Questions and a Pledge!

Dear Family of Love,

Happy Take Care Tuesday! Here are tonight's questions to ponder: Why is it hard to love one's neighbor or in our case here at Walk With Me On Our Journey family member?  Why is it hard to accept our family members the way God made them and be lovingly inclusive? These are for our meditation time tonight. All answers are between you and God. Tonight let us start by using our regular breathing exercises. 

Breathe in the Holy Spirit
Exhale Love

Breathe in the Holy Spirit
Exhale Love

Breathe in the Holy Spirit
Exhale Love

Do this in repetitions of three.

Now Take each question separately:

Why is it hard to love one's neighbor or in our case here at Walk With Me On Our Journey family member?

Why is it hard to accept those of our  family members who differ from us and accept the way God made them and be lovingly inclusive? 

Take your time with these questions. If you need to split them up today then do that. 

Here is tonight's music;  The Mission Soundtrack -Ennio Morricone



We need to conscientiously and intentionally give ourselves over to being lovers not haters, people who include and not exclude, we need to strive to be at one!  This is what being a holy child and person of God is all about. We are called to live out our lives in a holy manner. Every day when our feet hit the floor we are walking on holy ground. Wherever we walk it is holy ground. Every day is holy. Every living thing is holy. Every person is holy!  Let us strive today by finding common and holy ground. Let's start by pledging to God, Our family members, Our enemies, and ourselves that we will love,  lovingly include, and warmly welcome everyone into our hearts and heart homes.


Dear God on this the 30th day of June I/ We pledge to You, Our Family Members, Our Enemies, and ourselves  that we may live holy and loving lives that lovingly include and warmly welcome everyone into our hearts and heart homes and see You in every face that we meet. 

We pray that with your help we may become peacemakers willing to change this fragile and broken world  for the better, one loving and grace-filled act at a time. 

We pray that we may seek to come to know each other and those who differ from us fully without fear. 

We pray for God's grace to walk difficult paths with courage wherever God leads us.

We pray for health and strength for all who are caregivers.

We pray for the healing of all who are ill in body, mind, and spirit that they may accept the healing at whatever pace you O God have chosen for them.

We pray for all spouses and children who are making difficult decisions on behalf of their loved ones.

We pray for all who are grieving losses of any kind.

We pray for the least of these that we may see Your Face in them.

We pray for all who are dying and those who have joyfully entered the Thin Places.

We pray for all refugees, political prisoners, victims of terror, violence, and abuse. We pray especially all Women and Young girls who have been and are victims of  human trafficking by ISIS, Boko Haram and anyone who degrades them. We pray that all these family members of ours may be kept safe from harm and be lovingly returned to their homes and families.

We pray for conservation of God's Cathedral of Life and that solutions may be found to curb global warming.

We pray for peace, justice, inclusion, and universal human rights for all people of the Earth. We pray this also for our nation. We pray for our leaders that they may know that they work for us and that they are called to serve the people who elected them. We pray for sound and sensitive leadership at all levels.

We pray for _______________

We give thanks for______________

We pray this night for our faith communities and that we may lovingly learn from them and that they may learn from us. We pray especially for all the Black churches that have been devastated by fires and an end to this form of violence. We pray for all religious leaders that they may find ways in which to lovingly work together for God and The good of all.

We lift up these our prayers in the Name of Jesus. Amen.


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Good Night Dear Ones! Take care of you and take care of others this night and always. Always know that you are loved and that I love you! You Matter! I give thanks to God for you always!  Have a restful and blessed night!


Love, prayers, and blessings!

Sara

A time for quiet and prayer! Also a reminder about fireworks and the drought.

Dear Family of Love,

How are you on this fine You Matter Monday? I hope everyone is well and happy and that you made someone feel as thought they mattered and that also extends right back to you. You Matter! It has been a beautiful day here in Santa Maria and yet there is a fire the next town over. We need to pray for the people of Lompoc that this fire is contained quickly and that the residents may return to their homes. That reminds me that we are fast approaching the 4th of July and that means we need to be careful where there are fireworks. We have a severe drought here in California and that calls for being vigilant with the dry brush and fireworks. If your lawn is very dry consider not having fireworks at home. Tonight let us take time to think about how we can be safe during the 4th of July weekend. Make a list and put it on your refrigerator. Tonight let us spend some time in silence and do our virtual prayer walk with a labyrinth.  Enjoy the quiet and listen to what God is saying to you.

God we  thank you for this day. Give us the courage to go off the grid and listen to you and your still small voice.

