. Flawed. Beautiful. Worthy. <b><u>Mine</u></b>. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This
day is a gift to all of us and out into the world we go. Flawed. Beautiful.
Worthy. All.</span></b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And then ….. at THAT
moment, you know THAT moment, when someone has just said the absolute WRONG
thing and you knew it was coming, because you know them so well OR someone has
disappointed you in a large way OR someone just slammed into your car in the
parking lot ------ instead of reaching for time-worn habits that involve harsh
words or gestures, reach instead for three words: Flawed. Beautiful. Worthy. And
if you can, stretch for the fourth ~ Mine.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
<b>If…..if we mean what we say, we need look no further than the mirror
each day.</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Rev. Wendy von Zirpolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07868999424016745518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-867942253931809890.post-16733847459676357902013-09-01T18:24:00.002-07:002013-09-01T18:52:56.915-07:00Whisper from a Hummingbird (aka Another Reason to Join a UU Congregation!)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8ptfRWs-faYUfuqi2bbNebEQ2BOba5gBhrRI2d5pw0eilig2ZlXq8suk6_Aw0FvcX8DYO1cMc68wJShyhMmWI4W2BzRvTfXFdupe0TZGInuUk9wTIuU69ufSuNwXt-Bf3HhCsTU4XtpFS/s1600/IMG_5469.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8ptfRWs-faYUfuqi2bbNebEQ2BOba5gBhrRI2d5pw0eilig2ZlXq8suk6_Aw0FvcX8DYO1cMc68wJShyhMmWI4W2BzRvTfXFdupe0TZGInuUk9wTIuU69ufSuNwXt-Bf3HhCsTU4XtpFS/s1600/IMG_5469.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><i>Today a hummingbird whispered in
my ear and in that instant, my soul was renewed. I am ever grateful for this
brave little bird. She whizzed by my ear and then flit from feeder to
feeder, dancing on air, in front of me, in between each sip of the sugary
nectar.</i></b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Most of the pictures I captured
were out of focus because her wings moved so fast! But then she rested at just
the right time and this picture was born, providing me a glimpse of her
beautiful, powerful wings. How could the hummer have known this was just
what I needed today? <o:p></o:p></div>
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</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjstJwu2ubVIwwD8CIYJywHx0x2wJLYHIiM4AGFGJRNXR7dCu14k-ELE9M5IWG9d0GspP2nm2EFZkiX2guW3Mp0hokZX_S2087uG2ZUG-ZLHtfa0SjKDTrw25qdgMaXQ77LRedT9tsJmB39/s1600/IMG_5465.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjstJwu2ubVIwwD8CIYJywHx0x2wJLYHIiM4AGFGJRNXR7dCu14k-ELE9M5IWG9d0GspP2nm2EFZkiX2guW3Mp0hokZX_S2087uG2ZUG-ZLHtfa0SjKDTrw25qdgMaXQ77LRedT9tsJmB39/s1600/IMG_5465.JPG" height="320" width="214" /></a></div>
<b><i> I'd
just love to think that this magical little creature gazed down from her perch
in the cherry tree, at me and thought "Hmm- Wendy looks a bit sad today, I
think I'll buzz by. I know! I'll flutter by her ear and whisper 'look at
life.'" Now, I know that is anthropomorphic and, of course, all
about me! Yet, the thought was just the boost I needed to keep me rooted in the
life side of the creation equation.</i></b><br />
<b><i> </i></b>In times when sadness, loss and tragedy seem too present,
it is good to remember to 'look at life'
rather than focus on death. In a month where I’ve bid goodbye to several
fabulous souls, one who left this earth far too young, it may seem presumptuous
to make such a statement. But choosing to 'look at life' is a
perspective of choice that does not deny death, rather it focuses on each day
of living. Even when we are in relationship with people nearing the end of
their living. Even when we are that person.<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><i>When
I was a young person, death and dying were things done at the hospital and
rarely discussed. Even serious illness seemed at best vaguely
referenced. Today, with the increased usage of hospice, advances in
palliative care and an attitudinal shift towards end of life 'living' we are
more able to live all of our days in the company of friends and family. It
is such a gift that our last days of living can be less about mechanical
devices and more about our human interactions with people. It is
also a gift to be able to be part of a community of care in which we can help
one another learn to be with sadness AND embrace living at the same
time. The focus on living is akin to the glass half empty/half
full analogy. Death and loss are never easy, but we get to choose
how we arrive in their presence. I'm of the belief that if we
root ourselves firmly in living, even while in the presence of dying
we serve each other and ourselves well.</i></b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Reflecting
back on recent weeks leading up to the recent losses in my community & the
many difficult diagnoses among us, I am inspired by how well our community lives
this philosophy. I may have imagined the humming bird's whisper but
the message from our community is loud and clear. Here, we live. We
live with one another. Even when it gets difficult. Even
when it includes pain and loss. And so, we will live this day.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><i> File
this under – 'Another reason to join a Unitarian Universalist congregation!'<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><i> </i></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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Rev. Wendy von Zirpolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07868999424016745518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-867942253931809890.post-64236866614238310342013-08-23T00:10:00.000-07:002013-08-23T00:10:01.242-07:00A Really Great Story ~ Via Upworthy.com PLEASE VIEW AND SHARE!!!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.upworthy.com/one-easy-thing-all-white-people-could-do-that-would-make-the-world-a-better-place-5">http://www.upworthy.com/one-easy-thing-all-white-people-could-do-that-would-make-the-world-a-better-place-5</a>Rev. Wendy von Zirpolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07868999424016745518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-867942253931809890.post-79228627628416115572013-08-21T13:09:00.001-07:002013-08-21T13:14:45.631-07:00Remind me ~ <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9gRCqJl3n2-DlETf53KXwg_bR5ITI7dJZ_CMVSIg3s8UJ46aVROO7gVma7T5EUe-tqmJ39i-HjBsFAsSZgzTvQXY2ZAJ7X3WspEOiHNNGiQwdRrHwcEQ2NrktN5w4U7dRE5XgrNlhtsec/s1600/IMG_2071.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9gRCqJl3n2-DlETf53KXwg_bR5ITI7dJZ_CMVSIg3s8UJ46aVROO7gVma7T5EUe-tqmJ39i-HjBsFAsSZgzTvQXY2ZAJ7X3WspEOiHNNGiQwdRrHwcEQ2NrktN5w4U7dRE5XgrNlhtsec/s1600/IMG_2071.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
Dear, dear creation,<br />
<br />
Thank you for the seed. The seed within me that calls me to come and plunge into the ocean just when I need it most. The seed that tells me if I am very still this snail will come out to say a peek. The seed that reminds me of our interconnectedness with all that is creation. The seed that calls me understand that a wound to one is a wound to all. <br />
<br />
The seed that reminds me of this truth: life, even with death and injustice, is beautiful. Thank you ~Rev. Wendy von Zirpolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07868999424016745518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-867942253931809890.post-65735132602826602902013-07-25T14:29:00.001-07:002013-07-25T14:29:24.215-07:00<header id="header" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; height: 48px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px 0px 60px; width: 700px;"><section id="blog_info" style="float: left; margin: 0px; width: 513px;"><h1 style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 36px; font-style: inherit; letter-spacing: -1px; line-height: 36px; margin: 8px 0px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<a href="http://wearenottrayvonmartin.com/" style="border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: inherit; font-size: 36px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">We Are Not Trayvon Martin</a></h1>
</section><section id="blog_avatar" style="float: right; height: 48px; position: relative; width: 48px;"><a class="avatar" href="http://wearenottrayvonmartin.com/" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.207843) 0px 1px 3px; border: 0px; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.207843) 0px 1px 3px; color: #4ea3d0; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; height: 48px; left: auto; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: 0px; text-decoration: none; top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 48px;"><img src="http://assets.tumblr.com/images/default_avatar/sphere_closed_64.png" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 2px; border-bottom-right-radius: 2px; border-top-left-radius: 2px; border-top-right-radius: 2px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 48px;" /></a></section></header><ul id="posts" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #4c4c4c; float: left; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px 60px 0px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 700px;">
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I am not Trayvon Martin. I am a 56 year-old white woman whose life has been mostly defined by privilege. When I get stopped by police officers for speeding or a busted tail light, they usually end up apologizing. Just last month I was denied a Global Entry (think express line in Customs) because of a civil disobedience arrest and the officer apologized to me, saying he agreed with why I protested. My own awakening as “active-participant-in-a-racist-society-privileging-me” occurred at age 44. The setting was a class on social identity at Boston University. We were separated into racial identity groups and then asked to report back our findings. As a young woman of color spoke, it was as if a screen had been lifted revealing the existence of an entire reality unlike my own! I listened to her speak of their collective experiences of daily life in Boston and I was stunned. The contrast in our experiences of shopping in any retail store, interacting with police at a traffic stop, riding public transportation and simply walking down the street were startling to me. Equally startling was how the contrast was not at all surprising to her or other members of her identity group. Worse still was how rapidly several members of the white identity group sought to negate the experiences of the people of color or tell similar stories of a single instance in which they felt marginalized.</div>
