Daily Dose (November 10 – 13)
TUESDAY NOVEMBER 10 —
We are brother and sister.
An affirmation of Mother Teresa’s reminder, “If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.”
Yes. My humanity is bound up in yours—Ubuntu. Ubuntu does not ask whether we are connected. It tells us that we already are.
It’s not a surprise that I am an unabashed Mr. Rogers fan. Because Mr. Rogers is like church for me. His opening hymn, “Won’t you be my neighbor?” brings smiles and evokes memories from years long ago. His vestments, a sweater and tennis shoes.
“Sometimes we have to ask for help, and that’s OK,” Rogers says. “I think the best thing we can do is to let people know that each one of them is precious.”
Yes. And here’s the power. Even in a world where I too easily shut down, someone still sees me.
And talks to my heart.
And affirms the reality that the space between two people is holy ground.
And lets me know that vulnerability is not a weakness but a strength.
Sometimes we need “reminder stories” more than food to stay alive. They remind us what really matters and allow us to see with our heart. Stories save us.
Like the story about how Stephanie Disney (audiologist at the Commission for Children with Special Health Care Needs) met her (then 2-and-a-half-year-old) daughter, Rudy. Disney recalls, “my heart recognized her immediately.”
In the story, Disney says, “I am the whitest of white women, and my daughter is some indefinable combination of all that is beautiful from at least three races: curly dark hair, petite features, freckles, a golden tan skin tone, one blue eye and one brown. If her race had only one name, it would be perfection. I understand that everyone wants love and acceptance. And these are such rare gifts, that when people see them freely demonstrated, they are compelled to seek the source. Recently, Rudy surprised me when a white-haired lady, standing right beside us, asked if I was her mother.
Rudy threw the lady a disbelieving glance and said, ‘Well, she helps me with multiplication, fixes my hair, kisses me and we both have freckles on our noses; who else could she be?’”
I love this story.
And I needed this story, because when I lose touch with my heart and the core of what I know to be good, I disconnect from people and the world.
This one thing is undeniable: We are, all of us, thirsty for kindness. Gentleness. Empathy. And compassion.
And, we’re brother and sister. “Who else could we be?”
WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 11 —
Prayer (poem) for our week…
A Camino prayer
May I walk this day
in the realm of grace,
walking with You
my feet firmly on your earth-path,
my heart loving all as kindred,
my words and deeds alive with justice.
May I walk as blessing,
meeting blessing at every turn
in every challenge, blessing,
in all opposition, blessing,
in harm’s way, blessing.
May I walk each step in this moment of grace,
alert to hear You
and awake enough to say
a simple Yes.
Robert Corin Morris
Photo… “Dear Terry, Wishing you a very heartwarming time in Tacoma. We welcomed a table full of guests from our parish of Bellarmine Chapel on Xavier University in Cincinnati yesterday and I used some of your SM of Nov. 5th for our prayer. It was appreciated by all, and I was happy to share your SM link. We are always happy to share good news. I am taking in the beauty of autumn and discerning what it is I need to release in the autumn of my life. Many blessings and gratitude for your SM,” Joanie Owens…
