Let Them Be

for All Transgender Beloveds

Whose Divinely-Created Identities

have been questioned

and doubted

and bludgeoned

and bruised

and shamed

and abused

by Some Who

have allowed Their

own Divinely-Created Identities

to be infiltrated

by unsubstantiated fears

and egregiously 

(even religiously) used

less as instruments

to understand and accept

and more as weapons

to belittle and accuse

to elicit tears

less from empathy

more from enmity

against These 

fellow Beloveds 

the Ones left 

literally shaking

in their shoes

bereft of safety

and wondering if

(and when)

the next one

will drop

on Them

needing some shelter

from this inhumane

helter skelter storm

being played out

(and blamed outrageously)

on Them

being prayed for 

whilst being preyed upon

yet choosing courageously

amidst the insanity

to stand authentically

in their Divine Humanity

even at the risk

of losing their lives

and grieving

fellow Beloveds

who were ushered

into their leaving

far too soon...

May You Know

that You Are Loved

just as You Are

priceless Treasures

Whose Revelatory Radiance

will never be

contained or remain

hidden behind hatred

buried beneath bigotry

but shines Beautifully

through the cracks

of our sordid

and Sacred Soil

and Trans-Formatively

through and beyond

the taxing toil

of digging through

our volatile frivolity

to unearthing

our True Identity

and birthing 

our New

(and overdue) 

Equality.

Let It Be...

and Let Them Be.

#222wordprayers #TransgenderDayOfRemembrance2025 #YouAreSeenAndHeardAndLovedJustAsYouAre #TransRightsAreHumanRights #WeAreAllBeloved #WeAreTheBelovedCommunity

Sanctuary

when the tidal waves

of worry and despair

over inhumanity and insanity

overwhelm me like the

bluster of a chaotic

tsunami and the blare 

of trumpets of herald

and drown me down 

and out with the 

weight of the world

wrapped around my neck

whilst grasping at straws

and gasping for Air

with nary a shout

causing my decreasing senses

to become increasingly blurry

as i despondently descend

into the daunting depths

of my imminent death

(not unlike the wreck

of the Edmund Fitzgerald)

i am seriously surprised

to deliriously discover that

the fearful Darkness

is Transcendently Luminous

the midnight blues

and emerald greens

comprise the protective

and welcoming cover

of Communion unseen

where the vales

of submerged seaweed

somehow see me

and the reflective

clefts of rock

hide the bales

of Sea Turtles

awesome, ancient Beings

Who have responded

to cataclysmic circumstances

and prowling predators 

with amazing adaptations

and extraordinary evolutions 

by ceasing Their

commotion in order

to increase Their 

capacity for holding 

Their collective Breath

in submerged safety

a Sacred Sanctuary

of sheltered Space

to fully face

and freely embrace

all the haunting

fears and tears

weighing me down

binding me up

Their increased capacity

Miraculously expanding mine

to innately trust 

the Primal Power

of Eternal Love

to thrust Us

to the surface

of the surging

and swirling Seas

emerging and converging

together as One

reminding me that

We are forever

connected (beyond what's

expected) and never

rejected or alone...

Let It Be.

#245wordprayers #ThankfulNovember #SeaTurtlesAreRighteousRemindersOfTheInfiniteCapacitiesOfSpiritAndSelf

('Honu' © Greg Johnson, Kauai, HI)

$1.17

when facing all

of the challenges

threatening to overwhelm

our systems of

Ecology and Equality

like a tsunami 

of tyrannical terror

and gratuitous greed

one simple Gift

of one dollar

and seventeen cents

may not appear

to make sense

or meet all

of the needs

in the grand

scheme of things

but around It

rings the Music

of the Spheres

Its simplicity sings

from a Soul

no longer held

captive to illusions

of control driven

by a subconscious

fear of scarcity

but broken apart

by widow-making despair

through inhumane disparity

while simultaneously being

more fully opened

by window-breaking Spirit-Air

through the Reality

of subversive Abundance

in conversive Love

making Us Whole

and the realization

that having nothing

left to lose

improbably yet surprisingly

means having everything

left to give

(and to gain)

and no Gift 

freely given is

ever in vain

a few cents

can express more 

Sense through Sensitivity

some jangly bits

of precious change

are Enough to

change the tide

and amply provide

One simple Start

to a Revolution

of the Heart

where We recognize

there is nothing

we truly own

except the ability

to take care

of perfect strangers

who are merely

neighbors we have

yet to meet

as our own

fellow Beloveds who

comprise One Entity

a living Organism

with Loving Equity

and essential Justice

at the Core

of Our Being

that simply yet

profoundly Just Is...

