Let us...

Let us care for all God's children as we love and care for our own precious family.

Let us intervene with hatred and violence by being loving and unified. Let us ensure that everyone in our community has food, clothing, and shelter. Let us accept peace and refuse war.

Alone we can not solve all the world's problems, but we are not alone. We are all making choices that contribute to the kind of world we want to live in.

Unconditional love lives in each one of us. If we want to change the world, we must begin by changing our mind and heart. We must be an example of the love that lives in us.

Do you enjoy Thom's blogs? Read one every day in his new book 
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"Darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only light can do that." Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The world needs your light now. Bring the depth of your heart and hope and healing to everyone you encounter. What ever your work, please work for "justice for all", freedom from hate and violence, and peace. Reach out your mind, your heart, and your hands, and comfort those who are oppressed, rejected, hungry, homeless, and in pain.

Be foolish enough to believe you can make a difference and courageous enough to act with purpose and passion to serve the greater good.

Help to create a human rights revolution of love, civility, compassion, optimism, truth, hope, and a rededication to democracy.

Peace

Love is

Love is where we are and love is who we are. Love is in us and around us. Love is all life. Love is the universe. It pulsates with love. It has always been and will always be. Love is Divinity. Love is God.

The love of God is the love of you. Everything is available to you. Everything is possible. Everything that can be created, can be created by you.

Embrace love.

The word of God is in you.

The love of God is in you.

You, love, God.

What you do matters

We cannot change the past. We can acknowledge it, and learn from it. In acknowledging and learning, we can create a better future. In this process of growth, we ask for forgiveness and make amends wherever possible. This process of healing increases our courage, integrity, empathy, and compassion.

Let us be grateful for all that we have received. In our safety, let us keep others safe. Let our goodness flow into helping others. We share this life. We share our speck on this beautiful blue marble we call earth. Let us encircle each other in brother and sisterhood. Let us be humble in sharing our gifts and talents, and let us appreciate the gifts and talents of others.

We are one beautiful, diverse family of God. In our family, we include those who have no defenses. We include those who have no voice. We include those who look and act differently than we do. How we treat others reveals our character. 

"Whatever you have done to the least of my brethren." Matthew 25:40

Everything matters. How you vote matters. How you speak matters. How you behave matters. Every choice you make matters. Every action we take ripples out across the world and impacts all life. Every choice we make is a legacy we leave for future generations. We now are deciding on the future. We are deciding if there will be a future.

Kindness is the only sane and logical choice.

Enjoy Thom's blogs? Read one every day in his new book 
"Social Emotional Learning One Day at a Time: Daily Reflections: SEL 365 Days a Year"
available on Amazon here

Accepting Help

I am still learning to accept help. As I age (now 72) more and more kind and loving people support and assist me personally and professionally. Having come through open heart surgery, spinal injury, and the death of my beloved daughter; my vulnerability continues to grow. 

I continue to work to accept help and gratefully receive care from a community of medical caregivers and my incredibly talented team of educational professionals, and above all, my beloved wife Sandra. I am aware that as I diminish, others have an opportunity to thrive. They share their gifts of empathy, compassion, friendship, humor, and responsibility. 

As I put myself in the hands of caring professionals and friends, others receive the blessings of service and our lives are mutually enriched. 

Inclusion and Unconditional Love

The universe - one verse - one whole system. Limitless and purposeful in every aspect. We are one of the single points of light in this song of life. We are one shining ray of light connected to the great source. Let us be aware of who we are. Let us cherish ourselves and each other. Let us be open to new experiences and the ability to choose again. Let us see others as emanations of the Divine. Let us be compassionate, grateful, and full of joy. 

Unconditional love belongs to everyone. We are fulfilled as we share this love. The power is in INCLUSION. The more love we give, the more love we receive. Unconditional love is in everyone one of us. This love is forever expanding. Forever pulsating outward. Everyone grows in the presence of unconditional love. We are all connected in the unity of unconditional love.

When we love each other, we honor the Divinity in all those we love. This is an act of compassion as well as an act of self nurturing. What we give, we receive. Inclusion begins in our hearts and emanates outward like rays of sunlight. Let us create a world that works for everyone.

