What drives our spirit

   Our Inner World

             OR

   Our outer world

Notice the Inner World is capitalized

   To me it is a big deal

Notice the outer world is in small letters

   To me it isn’t a big deal

Of course it all depends on my spiritual disposition

   Some days I go with the flow

   Some days I fight it

Watched a sea gull in the wind today

   When she went into the wind

      Flap her wings and went nowhere

   When the wind took her

      No need to flap at all

What a simple reminder

   When the outer world events drive me

      I go no place and don’t even know it

   When the spiritual wind of God drives me

      I go where It leads me

Sometimes I am even aware

   Of a choice

      Between Inner or outer

Pirates

   Good or evil

On first glance obviously

   Evil

But maybe they are worth revisiting

   Good

Like most things in life

   We place our values on others

So unless we never want to grow up

   Be Peter Pan

      We might miss the good in being childlike

So unless we never want to side with protesters

   Be Jean Lafitte

      We might miss righting injustices

So unless we don’t want to see inequities

   Being defined by social class

      We might miss overturning cultures

To be a Pirate is to stand up

   Acknowledge good is never pure

      There are adverse affects to all actions

Life is filled with death

   Pirates believed that

      They had a flag of skull and crossbones

Pirates

   Good or evil

On second glance

   Both

Just a moment

   That is all we have

      Just this moment

So why am I so concerned about the past

   What am I hanging onto

   Why can’t I let it go

   Why is it more important than this moment

      Questions to ponder

So why am I so concerned about the future

   Why do I want to jump ahead

   Why can’t I let it be what it will be

   Why am I so concerned about what may not happen

      More questions to ponder

I am free in this moment

   I have life

   I have everything I need

   I can just breathe

In just a moment

   This moment will be gone

   Only to return in a memory

      Found in the good old days

In just a moment

   I have been given eternity

      Can’t find that in the past or future

Ignorance

   Is such a loaded word

It can alienate us from others

   As well as from ourselves

It can create opportunities for our ego to be in charge

   I know more than you do

   I have the truth

   How can you be so stupid

      Nothing comes from this except division

Could ignorance have a deeper meaning

   Like simply ignoring this or that

By not listening I may be showing my ignorance

   I am ignoring your plea to be heard

      We can be so alone when no one cares enough to listen

   I am ignoring my inner plea to learn

      Growth often comes from those who think differently than me

   I am ignoring my own fear

      What happens if I don’t have all the answers

   I am ignoring the way life is

      Gone today here tomorrow

Ignoring seems easier to accept than ignorance

   To be ignorant indicates I am not perfect

Maybe  I need to ignore perfection

   To see my beauty shine through my imperfection

How am I revealing my ignorance

   By ignoring life as it is

Transformation or transcendence

   What is our choice for life

I believe we have been taught to transcend life

   Too many temptations every day

   We certainly can’t learn from them

   They will cause us damage

   They will lead us astray

      So naturally we need to move beyond this

Maybe

   Maybe not

Like most of this adventure we call life

   It is how we look at it

Your temptation might be my gift

   Or just the opposite

By living in life not trying to transcend it

   I might find myself transformed

So much of life is about destination

   What about the journey

Did we come to this life to miss it

   Or did we come to learn from it

All depends on your definition of God

   Or whatever Name you call God

Does God see us as defective

   If so we need to transcend ourselves

Does God see us as perfect

   If so do we

      If not this life is for transformation

The most amazing grace is

   The choice is up to us

Stay Right Here

   Or Be Here Now

Which of these two approaches to life bring peace

   The first seems to be a command

      How do I feel when someone tells me

         Think this way or act this way

   The second seems like an invitation

      How do I feel when I have a choice

         To live or think a whatever way

Maybe the answer lies in who is in charge of my life

   The first indicates I am

      One of the surprising myths of life

   The second indicates I am along for the ride

      One of the surprising realities of this moment

Maybe the answer lies in harmony

   The first indicates I need to control life

      Another one of those surprising myths

   The second indicates there is no controlling anything

      One of the surprising realities of this moment

I can not stay here

   For the moment I do here is gone

I can always be here however

   Because there is no moment than now

Is life a command performance

   Or

Is life an invitation to nor perform

What is church

   Building

   People

   Community

Yes but there is more

   More than denomination

   More than religious affiliation

   More than a code of shoulds and oughts

Yes and there is even more

   Unconditional Love

   Unconditional acceptance

   Unconditional being who we are

Want some more

   Emerging and evolving all the time

   Changing and becoming

   Defining and redefining

Ready for the best part

   Imperfection revealing true perfection

   Forgiving when it seems impossible

   Leaving fear behind to embrace eternity

What is Church

   For you

Seeing is believing

   Or is it

I see what I know is true

   But someone says are you sure

I see what I know is true

   But I say to myself how can you be sure

I see what I know is true

   But no one else sees it the same way as me

I see what I know is true

   But it doesn’t make any rational sense

Is my problem within me

   Or is it outside of me

Is my problem found in needing truth

   Or is it in depending on truth rather than my heart

Who is the author of my life

   Is it me or God or someone else

I think the discovery of the answer to that question

   Will go a long way in trusting my inner drum beat

I will dance to no need for definitive truth

I will dance to a lightness free from outside pressures

I will dance with the inner spirit

   The one who doesn’t care what others think

   The one who isn’t afraid of failing

   The one who dares to listen to a still small voice

Change

   Why do we run and hide from the inevitable

      It always finds us

Change

   How did it get such a negative image

      It simply is what it is

Change

   Where did the thought it doesn’t have to be come from

      How can you affect what already is

Change

   What is the big deal

      Beginnings without endings can’t be

Change

   When will it be looked upon as a gift

      When we embrace life in its fullness

Time to hug

   Death

   The now

   Letting go

   Life as it is

Think you can’t do it

   Just remember

      Change happens whether we hug it or not

Humor

   Perspective changer

   Problem distractor

   Life enlightener

   Belly enhancer

   Face wrinklier

   Spirit revealer

Nothing like a good joke to call our attention

   To what is important

   To what is not important

   To the folly of our actions

   To the humor found in the folly

   To the silliness of seriousness

The wonder of a pun playfully calls us to

   Engaging all of our mind

   Seeing the wonder of words

   Turning the usual into the unusual

   Embracing the mystery of the human adventure

Did you hear the one about

   A God who created a human   

      Talk about humor

The joke is so funny

   We can laugh all the way to heaven