Meeting for Worship, Diversity and Participation in . . .

I agreed to represent Friends in the Community Interfaith Thanksgiving and to speak on Gratitude for Diversity


Gratitude for Diversity
Judy Brutz


This morning the Quakers sat in silent worship as we considered the query, “What is gratitude for diversity? Why is it important?”

One Friend told us, “When I think of diversity, I think of colors and shapes found in Nature, among the animals, the plant life, the minerals and the people, all people – all of life. If we moved away from the diversity of color and shapes towards a monochromatic palette, life would be so boring. The survival of the planet depends on diversity.”

Another message shared, “I no longer think of community as my local community, nor as our national community, but as the world community. If we are to live peace we must embrace the diversity of all people, cultures, and spirituality, as well as the health of the planet.

I meditate on the question, “Who is my neighbor?” To walk the earth as a Peacemaker means to consider every human being, throughout the world as my neighbor. I must also embrace the life of the planet and do all that I can to bring about health for our Mother Earth. We must reach out to the poor, the starving, the disposed, those imprisoned, those enslaved, those forced into sexual slavery, those in military and violent conflict. The list seems to have no end. The question comes to what does the Divine Healer ask of me?

I commit to:
Journey with an open mind and gentle heart
Accept with grace and gratitude the diversity I encounter
Revere and protect the natural environment, which sustains all life
Appreciate all cultures I discover
Respect and thank my hosts for their welcome
Offer my hand in friendship to everyone I meet

I believe that we must offer hospitality to those who come to our homes and our borders. Quakers have a saying which is we must answer that of God in every person.

Beloved Creator, we offer thanks for the diversity found in the world. Bless us that we might love with your heart all of life. Bless us that we might embrace those who are different than ourselves. Bless us that we might end the wars and conflicts in which we take part. Bless us that we might bless those who shoot at us. Bless us that we might become attuned to the world and the planet, not in monochromatic shades but as a full rich palette of colors.
AMEN.


Pocatello Community Thanksgiving Service, November 18, 2007
First Presbyterian Church, Pocatello, Idaho

Loneliness

"Loneliness prompt" from http://onebreathpoetry

body failing
shaking with two canes
the leaves dance free

Walking with two canes these days as I live with Parkinson's, I enjoy the autumn changes, the leaves blowing here and there. I breathe in the blue skies, and always wonder at the surrounding mountains.

between the gusts of wind winter comes

Change

Photograph by Judy Brutz, 2007

Stone faced Presidents watch the election.

I also watch and participate, will the new administration care for the earth? Reverse the climate change? Bring us out of war and keep us out? Employ diplomacy and cooperation? Make sure that all our people receive health care? Oh, so many issues.

breath observed

the squirrel buries nuts

I am refreshed

Healing Hands

Healing Hands, Artist Phillip Moore, permission given www.moorestuff.com

I was asked to bless Shirley through energy work. Shirley has three children at home and she is living with Cancer. The cancer started in her colon. She had several surgeries and chemotherapy. The cancer spread to her liver. Since the last cycle of chemo, the tumor in her liver has grown.

Shirley and I arranged for her to pick me up and then go to her home for the healing session. I no longer drive because of Parkinson's. When I could no longer trust my feet and legs to do braking, nor my mind to process quickly, nor my perception of distance to be accurate, I turned in my driver's license. Like so many people living with Parkinson's, I am slow.

Being asked to do healing work, leads me to again question where I am in living with PD? What am I able to do? Do I need to let go doing hands-on work? It has been a few years since I included healing energy work in my practice as a chaplain and before that as a therapist. How will PD affect my doing healing work? What accommodations do I need to make in order to care for my body? Will the energy flow be disrupted by PD? How might hands-on healing work be part of my commitment to bless?

I stood at her head and rested my hands on her shoulders, closed my eyes and centered. I focused on being present in God's unconditional love and waited. Resting and waiting, I felt the energy flow from my hands. I moved to her feet and cupped her right foot between my hands. Eyes closed, I rested there until the energy flowed freely. In this manner I continued with her right leg, then the left one.

When I reached her hips, I stayed there waiting to feel the energy flow freely. I was led to ask her to do deep breathing. "It feels full here," she gently touched her midriff. "You needn't breathe so deeply. Be aware of your breath going in and out. Follow your breath." As she changed her breathing, I placed my right hand on her lower abdomen and held my left hand, off-the-body, over the tumor. I led her through some of the 'presnt moment' mindfullness practices taught by Thich Naht Hanh as I observed her in and out breaths. I noticed her body relaxing and her breathing going deeper. www.judybrutz.net/resources/ .

I became aware of Jesus standing on the other side of Shirley, opposite me. His hands were healing, sending light and energy to Shirley. I gently touched the tumor area with my left hand, and pointed my right hand to the floor as I held Jesus in my awareness, my eyes still closed. I returned to Shirley's head and gently held her. When it was appropriate, I withdrew my hands slowly and whispered, "Rest and I will be resting on the couch."

