Category Archives: Community

Respite, Loss and the Cusp of A Birth Month

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Community, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual

October 30, 2020-

I have a day off, and am using it to take care of several loose ends- not the least of which was returning the classroom key that I had pocketed yesterday morning, and promptly forgot.

It is a crisp, mild morning, here in Prescott-with a forecast that the weather will remain so, through next Friday-after which cold, but still dry, weather will predominate.

A woman, who I could fairly call the Angel of Manhattan, passed on, early this morning. She was the mother of a cherished friend and colleague here, and I had the honour of meeting her twice, on her visits to Prescott. She was an intensely active worker in New York Public Schools, during her working years, and treated all her charges as her own children-which is the idea, when one works with kids. In the end, she was graced by her biological children at her side, and went to her Lord, in her sleep.

People in Izmir, Turkey and Samos, Greece were not so graced. The earthquake and subsequent tsunami that ravaged the southeast Aegean, earlier today, left 12 dead and nearly 400 injured in Turkey, with 2 dead and scores of others injured in Samos. This occurred around the same time as the latest in a series of “minor” quakes took place west of New Delhi and in India’s northeast. There were no reports of casualties, from the Indian tremors. Nonetheless, changes of season tend to bring an uptick in serious earthquakes and the actual tsunami that occurred in the Aegean harkens back to the horrific event of December 26, 2004- when the entire Indian Ocean basin was ravaged.

The last two days of October find me feeling like the coming month, leading up to my eighth decade, will be especially purpose-driven. All the plans I described in an earlier post seem to be still on, with the addition of possible jury duty, from Tuesday-Friday of next week. It would be my first such experience, as all previous summonses have ended up being canceled, at the last minute. Stay tuned.

Turnaround

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Posted by on in collaborating, Community, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual

October 29, 2020-

No ssoner had I written yesterday’s plaint, than I listened to a trusted cosmic adviser, saying, in no uncertain terms, to not take things personally-as it is a waste of time and energy. This person has been right on point, in the seven months that I have listened to and read her daily and weekly obeservations. Indeed, for the most part, I have maintained progress in tidying up dirty corners, smoothing jagged edges and casting baggage aside.

I look back at some life lessons that came my way, well before the losses, and the gains, of the decade just past. In each case, I had a sign to go in a certain direction, ignored it and ended up both losing focus and wasting both my, and other people’s time. There is nothing to be gained from rehashing the details here, but I have learned, especially since 2013, to not go counterclockwise, when the reverse is shown me by my spirit guides.

It has thus been a far more productive life-and certainly less stressful, than at so many earlier points along the way. I expect this will continue, and probably accelerate, in some ways. Certainly, the past few weeks have shown me how I might have been a far better teacher, all those years ago, and in the 2000s. Finally knowing to foster the thinking process, rather than focusing on cramming content, leads me to apologize, here, to anyone who may have been disserved by my hobbled efforts. My current students, who change every so many days, are certainly the better off.

My friendships have been genuine and heartfelt, only stymied by a few short periods of grief-induced detours. These, again, would have been avoided, had I listened to my spirit guides.

So the accent will again be on the positive, here; there being plenty of negativity elsewhere.

Omaha, etc.

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Posted by on in Community, impediments, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Striving

October 28, 2020-

I am now 69 years, 11 months of age. The most transformative decade of my life is almost ready to give way to a time which is bound to be even more transformative.

I wrote, yesterday, about children and elders deserving to be valued by everyone in their community. So, it was with great consternation that I learned of thirty or so people stranded in bitter cold, after a political rally in Omaha, last night. Granted, there was a storm and it was hard to navigate icy roads, but this was Omaha-where such things happen regularly. The well-being of children and seniors should have been taken into account-before the rally even started. Let the blame fall where it belongs, but I hope there are, finally, lessons learned- and that nobody ends up dying from it.

Closer to the everyday ground, what is it with people who accost strangers in stores, and demand attention, by blocking the stranger’s path-all the while not observing physical distance and breathing all over the items the stranger(s) are trying to purchase? I am not asking for myself, but for those who have had difficulty, of late, with rude people standing in front of them, and refusing requests to be excused. I have a hard time with passive-aggressive folks, in the first place, and have gotten better at (nicely, at first) calling them out.

My hope and prayer is that these cases of viewing other people as unimportant will NOT result in acts of violent retribution.

These Are What Matter

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Posted by on in Community, distraction issues, Historical, impediments, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

October 27, 2020-

A “new poll” chirpily predicted a “surprise Republican blowout”, next Tuesday.

I don’t care.

What matters is what happens afterward. Regardless of whether this poll is genuine, or just a fabrication, designed to “make the liberals cry again”, the fact remains that, on Wednesday, November 4, on December 9 and again on January 21, we are each going to be essentially the same people we were, before the voting took place.

