the broken heart

The best way to grow empathy for those who are lost

is to know what it means to be lost yourself

                             Barbara Brown Taylor, An Altar in the World

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Love and service

compassion and healing

are not born out of

strength and skill

the counselor who makes a difference

the pastor who touches the heart

the friend to whom you turn

is the one

who

like you

has a broken heart

from which the love of God

has flowed

Feast away

When you diminish another person, you diminish yourself

When you diminish yourself, you diminish others

                                           John O’Donohue,  Eternal Echoes, p. 76

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when we feel it necessary

in order to build ourselves up

in order to create a sense of power and importance

when we feel it necessary

in order to “defend” our ideology

(or faith as the case may be)

to cut others down

We diminish ourselves

we become smaller

as our souls shrivel

when we find it impossible

to love ourselves

to build ourselves up

and when we thus, feel small

we find it even more necessary

to make others smaller than ourselves

the smaller we are

the smaller we must make them

the only solution to any of this

is a “fat soul
a soul stuffed with God

feast away

on Sacred love

gorge yourselves

 and don't forget

to pass the plate

Why do we love the stranger?

Why should we love the stranger?  Because God does….

The assignment is to get over your elf.  The assignment is to love the God you did not make up

With all your heart, soul, strength, and mind, and the second is like it: to love the neighbor you also did not make up a if that person were your own strange and particular self….

                                                                        Barbara Brown Taylor

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another day

another person hating

and killing in the name of ideology

(in the name of God?)

more people creating God in their own image

more people creating others in an image shaped by fear, or anger, or greed

but according to the Sacred it is pretty simple

(although not easy)

just love

love the refugee

love those who are not "like us"

not so bad!

but also

love the haters

love the fearful

love those who do horrible things in the name of God

love those who create a horrible God

I am not sure I am up to it Lord

try as I might I cannot dredge up even a hint of love

for certain politicians

for angry people with guns

for people who almost delight

in most of humanity being tortured eternally

while affirming “God is Love”

and yet that is the call

that is what Jesus did when he went to the cross

Help me Lord

for I cannot do this on my own

I cannot do it at all

let your love flow through me

help me not to block it

and forgive me

when I do