Sunday Homily 11-20-11, Christ the King

Readings:    

Jeremiah  31, 7-9,   Shout with joy.

Psalm 126,   The Lord has done great things for us, we are filled with joy.

Hebrews 5, 1-6,   Every high priest is taken from among men and made their representative before God.

Mark 10, 46-52,  Bartimaeus, a blind man, sat by the road begging. 

 

Jeremiah observations:

Who:  one of the Big 3 Prophets, 52 chapters, the “broken hearted prophet,” because he hated being so unpopular and having to condemn so much. 

Baruch, Jeremiah’s scribe seems to be who put down the prophet’s message.   Jeremiah probably died in Egypt.

When: put together before & during the B.C., Babylonian Captivity, say 575 before Christ  (reminder, Babylon is near present day Bagdad, Iraq).

Remember, too,  that time before Christ is counting downward or backwards.

Interesting Side Note: (another reminder) can you guess when the Genesis story of creation in 7 days was composed?  Biblical research reveals that the creation story was put together during the Captivity, this same time, i.e. ca. 575.

Why?  The priests & prophets (e.g., Ezekiel) of the Jews in captivity determined that the people would not be assimilated into the local gene pool as their cousins in the northern kingdom had done when made to live with the Assyrians.  They decided they would establish customs & religious practices that would make the Jews so different they would not intermarry.  Three special laws were established: 1.  male circumcision; 2. dietary laws and laws about not touching menstruating women; and 3. the Sabbath.

The priests put together the 7 day creation story to suggest that Yahweh approved of their Sabbath law.  They had Yahweh rest on the 7th day to bolster their demand that all Jews take a day off every 7 days.  Before the Babylonian Captivity there was no legislated Sabbath and no myth of Yahweh creating the world in 7 days with the 7th being a day of rest.  So, now you know when the story was created & by whom, the priests, and why, to keep the Jews united vs the Babylonians.  It worked, even down to today.

Subject: the usual prophet message—condemn, pay, peace.

Today: Beautiful message of peace and consolation.  It is coming.

Sources: Bishop John Shelby Spong, The sins of Scripture; Wikipedia

Leo and Cole

 She Danced through Life

Rosemary & I had the privilege and the honor Thursday to attend the funeral of another noble woman & friend, like Joan, Colleen Romero. 

I calculate that Rosemary & I have known Colleen and her husband for ten years.  We certainly knew them for a couple of years before we got married in 05/05/05.   You will never guess how we met them.  Dancing.

 Somewhere along the line, a group of us noticed that Plano Parks provided a whole variety of adult classes, among them dancing.  So Rosemary & I, Gilberto & Bernadette, Beth & Rob , and some others, we all decided, “Let’s go learn to dance.”  And so we met Colleen and Fred.

They were our teachers.  They were elegant, charming, and fun.  I danced with Colleen a number of times.  I would ask Fred how I was learning some special dance.  He would laugh.  Then Colleen would guide me to a point where I got it.

 This is the first thing I see when I remember Colleen.  She danced through life, charming, elegant, smiling, and having fun.  She and Fred were even running dance classes at St. Gabriel parish for adults who had Parkinson’s or coordination problems. 

A  second aspect to Colleen I saw recently.  It was a few weeks back when I got a notice that Colleen was not doing well and was in the hospital.   We had not seen her and Fred for months, maybe a year.  She had been struggling with various joint problems for some time, but this was supposed to be serious.

So, I called her straight up.  She answered.  She sounded groggy and stressed.  In fact, she was experiencing nausea.  So I made it quick, saying I loved her and sent her all my support.  She said this may be her time and that she was okay about it.

A few more days go by and I get another note saying that the word is this really is it.  This time we get in the car and go visit her at Medical City Plano. 

I walk in and find her looking and sounding great.  However, she says this is truly her time, that she wants no special treatment, and that she is totally ready.  She was in that acceptance stage we talk about in stages of dying, the stage of peace.  

Colleen was not like Mark’s Bartimaeus today.  She was not blind.  She could see.  She danced her way through life and when her time approached, she accepted it. 

