• Who You Are
• Teaching, by Kablil Gibran
• Teacher
• Bearer of Hope and Grace
• Hope in the Middle
• Love Revived
• The Spirit of Massage
• Gospel According to You
• Is life without television cruel and unusual punishment?
• Meeting Place
• Breaking the TV Addiction
• TV Fasting
• Love is Here
• It’s Her!
• Love Spawns Miracles
• TV Nights
• Which Path?
• God Listens
• Making A Way
• The Translator
• The Good Dad
• What is Death?
• Parenting Self
• Return to the Light
• Your Guardian Spirit
• Dreambuilder
• Walk the Path
• The Gardener
• Valentine’s Love
• Roses & Rainbows
• The Headache Pebble
• Trust II
• Trust
• Love Lives On
• The Christmas Gift
• Things to Do
• I Am a Healer
• My Imperfect Friend
• Gravedigger
• The Actor Dies
• Birdsong
• Life of Love and Laughter
• Three Inside, Three Outside
• Buzz
• Spiritual Toughness
• The Birthday Race
• Sun of Love
• Drowning
• I’ve Changed
• Your Friend
• The Harvest
• My Dad
• I Found My Friend

Who You Are

I know of your anger
Yet I will not participate
Your tears I can share
But do not commiserate

I know the darkness of fear
Is only the absent of light
I know it’s your soul, not your eyes
That brings you true sight

I know in times of despair
It seems I am so very far
But I am not, I am with you
I just know “Who You Are”

-John Alexander

Teaching, by Kablil Gibran

Then Said a teacher, speak to us of teaching, and he said, no man can reveal to you aught but that which already lies half asleep in the dawning of your knowledge.

The teacher who walks in the shadow of the temple, among his followers, gives not of his wisdom, but rather of his faith, and his lovingness.
If he is indeed wise he does not bid you enter the house of his wisdom, but rather leads you to the threshold of your own mind.

The astronomer may speak to you of his understanding of space, but he cannot give you his understanding.

The musician may sing to you of the rhythm which is in all space, but he cannot give you the ear which arrests the rhythm nor the voice that echoes it.

And he who is versed in the science of numbers can tell the regions of weight and measure, but he cannot conduct you thither.

For the vision of one man lends not its wings to another man.

And even as each one of you stands alone in God’s knowledge, so must each one of you be alone in his knowledge of God and in his understanding of the earth.

—Kablil Gibran

Teacher

Wonder and Mystery,
We’ve explored them
Together.

Compassion and Touch,
We’ve witnessed their
Healing.

Movement and Stillpoint,
We’ve met in their
Peace.

Connection and Love,
We embrace them
Forever.

For my teacher Christine Felker, as she departs our county on the next part of her life journey, to Maine. June 13, 2005.

Bearer of Hope and Grace

For her lifetime commitment
To see the heart of God
Behind even
The most distressing disguises.

For her lifetime commitment
To heal body, mind, and spirit
Of those
Who are lost and in pain.

For her lifetime commitment
To bless the world
With her
Love, Strength, and Light.

We honor this day
The Bearer
Of Hope and Grace.

May she rejoice in her Creations
Knowing they are Good.

May she feel our Support
Knowing she is never alone.

And may she always smile
Knowing at the end of great pain
God blesses us—always—
With the Greatest of Gifts.

For Jennifer, my friend and fellow massage therapist, on the day of the birth of her second daughter, Reagan Hope, who joins her sister, Jillian Grace, December 19, 2004.

Hope in the Middle

A precious child
A Child of Light
Born this day
To bless us all.

We think we know
What Life’s about.
Things to do.
Places to be.

A child arrives
And nothing else matters.
For an instant…
We are fully present.

The birth of a child
Is a Holy Moment.
We all know it.
We all feel it.

Out of the darkness
She brings Light.
The Light of her eyes.
The Light of her Love.

Before she was born
There were fears
And flowing waves
Of pain.

Now she is here…
Giving Love.
Receiving Love.
Making God’s Love Real.

She is born to a world
Where many are lost.
They dream of salvation
But they have lost Hope.

Yet, Hope is right here.
In the eyes of a child.
In her laughter
And in her special song.

This Christmas season
Let there be Hope,
God’s Sacred Present
In the middle of All That Is.

For Reagan Hope Scotchel on her birth day, December 19, 2004
With love from Rick Wilkes. I am honored to be your friend.

Love Revived

We do so much
To save a body
When the heart stops.

Breathe life.
Pump the heart.
Apply shocking energy.

We won’t stop!
We won’t give up!
We are committed to Life.

What can we do
To save a marriage
When the heart breaks?

Breathe life.
Heal the heart.
Give all the energy we have.

We won’t stop!
We won’t give up!
We are committed to Love.

This day we honor
Your Love Revived.
May it live well and stay strong
Forever…

For our friends on the renewal of their marriage vows… December 14, 2004

The Spirit of Massage

Perceive with the mind,
Open and willing,
Answering God’s call.

Listen with the heart,
Sensitive and alert,
Hearing God’s direction.

Touch with the hands,
Respectful and present,
Sharing God’s light.

Know with the soul,
Honored and humble,
Doing God’s work.

Rejoice in the partnership,
Blessed and eternal,
Knowing God’s love.