{"id":1151,"date":"2021-05-02T08:57:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-02T12:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hhhinfo.com\/worship\/?p=1151"},"modified":"2021-05-04T08:58:03","modified_gmt":"2021-05-04T12:58:03","slug":"reflection-from-michelle-21","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hhhinfo.com\/worship\/reflection-from-michelle-21\/","title":{"rendered":"Reflection from Michelle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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There has been a tremendous amount of harassment and violence against Asian and Pacific Islanders this past year. Spurred on by some needing to blame someone for the pandemic AND yet this prejudice has deep roots in our country like other hates. Are we aware of our own bias? I don\u2019t let in enough thoughts and feelings that this violence has on those we work with here at HHH who have come from Asia and the Pacific Islands, themselves or their parents or their parents. Their elders, our elders, are being harassed, assaulted and killed in the streets. They are, we are, being yelled at with insults while driving. Do you see it? Do you speak up? Do you say \u201cNO\u201d not on my watch or in my circles or in my community?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We collectively can make this world a better place for all. As one of my favorite poems says, \u201cIt is our spell. We can break it.\u201d How might you stand against violence and hate in all you do? How might you look deep into the bias that is in the air in our history and in our communities?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s make this world and this workplace a \u201ccourageous space\u201d where we all can breathe deeply, speak loudly, and be free of hate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I want to offer a blessing that can be done in silence and embodied when you don\u2019t know what to do or if you are feeling the burden, the sadness, or the rage and everything feels heavy. Any of us can do this at any time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First I will demonstrate with a brief meaning; then you will follow me; then we will move
together in silence. (Below :Bold is gesture, regular font are words you can speak to yourself or out loud)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take a deep breath. Exhale.
Place hands on heart. I see myself \u2013 acknowledge my own feelings \u2013 my own body.
Bow. Acknowledging sacredness, resilience, humanity, strength in myself. Bow.
Look around. I see you.
Cup hands to ears. I hear you.
Fold arms across chest. Mourning, feeling collective sadness, grief, lament, anger.
Bow. Acknowledging sacredness, resilience, humanity, strength in others.
Open hands, palm up, with a breath. Receiving blessings from God and from one another.
Reach out with one hand and extend the other hand towards another person. Heart-to-heart compassion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us begin by taking a deep breath.
The blessing is repeated in action without spoken words.
Amen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Embodied Blessing created by the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity for an anti-Asian violence
protest in Oakland, Calif. on February 13-14, 2021. Asian and black leaders and the entire community
gathered embodied this blessing for healing.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I hope that the warm light of the sun warms you from the outside in and brightens even the most shadowed places in your heart. May you find comfort in the love and care that surrounds you. Let it in. It will heal those broken places. Amen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Warmly,
Michelle<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There has been a tremendous amount of harassment and violence against Asian and Pacific Islanders this past year. Spurred on by some needing to blame someone for the pandemic AND yet this prejudice has deep roots in our country like other hates. Are we aware of our own bias? I don\u2019t let in enough thoughts … Continue reading Reflection from Michelle<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hhhinfo.com\/worship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hhhinfo.com\/worship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hhhinfo.com\/worship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hhhinfo.com\/worship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hhhinfo.com\/worship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1151"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hhhinfo.com\/worship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1151\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1153,"href":"https:\/\/hhhinfo.com\/worship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1151\/revisions\/1153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hhhinfo.com\/worship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hhhinfo.com\/worship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hhhinfo.com\/worship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}