We Are One Body

Head, foot, and elbow
shoulder, hand, and big toe,
right, left, and center,
every race, nationality, and gender –
all part of the same Body,
the same planet, the same universe –
there’s no last and no first,
no best and no worst.
We are One
in One.
-Karen Molenaar Terrell

podcast link: https://madcapchristianscientist.com/2023/11/25/we-are-one-body/

One infinite God, good, unifies men and nations; constitutes the brotherhood of man; ends wars; fulfils the Scripture, ‘Love thy neighbor as thyself;’ annihilates pagan and Christian idolatry, — whatever is wrong in social, civil, criminal, political, and religious codes; equalizes the sexes; annuls the curse on man, and leaves nothing that can sin, suffer, be punished or destroyed.
-Mary Baker Eddy

“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 if they were all one member, where were the body? But now are they many members, yet but one body. 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.”
– I Corinthians 12

Blue Cosmos (photo by Karen Molenaar Terrell)

When Moz Was Here

I just republished Since Then, a book of poetry I originally published in 2021, to give it a new trim size and make it available outside of Amazon. It should be available to purchase at Barnes and Noble and other bookstores soon.

Here’s a sample:

When Moz Was Here

A comforting ritual – baking
the annual Thanksgiving pies
connects me to Thanksgivings
past – decades of home and love,
laughter, food, memories of those
who’ve newly-arrived, and those
departed. This year will be
the first Thanksgiving without
Moz. And as I pour blackberries
into the pie, I realize these berries
were ones I picked the summer
after she passed, and I wonder
if I might have a left-over bag
of blackberries I picked during
the summer before – when Moz
was still moving among us.
I go to the freezer in the garage
and root amongst the frozen bags,
digging, searching – and there!
I find a bag of berries marked
2016! And now a part of the world
that still held Moz in it is in
this year’s Thanksgiving pie.
-Karen Molenaar Terrell




A Smile from the Cosmos

Up in the middle of the night.
Battling fears. Battling dismay.
Something catches the corner
of my eye – I look outside to see
a little star sparkling at me –
flashing red to blue –
above all my fears
above my dismay –
a reassuring light in the darkness.
A promise. A smile from the Cosmos.
“You are my precious child.”
-Karen Molenaar Terrell

podcast link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/karen-molenaar-terrell/episodes/A-Smile-from-the-Cosmos-e2fo93t

I’m Siding with Love

podcast link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/karen-molenaar-terrell/episodes/Im-Siding-with-Love-e2fofg1

I’m siding with peace
not just the kind where wars cease
but the kind where we work together
to make the world a BETTER
place

I’m siding with compassion
I’m not just siding with whatever faction is in fashion
but I’m siding with the Source of kindness
that underlies what blesses
ALL of humanity

I’m siding with Love –
below, around, above –
the only lasting power, always here,
bigger than hate, bigger than fear.

-Karen Molenaar Terrell
(Photo by Karen Molenaar Terrell.)

A Prayer of Peace

Love is all-powerful, ever-present, all-wise, ever Good.
Feel the force of infinite Life unfolding, unfettered,
unrestrained, unhampered, untouched by hate
and war, vengeance and ego and human history.
Love and Life are All,
and we all are of Love and Life, and everything Good –
created for Good, by Good, of Good.

Amen.
-Karen Molenaar Terrell

Like the Confetti at a Celebration

I love this time of year!

autumn leaves or orange, red, yellow
swirl around me in great gusts of wind
like the confetti at a joyous celebration
-Karen Molenaar Terrell

(Photos taken in Bellingham yesterday. Karen Molenaar Terrell)

Quilt of Quotes

If I were to stitch together a quilt
for the last six years –
a quilt built
of quotes
that have helped me survive –
it would be a quilt
of many colors –
a quilt with a lilt –
a quilt of words
that poets have built.
There’d be Newcomer and Oliver,
Jesus, Beagle, and Pinney,
Osman and Adams and Vonnegut and Eddy,
Gandhi, Anne Frank, Goodall, and Tutu,
Mandela, MLK, Jr., Gorman, and Angelou.
Thích Nhất Hạnh’s words would be on it,
and Michelle Obama’s, too.
Mr. Rogers would be there,
and Winnie the Pooh,
and L’Engle, F.H. Burnett, Seuss, and Rick Steves,
and in the background there’d be
patterns of bright autumn leaves.
Autumn brings beauty
and autumn brings loss.
But “Anytime you learn, you gain,”
said the stellar Bob Ross.
-Karen Molenaar Terrell

Autumn Leaves. Photo by Karen Molenaar Terrell.



A Land of Magic

There’s a land of magic
Where magpies sing morning harmonies
And at night stars sparkle serenely
Above silhouettes
Of trees topped with palm fronds
And long-beaked Ibis birds casually browse
In parking lots packed with cars
That have steering wheels on the right

-Karen Molenaar Terrell

podcast link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/karen-molenaar-terrell/episodes/A-Land-of-Magic-e2fofun

Am I Done Now?

podcast link:https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/karen-molenaar-terrell/episodes/Am-I-Done-Now-e2fog2o

“Am I done now?” I ask.
Half-hoping yes. Half-hoping no.
“I’ve taught my students,
raised fine sons until they were grown,
written my books,
taken my photos,
lived through the highs,
and survived the lows.
I’ve climbed enough mountains
and seen my share of rainbows.
So am I done now?” I ask.
“I want to know.”

And Love answers:
“There’s no end to Me 
and so there’s no end to you.
You’re where you’ll always be –
in Love unchanging, always new.
You will never be done
reflecting Love’s love –
whether you’re in the valley below
or flying in clouds above.
So don’t worry about what’s next.
You’re where you need to be now –
enjoy these moments you have here –
beyond the when or what or how.”
-Karen Molenaar Terrell

Bellingham, WA. Photo by Karen Molenaar Terrell.

Love Everywherenow

podcast link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/karen-molenaar-terrell/episodes/Love-Everywherenow-e2fokk4

I wake up at four in the morning
and find my son has just messaged me
from Australia.
I reply and let him know I’m up.
He is at the end of the day,
and I am at the start of the same day.
I ask him if he has any tips for me
from the future.
And suddenly time disappears.
The space between us disappears.
And there is just Love everywherenow,
connecting me to him,
and connecting me to the universe.
We message back-and-forth
for 15 minutes – text-chatting
and text-laughing together.
And then it’s time for me
to go back to bed,
and my son thanks me
for “dropping in.”

-Karen Molenaar Terrell

“I climb with joy, the heights of Mind
To soar o’er time and space;
I yet shall know as I am known
And see Thee face to face
Till time and space and fear are naught
My quest shall never cease
Thy presence ever goes with me
And Thou dost give me peace.”
– V.H., Christian Science Hymnal #136

Australian Sky