Like I asked with Joan, how have you been blessed by people like Colleen?

 

 

Readings:

 Proverbs 9, 1-6, Wisdom has built her house.

Psalm 34,    Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

Ephesians 5, 15-20,   Watch carefully how you live.

John 6, 51-58, I am the living bread. 

 

                  Says Victoria, "Hi, Everybody, Welcome in."

 

Proverbs:

What are they: a collection of moral & religious teachings in the form of pithy sayings.  For example: "Better to eat a dry crust of bread with peace of mind than to have a banquet in a house full of trouble" (17, 1); "Being cheerful always keeps you healthy" (17, 22).

Some a bit tough: "Don't hesitate to discipline a child.  A good beating won't kill him" (23, 12).

Some amusing: "A nagging wife is like water going drip-drip-drip" (27, 15); "Better to live on the roof than to share the house with a nagging wife" (25, 24). 

Author: Maybe Solomon is behind chapters 1-29.  Most likely a compilation.

Date: Ca. 300 BCE is considered a possibility with material coming from as far back as 900, during the time of Solomon.

 

 

                        Georgie, too, says, "Welcome, Folks."

 

Taking Care of the House Wisdom Built

In honor of it being mid-August and summer vacation time, even though it is rapidly coming to an end, I have homily light this morning.  Just a simple lesson I learned, again, this week.

When was the last time you had no running water in your house?  Or even no a/c?

This past week Rosemary & I had no running water in our house for one day and two nights, which seemed like an eternity.

 

 

And, of course, Genevieve says,  "Hi Everybody, thanks for coming to see me.  Nice to be here."  

 

A month ago or, even, maybe 6 weeks ago, I thought I was hearing water running in our house.  I could only hear it in the bathroom I use when I get up, like 4:00 in the morning.  It is so quiet at that hour that I can easily hear unusual sounds.  I checked the toilet stoppers in the other two bathrooms.  No noise.   During the day I could not hear the noise because of other noises.  With the a/c blower running, I could not hear the noise except maybe just a tiny bit.

I told Rosemary I wanted to check the water meter at the street one time when we both were riding around White Rock Lake.  I would see if the meter moved.  I set up the read, then forgot when we came home and we used the sinks. 

 

Can't drink wine?  No problem.  Jan has you covered, grape juice.  

 

Then, I sort of forgot the noise.  But I continued to hear it. 

Then one morning, I went to the water heater closet.  The noise was much stronger.   So I finally did the water meter check and the dial had moved in a two hour period when we were away.  So I told Rosemary that we have a water leak and it may be the water heater. 

 

Cupcakes of The Week, John & Jean (57th) and Bern and Gilbert (50th)

 

We call Levy, the company we have used for year.  A guy comes the next day, turns off the water heater, and tells me it is not the water heater.  Which means it is under the floor.  “Are you on pier & beam or slab,” he asks me.  Pier & beam, thanks. 

So he has to call for another guy to go through the small door in the floor.  The guy does, says there is a lake down there, and he cannot get to the leak which is right under the water heater, but in a place too small for him to get to.  “We’ll send Junior tomorrow, because he can get in these narrow places.  Meanwhile, turn off the water at the street.”

 

 

                    A Work of Art, Mary, Bethany, and Ray.
 

Unfortunately, Junior cannot come the next day, Tuesday.  He is booked.  We have to wait until Wednesday morning, 8:00 A.M.

So, yes, we have no running water from Monday afternoon, through Tuesday night, and into Wednesday.  I filled some buckets before I turned the water off.  But, How did our ancestors live without running water.  Sinks, showers, and toilets.

 

 

From Chris, the anything at all to get out of going to Yosemite, a torn tendon in his foot.  6-9 months recovery. 

 

We finally got water, but not until Wednesday afternoon.  I was ready to hug Junior, who was not so small, but agile.  I wanted to thank the running water gods on my knees.

I really learned a lesson.  Gratitude for the conveniences I take for granted every day.  Water, a/c, electricity, to name just three.

 

 

            Could Zoe be studying Swahili?  Will let you know.

