Thom Stecher and Associates is dedicated to assisting schools, educators and students in achieving their highest level of potential. We strive to foster open relationships where the sharing of ideas, philosophy, knowledge, beliefs, values and passion is channeled into creating constructive solutions. We aim to build healthy communities where we grow as instruments for positive change.
Love is a way of being in the world.
It is more than something we give and/or get.
Love transforms the world.
We become grateful and we recognize grace.
Love is more than an emotion.
Love is more than an attitude and more than what we do.
Love is who we are!
"I'm convinced of this: Good done anywhere is good done everywhere...As long as you're breathing, it's never too late to do some good." - Maya Angelou
My grandfather used to say "as long as you're breathing, there is work to do." I thought he meant the work we needed to do on the farm. Now I know he was talking about a much greater responsibility.
We need deep empathetic listening and compassionate, courageous action to serve the needs of our human family. We can no longer turn away from unconscious bias and the impact of our choices. We are all responsible for taking the actions that are needed to awaken and serve the greater good.
Love and service are at the heart of our efforts to connect. We are one interconnected whole. When anyone hurts, we all hurt. When anyone is diminished, we are all diminished. This is empathy. This is our birthright and responsibility. We can all thrive. We are all emanations of one unified whole.
Let us compassionately and courageously act for the wellness of all humanity.
Sometimes I need to stop, think, reflect, and remember how blessed my life is. I am living, I am breathing, and I am still able to make choices.
Life has taught me that complaining about our lot in life gets us nowhere. I don't like complaining to myself or others. We all have challenges, both internal and external. We all must do the work, internally and externally, required to meet our personal challenges. We all have difficult periods in our lives and we all have down and melancholy days.
I find we must always spend more of our time remembering and practicing what works. Affirm and acknowledge those around us who speak and stand up for the good and positive in life.
What we put our attention on grows. We must choose to focus on supporting all life, in all its evolutions. This brings us to greater truth and greater trust in the universe.
"You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here."
– Max Ehrmann
You all have a right to be here. You are an essential part of the universe. Life would be less without you. When you feel a sense of separation and isolation, remember you are part of one unconditionally loving life.
You belong in this life because you are here now. You belong to our universal family. We are one love living together. You are part of creation. The moon, the sun, and the stars are our sisters and brothers.
YOU BELONG.
You are sacred.
The stress, tension, anxiety, and fear that we experience is the baggage of our life.
Every day, make time to quiet your mind, go within and feel the flow of Divinity.
When you speak and act, remember to the best of your ability, to be understanding.
Practice non-attachment. Let go of your need to control and someone else's need to control.
Cultivate your gifts. Share your joy.
Be kind.
Just be kind.
True friendship is everlasting because true love lives forever. In loving friendship, our hearts speak to each other.
Love continues beyond our physical death. When we love deeply, that love ripples out into the world and touches many other lives.
I still remember with great love, a dear friend who passed four months after high school graduation. That was 52 years ago and I still see his smile and hear his voice.
Love is the essence of our intimacy, trust, and compassion for each other. All those I love live on in my heart and mind.
Let us all have the strength to love each other. Giving and receiving love connects us to the Sacred and brings us to eternity.
"One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in all." Ephesians 4:6
Love and faith respects all people.
Our spiritual family includes every ethnicity, religion, language, and culture.
I pray for the love and faith to respect and be kind to all people.
I communicate acceptance and empathy to all who are different than me.
I am grateful that we are all one in the same spiritual family.
All life and human growth, at some point, asks us to adapt to what is unfamiliar to us. Faith in ourselves and our ability to meet new people and situations is essential for our health, well-being, and growth. Most of us feel safe and secure in our homes. Many of us are comfortable in our own community. When we are in unfamiliar surroundings, we get frightened and feel defensive.
Our faith invites us to adapt and learn when the environment, culture, language, skin color, or food is different.
Our faith is essential in building bridges and closing cultural gaps.
