Well, dang. I just found myself getting caught up in the endless loop again – that spinning hamster’s hoop again – that weird compulsion we humans have to prove we’re right – to send our little egos out to fight in a battle that no one will win.
Hurling opinions and catpulting “facts” believing that where our data lands will bring us fresh new fans And getting frustrated when it doesn’t work out quite the way we planned.
Because that’s not how Love works! Love works in kindness – in the ties of caring that bind us. Love brings us together for each other – to help and hold and heal and to embrace what’s lasting and real. – Karen Molenaar Terrell
As you all know, I got vaccinated. Nobody needs to spend any more time and energy on me trying to convince me that I should get vaccinated because the deed is already done. And nobody needs to spend energy or time on me to convince me NOT to get vaccinated, either, because I’ve already been all shot up and there’s nothing that’s going to change that.
And personally? I am so done with the whole bad guys and good guys and blaming and shaming and name-calling and self-righteous indignation and calling other people “selfish” because they refuse to do something that terrifies them to make US feel safer (it might be useful to note here that the CDC reports that the unvaccinated aren’t the only ones spreading the virus). And people from both “sides” wishing each other sick – or even dead! – just to prove that they’re right.
For God’s sake, we need to stop.
It’s been my experience that telling people they’re “selfish” isn’t helpful. Bashing someone over the head again and again and again with our beliefs and thinking that will somehow convert them doesn’t seem to work well, either. Both the vaxxed and un-vaxxed have been slinging “facts” at each other every day since the vaccine appeared and I don’t see that the fact-slinging has brought us much progress in this battle. (Have you noticed that people only seem to hear the “facts” they want to hear?)
So I thought maybe I’d try slinging some kindness instead to see where that might take us. You know, we’re allowed to be kind to people even when we don’t agree with them, right? Asking people to be kind to each other isn’t “taking sides” – it’s just trying to bring some civility into an insane and scary time.
Here’s what, I think, matters in the end: Kindness matters. Love matters. Let’s be kind to each other – kind to both the vaccinated and the unvaccinated. Let’s reflect the love of Love; express the courage of Truth; manifest the joy of Life. Love, Truth, Life (God) doesn’t care whether we’re vaccinated or unvaccinated – She’s just going to keep on loving us whatever we do or don’t do. And I believe that’s what we should do for each other, too.
There were several dear unvaccinated friends who were in my thoughts as I wrote this post (none of them Christian Scientists, by the way – interestingly, my CS friends tend to get vaccinated and probably for the same reasons I did). I love my unvaccinated friends very much and I wish them nothing but good. We’re all in this together – both the vaccinated and the not. Love help us all.
We are of one Body We are of one Soul When you love another you love yourself and when you hate another you hate yourself We are all cells of the same Body. -Karen Molenaar Terrell
Give me time and space working at my own pace and I can get it done for the team But it is a waste of resources when a supervisor forces us to be all in one place at the same hour to get ourselves tangled in directions all mangled like a snake with heads at both ends -Karen Molenaar Terrell
I’m nervous about this one. It’s kind of wordy and “out there.” But I just had this amazing cosmic experience and I had to share…
I wake and feel Life quivering around me and through me. The presence of Love is here and I am within the presence, connected to the Cosmic Body. Not a “Borg” body – not a matter-body of computer chips and nanoprobes – but the Body of Spirit, the Body of Love.
You are embodied in Me, too – not embodied in “me” – but embodied in the one Me – the one “I AM.” We are cells of the same Body. Not competitors. Not separate. But connected. Inseparable. What is good in you – all that is smart and courageous and beautiful and graceful – is good in My Body, too – for we are in the same Body, and have the same Body. All that is wise and kind in you – is mine, too, for we are in the same Mind. And all that is good in me is your good, too. We can claim all that is good – all that is OF Good – for our own.
Faces pass in front of my vision – loved ones who’ve died and loved ones who are with me, here. And I’m connected to all of them still – not separated by time or space or place in this Body of Love,
.And then other faces pass in front of my vision – people I’ve thought were my enemies, my rivals, my competition. And I see that they are embodied in Me, too – not the little me, but the big Me, the Cosmic Me. And the cells are distinct, but not separate. And I love them, too – we are all in the Body of Love.
I feel Earth breathing through my window smell her sweet breath of dew and life and know she is embodied in God’s body, too, and we are connected – all of God’s creatures and I.
Jesus said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” Yes, Jesus is embodied in Me, too, and we are embodied in the one Body – not the body of the human Jesus, but the body of Christ – the Body of Love.
We are nothing less than the perfection of Love. -Karen Molenaar Terrell
“And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.” – Matthew 26:26
“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 2:5
For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it. Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. – I Corinthians 12:14-18, 21, 25-27
“No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent…” – John Donne
“The divine Mind maintains all identities, from a blade of grass to a star, as distinct and eternal.” – Mary Baker Eddy
Karen Molenaar Terrell’s Scrapbook of a Year and a Day is, essentially, a compilation of Facebook posts written between January 19, 2020 and January 20, 2021. If I were to collect my FB posts, it would be very, very dull indeed, but Karen eliminated the silly cat videos, if she ever posted any, and has instead put together a moving and coherent account of the tumultuous year we all lived through and her personal experience of the year following the death of her father, Dee Molenaar. What I particularly love about Karen–and this book–is her perspective on things and her constant striving to live up to her ideals.
