Kirk Franklin - Imagine Me

I love music.

It's Sunday. I was flippin though the radio stations this morning and decided to listen to Gospel Jams! haha. that is one thing, i will always love me some good soulful gospel music. this song was playing at that very moment. This was a song that brought me great comfort some years back and it still resonates today.

Enjoy..

Some thoughts on this word- Salvation.

So i looked up images for "salvation" and all that came up were pictures of robots and what seemed to be scenes from the movie Terminator. So i'll just have to use my imagination on this one here .

While I was eating some spanish rice and hummus, the trail of thoughts began which led me to this word- salvation.
What thoughts were in this meandering trail? Well i was thinking of people being good and doing good things and how that began and who set the examples before us.
All of a sudden I came to an enlightening hault. Salvation.

What comes to mind when you think of salvation?

Being preserved from harm. Security. Deliverance from the power and penalty of sin. Redemption. Saving a soul from an eternity of damnation. walking down an isle and accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior to then realize later on in life like Langston Hughes, you did it because of peer pressure- or because the pastor prayed that you would get a flat tire on the way home so you would be convicted of your need for salvation (true story).

My mind- and this is my mind of course.. " of a mind so predisposed" to thinking about this within the christian context.

because i am deeply spiritual i have discovered that one can cross over boundaries.. your mind can go beyond the confines. and i love that.... i absolutely love that.

so when i thought of this word my thoughts led me to: "well, i don't want to say hey people i don't really care for the defintion of salvation; but more of- how can this word be thought of differently? what can we add to it? is that ok? i think so..

Can salvation be like a teacher? a great teacher.. who sets exceptional examples of love and goodness and learning. Jesus, Anne Lamot, Liz Gilbert, Vicky Taylor, Bhagavad Gita.
A parent/ parents? raising their children desiring to keep them from harm.
A pet? a dog that loves unconditionally.
A firefighter who really saves you from the fire!
A friend? even a broken heart?

it's because of these things-these people, we learn and love and learn to love better and develope into good human beings.

Tis a Gift

Tis a gift to receive a gift and a gift to give one.~me

both parties benefit. both being overflowed with joy watching one anothers' reaction. you can't help but revel.

A Gift...

pre- meditated. thought provoking. because you love them. preperation. spontaneity. creativity. knowing. helping. just because. expression. unexpected. special. healing.

so many different facets of a gift. as well as the facets of a gift giver. why do we give?

because its an expression of ourselves? because we want someone to know we care and we know the things that they like. or because its a way to communicate something that words can't always express. because they are sick and giving a gift brings light and life to their body and heart.

here's an example; so this picture is a gift i just got this week from my new roommate Rachel.

she went to this home goods store and came across this little wooden painting. her exact words "Melissa.. i HAD to get this.. it just reminded me of you sitting and meditating, like you love to do. and i know you love yoga."

She was right. i absolutely loved it. She gave me the gift but we both squeeled like school girls with excitement because it was perfect and she knew it too.

the colors match the walls and my side tables.. the picture brings everything in my room together!

there is another element to giving that is also cool.

mystery.

when you give something.. like your clothes and you have no idea who is going to wear it but someone will. someone will be clothed because of you.

then there is a the gift of presence. and i think this is the most powerful of all.

The gift of you. Yourself. Just being there.

that's huge and we often forget that.

Better People, India Arie

Love love India Arie. Her lyrics are simply profound and empowering.

I'm going to miss this place.

Grassy Point, you will be missed. It is this very spot, however, that I will miss the most. Many contemplative moments where spent here. It was this lake where sorrows were plunged and joy was picked up. Songs were written, prayers were prayed...

I am moving yet again.

I am excited and I am sad. Sad because i will miss living with my roommate who has become like a sister to me. The laughs, the sillyness, the deep conversations, the hugs, the shared tears..the dance competitions and the fights over who will take out the trash. haha. I love you Jess.

Packing.

I don't know about you but there is something that always comes over me when I stand, wiping my brow, sneezing out the last remnants of dust particles.. looking around at the pool of boxes. I always cry.

Why?

These boxes are reminding me of this..

The past and the future. My thoughts are trapped in these two places. Always.

So as I ask myself many times.. "Melissa, what can you learn?" Because everything has meaning..everything is spiritual.

I want to be excited. I don't want to focus too much on being fearful of what may or may not happen. I want to look back and smile but not dwell. I want to have a spirit of contentment right now. Here, at this very moment, in the midst of packed boxes and the rain storm that's keeping me from going anywhere right now.

"Rejoice in the things that are present; all else is beyond thee." ~Montaigne

SANE Center Opens at Stony Brook University Medical Center

SANE. A sexual assault nurse examiner.

This is a program i learned about today. My future roommate is a nurse, and not just A nurse but an incredibly skilled and passionate one at that. She furthered her education to become a forensic nurse and now has the opportunity to work with this incredible organization for women who have been raped.

Not only do these nurses provide a safe place for these women to come and be thoroughly examined, but they are crucial in the investigation process to bring justice.

This video mentions that a victim of rape that goes directly to the ER can wait for hours and perhaps not get the immediate help and specific attention needed. Which is why I love that this program is in place with skilled nurses, therapists, doctors right at the bedside.

I'm proud of her. And I am so glad she will be doing this..

Inspired by my bookshelf and outside.

I wrote a new song. Interesting how this came together. A simple bookshelf and the outdoors creates a story for a song.

She calls herself a little woman. The star of the sea.

Building her secret garden beneath a spiraling tree.

Can you keep a secret? she asks.. to then her dragon's reveal.

To own. To feel. It's real.

But the crane he sits still like her looking out upon the field.

As though he was there for the same reason.

Giving thanks for the pain.

Giving thanks for the pain.

And she sings.. la la la la

she sings..la la la la

And the.. la la la la..

Makes everything better.

Contemplation carries her to

But the tree and his branches is the move

You can not get to the castle until

You swim, You sweat, Plow through

And she sings...la la la la

she sings..la la la la

And the.. la la la la

Makes everything better....

It makes everything better..