Living with Grace

January 13, 2024 Sharon Jacobson

Living with Grace

Every moment
is an opportunity to make a difference,
to help someone in need.
We are constantly invited into situations
which enable us to show grace.
They are woven into the tapestry
of every day life.
In them, we find chances to be
creative,
helpful,
healing,
and graceful.
We have a chance to make a difference,
lighten someone’s load,
or just do some good in the world.
Today, I will walk with discernment
and be open to those moments
provided for me to be of service.

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Caring for Others

November 3, 2023 Sharon Jacobson

Caring for Others

I am ever reminded of the teaching,
in so many spiritual writings,
about caring for each other
and loving one’s neighbor.
Sometimes that can seem harder then it is.
What if we simply asked
How are you
and then actively listened to what they said.
They may not say anything
because they are used to not being heard.
What if instead we asked
what are you going through right now
and then listened
as if we honestly cared about them.
How is your family?
During this season of tensions,
globally and locally,
what if we strove to show concern
for those we know
and those we need to know better.
What I honestly want to know is
what are you going through right now?

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Being Chicken Soup

September 17, 2022 Sharon Jacobson

Being Chicken Soup

Having grown up in a Jewish household,
there were lessons I learned from my mother,
who was one of several women who taught me
powerful traditions.
My mother taught me that my presence,
my simply being present for another
could lift someone’s spirit and
help them to heal.
As my Buby once said,
being present for others can be as healing
as a bowl of homemade chicken soup.
We can be the chicken soup
which heals someone and
lifts their spirit,
simply by being present.
It may be nothing more than
a smile,
a friendly hello,
asking how they are,
or spending time.
We have the power to bring
the healing power of chicken soup
into their lives.

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Visioning

September 17, 2021 Sharon Jacobson

Visioning

I have a vision,
or at least I am spending time
envisioning a world filled with
peace,
compassion,
and wholeness.
A world where people genuinely care
about each other,
other inhabitants
and the environment.
I have to be that example
that I want to see
reflected back to me.
So each day I do what I can
to be the change I want to see
in this world.
I try to move through this world
and offer peace to each other.
I work on being compassionate
with others and with myself
during those challenging times.
I practice being the bridge
between groups so
we may live in a world
which celebrates diversity
and restructures so we
experience equity.
Maybe a vision is a dream,
but this is mine
and what I am working
to make happen in my life.

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AFTER YOU

July 28, 2021 Sharon Jacobson

After You

Each day I try to focus on
my spiritual practices and
how they help me evolve.
I strive to treat others with courtesy.
I try to put the needs of others
before my own.
It is those little moments
when I remember
to let others go through the door
before me and say after you.
It is when I remember to treat others
with compassion and remember
their needs are as, if not more,
important then mine.
I try to think after you, not after me.
I try to put the needs of others,
before my own.
What if we treated others with
courtesy,
compassion,
and selflessness.
What if we remembered
to say after you?

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My Armor

July 18, 2021 Sharon Jacobson

My Armor

Having watched too many reruns
of the insurrection on our Capitol building
I am overwhelmed with images of
the violence and the armor
and the battle of ideologies
being fought out before me.
Then I sat and realized that I too must
clothe myself in my own armor daily.
My armor, however, is compassion and understanding.
Every day I too fight.
I do not fight against people.
Rather I fight negative ideas
which try to invade my spirit.
I fight against any desire to invade the lives and destinies of others
by disrespecting them and telling them what to do.
I fight the desire to dominate
even if it is a conversation.
I fight the desire to forget, even if it is just for one moment,
that we have all been exposed to mistruths.
We have all been exposed to big lies,
even if those lies are different.
May I remember to dress myself each day,
in my armor which enables me to be
compassionate and understanding
of myself and of humanity.

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Kindness

December 22, 2019 Sharon Jacobson

Piety used to make me think
of those who were holier than thou.
Then I learned that piety meant pious
which meant
kind

Kindess
is about showing
grace,
compassion,
gentleness,
love,
and concern for other

Kindness
is about the body, mind, and soul.
It is about our words
and our actions
being one

Kindness
is about being
loving,
giving,
caring,
empathetic and
generous

Kindness
is about doing unto others
as you would have them
do unto you.

Kindness
is unconditional.
It is about giving
without expectations.
It is about what we
experience
as much as what others do

Kindness
is about blessing
and being blessed.
It is all about being kind.

