Victim pasotraspaso on Flickr.com

I try to teach this philosophy to my girls and this is my letter to them and to anyone who has ever suffered any wrongdoing or sees any being done:

Stand up for what is right.  Always.  Don't EVER be a victim or you will be the only one who suffers.  And stand up for those who have been victimized.  This is our mandate as citizens of humanity.  Hold people accountable.  But forgive.  To be free is to forgive.  We are the forgiven.  All of us.

I love you Fr. Sam.  Thank you for all you gave me.  And I forgive you for your mistake. 
 

You can use these distinctions on any issue of what someone says that is offensive versus who they really are.  We know this, but do we practice this?  GREAT JOB!

Someone once shared; when in times of doubt as life changes dramatically, when we temporarily lose our faith and hope, remember this:  “Sometimes when our faith falters, we have to lean on the faith of others until we can find it again.  Lean on mine.”  I did and it was the mast I held in the storm.

We all have the storms we weather, the doubts we face, as we live life and embark on new ventures.  The key is to lean on the faith people have in you that you have seeded and engendered for your entire life and it will be your compass through the storms while you hold the masts and regain that faith in yourself.

Hope is the thing with feathers

That perches in the soul

And sings the tune without the words

And never stops at all.

            Emily Dickinson

I am a better person, a more respectful person, for having had the privilege of having you as my coach, my colleague and my friend.

Listen by luckyfish, flickr.com

I have become a Podcast junkie.  News, analysis while I commute on the train.  Some prayer/reflection to start the day.  And eclectic music.  One Podcast I love is the series, is NPR's "This I Believe."  It is a weekly series of essays written by people from all different and diverse walks of life and read by them on air.  Their stories enrich mine.  I am inspired.  Some of these folks actually leave a piece of themselves with me long after I have listened.  And that is a powerful gift.  To touch a life, sometimes forever, by sharing your belief on some aspect of life.

Tonight, I listened to a female physician speak about the hard lesson she learned about "listening."  This is a story of what she shared and a love letter to my husband.   She said she believed that listening was powerful in the healing process.  She said the average doctor spends 18 seconds listening to a patient before launching into the schpiel.  She was chastised by a patient who shared an anxiety and loneliness about not seeing her son for five years and he was coming to visit.  The MD realized that this pain and stress was probably contributing to this woman's recovery. 

As her essay continued, I sat in the train station, riveted, knowing people wondered why I'd scrunch my face as her words spilled forward.  This MD became a patient.  She was diagnosed with MS.  She treated patients for a long time, knowing the power of listening to the healing process.  And when, confined to a wheelchair and unable to any longer use her arms to treat, she dedicated herself entirely to teaching doctors: from the perspective of doctor and patient.  She spoke of the importance to listen and how to listen.  She teaches them of the immeasurable healing that occurs for her, when a doctor stops, sits down and listens to her story.  She teaches:

Sit down to listen, especially if your patient is in bed.  Make eye contact.  Don't look at your notes or computer.  And put your hand on the patient, not on the door handle.
 
One Christmas, I volunteered for the Holiday Project.  I was single.  I went to a huge ballroom where I was assigned to a team and then we were to go caroling room to room in a hospital.  That was the day I met my husband: 25 years ago, Christmas 2008.  I was always terrified of hospitals.  So there I stood looking for my team and he spotted me across the ballroom.  A big, twinkly, green eyed, auburn haired, 6'2" Irishman with a beard.  He came over to me and said, "Be on my team."  I was relieved to jump ship and go onto his team. 

We were sent to a hospital for the chronically ill.  You weren't allowed to enter most rooms.  The diseases people had were contagious.  But Rich walked right in, in his booming voice and said hello and was spilling with cheer.  Christmas was his favorite of all days of the year.   And then he did something that stopped me dead in my tracks.  He entered a closed off room and sat on the bed of a very old man.  The family was there.  He has a great voice.  I am as timid about singing as you can get.  Imagine the combo of my fear of hospitals and my fear of singing paired with this guy who loves to sing and loves to touch and reach into people's hearts.  He sang a beautiful carol for this man.  His hand on the man's lap.  Chronically ill, contagious - and Rich sat next to him on the bed.  Suddenly the man began singing with him.  And my little squeaky voice serenaded all along.  Moments after his family said the man hadn't spoken in 20 years.

