In honor of Martin Luther King..........

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."²

Quote of the Day

Presidential Quotes in honor of the up-coming inaguration.

"Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?" ~Abraham Lincoln

"It is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself." ~Thomas Jefferson, Notes on Virginia

"The truth will set you free, but first it will make you miserable. " ~Attributed to James A. Garfield

"Freedom has its life in the hearts, the actions, the spirit of men and so it must be daily earned and refreshed - else like a flower cut from its life-giving roots, it will wither and die. " ~Dwight D. Eisenhower

"In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved." ~Franklin D. Roosevelt

"Liberty has never come from the government. Liberty has always come from the subjects of it. The history of liberty is a history of resistance." ~Woodrow Wilson

"I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." ~James Madison, speech, Virginia Convention, 1788

"Order without liberty and liberty without order are equally destructive." ~Theodore Roosevelt

Quote of the Day!

"God grant me the serenity to accept the people I cannot change, the courage to change the one I can, and the wisdom to know it's me." ~Author unknown, variation of an excerpt from "The Serenity Prayer" by Reinhold Neibuhr

This one's for Jen!

Taking off the dulling armor,

Letting down, go easy,

Stripping thoughts that harm her.

Trying not to be so queasy,

She journeys down a timeless map,

Through threads of fragile roots,

Removes her woven thinking cap

And worn out weathered boots.

Peering into antique stars,

Following slow descent,

She noticed deep and painful scars

And gazed at what they meant.

Passing worlds of long ago,

Memories of her histories past,

Times of joy only angels know

Ships that sailed without a mast.

Then, shivering naked, completely bare,

She traced her curves and brushed her hair.

Into silvered mirror she gazed,

Remembered children she had raised.

Lovers flashed before her face,

Friends of long ago.

Dance of dreams so edged with lace,

Humming softly…..sway to and fro.

Square by square and ride by ride,

She viewed her journey’s path.

The times she raged against the tide,

Or felt another’s wrath.

Free fall in silky, layered air,

Sweet truth of misty morn.

Spun dreams with tender kindest care,

Love shields her from the storm.

Beneath her roots in ground so old,

Bracelets, jewels she formed to wear.

Her heavy armor melts to gold.

She’d gone where few do dare.

So if your armor weighs you down,

And you would dance so free.

Search heart and mind, look all around.

And see what you can see.

The magic lightness will appear.

When fear is left to mold.

Laying down your shield and spear.

Time and space is yours to hold.

Get up and dance it’s not too late.

To shed what holds you back.

Open doors and unlock gate.

Leaving armor in rusty stack.

Thanks Holly for the photo.....we'll call it, "The Audacity of Hope"

Quote for the day....

"For the man sound in body and serene of mind there is no such thing as bad weather; every day has its beauty, and storms which whip the blood do but make it pulse more vigorously." ~George Gissing, "Winter," The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft, 1903

The De-icing Process!

I sat aboard a full plane....waiting on the tarmac for the de-icing process. There was time to think....I was tired and a little numb from traveling all day. There was a little anxiety in Chicago about whether or not we would be able to fly out of the increasingly hazardous blizzard conditions. I began to meditate....deep breathing.....the open door to de-icing the soul. Meditation has been a gift for several years....finding the warmth inside....melting the coat of steely, cold armor that protects....but also keeping me isolated from really enjoying the present moment. The spirit of love that connects us to each other is much like the de-icing process.....pouring its soothing liquid over our lives....melting away the icy, crystallizing fear that picks at our souls, giving us the chance to once again take flight without the weight or danger of heavy wings. Ahhhhh....the process worked.....we took flight into the night....peaceful soaring above the storm....full moon....winging across boundaries with de-iced strength.

Returning to winter!

Oh my goodness! I traveled from 65 degrees in North Carolina to Chicago where there was a blizzard and lots of time on the tarmac getting de-iced so the plane to take off for a four hour flight back to Portland. Yikes! At 1:00 a.m. I got home to my own bed and this morning woke up to a foggy winter morning.....here's the scoop!

Winter is like an old woman that has stayed too long in bed and is rumpled and dissheveled….with mushy edges that define her frumpiness. Her pallor is a lighter shade of cool outlining branches that look like wrinkles on her forehead. Her foggy web needs to be brushed away from her face and pinned up into neat clouds that float against the sky. How weary she is in these shortened days….longing for color, lush green and flowering hillsides. The ice picks at her bones and hangs from her skeleton…undernourished by the sun. The wind strokes her behind…blowing up her skirt and freezing her inner warmth. From a platinum dawn to a charcoal dusk, the shafts of winter mist are awash with silver ice that drip their tears from rooflines. The cut glass hangs and twists from the eaves threatening to stab the cat curled up in the wicker chair left over from summer. Ahhhhh…..summer…I have not weaned myself from you.