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I would love to be able to write how rapidly I became informed, started to work on acknowledging my own white privilege, strived to be an accountable white ally and spent time each day working to dismantle our racist systems. I cannot. It was not until several years later I came to realize how close to home the racism was located and how my lack of active participation was the same as condoning the injustice. As a member of a progressive, liberal faith community, I believed we were collectively among those who understood white privilege and systemic racism and were activists in building multicultural community. Following a national gatherings in Texas I learned how wrong I was in that perception. Having heard white supremacists had come to protest our gathering, I was outraged. Next I heard local police had profiled our youth of color, while leaving white-appearing youth alone. I was appalled. Then I heard stories of white members of our own faith community making racist assumptions and behaving in racist manners. Car keys were tossed to one person of color, assumed to be a valet. Other people of color were assumed to be wait or housekeeping staff. Youth of color trying to enter an event were assumed to be ‘not ours.’ These were just some of the racist incidents caused by our own community. I had been looking too easily outside of my own community for the presence of racism and privilege. Part of my own privilege was in choosing the easy places to be outraged and seek change. Now that I knew it was our own family. Now I knew it was me. I am not Trayvon Martin but I am the racist system that leads to gated communities in which any person of color is seen as ‘outsider.’ I am the racist system that leads to law-enforcement practices and policies that devalue people who are black or brown. I am the racist system that breeds fear of young men of color in hoodies and protects young white men with varsity letters. I am the racist system that equates justice with a protection of the status quo in terms of racial power. I am the racist systems that requires nation-wide protest to even attempt to access justice. I am not Trayvon Martin but I am the racist system that caused him to lose his life. And it is this certain knowledge that calls me to the work of anti-racism, anti-oppression and multiculturalism each day. </div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">- See more at: http://wearenottrayvonmartin.com/post/56433249723/i-am-not-trayvon-martin-i-am-a-56-year-old-white#sthash.eRU3zlVS.dpuf</span>Rev. Wendy von Zirpolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07868999424016745518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-867942253931809890.post-40449613570095882972013-07-16T19:14:00.002-07:002013-07-16T19:14:36.282-07:00Tears to Action ~ <a href="http://www.wickedlocal.com/marblehead/news/lifestyle/religion/x624130830/Marblehead-UU-minister-reacts-to-Trayvon-Martin-verdict">http://www.wickedlocal.com/marblehead/news/lifestyle/religion/x624130830/Marblehead-UU-minister-reacts-to-Trayvon-Martin-verdict</a>Rev. Wendy von Zirpolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07868999424016745518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-867942253931809890.post-50467141162163771382013-07-15T09:11:00.000-07:002013-07-15T09:33:32.065-07:00But it's not about race? Actually, it was, before, after, during ... and it still is~<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Someone asked what to say to a friend who believes the Zimmerman verdict wasn't about race: </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;">I'd start with 'I might have that reaction 15 years ago but have come to learn how pervasive racism is in our iives. And I'm still learning. There are times when I can agree to disagree but in this case, lives are at stake so I find myself willing to risk relationships in order to open more heads and hearts to seeing what our historically marginalized communities have known all along. Our system favors people who look like me. Period. The racism in this case preceded the events of that evening. The racism present in the neighborhood automatically put at risk people who looked like Trayvon Martin. The racism present in the political powers automatically favored anyone with a firearm pointed at a person of color. The racism present in the entire dominant social fabric automatically ramped up the expectations of consequences, feelings of entitlement & bravado</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;"> in George Zimmerman. The racism present in the systems of power, including the justice system automatically moved to dismiss the facts of the case, leading to the 6 week delay in an arrest forced by widespread criticism and protest. The racism present in the judicial system led to the make-up of the jury. The racism present in your socialization, and many others, including mine for some years, leads us to this conversation today. And we are wrong if we allow that socialization to rule our heads and hearts. </span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI6ntVmrwzTrAq7ugZxmLitJz7OyBofux0CNoNWzsM9EaPvQTQ6Q48Lu6PDEwBgHl6CYIbj2uaicm1kQYtBnGANUqVyCPJA2HyviALa_GxqaPvmTfg4Hlayqa2HN5Y8y2PMNRfgryX9dJl/s1600/trayvon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI6ntVmrwzTrAq7ugZxmLitJz7OyBofux0CNoNWzsM9EaPvQTQ6Q48Lu6PDEwBgHl6CYIbj2uaicm1kQYtBnGANUqVyCPJA2HyviALa_GxqaPvmTfg4Hlayqa2HN5Y8y2PMNRfgryX9dJl/s1600/trayvon.jpg" /></a></div>
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;"><span style="font-size: large;">This was about racism. Period. And so, dear friend ---- I invite you to just spend a day, give that much to the Martin family --- spend just today imagining that this was about race and that an innocent young boy died at the hands of a racist system. And then let's talk again ~ I love you but I want to live in a world in which every child is loved and protected by all of us - and this isn't it. Multitudes of parents of children of color are sitting down tonight and reminding them how they are not safe in this world. Sadly, not for the first time. We need to be talking to our children too and telling them that they can either pretend this isn't about race or get busy changing it. Here's an important article you might start with </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;">.</span><br />
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;"><a href="http://www.timwise.org/2013/07/no-innocence-left-to-kill-racism-injustice-and-explaining-america-to-my-daughter/" rel="nofollow nofollow" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://www.timwise.org/2013/<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break" style="display: inline-block;"></span>07/<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break" style="display: inline-block;"></span>no-innocence-left-to-kill-racis<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break" style="display: inline-block;"></span>m-injustice-and-explaining-ame<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break" style="display: inline-block;"></span>rica-to-my-daughter/</a></span>Rev. Wendy von Zirpolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07868999424016745518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-867942253931809890.post-86765900632524268142013-07-14T12:35:00.001-07:002013-07-14T12:35:20.202-07:00Letter to UU Congregation of Marblehead<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Dear ones,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_62_1373820889706_39" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_62_1373820889706_39" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Last night was a tragic night in the ongoing struggle for racial
justice in our beloved country. The acquittal of George Zimmerman, in the
shooting death of Trayvon Martin, left many beyond articulation but clear in
emotions of outrage, despair & sadness. For many in the community of
color, fear. For many in the dominant culture, shame.<span id="yui_3_7_2_62_1373820889706_106"> </span> Since last night, texts,
facebook messages, tweets and emails have poured in, each providing one more
piece of trying to put words to this point of time in our journey. Some
focus on the jury - how could it be allowed? A jury that was nearly
all-white? Others on the racism inherent in the entire incident, recalling that
it took a nationwide protest to get the shooter arrested at all? Others
still, mostly all of color, register their lack of surprise, noting on the arc
of their own lived experience this stands as simply one more piece of being
targeted, harmed and harmed again by an unjust system. And yet. And
yet, those are also the voices of hope that call us all to the work of
understanding racism as something so embedded in our dominant culture it can
lead to none other than fear-based laws like 'stand-your-ground,' profiling
people who are 'other' and a justice system that benefits financially from the
continued incarceration of people of color and at the same time provides a
different level of justice for the same population. From an accurate
analysis of our system, this is exactly the verdict we should expect. And
yet. And yet, those among us who on this night will worry until their
young are back home, worry as they drive their cars through upscale
neighborhoods and see flashing blue lights approaching, note with dismay the
extra attention inside of the retail store, wonder --- what of this do I share
with my child tonight? ............................ they lead us with strength
of purpose and hope, to say, the work continues. For those of you who are
most impacted by this event because you are a member of the community of color,
or other at-risk identity group, I offer my prayers and sorrow that our world
is not yet the world we profess to seek as a people of conscience and faith.
