{"id":4081,"date":"2023-05-03T21:29:37","date_gmt":"2023-05-03T21:29:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/messenger\/?p=4081"},"modified":"2023-05-04T14:51:19","modified_gmt":"2023-05-04T14:51:19","slug":"abecedarian-aphorisms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/messenger\/poetry\/abecedarian-aphorisms\/","title":{"rendered":"Abecedarian Aphorisms"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>A<\/strong>ll God\u2019s critters have a place in the choir\u2014even those who sing off key.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>B<\/strong>eing a good listener means to hold one\u2019s own problems in check for a while.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>C<\/strong>reativity and imagination are reflections of what is divine in us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>D<\/strong>o unto others what they hope you will do for them\u2014as long as it is a loving act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>E<\/strong>ven if we cannot change all for the better, taking small steps in that direction is important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>F<\/strong>orgetting names is embarrassing, but forgetting injuries is a blessing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>G<\/strong>reat ideas will come to naught unless we spread them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>H<\/strong>umbleness is good as long as it doesn\u2019t keep us from speaking truth to power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>I<\/strong> will try to learn from others in each encounter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>J<\/strong>okes can cause both pain and healthy laughter; so we must choose wisely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>K<\/strong>indred souls are soothing spirits in times of loneliness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>L<\/strong>ove makes us hold others in God\u2019s light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>M<\/strong>indfulness allows us to enjoy the only moment we are truly alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>N<\/strong>o creature has ever been as cruel as humans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>O<\/strong>ften our darkest hours give way to light like winter yields to spring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>P<\/strong>oetry challenges us to&nbsp; look at our surroundings and each other in new ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Q<\/strong>uestions are the ground for learning, opening windows to the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>R<\/strong>emember hands that touched you with love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>S<\/strong>o much remains to be done\u2014but we don\u2019t have to do it alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>T<\/strong>he best way to rectify a mistake is to recognize it, apologize, and try again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>U<\/strong>nderstanding requires patience, diligence, and a willingness to learn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>V<\/strong>iolence destroys souls. We must uproot it first in ourselves, then in the wider world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>W<\/strong>hy, for me, is the most important question.&nbsp; It leaves room for multiple answers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>X<\/strong> is useful to mark a questionnaire, play Tic-Tac-Toe, and define a generation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Y<\/strong>ou never know how much time is left to live.&nbsp; Make the best of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Z<\/strong>oom in toward wholeness and connection; zoom out of apathy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An A to Z of inspiring thoughts from poet Ingrid Rogers. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":4082,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[420],"tags":[519,259],"class_list":["post-4081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-poetry","tag-ingrid-rogers","tag-poetry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4081"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4081\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4093,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4081\/revisions\/4093"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}