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I am

June 28, 2019 Sharon Jacobson

I teach about injustice.
I teach about inequality.
I teach about oppression.
I teach about injustice.
I teach about my role
as an activist,
but I also teach about
how I contribute to the
system of inequality.

It is one thing for me to
speak out and do what I can
to fight,
to resist,
to dismantle,
to make this a better world.
However, I must also speak about
how I am part of the system,
passively or actively,
which contributes to the oppression.

I am
a resisister,
and I am
guilty.
I am
part of the problem and
I am
part of the solution.

I am
created by the great
I am
and in the image of
I am
I work to bring about change,
but I am
also part of the problem
I seek to change.

I am
created
by I am
to do the work of
I am
with all of who
I am.

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Nurturing Me

September 18, 2016 Sharon Jacobson

I would like to be able to come to you and say that I treat myself amazingly well. However, I try to be more honest with you then I am with anyone else, including myself. I am awesome at saying I am going to do something, but I break promises with myself all the time. Like tonight I said I was going to take some time to be a shlump and I did not. I did not walk as much as I should have today. I ate fairly healthy today which is a good thing, but probably mostly because I have been intentional about keeping the junk food out of the house. I did get enough sleep and I have paid myself compliments, but I am not taking as good care of my body as I need to. I am working on treating myself as well as I treat others. As Iyanla Vanzant reminded me recently, at present I am allowing others to be thieves in my life and they do not even know that I am allowing them to do that. Well maybe they will if they read this. LOL

I am trying to think of myself as a little girl and remembering to nurture myself the way I would nurture my child. So there are some things I am really good at. I am good at telling myself that I love myself and how amazing I am. I am good at remembering that I am never alone and I am surrounded by your love, your strength and the supporters you have bought into my life to bring me through the times when I feel like I am struggling.

Inhumanity and Injustice

April 1, 2016 Sharon Jacobson

When I was in seminary, I took a course on advocacy and organizing. One of the questions we were asked to think about was what we felt was the most pressing social issue in contemporary society. Then and now, it is hard for me to pick just one, as there are so many issues that seem important for different reasons. I could talk about the global exploitation of people in developing countries or the trafficking of women as sexual slaves and prostitutes or violence against women or poverty or hate crimes or systemic injustice. My list of issues has grown over the last over the last 10 years. Trying to pick one over the other makes me feel as if I am saying one issue is more pressing than the other, as if I am trying to prioritize them. This is hard for me to do because I think they are all important for different reasons and to different groups of people. At the root of all these issues is a common thread which contributed to their existence. Ultimately, I have come to realize that the most pressing social issue in contemporary society is our inhumanity for and towards each other.

The Thanks Continue

April 10, 2015 Sharon Jacobson

Last week I wrote a letter to my Mom thanking her for being one of my spiritual and moral mentors. She and my Bubby are the first two, which came to my mind. As I have thought about all the spiritual and moral mentors in my life I have come to realize that while some of them were people I knew, others were people I have never met. Some of my teachers have been people who served as examples of how I did not want to be because I saw the harm they inflicted on others. Yet I need to give thanks to them as well, although I will not mention them by name as the lessons they taught me were decades ago and I would not want them to be judged, by this one incident.

This reminds me that Sister Helen Prejean, one of those women I have never met, taught me a valuable lesson.

Thank you Mom!

April 4, 2015 Sharon Jacobson

Last night I was watching a video Zoe had found about gratitude and happiness. In the video, people wrote letters to someone they were grateful for in their lives. Then they were asked to call that person and read them the letter if they could. This morning I woke up thinking about my mom. I am so grateful for all she taught me during her time here on earth. One of the things she taught me about was how to be compassionate towards others. Mom, I hope that you can read these words as I put them out into the Universe, that place where we are of one (uni) verse. That place where we are one with each other. I love you. If you were here and I had to read this to you, I would probably go through about three boxes of tissues.

"I"

March 8, 2014 Sharon Jacobson

I just wanted to take a moment to give thanks for the awesome time I had with all the people who came to have their spirit drawings done by J:D Arrichi at our space. It was a blessing to have met new people and enabled them to experience the peace and healing, which we offer in our space. Sometimes a place can sound good on paper, but until you experience the space, you do not know if it is a space, you need to return to in your journey.

There were so many amazingly powerful memories yesterday, which served as clear reminders of the subtle way that Spirit works. For example, I thought it was funny how one of the women was looking for a new dentist did not know that the co-pastor at her church was a dentist. After helping her to connect the dots, she realized she knew who she needed to go see. Prayer answered. Thank you for using me one more time.

