#855 + cœur + rising GRACE + grace LOVE + RISING + CO UR AGE / cœurage

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‘MAN and FREEDOM’              Ivan Mestrovic                        Mayo Clinic, Rochester,Minnesota

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I experienced my first icon of transcendence: the colossal black bronze sculpture of a naked man hovering upon the white marble façade of the Mayo Clinic. The head and chin were tilted upward. The torso was in a forever inhale. The arms were opened, wide, raised upwards to the Heavens. The feet were arched as if to take flight. The body reflected light like a dark star – a visual annunciation of receiving a powerful and loving Divinity. He was naked, exposed, in his stark and silent vulnerability and emanated an edict: the strength of radical hope – rising and prevailing. The visual code of this sculpture did not signify an incapacitated, helpless man. This colossal black bronze sculpture, to me, signified the soul’s life force – humanity’s capacity to overcome the internal choke of fear by a herculean inner strength of courage and faith. The body was not a battle or a battlefield. The naked body was exhaling fear and inhaling the Divine. Her/oic. Profound.

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Rising Grace

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ELEgancE #10           detail                                                                     Catherine L. Johnson  2019

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AWCCLJcœurrisingGRACEgraceLOVERISINGCO UR AGE / cœurageAWCCLJ

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#829 + What YOU allow IS what will continue + an individual requesting for sincere forgiveness + THE definition of VALIANT courage and the pinnacle of a HEROIC character?

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https://catherineljohnson.wordpress.com/2018/06/03/807-emotional-triggers-triggerland-the-altered-super-blunder-state-triggers-can-be-rooted-up-out-yaaay-freedom-living-love-with-honor-respect-clarity/

https://catherineljohnson.wordpress.com/2018/09/24/828-truth-telling-the-who-of-the-truth-telling-whose-experiences-voices-are-deemed-credible-and-valid-ipromisetotell-willyoulistenbelieveme/

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IMAGINE:

What would occur each time

an individual

requesting for sincere forgiveness

from someone they have hurt and abused by words and/or actions

owning up and being accountable to causing visible/invisible searing injury

and

making actual amends 

WAS

acknowledged and celebrated as

THE definition of VALIANT courage

and

the pinnacle of a HEROIC character?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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DEER / DEAR #1                                                                                       Catherine L. Johnson 2016

https://catherineljohnson.wordpress.com/2017/02/28/718-deerdear-1-23-4-5-6-7-8-9-2016-2017-catherine-l-johnson-grace-energy/

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I am a deer.

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#738 + RISE UP! + #JUSTICE4PHILANDO + “…I don’t want you to get shooted.” + 12 ANGRY MEN + GRACE #1 Catherine L. Johnson 2017

6 July 2017

Mn Gov. Mark Dayton

calls for police training fund

to be named for

Philando Castile

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A year after Philando Castile was shot and killed by a police officer,

the governor says he wants a new $12 million training to carry Castile’s name. 

http://www.startribune.com/dayton-calls-for-police-training-fund-to-be-named-for-philando-castile/432914653/?om_rid=1660397001&om_mid=1660397001

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Photo credit: me

To enlarge, please click on image.

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“Mom,

please stop cussing and screaming

’cause I don’t want you

to get shooted.”

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“I can keep you safe.”

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 Diamond Reynolds’ 4-year-old daughter,

to her mother while sitting in the back of a police squad car,

shortly after the fatal shooting of Philando Castile

by St. Anthony police officer Jeronimo Yanez.

 

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What the police officer,

Jeronimo Yanez,

who shot Philando Castile

said about the shooting

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PLEASE READ

the transcript of Yanez’s interview

with two special agents from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension,

the state agency investigating the shooting.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/06/21/what-the-police-officer-who-shot-philando-castile-said-about-the-shooting/?tid=pm_national_pop&utm_term=.6393948416d2

 

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“I thought he had a gun in his hand,”

Yanez said later.

Yanez feared for his life, he said,

and the lives of his partner

as well as the two passengers in the car:

Castile’s girlfriend and her young daughter.

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Recounting the shooting the following day, Yanez said:

“I thought I was gonna die.