We are one

"One God and father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in all." - Ephesians 4:6

Unconditional love respects and honors everyone. Our universal family acknowledges and transcends race, language, and culture. Unconditional love sees only God's children.

Let us all be secure in our love to connect to everyone with respect, kindness, and gratitude. Let us explore with curiosity and empathy our unique differences. Let us communicate with caring and compassion.

We all belong to the same universal family.

We are all siblings in the family of unconditional love.

We are one.

Be at peace

Turn off the noise of the world. Listen to the soft truth being whispered by your heart.

Let there be a day when you turn off your cell phone. Allow the blessed silence to fill your body and soul. Wake in the morning when your body wants to; wake and breathe; just breathe. Follow your breath and when you want to move, move. Move and gently stretch every part of your body. Be aware how every part of you feels. Pay attention!

Allow yourself to feel gratitude for your life. Reflect on all the good there is in your life. What people, places, and experiences bring you joy?

Make something warm to drink and sip - slowly - sip. Feel the warmth. If you want to eat - eat. If you want to walk - walk. Do what brings you joy. Let this day be a day of rest and awareness. Look, listen, be still. Be receptive to all that is available in the abundance of nature. Simply be.

Unplug, tune in, nourish your soul.

Be at peace.

Practice Love

We are being called, as humans, to expel the negative, hatred, and evil that exists in our world.

We must have, as our primary concern, the love, compassion, and healing of all life. It is time to practice the love for ourselves, the love for our siblings, the love for our nation, and the love for our planet.

"God bless the whole world, no exceptions."

Enjoying Thom's blogs? Read one every day in his new book 
"Social Emotional Learning One Day at a Time: Daily Reflections: SEL 365 Days a Year"
available on Amazon here

The source of joy

The true source of joy and happiness is the awareness and practice of our sense of purpose in each and every moment. This source of joy brings meaning to our lives and enhances our health and wellness. The source of joy originates from within and ripples out to positively impact everyone we encounter.

Enjoy Thom's blogs? Read one every day in his new book 
"Social Emotional Learning One Day at a Time: Daily Reflections: SEL 365 Days a Year"
available on Amazon here

Community

All those we have loved and truly connected with throughout our life become a part of us. As we add years, experiences, and relationships to our life, there are more and more people we are blessed to love. Each new person, each new relationship, becomes part of our very personal internal community. They are part of our minds, thoughts, and our heart's feelings.

Let us widen our circle of community to recognize our siblings from different mothers. Let us be aware that in each stranger, is a potential family member we have yet to meet.

Let us expand the community our heart and reach out in empathy and compassion.

Let us welcome new friends to our community. 

Enjoy Thom's blogs? Read one every day in his new book "Social Emotional Learning One Day at a Time: Daily Reflections: SEL 365 Days a Year" available on Amazon here

Prayer

When I pray, I feel God's presence within me like a warm breeze. Sometimes my prayer has words. Ancient words, learned in school, in church and at my childhood bedtime. My prayers can be gratitude and my prayers can be petitions. I can pray out loud and I can pray in silence. My prayers can be read from my favorite book and my prayers can be following my breathing, in and out, slowly for 30 minutes. My prayer can be watching the birds, butterflies, and bees. My prayer can be smelling the sweet smell of angel roses, lilacs, and honeysuckle. My prayers can be peaceful music, or rock and roll. I can pray by simply, or not so simply, paying attention, being aware. I can pray in laughter, and I can pray with my tears.

I pray knowing God's unconditional love wraps me in the mystery of life and I am home.

Unity

"If you place two living heart cells from different people in a petri dish, they will in time, find and maintain a third and common beat." - Molly Vass

The biology of unity recognizes our inherent oneness. Despite our arguments, prejudices, biases, and hatred the essence of life is to connect, to be as one.

We are social beings. We are "hardwired for connection" says Brené Brown. We are designed to be interdependent and collaborate with others. We are here on the earth, in this life, to learn to be in relationship. To learn how to love with the fullness of life.

May you feel the blessing of being fully loved and loving fully.