Our faith gives us an opportunity to grow.
Faith is the key to opening our minds and hearts so that we can love each other.
The higher the walls we build, the more we are imprisoned by fear.
If we invest our energy in feeling safe and secure from those we perceive as different, we will paradoxically feel less secure.
Physical walls and psychological walls, which are created to keep the "others" out, also keep us imprisoned in our limited perspective.
The more we invest in security and defensiveness, the greater the cost to our spiritual growth and freedom.
"And so we lift our gazes, not to what stands between us, but what stands before us."
– Amanda Gorman, Inaugural poem, 2021
The work of coming together and healing our separation begins in the heart and soul of each one of us. If healing is to happen, and I believe it will, it will be made real by each one of us. No one will do it for us. The answer to healing our national divide can be found in the infinite potential and possibility of our Divine heritage.
We have joined together after hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, tsunamis, war, and terror attacks. Let us join together for the children who go to bed hungry. For the sisters and brothers who fear for their lives. For the women who have been abused and degraded. For all those who have experienced hatred, racism, sexism, and trauma.
Each one of us is called to heal our world.
Begin now!
"Fundamentalism of all kinds – political, psychological, theological – offer the sweet promise of certainty, of resolution of ambiguity, and of strict instructions on how to live one's life.
...the secret fuel of fundamentalisms of any kind is fear- fear of others, fear of challenging, dialectic values, fear of change." - James Hollis, PhD
All fear is natural. We have all experienced fear. When fear wins and overtakes our lives, it leads to intolerance, hatred, and violence.
When we cannot face ourselves, when we cannot deal with the complex issues in our diverse world, when I fear you, I often try to repress or attack you.
Throughout our lives we have all been afraid. We have all been the attacker and be attacked.
"Fear is the enemy. Life is not your enemy; the other is not your enemy; fear is the enemy...Ask yourself of every dilemma, every choice, every relationship, every commitment… 'Does this choice diminish me, or enlarge me?" – James Hollis, PhD
The lives we are living are a clear demonstration of what we believe. Our lives communicate to the world all that we think, feel, and believe.
Take time to reflect on the things you say and do, on the company you keep, and the messages you send. How are our lives contributing to the greater good?
Let us give ourselves in love and service to our fellow humans. Be generous with your spirit and your actions. A kind word, a caring action, a friendly smile, and hello can bring light into the world.
We need to connect to other people to be fully human. We need other people to trust, laugh with, to treat with kindness and love.
When I am challenged by the people I perceive to be difficult, I find that when I reflect and pray, I find answers.
In these challenging and difficult moments I can decide who I really am and who I want to be.
If we want a country that is more understanding, than I need to be more understanding. If we want a country that is more accepting, than I need to be more accepting. If we want a country that is more loving, than I need to be more loving. We change the world with one caring choice at a time.
“Love thy neighbor as thyself” - Jesus
"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
"Even the strongest hands can lose their grip, the greatest minds can become cloudy, the biggest hearts can break. So be kind. Just always be kind." - Anonymous
We must teach each other and our children to have "good hearts". We must cultivate respect and trust for each other. We must be concerned for the rights, feelings, and general well-being of everyone.
Education is primarily serving others and leaving the world a little bit better than how you found it.
We can all give time, connection, attention, laughter, hope, and love.
"I believe appreciation is a holy thing – that when we look for what's best in a person we happen to be with at the moment, we're doing what God does all the time. So in loving and appreciating our neighbor we are participating in something sacred." – Fred Rogers
We marvel at the sun, moon, and stars. We love the mountains, oceans, beaches, and deserts. Do we not see the beauty of the humans that pass by us every day.
Every person we see is a unique and marvelous aspect of creation.
Today we see so much division and separation. We need to see the Divine in our fellow humans. We need to treat each other with empathy, compassion, and love.
When we are born, we all must have human contact or we die. We thrive on human connection. We are all part of the same life force.
"No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main."
- John Donne
We need each other.
