By Debra Basham, on September 8, 2013
Thought for the Day
All that is required for success is a vision of the destination.
The journey itself will reveal the means to take me there.
~ Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University
One of the projects of the Brahma Kumaris I really appreciate is Images and Voices of Hope. Images and Voices of Hope is a collaborative effort among journalists, artists, and media professionals. These are folks who recognize the work they do in media as “a way to give societies hope for the future.” What a powerful awareness to see what we do in the world as that powerful.
Today was the first time in almost a year since I was together with skin on with all four of my local interfaith Minister of Reunion colleagues. It was a wonderful time of laughter, tears, sharing, reflecting, and enjoying our loving support. We looked at the changes, challenges, and gifts this past year has brought to each of us. The theme that emerged over and over is the truth that life can be trusted. We spoke of the lesson of the importance of being patient.
As Mona said, you can push dreams into manifestation before it is time, but that results in things being more difficult and messy than when you wait for your dreams to unfold in divine timing. The metaphor that slipped off my lips was like a half-baked cake.
The new facility will have 16 patient suites that are built to accommodate family members to stay overnight. The setting includes two walls of windows in each room so there is plenty of natural lighting.
Private patio areas—quiet spaces indoors and outdoors—”foster companionship and comfort among patients and visitors.”
Even the two wings of the building are named for nature: Hummingbird and Butterfly, to remind us we are each part of a grander plan.
As we moved through the entire space, each of us was noticing the attention to detail. An amazingly welcome feeling has been built into each nook and cranny. If you would be honored to add your blessing to this wonderful “home” for the final days of those you may or may not know personally, go to the website where you can look at some of the furnishing.
While none involved knew exactly what the final building and grounds would look like, many years of unending dreams went into the vision of our hospice residence. Breathe your passion for life into the colors and the patterns and textures so those who are to come here will feel that love. Remember people in your own heart who have gone on to spirit. Feel their connection to this project.
I read recently if you dedicate yourself to service, the doors will open. As you flip through the pages and look at the furnishings, imagine running your hands over the fabric and thinking about those to come. Parents, children, siblings, and friends will lounge on the sofas, and sit on the chairs. These walls will bear respectful witness to tender goodbyes, words of forgiveness, expressions of love. We are all in this together.
By Debra Basham, on September 2, 2013
Last evening we watched Cloud Atlas with some friends. In a very complex plot, spanning six locations and seven time periods, Sonmi-451, a human clone in 2144, works as a slave in a fast food restaurant. She becomes awakened to the truth that the workers are not freed after the end of their contract but are actually killed and fed to other clones. As with each of us, awareness invites inspiration.
In the throes of a sweet attack after lunch today, I resorted to eating a fortune cookie left over from our last Chinese take-out. This is my fortune:
You will be called upon to help a friend in trouble. Answer the call.
It is my prayer that we all know our whole lives are about answering the call. Cloud Atlas is not an easy film to watch. It is much too violent for my taste, and it is three hours l—o—n—g. Even so, it is a film I will watch again. Thestory has a significant message that is relevant to our lives.
Even as I was watching “Cloud Atlas” the first time, I knew I would need to see it again. Now that I’ve seen it the second time, I know I’d like to see it a third time — but I no longer believe repeated viewings will solve anything. To borrow Churchill’s description of Russia, “it is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.” It fascinates in the moment. It’s getting from one moment to the next that is tricky.
Surely this is one of the most ambitious films ever made. The little world of film criticism has been alive with interpretations of it, which propose to explain something that lies outside explanation. Any explanation of a work of art must be found in it, not taken to it.
~ Roger Ebert, in his review of Cloud Atlas (24 October 2012)
As we drove home from the having watched the film, I had a profound memory of an experience I had several years ago. Our grandson, about 13 at the time, had gotten all caught up in a video game. The family was ready to go out to dinner, to celebrate a couple of birthdays, but he was trying desperately to make it to the next level and kept saying, “Wait! Just give me a few minutes.” Everyone was in the car, still waiting for him, when his mom went back in, and pulled the plug. We ended up having a very uncomfortable situation.
The following morning, my husband and I were on the road. He was driving and I was pondering the events of the previous evening and writing in my journal. I was thinking and writing, ” It is ridiculous that he gets so intense—it is just a game.”