May you feel the ecstasy of being one with God.

Feel the pulse and rhythm of life itself.

Enjoy Thom's blogs? Read one every day in his new book "Social Emotional Learning One Day at a Time: Daily Reflections: SEL 365 Days a Year" available on Amazon here

Share

We are blessed with many beautiful and loving experiences. I have experienced that the only way to hold this ephemeral beauty is to give it away.

The deeper the experience, the more meaningful the memory. Give it away by sharing the lesson and the learning with others. Allow others to be blessed by what has shaped and transformed you.

Transformation always invites leaving something behind, letting go.

So leave something behind. Take your intimate memories and craft them into an experience that blesses the lives of others.

The Space

"It is the nature of grace always to fill spaces that have been empty." - Goethe

So what do I do with the empty space in my life that was once filled by Ashley and her unconditional love. The empty wheelchair, the empty bed, the empty presence of unconditional love that permeated every aspect of our home, our family, our life.

I fill the space with gratitude for the blessings that are Ashley. I fill the space with service. Sharing her truth, sharing her unconditional love. I fill the space with the vulnerability that she taught me to express.

I fill the space with her love.

Bound together

"The measure of a society is how it treats its weakest members."

We must act to help and serve those that are sick, suffering, disenfranchised, and outcast. Compassion and caring bind us together as a civilization. Without these virtues, we are a random rabble of egotists.

We are all someone's beloved children. We are all part of a human community, bound together by our similarities and differences.

"Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect."
- Chief Seattle

LifeSkills Conference 2024

 

Miracle

The reality that we are alive is a miracle. How many near-death experiences have we survived?

Your life has a unique and special purpose. There is a reason you are alive, here and now. Every breath you take, every step you take, is miraculous.

So give your life to service. Be grateful. Love, and share the miracle of life with every other miracle you meet.

This beautiful life

Our universe is intimately interconnected. When we grow and improve as individuals, so does the larger world improve and grow. We are all part of an infinite, unconditional loving universe. We add to the greater good with our acts of kindness, caring, and love. When we serve and lift up each other, everyone benefits. We are all a part of this beautiful life.

I remember everything

I have awakened every day before 6am since she left. I remember her with love. I remember how her hair curled when wet. I remember her perfect little nose. I remember her tiny little fingers. I remember her deep brown eyes.

I remember the seizures, the oxygen, the percussion, the tube feeding, the medications, the emergencies, and her wheelchair that now sits empty in her room.

I remember everything.

She is my little girl, and she will always be my little girl. This bittersweet love is a privilege. The tears that find their way to my eyes are a blessing. This is love. This is unconditional love that Ashley brought to our world.

She was my silent companion, my trusted confidant. Her silent answer to my every concern was, "love", "find a way to love, explore every aspect of the challenge through the eyes of love."

I rest in her spiritual presence.

If not you, who? If not now, when?

Since surviving open heart surgery and the death of our beloved daughter Ashley, there is an inspiring truth I live with everyday. 

There is no tomorrow, only now. Now needs you. Now needs your love. Now needs your compassion, empathy, kindness, caring, and integrity. 

Now is the time to speak your truth, share your values, and be fully who God intended you to be. 

Now we must unplug from our devices and sit together in companionship and lift each other up. 

Now listen for truth. Listen for love. If you don’t hear love, there is a chance there is no truth. 

Love and truth

Listen

and choose

If not you, who? If not now, when?

Healing together

"At this point in history, it seems that we will either destroy ourselves or find a way to build a sustainable life together." - Miriam Greenspan

Learning to be fully authentic and sharing our mutual vulnerability will be our salvation. Awareness of our common pain moves us to seek ways to heal ourselves and our those around us.

We must be willing to share the truth of who we are; shadow and light. Through this honest sharing, healing is made possible. The greatest healing process is through relationships. In relationships, we learn about ourselves, each other, nature, and the universe. In this learning together, we heal. In this healing, we create community and sacred connection.

Sacred Moments

My life has been interrupted by God.

I was not ready. I had plans, things I still wanted to do. Although sometimes very challenging, our life was predictable. Medicine, seizures, breathing treatment, percussion, diaper change, oxygen, tube feed, repeat.