Close your eyes and ___________

October 11, 2013 Sharon Jacobson

Wednesday was the 3rd of what will now be four lessons for Reiki 1. So after a celebratory birthday lunch for my teacher (I made “fried” chicken, collard greens, “mac” and cheese, and biscuits), we began our lesson. After blessing and sanctifying the space, she said close your eyes and using your left hand (not my dominant hand), hover your hand over this deck of Zen cards and pick three. The three that I picked were Compassion, Wisdom, and Community. We laughed and she said yes those are you; read the backs if you would like.

I am Interesting!

September 20, 2013 Sharon Jacobson

Recently, a fellow blogger, Ariffa, nominated me for The Versatile Blogger award. It was not like it was one of those big deal awards. It was one of those ways of getting to know other bloggers and to allow other bloggers to get to know you. It was a simple process. You had to list fifteen bloggers that you follow with links to their websites (that was the easier part for me). Then you had to list seven things about you that were interesting. This is where I found myself being stuck. I realized as I stared at this blank screen that I did not think I, or my life, was interesting. The two things I wrote down were not things that I found interesting or thought other people would find interesting, but maybe different or unique. That was that I had six parents (birth, foster, and adoptive) and that I used to say I was part Vulcan as my left ear has a slight point to it. Neither of which seems to fit the definition of interesting, or so I thought. According to the dictionary interesting means, “arousing curiosity or interest; holding or catching the attention.” The only thing I could think of is that sometimes I am able to arouse the curiosity and interest of my students through the material I share with them in the classroom.

Where is the love?

September 29, 2012 Sharon Jacobson

So I am sitting here today thinking about the pain that is being experienced by faculty, staff and students on our campus as a result of the murder of one of our female students. I cannot even begin to imagine what her parents and family members are feeling at this time. I have thought about the staff member from the school who had to call and inform them. I have thought about the young man who is responsible for her murder. I have thought about his family and what they must be feeling at this point. Then I think about the violence that is so prevalent in our world and I find myself asking the same question I have been asking for decades now. Where is the love?

R E S P E C T, Find out What It Means to Me

April 28, 2012 Sharon Jacobson

For the past few days, well maybe longer, I have been thinking about the whole notion of respect. I found myself remembering the chorus from the old Aretha Franklin song RESPECT. However, when I read the lyrics to her song, I realized that while respect might have meant one thing to her, at least from the lyrics, it meant something completely different to me. As her song says, find out what it means to me. For me, respect is an expression of love. It is about love for myself and love for others.

Unprofessional and proud of it!

October 8, 2011 Sharon Jacobson

I never thought I would be excited to have someone tell me I was unprofessional, but yesterday was one of those days. I was talking on the phone to one of my online students who was having technical problems. Once we got through the immediate problem, she shared with me how much she loves this class and said that in part it was because I was unprofessional. So in all honesty, I had to stop for a moment because I was trying to think about what I could have said or done that might have been viewed as unprofessional. For a moment, the parasite of fear began to poke its head out at me, but I caught it in time, rained love on it and myself, and did what I always tell others to do – seek clarification. Being unprofessional to her meant I was real, authentic, and approachable.

Week 7, Day 6 – Solitude

February 2, 2011 Sharon Jacobson

Generally, I love being alone. I value the time I have by myself. The peace. The quiet. I love it. As much as I love my wife, I love having my personal time with me. I love being able to curl up with a book or my laptop or my journal and just write or read or dream or envision or just be. There is a peace and a calm that comes when I am alone. While I love teaching and working with people, my time with me is restorative and rejuvenating. It is the single best gift I can give myself. However, there are times when being alone does scare me. Those times come when it is not about me choosing to be alone. My guess is that some of this comes from a time I do not even remember well. But it used to bother me when nobody wanted to be around me because they didn’t like me.

Week 5, Day 3 – Self Esteem

January 14, 2011 Sharon Jacobson

Where did the insecurities come from, not sure I know, not sure they just appeared over night, more like this gradual accumulation of internalized messages. It is kind of like that analogy I made once about a coffee cup. When we are born, we are like this brand new coffee cup, but the longer we have it the more we notice the stains and the little tiny cracks and chips and imperfections that gather over time. It is not that the cup went from one condition over night to another, it just happened and then when we begin to see or more appropriately own our stuff then we can begin to do something about it, or at least choose to do something about it. I think for the longest time, I ate my feelings. I ate my words. I was scared to speak what I was feeling because of a fear of abandonment.

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