I pledge to you that my head, heart and hands will not waiver in the
journey.<span id="yui_3_7_2_62_1373820889706_72"> For those of you, who
like me, live within the privilege of the dominant Euro-American white culture,
I applaud the efforts of those who are already well on the journey of
understanding how 'white privilege' operates in our daily lives and societal
systems and invite you in to an intentional expansion of our efforts to
educate ourselves, each other toward the end of working in effective,
increasingly powerful and dear creation, I pray, transformational work. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_62_1373820889706_39" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span id="yui_3_7_2_62_1373820889706_83"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br id="yui_3_7_2_62_1373820889706_85" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_62_1373820889706_39" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span id="yui_3_7_2_62_1373820889706_78"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">And with gratitude to a
dear friend from Atlanta, I offer the reminder that anger toward the shooter,
the lawyers and/or the jury, feed the less-best-selves within us and our task
is so grand, we need our whole spirits engaged on the promise of a better
tomorrow. Let our prayer of today be a re-commitment to a future in which
we share equally the justice so many of us take for granted. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_62_1373820889706_39" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span id="yui_3_7_2_62_1373820889706_88"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br id="yui_3_7_2_62_1373820889706_94" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_62_1373820889706_39" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Yours on the journey ~<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_62_1373820889706_39" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_62_1373820889706_39" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Rev. Wendy von Zirpolo<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Rev. Wendy von Zirpolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07868999424016745518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-867942253931809890.post-53489712914135304642013-05-01T12:22:00.004-07:002013-05-01T20:23:37.453-07:00Inherent Worth & Dignity ~ Even When the Majority Cries No<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzPuOdG4j_KkjzTuZODWy69hLKvymrl9AAgxvV2CRMr4DRQAR20LWvDHNIKJ_FqJ0thvXndSChwJwEl29TS8PR26TJmpoRErYxPderAazag2yqUDIv9rJof1ERR-u5dG8RtUELA0utoC39/s1600/chalice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzPuOdG4j_KkjzTuZODWy69hLKvymrl9AAgxvV2CRMr4DRQAR20LWvDHNIKJ_FqJ0thvXndSChwJwEl29TS8PR26TJmpoRErYxPderAazag2yqUDIv9rJof1ERR-u5dG8RtUELA0utoC39/s1600/chalice.jpg" /></a></div>
<u><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: large;">The Reading<o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: large;">Please
Call Me By My True Names<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: large;">by Thich Nhat Hanh<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">Don't say that I will depart tomorrow --</span></i><i><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"><br />
even today I am still arriving.<br />
<br />
Look deeply: every second I am arriving<br />
to be a bud on a Spring branch,<br />
to be a tiny bird, with still-fragile wings,<br />
learning to sing in my new nest,<br />
to be a caterpillar in the heart of a flower,<br />
to be a jewel hiding itself in a stone.<br />
<br />
I still arrive, in order to laugh and to cry,<br />
to fear and to hope.<br />
<br />
The rhythm of my heart is the birth and death<br />
of all that is alive.<br />
<br />
I am the mayfly metamorphosing<br />
on the surface of the river.<br />
And I am the bird<br />
that swoops down to swallow the mayfly.<br />
</span></i><i><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"><br />
</span></i><i><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">I am the frog swimming happily<br />
in the clear water of a pond.<br />
And I am the grass-snake<br />
that silently feeds itself on the frog.<br />
<br />
I am the child in Uganda, all skin and bones,<br />
my legs as thin as bamboo sticks.<br />
And I am the arms merchant,<br />
selling deadly weapons to Uganda.<br />
<br />
I am the twelve-year-old girl,<br />
refugee on a small boat,<br />
who throws herself into the ocean<br />
after being raped by a sea pirate.<br />
And I am the pirate,<br />
my heart not yet capable<br />
of seeing and loving.<br />
<br />
I am a member of the politburo,<br />
with plenty of power in my hands.<br />
And I am the man who has to pay<br />
his "debt of blood" to my people<br />
dying slowly in a forced-labor camp.<br />
<br />
My joy is like Spring, so warm<br />
it makes flowers bloom all over the Earth.<br />
My pain is like a river of tears,<br />
so vast it fills the four oceans.<br />
<br />
Please call me by my true names,<br />
so I can hear all my cries and my laughter at once,<br />
so I can see that my joy and pain are one.<br />
<br />
Please call me by my true names,<br />
so I can wake up,<br />
and so the door of my heart<br />
can be left open,<br />
</span></i><i><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">the door of compassion.<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<b><u><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: large;">The Sermon<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: large;">When Tom Fowler cashed in on his winning bid of a sermon on any
topic, we hadn’t yet heard the words ‘marathon bomber.’ Tom’s request was to speak to how Unitarian Universalists
reconcile our commitment to honoring the inherent worth and dignity in every
human being with people who commit such hideous acts. He gave as an example the extremist Islam
jihadists and others responsible for acts of violence and ways of being that
oppress others.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: large;">The answers I knew I would share have not changed with the
recent turn of events.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: large;">The answers reside on a spectrum. Here
at one end, the belief that all people,
regardless of belief systems, race, ethnicity, gender identity, affectional or
sexual orientation, economic class, level of education, age, physical or mental
abilities are worthy and welcome here in our community. Here at the other end of the spectrum, the
belief that all people, regardless of behavior are worthy at all. Here resides the sea pirate, the religious
extremist of Tom’s question the non-religious owner of violence, the oppressor
extraordinaire. And all this distance in between. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">And all of us. In between.</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: large;">I present to you my belief that at
this end, we do pretty well, at least in thought if not always in action. We as a community have placed a theological
stake in the ground publicly that here we are clear in our belief that all
people have inherent worth and dignity.
We write it in our hymnal, we proudly display it on banners, we hold
posters in marches. We post it, tweet it and wear it. We seek to be in
solidarity, at times righteous solidarity with all. We take pride in our leadership in this area
and, importantly, we can often be found confronting our own learning in this
area that we may be as true to our claims as possible.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: large;">As we travel the
spectrum, our lived commitment to that ideal is as varied as our beliefs in the
divine. Like all humans we struggle with openness to ‘other’ and at times fall
short, individually and institutionally. I know I do.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: large;">But for the most part, much of this
distance, is active ground upon which we help each other along the journey,
calling out to learn more, stretch more, reach more. It’s almost as if the ground is shifting
under our feet but we’re okay with it because we know it’s shifting and at
various times we’re the ones with the rakes and shovels. Up to a point.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: large;">For me, that point used to be the sea pirate.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: large;">Almost a decade ago, when I faced the ministerial
credentialing body for entry into UU ministry, one of their questions was about
the sea pirate. I had written about him
in one of the many required reflections.
I said “I still struggle with the sea pirate. But I’ve reached a place
where I know I am called to see him as part of my world.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">Buddhism had brought
me to a place where I knew in head and heart that to claim membership of the
family human was to accept that our world is full of beauty and ugliness, moments
of compassion beyond words and hideous acts of hatred, saints and sea
pirates. <o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">Unitarian
Universalism had brought me up to know in my head that each person was gifted
by creation with inherent worth and dignity.
