Guest Poet today:

I am pleased to share with you today four poems by Marci Madary.

Marci is a wife, mother, co-minister of FSPA affiliation, fellow franciscan, Board Member President of NACAR in Wisconsin, friend and gifted poet.

Thank you Marci for sharing your talent here.

The Master Teacher
mm

Some life lessons come naturally,
having to with falling and hot stoves.

Others are taught through gentleness,
like compassion and sharing.

Still others have pitiless teachers
that keeps your face to the spinning blade.

This earth cycle I have known the master teacher and witnessed:

The acid bath dissolving layers
promotes honesty and
intensifies the hunger for truth.

The ripping of flesh from bone
nullifies facades and
encourages self-reflection.

The slow lick of red flames
smoothes rough edges and
shines the golden core.

And I have learned from the cruelty of the Mistress Carcinoma
that in the end,
love should not be under estimated
and few things really matter.

Like Johnny Cash
mm

The last thing
before I turn
from the beveled reflection
is to twist
the golden tube,
drawing up
shimmering scarlet.

With a half smile,
I glide it over
my lips,
then press them together,
spreading the pigment
to every edge.

Like Johnny Cash,
I wear red
for all the women
who can no longer
lift their chins
for a kiss from the sun.

Eight Millimeters of Marriage
mm

Eight-millimeter movie reels
of messy blond strands
and mis-matched attire.

He fell for her,
even though he didn’t know me then.

Days stuffed with
dirty clothes, piano lessons,
middle school plays and airplane trips to four-day meetings.

He brings home daisies and takes me shopping,
even though I never asked.

Worn hands, wise wrinkles,
Creaky knees and flyaway gray,
he laughs at the image.

He adores her,
even though I haven’t met her yet.

With tinted lenses
he sees
history and prophecy
accordioned into the Eternal Now.

Turning
mm

When I turn 80…
I will do what I want, when I want.
I will ignore others’ bad advice
or benevolent arrogance.

I will lick ice cream down through the cone
and play hooky with my great-grandchildren.
I will watercolor blossoms and blooms,
or whatever is stirring in me.
I will swing in stillness, entranced by the magic of
dancing trees and singing water.

I will be adorned with dangly earrings
and brilliant skirts that flirt with the wind.
My eyes twinkling, I will spin fantastic stories
and listen on the edge of my seat.

I will say what I think – appropriate or not,
unless unkind.
Then, I will sneak a smile onto
the corners of my mouth.

I will ache with riotous laughter
and apply exorbitant amounts of red
to my lips.
I will devour delicious novels
and wander at my own pace.

I will move to music
and drink deep, musky wine,
chain`eing through life…
…until I turn
into me.

God’s will, Resolve, Timeless..

a thought from my 2nd post on this blog is worth repeating today:

To empower others with love and light is God’s will. That stance of resolve, like a Buddha, is so powerful as to remain forever for us to witness, beyond the physical human life of the person. These kinds of stances are made everyday in small, large and sometimes in hidden ways. Thank Goodness for this reality.

Fair Trade, JPICC and POV-PBS

On my blogroll you’ll see a link–Heart of the Sky Fair Trade–it is the site of my good friend Melinda Van Slyke, who I just saw yesterday. She is a warrior for the greater good to be sure. We have known each other for 15 years now. There was a break in our knowing each other between graduation with our B.A. degrees to the time when we both decided to enter the Masters degree in Servant Leadership at Viterbo.

It was a funny reintroduction. At the orientation meeting Melinda noticed my name amongst the name tags on the table, “Chandra,” with a different last name, Sherin instead of Collins. She had missed my meeting Jeff and marrying him. She thought to herself, “Who is this Chandra Sherin? I wish it was Chandra Collins…” Soon after that I arrived at the meeting and we joyously met again. It brings a smile to my face. Well, I was a different person, as was she.

Now, after finishing our Master’s together, we continue in our own unique ways along the path for servant leadership. If you visit Melinda’s site, click on her ‘about us’ link, it will give you an idea of the great work she does both here in the U.S. and in Guatemala.