Rich intuitively knew how to be, how to listen and heal with his presence.  He always has.  That is what had me fall in love with him a year later.  Yup, I stayed friends with him.  But it was Christmas 1984 before we had our first real date.
We are not wealthy.  Yet it is this man I married who gives of himself in his listening, his generosity that engenders a loyalty and love by many, many people.  He is wealthy with friends.  And his listening healed me many times over the years. His listening has healed my children when they were lost or distraught.  And his listening has endeared him to what would fill a football field of people whose lives he has touched over the years.  It is his gift.  His triumph.  He heals. 

By snippy.snippy.crab.kristine,flickr.com

What if someone wrote to me and confessed being a "former pedophile?"  What would I say? As a mom, I've thought about this a lot. 

So this is a letter, I would write to a pedophile - who is actually working to recover.  I try to address it to one who is trying to stay in recovery, because no issue is simple.  So what if a pedophile is inactive, but the victims never knew what to do with what happened to them because he moved?  This is my "letter."  

We have registered pedophiles right down the road and across from my girls' former school.  And most convicted sex offenders are not registered.  They slip through the cracks.  So, since I "live in the VOX neighborhood," this letter is to someone if he/she lived in my neighborhood.

You Owe Your Victims Their Day

Dear Friend,

It's been a while since I wrote and I believe a public letter to you is the only way I might get through to you.  First, I believe you are "rehabilitated" in the sense you don't act on your urges.  Second, I don't know what you actually did to "steal the innocence from young children".   Third, as you said, with no details of your "crimes", with no names, no victims who ever came forward, the police can't do anything with your past.

I realized knowing your story from your private messages to me revealing your past and the analogy to the movie “The Woodsman,” became a brick in my lap after a while. I felt like I was abetting your crime of silence, yet another violation to those kids, I don't think you realize you've left them with.   So I have come back to say something.  And say it publicly so that it might reach you when a private message will be ineffective. 

As they say, “There are no accidents”.  You chose to share with me privately that you harmed young children (with me, of all people, for a reason).  It wasn’t just that we really like and respect each other on all the blogs we visit.

I commented on blogs you read - about being "molested" in a strange sort of way when I was 17, in public/private way, yet in a way that had me scared for my life, panic stricken, paralyzed in the moment and ashamed and terrified people would think this bizarre event unfolding was my fault.  I got out of this place and raced home and my mother reported the guy because I was too scared to say or do anything.  They'd think I was a whore, he'd kill me.  Back then, they said, she should have said something.  Great.  My mom said, "THIS is an innocent girl.  She only knew to get away as fast as she could."  So this guy probably continued his bizarre, disgusting shtick.

I commented on blogs you read about watching someone, a nice stranger who smiled at me, block my view while my 5 year old was catching rain drops on the café porch, with a glass door between us, the difference between life and death while he tried to lure her to his car. He could have picked her up and run and she would have been gone with me watching 5 feet away. I have never, ever gotten over it.  I reported him, but the rain was so hard, his plates were hard to read and I couldn't give the police enough to catch him.  It was a flash and he could have taken her were it not for a few odd things that got in his way, When the police really did little,  I felt so worried for the safety of other children that I  drove around that town for a few days to see if I’d spot him or his car.  How could I have let him go? You knew that too.

And you knew my vehement feeling about pedophiles in those comments I made.  Yet you reached out after and wrote  and shared with me, that you had perpetrated acts against children. 

Why tell me, I wondered?  Was it a trust and respect built between two bloggers who respected each other?  Perhaps.  But I think there are no accidents.  You told a vocal mother.  Why?

Plus, you even reached out to share the story with another person you respected - yet under cover enough to not get caught.  Yet you risked it.  You risked a lot on that one.  You wanted us to know pedophiles can repent. Was that all you wanted us to know? 

You told me you wanted to come forward to name the kids you violated, the ones whose innocence you stole and take responsibility.  You said, the counselors told you if you did, you would make those victims of yours relive those horrors.  They said that it would be unfair and a second violation on them (mentally) if you come forward.  And that went right past me - oh if the counselors said that it must be right.  WRONG.  Unequivocally, undeniably, selfishly (on their part to so advise) WRONG. 

So you have dedicated  years to being clean.  You have dedicated yourself to God and to helping your country and to waiting for any ONE child you violated, now an adult to call you out.  And then you said you would willingly confess.  You were in hiding to protect them from further pain. 

You told me the police watch you, yet without the names/the crimes they can't do anything.  And you work very hard to keep it that way.   Because you believe being "recovered" and dedicating your life to God,  to country, and to helping others’ change their “deviant behavior” is to show one can recover and never repeat offend. 