The thing that matters most is that no one loses heart. There are universal truths, with which it seems all people of good will ought be comfortable:

All life is sacred;

Everyone bleeds the same;

Calling another person a derogatory name, does not make it so;

Everyone is worthy of being treated with respect;

No one person, or group, is entitled to lord themselves over others;

Children are worthy of being loved and nurtured by everyone in their community;

Elders are worthy of being treasured and safeguarded by everyone in their community;

Our planet, and its life forces, deserve good stewardship, not ravaging for the sake of making more money than the maker knows how to handle;

All knowledge comes from the same Source-and it is not a human one.

One Storm Has Passed

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, distraction issues, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Striving

October 26, 2020-

It was forecast, last week, that we would have some rain and/or snow today. This being Prescott, in a La Nina year, that didn’t happen. Up country did get some snow, and for those of us downriver, that is a secondary comfort.

That storm has gone on towards the Plains. There will be several others, in mid-November and afterward. Meanwhile, the storm of COVID continues, with more people getting infected, nationwide-and around Arizona. I maintain my protocol and keep my immune system strong.

There will be a series of storms over how Justice-designate Amy Barrett will vote on any number of issues, well before any vote is taken by the Supreme Court. I repeat my own appeal: What sort of world do you wish to leave to your children, Madame Justice? A world in which conceived children are protected, even if they, like me, have additional needs, is a fine one-AND it should be a world in which all mothers and all abortion survivors, are envelped in love and recovery.

Health care is a human right. Pre-existing conditions should never be a pretext for denying care, because of money. If that had never been the case, Penny might still be here, As it is, a dear friend, in Texas, is seeing the love of her life suffer, because his physician will not treat his illness; nor will a laboratory allow him to enter their facility, to test his blood. Ethics has taken a holiday, it seems.

Voting is a right, for ALL adult citizens, including those of colour; including those who espouse a philosophy that disagrees with that of the sitting president. I hope the Supreme Court will remember that, when they are again asked to curb voting in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, later this week. Certainly, the converse is also true-anyone is as free to vote for the sitting president, as they are to vote for either one of his principal opponents.

Everyone who is created is a child of God. That a person may not fit the mould set by an exlusive, exclusionary group of human beings, does nothing to cancel out his/her humanity. We have had this back-and-forth, for as long as humans have been on this planet. Other intelligent beings-such as dolphins and elephants, practice exclusion and are given to bullying. We, humans, are a cut above, and it’s high time we act like it. I have had to set a few people outside my circle, for reasons of self-preservation. It would not take all that much, for them to be welcomed back in-and in any case, I will never seek to deny them their basic rights.

I say this, to those I love dearly, but who are making the case for punishing people whose sexual orientations are not the same as theirs, or mine. It does not fall to any of us, to act as arbiters of private behaviour. We can, and should, protect the innocent from the nefarious-but beyond that, adults engaged in private behaviour that harms no one else, should be left alone.

These storms will continue to rage, and I stand firm until they pass.

Saving Grace

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, Historical, impediments, Inner Struggles, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social

October 25, 2020-

“An ant has no quarrel with a boot.”- Tom Hiddleston, as Loki, in “The Avengers”.

A fair number of first-time voters, across the country, who are weighing social issues, are finding themselves wanting to “stay the course”. There was a time, when I thought that such an approach was prudent, as the incumbent surely knew what was best for the nation, and the nation already knew the incumbent.

It’s been several years since I have taken that view, but no matter. Every generation has to find their own voice. All the same, it is crucial to weigh the chances of pursuing dreams, both individually and collectively, given one outcome, as opposed to the other.

The rub comes when one takes the measure of his/her relative worth and power, in comparison to those of the State. There are the David/Goliath model and “We are the State, and the State is us” point of view. In the first, as can be surmised, a fearless individual, or small group, takes on a power that either practices division or arranges affairs in such a way that the strength of individuals is seemingly eroded. In the second, so well-practiced by Fascists and Communists, alike, during the mid-Twentieth Century, and still de rigeur in China, North Korea and a few other countries, there is an oddly-skewed sense of patriotism, which goes beyond flying a nation’s flag and supporting a just government, in a healthy way.

Our country’s saving grace is its Constitution, which has pulled us back from ruin, on three separate occasions: The War of 1812, the Civil War and the Watergate Crisis. My fervent hope is that the Constitution will do so again, regardless of who wins next week’s election, and regardless of how loudly the opposing sides may continue to react to one another. Our Constitution has inculcated, in the American character, a definite sense that the dignity of the individual is paramount and that equality is a clearly-established, if ever-evolving, tenet of this nation’s fabric.

Tempests

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Posted by on in collaborating, Community, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Striving

October 24, 2020-

Thoughts on a day well-spent, and the memories conjured:

The young man reflected on times recently endured,

as we rode to and from his former home.

The tempest has calmed,

everywhere but in his memory.

Progress, though, is an insistent taskmaster,

and will chase his storms away.

A long ago student of mine

played story-songs,

to a transient audience,

coming and going in the evening coolness.

He learned more,

outside of the school where we shared

frustration and challenge,

dealing with the antiquated system

and its remnants.

The tempests of racism and false superiority

still cause pain in his heart.

So long ago, yet still irksome

in my heart, as well.

