Spiritual

When a Man Steps Up, the “Step” Falls Away

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Daughters are the most amazing, challenging, blessed events of our lives.

By: JANA GREENE

What kind of man volunteers

To raise another man’s child?

Takes them to their dentist visits.

Goes to parent-teacher conferences.

Feeds and clothes them until they are grown (and even after that.)

Not just for the responsibilities,

But also to experience the joys.

The milestones.

What kind of man actually shows up a each and every time?

To be a listening ear.

To give advice.

To put his needs after the needs

Of his wife and kids?

And to not look for one iota of glory for himself in doing so?

A man who would take on

Parenting two more children,

In the tenuous teenage years at that?

When the gauntlet was raised,

And the pedal hit the metal,

And the shit hit the fan,

And the stakes couldn’t be higher,

My husband was that man.

My husband is that man.

And I could not have chosen

A better “step”father for my girls,

But also

A better husband, life partner, friend.

Happy Father’s Day, My Beloved.

I know it was difficult,

But we raised three good human beings,

And like everything else,

We did it

Together.

There is no “step” about it, Baby.

And we all love you so.

The Great Opening – a spiritual poem

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Photo by Susanne Jutzeler, suju-foto on Pexels.com

Byh: JANA GREENE

They say I’ve changed,

and they don’’t like it.

Isn’t it a shame, they say.

She used to be a “good” Christian.

And I was, because I was

striving to DO, instead of BE.

“You’ve changed”

is said in negative observation,

as if circumstances don’t change,

as if life stands still.

As if pretending ten thousand things

didn’t happen to me

between the ages of 34 and 54

(or heck, even between 53 and 54!)

But they don’t know

that it is raw and permeating love

that tripped me up in the first place.

Acceptance for ALL?

Heretic! they say.

But either God is love

or He’s not,

and the truth is,

when I tripped over the concept

of unconditional love,

I fell into a vat of it,

rich, and thick, and endless.

I found my tribe in that vat,

and we synchronize- swim

together in that great,

copious pool of love,

free and unfettered.

We landed in the arms

of a loving God, you see,

faith in what matters intact.

In my heart of hearts now,

I know

that on the deepest level,

there is no such thing

as separation.

Not one from another,

and certainly not from

and the Father,

or the Son.

or the Holy Spirit.

So I try to see others

through the lens of that

unseparateness.

And sometimes I fail.

But at the end of the day,

I would rather be

a heretical lover of people

than a bitter

but self-righteous believer.

The confounding dualism

that most of Christendom lives by

kept me spiritually stagnant

for too long,

and prevented me from being

my most authentic self;

a version of me

I’ve never known.

Somehow by proxy

it made me unknowingly

inauthentic with God, too,

who was good with me

in the first place.

So…

When others read the sacred texts

from thousands of years ago

to support their narrative

of exclusion,

they do so from a lofty cherry-picker,

proud and righteous.

That used to be my narrative too.

But I’m not too good at

picking cherries.

I tried for years,

dizzy from the heights,

hands stained with the juice,

that I considered somehow

also the blood of Jesus.

I prefer the fruits of the Spirit, you see,

to forbidden apples and

unreachable cherries.

Yes… I’ve changed.

That’s the truth.

But perhaps we are meant to.

Maybe there is a Great Opening

in the realms we cannot see

that will be the catalyst

to understanding

the world we can see.

Love opens your whole soul up!

And I think I’d rather

have an open spirit –

a great and gaping

cavernous heart

that’s big enough for everyone –

than be a “good Christian”

by the standards of this world,

which – by the way – God so loves.

He so loves YOU, too.

Blessed be.

Poetry · Spiritual

Keep Going, Kiddo (pt. 2 – a Poem)

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By: JANA GREENE

Keep going, Kiddo.

I know that it’s hard

when you’ve been taught all your life

not to let down your guard

and that it’s wise to be

afraid of me.

Keep going, Kiddo.

Only good shall be.

Keep going, Kiddo,

when your mind is tired,

and your spirit exhausted

and your body mired

in limitations and constant lack.

Keep going, Kiddo.

I’ve got your back.

Keep going, Kiddo

don’t throw in the towel

when all your plans run afoul,

when nothing else is going right,

Keep going, Kiddo,

I’m holding you tight.

I’m not waiting to unleash

judgement on you,

because “it is finished”

means it is through.

So rest, my child,

we’re not separate, you see.

I’m already in you.

And you’re already in me.

Keep going, Kiddo.

Spiritual

What if LOVE is Actually God? (And other alleged heresy)

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By: JANA GREENE

A dear friend recently said to me “I don’t know if I can believe in God anymore.”

She said there is just too much evidence that a supreme being has checked out, or never existed – or worse – is dead.

“The whole ‘God is love’ thing is a crock,” said she. To which I agreed. “There’s too much suffering,” she continued, selling past the close. Her heart was in distress.

God is love has been embedded in us, we are taught nothing less all our lives, and where does that leave our idea of love those times we feel thrown to the wolves?

So I asked her:

“If you cannot believe that God is Love,” I replied. “Can you believe that LOVE is actually GOD?”

There is no denying that Love itself exists.

It swirls around us, and flows through happenstance and doubt, overcoming both.

It is in every hug, good wish, faithful intention. It is being seen. It is being valued. It is in valuing others.

It is sitting with the hurting, grieving alongside them so they are not lonely.

It is miracles, yes; but it is also in pain. Love often piggybacks on pain.

If your cognitive dissonence disallows you your old belief system, can you worship love and live by the tenants of a loving life?

Not just your understanding of love, but the truth that it is the force behind the details in the microcosm and glory in the vastness of the cosmos. That love?

Love itself is God. When app other things pass away, it’s still standing, open-armed.

Because whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – go towards that. Be willing to get messy with it. Spread that stuff everywhere. Dole it out like there is a never-ending supply. (Because there is.)

When you find manifestations of love, you will find a God who won’t tell you he’s running out for cigarettes, only to never return. Or say he’ll give you something to cry about. Or any of the other hurtful things human fathers do.

Yes, we are raised being told that God is love, but we have been taught incompletely. We are the incarnation of God on earth. When living out love has a heretical flavor, it’s time to take another look at ourselves.

Maybe you’ve been hurt by the “church. Perhaps you have trauma. “God is love” not ringing true to you as a whole? Old Testament giving you wrathful vibes of a vengeful overlord?

I understand. But can you believe in LOVE my friend?

Love that will sit in that dark hole with you, because it’s not allergic to our shadow selves.

Love that comforts the broken.

Love as a force that rises to meet the victim.

Love as the catalyst for every simple contact we have for the hurting.

Where there is confusion, it’s the thing we can hang our hats on.

Where there is bigotry, it’s the force that overcomes.

Oh yes. I believe that all things loving and lovely, and pure of intention, are of God.

And that includes US!

I wish you peace, joy, and comfort today, dear reader. I wish you rest in a safe, warm Source of Love.

Blessed be.