Sometime in your life, hope that you might see one starved man, the look on his face when the bread finally arrives. Hope that you might have baked it or bought or even kneaded it yourself. For that look on his face, for your meeting his eyes across a piece of bread, you might be willing to lose a lot, or suffer a lot, or die a little, even. ~Daniel Berrigan
Her face is tired. Dry, broken, limp hair covers her face as she hangs her head down. Sitting in the middle of the sidewalk, 3 layers of clothes, all she has, piled on in layers, she had to be hot in the heat. We walk past. We feel so sorry for her, we drop some coins, some dollars, in the can in front of her. We try hard not to feel too proud we are not there, we try hard not to think she must have done something to get herself into this situation. So we give. Yet the people we love, the man, the woman, the child who is in our life, we often forget to have compassion, empathy. Everyone has fears, insecurities, doubts , burdens, baggage from the past. We just so want our partner, our lover, our friend to be there for us, to be perfect in the steps the paths, each one takes, we forget to be compassionate. We can bake the bread of forgiveness, for just one look on the face of surprise when we react with grace, with love, with compassion rather than anger, with sadness, with disagreement. The reaction of thankfulness, the hug of acceptance as we teach by example, we get what we want by like attracting like. We might lose face, or some may think us crazy, but the love that is returned, that look of love is well worth the sacrifice.
Animal totems: Lion: in researching animals of forgiveness, Lion came up in several different faith systems. See, it takes a lot of courage, strength, confidence to forgive someone who has hurt us. Lion is the leader, the power of the wild. Balancing playfulness, and serenity, we can be the leader by being the rock in the middle of the storm, the calm in the midst of finding peace. Quietness, family , have a fierce love that overcomes the problems, the obstacles in the way . Father Lion is often seen sleeping in the very heat of the day. Seemingly not to worry, he knows we must gather strength to carry out our roles in life on our path.
I am here my usual hours today. I so look forward to sharing with each person spirit sends my way. May the fairies dance around each of us today. Love ya, Me, Cherokee, Cidro, Frankiecapone, Sugar Fortune Cookie, T and the sweet spirit of Bob and Bets,