And, I was scared because,

I didn’t know if he was gonna,

I didn’t know what

he was gonna do.”

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So he* opened fire.

* He is Officer Yanez.

 

 

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noun: panic

1. sudden uncontrollable fear or anxiety, often causing wildly unthinking behavior.

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A panic attack is a sudden episode of intense fear

that triggers severe physical reactions

when there is no real danger or apparent cause.

Panic attacks can be very frightening.

When panic attacks occur,

you might think you’re losing control,

having a heart attack or even dying.

MAYO CLINIC

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/panic-attacks/basics/definition/con-20020825

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Panic sends a massive amount of cortisol 

to course through the body

causing a fight or flight reaction.  

A person’s sudden reaction demonstrates +  discloses

their primal  blueprint/character/biases – a construct.

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Imagine the FEAR/PANIC

of  the driver, Philando Castile,

the passenger, Diamond Reynolds,

with their passenger in the back seat,

Diamond’s 4 year old daughter,  

when they were pulled over by Officer Yanez that evening

– KNOWING the “drill”  reactivity/ brutal reality of

 the blue uniform and the black male driver in America.

They were to be served and protected by the blue uniform

– the “expectation” of ALL Americans.

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Imagine the FEAR/ PANIC of  the NRA for

( Hahaha)

not stepping UP for their dedication of  the 2nd Amendment

and

their truth by action:

the gross neglect / conscious abandonment of a licensed gun owner

– Philando Castile.

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The Truth IS the Truth

that is disclosed/revealed by action,

NOT by word or pledge.

CLJ

 

 

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12 ANGRY MEN

Sixty years after its initial release,

the ultimate American morality tale

still has lessons we would do well to heed.

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1000013_12_angry_men

http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/04/12-angry-men-60th-anniversary-donald-trump

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GRACE #1                                                                                           Catherine L. Johnson  2017

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GRACE

https://catherineljohnson.wordpress.com/2017/06/15/737-grace-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-2017-catherine-l-johnson-pablo-neruda-of-everything-i-have-seen-what-am-i-to-do-love-loved-one/

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TC JAZZ FEST  22 JUNE 2017

Terence Blanchard feat. The E-Collective

http://www.terenceblanchard.com/

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“Imitation is suicide”

proclaimed a recorded voice

in reference to

the responsibility of the artist.

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Guitar / Charles Altura

Piano / Fabian Almazan

Bass / David Ginyard, Jr.

Drummer / Oscar Seaton

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Brilliant + Relevant + Poignant + Genius

 ALWAYS Moving FORWARD

The band affirmed its vitality with fervent originality

and

the sonics of Blanchard’s E-Collective IS a call to action.

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The band dedicated a piece titled SOLDIERS to Philando Castile.

Blanchard’s JIMI HENDRIX was dedicated to Diamond Reynolds and her daughter.

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I spoke to Terence afterward

– artists ARE the hurricane lamps, the light towers that break OPEN

– OUR responsibility IS to experiment, explore and MOVE FORWARD.

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ARTISTS are LOVELIGHTHOPE.

COURAGEOUS + COMPASSIONATE + COMMITTED.

TRUE + PRACTICED RISK TAKERS/EXPLORERS.

SPEAK IN ALL TONGUES OF JOY + SUFFERING.

CALLS OUT THE SOUL + GRACE ENERGY IN HUMANITY.

AUTHENTIC MAVERICKS.

LISTENERS OF THE DIVINITY WITHIN + OF OTHERS.

TRUST THEIR INTERNAL “DIVINING RODS”.

CAPACITY TO RIDE THE WAVE OF UNCERTAINTY + AMBIGUITY.

CREATING QUESTIONS RATHER THAN NEEDING THE ANSWERS IS THE FUEL.

GOSPEL SINGERS OF TRUTH + FREEDOM + RHYTHMS OF THE SUBLIME

COMMUNICATION VEHICLES OF/ FROM THE FIRST LIGHT @ NIGHT.

ALWAYS MOVING FORWARD.

SEERS.

 

YES.