 

And you, what gifts are you not grateful for?   Happy Summer.

 

 

           Here they come, The Gang, Buddy, Zoe, and Victoria.  

 

Numbers 11, Would that all the people for the Lord were prophets.

Psalm 19, The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart. 

James 5,  Where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder.

Mark 9,  If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.

 

 

Shonda & Ben bringing us together.

 

Thanks……

Music,    Ben & Shonda

Readers,  Beth & Rob & Buddy, our candle blesser 

Gospel,     John Cade

Homily,   John Stack

Eucharistic Prayer A & B,  John Stack & John Cade

The Magic Zoom makers,      Hue & Mike

Final Blessing, Rosemary

 

 

Beth reading the first reading from Numbers.

 

Readings: 

Download Readings 26th Ordinary time 09-26-21

 

Homily by John Stack,  

Download Homily 26th Sunday 9-26-2021

 

 

Rob reading from James.

 

Remember these special people:

For John & Karen Anderlick's unborn grandson;   For Rosemary's great niece, Rylie;  For Richard's grand daughter, Madeleine;   For Esparza's new great grandson  & Frank;  For all the medical personnel struggling to treat the tsunami of sick people, in particular, locally, Cindy's staff at Presby, Dallas, and at Frisco Presby, the mother of Harper and Betsy, Kendle, working in labor & delivery, and for Hue & Linda's daughter, Doctor Rosemary Beavers;   For Mary & Dave Hall's g-daughter Allison Keller working at St. Lukes, The Woodlands,   For Sir Charlie & Jan;  Shonda's mom & Cody &  Leo & all of Shonda's dear family; For Ursuline Sr. Mary Troy,

 

Jan & Charlie saying, "Hi, Everybody!"

Jackie's mom, sister, & friend, Lynn;  For Rick Turner searching for a kidney donor, Type O neg.; For Meredith, cancer free & John Schanot;    For John O'Donnell & Jean;   For Jean & Cliff Wright;  For Dee, and for her daughters, Lisa & Lauren  ;  For Anthony & Sabrina;    For a young man who is suffering from depression;  John Cade's mother in law, Kalliopi Piskiouli and Lambrini, plus John's daughter, Joey, with cancer; from Barbara, a little 12 month old baby boy named Ford recuperating from an operation & a nephew; for David McKeon's brother, Hugh; For Beth's friends & brother;   for the medical staffs, teachers, and coaches in our public & private schools.

 

 

Mary, Connie, & John singing the beautiful hymn "On Eagles' Wings."

 

Birthdays:   Ben's daughter, Sophia, 14 (yesterday), Judy Carol, Leo (11?), Jackie Johnson

Anniversaries:  

Fred & Patricia

Tom & Becky Good

Ron & Nancy Kovatis

 

 

Cathy, Fred, & Ron updating the news of the week.

 

Community Finances,   September 26, 2021

Expenses: $600.00 

Outreach: $5.00 

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

 

 

Rosemary sharing her beautiful Blessing of the Week.

 

Rosemary's Blessing:

“Rivers do not drink their own water;

trees do not eat their own fruit;

the sun does not shine on itself

and flowers do not spread their fragrance for themselves.

Living for others is a rule of nature.

We are born to help each other.

No matter how difficult it is.

Life is good when you are happy

but much better when others are happy because of you.

Let us remember that pain is a sign that we are alive,

problems are a sign that we are strong and

prayer is a sign that we are not alone.

If we can acknowledge these truths and

condition our hearts and minds, our lives will be more meaningful,

different and worthwhile.”

Pope Francis

 

 

Peace, Everyone!

 

 

 Readings:  

 Isaiah  50, 4-9,  I gave my back to those who beat me.

  Psalm 116,  I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living.

 James 2, 14-18,   What good is it if someone says he has faith but does not have works?

Mark 8, 27-35,  Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself. 

 

Harper and…

Isaiah Observations: 

Date of Composition:

A picture of the time span:

        1. Solomon (he of Wisdom, the temple builder, 700 wives, & 300 mistresses–if he really existed) dies ca. 900-1000 before Christ.