<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">As a child, youth
and young adult human nature and the privilege of a mostly protected life had allowed
and encouraged me to hide from dealing with the pirate at all.<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">The pathway deeper
into my faith required I no longer hide.<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: large;">In the
years prior to and following that meeting I sought conversation and counsel with my mentors in
life asking them the same question Tom asked of me. One was a beloved mentor from BUSTH who had
traveled to Palestine to meet with Yasar Arafat just prior to what became known
as the Passover bombings. With tears in my eyes I asked him “as a religious
leader, how do you make sense of evil in our world? And beyond that what do you do, as a man of faith and as a
leader?” In his response he challenged me to step into the experience and lve
the answers. He then went on to say perhaps it was time to call up some of his
peers (Jesse Jackson among them), get back on the plane, link arms and walk
through Jerusalem knowing some of them might not return. His picture, with
Arafat sits on my desk. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: large;">I spoke with another
mentor, a Unitarian Universalist minister, after the arrest of a paedophile who
was on staff at a YMCA where I coached swim.
I asked her ‘How do you minister
to those who have committed violence against another human being, especially a
child?” She told me that in each case,
she visualizes a heart wrapped around the person and it allows her to remain in
a place of love and compassion. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: large;">These just two of my many teachers
preparing me for the moment when I could, should and would meet the pirate. Each
of whom knew I would have to find my own way. Each holding me to the call to do
so. Each knowing that this is the <b><u>ONLY</u></b> pathway to our better
tomorrow and we all need to each other along the way.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: large;">And then it
happened. My sea pirate arrived here in
our sacred home. In 2008 a man who had been convicted of some hideous crimes
moved here to Marblehead. The neighbors were frightened and in their fear
behaved in some worrisome ways. The person who had rented to this man was
trying their best to help him relocate elsewhere. The situation was volatile. The
man had been here on a non-Sunday but spoken of attending Sunday service. Should
that happen, plans were in place to address safety concerns, particularly a way
to prevent any engagement with our young people. He would be welcomed, but
accompanied and following the service, invited into a covenant that would
openly identify safety concerns and require agreement about participation. Further,
we were in conversation about communications with our members and friends,
particularly parents.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: large;">Remember the
spectrum? I would place us well up at
this end, communally, as we navigated what it would mean to allow and, further welcome
this person into our community.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">We never needed to
activate those plans. Before Sunday arrived, he showed up here one afternoon, an
open bottle of vodka in a brown paper bag in hand, alcohol on his breath, tears
in his eyes, an angry edge to his voice.
He was in crisis. Standing in this hallway, he shared publicly that he
had been on the wagon for some years but because of the situation, the leaflets
in the neighborhood, the newspaper reports, the hatred expressed directly at
him, he had succumbed. Without a whole lot of thought, I welcomed him
into my office to talk. </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">(I’ve already had the lectures about the wisdom or lack of
wisdom in doing so. One person who knows
situations like this well gave me a caring and stern tour of my office pointing
out each potential weapon along the way.
I don’t think she made it all the way to the deer antlers because she
caught my attention with the fire poker on the hearth and the scissors on the
desk.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: large;">There we were. I had a simple goal-that this man not leave
to go home to a volatile situation with the alcohol. I believed that the opportunity
existed for this one day could have a better outcome than seemed written on the
wall, should the liquor leave with him. I won’t share the details of our
conversation. Just as I won’t disclose any others held in the confidence of
that office and this vocation. I will
only share that when he left, it was without the bottle. And I have come to appreciate his willingness
to be in that conversation with me – and to call him teacher<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: large;">In the context of today’s message,
however, what I want to share is the ‘thing’ that allowed me to be in the
conversation at all. My teachers were
correct. I would find my own way. Wise
or not, this conversation was made possible by one belief. <b>The
belief that we are all gifted with a preciousness at our birth. And that we don’t become sea pirates by
accident. Something happens to us at the
hands, heads and damaged hearts of others who at some point had something
happen to them at the hands, heads and damaged hearts of others who at some
point had something happen to them ………..but in the beginning each of us is so
very precious. </b>So, when I looked at
this man, with tears in his eyes, my phone in one hand ready to speed dial 911,
and nearly doing so twice, I saw a precious child too. A precious child failed somehow by us. And that made all the difference.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: large;">What for me was most
remarkable about that moment, in terms of my own journey, is how unremarkable
it felt and yet how it altered me permanently.
It was one of those ‘once arrived, forever there’ moments in time. In the same way that once you begin to
understand white privilege and racist systems in our country, you see it
everywhere. Or how binary our society is
when it comes to gender. Once I was able to see this man, who had committed
hideous acts, as fully human and a child we had failed, I could be in
relationship with him as fully human rather than demonic other, evil doer,
enemy to the mother in me.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">My heart having been cracked open
once, it seems to have remained so in a way I could not have predicted. While watching some piece of the coverage of
the marathon bombings, my mind went to this question. Has Dzhokhar Tsarnaev</span>, the young man
arrested for the marathon blasts, been provided access to a chaplain? And what
followed was the knowledge that were I there, it could be me and that would be
fine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: large;">That is my personal testimony,
that to see the preciousness each of us received as a child and to know that
our world has somehow failed the person who lands in evil acts – or the people
who land in evil acts, is how I reconcile the call to see the inherent worth
and dignity of every human being. But to
your fine question, Tom Fowler, I add another. Why care at all? It’s a natural
question for we of the always questioning faith.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">One of my favorite lines in the Bible
comes from Micah chapter 6, verse 8. “He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?</span>” Most of you know I’m not a theist but I am a
believer. A believer in making meaning of
our lives, finding the timeless messages in the world’s sacred texts and using
them to find and fuel our power - for
good. This line in Micah has always
spoken to me because of its simplicity – be kind, travel humbly, do justice (or
in some translations love mercy). And I love it because I see it as that piece
of divine messaging written upon our souls.
That this is our great collective calling, invoked and inspired by many
names and none at all. That we have the obligation
and power to make good with each moment of our lives. It is a stunning power and this spectrum is
the path upon which we are called to use it.
We have the power to add kindness, compassion and a wish to understand
another human being into the atmosphere each time we relate to another OR we
can offer our bodies tight with anger, hatred, and a coldness that signals we
are shut down to the possibility that the person before us has worth and
dignity. And I’m not just talking about the
sea pirate –the doer of horrific deeds.
No, I’m talking the whole spectrum here.
Strangers and those closest to us.