I heard in my head, “It is just as ridiculous to get caught up in the game of life. That, too, is just a game. Even if it is something like global warming. You entered a ‘game of life’ zone. When you see it as it really is, you will understand why people say not to sweat the small stuff and it’s all small stuff.
The archivist asks Sonmi-451 if she had known the rebellion would fail. She admitted she had known it was doomed, but if she had remained invisible, the truth would have stayed hidden also. Before being executed, Sonmi-451 makes a public broadcast. The power and clarity and relevance of her words resonated in my heart as I fell asleep last night and are still with me today:
“Our lives are not our own.
From womb to tomb,
we are bound to others,
past and present.
And by each crime and every kindness,
we birth our future.
I believe there is another world waiting for us, a better one.
And I’ll be waiting for you there.”
Cloud Atlas is not an easy film to watch. It is much too violent for my taste, and it is three hours l—o—n—g. Even so, it is a film I will watch again. Thestory has a significant message that is relevant to our lives. It is my prayer that we all know our whole lives are about answering the call.
By Debra Basham, on August 25, 2013
This was the Thought for Today that slipped, almost innocently, into my inbox during the early morning hours. It was sent to me by a good friend. I could sign up to receive them directly, but I appreciate the connection with a person who touched my life when she lived here in my hometown, and continues to touch my life now, even though she lives in Florida year round.
You spend most of your life running after things, doing things. You forget that being comes before doing. Those who remember this secret make an effort to “be” and discover that when they stop and observe, life helps and brings whatever is needed. Learning to be is learning to be at peace. It is our most fundamental nature.
As I read this thought, I had an almost-guilty echo of a conversation shared with friends last evening as we indulged in ice cream following dinner at one of our favorite Indian restaurants.One friend was talking about her work-related stress. I slipped into my “helper” role quite easily, and even drew support from one of the others. Reading this “Thought” reminds me that a greater ease with all of our lives is available to each of us at every moment.
This time of year I really enjoy early mornings sitting out front on my Zen Walkway.
I had finished my meditation, and was listening to myriad birds, savoring my leisure on a late-summer Sunday morning. I checked email. Joel, my co-author, had shared a link to an amazing video of professional singer, Kristin Chenoweth, who was Glinda in Wicked.
In the video, Kristin calls a member of the audience (Sarah Horn) up to sing with her. Youtube user, Mike Kestler uploaded this video of the duet. I hope you will be blessed if you take time to listen.
I have watched the video several times, and now I can finally watch it without crying. I was crying as I was thinking of my friends I had dinner with. I was crying as I was thinking of those I have worked with and played with and agreed with and argued with over the course of my lifetime. I was crying as I was thinking of how the winds of time have blown us together and apart like autumn leaves riding the river out to sea.
If you are reading my blog, I think you will recognize the truth and agree with the lyrics:
Who can say if I’ve been changed for the better?
But because I knew you
I have been changed for good
After having seen the video, some of you will deeply appreciate reading allthe words to this powerful song, so wonderfully sung in this chance duet by Kristin and Glinda. Truly, this is demonstration of the way every encounter we have (you can call it chance) changes us for good….
Here are the words to “For Good” (from LyricsFreak):
(Elphaba):
I’m limited
Just look at me – I’m limited
And just look at you
You can do all I couldn’t do, Glinda
So now it’s up to you
For both of us – now it’s up to you…
(Glinda):
I’ve heard it said
That people come into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led
To those who help us most to grow
If we let them
And we help them in return
Well, I don’t know if I believe that’s true
But I know I’m who I am today
Because I knew you…
Like a comet pulled from orbit
As it passes a sun
Like a stream that meets a boulder
Halfway through the wood
Who can say if I’ve been changed for the better?
But because I knew you
I have been changed for good
(Elphaba):
It well may be
That we will never meet again
In this lifetime
So let me say before we part
So much of me
Is made of what I learned from you
You’ll be with me
Like a handprint on my heart
And now whatever way our stories end
I know you have re-written mine
By being my friend…
Like a ship blown from it’s mooring
By a wind off the sea
Like a seed dropped by a skybird
In a distant wood
Who can say if I’ve been changed for the better?
But because I knew you
(Glinda):
Because I knew you
(Both):
I have been changed for good
(Elphaba):
And just to clear the air
I ask forgiveness
For the things I’ve done you blame me for
(Glinda):
But then, I guess we know
There’s blame to share
(Both):
And none of it seems to matter anymore
(Glinda):
Like a comet pulled from orbit
As it passes a sun
Like a stream that meets a boulder
Halfway through the wood
(Elphaba):
Like a ship blown from it’s mooring
By a wind off the sea
Like a seed dropped by a bird in the wood
(Both):
Who can say if I’ve been
Changed for the better?
