Be the first...

                                                    The first to apologize

                 creates courage

                                       The first to forgive

                           creates understanding

                                        The first to forget

                   creates happiness

Gifts

"There are so many gifts still unopened from your birthday.  There are so many hand-crafted presents that have been sent to your door by God."   - Hafiz

The Divine has given each of us countless gifts.  We are all blessed with gifts and talents.  Our only task in this life is to discover and use in service, all that we have been blessed to share.  What gifts do you share?  Song, dance, writing, activity, organization, speaking, teaching, mentoring, counseling, dreaming, healing, comfort, detail, expansion, investment, conversation, faith, patience, passion, compassion, laughter, love, science, discovery, invention, respect, responsibility, relationship, friendship, integrity, authenticity, vulnerability, peace, unity.

The Divine is one with us and whispers ... "Everything I have is yours."

                                                                                                                                   - Hafiz

Give the gift God created you to be.

Kindness

Be kind and forgiving with no expectation of reward, knowing that one day someone will do the same for you.

Presence

"...I believe that vulnerability- the willingness to show up and be seen with no guarantee of outcome- is the only path to more love, belonging, and joy."

  - Dr. Brene Brown                   

Our challenge is in "showing up," being fully authentic.  For me, this includes being afraid, not knowing the answer, sometimes not even knowing the questions.  Being authentic, showing up, being real, entails loving the process.  Fully engaging in the process of life with all its insecurity.

I have always valued being fully present.  Presence for me is soul awareness.  This soul awareness, this presence involves deep levels of listening, to myself, to others, to nature, to the "still small voice."  Presence involves staying open to learning beyond my current identity, beyond my preconceptions of what is and is not, what should and what should not be.  Presence involves letting go of my ego and my ego attachments.  It involves letting go of control.  Being fully present invites me to participate fully in the miracle of life.

Recipe for a Miracle

For a miracle, take one act of compassion, throw in a pinch of kindness, a grain of forgiveness, and a handful of gentleness.  Add a little bit of peace, a cup of serenity, and it will happen.

For miracles are here, always, waiting to be discovered.  Waiting patiently it sits in the center of your life, eager to be unmasked.

Love, Kindness, and Forgivenss

"Ignorance does not yield to attack, but it dissipates in the light, and nothing dissolves dishonesty faster than the simple act of revealing the truth.  The only way to enlarge one's power in the world is by increasing one's integrity, understanding and capacity for compassion."

- Dr. David Hawkins

My life experience has taught me that love, kindness and forgiveness are the only sane and satisfactory responses to ignorance, hatred and negativity.  Sharing our truth is showing the light of our spirit.  I believe in and try to practice authenticity and transparency in all my interactions.  I try to speak my truth with love, kindness, integrity, and compassion.

Intention

Our intention is a significant part of the value of our actions.  I find that the educators that I am blessed to interact with are dedicated to service.  The service is an intention and action of love.  They seek to uplift the lives of all those they teach, counsel and mentor.  The world sees excellence as dedication to the highest standards.  The educators I am blessed to work with are dedicated to the standards of respect, responsibility, authenticity, integrity, passion, commitment, compassion, empathy, vulnerability, service leadership and healthy relationships.  Every action we take within these standards brings grace into our lives and the lives of all those we serve.

Appreciation

My life has taught me that all of us, all living creatures, want to be recognized.  We want to be appreciated.  We want to know someone is happy we are here to share this life with them.  I find it beneficial to acknowledge others by seeing them as their best self.  Spirit radiates from all life.  When we recognize and appreciate each other, we all feel the healing of separation.  Together, in appreciation and acknowledgement, we feel peace.

As educators...

"A man has made at least a start on discovering the meaning of human life when he plants shade trees under which he knows full well he will never sit."

