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Tuesday, November 17, 2020
November 17 moment of meditation, reflection, and prayer. On this day in 1918 Influenza deaths reported in the United States far exceed World War I casualties. May we remember. Blessings, Aaron
Update: Please note that when fact checked the timing an attribution to this poem have been falsely reported. The true origin of the poem is thus:
Catherine O’Meara, a retired teacher who lives from Madison, Wisconsin, actually wrote the poem, though the wording varies slightly. It was published on her website The Daily Round in March and has since been shared by author Deepak Chopra and model Bella Hadid, among others.
And people stayed at home
And read books
And listened
And they rested
And did exercises
And made art and played
And learned new ways of being
And stopped and listened
More deeply
Someone meditated, someone prayed
Someone met their shadow
And people began to think differently
And people healed.
And in the absence of people who
Lived in ignorant ways
Dangerous, meaningless and heartless,
The earth also began to heal
And when the danger ended and
People found themselves
They grieved for the dead
And made new choices
And dreamed of new visions
And created new ways of living
And completely healed the earth
Just as they were healed.
Thursday, November 12, 2020
November 12 moment of reflection, meditation, and prayer. On this day in 1940, theU.S. Supreme Court ruled in Hansberry v. Lee that African Americans cannot be barred from white neighborhoods. May we remember our history and continue to work for justice. Blessings, Aaron
https://portside.org/2019-11-15/redlining
Wednesday, November 11, 2020
November 11 moment of meditation, reflection, and prayer on Veteran’s Day. Blessings, Aaron
Tuesday, November 10, 2020
November 10 moment of meditation, reflection, and prayer. On this day in 1969 Sesame Street premiered. I had just turned 3 10 days prior! My brother was 1. It was magical. Blessings, Aaron
Monday, November 9, 2020
November 9 moment of meditation, reflection, and prayer. On this day in 1938 Nazis killed 35 Jews, arrest thousands and destroyed Jewish synagogues, homes and stores throughout Germany. The event becomes known as Kristallnacht, the night of the shattered glass. And on this day in 1989, the Berlin Wall is opened after dividing the city for 28 years. May we always remember both of these moments. Blessings, Aaron
http://kennallan.com/poems/time/kristallnacht.html
https://archive.nytimes.com/…/opi…/08berlinpoems.html
Saturday, November 7, 2020
November 7 moment of meditation, reflection, and prayer. Remembering a new day on another new day. May we as a country come together and heal the breach and the wounds that have divided us. Blessings, Aaron
Friday, November 6, 2020
November 6 moment of meditation, reflection, and prayer. “Everything is everything. After winter must come spring.’ Thanks to Jonathan Hardy-Lavoie for reminding me of this through music.
Thursday, November 5, 2020
November 5 moment of meditation, reflection, and prayer two days after Election Day. Blessings, Aaron
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/21850/for-my-people
Wednesday, November 4, 2020
November 4 moment of meditation, reflection, and prayer. As we await election results. Blessings, Aaron
The Work of Citizenship by A.R. Payson
(in the style of Howard Thurman’s “The Work of Christmas””
When the last campaign ad has aired;
When polling stations are closed and the count has been certified;
When pundits and politicians have turned in for the night
And pollsters and political operatives are turning their thoughts to the next big race
The work of citizenship remains:
To care more for the marginalized than for profit margins
To be mindful that quality education is far less expensive than mass incarceration
To insist that military intervention is a last resort,
Not the preemptive prerogative of the powerful.
In short, to know that our true wealth is the welfare of all beings and the planet that we all call home.
Tuesday, November 3, 2020
November 3 moment of meditation, reflection, and prayer on Election Day. Blessings, Aaron
Monday, November 2, 2020
November 2 moment of meditation, reflection, and a prayer on All Souls Day. Blessings, Aaron
ALL SOULS’ DAY BY FRANCES BELLERBY
Let’s go our old way
by the stream, and kick the leaves
as we always did, to make
the rhythm of breaking waves. This day draws no breath –
shows no colour anywhere
except for the leaves – in their death
brilliant as never before.Yellow of Brimstone Butterfly,
brown of Oak Eggar Moth –
you’d say. And I’d be wondering why
a summer never seems lostif two have been together
witnessing the variousness of light,
and the same two in lustreless November
enter the year’s night…The slow-worm stream – how still!
Above that spider’s unguarded door,
look – dull pearls…Time’s full,
brimming, can hold no more.Next moment (we well know,
my darling, you and I)
what the small day cannot hold
must spill into eternity.So perhaps we should move cat-soft
meanwhile, and leave everything unsaid,
until no shadow of risk can be left
of disturbing the scatheless dead. Ah, but you were always leaf-light.
And you so seldom talk
as we go. But there at my side
through the bright leaves you walk. And yet – touch my hand
that I may be quite without fear,
for it seems as if a mist descend
and the leaves where you walk do not stir.
Sunday, November 1, 2020
November 1 moment of meditation, reflection, and prayer on Samhain. Blessings, Aaron
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/53066/samhain
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