Our partners, neighbors, children, fellow congregants, friends ---
ourselves.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: large;">Our faith, Tom
Fowler and all who will hear, calls us to understand that we are all of the
people, from saint to sea pirate, and that we the people have the collective power
to make things better. But it can only
be in relationship with one another. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"><span style="font-size: large;">May we embrace our power to make it so.</span><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
Rev. Wendy von Zirpolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07868999424016745518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-867942253931809890.post-11315699110954720392013-04-25T21:58:00.002-07:002013-04-25T22:00:05.293-07:00"In the grace of the world ..." - Wendell Berry<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtMf8OfvlmMISmfC8sArl9OGRMdY38fnEXa-yfzxMwMB_VPt-6f9rY_7UlSxpwOHtj5kgYCfb_cZgf4vFR0ZkjlNHFI655hDXAcol2coWjHhuWLesEau8a9HY_vhUsCeSdQnZF_BugkkiH/s1600/IMG_1161.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtMf8OfvlmMISmfC8sArl9OGRMdY38fnEXa-yfzxMwMB_VPt-6f9rY_7UlSxpwOHtj5kgYCfb_cZgf4vFR0ZkjlNHFI655hDXAcol2coWjHhuWLesEau8a9HY_vhUsCeSdQnZF_BugkkiH/s1600/IMG_1161.JPG" height="214" width="320" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">I rest in</span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
When despair grows
in me</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
and I wake in the
middle of the night at the least sound<br />
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
I go and lie down
where the wood drake<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
rests in his
beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
I come into the
peace of wild things<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
who do not tax
their lives with forethought<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
of grief. I come
into the presence of still water.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
And I feel above
me the day-blind stars<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
waiting for their
light. For a time<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
~ by Wendell
Berry<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;"> the grace </span></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWYzDZryMRdeH5Pl3HY9hWh6hRxVnhp0neeBidqwM2G0rN7mLH4BFop-kQfKdACQ_t_V821qWjGHUKYyytw4IPNsZfFtuBgoWPNvgSXA7zmrzEUp2BGquOzjg8kVk6GoFZ5oh8EZCIuElE/s1600/IMG_1207.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWYzDZryMRdeH5Pl3HY9hWh6hRxVnhp0neeBidqwM2G0rN7mLH4BFop-kQfKdACQ_t_V821qWjGHUKYyytw4IPNsZfFtuBgoWPNvgSXA7zmrzEUp2BGquOzjg8kVk6GoFZ5oh8EZCIuElE/s1600/IMG_1207.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">of the world</span></span><br />
<div align="center">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Someone asked today "How do we make sense of violence in the world and how do we understand what makes a person cause such harm?" My head had many words to share, though not any answers. My body, however, knows just what to do and seems to deliver me without thought to finding beauty, if even only for a moment. Living near a beautiful beach is indeed a privilege and often I escape for a walk letting my body get its fill of fresh air in my lungs, sunshine or misty rain on my face and beauty all around. None of it changes the world, but it changes me in ways that make me strong once more to face the questions that defy answers and strong once more to face a world desperate for more bodies, minds and souls rooted in beauty and balance. May all beings have access to rest in the grace of the world and knowing so many do not, may those of us who do have access, drink deeply and remember not to rest too long and then get busy.</span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF93wWUTKV2ilBGQhFLDKzUtXPZa_gkkELKKQg7Pp6NtGkckcsrR7VRaNJiEXNpn54-qaLwFfmlqEnS7Bz4EqEA-YA-K2MSlTwWBEZACeMYKasOLZfNWZ-nUuJiwH6mtP5t2QlYoqRtjDG/s1600/IMG_1133.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF93wWUTKV2ilBGQhFLDKzUtXPZa_gkkELKKQg7Pp6NtGkckcsrR7VRaNJiEXNpn54-qaLwFfmlqEnS7Bz4EqEA-YA-K2MSlTwWBEZACeMYKasOLZfNWZ-nUuJiwH6mtP5t2QlYoqRtjDG/s1600/IMG_1133.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">, and am free.</span></span>Rev. Wendy von Zirpolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07868999424016745518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-867942253931809890.post-11192890370205182642013-04-23T13:27:00.006-07:002013-04-23T13:27:56.397-07:00These times are strange for everyone, I think, but in different ways. For many the events of last week seem unreal and the
reverberations from the blasts continue, catching us in ways we could not have
imagined. Hearing the words “going out
for a run” from a daughter, a friend asking if you want to “head into town for
some shopping,” or lacing up your own sneakers, heading out for a walk or a run
along the beach. I had one of those
moments today as I sat outside of the Haverhill High School pool finishing my
coffee before heading in to teach swim.
It’s a parking lot I know so well.
For several years I pulled in there with my car full of my own children
all ready to compete in swim meets, the car full of donations for the bake sale
and the building about to be swarming with swimmers aged 6 to 18, coaches,
officials, volunteers and families and friends eager to cheer them on. Now, I arrive 2 weekdays to teach swim and
some Saturdays to coach, and occasionally to walk the track. At times the parking lot is full, especially
in good weather as athletes and families head over to the adjacent track and
fields with lacrosse sticks, soccer balls or just eager smiles. This morning as I sipped my coffee I thought “wow
– what if it happened here?” My mind stopped imagining the scene as fast as I
could. My own imaginings making me
shudder. Strange start to an ordinary
day.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i> These times are strange for everyone, I think, but in
different ways. Strange for those of us
for whom violence is such an anomaly – at least in terms of what we see and
experience first-hand each day. Strange
too for those who watch on and say “Do you finally get it? This IS what life is like for us, all the
time?” And those who say “Why all the attention and resources on this slice of
violence? Is it the color of the faces
of most of those injured? It cannot be that it’s because it’s in Boston,
because our children were lost here too. They weren’t running a marathon
though. They were walking home from
school.”</i></b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And strange as well for those who wonder “Did we fail this
young man somehow?” This is the question that some will keep inside for fear of
seeming unsympathetic to the victims or worse, traitors. And it is a question that lived with me this
weekend as I felt my heart fill with hope watching our youth sharing themselves
with brand new faces at the Springfield UU Congregation, working together with
those youth to improve a stretch of waterfront, leaning in to conversations
with people fishing for dinner along the river, competing with heart and soul
in a sing-off around a campfire and offering their reflections to a weekend of
bonding and service. On my late-night
drive back to a city just beginning to express a sigh of relief I wondered “Where
were we with this young man? The young man who shot up a school room in
Connecticut? And others? “ Maybe we were
with him and it just didn’t matter. Or,
maybe not. We can’t know all the
answers. <b><i>But I pray we don’t let
vengeance or fear of not seeming ‘caring’ or ‘patriotic’ enough get in the way
of asking the questions and seeking answers that may well lead to a safer and
more just tomorrow ~</i></b><o:p></o:p></div>
Rev. Wendy von Zirpolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07868999424016745518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-867942253931809890.post-55033613445601011972013-04-18T05:49:00.001-07:002013-04-18T05:54:55.407-07:00Cannot bring back lives but can learn to tweet ~ <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUQjVaxX8XTvctFltrLn22GMryr5TRQct0gPxfwLpDghTQqwM7yVTpvvgNd_-2bswgc9QDZrRcXhRSWD2ZfeK-s1wd_MxgJRPxmyWMqUeVf4hK1TEN4WXVt5uyes6Pw2z46y5yI5E7HoxB/s1600/twitter+icon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUQjVaxX8XTvctFltrLn22GMryr5TRQct0gPxfwLpDghTQqwM7yVTpvvgNd_-2bswgc9QDZrRcXhRSWD2ZfeK-s1wd_MxgJRPxmyWMqUeVf4hK1TEN4WXVt5uyes6Pw2z46y5yI5E7HoxB/s1600/twitter+icon.jpg" /></a></div>
A longer post later but right now I'd like to share a call to action for those using Twitter and a nudge to those who aren't yet using it but would if suddenly a reason compelled them to try (just go to twitter.com and follow directions to establish an account).<a href="https://twitter.com/">https://twitter.com/</a><br />
<br />
HuffingtonPost was good enough to post a list of all of the Twitter Handles (account names that you can write to) of the US Senators who voted against the background check gun control measure. If, like me, you are any of the following: displeased, outraged, disappointed, beyond words, angry, sad, frightened, ticked off by fear and/or greed based voting, etc... you might wish to directly tweet each of the following addresses and share your reaction:<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">@SenAlexander,</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">@KellyAyotte,@SenJohnBarrasso,</span><wbr style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"></wbr><span class="word_break" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; display: inline-block; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">@MaxBaucus,@SenatorBegich,@Roy</span><wbr style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"></wbr><span class="word_break" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; display: inline-block; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Blunt</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; display: inline; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">, @JohnBoozeman,@SenatorBur,@Sax<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break" style="display: inline-block;"></span>byChambliss,@SenDanCoats,@TomC<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break" style="display: inline-block;"></span>oburn,<br />@SenThadCochran,@SenBobCorker,<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break" style="display: inline-block;"></span>@JohnCornyn,@MikeCrapo,@SenTed<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break" style="display: inline-block;"></span>Cruz,<br />@SenatorEnzi,@SenatorFischer,@<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break" style="display: inline-block;"></span>JeffFlake,@GrahamBlog,@ChuckGr<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break" style="display: inline-block;"></span>assley,<br />@SenOrrinHatch,@SenatorHeitkam<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break" style="display: inline-block;"></span>p,@SenDeanHeller,@SenJohnHoeve<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break" style="display: inline-block;"></span>n,@jiminhofe,<br />@SenatorIsakson,@Mike_Johanns,<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break" style="display: inline-block;"></span>@SenRonJohnson,@SenMikeLee,@Mc<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break" style="display: inline-block;"></span>ConnellPress,@JerryMoran,@lisa<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break" style="display: inline-block;"></span>murkowski,@SenRandPaul,@robpor<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break" style="display: inline-block;"></span>tman,@SenMarkPryor,<br />@SenatorRisch,@SenPatRoberts,@<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break" style="display: inline-block;"></span>marcorubio@SenatorTimScott,@Se<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break" style="display: inline-block;"></span>natorSessions,<br />@SenShelbyPress,@SenJohnThune,<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break" style="display: inline-block;"></span>@DavidVitter,@SenatorWicker</span><br />