I believe you have genuinely worked to rehabilitate.  In fact I know you are frustrated that society is doesn't see one can recover from being a pedophile.  The fact is, if all you say is true, you are a rare example when all studies say, “impossible.”  So you stay a step ahead of the police so you can do good works.

I hope you're reading this.  Here's what I learned first hand and after speaking with a friend who councils pedophile victims. This recovery you genuinely work on is all about you.  

What about the victims? 

You stole something from them you admit should never be taken – their pure innocent minds and trust.  And you have stolen their chance to recover with this thesis.  The premise of Step 9 of any 12 step program is: to make amends unless to do so would hurt someone - is if you went to their door steps.  Making an amends that way leaves person “confessing” feel better and leaves the other one violated. You are correct.  What I’m saying is this doesn’t apply here.

You could go to the police in those towns where they grew up.  Their names won’t go public.  Your name will be public, your actions only, and they then have the chance to come forward and realize, “Maybe it wasn’t me.  Maybe I’m not crazy.  Maybe what I remember is right.”

I don't know what you did.  I do know on any level, playing with the minds of the innocent or the bodies, you steal something.  Without the chance to confront their perpetrator, they cannot find closure.  They are left thinking that they did something.  They may be left thinking they were mistaken.  Nothing happened - they must remember wrong - but it eats at them.  Or, worse,  they are left thinking they were perverted if they "went along" with it out of fear because you were the trusted adult in power or a mentor. Respect/love got confused with sexual overtones. They were left to believe they caused it to happen.  It was their fault.  They were left with shame.  I don't even know what you left them with in terms of their self-identity and trust.  They were left with changing the course of their lives forever. 

I know enough victims of rape, incest, molestation to know the human spirit can rise above living as a "victim."  But trying to have a normal life after that without confronting the assailant or getting SOME validation that happened to you is not made up is damn hard.   Yet, if they know that person has come forward they can begin to make sense of it, they can confront you or their past.  They wouldn't have to question themselves anymore.  Without you coming forward, you left them with a hard job or for some an impossible one. You HAVE to know that.

Those counselors that advised you: THEY ARE WRONG.  Your silence helps one person:  You.  I understand the reference you gave to the movie “The Woodsman.”  There is a viewer empathy for the recovering pedophile who works to change, as you have, when a society will never stop its revulsion and hate.  

If you went back to the state/s where you did whatever you did to these kids - and turned yourself in to the police and let it come out in the press, their names wouldn't be published.  Yours would.  And then they might come forward and get some closure.  They can't come forward when you've disappeared.  You left them with nightmares and broken spirits.  I don’t know the specifics of your “crimes.”  They may not even be "as bad" as you said.  However, I know they are enough that 20 years later you say the police still watch you.

A friend who councils pedophile abuse VICTIMS said the most insidious side of the act is more than the sexual act. It's the abuse of power, the violation of trust, the manipulation, the mind games, the twisting these innocent  trusting spirits to either be afraid or feel they are at fault.  And if a child tries to question a pedophile/perp in a role of power, the perp knows what to do, take all of what they know about the innocent victim and twist it around until it comes out the other end so they are too scared or too ashamed to come forward.

I do believe in terms of recovery from being a repeat offender, you have stopped, if all you said is true.  But you live in denial: not coming forward is wrong.

If you really want to make things right, go back and give those now grown up children a chance to get closure and get healing.  They are the ones who need it.   I know if you didn’t need a job, you’d find a forum to reach out to pedophiles..  But until you make it right with these kids, you will have forever stolen their innocence and given them no way to wrap their heads around it and you will have nothing to teach a “recovering pedophile.”

If you know that, then I can tell you from every victim’s perspective - that is unforgivable.

There is a reason you wrote and shared what you did with me.  A reason you shared it in public with someone famous in a way you risked discovery. In your heart, you have to know that the baloney about turning yourself in would hurt the victims is just that, baloney. 

And what has me wonder about your sincerity stating to me that if one victim came forward, you'd gladly admit it, is because in the same breath you also said you stay a few steps ahead of the police who seem to be watching you in your new neighborhood.  You know their dilemma and remain uncaught.  Without names, they can’t do anything.  So if the law is reading this, remember, this is a fictitious story in the neighborhood of VOX.  A blog letter to a hypothetical pedophile with a hypothetical history.  But in reality, there probably will be victims who read this who can identify, active pedophiles who may hear, and someone like this recovering perpertrator who may think that doing God's work - means giving your victims a chance to find closure rather than waiting for them.