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#737 + GRACE #1/ #2/ #3/ #4/ #5/ #6/ #7/ #8 2017 Catherine L. Johnson + Pablo Neruda “Of everything I have seen…What am I to do, love, loved one?”

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GRACE

#1/ #2/ #3/ #4/ #5/ #6/ #7/ #8

Because of, WITH and for AWC

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2017

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Catherine L. Johnson

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Please click on link for further information on the GRACE 2017 series:

https://catherineljohnson.wordpress.com/2017/08/10/744-grace-8-you-are-my-grace-i-am-your-grace-40-h-x-26-w-catherine-l-johnson-anthony-coxs-dark-metals-charles-lloyds-modern-quartet/

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TO ENLARGE + FOR DETAIL, PLEASE CLICK TWICE ON THE IMAGE

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The color is blush pink and an orchid pink (the hum of lavender).

The color shifts depending on the ambient light and the position of the viewer.

An intimate and dynamic conversation.

A/live dance.

The color shifts to blush pink, to an orchid pink to a pale warm white.

A simpatico DANCE between the art and the attending viewer

– an encounter and an improvisational performance.

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GRACE #1                                                                                           Catherine L. Johnson  2017

 

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GRACE #2                                                                                           Catherine L. Johnson  2017

 

 

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GRACE #3                                                                                           Catherine L. Johnson  2017

 

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GRACE #4                                                                                           Catherine L. Johnson  2017

 

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GRACE #5                                                                                           Catherine L. Johnson  2017

 

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GRACE #6                                                                                           Catherine L. Johnson  2017

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GRACE #7                                                                                           Catherine L. Johnson  2017

 

 

 

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GRACE #8                                                                                           Catherine L. Johnson  2017

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“Loving isn’t merging, surrendering, uniting with the other.

Rather, it’s a kind of solitude; of profound aloneness.

It induces you to mature and become whole

for the sake of your beloved

… to truly love another,

you must first wholly love yourself.

Love therefore exacts the most demanding claim of all;

it both chooses you and pursues you,

and reaches out,

as if over vast distances,

to call and draw you into your now

and

future self.”

Rainer Maria Rilke

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Rainer Maria Rilke

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VISIBLE/INVISIBLE SCARS OF ABUSE + INSTITUTIONALIZED + PERPETRATORS + SILENT COMPLICITY + MORAL OBLIGATION + COWARDICE + ACCOUNTABILITY + TRUTH + BREAKING FREE + COURAGE/STRONGER THAN YOU THINK YOU ARE + MOVING FORWARD + REBORN IN LIFE

TONI MORRISON’S BELOVED

http://www.amazon.com/Beloved-Toni-Morrison/dp/0452280621

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Synopsis:

…The scars on Sethe’s back serve as another testament

to her disfiguring and dehumanizing years as a slave.

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From the beginning,

BELOVED focuses on the import of memory and history.

Sethe struggles daily with the haunting legacy of slavery,

in the form of her threatening memories

and

 also in the form of her daughter’s aggressive ghost.

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For Sethe, the present is mostly a struggle

to beat back the past,

because the memories of her daughter’s death

and the experiences at Sweet Home

are too painful for her to recall consciously.

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But Sethe’s repression is problematic,

because the absence of history and memory inhibits

the construction of a stable identity.

Even Sethe’s hard-won freedom is threatened

by her inability to confront her prior life.

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Paul D’s arrival gives Sethe the opportunity and the impetus

to finally come to terms with her painful life history.

Like the ghost, the scars also work as a metaphor

for the way that past tragedies affect us psychologically,

“haunting” or “scarring” us for life.

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More specifically,

the tree shape formed by the scars on her back

 might symbolize Sethe’s incomplete family tree.

It could also symbolize the burden of existence itself,

through an allusion to the “tree of knowledge”

 from which Adam and Eve ate,

initiating their mortality and suffering.

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Sethe’s “tree” may also offer insight into

the empowering abilities of interpretation.

In the same way that the white men are able to justify

and increase their power over the slaves by “studying”

and interpreting them according to their own whims,

 Amy’s interpretation of Sethe’s mass of ugly scars

as a “chokecherry tree”

transforms a story of pain and oppression

into one of

survival.

