Chief Seattle framed how to be in Right Relationship with ourselves and the world around us in a wise and well way in this statement.

“This we know: the earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood that unites us all. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.” – Chief Seattle

I believe that We are of the Earth.

Made by the same creator that created Mother Earth. Made of the same elements. That we belong to the Earth. How do I become and stay in Right Relationships is a question I strive to keep in the front of my mind as the day unfolds before me.

The Indigenous people of Turtle Island were labeled as less than human by the settlers who came here from Europe and were treated as such.

This same mindset, this limiting belief, is still plaguing the people and the land here in the USA and beyond. The colonizers never came into a right relationship with the land they were trying to settle, nor with the Indigenous people who lived here.

The poem I will share at the end of this blog came to me as I was reflecting on what is unfolding in a few select cities here in the USA and the displacement of the homeless and unhoused, those deemed less than human by the current beliefs of the people in power and it breaks my heart to see this treatment of people in hard- ship. I use poetry to help me discern and process my emotions.

The words of this poem come from my lived experience here in Earth School.

I have interacted with numerous homeless people. I do my best to listen to their story, their lived experience that they are willing to share. Some share a lot, some just ask for money. I give money at times and others I don’t, especially if I sense it will be spent on drugs or booze, yet I do try to be present for them. Our presence is one of the best presents we can give to others. It is one way to be in the right realtion- ships with one another. To stay present and in our heart and not in our Ego Mind. We are each other’s mirrors; we are all teachers here in Earth School.

If I am triggered by the presence of a homeless person, then this is a gift for me, an opportunity to ask myself, what is it that I am sensing in myself? Where do I need to grow or perhaps to surrender so I can have a more capacious heart to hold space for those things that trigger me or make me feel uncomfortable? To be courageous enough to admit that my love is still conditional and I have work still to do, allow it to become unconditional.

Homeless in Honolulu

The Mirror

I am ….

labeled Homeless!

I am seen as less than human Yet. I am

Human

I was given a home At birth

This beautiful vessel I inhabit Yes….

God Created me As Human

Yet Society labels me Less than..Human

Labels me as Homeless

Yet

I am more than homeless I am your Mirror

Be not Ashamed

To look into the Mirror

For we are all each others Mirror What we do to one We do to all I am Human

I am your Human Mirror We are all each others Mirror

Can you open your heart Wide enough

To let me in?

Wide enough To contain The entirety

of God’s Creation?

This is Anthony, I have learned much from Anthony, We are the same age. He was a great athlete in High School. Life takes many turns for all of us. He has a great memory and big heart, He lives at a shelter for the homeless now.