Who ever told you you'd harm the folks you really harmed was WRONG.  Don't go to the kids, you go to the police and let the victims get closure.  They deserve that. 

IF there are others who know of victims of men (or women) pedophiles, please share, what you know they went through. Any adult who has been molested will tell you, the quickest route to overcome being a “victim” is by confronting their perpetrator. 

Even as a ficticious story this was difficult to write.  I like and respect this "protagonist."  Like in the movie "The Woodsman," I see, nothing is black and white.  And I believe, if this had really happened, the protagonist would know I wrote this from my heart to him, for him as much as for his victims. 

I will say, because this was so difficult to write and such a difficult issue, I am not condoning pedophilia.  I believe for 99% there is no recovery.  It is intractable. And for those, I have no sympathy, no heart.

This story, even if it is ficticious, could help children, grown up, whose lives may have been shattered. 

I respectfully say to anyone who reads this piece, your comments are welcome.  Any that are inappropriate, I will delete. 

I won't be blogging anymore.  No more time.  I find it too time consuming living life...instead of blogging opinions about it.  But it made a difference to read your thoughts.  Whether we agreed or not.  It made a difference to share mine and grapple with social, cultural and political issues.  But now I move on.  I do check in.  Thank you to all who contributed to me.  I have blocked many of my posts and only leave those that might make a difference.  Best of luck.

And may we all find our humanity in ourselves and in each other in these worst of times.  I hope with this new era in American leadership, we try to come together - or we are sunk.  Differing views are fine.  But in the end when all the debates are over (and the bickering) when the decision is made, we say we stand united as a country. 

May our choices be those for the greater good. 
May our steps we take as individuals be for the greater good.
May the crisis bring out our best in each of us that we didn't even know we had. 
May we be our brothers' keepers.
May we serve someone else when we feel deprived or sad.
May we stop and relish this beautiful earth and care for it's future as if it were are child.
May we stand for peace. 
Blessed are the peacemakers.
And in so doing, may we celebrate our humanity in all it's glory.

May you prosper in the intangibles: love, courage, character responsibility, accountability, loyalty and an open mind. 
May the riches you find in an economic free fall be the cherishing of friends, good health and in comfort through the universal spirit of love - I call God.  Be safe, be healthy, and find joy and comfort in that.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/170812?from=rss

I would like to end all abortions.  I have not seen that happen in conservative administrations and I don't think Roe v. Wade will be changed.  But there is hope for change from the bottom up grass roots and from the top down. 

When I spoke with folks about the election, pro-choice advocates said to me, "No one wants abortion." It's a permanent solution that alters many and destroys lives forever.  Some women move on.  Of course most cope because of the resilience of the human spirit. 

But I have spoken to fathers who had no say, grandparents who had no say, women who live in regret, women who after having several abortions, when ready to start a family, never were able to have children.  The scars are deep. 

Why else would a liberal, pithy show like Boston Legal have it's two liberal protagonists (James Spader and Candace Bergen) share that they NEVER got over the loss of their unborn.  Sure, they defended the "constitution."   But they spoke what many don't - the enduring loss.  Go to Silent No More and see the photos of women holding signs:  "I regret my abortion."  Do I want it to end completely?  Yes.  As I have said, choice is a great thing.  And as a feminist (mellowed) it is hard to swallow that women would have their bodies legislated, but men would not be forced to have vasectomies if they were "serial" fathers of the terminated children.  Like it or not, you can't be "fair."  Nothing is black and white.  But the rights of the unborn have to be defended.  If we don't speak on their behalf, who then?   A civilization that allows 50 million lives to be destroyed, is a civilization that has more problems than Wall Street/Main Street.

Just remember, that baby that the doctors say will be born with debilitating disease and may suffer, when born, could be the next Stephen Hawkins.  Could be the joy of a family, even if life is short.  Worse yet, as friends found out just before they terminated late in a pregnancy, the test could be wrong.  Saying you can't afford another child or a child seems a reasonable argument.  Except many of those losing jobs still have to find a way to support the children they chose.  Life has no guarantees. 

The ONLY hope we have is our moral compass.  What is the underpinning of everything?  Life.  A precious gift we are blessed with.   I would rather see an end to abortions and will be volunteering in many ways to help reach that goal. 

