April 29, 2025

Have the courage “to swim against the tide”.
Have the courage to be happy.

Just as we need the courage to be happy,
we also need the courage to live simply.

Pope Francis

As national headlines foretell a possible recession and empty store shelves, there are also stories Pope Francis’ dedication to a simple life. Stories that land for me as more cosmic synchronicity.

On becoming Pope, he chose a wardrobe of plain white robes and his black leather shoes over the traditional and expected fur trimmed capes and red velvet slippers. He rejected the opulent living quarters of the Vatican, choosing to live in the Domus Sanctae Marthae guest house where his room consisted of a single wooden bed with minimal furnishings such as a lamp and telephone. His study consisted of a simple table with a few chairs and a cross on the wall. Clear statements that for him there were more important things to be concerned with.

He never wavered. His values of humble simplicity were reflected in his choice of a simple coffin.

I often reflect with admiration on the monkish philosophy of one robe and one bowl. And I reflect on dear friends who are now living in England with only their back packs. I’m not there and likely never will be. But Dennis and I still live in the small house we built by hand with recycled materials almost fifty years ago. My mother was horrified that it has only one bathroom and, more significantly, very little storage space. Stuff in, stuff out, and constant purging has been our philosophy. We still have so much more than so many. And so much more than we really need as we aspire to stay out of the collective consciousness of consumerism.

The cottage in Ireland is now evolving into a space of sacred retreat and sanctuary. When I was last there I sat and listened to messages of clearing the clutter that distracts from spiritual connection and sacred encounter. Ah, more purging. Brilliant.

As I get ready to head to Ireland for six weeks, I’ve been possessed by the idea of traveling with only one carry on piece of luggage. For a stay that long I’ve always taken two. When I’ve mentioned this to some of the sisters, they are surprised. Six weeks is a long time. Well. Yes, it is. But if Pope Francis could embrace simplicity for his entire life, I think I can manage six weeks. After all, there are more important things to be concerned with. 

Beannacht,
Judith

April 28, 2025

Each one of us is called
to be an artisan of peace,
by uniting and not dividing,
by extinguishing hatred
and not holding on to it.

Our efforts must aim at
restoring hope, righting wrongs,
maintaining commitments,
and thus promoting the well-being
of individuals and of peoples.

Today, amid so much darkness,
we need to see the light of hope
and to be men and women
who bring hope to others.

All it takes is one good person
to restore hope.

Pope Francis

Cosmic coincidence? Divine intervention? Perhaps it is. For just when we needed it, our news and social media are filled with his bright spirit, twirling eyes, wide smile, words of wisdom and his perpetual joy!

His leaving us is tragic. But his life is a sacred legacy and shining example for all of us, regardless of spiritual tradition. He transcends all of it. And he calls to all of us to be the same transcendent shining. All it takes is one good person.

In these times, we are each of us called shine in ways we never imagined. Yet Pope Francis imagined it. May we embrace and dance his joyful imaginings. May we navigate these dark times with our bright spirits.

All it takes is one good person joined together with other good people. And we are. 

Beannacht,
Judith

April 27, 2025

Whenever we encounter
another person in love,
we learn something new about God.
Pope Francis

His own words are perhaps the best tribute to his legacy. A sacred legacy that will echo through humanity for all time. Yet there are many tributes being shared in this time and this one, written by a Hindu man, is one of the most beautiful. The Loss of a Good Man: A Tribute to Pope Francis and the Power of Universal Faith.

I only met Pope Francis once. It was brief. Just a few moments in a crowded room filled with dignitaries and seekers, some there out of duty, others out of belief. I was neither Catholic nor there on some divine pilgrimage. I was just a man in need of a little hope. And somehow, in that fleeting encounter, I received it.

It’s hard to explain without sounding overly romantic, but when you’re in the presence of someone truly good — not performatively good, not “publicly moral” or selectively kind — but genuinely, deeply, relentlessly good… something shifts in you. You feel lighter. You feel braver. You feel like humanity, for all its wounds and wickedness, is still worth fighting for.

That was the gift Pope Francis gave me. And I imagine, from the tears I’ve seen today and the aching silences of millions across faiths, races, and borders, that he gave that same gift to many.

Today, we mourn not just the passing of a Pope. We mourn the loss of one of the strongest chess pieces humanity had on this plain of existence.

He was a man who made kindness radical again. Who reminded the powerful that humility was not weakness. Who spoke of love not as doctrine but as duty. He was not just a religious man. He was something far more rare — he was universally spiritual.

I am a Hindu. My God wears different names. My prayers come in different rhythms. But I would have followed this man through fire. Because in his belief in God, he carried a belief in all of us. His eyes didn’t see denominations — they saw dignity. His voice, always soft but never weak, carried the weight of truth even when it unsettled the comfortable. Especially when it unsettled the comfortable.