Then the pattern stops. It could be surgery, or an accident. For us, it was the death of our angelic special needs daughter Ashley. Everything is changed.

For those of us who have lost loved ones, we have learned that the simple gifts of life are sacred moments. Each day is a gift. Saying I love you in the morning, in the evening, often throughout the day. Appreciating every act of kindness, every kind word.

These sacred moments are the miracles of life.

You are always with us

Nothing could stop you dying, even though you had stopped the process so many times before. Even now, months later, I still have moments when I think you will return.

In your final moments here on earth, you knew we were with you. Through the painful changes your body was going through, your spirit still shined brightly. I looked deeply into your brown eyes and knew you were in another world.

I feel your love surround me. Yesterday we were in one of your favorite parks. The one with the two and half mile boardwalk where I used to push your wheelchair.

This time I had nothing to push. I was a bit lost, not being able to hold onto you. I had to find another way of walking, a new way of making my way through the world.

As I find a new way to walk without you, Mom and I see it. Pink flowers, throughout every curve and bend in the boardwalk we saw pink flowers, and we knew you were with us.

You are always with us.

She speaks to me

Our daughter's unconditional love is everywhere. It speaks to me with every heartbeat. 

I feel her love as I pass by her bedroom and see the memorial of pictures on the wall. 
I see her love in the memorial tree we planted in the front yard. 
I smell her love in the blooming lilac on the back deck. 
I hear her love in the children's laughter from our next-door neighbors. 

I feel a strange gratitude, not happiness, but a warmth that Ashley is not with me physically, she is in me spiritually.

When I Pray...

"True prayer brings us to the edge of a great mystery, where we become inarticulate,

where our knowledge fails." – Parker Palmer

When I am deeply in prayer and meditation, I know that my beloved, angelic daughter, Ashley, is in a state of enhanced consciousness. I speak with her, and sometimes I feel her answer. She comforts me. She assures me of unconditional loving acceptance.

When I pray, I welcome God's presence. I am grateful that God and Ashley are always with me.

Feel gratitude

“The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays.” Søren Kieregaard

All faiths remind us that God is infinite, unconditional love. God is everywhere, in and through all things, the creator of all. God is in us. We are an aspect of infinite, unconditional love. 

Allow yourself to feel at one with this love. 

Feel gratitude for this great blessing, and let go. 

God is with me

When I pray, I am often very quiet. I breathe in unconditional love. Unconditional love is my understanding of what many referred to as God. There are times each day, when I am alone in contemplation and reflection, and I know God is with me. I also know God is with me when I walk my favorite nature trail, swim at the YMCA, and doing my daily yoga. God is also with me when I plan my masters classes, when I talk with my workmates, and when I greet strangers with a clear hello. God is in my thoughts, in my feelings, and in my actions. My prayer and contemplation with God is unceasing.

God is with me when I see beauty and when I see ugly. God is with me when I hear pleasant and when I hear static. God is with me when I think loving thoughts and when I think fearful thoughts. God is with me in sorrow and in joy.

God is with me.

God is.

Our World

Our world is facing significant challenges; war, hatred, climate change, and the lack of basic respect and dialogue skills. Our worldwide challenges ask us for worldwide solutions. Our interconnected humanity must become aware of how we think and act. Do we treat everyone, yes, everyone, with dignity and respect?

Education has always been the primary tool of transformation. We must see beyond the 3R's of reading, writing, and arithmetic. We must focus on the 3R's of respect, responsibility, and healthy relationships. We must share and celebrate our common core values.

We can begin with kindness, caring, and compassion. If you can't do that, at least do no harm.

Unconditional Love is in Everything

The wholeness of kindness, compassion, and empathy is everywhere. We can never exhaust the infinite power of unconditional love.

Unity helps us understand the only divisions that exist are those that we have created. Let us continue to evolve, grow, and change. Wherever we are in our growth process is perfect. The pulse of Divine unconditional love rises like the tides to embrace our current efforts.

Every breath

Spirituality is an awareness of the sacredness of all life and an intimate relationship with an unconditional loving Higher Power.