I’m really not a dog-earrer–I find it a vile habit–and yet I folded down the corners on several pages. For example:
August 25, 2020 Please do not tell me what I believe, feel, and think. -Do not assume because I am a progressive and tend to vote for Democrats that I don’t believe in God, “hate the Bible,” and want to kill babies and take away your guns. –Do not assume because I believe in God that I am anti-science, believe the earth is flat and the world was, literally, created in seven days. –Do not assume that because I’m white, middle-aged and named “Karen” I am racist and want to talk to your manager. –Do not assume because I identify as “Christian” I am conservative, opposed to LGBTQ rights, opposed to women’s rights, travel heavily armed, and am voting for you-know-who.
I think that if we see each other in terms of stereotypes we miss out on some beautiful friendships and kinships with our fellow humans.
My biggest challenge right now is myself. I guess that’s always my biggest challenge, isn’t it? Stay kind, Karen. Stay true. Keep loving. Look for ways to bring humor to those in desperate need of a good laugh. Don’t hate. Never hate. Be wise–but don’t be cynical. Be discerning–but don’t be cruel.
Love, help me be what you need me to be. Amen.
October 17, 2020 {A lot of anecdote, involving buying shoes for a guy on the street, deleted here because there’s only so much typing I’m willing to do. But it’s a beautiful story.}
People WANT to do right by each other, don’t they?
I felt like I was walking on holy ground today. I think . . . I think it all balances out, you know? –Good disperses itself throughout the cosmos–and I know that I’ll always have what I need–there’s no lack–there’s no competition–there’s no need to go through life clutching and afraid and feeling like Good is limited and finite, and if someone else has enough then I won’t have enough.
Solace at the Cemetery In these panicked times In these fretful, frenzied, frantic times I have found solace at the cemetery. The shells of those who’ve lived here and moved on to whatever comes beyond no longer need to distance themselves from anyone, from me. I find peace with them–the chrysalises of my friends–Mike, Rachael, and Debby.
I wander amid the tombstones, snapping photos of them, and the spinning wheels– the bright spinners are the only movement in the cemetery and I feel drawn to the movement of their rainbow spinning, faster and faster as I approach, in a show just for me.
I’m allowed to be here. In the sunshine. In the peace of the cemetery. And no one disturbs me as I wander through the final beds for the shells of those who are no longer scared of what lies ahead.
I’m not saying it’s a flawless book–there are a lot of commas I’m itching to add to these excerpts–but it’s a truly beautiful book, full of genuine goodness and kindness. These days, I’ll really, really take that.
Whatever spiritual, emotional and/or mental tools we each have acquired over the years – this is the time to use them. Our world needs every gift and talent we have to share. Be brave. Be kind. Be fair. Be generous. Love. Above all else, let’s love. Let’s love like there’s no tomorrow. Let’s love without limit or condition. Let’s love like the very existence of the world depends on it. Let’s let Love guide our every word and action.
But I’m alive right now – in this moment. And what am I doing with this moment? I’m going to take this moment to send out love. There. Did you feel it? -Karen Molenaar Terrell
“Fed by Thy love divine we live, for Love alone is life…” -Mary Baker Eddy
So, on my walk yesterday, I saw a man wearing a t-shirt that said: “PROUD WHITE BOY.” I’m not going to describe the physicality of this man – other than to say that, obviously, he was White.
But his shirt got me to wondering. Was he proud because he was White? Was he proud because he was a “boy”? And… why would he be proud of things he has no control over? It’s like being proud of being human, or being proud of being born in this country. Being born here, and being born White, and being born male are not things that anybody has to earn. They are not achievements. They are not proof of your courage or evidence of your hard work. They are just the happenstances of your start in life – a part of earth’s crap shoot. And there’s no reason, in my mind, to be proud – or ashamed, either – of the happenstances of your human start.
It’s what comes after your start – the life you build here – that shows the most important things about you: Are you living a life of kindness? Of moral courage? Do you stand up for others? Are you generous with the good Life gives you? Are you honest? Are you living a life of integrity? Are you using your talents and gifts to make the world a better place? To me, those are the things that matter.
A t-shirt that says “PROUD TO BE KIND” would make more sense to me. Or maybe “PROUD TO BE HUMBLE.” 🙂
“…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such there is no law.” -Galatians 5:22-23
Do you think you need to be the strongest and the wisest the fastest and the funniest the most talented or smartest the most adulated artist the bravest or most famous? Do you think you need to be flawless, mistake-proof over the roof human perfection to be loved and loveable? You are right now and already everything you need to be. -Karen Molenaaar Terrell
Adventures of the Madcap Christian Scientist 