Category Archives: Rebel Posts

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Beginning Today


Poems of Praise

Beloved is the One Who spoke and all things came to be!

Beloved are You!
Beloved is the One who created

all in the beginning!
Beloved is the One Who speaks and acts!

Beloved, Who determines and fulfills!

 

Beloved, Who deals kindly with the world!

Beloved, Who acts kindly towards all creatures!

 

Beloved, Who responds with good to those in awe!

Beloved, Who removes the dark and brings the light!

 

Beloved is the One Who lives eternally.

Beloved, Who delivers and redeems!  Beloved are You and Your name!

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Iris and Rhody

Blue Iris – Copyright Barbara Mattio 2015

 

 

Starting today….

I will open my mind and heart to others in need.

I will try my hardest to do my best.

I will make new friends.

I will take the advice I get from those who care.

I must learn to be myself, and love myself.

I will listen to more music and write more music.

I will try to make somebody’s day a little bit better.

I will have fun!

I can express myself.

I will write about my feelings.

I will reflect on the past.

I will look towards the future because it is coming soon.

 

Today is the day I will begin

I will continue to smile.

I will dream about tomorrow.

I will challenge myself.

I shall travel to new places and see new things.

 

I will do more good deeds.

You see, these are the things

I hope for so much.

I will live; I will love; I will learn;

and I will pray.

 

–Andrea Levick

 

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Rainbow1

Rainbow – Copyright Barbara Mattio 2015

 

 

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Wishing everyone a Peaceful and Harmonious Weekend

Namaste

Barbara

 

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Happy Passover


Tonight is the first night of the Passover Festival, celebrated by Jews around the world.  It is a time of remembering when the Jews were slaves in Egypt.  God used Moses and Aaron to free them.  That would have been enough (Dayenu) but then God parted the Red Sea and allowed them to pass dry, preventing the Egyptians from following.  That would have been enough (Dayenu) but he fed them for 40 years in the desert before bringing them to the promised land.

Passover is a holiday of celebration, the celebration of Freedom.

The Freedom to live and worship as you please.  The Freedom, sometimes, to have a little fun with it all.

Enjoy this video and have a Happy Passover.

 

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My Dream


I have a dream, a dream of peace. My dream is a world without borders between countries. Mother Earth would be one endless landscape where all are welcome and appreciated. My world would have new priorities. People would see themselves in others and therefore would not work to hurt or disparage others.

 

Resources would be willingly shared with all no matter what they look like or who they love. I dream that the homo sapiens would face challenges in our world together. No one looking to be more or have more than other people.

 

I dream of a world where communities are not deliberately fragmented. No one must do without because it is inconceivable not to share. It matters to each of us that we all have what we need to thrive and enjoy success.

 

As I watched the mountains turn a little more green each day, I was mesmerized by all the shades of green and the light. It shimmered and shined across the mountains. The peacefulness was healing and inspiring. Each day, a different kind of tree began to bloom. From the bottom of my heart, I was filled with gratitude for being able to watch life come out of its long winter sleep. There were many people around me who were sharing the same experience. A smile here, a nod there and we knew that we were filled with gratitude and love for our planet.

 

Mother Earth was a gift given to humans from the Universe. Each blade of grass, each leaf on trees and shrubs, each floral scent carried on the wind is a boon for our lives. Life is precious and it is found everywhere. We are charged to take care of each other and what we have been given. It is up to us to love and care for everyone. It is up to us to care for everything in our world. We need to be responsible.

 

“Gratitude to Mother Earth, sailing through night and day—

and to her soil: rich, rare, and sweet

in our minds so be it.

 

Gratitude to Plants, the sun-facing light-changing leaf

and fine root-hairs; standing still through the wind

and rain; their dance is in the flowing spiral grain

in our minds so be it.

 

Gratitude to Air, bearing the soaring Swift and the silent

Owl at dawn. Breath of our song

clear spirit breeze

in our minds so be it.

 

Gratitude to Wild Beings, our brothers and sisters, teaching secrets,

freedoms, and ways; who share with us their milk,

self-complete, brave and aware

in our minds so be it.

 

Gratitude to Water; clouds, lakes, rivers, glaciers,

holding or releasing, streaming through all

our bodies salty seas

in our minds so be it.

 

Gratitude to the Sun, blinding pulsing light through

trunks of trees, through mists, warming caves where

bears and snakes sleep-he who wakes us-

in our minds so be it.

 

Gratitude to the Great Sky

who holds billions of stars–and goes yet beyond that-

beyond all powers, and thoughts

and yet is within us-

Grandfather Space. The Mind is his Wife.

so be it.