I do believe I have been
Changed for the better
(Glinda):
And because I knew you…
(Elphaba):
Because I knew you…
(Both):
Because I knew you…
I have been changed for good…
By Debra Basham, on August 16, 2013
When you are aware that perspective creates experience, you really do choose to take a greater sense of responsibility for your life. What do you think of when you think of a mouse? Many people are very frightened of mice. Does that seem odd when you bring a rational mind to it? Have you ever heard of a mouse attacking a human? For sure, having mouse droppings in one’s home is not sanitary and can present health risks. But, honestly, humans might be being influenced by a mammal much larger than we.
In A.D. 77, Pliny the Elder—Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, wrote that elephants are afraid of mice in an encyclopedic work, Naturalis Historia, which became a model for all other encyclopedias. MythBusters Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman have done experiments (thinking they would disprove Pliny) and shown in a Natural Geographic film that, indeed, elephants do run from mice.
Here is a comment on a blog about the showing of their conclusions:
I’ve seen this episode several times now, and my first thought when the elephant backed off from the mouse was not that it was afraid, but being cautious not to step on it. Elephants are intelligent and compassionate animals. I think if they come across a small, non threatening animal like a mouse, they will make every effort not to harm it.
So, here you are confronted with two very different opinions. One might give more weight to Adam and Jamie since they were the ones who saw the elephants. But, what if we cannot believe what we see with our own eyes? A lot of people obviously have at least a suspicion you should be suspicious about what you see and what you think. You will get about 260 million results to a search for the phrase, “Don’t believe every thought that you think.”
Native American lore is likely to put nature into context, meaning the suggestion to observe the behavior and message (called medicine) of the specific creature you encounter. In Animal-Speak: The Spiritual & Magical Powers of Creatures Great & Small (p.290), author Ted Andrews, says this about mouse:
When mouse shows up as a totem, it is either time to pay attention to details, or an indication that you cannot see the forest for the trees. You may be getting so locked into details that you forget the big picture.
Mouse medicine can show you how to focus and pay attention to detail. It can show you how to attain the big things by working on the little things. Whenever mouse shows up there are lessons associated with attention.
This month I am working with attention by developing an expanded awareness of things that allow me to access what is sometimes called the “field of infinite possibilities.” As part of the workshop series with Barbara Brodsky, I am doing an energy technique using colors and the chakras and aura. Once that “etheric field” has been accessed, the suggestion is to hold your highest intention in mind. From the Buddhist tradition you might intend (1) harm no one (2) may all sentient beings come to the end of suffering (3) may all experience peace. As a Christian, you can intend for each person to experience salvation and live in love.
A wonderful reminder for each of us to not be afraid of the little things in life comes from this baby white-footed deer mouse. We found him stunned on the pavement and picked him up and moved to him to the safety of the foliage you see him on in the photo.They are strictly nocturnal and can become blinded by the sunlight. This guy was about the length of my little finger. Soon after we put him down, he burrowed himself down under the leaves. Ah… safety!
Being aware of both the details that we can attend to and the sense of meaning that comes from seeing the bigger picture does provide a greater sense of connection to the All That Is, doesn’t it…
By Debra Basham, on August 6, 2013
I have been more than aware of patterns and habits while attending a series of workshops on higher states and stages of consciousness. The second day of the second workshop was about meditating on the four elements of nature. We were instructed to do this while floating in the water, or sitting with feet in the water, or while looking out at the water. We braced for the cool wind and each chose our space and settled in.
I did have some thought of getting into trouble as I got pulled out of my meditation practice because I saw a snake sliding its way along the edge of the bank of the lake, weaving in and out the legs of the chairs and the legs of the participants sitting in the chairs in the shallow water. Many were wrapped up against the chill.
I knew one other participant saw the snake, and I was deep in delight as I waited almost breathlessly to see if any others of those sitting on the chair or along the bank would feel a close encounter or see our slithering friend. None did—or at least no one reacted.
No one else seemed to notice at all, so I easily tucked my memory into my open heart and returned to pure awareness of the wind and the earth and the water and the sun. It is amazing to notice how everything really is a blend of the elements, and those are both in the world and inside us.