Speaking of fair trade, Melinda mentioned to me, she just met someone with an MBA who had never heard of Fair Trade! Business has many aspects, hopefully most MBA programs would discuss in depth the importance and at least the existence of fair trade.

What is exciting right now for me, is being a part of the Peace, Justice and Integration of Creation Committee (JPICC) with the FSPA (Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration). I mentioned in an earlier post about the FSPA’s amazing commitment to adoration. There is much about their community I could celebrate here with you, and may eventually. They are a group of women who are dedicated to being courageous and bold in their Franciscan commitment to right relationship with all life, to name just one aspect of their abilities. They are inspiring and an invaluable presence here.

So, I am grateful to be on the committee, to be working with their Director for the committee, Liz Deligio of the 8th Day Center in Chicago, and the other great people on the committee, it is a joy. For this year we are sharing stories of displacement in the world and offering it through the lens of conversion. To be sure, when we say conversion amongst ourselves, we are saying that we seek ongoing conversion as St. Francis did, for ourselves, in our own beings, not pushed outward. He was radical in his ability to open his heart and mind to God’s will in the moment, whether it was unpopular and painful to do so or not.

So, it is an ability, a desire to open our hearts to stories that are difficult to hear, but in hearing them, in sharing them, we are deepened, tenderized and then able to grow in understanding and love. That then leads us to ask questions and take action, offer support and establish new prayers. We are changed.

If you click on the FSPA link I have listed on the blogroll, enter the site and then click on ministry, ministry in faith and then social justice, you will find links to our committee and Liz Deligio’s Social Justice Tuesdays, among other things. Our first story of displacement is the story told about the Congo on PBS.org under “Lumo”. My link to HEALAfrica, is a link connected to that story.

When I sat down one night and turned on PBS, It was the POV series on, and that night it was the story of “Lumo” by Bent-Jorgen Perlmutt and Nelson Walker III pbs.org

I immediately wanted to shield myself from the violence and pain of the story they were offering. I reached to turn off the TV, but then I saw the faces of the women in the story, their light shone, and I couldn’t turn away. Now, having watched the documentary, I am so glad I did. I want to know what is happening. I want to be able to respond and send my prayers and support. It is better to know and have a choice to act, if possible, then to shield my heart from the pain and isolate myself from another being’s realities.

I had a conversion experience. The filmakers of “Lumo” are precious people, to do such an important film with such insight and sensitivity. I am grateful.

A Shift of Thought and Action

Wielding Habit and Temperance for the Common Good:

I recently watched the one hour documentary on PBS entitled “Buyer Be Fair”. In addition to the PBS website, there is also a site about the documentary and it’s mission at buyerbefair.org

It is an excellent view into the effects and value of supporting fair trade products/people. I would recommend it to anyone who needs more information on this subject.

“Habit” as defined in the Fourth Edition of Webster’s New World College Dictionary: 4a: “a thing done often and hence, usually, done easily;practice; custom” 4b: “a pattern of action that is acquired and has become so automatic that it is difficult to break. SYN.–habit refers to an act repeated so often by an individual that is has become automatic…”

Driving becomes habitual in the sense that we can go on automatic pilot to a certain degree and follow with a good measure of trust, the “maps” set in our brains for the area in which we live. So it is in navigating our surroundings at home and work. Some of us have mapping so sturdily carved in our neural pathways that we can walk blindfolded or in the dark in our home and find our way around without any trouble. What has been discovered about our brains, as I found in reading “Primal Leadership” by Daniel Goleman is that our brains do form strong pathways through our habits. And those pathways are changeable, but it takes a lot of effort and practice to do that. As is experienced by those who are addicted to any substance, or act, such as food, cigarettes, shopping, pop, etc.

Along with this information is the fact that we don’t make the efforts for that kind of brain pathway changes unless we believe it is necessary and right in all levels of our being. If 1 to 5% (not a scientific example) of us is not on board with the change in habit, sabotaging behavior will manifest and interfere with progress along the way.

