Courtesy and kindness are powerful world-changers…
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An Unremarkable and Sweet Exchange
Okay, to be honest, I debated whether I should share this moment or not. In a way, it seems almost silly for me to share it – because it SHOULD be just a matter-of-fact thing – a “no big deal” thing, really – but… after some other news I’ve heard tonight, I’m feeling impelled to put this out there…
So I’d helped my dad out of the car, and was helping my mom out, when I heard Dad say, “Thank you!” to someone who was opening the door to the apartment building for him. I looked to see what was going on back there, and saw that these two young black men with Seahawks hoodies were holding the door for Dad so he could maneuver his walker into the building. Dad nodded to the young men, and smiled, and thanked them again as I watched him go through the doors, and the young men smiled back and said, “You’re welcome!” and then went on their way. It was a small, insignificant moment, really. But… and I can’t even explain why… I find myself getting teary-eyed as I sit here recalling that simple, unremarkable, sweet exchange between a 97 year-old white man, and those two young men in the hoodies.
You know, there are a lot of really good people in this world who want to do right by each other. There is hope for us.
Do We Want a Bully in the White House?
From The Washington Post: “At one point, Southall fell to the ground and was surrounded by several white men who appeared to be kicking and punching him, according to video captured by CNN. A Washington Post reporter in the crowd watched as one of the men put his hands on Southall’s neck and heard a female onlooker repeatedly shout: ‘Don’t choke him!’
“As security officers got Southall on his feet and led him out of the building, he was repeatedly pushed and shoved by people in the crowd.”
This is NOT okay. It is not okay to punch and kick someone who is practicing his First Amendment rights at a political rally. And when someone who is running for President of our great land says, “Maybe he should have been roughed up” I am beyond words. Well, beyond words that can be posted on WordPress, anyway. This is America. This is not Nazi Germany. Our President is elected to represent and serve ALL the people who live here – not just white men with money in the bank. Our President should expect that people will disagree with him now and then, and protest, and expect to have their protests heard by their President – this is what keeps America healthy. Any man who tries to bully others into bending to his will – who throws out people who disagree with him instead of listening to their concerns – is not a man I want sitting in the White House.
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Ode to Black Friday
I do not like Black Friday, sir
I do not like the brrr, grrr, whirrr
I do not like to fight over socks,
I do not like to get crammed in a box
store, you will not see me at the Mall
I do not like it, no, not at all.
The crazy, scrambling, hunter’s race
doesn’t fit my ambling, gatherer’s pace
I like to feel, I like to sniff
I like to take my time and if
I take more time than Sally and Sam
it’s the way I shop, and it works for me, ma’am.
So you will not find me camped outside the store
You will not find me standing at dawn at the door
You will not find me wedged in the mall’s lot
or crammed in traffic, with wares newly-bought.
For I do not like Black Friday, friend.
Well, except online shopping maybe – they’ll send.
– Karen Molenaar Terrell
from A Poem Lives On My Windowsill
(available from Karen Molenaar Terrell’s Amazon author page)
“Literary Effort” Might Be A Little Exaggeration
There are far, far better poets in this world – but I’m pretty sure you will find few that are schmaltzier than me… and that’s something, right? Just published a new book on Amazon. Here is my latest literary effort (okay, I might be exaggerating a little when I use the word “literary” in reference to this work):
(It is also available on Kindle – http://www.amazon.com/Poem-Lives-My-Windowsill-ebook/dp/B0185U3X5A/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8)
Here is the title poem –
A Poem Lives On My Windowsill
There is a poem on my windowsill.
A treasure found, unfolding grace,
a cup full of fruition.
And love.
I see the caramel-colored agate I found
glowing on a beach in Bellingham,
and the tomatoes nurtured
and ripened on our back deck.
The rose blossoms were picked dew-laden
from our front garden this morning
and placed in the vase I bought for myself
in a rare “impractical” purchase
just because it made me happy
to imagine filling it with future buds.
And there are the ruby-red vases
trimmed in gold that my beloved Aunt Junie
gave me before she left this world
and that I will pass on with love
when that time comes.
A poem lives on my windowsill.
Windowsill (photo by Karen Molenaar Terrell)
Love Is With Thee
“Fear thou not; for (Love) is with thee: be not dismayed; for (Love) is thy God: (Love) will strengthen thee; yea, (Love) will help thee; yea, (Love) will uphold thee with the right hand of Love’s righteousness.”
– Isaiah 41:10 and I John 4:7
photo by Karen Molenaar Terrell
A Simple and Unremarkable Perfection
It is a miracle of perfection.