I recall the storms which tossed

the lives of innocent children,

just by reason of their indigenous heritage,

seen as a threat,

to the self-styled dominant culture.

Live music brings to mind,

all you could have achieved,

little one.

You would have been thirty, this year,

perhaps with a legacy

of having walked barefoot as a teenager,

having gone to the college of your choice,

and having given full vent to all your musical passions.

Maybe you would have been guided down the aisle,

leaving the first loving man in your life,

for another, forever love.

You would have made a soulful, loving Mommy.

Most importantly, you would have been a powerful force,

in whatever filed your adult self chose to pursue.

The tempest in another person’s life

led to all those dreams, being snuffed out,

when you were only six.

Tempests raged, in my own true love’s life,

as other storms raged in mine.

We traded storms, and came through a few,

as onlookers clucked and tut-tutted,

with no true understanding,

of the love that guided us,

to a measure of calm and certitude.

Let the tempest that rages now,

in the life of a sorely-tried nation,

find its way to being settled.

Peace shall come to the people.

Greetings and Salutations

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Community, distraction issues, Education, Personal Values, Social, Striving

October 23, 2020-

I finished up at Liberty Traditional School,this afternoon, taking care of odds and ends, once the testing was done. There were no lost children today, so I was out the door on time.

A phenomenon that I first encountered some years ago, in Colorado, seems to be increasing in frequency, around here lately: People saying hello to one another, or asking how I’m doing, five minutes after they said hello, or asked the last time.

I am curious about this. It is an extension of common courtesy, yet it seems a bit of overkill. Are our memories shorter? Is someone anxious, that maybe we won’t see each other again, after less than an hour? Are we just not paying attention to whom we are speaking? This doesn’t just happen at work. I noticed it this evening, at the gym.

Another phenomenon that has seemingly increased is the practice of daily, almost mandatory, greetings online. This is not particularly troublesome, either, but it does have an undertone of anxiety-that unless I greet each person, every single day, it will seem to them as if I’ve forgotten them.

There are people with whom I haven’t spoken in months, who I will never forget and for whom I pray daily. Time to relax, my friends.

Indigo People

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Community, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual

October 20, 2020-

In observing the children who have passed before me, yesterday and today, I note their problem-solving abilities, interactions with one another and with the adults who will help make or break their current school year.

This community runs the gamut, from upper middle class to barely scraping by. There is, though, more of a sense of agency, among the emerging generation of children (either late Gen Z, or born since 2010 [who some call Generation Alpha]. Perhaps because of the uncertainty of the past ten years, and the total upheaval of this year, children are more apt to take certain matters into their own hands. I see a great deal of the style of Indigo People, who instinctively know why they were born and what their mission is. They are of the sort who have, in essence, chosen their parents, and though there is little evidence to suggest that souls exist in some sort of Pre-Life, there does seem to be a life force that is actively directing people, at least from the moment of their conception-even more so, than in previous generations.

There is a semblance of the Indigo, in my own life. I look back on my first sixty- three years or so, and, while I recall always having a sense that I was to go in a certain direction, and accomplish specific things in my time on Earth, there were always uncertainties and baggage that needed to be unloaded. I think that 2014 was really the first year of my life that was lived in a truly unfettered manner. Even the few setbacks that I have faced since then have not been shattering or deflecting, as so much that transpired before then.

Maybe, the energy that is being infused into the world, in the past ten years, has a part in my own experience. It certainly seems to be affecting an increasing number of younger people. I feel that this is, primarily, for the betterment of the world. What I can do to encourage them, in a positive direction, is to be done in a far less prescriptive manner than seemed necessary, in times past. Maybe it’s more a matter of my having jettisoned my own immaturity; yet I feel that less authoritative behaviour is necessary, on my part.

Every Bit Counts

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Posted by on in collaborating, Community, Historical, Matters of Faith, Personal goals, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual

October 19, 2020-

Today saw the celebration of the Birth of Baha’u’llah. I put in a full day of work, as it was also the first day of in-person instruction in our county’s public schools. I’ve been asked to work this week, with a team of Title I Reading specialists, at Liberty Traditional School, Prescott Valley. Today and tomorrow, we are giving a diagnostic test to several students. The team also is helping kindergartners get used to locating their buses and communicating with their drivers, as to where they need to get off. I was dismayed to see that those children who didn’t know where their stop was, also had no address or phone number inside their backpacks. That was a given, when I was subbing in the Phoenix area, as well as in Prescott, in the 2000’s. Teachers and parents regularly made sure there was contact information in each child’s backpack or pinned to the inside of their sleeve.

After work, I picked up a delicious meal of Persian chicken and rice, prepared by some gracious friends, in honour of Baha’u’llah’s birthday. Persian rice, seasoned with saffron, and fortified with one or another type of beans, is a light and refreshing staple. I also had hosting duties for our community’s Zoom-base celebration, so we got together for devotional readings, a slide show of Baha’u’llah’s life, which I narrated and watched a video of Persian folk dancing-performed by a troupe of women, for an audience in India.

Every little bit counts.

Her eis that video, for your viewing and dancing pleasure!