God we thank you for seasonable weather. We pray for  rain in the drought parched areas of the world.

God we thank you for our family members who love and care for us.

God we thank you for your wonderful creation.

God we thank you and pray for all those who are working mightily to conserve the world's natural resources and the animal kingdom.

God we thank you for our bodies that are strengthened to to the hard works you had  us do.

God we pray for all who are ill that they may be healed and cured of all their diseases. 

God we pray for the least of these who need your and those who feel on the margins of society.

God we pray for justice, equality, mercy, and universal human rights for all.

God we pray for an end to violence, terror, abuse, and human trafficking.

God we pray for_______________

God we give thanks for_______________________

God we lift up these our prayers in the Name of Jesus. Amen.

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Good Night Dear Ones! I love you! You matter! I give God thanks for you this day and always!

Love,

Sara

Love, Kindness, Grace, and Equality: Tonics for good health in body, mind, and spirit.

Good Evening Dear Family of Love!


I love you and hope you all are having a blessed Sunday! Did you take time for Self Care and Sabbath care these past few days? I hope so ! It isn't always easy to do this, yet we must. Our physical, mental, and spiritual health is very important. We need to take care of ourselves and each other. This goes along with all of the topics that we have been meditating upon the past few days. Love, Kindness, Equality, and Grace are the tonics that help us heal and be healthy. You may wonder why I included equality? I included equality because equality reminds us that being equal helps us to be in harmony and balance with each other. When our family members aren't fully included and balanced with human rights none of us are. God seeks for us equilibrium for us in all aspects of living.  This also applies to our impoverished family members who struggle to find services, jobs, and a healthy sense of well being.  Equilibrium/Equality helps everyone live well, love well, be well, act well, and live graceful and grace-filled lives. When these elements are denied  to any member of our family we are all denied them. So we begin in earnest of being healthy in body,mind, spirit. Each day we must strive to be loving, be kind, include and be in harmony with each other, and live in God's grace. It's just that simple ! Nothing fancy ! We must endeavor to get back to the basics Jesus truly taught us and teaches us daily: Love, serve the least of these, care for one another, be merciful, be kind, be forgiving, be a family member, be a friend, be a person who listens and thinks outside the box, be a person who shares, be a person who is ready to care for the Samaritan in your life and s/he may be an enemy or wish you harm. We aren't let off the hook! I don't wan't to be let off the hook  do you? Let's meditate on the words  Love, Kindness, Grace, and Equality tonight. I think you will find that when you take time to be at prayer and focus on these four words, just as we did in Advent with Love, Joy,Hope, and Peace these words and what they do and are will come alive with in each of you at least I hope so! This is always good to do prior to You Matter Monday!

Let us listen these musical pieces prior to our going deeper :

Gather Us In

Voices that Challenge

The Summons

Set your timer for the time you need! Be at peace while you do this.

Now that we are finished doing this let us be at prayer.

God of Love,Kindness, Grace, and Equality we pray for all who seeking you who have troubled hearts and spirits.

God of Love,Kindness, Grace, and Equality, we pray for all of our family members who are having a tough time accepting our brothers and sisters with whom they differ.

God of Love,Kindness, Grace, and Equality, we pray for all of our family members who are lacking, shelter, clothing, and nourishing food.

God of Love,Kindness, Grace, and Equality, we pray for all our troubled youth who are estranged from their families. We pray especially for our LGBTQ youth who are in great danger emotionally, physically, and spiritually we pray for their health and well being that they may find a safe place to fall and shelter.

God of Love,Kindness, Grace, and Equality, we pray for all of us who are being denied social services for some reason or other.We pray that these oppressive and unjust acts may be remedied.

God of Love,Kindness, Grace, and Equality ,we pray for all refugees all over the world and those who are struggling to find a home safe from harm and a safe harbor from violence, terror, and abuse.

God of Love,Kindness, Grace, and Equality, we pray that we may be the voice for the voiceless and that we may speak truth to power and do as you commanded us in the words of the Prophet Micah to "Do Justly, Love Mercy, and Walk Humbly with your God!"

God of Love,Kindness, Grace, and Equality, we pray for peace in body, mind, and spirit, and in this fragile world.

God of Love,Kindness, Grace, and Equality, we pray for the healing of your planet and its resources that are endangered. We pray for clean air, water, and the soil. We pray daily for God's Cathedral of life that are challenged. May be rise and accept the challenge to care for the planet you created.