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In the hands of the right storyteller,

Sethe’s disfiguring scars

become a

poignant and beautiful

symbol

of

GRACE.

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When Paul D kisses

Sethe’s deep and gnarled scars,

he reinforces

this more positive interpretation.

 Paul D comes up behind her and pulls down the top of her dress.

He cradles her breasts in his hands while

he kisses each line of her scars.

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Even Sethe’s hard-won freedom

is threatened

by her inability to confront her prior life.

SHAME.

FEAR.

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Paul D’s arrival gives Sethe the opportunity and the impetus

to finally come to terms with her painful life history.

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GRACE

XGRACE #7                                                                                           Catherine L. Johnson  2017

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This past week has been painful and

one of great courage in “flipping the script”.

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Individuals, protected by institutionalized power systems,

who physically/emotionally violated vulnerable individuals.

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Vulnerable, trusting individuals,

who were perceived by the perpetrators

as powerless and invisible were SOUL violated

and

scarred on multiple levels

by these

institutionally protected/false narrative/masked

perpetrators

of 

violence.

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 Those MASKED perpetrators are NOW exposed as WHO they really are:

inhumane abusers.

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The individuals,

the victims,

who were perceived as powerless, vulnerable and invisible

by the perpetrator/s

summoned UP

the SOUL courage,

stood up,

TOLD THEIR TRUTH

and

flipped the script.

AT LAST,

 THE TRUTH was TOLD,

REAL TRUTH PREVAILED

and

the

GRACE ENERGY of LOVE

broke through the prison of their

 SILENCE/SHAME/FEAR.

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FREEDOM

AMAZING GRACE

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There was an echo of a new hymn

of release and freedom

created by the the victims/survivors

who raised their flag of human dignity.

They courageously broke through

the imprisoning LIES

the sick/inhumane perpetrators 

inflicted on their life stories.

The victims are now individuals who SURVIVED

and

who can NOW own and create/pilot their own lives one again

because they chose/believed/acted on self- love

 over fear and shame.

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This action is inspired by God’s GRACE of self-love,

a self-love that was hijacked when violated,

and

then

silenced by fear and shame.

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Anger is the defense and isolation is the refuge

of those who have been abused.

Individuals who are abused, 

suffering with violated SOULS,

become prisoners who CANNOT breathe. 

Their SOULS leave their body and fly above

waiting for COURAGE so the TRUTH

– the gospel song of FREEDOM-

can emerge, at last,

and

be told out LOUD!

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This past year we have experienced and witnessed

many events of personal, public and political revolutions.

The personal revolution ignites public and political revolutions.

To go to places that are raw and bleeding are kept in cellars-

these internal stories are not flaws.

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As rene marie sings

Stronger Than you Think You Are

from  her Experiments in Truth album

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“…Waiting for a story to be told..

Battle scars mean that we survived…

…Loneliness is nothing but the stranger inside…

…once you know that  courage is another word for intuition,

your fears will disappear and your heart will burst out in song…

don’t hide them, be proud of your battle scars…

…you are stronger than you think you are...”

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Humanity is horizontal.

Power structures are vertical.

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Individuals who have been scarred

– visibly/invisibly-

by abuse,

betrayal of trust and/or disrespect

are imprinted with a defensive 

and a heightened/SENSITIVE

circuity of neural pathways

that keeps them prisoner-

fearing any actions that may reveal vulnerability,

that “smells” of repeated abuse, 

betrayal of trust and disrespect.

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The shame of being victims of abuse holds individuals captive

and their perpetrators KNOW their victim’s bind with a wink.

UNTIL the victims see their LIVES as worthy/VALUABLE/irreplacable  they remain hostage.

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Once the abused individuals are awakened

and, in turn,  

can TELL THEIR TRUTH with integrity, 

their WINGS unfold

and the

profound hymn of FREEDOM vibrates/radiates/SINGS.

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The fear of breaking the silence seems insurmountable.