President-elect Obama has taught us all one thing:  we each have a voice.  We each have a responsibility to speak, to advocate, to work for change.  I am working for this change.  I am taking President-elect Obama up on his call to us for a grass roots participation. 

So Dear President-elect Obama, I ask that as a Christian, you look upon this country and the foundation of its freedoms - including the basic right to life.  The most basic of rights.  I ask you to look at the letter Dr. Land has sent.  It is a start. It's not the solution I want, but it's a start.   And in my view, people can't be pro-life and not offer solutions to the mothers and their children.

Finally, I pray that we never create stem cell embryo farms to help anyone ill.  I understand that if those embryos that are frozen now are going to be tossed out like trash because they will never be used, if redirected, they could save or heal life.  And I'm okay with that.  But it's a slippery slope.  If anyone ever opens the door to allow people to sell embryos, farm them like tomatoes, then we as a civilization are doomed. 

Below is a letter from Dr. Land that I support.  It's not a perfect solution.  But it's a start.  And I will work from the ground up to end abortions.

Dear President-elect Obama,

By Richard Land - Nov 5, 2008 - 41

First, congratulations on your successful campaign to become the 44th President of our beloved United States of America. This was a historic election in terms of the massive increase in voter participation as a percentage of the electorate.

I hope you know that there are tens of millions of Americans who did not vote for you who are still very, very pleased that an African-American has been elected President of the United States.

The fact that this could happen in a country with as tragic a racial past as America’s says something noble and fine about the American experiment and the glorious “opportunity democracy” it has spawned. After much struggle, we as a nation have chosen together to live up to the promises of our founding document, the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

For those of us who came of age during the Civil Rights Era and were inspired by Dr. King, it is very gratifying to watch our nation elect a person of color to the highest political office in the land, even someone for whom they may not have voted because of serious policy differences.

Mr. President-elect, the Bible exhorts us to pray for “kings and all who are in authority” (1 Tim. 2:1-2). We, therefore, covenant to pray for you, your family, and your administration. We will pray that God will grant you godly wisdom in all your decision-making. We pray with faith and confidence that “the king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water; he turneth it whithersoever he will” (Prov. 21:1).

On issues which involve moral and ethical values, we will both pray for you and exhort you to apply biblical principles and values as you make policy decisions which will impact the families of America and the world. We will also pray that God will bless you with safety, health and all spiritual blessings.

On issues where we agree, such as standing against genocide in Darfur and protecting basic human rights around the world, we will support you.

On issues where we disagree with the approach your administration takes, we will do our best to persuade you to change your approach. When we are unsuccessful, we will stand by our convictions and will exercise our God-given responsibilities and Constitutionally-protected right to work for alternative solutions which are more in accord with our convictions.

Southern Baptists remain unalterably committed to the protection of unborn human life. The vast majority of Southern Baptists believe that a pre-born baby is a distinct human life, according to both science and the Bible (Ps. 51:5; Ps. 139-13-16; Jer. 1:5; Luke 1:41). The euphemism of “choice” or “reproductive freedom” cannot disguise or justify killing a baby. Government has a proper role in protecting lives, including the lives of the unborn. Southern Baptists, by national resolutions, have opposed abortion on demand, and have called for public policies which severely restrict abortion and which promote alternatives such as adoption.

Mr. President-elect, you have said you want to unite us as a nation. An excellent place to work for such unity and consensus on the life issue would be for you to put your full and vigorous support behind the Democrats for Life House Caucus initiative known as the Pregnant Women Support Act or the 95-10 Initiative (because its goal is to reduce abortion by 95% over a ten-year period).

This bill (H.R. 3192 and S. 2407), sponsored in the last Congress by Rep. Lincoln Davis (D-TN) and Sen. Robert Casey (D-PA), would, among other things:

• Establish a toll-free number to direct women to places that will provide support during and following their pregnancy;
• Fund collection of accurate data on abortion;
• Provide child care to low-income and student parents;
• Provide parenting education in maternity group homes;
• Make the Adoption Tax Credits permanent;
• Ensure that pregnant women are not denied health care by insurance companies and that coverage is continued for newborns;
• Codify the regulation that extends coverage under the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to low-income pregnant women and unborn children;
• Improve services for pregnant women who are victims of domestic violence;
• Provide services to parents receiving a positive test diagnosis for Down syndrome or other prenatally diagnosed conditions;
• Increase funding for the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Nutrition Program;
• Provide grants to institutions of higher education to fund pregnant and parenting student services;
• Provide new mothers with free home visits by registered nurses.