My own experience with this is especially in regards to life decisions I strive to make in accordance with a sense of moral and conscientious behavior. I first learned about Factory Farms and the reality for chickens, cows, pigs and turkeys in a thoroughly mechanized and totally objectifying environment about 15 years ago. My experience of nature and all living beings, especially the animal kingdom has been a healing and loving experience. I see all animals as gift, beautiful and sentient. I respect a hunter who kills to eat. I respect an animal who kills only to eat. Beyond that I cannot respect killing just to kill, for sport or torture.

To object the holocaust conditions that animals in factory farms live in, I became a vegetarian and then a vegan. That lasted for about five years until I met my husband. His father and brothers were hunters, the kind I can respect and admire in their passion and responsibility for nature and it’s balance. So, I started eating meat again, because I could not alienate myself from a tribe of people I was marrying into who I respect and who I wanted to be a part of. That meant sitting at table in their home, eating their food. In the time that I had been vegan and I also didn’t eat refined sugar, I found many people not only alienated by my strict choices, but also some people who I found to be normally kind and compassionate became angry and mean about my personal food choices, especially regarding sugar, as a matter of fact. I realize that people attach comfort and leisure with their desserts, and there is also a minor addiction involved as well. I observed quietly and calmly all of the reactions as I went along.

When I broke all of my diet restrictions back in about 1999ish I found out a lot of things about myself. I like the taste of meat, as I always have, but more importantly, I felt there needs to be a middle ground in my actions, a bridge between what I believe and the people I love. Gradually, I found that I wanted to eat meat again, but I did not want to support McDonald’s or Kentucky Fried Chicken or other chain restaurants who hugely support factory farms and contribute greatly to enormous acts of cruelty towards living beings.

In the last five years I discovered that the shift of thought and action that had started in my heart and mind 15 years ago had finally reached all levels of my being in understanding…my body no longer enjoys digesting or eating chicken, cow, pig or turkey. Turkey was the last to go. I no longer worry about alienating others. I know that my actions are for a greater good and the shift has taken a long time for me, but I can thoroughly understand it now. I do not want to support factory farms who treat and define life as commodity, as objects. Some other folks can make a shift in a day, a week, for others like me, it has been a longer journey.

If the animals are left to remain in this way, there will be no logic that will keep humans from being objectified in the same way, as of course we are. If one life is made to seem as an object, then all others will follow. We desensitize by saying nuggets rather than pieces of chicken flesh, or hamburgers instead of ground up cow flesh. We do not kill the animals we eat, so we have lost that act of gratitude and reverence for a life given for our nourishment. Our meals are all fast and mechanized. I hope this important issue becomes a greater focus for all people. Factory farms are also responsible for a huge amount of pollution and waste of water and land.

When I mentioned “Buyer Be Fair” at the beginning of this post, I was thinking of a statement made in the documentary about “waking the sleeping giant”, who are American Consumers…

One of the most powerful skills we can develop as Americans is the ability to DISCERN. What an important word. Our discernment, looking at where we eat, who has labored to provide us with what we wear/eat/use and how, is indeed a key to our survival and the survival of all life on this little planet. In our discernment we can empower ourselves and those we are in relationship with through our consumption. I do not want to empower people who are looking at animals as only commodity, with no respect for life. I want to empower a poor person who is close to the land and the animals and wants to support a family and honor the land and living things.

So, it costs more and I don’t have enough money. You know what I do? I don’t drink pop. I don’t buy junk food, I don’t buy meat, etc. There are ways to choose what is right and still afford to live.

We best educate ourselves and each other in a compassionate and gentle way. I realize there are people who are not capable at this point in their being to stop eating meat. I can appreciate that. I would eat meat for survival reasons. I eat fish, though less and less considering the strain of non-sustainable fishing methods being used in the waters.

It is still reasonable to request that an omnivorous person evaluate where the meat they are eating is coming from and to make, gradually, more humane empowering choices in their consumption. Where are the cows, chickens, pigs, turkeys living, what is their quality of life? Do their “farmers” care about and value life? What impact is there on our environment, health, values through these practices?