         2. The Hebrew kingdom divides into 2 parts, the north, Israel (Galilee today), the south, Judah, around 900 before Christ.

        3.  Assyria destroys Israel and obliterates the 10 Hebrew tribes located there, ca. 700.

        4.  Babylon carries into captivity the Hebrews of Judah, the 2 remaining tribes, ca. 600.

Contemporary scholars conjecture that this work could have been composed over a period of 400 years, i.e., 700-300.  It obviously begins by predicting disasters, typical of prophets.  They happen, 2 of the biggest tragedies in Jewish history up to the Romans' destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem (70 years after Christ) and the Holocaust, that is, the Assyrian destruction & the Babylonian Captivity.  4 big tragedies.

Author (s): obviously it was composed by numerous people.  Isaiah himself is considered behind chapters 1-39.  In fact, line 1 identifies Isaiah as the author of the ideas.

What is it about: 1^st, 2^nd, & 3^rd Isaiah

1^st Isaiah, Chapters 1-39: predict doom for the Hebrews because they have not been faithful to their one god.

2^nd Isaiah, Chapters 40-55:  this & the remaining chapters are called The Book of Consolation.  They try to assure the people who are now in exile that God will restore them to their former glory & peace.  In fact, in chapter 45 the composer even mentions the name of Cyrus, the king of the Persians who defeats Babylon & sends the Hebrews back to Jerusalem.  So the composer knew of Cyrus and a date can be narrowed down.

This 2^nd  Isaiah section presents 4 suffering servant songs, #3 being our selection today.  Jews see the servant to be the Hebrew people/nation.  Christians see the servant to be Christ.  Isaiah 2 is considered maybe the most influential O.T. book.  On Isaiah 2 Mark built much of his gospel, especially the story of the crucifixion.

Handel's Messiah uses 2nd Isaiah for its lyrics.

3^rd Isaiah, Chapter 56-66: more assurances of a return to peace & glory.

 

Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself and take up his cross

I would like to say a few words this morning about denying myself and taking up my cross.

A story from our CO trip last week.

The day is the third of our trip to Rocky Mountain National Park.  The 7 of us have left a delightful campsite and are headed over a pass, Flat Top Pass, right on the Continental Divide, about 12 thousand feet high.  We are climbing one to two thousand feet. 

As we climb the weather is getting nastier & nastier, cloudy skies, wind, and cold.  We come across a series of what I describe as receding ridges.  I see a ridge up ahead.  I get to it only find another ridge 200 yards further up.  We must have had 15 of these.  

It begins to sleet and rain.  The group of us is stretched out over a few hundred yards.

Suddenly I look up and see somebody coming down the trail by himself.   Even from a distance I see he has on only running shorts and a light pack, not like ours.  He is jogging down this rough trail and has already crossed over the pass in the sleet, rain, and wind. 

I am astounded.   Rose Banzhaf says that his whole trip is about 30 miles.  She calls him The Mean Running Machine. 

I mention this event to make a distinction about denying myself and taking up my cross.  Unhealthy and healthy.  Observations.

 

Unhealthy.  In my early years as a Jesuit I think we had some unhealthy attitudes and behaviors influenced by this demand.  I am embarrassed to admit that, yes, we had little scourges that we were supposed to use on our backs and we had chains with little spikes we were supposed to wear on our thighs. 

Once we joined the Jesuit community we never expected to return home.  I did not return for 7 years.  I came back to teach for 3 years at Jesuit, not go home.  At the time I never thought anything about it.

In my years as a spiritual director especially for priests & nuns I found a lot of guilt for not being hard enough on myself.  I personally can still feel guilty if I take a 15 minute morning break or a day off.  Rosemary is good for me on this.  She calls me to relax.

Healthy.  Self discipline to achieve a goal.  The runner obviously has some kind of goal.  Look at high school sports and how strenuously so many kids drive themselves.  Look at education, the discipline to achieve a Ph.D., to be a doctor.  What about Alcoholics Anonymous or giving up smoking?  The reward: inner peace.

