We are becoming a nation
of indignation.

On this day of remembrance,
let us trade our cynicism
for understanding and compassion,
so that we may become
a different kind of nation,
worthy of the lives
that have been sacrificed for it.

Swimming against the tides of life
is a struggle not worth living.

Learn instead
to float with the tides,
trusting them to take you
somewhere worth going.

I do not need the internet
to tell me how to feel,

and I don’t require a pundit
to show me what is real.

My eyes and heart are open
to what may come along,

and my mind will sing in harmony
with spirit’s sacred song.

what does it take
to feel truly alive?

stop,
wherever you are,
and look around you,
and see everything
as if you’ve never
seen it before.

see it without words,
without a history
for each thing.

then you will not
be living in a story,
and life will not
be separate from you.

YOUR life will fall away,
and you will simply
BE life.

(with gratitude to William S. Burroughs)

Language is a virus
from inner space
to other
inner spaces.

Our words
can infect the minds
of our fellow humans,
just as another virus
can infect our bodies.

Bad ideas
may kill;
good ideas
may heal.

When there are clouds in your sky,
don’t be the clouds.

Be the sky.

I heard a sad story
on the radio today.

An elderly couple
was held on a cruise ship
for three days,
then kept in quarantine
for fourteen days.

It was a time of suffering,
full of stress and fear.

As I listened,
I felt anger welling up,
until I stopped to think,
“What would my spiritual teachers
have to say about this?”

Perhaps they would say:
“Look beneath your anger,
and most likely,
you will find sadness,
or helplessness,
or hopelessness.

Then, you may look under that,
and you may find compassion,
enough for yourself,
and for everyone”.