When we experience the loss of a loved one, we are invited to be intensely engaged in the experience of the spiritual. Our relationship with our loved one and with the spiritual moves to a new, unique, and mystical experience. There is a daily communion that is transformational.

Our awareness of an unconditional loving Higher Power brings a sense of peace and connection with our loved one and with our higher self. We can bear the excruciatingly bittersweet pain of loss, knowing our loved one is transmitting unconditional love to us with every breath we take.

There is unconditional love in every breath.

Acceptance

We need to work towards acceptance of ourselves. Acceptance leads to transformation. 

Be kind with yourself. Be gentle with yourself. Allow love to be your first choice. Listen for the still, small voice. Look for the unconditional love that is always with you. Your power is in your choice. You always have a choice. Love or fear - choose one. 

Once we have learned to accept ourselves we can then move to the miracle of accepting each other. Our intimacy with unconditional love excludes no one and includes everyone. The home of our spirituality is the whole family of humanity. It is essential that in our need for connection, we experience community. 

In our connection and community, we feel the full benefit of God’s unconditional love. 

Love. Love. Love.

 Love is all there is.

Love is flowing even when we don't feel it. Love has no limit, it has no boundary. It can warm us, cool us, lift us up, and calm us down. It is part of us. 

The current neuroscience tells us that compassion and empathy are in our DNA. Love is who we are. Love is not something we have to earn. You don't have to be talented, athletic, artistic, or even a leader. You just have to be. Let go of arguing about preferences and just love each other. 

People are crying out for connection. We want to belong. We want to feel that we matter. Slow down!

Take time to really connect. Look at each other. Put down the phone, turn off the computer, take a walk, share an ice cream, have a cup of tea and talk, face to face.

Love. Love. Love.

Breathe in

The greatest love you have ever known walks beside you. Holding your hand is the same unconditional love that lives inside of you. We search to understand this mystery and all we need to do is accept. 

Accept that you and unconditional love are intertwined. We are intimately connected. The light of love shines on us and through us.

"I am in you, you are in me, and we are both in the Father."

Sit quietly in the presence of love. Breathe in joy. Breathe in courage. Breathe in peace.

Breathe in hope.

Breathe in love.

What works?

Our lives can change in the blink of an eye. We have very little control over the challenges of life. We have complete control over how we respond to those same challenges. It is our response, our inner consciousness, that brings us joy or sorrow.

All the great stories have brought the same message, whether Shakespeare or George Lucas, the hero transforms their inner landscape. We are transformed by the challenge, or what is revealed by the challenge.

When we are transformed by challenge, we access our spiritual, social, emotional skills of resilience, empathy, compassion, courage, and love. Always love. Change and loss can still knock us out, but we get up quickly with each fall. With each fall, we rise, a little wiser, a little stronger. As life progresses, we gain more integrity and humility. Our faith in the meaning of life strengthens.

Our array of spiritual, social, and emotional tools expands. Meditation works, prayer works, therapy works, nature works, support groups work, art works, movement works, music works, stories work, science works, faith works, friendship works, love works.

Love fully.

We are all

Where? Where has the light gone? That spark, that unconditional love that saw only unconditional love. It is here. Here in our hearts.

When the breath ceases. When the blood lies still. When the chest does not rise and fall. 

Where is the person that sustained the process? They are here, in each one of us. They live in all they taught us and all we shared.

Let us find the qualities and characteristics of unconditional love in our lives.

If we listen deeply enough and gently enough, everything returns to the source.
If we look softly enough, all eyes reveal the same shimmer.
If we seek to soothe their pain, all cries reveal the same wounded heart.

We are all unconditional love, searching for our way back home to our source.

Uncover our essence

The only thing that is essential in teaching and learning is how to uncover your essence and live from that place every day.

Our hearts are masked with cell phones, apps, to-do lists, have to's, and should have's. There is a deadening of tender tissue. The journey back to wholeness brings us through loss and love.

We must unlearn our way back to unconditional love.

Welcome

We are a world of immigrants and strangers. We began our journey by leaving our country, our homes, neighbors, friends, and families. We all are in search of a safe and hospitable place to settle and raise our loved ones. We all want to live without fear in a loving community.