Finally, let me remind you of that gospel dynamic I mention so often, infinite demand plus infinite acceptance.

I would suggest that the runner I met at 12 thousand feet in sleet was denying himself and carrying his cross.  Hopefully he has a healthy goal. 

How do you deny yourself and take up your cross? 

 

 

 

Readings: Acts 10, 34-43; Psalm 118, This is the Day the Lord has Made, Lus Us Rejoice and be Glad; 1 Corinthians 5, 6-8; John 20, 1-9 

 

The Readings:

 

It is almost impossible for us today to understand how significant the story told in Chapter 10 of Acts was for the Jewish people at the time Luke wrote it.  Our first reading is part of that narrative.  The two main characters are Peter, who is in Caesarea, and Cornelius a Roman Centurion, in Jaffa, about 30 miles south on the Mediterranean coast. The scene is the home of Cornelius a centurion.

 

 

 Remember up to this point the Jews had felt like they had a monopoly on God.  In this chapter 10 Luke uses two separate incidents taking place in different locations to set the stage for our reading.  We meet Cornelius having a vision of an angel who tells him to send for Peter.  Meantime Peter is sitting hungry on the roof in Caesarea and has a vision of all different kinds of animals and being told by God to eat. 

 

 

There is the usual discussion about unclean and Peter is made to see that God only makes clean!  The folks from Jaffa arrive and summon Peter to go see Cornelius.  Peter heads off to Jaffa, worried about his dream and then when he hears about Cornelius’ dream he sees the connection and proceeds to baptize Cornelius and his household.  Our first reading today is what can best be described as a quick lesson from Peter about Jesus. 

 

   

Our second reading is from Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians.  I am going to take a certain amount of license in focusing only on the word yeast in the reading, as the full topic of this section of the Letter does not need to be brought up here.  Read it for yourselves!  Yeast is used in beer making and bread making and basically it converts sugars into bubbles.  So we are to be bubbles in society! Gas pockets!  But seriously, when I think about yeast, I think about the huge effect just a little has on the dough.  And for us in society as Christians, I believe that we too can have a huge effect on society.

 

Easter Homily:

 

 

I remember one Easter when I was studying in seminary.  We normally had to stay in the seminary until Easter Sunday morning before we could go home for Easter holidays.  This one year I skipped out and caught the boat from Dublin to England arriving at about 6AM.  I found a church and went to early morning Mass on Easter Sunday and then took the tube out to my cousin Eileen’s flat in Kensington.  She was married to Bill who was protestant,  Church of England.  Bill was going to church that morning and invited me to my first protestant Easter Service. 

 

 

  

I can remember being amazed by the fact that most of the service was all about Easter eggs.  The whole sanctuary of the church was full of them.  I had never associated the Resurrection with eggs before then.  Yes, we always got chocolate Easter eggs, but I put them in the same category as toys at Christmas, nothing to do with the Birth of Jesus, just a very happy coincidence! 

 

 

 

Right now in our front garden at home there is a dove, patiently sitting on some eggs in a nest in one of the trees.  Our next-door neighbor has a duck doing the same thing in their front garden in some bushes.  The Church, by some happy coincidence chose spring as the time of year to celebrate the Resurrection and I think this gives us our first clue in how we should view the Resurrection.  We can’t understand it, it is a mystery, but analogies can help us part of the way.  The Resurrection requires an act of Faith, end of story.  Don’t try to understand it.  It is outside our human capability.

 

 

And it was outside the expectations of the apostles and also of Mary of Magdala in our Gospel reading today.  She was heading to the tomb to properly bury Jesus.  As you will recall, when Jesus was arrested it was abandon ship, everyone fled, Peter didn’t hesitate to deny that he even knew Jesus.  We know that the apostles went back to their old trades, Peter, James and John to being fishermen. 

 

 

The event we are celebrating today was not what any of the people who had walked with Jesus before his death had expected.  And it is not an easy event to describe and understand.  So the accounts in the New Testament are all over the map on what exactly happened, but one thing was certain in the minds of the early church; God had raised Jesus from the grave and that made all the difference in their lives. 