I am known amongst my family and friends for continually re-arranging things in my home. I have always done this since I was quite young. It is a sense within me of how energy flows and changes and I keep up with it to keep things fresh and open. The biggest challenge with that lately has been in moving the garbage can. For some reason the path to the garbage is a strong, less flexible path in the brain. I have moved it 3 times in the last year and I have met it as a challenge to myself to not get so comfortable about the convenience of garbage (throw away/apathetic mentality). Every time I would walk to where the garbage used to be, I would say to myself, “Aha, there’s my automatic pilot, so easily ingrained in a habit.” Surely, there is nothing wrong with our automatic pilot, it is a fine adaptation, but inserting intelligent, thoughtful, responsible choices within that ability is also a valuable tool in the shifting of action and thought.

My challenges on this front at present are in : the garbage I produce, the plastics I use and the ways I approach cleaning(free of unnecessary chemicals–pollutants, carcinogens). When I read about the plastic vortex in the ocean I felt such a despair for the marine animals falling victim to this senseless garbage and the reality of it’s eventual return to our own bodies. My habits in using plastic bags and such are frivolously ingrained. I have bags I use for grocery shopping, but sometimes when shopping for other things, I look down and before I know it, I have plastic in my hands. On other fronts, I have successfully become a chemical free home, using natural ingredients for cleaning the house, floors, toilet, laundry. This shift came slow too, but the result is filling me with well being!

We are capable of such innovative, and compassionate action, surely we can advance morally beyond our present habits that have such destructive repercussions…..

Trying and making progress fills me with hope and the momentum of industriousness, the strength that comes with right action. May we all go forward more mindfully, shifting to a more hopeful and healing future and reality for all life. May it be so!

peace and gratitude,

C.S.S. Moonseeds

Remembering Ray

Happy Dia De Los Muertos!

A day to remember those who have died in a spirit of joy and love.

My husband’s father was an extraordinary person. He didn’t walk into a place, “he swaggered in like Moses” to quote someone who knew him. He had escaped death countless times in his life. He survived polio, an infection of his blood, being snagged on an electric fence and a puddle at the same time, the stories go on and on. His best known survival story was that of the Armistice Day storm in Winona Minnesota. It had been a mild and pleasant day. The storm took everyone by surprise, few were dressed for a blizzard. My mother in law remembers being a young girl at home that night, and her mother said, “Just think about that boy stuck out there in the storm tonight.” That boy who they kept in mind would someday be her husband of 55 years.

His dog kept him alive. And dogs would always be that close to him, all his days. His rescue was well publicized and his recovery took a long time. He lost part of his foot, but he survived. The children at school made fun of him with his crutches. He swung his crutches at them in reply. He was the kind of person whose eyes were always lit with intelligence and presence. He was athletically inclined, but this loss changed his course. He became an artist. He taught art for 30 years, was a naturalist, loved life on the Mississippi river, created a magnificent arboretum and sanctuary for birds in his retirement. In knowing him, I found respect, soul, wisdom, humor, protection and huge faith. When someone great goes on before us the absence is more difficult than one can imagine. We all feel it in various indescribable ways. Knowing his desire to always work and do something, I am comforted that his step into eternity holds a promise that much is being done there that wasn’t before he arrived. We love you Ray.

And sometimes a stranger’s death is just as personal as someone you know so well. In my training as a hospital chaplain, I have been honored with the trust of those who are dying. It may sound strange if you have not experienced this or been open to it. I have firm beliefs about certain aspects of dying. Such as, angels are present, love is present and we have a right to be assured of that. So when someone is dying and I arrive to offer my support, this is one of the first things I share with the person.

One particular visit will always be with me, and comfort me. An elderly woman is in the process of dying. Family and friends have been keeping watch with her day and night. When I arrive she is in the stage where she is deep within resolving and doing inner work, not talking much and when she does it is regarding people who have died before her. Perhaps they are calling to her, helping her make the transition. She did not respond when I spoke to her, but I felt a peace in the room and so went over to talk to some of the friends. Suddenly, the elderly woman gets the burst of energy that sometimes comes and wants to know who I am and wants me to talk with her. I do. There is a connection between us that I cannot explain. I see myself in her in a way, she sees something in me, there is compassion and magic of love right there in our midst.

