THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

What kind of culture are you creating?

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Love yourself. You are so worth it.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Say something positive about yourself every day

APPRECIATION

You are old,
you are new,
it doesn’t matter
you are special
and I appreciate you

I appreciate the lamp on my desk,
the desk I work on
the notebooks which help train me,
the roof over my head,
the floors under my feet
I appreciate you.

I can walk and sit in any room of my home
and find things to appreciate
because life is full of things to
appreciate and be grateful for.

All that surrounds me is to be
appreciated.
I appreciate the things
I have borrowed from friends
and the things friends have borrowed from me
I appreciate the clothes on my back
the food in my kitchen
the dishes I get to share
and the dishes shared with me
all this is to be appreciated.

When we learn to appreciate everything
we see the Divine in everything
and soon we are living
a life of gratitude and appreciation

RESPECT

http://michellesullivanspeaks.com/event/got-respect-6/

It dropped.
It fell.
it was not about
being intentional or not
it just was.

It was just a thing
or was it more.
Was it symbolic of
the Holy
in everyday life.

Pick it up,
kiss it and apologize
Salmon Rushdie would say.
apologize for the
disrespectful way
you treated it

What if we did that
all the time.
What if we kissed all things
to see the holiness
in everyday life.

What if we treated
all of life
all of humanity
all objects
with dignity and
respect?

Be the Change

New Poem!  Be the Change   https://www.inspiritual.biz/inspiritual-reflections/2018/10/16/be-the-change

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Learn to listen to the whispers which come from your heart and soul.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

May we each respect the rights of others

A DIFFERENT KIND OF KINDNESS PROJECT

The other day, I was sent a story about an interaction between a homeless man and a manager at a Chik-fil-a. The homeless man had come in asking for remnants and anything they might be throwing away. Instead the manager offered to pray with him and then gave him a full meal. It is in these acts of radical hospitality that we practice unity. Whether this story is true or not is not important. What is important is the lesson it teaches about how to practice unity. When we honor the dignity in others and treat them with respect, then we work together in unity to promote love and kindness in the world

The world is full of people like this. The other day as I was in my mart cart waiting to check out at the grocery store, a young boy offered to help take all the groceries out of my cart. While I did not need the help, I could see that this was something he wanted to do and so I graciously accepted. What I learned was this this was a practice his parents were teaching him. Each day he is to do something kind for someone. When he does he gets a kindness sticker on his calendar. When he has a full calendar, his parents do something for him. His mom told me that one month, his act of kindness was to tell his parents they did not need to reward him for being kind. They did anyway.  He has learned to work in unity with others to help achieve little goals.

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RESPECT YOUR ELDERS

Growing up I was always told to respect my elders. I have a deeper understanding of those now that some people consider me an elder. Elders, in many cultures, are considered the libraries of knowledge and life experience. They possess essential resources for the survival of the family, and in some cultures for the entire village. They help to anchor the family in the traditions of their family and culture. The elders are in most cultures the most revered because they are the ones who preserve and nurture. It is, in any cultures, a role which one yearns to achieve. While we do not always respect our elders in our culture, perhaps this is something we can learn from cultures around the world who have a different understanding of respecting one’s elders

In African cultures, for example, the elder is as important to the community as the newborn. They are both viewed as being equal in proximity to the world of the ancestors. One has just come and one is preparing to ascend and return. They compliment and honor each other. The youth are viewed as a physical stability and strength drawn from the ancestors. They are both respected because they know in their own ways they are connected through their recognition of worlds other than our own.

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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

What are you willing to do to foster spiritual connections in your life?

THE PATH TO ENLIGHTENMENT

As many of you know, the show Chopped on the Food Network never ceases to be a source of inspiration for this blog. Last night was no different, albeit for different reasons. The cheftestants were not those who work as restaurant chefs, private chefs, or even culinary instructors. They were those who worked in non-profit organizations preparing food for those we so often call “the least of thee.” One cooked for the Fresh Air Fund and others cooked for various homeless shelters. It was the story of one of the cheftestants who talked about going from being homeless to being able to cook at the shelter that moved me. It reminded me of a time in my own life when I had almost become homeless. His story also moved me because of how they served their clients in the homeless shelter. Their dining facility did not have line that people went through, but was set up like a restaurant with menus and a volunteer staff that served as wait staff.

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ALL ARE WORTHY

Somebody recently asked me why I continue to write in this blog? How many different connections can one possibly make between food and spirituality? I just smiled and said the connections are endless. They challenged me to make a connection between food addictions and spirituality. As I have a few (olives, pot stickers, sashimi, anything spicy, and seafood), I found this interesting. Just about everyone I know has a food they crave. Recently I saw an article that talked about how fast foods activate similar parts of the brain as drugs. I can say, at least for me, that my addiction to my foods of choice is not about the food. It is about me. There are things about those foods in which I find comfort and a kind of satisfaction that I do not get from other foods, especially at certain times in the semester (grading frenzy), or around the holidays. When somebody offers me the opportunity to eat any one of the three things listed above, my mouth begins to salivate. Even writing about them, I find myself thinking about Guy Fieri when he talks about how the jets in his mouth are turning on while he watches one of the guests on his show cook one of their signature dishes.

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WATCH, DO, BUT NOT ON

Anybody who has ever had a conversation with me about food knows that I am a Chopped junkie. In case you are thinking I need a 12-step group to help me overcome my addiction, I do not. I thoroughly enjoy watching this show for a number of reasons, some of which have nothing to do with food itself. One of the reasons is that so many of the chefs who are on the show have such amazing stories to tell about their lives that I find inspiring and remind me of the power of the human spirit and the transformative power to manifest our destiny, often times building them out of rubble. There have been episodes I have watched that the stories have moved me to tears as I have listened to how people have come through numerous bouts with cancer, loss of limbs, homeless, and addictions and as Maya Angelou once wrote, “And still I rise.” This show has also reminded me of the importance of being humble. I have always found it interesting how the humility one brings to the ingredients and the creation of the food somehow seems to translate into how the dish tastes. Simultaneously, I find myself rooting for those who seem to be the most humble and to be focused on honoring the ingredients. For me, ingredients are like people. There are those you enjoy being around more than others, but each is a gift from the Universe and should be treated with dignity and respect. 

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