Let It Be.

#234wordprayers #ThankfulNovember #DoublingTheWordsToHonourAnUnmeasurableGiftOfCentsForDeeperSensibilityAndSensitivity 

#WhenSystemicOrganizationsBreakDownSpiritedOrganismsRiseUp #HereticCoffeePDX 

('Widow's Mite' © Eric Holmlund)

Two into One

it's not unusual

to encounter One

in these Wondrous

and Windswept Lands

where sparkling Waves

converge and merge

with Mystical Sands

upon which stunning

elk and horses 

thunder and roam

in natural courses

and bouncing bunnies

romp and feed

upon pristine grasses

but when Two

most surprisingly appear

while i'm running

alongside the roar

of the Ocean

not in one

of their usual 

landing places like

a shipwrecked log

bathed in mist

but dipping their

toes and claws

into the Waters

upon the Shore

just recently kissed

by sparkling Waves

not soaring aloft

in the Air

or anchored above

in a nest

these Magnificent Two

surprise everyone around

by standing abreast

upon the Ground

where We All 

Live and Lovingly

find our Being

which left me

wondering exactly what

They were seeing

from that more

limited vantage point

but whatever it

was stopped me

in my tracks

as their eyes

briefly met mine

and what appeared

at first like

atypical double vision

a jarring juxtaposition 

of two symbols

of One Nation

divided against Itself

transformed in those

Silent Sacred Seconds

into Beatific Vision

of Two Beautiful

Creations still able 

to come together

and somehow Create

a new Birth

One Blessed Life

One Beloved Creation

One Undivided Nation

in unexpected Places

through unmerited Graces

amidst unaccustomed Faces

among astonished People

whose understandable doubts

about any such

pie-in-the-sky dreams manifesting

and taking flight

were embraced in

simply profound amazement

a Redemptive Radiance

like the Light

beaming through clouds

lifting our Spirits 

like a Seascape

of Holy Hands

raised on High

to the Wonders

(and the Wonder)

manifested down Low

upon this Earth

within and upon 

the Ultimate Ground

of all Being...

Thanks.

#280wordprayers #ThoughtfulThursdays #TheWondersOfTheOregonCoastAndTheSurprisesOfCreation

('Two Eagle Snuggle' © Stacia Herrling)

couping and Cooing

when the fear-full

(and unfortunately inevitable)

coups come a'cagin'

with tempers flared

and (self)righteousness a'ragin'

to inflict their terrible

(yet wholly unoriginal

and highly un-Constitutional)

wrath upon All 

who will not bend

knees or wills

to their supposedly inerrable

yet mundane 'mandate'

(which appears to get 

its thrills from whomever 

it stalkingly separates

and shockingly traumatizes

and mockingly desensitizes

and even kills)

enacting fantastical designs

purportedly inspired by

the Incarnational One

but in Reality

protractedly maligns

the Divine Image

drastically degrading Beloveds

to suffer inhumanely

as incarcerational ones

in the face

of such dis-Grace

what can any

of Us who

are inconceivably encaged

by the aggrievedly enraged

(for reasons unbelievably deranged)

even conceivably DO?

as Your Beloved Maya

once reminded Us

(poetically and prophetically)

whether We are

a warbling Wren

or a hollering Hawk

a screaming Eagle

or a descanting Dove

murmuring a melody

or chirping a canticle

humming a hymn

or belting the blues

even seemingly having 

lost everything unfairly

(at least temporarily)

excepting the freedom 

to courageously choose

the Caged Bird

Coos its Spirit-Song

of Liberating Love

all night long

through the torrential

reign of pain

into the Dawn

of that New

and Glorious Day...

Let It Be.