This world has a way of chipping away at your soul. The noise, the greed, the hate, the empty rituals that masquerade as faith or patriotism or family values. It’s easy to go numb. It’s easy to give in to cynicism. But once in a while, someone comes along who reminds us that the better angels of our nature are still within reach. That goodness is still possible. That we don’t need to be perfect to do good — we just need to be brave.

Pope Francis was that man.

He chose love over doctrine. He chose compassion over judgment. And most remarkably, he chose action over applause. He walked with the poor. He knelt before the discarded. He challenged the powerful not with anger, but with moral courage. And he did all of this with a smile that felt like a prayer.

He understood something many religious leaders forget: that God doesn’t reside only in temples or churches or mosques. That holiness isn’t a place — it’s a way of living. A way of seeing others. A way of choosing kindness, over and over, even when it hurts.

So yes, today we mourn. I mourn. Not just for the Catholic world, but for all of us. Because when a man like this leaves, it feels like a light has been dimmed.

But maybe — just maybe — the way we honour him is by becoming the light ourselves.

Let us remember his faith in humanity, and let it fuel our own. Let us keep making the right chess moves in this complicated, brutal, beautiful game of life. Let us speak truth with grace. Let us protect the vulnerable, question the powerful, and lift each other up not because of who we are, but because we are here — together.

Pope Francis believed in a world where dignity wasn’t conditional. Where faith was lived, not just preached. That world can still exist — if we build it.

And maybe that’s the final gift he’s given us. A call not to despair, but to duty.

Because as long as we carry his belief in each other, then truly, he has not left us at all.

Vinod Sekhar

Indeed. May we honor Pope Francis, and all humanity, by becoming the light ourselves.

Beannacht,
Judith

March 3, 2025

Breach
An act of breaking or failing to observe a law,
agreement, obligation, or code of conduct.

The breach is now pervasive and clear. This administration is taking a wrecking ball to all of the social contracts that have for so long been embedded in our democratic culture. Explicit and implicit. Contracts tied to this nation’s founding promise of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Contracts of safety, security, and freedom. They are all being shattered. And with that, our sense of who we are as a people. 

I could spend pages highlighting the frequency and nature of this breach. But we are all seeing it in dizzying and gut wrenching real time. Dennis has reflected that governments fail and fall when they no longer honor those social contracts. We can only hope. From those reflections he created this piece of art, ‘Breach’.

In these times, it’s important to focus on the fact that the social contract with our government is not the only social contract. As much this regime would have us be consumed by the devastation of seeing laws broken, obligations ignored, and codes of conduct violated, they do not hold power over all our social contracts. Joe Walsh, former Republican Congressman and current political commentator, has a new byline for his podcast. The Social Contract. It’s On Us.

It is on us to do what we can to reclaim and restructure any semblance of a governmental and institutional national social contract, even though most of us are probably not as empowered as we would wish to participate in that. 

It is also on us to claim the power of other social contracts. Because we do have power in those. The social contract of our shared values we hold with our family, friends, and communities. The social contract of our personal values with hold with ourselves. We must stand strong and rooted in those. They are the very foundation of a national and global contract. And we need those strong foundations to forge a strong future where obligations are honored, laws are followed, and codes of conduct guide actions.

Social contracts are now on us. And we will reach beyond this breach to make it so.

Beannacht,
Judith

February 28, 2025

I created this graphic a while ago. But as we are witnessing a horrific new world unfolding, I hesitated to post it. Waiting for things to settle down? Waiting for the right time? But things aren’t settling down and it seems every day is the right time. 

Every day is the right time to focus on the light people are holding in the world. A light they continue to shine through their actions. So a few more recent headlines of hope.

Child Marriages a Thing of the Past in Malaysia.
Australia on Track for 82% Renewable Energy Target by 2030.
Wildlife Returns to Britain’s Depleted North Sea.
Ecuador Creates Five New Conservation Areas.
Wind and Solar Overtake Coal in America in 2024.
Indonesia Kicks Off Free Meals for Children, Pregnant Women.
Zimbabwe Abolishes Death Penalty With Immediate Effect.
Lichtenstein and Thailand Celebrate Same-Sex Marriage Legislation.
After One Year of its New Initiative, a Colorado City No Longer
Has Any Homeless Veterans Living on the Street.

There is a new world on the way. Indeed already here. And if we listen, we can hear her breathing hope and possibility. Breathing social and environmental justice. Breathing love and compassion. Breathing for us….and with us.

Beannacht,
Judith

February 24, 2025

The headlines we don’t see.