Yet,

one is stronger than one thinks they are,

naming the the truth

and

 confronting and experiencing

the anger/grief toward the abusers*

 (*abusive individuals within any conventional institution

– marriage/family/university/corporation

–  are upheld within these systems and  protect by their false narratives)

of the violence,

the legacy of the scars

and

those who were complicit-

(those who watched and lacked the guts and moral courage to STOP the abuse)

is the

terrifying 

and

exhilarating and terrifying

VOYAGE OF FREEDOM!

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And,

the voyage ends the cycle of abuse,

the learned conditioning of communications,

 expectations

and

vision of their life.

No longer running away,

numbing,

burying,

hiding,

rationalizing

but

MOVING FORWARD

in

TRIUMPH!

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The internal work has been accomplished.

A HERO/INES’s JOURNEY.

LIVING the sincere LOVE/GRACE

of the

SERENITY PRAYER.

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A NEW life of dignity and integrity

unfolds with wider RADICAL HOPE

possibilities

and FAITH in

sheer BEAUTY.

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Reclamation

of one’s human dignity;

INTEGRITY;

sovereign GRACE;

and

the INTRINSIC,

irreplaceable,

touchstone value

of

LIVING LIFE

– fully breathing – 

with

WONDER + AWE.

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R/EVOLUTION

AMAZING GRACE

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Confronting and stepping up to truth,

no matter how ugly or searingly painful,

creates a template for others

which is the gospel song

of

BEAUTIFUL HUMANITY

and

GRACE.

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And,

telling one’s truth

IS the release to

LIVE LOVE,

and

to have the capacity

to

offer and welcome

the

JOYS

of personal intimacy

-an intimacy of love and touch

that heals broken hearts

with its kind light,

compassion

and

tenderness.

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Love listens

without judgement

nor

invokes rejection

nor

incites fear of abandonment.

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Love asks questions as invitations to behold.

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Love listens/Listens love

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Love IS an energy

that does NOT stare in revulsion at scars

-which will gash opens the wounds of a beloved.

Love is an offer of consistent presence

that softly provokes,

calls forth,

their naming of a life,

release of abuse

and

moving forward with self-love,

self-worth

and

knowing you can change the world

by

telling YOUR/one’s truth.

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Tenderly provoking/calling OUT the truth of your beloved.

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A loving provocateur

 agitates the telling of the truth of their beloved,

which, slowly and suddenly,

tumbles the walls of Jericho,

by challenging

the GENUINE claims of the perpetrator’s “truth”

-the fortressed secrets of conventional “institutional truths”

that has kept the beloved hostage.

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Tenderly calling OUT

the secret/buried/suppressed truth

of the beloved

is

 authentic love’s clarion.

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Healing IS relational.

HEALING = GRACE ENERGY.

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A loving provocateur  does NOT humiliate the beloved

who has been held hostage

in a prison of fear and shame

– who NOW believes they are NOT worthy or valuable

because of the protected perpetrator’s

abuse/the actions

of terrorizing the beloved’s soul’s violation

into 

silence.

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A provocateur

who is tender +  wise + loving

calls OUT

the

good wolf

of

INTERNAL faith + RADICAL hope +  Sentient DIVINING rod of KNOWING

to battle

the

evil wolf

of self-doubt +  vampire relations that insert their clinging claws 

+ anything/anyone who attempts to c/overtly to steal SOULS.

CHOICE +

PRACTICE +

RESOLVE

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Call and response.

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This song of

GRACE

is a sacred loving dynamic

 that opens

the hearts

and

awakens the full senses

of both

in an intimate, precious, reverent dialogue

and

celebrates

the inspiring gift of authentic care,

yielding a river

of true blue

candelabras

of

healing

waters

to

drink

from.

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Catherine L. Johnson

Written on 14 November 2011. 

Revisited on 26 July 2017.

Revisited on 3 May 2018.

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GRACE

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AMAZING GRACE

RADICAL HOPE

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“Be the change you want to see in the world.”

Mahatma Gandhi

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Pine Tree: HOPE                        Catherine L. Johnson  2005

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CLICK ON LINK BELOW

http://www.mnartists.org/artwork/pine-tree-hope-2005

36″ H  x  28″ W  x  2.5″ D

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