—Gary Snyder (after a Mohawk prayer)

 

 

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Mountain stream Photographed and copyrighted 2015

Mountain stream
Photographed and copyrighted 2015

 

 

Blue Ridge Mountains Photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2015

Blue Ridge Mountains
Photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2015

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Our Individual Paths to Peace


When we begin our journeys in this life, I don’t think we really have a concept of peace. As children and teens, we are looking for other things in our lives. Without peace, life can seem dull, cruel and worthless. As we find our peace within, we see more and more of what is really happening in our lives. With inner peace, we can survive more easily the hits the world sends our way.

 

So we are on our path and we decide we need inner peace. Well, then what? There is an inner landscape within us that is a source of peace if we but spend time there. Our peace takes choices: Do we hate or forgive? Do we judge others or accept them as they are? Do we look at others and think they are less than we are? Why would we do that? Because their skin color is different, they are less educated, because their clothes seem strange? We can’t look at others in a peaceful manner unless we are filled with peace ourselves.

 

What happens when others believe differently than we do? Do we fight? Do we make a judgement? No, we reach into our inner peace and spread some around us. We spread peace and everything becomes lighter. We spread peace and hope rises up like a beacon in the darkness. We spread peace and we become calmer and easier to deal with.

 

When we can live in peace, we look around us and see some very rare gifts we might have missed otherwise. I do not believe there is just one way to find inner peace. For myself, as I looked around at the world I saw dichotomies of peace and hate. Every time I did not choose hate, I found a little more peace within me. Every time I did not judge others harshly, my life grew more comfortable and peaceful.

 

Every time I helped someone else with a problem, a problem in my own life grew smaller and I felt better. Every time I committed a random act of kindness, one would unexpectedly return to me. Time after time, year after year, I got more comfortable with this huge cushion of peace in my life. When someone was mean, cruel or nasty, I found that I just sunk deeper into the cushion of peace that had formed around me.

 

Does this mean nothing ever hurts me or upsets me? No, it doesn’t, but it gets easier feel the inner peace than the hurt feelings. It is easier to reach out to others in kindness than anger. The peace we carry within is like a pebble we throw into a pond: as it ripples out in ever widening circles, it touches more and more people. Their inner peace flows outward to us and we become stronger in our own peace. It is a cycle in the wheel of life. The inner peace flows outward and touches those who need it. The cycle never stops.

 

 

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Gerber Daisy, grown and painted by Barbara Mattio. Acrylic paint on canvas, 2009

Gerber Daisy, grown and painted by Barbara Mattio. Acrylic paint on canvas, copyright 2009

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A Brief Interlude of Sun


Hello, all

As many of you know I live in North East Ohio, home of the Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame, world class music and tons and tons of snow.    Also frigid temperatures and very little sun.

Accordingly, I am taking matters into my own hands and going somewhere WARM, where Spring has nearly Sprung!

I’ll be gone a couple of weeks. I will try to keep up with my comments and visiting you all, but I don’t know that I will actual post a blog of my own until I get home.  But, it’s me, so you never know — I may not be able to help myself!

Take care, everyone

Namaste,
Barbara

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Breaking Down Barriers


This Is What A Little Over A Year Of Religious Women Breaking Down Barriers Looks Like

 |  By Antonia Blumberg
Posted: 03/10/2015 9:48 am EDT Updated: 03/10/2015 9:59 am EDT
APTOPIX Norway Nobel Peace Prize

Joint-Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai from Pakistan waves as she arrives to speak on stage during the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, Norway, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2014. Malala Yousafzai from Pakistan and Kailash Satyarthi of India received the Nobel Peace Prize on Wednesday for risking their lives to help protect children from slavery, extremism and forced labor at great risk to their own lives. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham) | ASSOCIATED PRESS

March marks Women’s History Month, a time to celebrate and critically assess the ways in which women’s rights have and have not progressed around the world.

In the realm of religion, there is still much work to be done, as many faith traditions continue to bar women from seeking ordination and fail to recognize the important role women play in the spiritual lives of their communities. In other ways, though, women have made serious strides in the last year, taking on new leadership roles in their denominations and houses of worship, expressing their faith through art and spearheading activist movements.

As we continue envisioning a future that upholds full gender equality, these women are taking the lead and providing an example for others to follow:

 

Reverend Libby Lane was consecrated as the Bishop of Stockport, and the Church of England's first female bishop, in January 2015. "I am very conscious of all those who have gone before me, women and men, who for decades have looked forward to this moment," Lane said at a December press conference. "But most of all I am thankful to God."