She wants me to tell her a story. I talk about God’s presence in my life when I was young (she is a very faith filled person, her family informed me). She then said, as if my story were hers, “Yes, but I have made so many mistakes along the way.” And I responded with words that came before I could think, “Yes, and God’s love remains the same.” That satisfied her. She breathed a peaceful breath and nodded. Then, and this last comment she makes to me is what I hold as so surprising and beautiful, she said, “Well, I guess it’s time for me to close up shop.” A little smile and a yes to a prayer together, and that was it. She went back down into the deeper state of closed eyes, deeper breathing, no talking. I was not there when she died, but I heard that it was peaceful and it was in the night.

The Sacred touches our lives in so many vast and various ways. May we celebrate this together today for all who have died and gone on without us.

Peace,

C.S.S. Moonseeds

It’s been eleven years

since my husband, Jeff, and I first started dating. Gogol Bordello talks about being at “an intersection of all dimensions” in their song “Tribal Connection” in their new album “Super Taranta”. I would say that best describes the time when we first met, there was the feeling of big presence between us, bringing us together. A timelessness and a sense of time opening was there. It was magical and wild. This poem I wrote grasps some of the depth of us:

Because of Love

Our love
is like a ghost
now
haunting me
Though you are here
Still
apart in periphery
you peek and
tease with presence
still a wizard
of dimensions I think
have we fallen in love again?
or have
I become more awake?
It is eerie
being haunted
by someone still with me
The reason
The unseen
is seemingly fearful yet
this love
may be larger
than I yet know and good and better
I’m catching glimpses
of the more
the alien mind
of kindness the you
I first met
and fell in love with
A universe
re-birthed
between our eyes
first meeting
A stunning revelation
in a grubby sardine can bar
This love is
inter stellar
You are more
than
a husband still
Still
we swoon
when our eyes
are really meeting
Finally
It seems
“Finally.”
A belt of planets
sigh
Sky fish is galloping
Trekking
Looping through seams
to peek by me He loves peeking
beyond time and with me
My
sensitivity is revealing
secret
universal loopholes
it seems
because
of love
Our love
luminous
and now haunting
the
unknown
the future

–CSS

On with the thoughts from yesterday,

about Great Resolve:

like the moment of Gandolf’s resolve that saves his companions and pulls him into death and resurrection, there is another program that is helpful to me in the same way.

At the time I was having problems with anger, unproductive anger about justice issues and such, and it was getting to me. My soul sister (my best girlfriend who is one of those signs of Heaven here on Earth with me, therefore a sister of my soul..) mentioned the program “Samurai Jack” and specifically the episode called, “Angry Jack”. She informed me that I, in my quest for justice like Samurai Jack, was getting trapped by my own anger produced through the situation. She has two boys and so found the program earlier than I. This was a few years ago. I was fascinated by her guidance. I then began watching the show with my family. Finally I did see the “Angry Jack” episode. Not only is the art in that series fun/great, the premise is the journey of the hero/mystic/warrior. Angry Jack is so useful in understanding what we sometimes face within/without–a microcosm of self and world, frankly. The image that stays with me is the final clash between Jack and Angry Jack. It lasts many moments, they are at a violent impasse, everything is burning and falling away, it has the potential to stay that way indefinitely. Then Jack realizes this trap and in the effort to release his anger and once again align with Goodness he disengages, lowers into a broad squatting stance and pulls his arms back to physically, fully disengage from the poisonous anger. The release is visible. It is a whole being effort, it takes all that he is to do this. Then the serenity and centered peace of the warrior slowly and surely flows back and the toxic angry Jack is rendered powerless, like in Henson’s “Labyrinth”: the key “You have no power over me.” line from “Sarah” to “Jareth”. The battle within/without then ends.

It can be a daily process in a world such as this. It is still a good, worthwhile journey.

peace,

Moonseed