All of these measures would help fulfill the pledge made in the 2008 Democratic Party platform, which “strongly supports a woman’s decision to have a child by ensuring access to and availability of programs for pre- and post-natal health care, parenting skills, income support, and caring adoption programs.”

Mr. President-elect, America needs moral conviction, not moral neutrality. America’s children need a model of leadership committed both to excellence and to virtue. May God help you, Mr. President-elect, and make you that leader. And may God bless America!

Yours in His service,

Richard Land

The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission works to protect the sanctity of human life by supporting bills such as the Pregnant Women Support Act. If you would like to learn more about this issue, additional resources are available here. 

There are several things to inspire this week:

1.  McCain's concession speech

2.  Obama's victory speech

3.  This story of a Bald Eagle named Freedom.  I looked it up on snopes for veracity.  It is true.

More links/stories can be found at bottom of this link:    

http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/freedom.asp

Not many people get a picture of this proud bird snuggled up next to them

Freedom and Jeff
Freedom and I have been together 10 years this summer. She came in as a baby in 1998 with two broken wings. Her left wing doesn't open all the way even after surgery, it was broken in 4 places . She's my baby.

When Freedom came in she could not stand and both wings were broken. She was emaciated and covered in lice. We made the decision to give her a chance at life, so I took her to the vets office. From then on, I was always around her. We had her in a huge dog carrier with the top off, and it was loaded up with shredded newspaper for her to lay in. I used to sit and talk to her, urging her to live, to fight; and she would lay there looking at me with those big brown eyes. We also had
to tube feed her for weeks.

This went on for 4-6 weeks, and by then she still couldn't stand. It got to the point where the decision was made to euthanize her if she couldn't stand in a week. You know you don't want to cross that line between torture and rehab, and it looked like death was winning. She was going to be put down that Friday, and I was supposed to come in on that Thursday afternoon. I didn't want to go to the center that Thursday, because I couldn't bear the thought of her being euthanized; but I went anyway, and when I walked in everyone was grinning from ear to ear. I went immediately back to her cage; and there she was, standing on her own, a big beautiful eagle. She was ready to live. I was just about in tears by then. That was a very good day.

We knew she could never fly, so the director asked me to glove train her. I got her used to the glove, and then to jesses, and we started doing education programs for schools in western Washington. We wound up in the newspapers, radio (believe it or not) and some TV . Miracle Pets even did a show about us.

In the spring of 2000, I was diagnosed with non-hodgkins lymphoma. I had stage 3, which is not good (one major organ plus everywhere), so I wound up doing 8 months of chemo. Lost the hair - the whole bit. I missed a lot of work. When I felt good enough,  I would go to Sarvey and take Freedom out for walks. Freedom would also come to me in my dreams and help me fight the cancer. This happened time and time again.

Fast forward to November 2000, the day after Thanksgiving, I went in for my last checkup. I was told that if the cancer was not all gone after 8 rounds of chemo, then my last option was a stem cell transplant. Anyway, they did the tests; and I had to come back Monday for the results. I went in Monday, and I was told that all the cancer was gone.


 
So the first thing I did was get up to Sarvey and take the big girl out for a walk. It was misty and cold. I went to her flight and jessed her up, and we went out front to the top of the hill. I hadn't said a word to Freedom, but somehow she knew. She looked at me and wrapped both her wings around me to where I could feel them pressing in on my back (I was engulfed in eagle wings), and she touched my nose with her beak and stared into my eyes, and we just stood there like that for I don't know how long. That was a magic moment. We have been soul mates ever since she came in. This is a very special bird.

On a side note: I have had people who were sick come up to us when we are out, and Freedom has some kind of hold on them. I once had a guy who was terminal come up to us and I let him hold her. His knees just about buckled and he swore he could feel her power coarse through his body. I have so many stories like that.

I never forget the honor I have of being so close to such a magnificent spirit as Freedoms.

Hope you  enjoy this.

Jeff

 

Saint Theresa's Prayer

May today there be peace within.
May you trust  God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not  forget the infinite possibilities that are born of  faith.
May you use those gifts that you have  received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.  
May you be content knowing you are a child of God.
Let  this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the  freedom to sing,
Dance, praise and love.
It is there for each and every one of  us.

 'Worry looks  around,  
Sorry looks back,
Faith looks  up.'