God of Love,Kindness, Grace, and Equality we pray for_______________________

God of Love,Kindness, Grace, and Equality we give thanks for___________________

God of Love,Kindness, Grace, and Equality, we lift up these our prayers in Jesus Name. Amen.

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Good Night Dear Ones! I love you and Give God Thanks for you this night and always!

With Love, Joy, Hope, Blessings, Prayers,  and Peace!

Sara

Days of love, grace, and awe!

Dear Family of  Love! 

These past few days have been and will continue to be days of love, grace, and awe. Today I had the honor and privilege to walk both the survivor and luminaria laps at relay for life. This has become a new tradition for me as a cancer survivor. It helps keep all things in proper perspective.  You never know what emotions will bubble up. Seeing friends and hearing about survivorship and loss is a constant reminder of our mortality and the fragility of life. That is why we mustn't take our life and the lives of others for granted. Everyone and that means you my dear family deserves to have a life filled with love, grace, and awe not just once in awhile but always and every day. Taking stock on the past week from the time that I first had the privilege of hearing Canon Andrew White the Vicar of Baghdad, Becca Stevens of Thistle Farms, President Obama's Eulogy, The Supreme Court's decision on Marriage Equality, and the Election of the Rt, Rev. Michael B. Curry the Presiding Bishop-Elect of the Episcopal Church today along with other emotionally packed moments. I could feel the  Holy Spirit moving in a mighty way and giving us a message of  Good News that tells us to Love, take risks, don't be afraid of new normals,  don't feed the fears and don't give in to hate and ignorance. Look around you see the person on the park bench with a shopping cart? S/He is your brother or sister. See the person in the orange jumpsuit in jail? S/He is your sibling! See the person who talks to themselves on the street? S/He is your family member. See the person who has their FB or Twitter profile picture in rainbow colors? S/He may be a LGBTQ  person who is your family member and they were born exactly the way God created them, in goodness and love. Who do you see when you look in the mirror? I see the beautiful child that God made me to be and God has accepted me fully with love, grace, and awe. When I think of every part of the Creation Story in Genesis I'm reminded that at the end of each and every day that God created something he Called it "Good"! God is Good! We are Good! God is Love! We are Love! So my dear ones let us take time to be at one with another and feel God's love calling us to be more loving, kind, and merciful. Look into the eyes of  a stranger and see God!  Look into the eyes of your enemy and see God! Look into the eyes of a person who differs from you and See God! It's time to Stop, Look, and Listen to God and not the god  mere mortals want us to look for and listen to.  Look to God who is Love, Grace and be awed by everything God does daily in the world and in our own lives and the lives of  others. Tonight we will pray on our own  but first let us do our breathing exercises and virtual labyrinth walk.

Inhale the Holy Spirit
Exhale Love

Inhale the Holy Spirit
Exhale Love

Inhale the Holy Spirit
Exhale Love

Be still and know that I am God
Be Still and know that I am God
Be still and know that I am God

Be still and know 
Be still and know
Be still and know

Be still
Be still
Be still

Be
Be
Be

Here is our virtual labyrinth walk for tonight's meditation!

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Good Night Dear Ones! I love you! I give thanks to God for you this day and always! I'm forever in awe of each and everyone of you and am blessed to call you family and friends.


With love, blessings, and prayers! 

Sara

Amazing Grace - Jessye Norman

#LoveisLove #WeMustBeKind, #WeMustRespect, #WeAreOneInChrist, #WeAreOne, #WeAreAllGodsChildren

Dear Family of Love,

Happy Keeping the Faith Friday Fearlessly Without Fretting! Where to begin this evening's blog ?  I think this is a good start as any!

I Love You!

Remember we are all equal in God's eyes!

We were made lovingly in God's image and likeness. God didn't make no junk and we all matter !

Let us be kind and loving family members to all!

Ok enough large pointed fonts. Today we learned that we must become more united as a country in the following ways: Grace, Love, Kindness, and Equality. These are all held in scripture. We must strive to live grace filled, loving, kind and united lives daily. I'm not kidding! We really do if we want to make a dent into this insane and violent world in which we live. As people of faith and human beings we don't get to say who's in or who's out! That is not our job to decide and play judge and jury. God loves us all. God tells us that we must care for the least of these. Who are the least of these? They are our family members who happen to be each and every human being on the planet. Yes even bad guys and enemies and your neighbor who doesn't quite fit your particular norm. We must care for our refugees from all over the world and yes even those who are political and economic refugees who cross our Southern boarders in order to find a better life and may have run out of options and cross illegally or should we say unconventionally. We must love and be kind to our LGBTQ brothers and sisters as ourselves and as we love God. Remember when I told you many months ago that I had something to tell you about me? Well today is as good as any. I am a bisexual woman. That's it! Nothing special, but that's who I am and have always been. I'm the same person I was yesterday and today and into the future. We must start to scrap and get rid of labels. I don't like them ! I don't find any use for them when they seek to divide and and not unite. I hope that you will continue to read Walk With Me On Our Journey but if you choose not to I will understand. I love you! I give God thanks for you this day and always.

