This time it came as an exercise in a workshop and yet when I have the glorious pleasure of someone displaying interest in me, what I have to say, what I bring, what I am feeling, it is a beautiful and glorious thing. Of course, he wasn’t surprised. My cup runneth over. There is something I have learned over these travels of spiritual evolution, inspiration is everywhere. I arrived home about 9:00pm and there was a car in front of my house and people talking on the sidewalk. In the workshop, through the various exercises and conversations, there were many times I felt that those present were interested in what I was offering. As I watched this piece, I was continually struck by the incredible wisdom that was revealed by those in the program, doing what most of us are familiar with or at least want to experience, which is to be seen and heard, treated like a human being. He just wanted to get to his hotel and sleep, so I reluctantly let him go, following him out to the driveway, hugging him good bye again and again while repeating, “I’m so fucking happy”. Jane Fonda said this, when she was being honored by the American Film Institute, “ it is more important to be interested than interesting. In the movie, a white teenage girl runs away from her abusive father and taking along her black housekeeper, who had just been beaten up by an apparent racist. After that I attended a meeting on zoom and had an opportunity to answer a question that was posed by the leader. What To Do? “The power and freedom God freely gives us allows us to express greatness, to build magnificent dreams and to call forth the good in our lives, but we must claim that freedom.” Mary Morrissey. I invite you to open in faith and say yes, receiving it and glorifying God in the midst of it. I wanted them to not only love me, I wanted them to be interested in me, to inquire, to listen. We can love completely without complete understanding.”. In the midst of the remembrance, in the midst of witnessing the pain in the lives of these characters, I realized that my tears were not about identifying these stories in me now, it was about my empathy for all those who are locked in their stories of not being loved, not being worthy of love, not being lovable. Many memories had emerged, old wounds surfaced  and here I was, on a Sunday afternoon, what to do? After all I didn’t want to take away from what was really important to him at that moment, watching his show. Quote for the day:  “Keep fresh before me the moments of my high resolve” Howard Thurman. God only knows what direction his life would have taken. What a blessing. It's full of angst, action, and some steamy scenes. I asked myself this question. Today is Sunday, I watched my beloved Rev. When I got off this machine, fixed some lunch, I realized that I was overtaken again by my sadness, grief, rage and anger which was now being fueled by what took place in the meeting. Maggie Cole’s most popular book is The Rule (All in #1). It affirms something I have always believed, that we all want to be seen and heard and valued. As this laughter became audible in the room, the nurses heard it and came to the door. He told me that if he had owned a car, when the fires happened, he would have been here the day after the fires. Maggie Cole is the pen name of a multi-faceted woman. These plants were nowhere else in the vacant lots, just in ours. He has also been instrumental in the construction of netting that is to be placed under the bridge in the coming year or so to again save lives. On my birthday last week, I received an unexpected call from my son Rob. I was gathering my things, to walk to the theatre when he came in with a somber look on his face and 2 chicken sandwiches he had gotten for us. She lovingly reminded me that people can be lifted up, inspired, transformed by a gentle word, a smile, an act of kindness, even from a stranger in every day life. In the midst of all this, a commercial came on about some cat food. Michael Gott deliver his sermon from the Unity of Houston. Stay curious”. It was dimly lit, he was awake and watching Star Trek. Aida is fun, knows how to deal with her tough brothers, but also handles her new husband so she doesn't have to bend on who she is...which of course makes him fall in love with her. It is always and forever present when it is wanted, desired, needed to move through the next moment of my life. We went to his elementary schools, walked around while he told me where his classrooms were, what had changed and what was still the same. The previous year , he was in a Connecticut prison, a place called The Rock, where up until a year or so ago, all the inmates were in their cells 22 hours a day. And I loved how Sophie didn't write a story where Aida wasn't part of the solution to Callum and her families problems! Oh yes, one more invitation. I loved every single second of it. The Trouble with Maggie Cole is a British comedy-drama television series directed by Ben Gregor, and written by Mark Brotherhood. He asked if I was willing to do him a favor, and would I be disappointed if we didn’t go to the movies. “Each one of us here today will, at one time in our lives, look upon a loved one with a need and ask the same question. I have had moments in my life that I remember delivering wisdom beyond my knowing, when it was called for, when it was needed, when it was vital. There will be many stories about Rob, about me, about us and this journey we are traveling. I was told that for a time he would go to the bridge, engaging in random acts of kindness to his fellow beings. I brought this up with Lisa, my therapist the last time we met. As time goes by, the stories of these characters come to the fore and in particular, the teenage girl known as Lili. I asked him if I had expressed how wonderful it all had been and he said, “you mean how fucking happy you are”. Of course I am exaggerating when I say a few. I also had the experience of doubting that I was not up to the final exercise, mainly because of the language being used. I remember going to the theater in Santa Rosa to see it and crying before it even began as I recalled that day I was at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., when Secretariat won the 1973 Kentucky Derby. No telling how many lives he touched and maybe even saved. I was inspired. In the beginning of my conscious spiritual journey, I read or heard this powerful quotation. