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Family

1/28/2012

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I have been adopted, twice.  Not through the courts but in an equally strong and binding way through spiritual ceremony and promises.  In 1989, I was adopted by my Lakota hunka and became part of her immediate and extended family.  After her death, her husband moved close to their daughter and grandchildren; though we live miles apart we will always be family. 

Four years before my Lakota adoption, I met my Ojibwe sister and became part of her family.  These relatives have remained on ancestral ground, the family is large and deeply connected.  They share ordinary days, special celebrations, joys and sorrows.  I am able to take part in similar ordinary days and special ones with my daughters and families since moving closer to them two years ago.  As I watch my grandchildren grow and my children maturing, I feel greatly blessed.

Along with my Ojibwe sisters and brother, I am mourning the loss of a sister who passed on two days ago.  Family members were with her every day over the preceding two weeks to love her through her transition and to support one another.  As family, we need each other in these hard times and it is good to share the stories, the laughter and the tears.  My relatives embrace the Christian faith and traditional ways so as they hold the wake, they also keep the fire for four days. 

We honor our loved ones in so many ways.  Keeping a fire in the fire pit symbolizes the fire we keep in our hearts.  That fire makes us whole, helps us to remember and to grieve.  When my father and then my mother passed away, I felt lost for a while.  Keeping the fire, talking to relatives, writing helped me find my way.  I offer two poems on the Poems page, one for Mom and Dad, one for Marilyn.  My prayer is that we always keep the fire for those we love.

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Epiphany

1/18/2012

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In the Christian liturgical calendar, the season of Epiphany begins around January 6 or twelve days after Christmas.  It is a quiet season of reflection.  Epiphany is the celebration of the coming of the Wise Men from the east, following the star that brought them to Jesus.  Wise men of the day probably knew astronomy and realized that this exceedingly bright star was a sign of a significant event.  Whether these wise men knew about the Old Testament teachings of the coming of a Savior to the Jewish people, we aren’t told.  We are told that they followed the star until it came to rest over the place where Jesus was found.  What speculations might they have had as they journeyed, simply following the sign they were given?  Before  the wise men followed the star, shepherds listened to angels telling them to go and find Jesus.  And they did.  They, too, followed the signs they had been given.  

Epiphany also harkens back to the story of the birth of Jesus. We are told in the gospels of Matthew and Luke, that Mary, a virgin, conceived and birthed Jesus, this sacred Child of God, and that she pondered many things in her heart.  Imagine visits from shepherds and wise men at the birth of your child.  In holiness and mystery was this gift given to Mary. Pondering certainly accompanies Divine Mystery.

In our lives what signs do we follow, not knowing where they will lead?  How do we ponder Divine Mystery? If we follow the signs, wonders may unfold. And if, like Mary, we approach pondering in our virginal state – new, raw, natural, free of obstruction, empty of opinion, as if for the first time, God may come to us in mystery and glory, in awesomeness, and revelation. 


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mitakuye oyasin

1/10/2012

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Many spiritual traditions tell us that we are all one; that we can never be apart from God, our Source; that our individual lives are entwined within the living matrix of all other beings; and, with the earth, herself; with space and time; and celestial bodies. The Lakota phrase "mitakuye oyasin" expresses this divine and permanent relationship.  The implications are astounding!  When we begin to allow these thoughts to enter our awareness, then grow into conviction, there is no turning back.  We cannot be who we used to be or cling to what we used to believe.  We are transformed.  We feel within our very being the pull of the tides, phases of the moon, exhilaration of a thunderstorm, gallop of horses across fresh snow, tears of a hungry child.  Awakening, we become more attuned and sensitive, acting in harmony not resistance, to life.  Life in all its intimate glory lives through us.  We savor the journey, humbly, and serve all of our relatives, equally.

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2012 begins

1/9/2012

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Welcome the New Year 2012

        I often explore questions with fellow sojourners.  Recently questions about truth came up. Is it possible to live a life that is free from our individual and personal biases and our culturally instilled perceptions?  Truly, this is our work of a lifetime, I believe.  We are so accustomed to thinking in terms of me and mine, you and yours, they and theirs; all separating perceptions, at best, war and destruction, taken to its furthest application.  A very sticky mess to try to unravel and reach the source that is universal, unlimited, and beyond individualism.  A brilliant sage, a man for all times and seasons, J. Krishnamurti (1895-1986) touches upon these themes, and others, in his works and words: 

"Truth cannot be accumulated.  What is accumulated is always being destroyed; it withers away.  Truth can never wither because it can only be found from moment to moment in every thought, in every relationship, in every word, in every gesture, in a smile, in tears.  And if you and I can find that and live it - the very living is the finding of it - then we shall not become propagandists; we shall be creative human beings - not perfect human beings, but creative human beings, which is vastly different."  
                                                                - J. Krishnamurti, The Book of Life                                              

copyright 2012 phyllis boernke; except quote from J. Krishnamurti
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remembrance 9-11

1/9/2012

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Autumn 2011 - looking back

Over the past week or so, my thoughts have moved backward in time to the events of September 11, 2001; the destruction, loss of lives, the grief of survivors.  This moment in time lives in our collective memory as a day that changed the course of history.  

How many generations before us have said the same words: this event forever altered the course of history?  Most often those momentous occasions are associated with violence, with destruction, with grief.  Our human condition is inclined toward fear which leads to loveless action.  We can clearly see this on a global scale.  And is it not true in our individual lives as well?  Whenever we perceive a provocation, we react in ways that harm others and ourselves.  Reflection may come later and with it, may come regret, remorse, renewed desire to respond - next time - with more compassion and love.

Could we not learn to reflect first rather than react first?  Bob Dylan poignantly expressed the question and planted a seed of hope:
      ". . . how many deaths will it take till we know that too many people have died?  The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind, the answer is blowin' in the wind . . . "

Today could be our day to live the answer, my friend.            

copyright 2012 phyllis boernke; except quote from bob dylan          
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    musings may delight or disturb;  musings may spark new activity, sometimes. . . . .

    Phyllis shares current musings, momentary insights, process in motion.


    All reflections are original material copyrighted by Phyllis.  Please ask permission to quote, copy or reproduce. 



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