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; display: inline; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #37404e; font-family: lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">We cannot bring back any of the lives lost to gun violence in our country but we can impact tomorrow and the next day and the next ~ </span></span><br />
Rev. Wendy von Zirpolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07868999424016745518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-867942253931809890.post-52120072685763717022013-04-17T12:25:00.002-07:002013-04-17T12:25:45.391-07:00Unitarian Universalist Congregation Offers Service of Sadness, Solace and Solidarity<br />
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1366168368843_105530" style="font-family: tahoma, 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1366168368843_105529" style="font-family: tahoma, 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1366168368843_105493" style="font-family: tahoma, 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
I have never been more grateful for the power of social media. As the tragic events of Monday unfolded, we needed a way to determine who might have been injured by the marathon bombings. We always have people participating. One member is always at the finish line outside of Marathon Sports, others either participate or spectate and many work in Boston. It's such a close and caring community, I knew we needed a way to connect and keep each other informed. THANK YOU facebook, mass emailing and texting! Within minutes notices of safety were shared and sighs of relief spread throughout the congregation. </div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1366168368843_105493" style="font-family: tahoma, 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
Like everyone else, we're still dealing with the grief, the shock and the urge to make meaning in a time when that isn't likely possible. What we can do is come together and make a space for people to express their grief and shock, light candles of sadness and hope be with one another as we try to move forward. </div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1366168368843_105493" style="font-family: tahoma, 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="font-size: 16px;"> None of us have answers to the 'why' this happens or the 'how' we can protect ourselves but we know how to make space to companion one another. Now is the time to do just that, and then more forward asking 'when' will we take violence in all of its many forms seriously. Now is the time to live the answer and we can only do that in solidarity with all those impacted by acts of violence.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px;">**The UU Congregation of Marblehead has postponed plans to celebrate Earth Day and instead will hold a service of holding sadness, sharing solace & expressing solidarity. All are welcome. Children will be invited to participate in an activity outside of the worship space following a story for all ages. Consider joining us.</span><span style="font-size: 16px;"> The service will be Sunday at 10:30 am and child care is provided.</span></div>
Rev. Wendy von Zirpolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07868999424016745518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-867942253931809890.post-32286723449820212472013-03-10T03:41:00.004-07:002013-03-10T03:41:42.809-07:00The Family Human ~ Courageous Connections <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
We need to be open to creating family at every turn, naming
it for what it is, even, perhaps especially, when it includes
imperfection. For when we are claimed as
family at our worst, we know true love, accountability and hope. Far stronger the bond which calls us to hold
one of our family when they have fallen away from their best self. Far more courageous the hand held out to say ‘no
– that’s not okay, come and sit with me for a bit’ than the one that only
reaches out to skip along together in joy. And even more courageous to be the hand and heart that allows itself to be taken. Choosing to connect with others in the family human at every turn is our
certain pathway forward to a better tomorrow.<o:p></o:p></div>
Rev. Wendy von Zirpolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07868999424016745518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-867942253931809890.post-55893950606202231002013-03-06T14:56:00.002-08:002013-03-06T14:56:45.257-08:00Winning ~ <br />
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<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">Winning<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">is no longer<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">measured in my mind<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">Not attached to finish lines<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">stopwatches<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">money <o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">or votes<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">Winning<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">resides now<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">deep in my soul<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">Measured by my heart<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">In smiles<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">justice<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">and peace</span></i></b><o:p></o:p></div>
Rev. Wendy von Zirpolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07868999424016745518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-867942253931809890.post-90176707131306237082013-03-03T18:40:00.003-08:002013-03-03T18:40:49.660-08:00Radical Generosity ~ Freedom, Joy & Power<br />
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“<b><i>Rick Ruzzamenti admits to being a tad
impulsive. He traded his Catholicism for Buddhism in a revelatory flash. He
married a Vietnamese woman he had only just met. And then a year ago, he
decided in an instant to donate his left kidney to a stranger</i></b>.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
These words open a story in the
NYTimes article (Feb 2012) by Kevin Sack published just over a year ago. As
someone committed to a path of increased generosity it grabbed my
attention. It seemed, well --- radically
generous! While the radical generosity
of this one man, Rick Ruzzamenti, drew me in, the resulting story of 59 others
is what continues to hold me, these many months later. And, affirms a commitment to living a life of
generous, and I hope at times, radical generosity.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<b><i>The story goes something like this --- in Feb 2011, Rick is moved by a
story the desk clerk at his yoga studio tells him. She had bumped into a friend at Target who
needed a kidney and this woman decided to donate one of her own. Rick, who was not even a blood donor, called
the local hospital and offered to donate one of his. Meanwhile, a fellow named Donald needed one
but was 5 years down on the donor list and in increasingly poor shape. His outlook looked grim. Until, suddenly a kidney appeared. It wasn’t Rick’s but it was at the end of a
chain of 30 kidneys, all connected like dominos, with Rick’s being the one that
tipped the whole chain into motion. That
decision of his was the final link in connecting 30 donors with 30 people in
dire need. His expectation of nothing in
return fueled an engine that was then able to invite those willing to donate a
kidney to a loved one, but who were not matches for that loved one, to donate
one to a chain that would eventually result in a donation back to their loved
one. Rick became the final link in Chain
124. A chain that would involve 17
hospitals in 11 states. A chain that was
the brainchild of a Long Island man named Garet Hil who founded this particular
way of paying generosity forward because of his own daughter’s illness.<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
This was no easy task as many of
the recipients had systems challenging to match with any donor. Once complete the chain included: children
donating for parents, parents for children, husbands for wives, sisters for
brothers, distant relatives, sibling
donors, far-removed nephews, in-laws and Rick Ruzzamenti. Ultimately, his kidney traveled on a red-eye
from LA to NJ where it landed in a 66-year old man. That man’s niece’s kidney
traveled to Madison, WI to Brooke Kitman, whose former boyfriend, despite a difficult
split, agreed to send his along to Pittsburgh to Janna Daniels, where her
husband’s kidney then traveled to San Diego where Mustafa Parks, a young father
of two eagerly awaited.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<b><i>All the while, the risk each
person took was that the next piece of the chain would renege.<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
“One woman, Rebecca Clark had a
little over two months in between her husband receiving his donor kidney and
her needing to donate hers to the next person.
