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I just read Parker Palmer's story Can we create community with each other? and the video he included Flashmob Flash Mob - Ode an die Freude. This video and Parker's reflection bring me to tears. I was first attracted by the heading, and urged on by the quote from Thomas Merton. I noticed the writer was using words of wisdom but speaking so clearly and down to earth - and then I saw the author's name and though - "Of course!" It wasn't until AFTER each of these building points that I watched the video. I was mesmorized with Merton's reflection "they were mine and I theirs" echoing in my mind. Watching the unfolding of those 5 minutes was overwhelming!

We can do this! We can demonstrate positive ways of being one people. We can find ways to reflect the gifts of being different, of the beauty that unfolds when each part comes together to create a something beyond the individuals. Each instrument, each voice, each note, each beat created an energy for everyone around. The challenge - discovering and identifying and implementing the avenues to create positive, unifying experiences. What actions can demonstrate that which is good and done with love is the most enduring and powerful force? It isn't about fighting the darkness. It's about lighting the candles with what we have collectively. I don't know the answers to HOW just yet, or what the next step is = but I know it's there just waiting for us to resurrect it in as many forms as we can envision.

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Thanks for visiting Building Bridges Word by Word. We'd love to hear from you!

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Namaste. The light in me salutes the light in you.

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The inattention to children by our society poses a greater threat to our safety, harmony and productivity than any other external enemy.

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Thanks Jim for the reminder that there is only One side to be on. The human side.

If we all were able to behave and treat each other with dignity and respect, our children may see reasons to have hope.

Hope and belief that the future is bright. And with the belief and hope of a bright future, they will be able to find purpose and belonging.

Great job,

Pat

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We find beauty not in the thing itself but in the patterns of shadows, the light and the darkness, that one thing against another creates...

Were it not for shadows, there would be no beauty.

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It’s hard to lose and wonder why
I have been waiting my whole life

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And I-I, had a feeling that I belonged
I-I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone

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So beautiful and true! This wisdom dances on my heart. Thank you, Parker. Thank you, Megan!

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So beautiful and true! This wisdom dances on my heart. Thank you, Parker. Thank you, Megan!

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I began with your book “ The courage to teach” many years ago.

I pray for a world where all people are valued for their unique characteristics and capabilities.

Thank you Parker!

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Beautiful. Made my morning

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I just want to dump some love on all the people out there. All the ones who would give a hand and a leg up to anyone in front of them that needed it, who give a good tip, who would give a neighbor a ride to the doctor, who have shoveled someone's driveway or mowed someone's lawn for them.

Anyone who ever gave a donation toward curing a disease; anyone who has prayed for the safety of someone who is not their responsibility, anyone who returned their library books on time.

Anyone who has planted flowers or vegetables, anyone who has studied to be better at what they do, anyone paying loans they took out to educate themselves. Anyone who tried to make their lives better. Anyone who reached for the stars and inspired others by making their dreams come true.

Anyone who polished their car to impress a chosen person on their first date. Anyone who is living in fear. Anyone who carries self doubt. Anyone who is angry and disappointed and hurt and sad; so very sad; because of things that were done or were not done.

Anyone who has looked out for a child . Anyone who has watched out for an elder. Anyone who has painted. Anyone who has learned an instrument. Anyone who creates music, or art. Anyone who has sewn a dress, changed a flat, written a song, or baked a birthday cake. Anyone who has gone swimming. Anyone who has smiled at a baby. Anyone who teaches with enthusiasm. Anyone who loves a good joke.

If I reached out and held the hand of someone who is on this list, and they reached out and found someone who appears on this list and held their hand,  I believe that by next Tuesday everyone on our gorgeous blue marble of a planet would be attached to others with both hands. I wanted everyone to appear at least once on this list. Oh; to give every hand a chance to be held with admiration.

If we focus on the basic goodness and the feeling place, rather than the labels, we are so very, very fine.

Wishing all full hearted people a satisfying day. We have totally got this love thing when we let go of the stories we hold in our heads a little too tightly.

M. L. R.

❤️🌎❤️

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Can we create community with each other?

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Happiness is not a place. Happiness is a way of looking at things that happen to you, and turning them into something fine.

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Think That You Might Be Wrong.

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When my bones are stiff and aching / And my feet won’t climb the stair, / I will only ask one favor: / Don’t bring me no rocking chair.

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One day you will look back and see that all along you were blooming

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Jewish morning prayer expresses this same sense of renewal: 

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Jewish morning prayer expresses this same sense of renewal: 

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“In G!d’s goodness are the works of creation renewed each and every day.”

Love… “no separation between the dream and the dreamer”.

May we all be reminded to clearly see the world and each other anew.

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Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until your good is better and your better best.

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Boats and boating--Equipment and supplies

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…you must
Be the thing you see.

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Love is the only transportation
To where there’s total communication.

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Deserve's got nothin' to do with it

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I see something in you that you don’t see in yourself.

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Every day is a reenactment of the creation story.

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If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn.

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But still, like dust, I rise.

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Play the scene you’re in.
Shift the plot. Tell me
Where we can go together.

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avel-chuklanov-Hn3S90f6aak-unsplash-2 play the scene you're in Scribner, Ungar

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Loving you is not a choice
It’s who I am.

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True understanding is unattainable without both love and detachment.