Reverend Libby Lane was consecrated as the Bishop of Stockport, and the Church of England’s first female bishop, in January 2015. “I am very conscious of all those who have gone before me, women and men, who for decades have looked forward to this moment,” Lane said at a December press conference. “But most of all I am thankful to God.”

 

Despite being excommunicated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Mormon activist Kate Kelly tirelessly continues working on the movement to ordain women in the Mormon church. Speaking after she lost her final appeal to rejoin the church in February, Kelly said: "I am proud of what I have done. I am proud of the women and men who have taken a stand with me in this struggle for gender justice. We will continue to act with integrity and courage. Mormon women and their legitimate concerns cannot be swept under the rug or summarily dismissed by one 'Court of Love.'"

Despite being excommunicated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Mormon activist Kate Kelly tirelessly continues working on the movement to ordain women in the Mormon church. Speaking after she lost her final appeal to rejoin the church in February, Kelly said: “I am proud of what I have done. I am proud of the women and men who have taken a stand with me in this struggle for gender justice. We will continue to act with integrity and courage. Mormon women and their legitimate concerns cannot be swept under the rug or summarily dismissed by one ‘Court of Love.'”

 

L.A.-based professionals M. Hasna Maznavi and Sana Muttalib founded what may be the first Women's Mosque in the United States in January, providing a space where women can come together to pray, learn and deepen their faith.

Alexa Pilato — L.A.-based professionals M. Hasna Maznavi and Sana Muttalib founded what may be the first Women’s Mosque in the United States in January, providing a space where women can come together to pray, learn and deepen their faith.

 

Pastor Renita Lamkin, Rabbi Susan Talve, Rev. Jennifer Bailey and many other women of faith offered countless hours and resources to the #BlackLivesMatter movement, working to promote equality, justice and an end to police brutality. These religious women continue to stand in solidarity with the powerful, self-identified queer black women who founded the #blacklivesmatter movement.

St.Louis Post-Dispatch via Getty Images — Pastor Renita Lamkin, Rabbi Susan Talve, Rev. Jennifer Bailey and many other women of faith offered countless hours and resources to the #BlackLivesMatter movement, working to promote equality, justice and an end to police brutality. These religious women continue to stand in solidarity with the powerful, self-identified queer black women who founded the #blacklivesmatter movement.

 

Jewish Women's Archive/Flickr In January 2014, Angela Warnick Buchdahl was elected head rabbi of New York's historic Central Synagogue, becoming one of only a few women -- and likely the only Asian-American -- to lead a major U.S. synagogue. Many describe Buchdahl as a "pioneer."

Jewish Women’s Archive/Flickr
In January 2014, Angela Warnick Buchdahl was elected head rabbi of New York’s historic Central Synagogue, becoming one of only a few women — and likely the only Asian-American — to lead a major U.S. synagogue. Many describe Buchdahl as a “pioneer.”

 

Seventeen-year-old Malala Yousafzai won a Nobel Peace Prize in December, alongside children's rights activist Kailash Satyarthi. Since being shot by the Taliban in 2012, Yousafzai has become a world-renowned peace activist and champion of children's rights.

Associated Press — Seventeen-year-old Malala Yousafzai won a Nobel Peace Prize in December, alongside children’s rights activist Kailash Satyarthi. Since being shot by the Taliban in 2012, Yousafzai has become a world-renowned peace activist and champion of children’s rights.

 

ARCO BERTORELLO via Getty Images Sister Cristina Scuccia won "The Voice of Italy" on June 6, 2014 with breathtaking renditions of popular songs like Alicia Keys' "No One" and Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun." Scuccia subsequently released her first album in November and performed at a Vatican holiday concert. It turns out that even nuns want to have a little fun now and then!

ARCO BERTORELLO via Getty Images
Sister Cristina Scuccia won “The Voice of Italy” on June 6, 2014 with breathtaking renditions of popular songs like Alicia Keys’ “No One” and Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.” Scuccia subsequently released her first album in November and performed at a Vatican holiday concert. It turns out that even nuns want to have a little fun now and then!

 

The Washington Post via Getty Images In June 2014, Rev. Amy Butler became the senior minister and first woman to hold the job at the historic Riverside Church in New York City. Butler formerly served as senior minister of Calvary Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. for 11 years.

The Washington Post via Getty Images
In June 2014, Rev. Amy Butler became the senior minister and first woman to hold the job at the historic Riverside Church in New York City. Butler formerly served as senior minister of Calvary Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. for 11 years.