I am warm and fed and I can hear
my loved one tapping the keys on his laptop
and clearing his throat
near me
I have chamomile tea with cream and a chunk of
sourdough bread and the wind is moving
the rain-splattered screen on the window
and making the lights behind it look like they’re dancing
I feel no pain or fear
I know I’m completely safe
and I imagine coming through some terrible danger
and finding myself in this room
and what a miracle that would seem to be
and how much I’d appreciate the simple unremarkable
perfection of it
and I am filled with gratitude
– Karen Molenaar Terrell
“I have wrestled with the beast and emerged victorious! Mostly.”
I have wrestled with the beast and I have emerged victorious! And in one piece. Mostly. Okay, so there’s a teensy chip out of my forehead. But other than that… I’m good.
I got it into my head that today I would go through the mountain of mail we’ve been accumulating on our counter over the last several months. And when I say “mountain” I am not exaggerating – it over-flowed a basket I started putting it in, and then slowly crept along the counter, working its way west like some insidious beast.
It took more than four hours. I filled up a quarter of our recycle bin. I finally got to a place where I was sorting what was left into files and notebooks. I put one of the notebooks back on its shelf, the notebook knocked a framed poster above it, which knocked the framed poster above IT, and the top poster came crashing down on my head. Glass everywhere. I sort of crumpled up underneath the frame and squatted there until I felt my senses come back to me…
… and felt blood coming down my face…
My husband tried to help – wiped the blood off my face – put a towel to my forehead…
I started laughing.
I went into the living room and started singing hymns to myself. My husband poked his head in to see what I was up to in there, and started cracking up when he saw me. We are a fine pair.
I started taking stock of myself then: Still bleeding? Nope. Still breathing? Yup. Able to think? Yup – well, I mean… as well as I ever did. Has anything really changed here? Nope. Okay. I think you’re good to go…
The son and I had been watching an old Disney movie together – Robin Hood and Little John – and reminiscing about those years when he was little and we’d watch old Disney movies together. We were having a cozy, nostalgic time together tonight. Eating pop corn and drinking cocoa while I worked my way through the flotsam and jetsam on the counter, and he did homework for his university classes. And I felt so completely wrapped up in the warmth and coziness and love all around me that the crashing poster just didn’t seem a part of my night – it couldn’t touch me, or take away from the sweetness of the night in any way.
It was like the whole thing had never happened.
And, speaking metaphysically, I guess it never really did. 🙂
“Accidents are unknown to God, or immortal Mind, and we must leave the mortal basis of belief and unite with the one Mind, in order to change the notion of chance to the proper sense of God’s unerring direction and thus bring out harmony.”
– Mary Baker Eddy
Report to the Mother Planet
– Karen Molenaar Terrell
A Most Ridiculous Mirror
…Love is reflected in love. – Mary Baker Eddy
What the heck is going on out there?! Several of my students are dealing with it right now. A couple of my colleagues, too. Friends on Facebook are bringing it up in their posts. And I’ve also been afflicted by it recently. Actually… now that I think about it… it’s possible that I’ve not only been afflicted by it, but that I have been, unintentionally, the afflictOR on occasion.
We are looking at others as if we’re looking in a mirror. We assume everyone else sees the world in the same way we do and then criticize other people for our OWN faults, foibles, and nonsense. We think because WE are envious or angry or hateful or deceptive or manipulative or bullying or bigoted or frightened, everyone else must be, too. And then we tell other people that they feel this, or they think that, or they believe whatever – when really it is US who is feeling, thinking, and believing the whatever. Sheesh. It’s ridiculous.
Last week one of my students began tearing up as we were saying good bye. The tears welled out of her eyes and became streams. I asked her what was going on, and she told me that her mom had told her she was a loser – had told her that she destroys everything.- that she’s no good. And I was looking at this beautiful, talented, brilliant young person and my heart broke for her. She was believing all these lies about herself!
“Just because someone calls you a chair – does that make you a chair?” I asked her. She shook her head no. “Just because someone calls you a table – does that make you a table?” She said no. “And just because someone calls you a loser – does that make you a loser?” She wiped the tears from her face, and shook her head no. ““Listen to me. If somebody thinks you’re a chair, or a table, or a loser, or whatever – that is HER problem. She’s not seeing things right. You are amazing and smart and talented and beautiful.You are valuable. Say it: ‘I am valuable.’” My student started smiling then, and repeated my words to her. “Say it with conviction!” I ordered. And she did – she was laughing now.
Let’s know this about ourselves and each other: We are not tables or chairs. We are not haters or bigots or bullies or losers.We ARE valuable. We are worthy. We are the sons and daughters of Love, Truth, and Life.
Thou to whose power our hope we give,
Free us from human strife.
Fed by Thy love divine we live,
For Love alone is Life;
And life most sweet, as heart to heart
Speaks kindly when we meet and part.
– Mary Baker Eddy
“Jesus beheld in Science the perfect man, who appeared to him where sinning mortal man appears to mortals. In this perfect man the Saviour saw God’s own likeness, and this correct view of man healed the sick.”
– Mary Baker Eddy
Adventures of the Madcap Christian Scientist 