The sand at the bottom of the lake is made up of air, water, and earth, and the wind was blowing ripples across the surface of the water. My face got a bit sunburned, even in the low temperatures. I was aware of choosing to experience the blessing of the elements as I remembered the teacher had previously mentioned the story of a meditation student who had complained about construction noise nearby his meditation hall, to which the master simply replied, “Did you note it?”
As we were wrapping up the weekend with questions and answers, an interesting exchange occurred. Our teacher had responded to an email question someone not at the workshop had asked me, and as she began addressing the question, a participant in the workshop raised a hand and expressed discomfort and confusion as to why our teacher was addressing the question. Our teacher did her best to reply kindly that she was addressing the question because I had asked it.
I felt a familiar feeling in the pit of my stomach—and I noted “awkward…”
Early the previous morning, on the way to the location of the workshop, the morning mist had cast a spell of delight on the forest floor. It was as though the fairies were holding a gala! The entire length of the lane leading from the house is hugged by tall tree people. Slender trunks and upward reaching branches guard the way with as much poise as the soldiers at Buckingham Palace.
Just as we pulled onto the lane, the sun broke through an opening in the trees and we were greeted with an almost endless row of rays! Totally stunned by the view, I stopped the van, put it into park, got out and snapped this photo:
As I sit in meditation now that I am home, my intention is to be moving on into awareness of those higher states of consciousness. I noted I had had a fleeting wondering what the energy would have been like in the workshop if the teacher had said to the person who expressed confusion with an annoyed tone of voice, “Did you note it?”
For a while, maybe for a long while, I will appreciate the moment that mist greeted the morning sun. Amazing where you can find true and lasting beauty, isn’t it….
By Debra Basham, on July 28, 2013
In the midst of gathering darkness,
light becomes more evident.
~ Bonnie Bostrom
Over the past couple of weeks I have found myself very busily engaged with an internationally known philosopher in some deep philosophical questions. Our lively explorations grew out of a quotation he saw in my on-line bio. “What’s in the way, is the way.” We have invited pondering ideas that have broad implications for us all such as:
Is there any truth to the idea that what you focus on you get more of?
If so, what is the most appropriate relationship to have with what comes into awareness?
Is there a going beyond awareness?
I have started to blog about all this several times, only to be interrupted. In the meanwhile, the ultimate truth of “What’s in the way, is the way” keeps revealing itself.
For example, last Thursday morning, I had some miscommunication about the sequence in which we would run some errands. The result was to put us in the precise place at the precise time to make significant connections, so much so that it could only be called meaningful coincidence. Not being able to find the door to the Nazareth post office allowed us to walk in as a person we know was walking out. This person had information we needed, but would not have ever thought to seek her out for.
The confusion about the sequence of the errands, the delay in finding the door to the post office, then the exchange with the person there, all managed to put us at the bank just as a huge line formed. The line brought a financial service coordinator out into the lobby asking, “If anyone has just a simple deposit, I can help you.” Our conversation with this woman quickly revealed multiple connections that would not otherwise have been made. The precision of the tiny windows of opportunity never cease to amaze me.
A few minutes ago, I received this message from a friend vacationing in another state:
“I turned on my computer yesterday morning and found ants crawling all over the desk. Then our toilet plugged up. I went to the front desk and very graciously reported our problem. Then they very graciously asked if we would like to move to another room…. We are now staying in the “Queen Suite” with all the comforts for $57.00 per night!!! How’s that for manifesting abundance?….Thank you to the little ants that made it possible.”
Reading of her ants made me recall an incident I experienced while staying in Thailand in 2010. The counter of the home I was staying in was covered with ants! When the mother of my hostess stopped by, with great indignation I reported the ants all over the counter to her. She very calmly and compassionately responded, “Ants. What you going to do?” I guess that was that to a Buddhist sincerely living the call to harm no one.
It may be undeniable that our outer world is experiencing chaos.
“Chaos. What you going to do?”
It may also be undeniable that in the midst of all that global outer chaos is a silent rhythm and pattern of order unseen by the human eye, unheard by the human ear, but nonetheless felt in the stillness of the human heart.
That outer chaos might be a call to experience deeper inner calm. Thanks be to god if that is true….
