We Can’t Breathe
When I first read about the effects of the Coronavirus on the respiratory system my chest tightened, as my body reminded me what it feels like to have an asthma attack. The ensuing fear made my body prickle until I was able to regulate my breathing.
One of the ways that I have coped with fear throughout my life is to get curious and ask what it wants to show me. Is it showing me how much I love something, or giving me a warning that I should heed? What came to me this time as I was worrying about what this could mean for me, my family, people I love and humanity as a whole, was the thought: “Think of all of those who haven’t been able to breathe for a long time.”
This is what came to me: Read More
Learning from Nature to Create a More Peaceful World
On the eve of International Women’s Day, I had the honor of attending and speaking at the Interfaith Peace Symposium, an event to unite women of diverse faiths and backgrounds on the theme of ” Women as Architects of Peace.” It was graciously hosted by the women of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community (AMC) (GA Chapter) organized under the banner of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Women’s Auxiliary (AMWA) (GA Chapter).
AMC believes in building bridges of understanding and promoting peace and tolerance through discourse, interfaith dialogue and service to community. It’s members consider loyalty to the country as part of faith and strive to live by its community motto: “Love for All, Hatred for None.”
Some people asked me for a copy of what I spoke about so I thought I’d share it here. Read More
Sacred Activism: Finding the Courage to Move through Despair to Empowerment
Sermon at Emerson Unitarian Universalist Congregation, October 20, 2019
In the spiral of the Work That Reconnects, as well as in many indigenous and faith traditions, we begin with gratitude. Thank you for inviting me here today to talk about Sacred Activism and asking me to facilitate a workshop here later this afternoon. I am honored to be here and grateful to have the opportunity to share this message.
I know that in these challenging times, it may feel especially difficult or maybe even insincere to start each day with gratitude, but even simply paying attention to our breath, and being grateful that we are participating in that sacred exchange with the earth is a grounding and stabilizing practice.
From there, gratitude begins to well up from the little things; birdsongs in the morning, a hot cup of coffee, a laughter-filled conversation with a friend.
The more I make a habit of focusing on what I was grateful for, the easier it was for me to choose where to put my energy. I direct my efforts more towards what I love, rather than saying yes to things out of a sense of obligation. This is the central question of Sacred Activism – “How can I put my love into action?”
Sacred Activism is when our desire to create positive change and subsequent actions are fueled by a force greater than ourselves.
Other ways to think about it are: When Spirit Meets Action, Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr called it Soul Force, or it’s asking, “How am I being called to serve?”
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Earth Spirit Action 