In the NYT article she reported that although it occurred to her she
could back out, she chose to keep the commitment, stating “I believe in karma,
and that would have been some really bad karma. There was somebody out there
who needed my kidney.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><i> An interesting piece of this
story is Rick Ruzzamenti himself. You
might be picturing a man so obviously generous in spirit that nobody would be
surprised by his decision. Not so! Through his own admissions we come to learn
he could be surly, had himself been a heavy drinker and carouser in his earlier
years, was known as an unsmiling presence at work and himself confessed that he
did not visit his parents or grandmother enough. But, here he was, willing to donate <u>a
piece of his body</u> knowing it would help countless others, with no
expectation of anything in return, and quite explicitly NOT seeking accolades
or attention. His motivation? “It
causes a shift in the world,” he said.<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
A shift indeed. At least 59 other people and their families
and friends and colleagues and hospital staff and neighbors and fellow
congregants and circles upon circles of
communities not yet known back then would surely agree.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<b><i>And another compelling voice in
the world of generosity would agree too. Nipun Mehta, founder of KarmaTube did a Ted
Talk about what he understands to be the three stages of generosity - giving,
receiving and dancing. He too speaks of
the importance of giving with no expectation of anything in return. Research shows, he says that we are
predisposed to give. But then
acknowledging what it is we do receive -
not in return for giving. As a matter of
fact he suggests that we toss out this idea of giving and receiving as
measurable transactions. That expecting
‘things’ in return for our gifts limits us to experiencing value in other,
important ways. He suggests that we open ourselves up to
receiving multiple gifts from the ripples of impact, gifts of connection, synergy,
trust and an internal stillness that is personally transformational – all as a
result of following a practice of giving.
<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
The third stage is what happens
when entire communities commit to living generosity. When we do this, we let go of expectations of
outcomes, stop keeping track of what we get for what we give, expand our giving
and have faith in the power of that giving.
And we begin to dance. To dance!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<b><i>Mehta offered the example of the
Karma Kitchens ..This is a pretty amazing program in which kitchens are taken
over either weekly or monthly, run by volunteers who at the end of the meal
present you with a bill that says you owe $0, because the people who ate before
you, picked up the check. They paid it
forward! This experiment in generosity
was started in 2007 and now claims service of over 34,000 meals. They say they cook and serve meals with love
and offer them as a gift with nothing expected in return. They then invite diners to pay for the next
meals going forward. They are seeking
to seed generosity in the world and so far doing a pretty great job.<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
In a world in which we clutch on
to all we have and parse it out reluctantly, it’s not always easy for people to
accept such generosity, let alone understand it. Take for example, the day a Berkley fellow,
with a PHD in Computer Science was volunteering. He had had the volunteer training. He was ready!
He served his meals with love.
But, when he handed the bill to one of the diners. The man said ‘So, how does this work? You just trust me to pay a right amount?’ The volunteer waiter replied “Yes, you’re
part of this wonderful chain now. ” The
diner pulled out a $100, gave it to him and said “Well, I trust you to give me back
whatever change is right!” The poor volunteer went into the kitchen shaking his
head and thinking THIS was not part of the volunteer orientation. But then he settled himself a bit and
grounded himself in the purpose of the program – in generosity. He went back, handed the diner his original
$100 and then took another $20 out of his pocket and handed that to him too! And the diner was completely blown away. And because he was blown away, the volunteer was
blown away too and the ripples began and everyone was energized! I bet that story is still being told by
everyone involved and by the many more that have heard it since and because I
am telling it to you today, I bet some of you will repeat it as well! Now --- you could look at this transactional-ly
--- what was the cost of the food, where do they make they up, etc. Or you could look at the dance that followed
and how a whole different sort of value was created! A new dimension of value. One where hearts
and souls connected, minds were set free from a need to keep what is ours, to
evaluate the worth of giving from a place of ONLY giving when we know what we
will get and we deem what we will get worth it! Imagine! Ripples of kindness and generosity
set loose without expectation and without limits. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<b><i>I know that my own journey toward
a life of greater generosity had taken me to that place. And that dance is one of freedom, joy and
power. The minute I let go of judgment
about who is worthy or not of $1 or $2 when I see people begging on the street,
entire stores of thought and emotion were released from my mind. I was free.
With each load of clothing and other goods I give away, even thinking I
‘might’ use them one day, I become freer.
And all that freedom leads to joy in knowing today, another person has
good boots to keep feet dry or better pans with which to cook or a third pair
of socks because I don’t need more than 10 pair and have many more. And with each financial donation I am freed
and joyful and feel surges of power knowing my dollars are aligned with my
values and put into play with other dollars for good and that dance, done with
others, doesn’t keep me gazing upon my giving, evaluating, counting or seeking
accolades. Instead, it leaves me looking
for more ways to give. And so I joyfully
make my coffee at home, have mostly switched to frozen blueberries offseason,
and have downsized holiday gift giving considerably. I’ve been known to give stacks of $1 bills to
my children along with a note about giving, because I want them to live lives
of joy too. <o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Mehta closed with these words
“You give, receive and dance. When you
give you find that compassion is contagious and you start to create
community. When you receive, and really learn to receive, you start to discover abundance and when you
Dance , not only to you create micro-gift economies but we start to seed a gift
culture.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<b><i>And so, for your imagination I
ask: What would it be if here we chose
to give far more than we imagined we could?
What would it be like if we chose to split our Sunday plate every week
rather than do second offerings from time to time? What would it be like if we chose to give it
away every week? If every week someone
presented information about the organization that this week would benefit from
our offerings? Certainly the
organizations to which we gave would change, transactional-ly. They would be able to purchase more food,
support more families, shelter more animals, build more homes, and so on. But ponder this: How would we change? Would we then become the sowers of seeds to a
new culture of generosity, deeper and more giving than ever before? And what would the ripples of effects look
like in our lives? Like the diner, newly
opened to a radical experience of generosity, who might we impact if we chose
to live our faith in this manner.
Shedding all we have, each day of our lives. We are so very generous, here in this congregation. So very generous. Yet, we can do more. We’ll have to reach deeper into our pockets
and perhaps reach deeper into our souls.
But we are on the journey and I have faith that we’re worthy of such
lofty goals. I actually believe it’s
what we want. To be called to lives of
radical generosity and to belong to the place that calls us there! To be free, dancing with joy and using our
considerable power ---- for the good of all! In the coming years I’d love to find out, here
with you on the journey ~ <o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
I close with a story Mehta told
at the start of his presentation. A
story he said took place on Christmas Day in Mexico. A father and son were sitting under a tree. As they sat there, a little boy who looked to
be quite poor was nearby. The father
turned to his son and said, son, give that boy one of your toys. The boy was a bit reluctant but saw that his
father was serious. He looked down at
the several toys he had with him. He
selected the one he played with least and began to head over to the little
boy. His father said ‘wait.’ Don’t give him that one, give him your
favorite. The boy unhappily agreed but went ahead and took his favorite toy and
went over to the little boy and gave it to him.
When he comes back his father thought he will have to explain to him the
importance of giving and appreciate his generosity. To his great surprise, his son returned with
an unexpected emotion on his face. The
lesson already learned. That emotion was
joy. His son, face gleaming looked up
and asked only one question. <b><i>“Dad” he said “that was amazing. Can I do it again?”<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
Rev. Wendy von Zirpolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07868999424016745518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-867942253931809890.post-62717344783486852892013-01-15T00:19:00.002-08:002013-01-15T00:19:58.745-08:00Nutrients for the Soul ~ Remembering, Knowing & Believing<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">A sermon informed by the teachings of Pema Chodron, the hymn “Come,
Come Whoever You Are” and the reading “The Call” by Oriah Mountain Dreamer<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Last week, informed by the work of Pema Chodron,
you were invited to accept yourself as you are, fully. To leave behind ‘if only’s’ “if only I were
smarter, thinner, had more money, thicker hair, longer eyelashes, a better job,
more patience, more talent, whatever….’
Leave these behind and accept the simple fact that each of us is exactly
who we are in this moment. We have been
shaped by our lives. If we have lived
through difficult and unfair times, those have shaped us in some manner. If we have lived through glorious and
fulfilling times, those have shaped us as well.
Each act of kindness has left a mark.
Each act of cruelty too. We
arrived with our own unique hard wiring and followed unique pathways. We are a work in progress. How long?
For exactly the number of years, days and minutes we existed as a piece
of creation. <o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Last week’s invitation was to accept our bodies
and minds exactly as they are today, including getting rid of all the other voices
and influences that stand so vocally in judgment. Out with the advertisements calling us to be
thinner, taller, blonder, shinier, more petite, more muscular, better dressed,
better mated, better equipped, better accessorized, better anything! Out with those voices! Out too with those voices around us, letting
us know in sometimes not too subtle ways exactly what we can do to fix
ourselves. ---- OUT with those voices
too. And then the hardest task –
banishing our own judgmental voice.
