maya angelou – Page 2 – Jackson Community Church

Reflections on mothers and matriarchs

… give them to all the people who helped mother our children. … I don’t want something special. I want something beautifully plain. Like everything else, it can fill me only if it is ordinary and available to all. — Anne Lamott Mother is a verb. It’s something you do. Not just who you are.[…]

Reflections on journeys: identity, name and personhood at the border during times of change and passage

We know what we are, but not what we may be. ― William Shakespeare When I discover who I am, I’ll be free. ― Ralph Ellison The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others. ― Mahatma Gandhi He allowed himself to be swayed by his conviction that human[…]

A Valentine’s Note from JCC: Songs and poems about different kinds of love: for people, for the world, for each other (hopeful, sad, reflective, rowdy)

SONGS about LOVE: One Love by Bob Marley (reggae):https://youtu.be/g94A1R8xHcQ Your Love Keeps Lifting Me Higher by Jackie Wilson (rock):https://youtu.be/mzDVaKRApcg What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong (rock/blues): https://youtu.be/2nGKqH26xlg What the World Needs Now by Jackie DeShannon (ballad): https://youtu.be/YUaxVQPohlU Gentle On My Mind by Glen Campbell (country): https://youtu.be/ETkzK9pXMio You Raise Me Up performed by 12 Tenors[…]

Meditations on hope and resilience for the first Sunday of Advent

Hope begins in the dark … the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You don’t give up. — Anne Lamott You do not need to know precisely what is happening, or exactly where it is all going. What you need is to[…]

Meditations on blindness and sight, perception and awareness: songs, prayers, poems and brief commentary on themes that rise up in John 9

I think we all suffer from acute blindness at times. Life is a constant journey of trying to open your eyes. I’m just beginning my journey, and my eyes aren’t fully open yet. — Olivia Thirlby Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind … — William Shakespeare I have looked into your[…]