After a few minutes, she moved, bringing the recliner to a sitting position. "It may be my imagination, but it feels like the tumor is softer."

Shirley asked, "Do you feel drained of energy when you do healing work?" She asks a good question. "The energy I use is not my own, it flows from the universe. I see Jesus when I do this work." I tuned into my own energy level and reported, "I feel energized."

"I'm focusing on the Art of Blessing as an element of spiritual practice, in
which, by discovering within ourselves a personal power with which to bless, and
by expressing that power into the world, we both deepen and unfold ourselves in
fulfilling ways. We become mindful and deliberate agents in increasing the joy
and wholeness we feel and increasing the unobstuctedness in our world. In the
process, in a way unique to each of us, our activity as blessers can lead us to
an appreciation of and unity with the Sources, however we may imagine it or name it." David Spangler, Blessing, the Art and the Practice, p.273. www.judybrutz.net/resources

Fires and AFSC appeal for migrant farm workers

Photograph on Orion Magazine Web site

The California fires exposed the living conditions of migrant workers. "Some live in makeshift homes along the mountainside and in canyons," said Pedro Rios, coordinator of the AFSC San Diego regional office.

"We immediately began contacting farm worker communities," states Christian Ramirez, the AFSC national immigrant rights advocate. "Some were still working out in the fields, even in the mandatory evacuation zones, afraid to leave for fear of losing their jobs. We intervened by negotiating with employees to allow them to leave."

Pedro Rios said that when the fire is contained, the migrant workers who live in the makeshift homes will need blankets and warm clothing, along with medical, housing and other services not yet identified.

Donations should be sent to the AFSC Crisis Fund/San Diego Fires, 1501 Cherry St., Philadelphia, PA 19102. To contribute via Visa or MasterCard, call 1-888-588-2372, ext. 1, or through the AFSC website at www.afsc.org/give .

Swanton Berry Farm in Davenport, California and Farm Worker Families

Web Exclusive
The New Farm Family www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/198/
Extra to Replanting People, published in the November/December 2006 issue of Orion magazine.

The people who make it all happen at Swanton Berry Farm
The Swanton Berry Farm in Davenport, California is the first organic farm in America to offer its employees stock in the business. The beneficiaries have included
migrant workers who might otherwise never have a chance to build equity through
their jobs.

“A major focus of Swanton Berry Farm over the past few years has been
to address the issue of farm ownership. We are trying to create a new model of
farming that allows aspiring farmers to enter the profession even though they
don’t have any capital,” declares the Swanton Berry Farm website.

The practical side of blessing is to care for people who need caring. What about the spiritual side of blessing? Perhaps it is as simple as saying, "Bless the farm worker families, Lord," and "Bless the agricultural industry. Bless our country with cooperation and caring for all." Judy

Fire

Firefighters from the U.S. Forest Service run into spray water on wind-blown flames to protect homes and prevent flames from the Harris Fire from advancing in Jamul, California's San Diego county, early Oct. 24, 2007. Wildfires in southern California have forced nearly one million people to flee their homes.
Photograph by : ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images

Conference of the Spiritual Elders of Mother Earth

http://www.spiritualelders.com/

What is the place of fire on our planet, whether arson or not? How
out of balance are we and our earthly home? The following quote is from the
Conference of the Elders of Mother Earth that gathered aborigini people of the world. They came together to acknowledge that their ending time has come and to ask for the best possible way to go back and restructure, reset and put things back on track?

Guidance from Our Elders
What are you going to give to the next
seven generations. Do you have a beautiful gift to pass on. I think so . . .
We are all asking ourselves what do we do next, and where are we.

Our ending time has come, and we are now asking for the best possible way to go
back and restructure, reset and put things back on track that give strength
to us. So we have a huge task the next five to ten years.

We are going to have to come together. This pathway has to be open, so that we can make
another 500-year calendar to bring in sacredness. Look at the elements. Look
at the environment. Look at the clouds,
the mountains, the plants, your
people, and the grandchildren that are unborn
yet.

We want to make an entrance, a pathway, a blessing way. We have experienced
negativity. There is social illness; there is great pain and suffering. Those
kinds of illnesses we do not need to take into this new pathway. If we do, we
only become sicker. We can put everything forward that is sacred. You and I have
to do it. Our children's generations that are coming are waiting for this
gift.

. . . So we are going to have to hold hands and go in one direction.
All of us
have to communicate, sing one song, say one prayer, and walk the
next decade
together with one voice, for our survival and the survival of
future
generations.

Leon Secatero, Canoncito Navajo Spiritual Elder.
http://www.spiritualelders.org/

How do we make a blessing way, that has deep reverence for the clouds, the mountains, the plants, all the people of the earth? How do we leave negativity and social ills behind? These are the questions I hold to my heart and seek guidance from the Sacred One.