By Debra Basham, on July 10, 2013
It was very late in the evening, but before calling it a day, I was diligent to wash some fresh lettuces that had been gifted to me by a friend. As I was taking the trimmings out to the garage fridge (I save those for another friend who has chickens), out of the corner of my eye, I saw something fly by. For just a moment, I wondered if it might have been a bat, but it was a very large moth!
The moth was about the size of my fist, and not only did I get to enjoy seeing it, it decided to enjoy walking on me. It walked on my arm, then down my body and onto my leg. It was as though I was being rewarded for my kitchen work. I was very honored, and a bit amazed by the experience, and as I escorted it out into the front yard, I thanked it for the visit, and I wished it a good life.
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| Waved Sphinx moth going for a ride on the back of my leg! |
I have thoroughly enjoyed learning the way Native peoples instinctively knew to look to nature for life meaning. This is commonly called “animal medicine” and is related to the practice of your having awareness of totem animals that are significant throughout your life, as well as specific messages at a given time. Several wonderful books are in my personal library, including Animal-Speak: The Spiritual & Magical Powers of Creatures Great & Small, by Ted Andrews, and Medicine Cards: The Discovery of Power Through the Ways of Animals, by Jamie Sams, David Carsonand Angela C. Werneke.
Additionally, you can learn the meaning of specific animals by doing a Google search. Try putting in the name of the creature you have seen in nature along with the words “medicine totem.” It is wonderful to recognize the way the divine is always guiding and supporting us, and nature has become a significant part of that communication in my life.
A few days after my moth encounter, my brother-in-law spotted an Imperial Moth on a garden rock he had painted for my sister, Janis. The rock is her fairy door, and Larry—an artist, writer, and photographer— took this amazing photo.
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| Imperial moth photo taken on the garden fairy door, both by Larry Britton. |
This excerpt is from my recent search for moth medicine totem:
Philosophically speaking, night creatures do not fumble in the dark, and neither do humans. We use our dreams, our awareness, and our deeper, inner knowing to navigate through the darkest hours of our lives.
Faith is another tool we use to move through shadowy times of uncertainty, and the moth also shares this aspect. The moth never questions provision. She has complete faith that all of her needs will be met each night.
While we may not have the privilege of seeing such a large moth every night, each time we see a moth, or even think about them, or about nature in general, we, too, can have complete faith that all of our needs will be met.
Thank you, Mother Nature, for being such a beautiful reminder to us all…
By Debra Basham, on July 4, 2013
I have always been fascinated by those optical illusion games such as this one with the young woman and the old lady. Have you noticed how obvious something is once you see it?
A good example of the way we can miss the obvious, is the information about whether an exit will be to your left or to your right. You can tell that by noticing which side of the sign the exit number is on.
I recently attended a workshop on higher consciousness. At the workshop, we worked with 8 stages and states from Barbara Brodsky’s book Cosmic Healing, condensed from Ken Wilber’s work.
Another way to think about that is to notice the availability of expanded states of awareness. One message the teacher shared over and over was that we are able to become aware of things being simultaneous. At the same moment, you can see when someone speaks rudely or in a condescending way to you, and also realize that he or she is in great pain and the action has nothing to do with you. In fact, this might be what Don Miguel Ruiz was addressing when he gave the wise advice to take nothing personally (The Four Agreements).
For sure, it may well be worth thinking about how much other awareness is available to us at each moment. Perhaps that is the greatest freedom human beings can enjoy.
Happy Independence Day!
By Debra Basham, on June 28, 2013
I have been giving a lot of thought to meditation, and this week I had a wonderful meditative experience with some tiny toads while I was out for a walk. The tiny toads were about the size of my finger nail on my pinkie. A dozen or more of them were spaced along a stretch of the road; each tiny toad was trying (unsuccessfully) to climb the curb. They did not seem yet to be able to hop high enough to make it up, and as soon as they would get partway up, down they would slide. I have always loved toads and frogs. I took time to help each one up and onto the soil, feeling very connected to the web of life.
Two years ago researchers at Justus Liebig-University in Giessen, Germany and Harvard Medical School integrated decades of existing research into a comprehensive conjectural report, which explains the various neurological and conceptual processes through which mindfulness mediation works (and which recent studies have continued to affirm.)
The report suggests that mindfulness meditation operates through a combination of several distinct mechanisms: attention regulation, body awareness, emotion regulation, and a change in perspective on the self. Each component is believed to assist us in various aspects of our lives, and when functioning together, the cumulative process claims to lend an enhanced capacity for “self-regulation” — the ability to control our own “thought, affect, behavior, or attention” (The loss of which has been cited as the cause of much psychological distress and suffering).