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. When I trust it, have faith in it, it never fails me. He also told me, and the clerk in the store, that when we was in elementary school, he’d steal candy, take it to school and give it to different people who would like him at least for a while, then they would disappear. You see, words continue to fail. At that time, I didn’t know that freedom lived inside me and had always been there, I thought it was something I had to do, to accomplish, to pass the test in order to earn or deserve to experience it in life. I continued to do my thing, check on my kitty Veronica, change clothes, go to the bathroom, etc. It brought me to tears, to joy, to elation that what I desired most was beautifully given and bestowed on me. This past weekend I attended an Education Ministry workshop, From Inclusivity to Belonging, facilitated by Diane Tapogna, RScP and long time teacher and educator, Krista McAtee. It was full of stories of pain and struggle along with an overwhelming display of the power of goodness, faith, love, transformation and redemption. I watched as I experienced a soothing of my feeling intensity. Take a look at Maggie’s Year in Books. I didn’t really learn about being in the moment until much later and yet God graced me in this experience when I needed it most. I was flying high and wanted to talk, to be with him. I was beside myself, I was jumping up and down, inside anyway, as my days of physically jumping up and down have been subsiding for some time. As she spoke to me, I too was reminded that I have wisdom, guidance, inspiration and confidence that is resident within me. I must have faith. When I step back, viewing these circumstances, I realize that if someone had reached out to Kevin that day, he may not have jumped, he may not have touched peoples lives on the bridge, and there may not have been a life saving netting around it. As they came into the room, there was on every face, a smile and wet eyes. I remember being in the Oakland airport some years ago and having that same sensation, it affirmed what he had said, I loved it. Then there is the meantime, in the midst of, what do I need to do to move from one moment to another. God always provides. I give thanks for her willingness to listen with an open and compassionate heart. I was reminded of my most recent experience visiting some of my relatives last month in Kentucky. God is always speaking to us, in a myriad of ways. We both laughed out loud. An Invitation: I invite you to be willing to entertain the possibility of your own healing with family and friends, in this very moment. A memory from several years ago surfaced almost immediately. To heal means to meet ourselves in a new way – in the newness of each moment where all is possible, and nothing is limited to the old.”  Stephen Levine. Author Maggie Cole shares her latest releases and interacts with her fans! My gratitude is boundless. He was a great fan and remained so for many years, attending Trekkie conventions in Oakland from time to time as he grew up. I know I have carefully crafted a few of those stories in my day. Turning 79 wasn’t like that. He asked if I was willing take him to our old neighborhood. It stars Dawn French in the role of Maggie Cole as well as Mark Heap, Julie Hesmondhalgh, Vicki Pepperdine, Patrick Robinson, Emily Reid and Gwyneth Keyworth This was also new to me. I began this with a workshop experience. He had been to a friends birthday party and decided to spend the night, reserving a room at the La Rose hotel downtown, a very nice place. Error rating book. It was mid October 1975, my son Rob had been in the burn unit of St. Francis Hospital in San Francisco for about 6 weeks, having been burned over 73% of his body in a house fire in September. I feel bad that I didn’t ask and yet, I didn’t realize until that day how much this time and place meant to him. I had a realization that it was the culmination of the years of work I have done with making peace with family, realizing who they are and my relationships with them. It brings me to the present, where the power, that the story used to have on and over me, is absent. They travel some distance and find a house that is occupied by a family of black women, who are sisters, who take them in, give them food and shelter, along with jobs for them to do and a sense of belonging. Krista came to my rescue. I remember Rob brought and continued to bring it into this space, of such pain, during his stay there. This morning I rediscovered, through this movie quote, that I too can “love completely without complete understanding”. We’d love your help. The Governor of Connecticut went to Germany and brought a program back to implement it in The Rock. Lili accidentally shot her mother when she was 4 years old and the story, that was generated by her abusive father, was that her Mother didn’t love her. I have the profound privilege of experiencing this when I make myself available to it. Read 46 reviews from the world's largest community for readers. I was returned to what I perceived as my prison, being stuck in this tiny place having no freedom whatsoever.