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)

Down & Dirty

i used to have an aversion

to getting down & dirty

not because of potential diversions

into being playful & flirty

(complete with catcalls & whistles)

but the possibility 

of getting trapped 

in the thistles 

of terror and trauma

inflicted and incurred

on the way down

but maybe there is

an opportunity as we are

grinded down in the dirt

of hatred and hurt

to be reminded

that We are made

of the same Stuff

the Sacred Soil

into which we have descended

and out of which

we have emerged and ascended

and rather than seeing

the Divine Dirt

as territorial turf

to be defended

maybe we could enact

a faithful Freeing

of our fears

as they are befriended

and shift the gears

of the maniacal machinery

keeping us apart

and melt the weapons

into Instruments of Peace

and revise the rantings

into Refrains of Release

and Transform the state

where hate goes low

with the Love

that goes Lower

into the depths

of the Heart

and raises Us 

All Higher like 

a Pillar of Fire

the Light of the World

that We are

in the Totality

of Our Being...

may this Be

the Ultimate Version

of our Conversion.

Amen.

#200wordprayers #GoLowerInLoveToLiftHigherInHope

('Deep Rooted' © Seby Augustine)

'70'

some say Life 

is mostly making up

a song and dance

'it's all for show

it's all a game

of random chance'

but you two

have Lived your Lives

individually and communally

Gracefully and Faithfully

in such Real Ways

that reveal the more

Meaningful Melodies

and Heartfelt Harmonies

in the Sacred Song

the more Magnificent Movements

and Revelatory Rhythms

of the Divine Dance 

and helped so many

to raise their voices

and move their bodies

individually and communally

Gracefully and Faithfully 

and join together

in that Cosmic Choir

of Creation

and our Creator

that Eternal Ensemble

that exalts

the Majesty and Glory

of the Name

above all names 

all whilst balancing

two vocations and

three little relations

with one Hand

in one Heart

celebrating every June

naming every tune

facing every sunrise

embracing every moon

climbing every mountain

fording every stream

of challenging circumstance

with ebullient Endurance

and resilient Romance

and asking each other

time and time again

with a wink

and a glance

'Shall We Sing?

Shall We Dance?'

Seventy years on

you both continue

to Sing your Song

of Everlasting Love

and with deep gratitude

for each Day

and each Ray

of Light from Above

We Joyfully join you

and Sing along...

(Happy 70th Anniversary, dear Mom & Dad...i love you...brian)

(First pic is their engagement portrait, 1955...Second pic is from their 70th anniversary celebration, 2025...and PS...they 'celebrate every June' b/c their birthdays are 9 and 18 June 1933, respectively :)

#70YearsDoingAnythingIsAmazing #But70YearsDoingLifeTogetherInLoveIsMiraculous 

spinning faster

so Today 

will apparently

be shorter

than Yesterday

(we're talking

mere milliseconds)

because Our

Miraculous Home

is revolving

at speeds

measurably higher

than usual

for reasons

more Mysterious

than scientists

can explain

perhaps it

is due

to shrinking

icecaps upon

or slowing

magma within

our Earth

but regardless

it feels

like our

whirling Planet

might be

sending us

swirling signs

in these

trying seasons

to remind

our hurtling

Minds and

hurting Hearts

that reacting

to changes

that reflect

more how

we're evolving 

than devolving

in ways

more heartless

than harmless

is impacting

our Bodies

and Beings

our Psyches

and Spirits

(reverting Us

into whirling

dervishes of

swirling nervousness

curdling our

blood rather

than cradling

our Belovedness)

so what

if taking

some time

to stop

spinning faster

towards potentially

fatal disaster

(we're talking

mere nanoseconds)

and Pause

and Breathe

and Remember

and Believe

that our

innately Divine

Worth is

immeasurably Higher

than our

fears will

ever factor

(resisting the

irrepressible temptation

to lash

out in

fright and

fatefully plaster 

Each Other

with blame

and shame)

We might

Respectfully refrain

Faithfully shine

our Light

and lavish

Each Other

with Love

that leads

to All

of Us

enacting a

New Birth

where We

end up

Winning faster

with Redemptive

Joy and

Restorative Justice

and Grinning 

Laughter in

the Sacred

Unity of

Beloved Community

We are

in the

Gloriously Radiant

Here and

Now and

Forever After?

Let It Be.

(Inspired by this phenomenon that occurred today... https://www.space.com/astronomy/earth/earth-will-spin-faster-on-july-22-to-create-2nd-shortest-day-in-history)

#235wordprayers #PausingInParadise #SlowingDownInTheSpirit #ReconnectingWithTheRhythm #RediscoveringJoyForTheJourney #WeAreStillOne 

Incarnation of Interdependence

on this Day

when We celebrate

Our declaration

of Independence

from tyranny

may we (re)dedicate

Our Selves to

Our Incarnation

of Interdependence

in Liberty

the Sacred You-and-Me

that constitutes 

the Beloved Community

welcoming All Beings

huddled and Hallowed

yearning to Breathe Free

seeing no strangers

but only Parts

of Our Hearts

and Our Selves We

have not met yet

and may We

never forget

that living out

Revolutionary Love

involves giving up

convolutionary fear

(which devolves Us

into heartlessly shaming

and disgracing each other)

and revolves around

laying down arms

of desperate violence

and opening up Arms

of Infinite Silence

which empowers Us

into Heartfelt sharing

and embracing Each Other

as the One Body

of Divine Love

We already Are

Breathing and Being

and needing Each Other

and greeting each Day

as the Gift

It already Is

where we Celebrate

our Interconnection

as One Cosmically

(In)Carnal Reality...

Let It Be.

#150wordprayers #HappyInterdependenceDay2025 #TodayWeCelebrate #TomorrowAndEachDayForwardWeBreatheAndPushAndIncarnateAndDemonstrateRevolutionaryLove

('Statue of Liberty' © Otis Porrit)