In other words, the researchers suggest that the practice allows us to develop a stronger command over the machinery of the mind, a dexterity which, according to a study released this week, stays with you long after you finish meditating.
Long after the experience, the lesson seems to stay with me. The best ones do that…
By Debra Basham, on June 19, 2013
It is amazing how obvious something is as you are able to be more present. Saturday morning when I stopped to pick up my friend Claudia to drive to a three-day silent meditation retreat, I made one last potty stop, using her husband’s bathroom. We got into the car, settled in, and as I backed out of the driveway, I teased her that I like his bathroom other than the fact that his toilet paper rolls the wrong way. I did not yet realize that the message of the retreat was already being revealed to me….
The teachers of the retreat help students work with the practice of Vipassana (mindfulness or insight) meditation. As a prolific writer, it is a miracle that I can limit myself to just a few sentences on the tiny pages in a 3 inch by 4 inch notebook. On Sunday afternoon, I made the first note in my retreat journal: “If I were not judging right now, what might I be experiencing?”
The toilet paper roll came to mind—along with a flood of pain and the thought that what I might be experiencing if I was not judging, was my desire to be “right.” Even toilet paper direction had a right and wrong connotation in my mind. It was as though every act held life or death implications.
Right and wrong are not like perfect pitch, they are like relative pitch. Close enough is good enough. It is important you are moving in the direction of… Be sure to set your intention. Correct and incorrect belongs to the mundane. Words tumbled onto the page as relief flowed in along with the welcomed pure awareness. I could see the past simply as what I was to experience.
Another note in my retreat journal: “If we have a preference, that can be a place of stuckness.”
The bathroom adjacent to the meditation hall had a twin toilet paper holder. I reversed one so it went under while the other went over. I experimented with noticing my preferences and soon began to feel a palpable ease in accessing tissue from down under!
I began to notice how deeply connected that old fear of doing something wrong had been connected to the tension in my shoulders and the tightness in my abdomen. As I saw the old conditioning for what it was, I began to set my intention to not be in tension, choosing instead to experience ease in my body, mind, and spirit, by letting grace flow in. My shoulders relaxed and my belly softened. What an amazing relief….
We were instructed to notice how much even our sensations of pleasant and unpleasant are influenced by our perceptions which have been conditioned. Barbara said if you feel something on your skin and you see that it is a fly, the sensation is likely to be considered unpleasant. However, if you see that what is walking on you is a butterfly, you are much more likely to consider delight in the tickling of that touch. As is often the case, you have the opportunity to practice experiencing the truth you are integrating…
 This morning, as I was immersed in the tasks around catching up, I began to feel that old pattern of stress in my shoulders and tightness in my belly starting to reassert itself. I remembered hearing a teaching about the one who is aware of tension is not tense. I set that intention to see that bigger picture, and I began to ponder that idea of right and wrong applying only to the mundane world. When I am putting a phone number in the customer profile, if I put in a 7 where there should have been an 8, I have put in a WRONG number. If I decide to buy this car over another make and model, is one choice right and another wrong? Perhaps if I am buying a Corvette and I can only pay for a Ford Focus, that may not the best choice, but notice how clearly you are able to see that idea of relative pitch.
Barbara shared about having gone into a local soda shop with a friend of color. This was about 50 years ago, in the old world of hatred and biggotry we lived in back then. Barbara and her friend sat down at the counter and Barbara said, “We would each like a coke.” She thought things were going well as she watched the soda jerk turn and draw two glasses of cola, but when he came back over to the counter where the two young girls were sitting, rather than set the glasses on the counter for them, he poured the ice cold contents over each girls’ head! A riot broke out and Barbara was arrested. With her in the cell was an elderly black woman (elderly to Barbara’s then twenty-something, but probably no more than fifty). The woman commented to Barbara about how angry she was.
“Yes, I am angry. You should be angry, too. Aren’t you angry?” Barbara snapped.
“Of course, I am feeling angry, but I am also feeling love. They are so afraid…” came the woman’s life-changing reply.
As Mother Teresa said, “If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.”
I don’t know if you will agree or disagree with all of this, but one more note of truth in my journal worth remembering: “Nothing is ever finished.”
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