Arctic Cleanup Removes 130 Tons of Trash, Aims to Improve Cleanups Worldwide.
Brazil’s Government and Indigenous Peoples are Restoring the Amazon rainforest.
Thailand Bans Imports of Plastic Waste.
To Combat Teacher Shortages, a School District in North Carolina’s Most Expensive City is Building Housing for Its Educators.
Democratic Republic of Congo to Create Earth’s Largest Protected Rainforest.
Countries Around the World Lifted Millions Out of Poverty in 2024.
Legal Wins for Climate in Montana and New York.

These headlines are all from January of this year. I easily gathered up twice this number from the good news sources I subscribe to. But most of these stories aren’t even a footnote in the mainstream media. There are people across this nation and around the world dedicating their lives and actions to good works like these. I suspect you are among them. In these times, it’s so important not to lose sight of that. 

Beannacht,
Judith

February 22, 2025

Like hammer on anvil, their voices rang loud and clear. Voices forged in the front line fires of social justice action. Voices tempered with fierce and righteous passion for their cause. Maud Gonne was such a voice. Carrie Chapman Catt was another.

It is sadly appropriate to share Carrie Catt’s voice as right now there are whispers and actions to disenfranchise women’s right to vote. Although rumored, project 2025 does not address this. But the SAVE bill currently moving through Congress does. This bill would make it difficult for many women to go through the process of voter recertification and reregistration. And many on the political far right are still weaving a narrative of taking away our right to vote that was forged into our constitution in 1920.

Carrie, sister, your voice still rings loud and clear. And yes, we give ourselves. 

Beannacht,
Judith

Carrie Chapman Catt was leader in women’s suffrage movement. She led an army of voteless women to successfully pressure Congress to pass the constitutional amendment giving them the right to vote and convinced state legislatures to ratify it. She also founded the League of Women Voters, served as president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, and was one of the best-known women in the United States in the first half of the twentieth century. She became ancestor in 1947.

February 19, 2025

Hard times require
furious dancing.

One month into this fascist regime and it’s clear we have already lost the world we knew. And while we now see that this loss has been coming for decades, the brutality of its arrival is staggering. And we are feeling lost. Yet is for us to hold fast to our values and visions and begin the dance of renewal. We must find the music. We must find the steps.

I have faith that we will. I have faith in the power of our dancing.

Beannacht,
Judith

Ursula Le Guin was an American author best known for her works of speculative and science fiction. Writing more than twenty novels and one hundred short stories, her work was influenced by cultural anthropology, Taoism, feminism, and the writings of Carl Jung. She became ancestor in 2018.

February 17, 2025

Farsighted
Intuitive

Dennis made this for me decades ago from chopsticks and newsprint. I don’t recall the exact occasion but suspect it was around the time I was sticking my neck out and shining a light in places it was neither appreciated nor welcomed. Most likely when I was the board chair of a local charitable foundation and calling attention to a deficit of mission and values aligned staff leadership and lack of organizational integrity in addressing those issues. Speaking truth to power doesn’t always go well. I was not the only one to resign from the board.

The resonance with what is currently unfolding in our government is not lost on me. Giraffe is a totemic temptation.

But giraffe wisdom isn’t just about sticking your neck out and speaking truth to power which many of us are, and will be, called to do. It’s about speaking and acting from a farsighted and intuitive visionary perspective. Being farsighted seems fairly obvious given a giraffe’s long neck. Intuition is perhaps less obvious.

In any animal, horns and antlers are symbols of antennae for higher mental faculties and perceptions. With the giraffe, there are actually three horns. The third, which looks more like a lump, is located just above the eyes. This placement is very significant as this is the area of the body associated with third or inner eye – the seat of higher intuition.

Giraffe wisdom counsels us to look above and beyond the atrocities that are unfolding every day and stay focused on the vision we hold for the future. A vision of compassion. Of social and environmental justice. Of hope and possibility. A vision of being in right relationship with the sacred, the Earth, and in community, local, national and global. We are most vulnerable when we lose sight of this visionary horizon.

When giraffes run, their legs and neck are a fluid movement of power and grace and agility. As we move to the future we envision, may we be such a fluid movement. May we aspire to intuitive heights. May we stick our necks out with wisdom and power.

Beannacht,
Judith

February 14, 2025

Hope.
An optimistic state of mind
based on an expectation
of positive outcomes.

It seems it’s going to take some time and we will have to navigate some truly dark times. But I hold fast to believing that compassion, social justice, and environmental justice will again be the guiding lights for our nation. 

Together and with hope, it can be done. Beyond all doubt.

Beannacht,
Judith

Eleanor Roosevelt was the longest-serving First Lady of the United States. She served as a United States Delegate to the United Nations General Assembly and took a leading role in designing the text and gaining international support for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. President Truman later called her the First Lady of World in tribute to her human rights achievements. She became ancestor in 1962.