I love you

Humility and honesty are really the same thing.

A humble person is simply someone who is naturally honest about their own truth.

You and I came along a few years ago;

we’re going to be gone in a few more years.

The only honest response to such a mystery is humility.

Being so certain that “I know” won’t get you anywhere, spiritually speaking.

The truth is, “I don’t really know anything!”

Our real heroes might be those who know they don’t know,

like Forrest Gump!

Perhaps Gump is a metaphor for what we call beginner’s mind.

Only such non-knowing is spacious enough to hold and not distort wisdom.

...meaning is not created; it is discovered.

There is nothing new under the sun in terms of the soul.

Our universe is an enchanted one.

The twentieth century added nothing to the wisdom of the soul.

It was all there already.

It is still all there.

You’re not going to be appreciably better than your grandma

(or some pre-modern ancestor), even with all your education;

in fact, I hope you’re as free as she was when you die.

I hope you can say “I love you” as she did when you die.

The great patterns are always the same:

either fear or love, illusion or love.

Healthy religion is always about love.

All we can do is get out of the way.  

~R. Rohr

Happy 80th Birthday, Buddy

Southwest of Salem

I was at the screening of this 91 minute documentary at the ALAMO last night. It is shocking and heartbreaking, AND there is something we can do to address the wrongful action of the court in this case. http://www.southwestofsalem.com/

LOGLINE: After being wrongfully convicted of gang-raping two little girls during the Satanic Panic witchhunt era of the 80s and 90s, four Latina lesbians fight against mythology, homophobia, and prosecutorial fervor in their struggle for exoneration in this riveting 'True Crime' tale.

SYNOPSIS: Southwest of Salem: The Story of the San Antonio Four excavates the nightmarish persecution of Elizabeth Ramirez, Cassandra Rivera, Kristie Mayhugh, and Anna Vasquez — four Latina lesbians wrongfully convicted of gang-raping two little girls in San Antonio, Texas. The film begins its journey inside a Texas prison, after these women have spent nearly a decade behind bars. They were 19 and 20 years at the time that allegations surfaced.

Using the women’s home video footage from 21 years ago combined with recent verité footage and interviews, the film explores their personal narratives and their search for exculpatory evidence to help their losing criminal trials. 15 years into their journey, director Deborah S. Esquenazi captures an on-camera recantation by one of the initial outcry victims, now 25 years old although 7 at the time of the investigation. This brings the filmmaker into the role of investigator along with attorneys at the Innocence Project, who are just beginning their quest for truth in this case.

Together with attorneys, the film culminates with the women being released from prison to await their searing new exoneration hearings in San Antonio. Helming new legislation, this is the first case in U.S. history that allows wrongfully convicted innocents to challenge convictions based on ‘Junk Science’, or debunked forensics. As lesbian low income women of color, these women hold intersecting identities that make them the most vulnerable to incarceration and juror bias. This under-reported injustice is actually widespread: Latina women represent one of the growing populations heading into prison. In addition, most reported exonerations and wrongful convictions focus solely on men and cases involving women, let alone lesbian women of color are largely under reported. The film unravels the interplay of mythology, homophobia, and prosecutorial fervor that led to their indictment.

Elizabeth Ramirez, sentenced to 37 ½ years. Born in 1974, Elizabeth “Liz” Ramirez was raised in the San Juan Public Housing Unit in San Antonio, Texas. She was emancipated by her family at the age of 16 after ‘coming out’ as bisexual. She was pregnant at the time of her arrest. Her son, Hector, was born days before entering the Hobby Prison Unit to serve a sentence of 37.5 years. It was Liz’s nieces, Stephanie and Vanessa Limon, who made the outcry against the four women.

Kristie Mayhugh, sentenced to 15 years. Kristie “Kris” Mayhugh was on temporary leave from Texas A&M Veterinary School in College Station, Texas, at the time of her arrest. Mayhugh received a scholarship to attend A&M. She was roommates with Liz, sharing the apartment where the alleged crimes occurred. Kris served her 15-year sentence at the legendary Mountainview Unit’s “Gen Pop”. Mountainview is also home to Texas’ women’s’ Death Row. 

Anna Vasquez, sentenced to 15 years. Anna was born to a large, Catholic family and struggled to come out as a teen in San Antonio. She was the first of the San Antonio Four to be paroled, and was forced to register as a sex offender. She was formerly partnered to Cassie and was co-parenting Cassie’s two children at the time of her conviction.

Cassandra Rivera, sentenced to 15 years. Cassandra “Cassie” Rivera was working at an AutoZone and had been dreaming of restoring and selling classic cars at the time of her arrest. She was in a committed relationship with Anna Vasquez at the time of her arrest. The mother of two young children, Ashley and Michael, Cassie was forced to leave the children with her mother, Margaret Rivera, in San Antonio.

Poverty

The “how” of letting go is so counter to ego consciousness that it has to be directly taught, and it can only be taught by people who know the obstacles and have experienced surrender as the path to overcoming them. The contemplative mind, which is really prayer itself, is not subject to a mere passing on of objective information. It must be practiced and learned, just like playing the piano or basketball. I do suspect that the Poor Clares’ overwhelming emphasis on poverty and letting go gave them a head start in understanding prayer as surrender more than a performance that somehow pleased God. They were already experts in self-emptying (kenosis) and letting go. In other words, “poverty” (inner non-acquisition) is first of all for the sake of prayer, never an end in itself.
~R. Rohr

A Peaceful Pause

Photo by Rob

Lie down on your back in a quiet, comfortable setting.  Place your arms at your sides, palms upwards, heels 6-12 inches apart. Give your body permission to open and relax into this position.  Focus on the gentle movement of your in-breath and your out-breath.  Allow each breath to take you deeper into feelings of peace and well-being. Continue to breathe deeply and evenly.

Now bring your attention to your heart center. Visualize a beautiful flower residing there--a rose, a lotus, any variety of many-petalled flower.  Notice its vibrant color, the texture of its petals, its beautiful aroma.  As you continue to breathe ever so gently, feel the breath of Spirit infusing it with life, opening your heart petal by petal.  Notice all constrictions easing as you give yourself over to this beautiful sensation of opening.

Silently say to yourself:

I open myself to you, Divine One.
I let go of any preconceived notions of how I should experience you. 
I trust that you will reveal yourself to me in your own special way.
I remain open to your revelation.

Angel

From Peace Angels, by Antoinette Sampson:

"...and if you search you will find
a snapshot, a glimmer, a little hint
of something greater than this.
And that is where I found you
laughing and smiling
and playing peek-a-boo.
Oh I missed you so much.
But I was always here, I
never went away."

"...who loved you to life?"

"...You are never alone
Drink your tea
stop worrying..."

Suffering is optional...

When we try to live in solidarity with the pain of the world and do not spend our lives running from necessary suffering, we will encounter various forms of “crucifixion.” Many say pain is physical discomfort, but suffering comes from our resistance, denial, and sense of injustice or wrongness about that pain. I know that is very true for me. This is the core meaning of suffering on one level or another, and we all learn it the hard way. Pain is the rent we pay for being human, some say; but suffering is usually optional. The cross was Jesus’ voluntary acceptance of undeserved pain as an act of total solidarity with all of the pain of the world. Reflection on this mystery of love can change your whole life. ~R. Rohr