- Elton Trueblood

As educators this quote sums up our life of commitment to our students.  As educators our life is service and legacy.  We serve through dedication, detail, inspiration, motivation, tough love, discipline, forgiveness, compassion, empathy, and creativity.  Our legacy is formed in every student who believes in themselves, who learns to work with others, who finds their purpose, who serves their country and community, who leaves the world a bit better because their teacher did that for them.

"The seed never sees the flower."

- Zen proverb

As educators we are seed planters.  We plant seed after seed believing in the process of life and education.  We practice a faith as deep as nature itself.  Every action, every word, every lesson has ripples generations after us.  Every student we impact affects the world and all its people.

As educators we play a significant role in the health and healing of the world.  

Everything we do matters to someone.

Fellowship

"For those who have suffered, tolerance is not a political position or even a principle.  For those of us who have suffered, who have hauled ourselves into the sun, anything exhausted beside us is family."

- Mark Nepo

Mark Nepo, one of my favorite authors, speaks to the comfort and fellowship of recovery and healing.  Knowing we are not alone is comforting.  Knowing we are not the only one is healing.  In therapy, in recovery meetings, in healing circles we listen to others tell our story.  There is a universality to health and healing.  When we risk being authentic and vulnerable, we find that others have been down a very similar courageous path.

"We have not even to risk the adventure alone

for the heroes of all time have gone before us.

The labyrinth is thoroughly known...

we have only to follow the thread of the hero path.

And where we had thought to find an abomination

we shall find a God.

And where we had thought to slay another

we shall slay ourselves.

Where we had thought to travel outwards

we shall come to the center of our own existence.

And where we had thought to be alone

we shall be with all the world."

- Joseph Campbell

Connect, Join, One

God hears our prayers.

In our tender moments we achieve

connection

with the Divine.

Empathy, Vulnerability, and Kindness

join

heart and mind.

In these Holy moments

we are one

with God.

A New Year

Be Kind To All Life

Respect The Sacredness Of All That Exists

Show Compassion

Be Willing To Forgive

Seek Understanding

Surrender Your Perceptions

What Is Essential?

On this Christmas Morning

On this Christmas Morning

All we do is sacred.

Be at peace.

Our ideas of right and wrong are just

reflections through the dusty lens of our ego's glasses.

We are each a child of the Divine.

Every thought, feeling and action is sacred.

Everything is Grace.

Now is the season to know that everything is sacred.

Teaching and Learning

I have always loved reading.  My mom, who was a kindergarten teacher, inspired me to read.  She fueled my passion with numerous books.  She always had the wisdom to give me books that were relevant (interesting) to me.  I found comfort and connection in everything I read.  Early on I realized I was never alone.  I could always find a character or a word that I could relate to.  When lonely or sad, I could open a book and be transported to a deeper learning, to a place of understanding. 

I have spent 60 years of my 64 years as both a student and a teacher.  I am always learning and I am blessed to always be teaching.  My classroom has evolved.  It began in a 2 story brick building in Burlington, New Jersey.  Then, a High School of 2,000 other young adults, many colleges and University's and now the world.  My curriculum is life and love.  I am most interested in the stories of being human.  I am inspired by our challenges and triumphs.  I am less impressed with gaining achievement for position, power, and money.   I am most impressed with achieving unity, gaining understanding and being authentic and vulnerable.  My teaching is less about speaking and more about listening.  Listening to the "still, small voice" in me and the story of the depth of your experience.  I am most interested in your life and what you love and how we are connected in life and love.  I find there is always a connection.  We just need to listen.

Broken Heart

God breaks the heart again and again and again until it stays open

- Inayat Khan                     

When I was young my first fall from love broke my heart like lightning splitting a tree.

Years later, as a young father, Ashley's diagnosis of retardation broke me like a hurricane shatters glass.

Then being diagnosed with a life threatening immune disease broke me like a bone that breaks with a loud snap and you are brought to your knees.

Then at a conference, the joy tear filled face of a young man broke me like warm water pounding the pain from my shoulders.

Each time, my reflex was to close up, to recover but the spirit had broken through.

I will never close again.