Whether we harbor a self-loathing voice or a gentler yet critical voice
that causes shame or simply wishing ‘if only …..’ friends, OUT with that voice
too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">What remains is this one simple truth. This is who we are. The pieces people love about us. They’re
here. The pieces people don’t love about
us, they’re here too. The same piece of
me that allows me to respond quickly to crisis is somehow tied to the piece
that doesn’t like filing systems at all.
The piece of me that allows me to feel compassion and help a family
journey through pain, it’s likely tied to the piece of me that at times is too
tender. And the piece of me that allows
me to leap out of an airplane and will likely take me scuba-diving with sharks,
I bet that is somehow wired to the piece of me that makes me a little dangerous
with power tools and not unfamiliar with emergency rooms. It is not our work today to fix a single
piece of it or to wish it away. <o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> Pema
Chodron called us to accept ourselves, as fully ourselves and instead of trying
to fix any piece, to step into better relationship, loving relationship with
those pieces we feel least fond of or perhaps even fear. To step in with curiosity. For me, that practice has turned into one of
asking “Who am I in this moment? “ By
asking honestly and with real curiosity, pieces of ourselves are revealed to
ourselves, free of any other voice saying who we should be. If I’m frustrated with being left on hold yet
again trying to get an answer from my phone service, but ask myself “Who am I
in this moment?” my answer may well be
“I’m the person who already spent 20 minutes getting shuffled around and
getting more frustrated by the minute.”
Or what I’ve noticed having followed this practice for some time now, calmness
arrives in the asking of the question alone and I reply “Ahhh. I’m the person who values taking care of an
error on her bill and who really understands that the people trying to help me
didn’t create the error.” This doesn’t
always happen, but I’ve noticed it is more and more the case. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">This practice can result in change. It’s through watching with curiosity ‘Who’
we are in our lives that we can best discern how we might wish to grow. It doesn’t require a single outside voice or
self help book------ which is different than saying you need not consult with
your mate or family or employer before you act on important things or seek
professional assistance when needed or ever read a self-help book. This is different. It’s about getting to that quiet place – even
if you don’t meditate. That place that
is quiet because no other voice remains but your own. That place where you can learn all you want
about humanness because you are the expert on this one human being – this one
wonderful human being – you! Don’t go
there with trash bags to clean up, go there with a chair, a cup of tea and a
loving heart. Go sit, sip and learn –
about you.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">A small piece from last week’s Pema Chodron reading "Our brilliance, our juiciness, our
spiciness, is all mixed up with our craziness and our confusion, and therefore,
it doesn’t do any good to try to get rid of our so-called negative aspects,
because in that process we also get rid of our basic wonderfulness. We can lead
our life so as to become more awake to who we are and what we are doing rather
than trying to improve or change or get rid of who we are or what we are
doing."<span class="apple-converted-space"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-converted-space"><b><i><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Now
that we’ve been reconnected with the start of our soul cleanse from last week and
introduced to newcomers to the cleanse, it’s time to add some nutrients. Here we are with the noise cleared out ---
out harsh toxins, out! But the world of
noise waits just beyond those doors.
It’s always there. Like ….. well pick any piece of commercialism you
disdain – a jingle, an advertisement series, perhaps it’s sports, or politics,
or whatever it is and just picture it waiting at the door. Waiting to leap upon you and take over once more. Like a large monster. We live in a world of
beauty, true, --- but also THAT. THAT which shall consume us, if we let
it. THAT which waits eager to suck our
souls dry. To inhabit them, take up all
the space and drive our lives.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">So we need to make
sure we have things in place to block THAT.
We need to make sure our souls have life affirming energies that reside
there, not just visit or fight to get in.
So THAT won’t be able to get in.
When I teach my swim students to go underwater without holding their
noses, I tell them it’s simple, just blow air out. If air is coming out your nose, water cannot
get in. We want it to be the same with
our souls. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-converted-space"><b><i><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">And,
just as in the case with my swimmers, it takes practice. And some days you forget and it hurts! Actually, it burns! No theological meaning intended!<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">But, challenge as it turns out…. Good for the soul!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I suggest we need only three things to keep our
soul nourished, healthy and full. From
the reading Hazel offered us, Oriah tells us to listen to that voice you’ve
heard all of your life. Not from others
or THAT but from within and from creation.
She writes <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“</span></i></b><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 12pt;">Remember what you are and let this
knowing </span></i></b><b><i><span style="color: #454545; font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 12pt;">take you home to the Beloved with
every breath”<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">And
so, our first nutrient for the soul ----------- <u>Remembering</u><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Oriah’s
words again <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“</span></i></b><b><i><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 12pt;">Hold tenderly who you are and let a
deeper knowing </span></i></b><b><i><span style="color: #454545; font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 12pt;">colour the shape of your
humanness.” </span></i></b><b><i><span style="color: #454545; font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 12pt;">Our second nutrient --- <u>Knowing</u>. Knowing you </span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">are enough, just as you are. And you are beautiful.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">One
final nutrient - “<u>Believing</u>.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Believing
you have something of yourself to offer the world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Oriah
writes<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 12pt;"> “Be one word in this great love poem we are
writing together.” <o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Essential nutrients for
the soul --- Remembering you are part of creation and you belong here. Knowing you are enough just as you are and
you are beautiful. And Believing, the
world needs your unique self. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 12pt;">This work of the soul goes on and
on. Do not be dissuaded when you find
yourself astray. Look around. You’ll see me there! Hold dear the teachings of Pema Chodron. Refrain from chastising yourself for
digressions or even moments of being far from
your best self. Instead pay
attention to you in that moment. Look
with curiosity at who you are right then and there. Ask “Who am I in this moment?” <o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 12pt;">Remember Rumi – “Come, come,
whoever you are. Wanderer, worshipper, lover of leaving…” Even if you have strayed, says he, come back,
“come yet, again come.” The less
frequently sung words of his prose “Though you’ve broken your vows a thousand
times.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 12pt;">Just as we must tend our bodies
differently, and at times, diligently as we move through life. So, too our souls. We’ll never be done with either. What we need for food, as a babe in our
mothers arms is different than what we need for food as we first start to learn
to read and write and different than when we race down a field in our teens or
deal with growth spurts or changing hormones and different than what we need for
food if we are pregnant or nursing mothers ourselves and different than what we
need for food as our lives slow or we face illness of limb or organ. And different still from the food we will
choose as we enter our final days of living.
<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 12pt;">Our bodies need nourishment. It is the same for our souls. When we are born our souls need to feel love
& are fed by caring connections teaching us that we belong. They need to be welcomed into the world with
soft hands and warm chests. As we grow our souls need the freedom to feed
curiosity and to experience the world.
To take in all creation has to offer and experience it as home. The mountains, the oceans, wildflowers and
deer. Leaping, singing, laughing and
sobbing. And then our souls need more
--- they need to learn empathy, by us caring for others close to us and then
deep accountability through caring for others outside of who we can see and touch. Until we learn them as family too. And then as we move through life encountering
grief and loss and pain, our souls need for us to open and reopen pathways to
our core and for us to have the courage to risk trusting our souls to the touch
of others – lovers, family, friends, strangers.
And as with the Rumi poem, return and return again, even when we’ve been
wounded and blocked those pathways. Our
souls wait, hoping for us to return to the task and open them once more. Hoping that all THAT waiting at the door won’t
invade. Hoping we will remember, we will
know and we will believe. And return
again to live the next moment fully alive and present to all creation – the
good, the less good, the furthest from good, the beautiful, the miraculous, the
ordinary. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 12pt;">May it be so ~</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
Rev. Wendy von Zirpolohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07868999424016745518noreply@blogger.com0