Closeness

Photograph by: Judy Brutz

together

through transitions

blessing

2007, Judy Brutz

"Very often now, instead of saying 'Thank you,' I say, 'Bless you,' and people appreciate it much, much more. Last week, for instance, someone
responded, 'I could use a blessing.' " Toinette Lippe, Caught in the Act.

www.judybrutz.net/resources

What is there about saying "Bless you" instead of "Thank you" that feels awkward or embarrassing? Am I all that tied into what people think of Me? How free am I to be myself? I will practice being in the moment, waiting and listening to receive guidance from the Holy One. - Judy

That of God in Every Person

Painting:
Presence in the Midst
Jonathan Doyle Penrose










How do we make room for each other in relationship. remembering the true nature of ourselves with others?

"A Blessing is not something that one person gives another. A blessing is a moment of meeting, a certain kind of relationship in which both people involved remember and acknowledge their true nature and worth, and strengthen what is whole in one another. By making a place for wholeness within our relationships, we offer others the opportunity to be whole without shame and become a refuge from everything in them that are not genuine. We enable people to remember who they are." Rachel Naomi Remen, My Grandfather's Blessings. www.judybrutz.net/resources

It is helpful for me to think of our immediate connection with our Beloved Creator and our turning inward to the Presence to wait and listen. We do this together in Meeting for Worship, as the painting, Presence in the Midst, shown above illustrates. We grow in being able to "answer that of God in every person." We practice in our daily lives the turning inward for refreshment and guidance, and strength in responding to each person as a child of God.

My experience as a Friend is the foundation to experience more fully Blessing.

Whoever Welcomes This Child

Felt Ink Drawing by Judy Brutz

I walked with Jesus the day I saw this boy sitting in the corner of the school playing field. I was on my morning walk and first noticed this child at the far corner diagonally across from where I was walking. I stopped and noticed, held him to my heart. Then I walked on.

On my return, he had moved to be close to where I would be. Again I stopped. I prayed, "Bless this child, Lord. Bless his well being. Bless his family and caring people. Bless them with peace, security and joy."

Whoever welcomes this child, in my name, welcomes me. - Luke 9:48

Another practice invites us to bless strangers quietly, secretly. Offer it to people you notice on the street, in the market, on the
bus. 'May you be happy. May you be at peace.' Feel the blessing move through your body as you offer it. Notice how you both receive some benefit from blessing. Gently, almost without effort, each and every blessing becomes a Sabbath. - A quote from Wayne Muller, Sabbath:Remembering the Sacred Rhythm of Rest. www.judybrutz.net/resources

I open myself to blessing and find I am
meeting with the Present Christ, the child, and myself. We are held in his love and blessed.

Balance

Diagonal Sand www_hep.physics.uiowa.edu

wind creating

ripples in the sand

light plays 2007, Judy Brutz

Do I have balance in my life?

In being open to messages from Nature, I consider how "light playing" brings balance and blessing to life.

Thank you, Christine, for giving this Haiku prompt http://onebreathpoetry.blogspot.com/

Mitakuye Oyasin

Chief Arvol Looking Horse is the 19th Generation Keeper of the Sacred White Buffolo Pipe of the Lakota, Dakota & nakota Great Sioux Nations.

Mitakuye Oyasin!
(All our relations!)
In the Great Circle of Life,
Where there is no beginning
And no ending!

He-c’e-tu-yelo!
(So be it!)

White Buffalo Teachings
HCT Publishing
http://www.haveyouthought.com/

abilities failing

bless all our relations
with harmony

2007 Judy Brutz

Unerblessed Planet

Photograph by Judy Brutz

" One of the greatest needs this planet has for healing is blessing. It is underblessed. Underblessed is like empty calories.

A blessing enhances possibilities for good. Like an enzyme for growth,

like a catalyst in a chemical process, blessings serve to help a living process surmount the barriers that obstruct it."

Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, Jewish WithFeeling

www.judybrutz.net/resources

Al Gore blesses the earth and all the people with his production and distribution of An Inconvenient Truth.

Today it is announced that Al Gore and the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

How am I, and each one of us, to bless the earth, life, and the peoples that inhabit our planet?

I am living with Parkinson's and realize I no longer have the abilities to get out there and clean a stream. My energies are flagging. I commit myself to blessing.

Bless the earth and her inhabitants.

Bless the people of our planet with

compassion, cooperation and community.

Bring us into atunement with Mother Earth.

Thank you.

Flying Free

Photograph by David Brutz

Flying Free
by Judy Brutz

The hummingbird lies in my hand, her heart
beating fast after being measured, weighed

her feathers gently parted
to reveal her translucent skin on her belly.

“She has an egg,” he observes. “They will lay one egg
then two or three days later, she lays another.”

She lies in my palm, looking at me,
then flies free.

2007 Judy Brutz