Let us be at prayer!

God we thank you for making us.

Make us one

God we pray that we may learn to love more fully.

Make us more loving.

God we pray for those who haven't accepted all of our family members yet.

Open their eyes Lord  so that they may see you in them.

God we pray for an end to bullying, abuse, and hate!

Make us kinder, loving, listening, and inclusive.

God we pray for peace among all peoples who haven't heard your message of love.

Give them open hearts and clear ears to hear.

God  we pray for calm hearts, gentle spirits as we meet the days ahead in this new world you have given us.

Give us courage to live into new realities and paths with grace and kindness.

God help those who are transitioning into new lives, the Thin Places, and new life paths.

God may we love and comfort them during these times.

God give us each an expanding heart to love, a voice to speak kindly and gently, and broad shoulders that will make us all equal to the tasks to help the world to become equal and have universal human rights. 

God Hear us as we pray!

God we pray for_________________

God we give thanks for__________________

Accept our prayers this night in the Name of Jesus who set our feet on the pathway of love, kindness, and acceptance. Amen.

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Good Night Dear Ones! I love you! May you all have a blessed and restful night and enjoy your Self-Care Saturday tomorrow.

With love and lots of it!

Sara

Common Threads -Bobby McFerrin 

Dedicated to all our brothers and sisters who lost their lives battling HIV/AIDS and those who continue to live with the disease and their caregivers.

Psalm 23 -Bobby McFerrin

Dedicated to all of our brothers and sisters who never lived to see this day. We remember Harvey Milk and Those who were at Stonewall. We pray for all who have led the way so that we may live freely without fear.

I dedicate this blog in loving memory and in honor of my mentor Gary Walters who taught me to sing well and many things. We pray for Gary and his partner who now lovingly reside in the Thin Places. 

Prayerfully posting ! Tender Tweeting, How should we speak to one another in social media? Choosing our written and spoken words wisely and thoughtfully

Dear Family of Love and Pilgrims on our Journey,

Today I was on Facebook and saw someone post a few questions about another person who could see the posting and the questions. This is never a good practice. We all need to prayerfully post and be tender in our tweeting and be thoughtful in the ways we communicate in and on social media venues.
How should we speak to one another in social media?

Respectfully
Lovingly
Thoughtfully
Kindly
No going behind or in front of one's backs. We here at Walk With Me On Our Journey are Family Members not Trolls or Haters. 
Taking time to ask yourself what you are posting and will the other person see it?
Don't forget that other family members may see what you post about another family member and may ask the family member questions they haven't any clue about.
Let us use our heads and hearts when we Post and Tweet !
 If you have questions about someone Direct Message on Twitter or PM on Facebook!
Go to the person first when you want to know something not a 2nd or 3rd party.

Tonight let us meditate on how we can speak and communicate with  one another thoughtfully and  lovingly outside and inside social media.


A few musical reminders of how we must do this:

Children Will Listen

Carefully Taught- South Pacific

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God help us to speak and write lovingly towards one another in all aspects of our lives.

God we pray and ask for forgiveness if any of the words we have said or written have harmed or wounded anyone in any way.

God we pray that we may use our words lovingly, for the benefit of others, and as voices for the voiceless.

God we pray that we may use our words to help soothe, comfort,and encourage our family members who are ill, alone, and marginalized.

God we pray that we may use or words gently as we say goodbye to our loved ones who are transitioning or are in comas.

God we pray that we may choose our words rightly when we are upset and angry.

God we pray that we may choose our words with grace with our family members who differ from us.

God we pray that we may choose our words not to hate but to heal.

God we pray that we may choose our words with eloquence when we need to speak and write to our elected and world officials.

God we pray that we may choose our words as we pray with love, mercy, hope, and peace.

God we add our prayers in words silently or aloud for ourselves and on behalf of others remembering especially____________________

God we add our thanksgivings in words silently or aloud___________________

God accept our prayers and thanksgivings in the Name of Jesus who is Word incarnate. Amen.


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Good Night Loved Ones! I love you! I give God thanks for you this night and always.

With love,

Sara