Let us open our hearts and minds to those we perceive to be different. We live in a time of increasing fear, defensiveness, and hatred. Our task in this life is to welcome the immigrants and strangers because they once were us, and may be again. What we do for another, we do for ourselves.

We are all siblings in the family of God.

Unconditional Love

“…from the moment you arrive, you are bound to be concerned with love because love is not just something that happens to you. It is a certain special way of being alive. Love is, in fact, an intensification of life, a completeness, a fullness, a wholeness of life.” 

- Thomas Merton

Ashley came to us from unconditional love. She was and still is unconditional love in an individual, very unique form. The entire expression of her life was solely unconditional love. When she left this life, she evolved back into universal unconditional love. 

Ashley is a ray of pure love in the universe. 

Pure love

Let us reflect on our lives as emanations of unconditional love. Let us live now and forever being aware of our oneness with unconditional love. 

There is always love

Spirituality is the intersection of the sublimely intimate with the miracle of infinity.

The human experience of birth and death are profoundly spiritual. The agony of a mother's cry becomes the joy of an infant's first cry. The spirit leaving a loved one's body transforms every soul in the room. We are witness to a passing, to a transition from body to pure spirit.

Our human experience with these miracles is a reminder that we are all a small part of unconditional, limitless, boundless love.

Let us keep our hearts and minds open.

There is always love.

Someone needs our gifts

How can we help the world in these challenging times?

Our lives are a gift from God. Let us share that Divine gift with the world. Let us be kind, generous, forgiving, respectful, responsible, honest, trustworthy, and compassionate. Let us strive to share these gifts at all times, in all places, with everyone.

Someone needs our gifts.

The Excluded

At the outer edge of all systems and groups are those that have been excluded. The excluded have been feared, rejected, devalued, hated, and violated.

Will we be those loving souls that go to the edges, to those who have been excluded and persecuted?

Are we people of a loving God who will reach out to include the immigrant, the stranger, and those perceived as different?

We are made whole when we include hidden, feared, and the shadow side of ourselves and our community.

In acceptance, we are renewed and made whole. 

Be You

We are born for authenticity. The world tries to make us into something we are not. It is the great task of life to be who you truly are.

Do not compare yourself to others. Let your uniqueness shine. When insecurity and unworthiness rears its ugly head, remember you are one with the universe. You are the truth of your Divine lineage.

Let us join in compassionate dialogue. Let us embrace each other and forgive each other for being less than who we are. Let us accept our beautiful uniqueness in our universe of diversity.

Sharing Stories of Loss

Those of us who have experienced great loss must tell our story. That is our responsibility to those we have lost and to those in the future who will experience loss.

When we share the story of those we have lost, we affirm the miracle of their life. We affirm all that we have experienced together, the joys, the sorrows, the lessons, the tears, and the laughter. To share our story helps move our grief and helps our healing.

I have also experienced that this storytelling helps others in the healing process. It helps others to know how we survived. How we transitioned through grief, panic, fear, anger, and recurring sadness. It helps others to know what tools helped us make it through another day. What were the glimpses of light? What were the moments when we were happy again?

It is alright to cry, to scream, to wander, to rely on others for help. It's alright to be confused, angry, and have no clue what to do next. It is also alright to see the light, to love, and to have hope and faith.

We need to tell our stories.

We are one

When we pause and reflect deeply on who we are, we find that we are unique in all the world and simultaneously quite similar. 

At our core, we are the same. Human beings who love and need love. When we deeply listen to a fellow human, we find ourselves. When we share our fears and grief with one another, we find we share the same secret.

Now, well into the second half of my life, I marvel at our common ground. So distinct and yet so connected. We are one.

We all shed the same tears. We all laugh the same laugh. We all fear the same fear and we all stare in awe at the wonders of life.

All Darkness Dissipates in the Light

If we wish to dissolve hate, anger, prejudice, and negativity, we must put our energy into truth and love. The most effective way to enhance positivity in the world is through developing our own integrity, understanding, empathy, and compassion.

Love is the only answer.