#200wordprayers #RespondingToTheSufferingWithSingingAndTheLanguishingWithLoving #JusticeEqualityProtectionPeaceInPalestineUkraineSyriaDCLAChicagoOregonAndEverywhereElse #WeAreStillTheBelovedCommunity #WeAreStillStrongerInOurDiversity 

('I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings', artist unknown)

(Forgive)

amidst the howling

from the hounds

of performative holiness

surrounding our senses

and senselessly scowling

more maniacal mantras

of supposedly preordained

prophetic manifest destinies 

of divine domination

baptizing a Blessed

soiled and sordid

yet Sacred tradition

in the blood

of a tragically

taken evocative provocateur

turned make-believe martyr

fusing military might

with religious 'right'

(confusing the plight

of aggrieved majorities

clinging onto illusions

of perceived persecution 

and perverted priorities

with the Light

of the World)

one single voice

resonated from deep

within the Heart

of it all

beneath the clamour

of all the

howling and scowling

resounding more primally

than any presumed

solutions proclaimed finally

emanating the Love

that descends to 

the infernal depths

of despairing grief

and ascends to

the Eternal Skies

beyond unerring belief

and embraces disgraces

of desperate plays

for absolute power

through outright lies

with a Courage 

that faces prosecution

without wielding swords

of matriculated violence

but fielding questions

with articulated Silence

and endures execution

not by calling

upon angelic forces

to dramatically appear

but by falling

into the hands

of fateful fear

where all apparent

Hope emphatically dies

and yet where

One Single Voice

plaintively and powerfully

sighs and cries

One Single Word...

'Forgive'

...and the Ripples

of Revelatory Reconciliation

roll out subversively

swelling into Waves

of Spirited Symphony

telling a Story

of Resurrectional Glory

expectations confounded conversely 

with Mercy triumphing

over gerrymandered judgment

Divine Weakness winning

over political power

Sacred Foolishness grinning

over worldly wisdom

Unconditional Love inversely

encompassing fearful death

with each essential

Heartbeat and Breath

in Transformative Wholeness

that not only

drowns out all

those howling hounds

and scowling sounds

but also Grounds

our heavenly hyperbole

of make-believe majesty

in the Holiness

of Divine Humus

and Beloved Humanity

in Mysterious Magnificence

the Universal Openheartedness

of Existential Wisdom

in Incarnational Innocence...

Thank You.

#300wordprayers #TheBelovedKindomEmergingLessThroughForceAndMoreThroughGrace #WeAreNotCoercedButCharmedIntoTheRighteousnessOfJusticeEqualityAndPeaceForAll #ThePowerOfForgiveness 

('The Light Shines in the Darkness' © Serhiy Roy)

Labor Day

when i think of All

the pains and strains

this Planet and It's People

have labored through

the graven injustices 

the brazen inequities

and shameful inequalities

i wonder if it all

will stretch our Bodies

and very Being

beyond the curious quaking

and spurious shaking 

into our very breaking

demanding Energy beyond

which We can expend

but then i'm reminded

of how our Bodies

are created with capacities

not only to stretch 

but to expand

both to endure

and to secure

Life growing within

and how a tiny

yet Transcendent Universe

takes shape behind

a membrane so thin

a Space the Mystics

describe as the Meeting Place

of Human and Divine

Heaven on Earth

struggling into Growth

staggering through Labor

(which is not in vain)

into the Day

to give Birth

to a new Creation

a Beloved Communion

where all of Nature

is actually our Neighbor

haggling with the Creator

for a better deal

a less painful wheel

upon which to spin

a new Web of Welcome

a fragile Masterpiece 

which contains All

of the gratuitous Grace

and lascivious Love

pouring out in cries

of unbridled Laughter

in the Here and Now

as an ordinarily extraordinary

Taste of the Hereafter

as Sighs of Spirit

resound among and around

Us All as We

bask in the Beauty

and grasp at the Glory

and gasp in the Presence

of One Little Miracle

that emerged from Us

(and in essence IS Us)

wordlessly and breathlessly

in Wonder of It All...

Let It Be.

#250wordprayers #LaborDay2025 #MayOurLaborNotBeInVain #WeAreBirthingSomethingThatHasNeverFullyExistedBefore #WeAreTheBelovedCommunity #WeAreLoved #WeAreLove

('The Womb of the World' © Kelly Kruse)