the story will save you

there are still people who believe that the marches are all and only about women...there are definitely people who believe the marches were about "trump haters"...so i know that there are people who still do not get what is actually happening to all of us.

one minute i'm hopeful that in speaking out, we may be heard...

the next minute i wonder if i have enough scotch to last the night...

then...somewhere in a quiet moment i'll remember this is nothing new throughout history...people speak and no one is listening. the people speaking are trying to include everyone but the people they're speaking for and to are not listening. couple thousand years ago there was this guy who didn't even have a residential address---all he did was walk from city to city and tell stories and talk to people and lead them to healing (the ones who would let him), who were listening. hey, it's like this people, you have the power to love each other and be there for one another no matter what. life is hard---help each other out. follow me... there is poverty and sickness and evil in the world but you have a better way...me...just be there, speak up, love each other. that's all he really said. and they crucified him.

i'm not saying any of us is the messiah or the sum of all who are speaking out are the messiah, i'm just saying a precedent was set long ago so that we can see that we're not the first to be mocked and misunderstood and marginalized. or worse.

just don't give up. one step at a time. be here. stand up. stand together. all of us now have a common threat, a common concern... keep telling the story...the story will save you. it will.

and here's the thing...they crucified him. but that is not the end of the story. there is life after death. there is. we are more than the suffering and affliction we endure. there is hope that following Life, there will be life...following Love there will be love... sometimes it's very hard to believe when you're suffering or losing or hated or misunderstood or bullied or abused or attacked or raped or ignored. believing is a better choice, though. choose life. choose love. the story will save you---this is not the end of the story.

080316 Awareness

This will come as a shock
so sit down.

You do not really matter
beyond the boundary of who you really are.

Not even the woman who gave birth to you
can love you
the way you need to be
consumed.

Consumed like a phoenix
to rise above the ashes of the futility
of everyone else’s dreams for you

and

where
where are you
clicking the heels that bring you
home
they’re your own
and those who love you
love you
but they cannot be the you
you need to be
to be better than
who you fear you are

this is not the time to be born
and not the time to be born again
when you feel
the need
to be in control of things you
can’t control

let go the fear

that’s all the control you really have

what you choose
to take hold of...
what you choose
to let go of...

palms up!
With gratitude
receive as gifts
all things that come
(even the scary, sticky, sad...)—
Only then will you recognize
what you need
who you are