If we look back at the different gospels readings we have listened to during this lent we will recall the Temptation of Jesus, were Jesus is tempted and so can understand when we are tempted. 

 

  

 

The story of the Transfiguration, when Peter attempted to capture the impossible moment by putting up tents, again a perfectly human reaction to being faced with the Divine, the second chance being given to the useless fig tree and then the two very powerful stories of forgiveness with the Prodigal Son and the Woman caught in adultery. 

 

 

 

The strong message of forgiveness from these stories has to give us hope and encouragement.   We can always start anew with God his love is constant.  And the message of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus is that an indication of how unreserved that love is.  Armed with the knowledge of God’s love and forgiveness, we can be like yeast to the lives of those we meet in the world.  Lets not worry about how big a difference we will make, let’s just be sure we make a difference. 

The message, the victory of Easter, is that mankind’s biggest fear, death is finally laid to rest. 

 

 
 

 

We have a God who not only loves us unconditionally, but who wants us to be in His presence forever.  Not something which we can prove or even understand, except thru faith.  The presence of the Holy Spirit helped the early Christians believe, and that same Spirit can help us today too.  We too have a new life.  Happy Easter. 

 

 

Picture 1:  Mass beginning

 

Picture 2:  Want to know what happens to priests who marry?  They become grand dads.  Fr. Tony with Emma.

 

Picture 3:  And with mom, Julie

 

Picture 4:  Quads with mom & dad

 

Picture 5:  Quads  with grandmother & aunt

 

Picture 6:   Holy Thursday, Washing of Hands, at the Robinsons

 

Picture 7:  Good Friday Stations at the Robinsons

 

Jonah 3, 1-5, 10,  Jonah set out for the great city of Nineveh.  (An amusing story)

Psalm 25, Teach me your ways, O Lord..   

1 Corinthians 7,  29-31, The world in its present form is passing away.

Mark  1, 14-20, Come after me & I will make you fishers of men & women.

 

 

Staying at home?

 

Thanks to the Team

Music,  Ben 

Readers,  Denni & Tom, and Buddy, the candle blesser

Gospel,  John Cade

Homily,   John Stack

Eucharistic Prayer A & B, Stack & John Cade

The Magic Zoom makers,   Hue & Richard & Mike 

Final Blessing, Rosemary

For hosting us at Legacy, Becky

 

 

The Zoom Team.

 

Readings for this Sunday

Download Reading 3rd Sunday 1-24 2021

 

Homily by John Stack

Download John Stack homily 1-24-2021

 

 

Please Remember these special people:

For Carrie's ex, Larry;  For Alan Stryker;  For Joe Sullivan;    For Rosemary's great niece, Rylie ;  For Richard's grand daughter, Madeleine & Carol's dad who passed this week; For Sheila Schultz Alverez hospitalized with Corona;  For Esparza's new great grandson baby, son of Monique;  For all the medical personnel struggling to treat the tsunami of sick people, in particular, locally, Cindy's staff at Presby, Dallas, and at Frisco Presby, the mother of Harper and Betsy, Kendle, working in labor & delivery, and for Hue & Linda's daughter, Doctor Rosemary Beavers;   For Mary & Dave Hall's g-daughter Allison Keller working at St. Lukes, The Woodlands,   For Loretta's aunt Alicia;  For Sir Charlie & Jan;  Shonda's mom & Cody &  Leo & all of Shonda's dear family;  for Louis Schneider hospitalized with gall bladder problem (our rep. from Open Window)

Ben, Our Life Giver.

 

Jackie's mom, sister, & friend, Lynn;  For both Jean & Cliff Wright;  For Rick Turner searching for a kidney donor, Type O neg; For Meredith, cancer free;    For John O'Donnell & Jean & their daughter, Molly;   For Dee, and for her daughter, Lisa; For John Schanot's continued health;  For Anthony & Sabrina;    For a young man who is suffering from depression;  John Cade's mother in law, Kalliopi Piskiouli and Lambrini, plus John's daughter, Joey, with cancer; from Barbara, a little 4 month old boy undergoing an operation & for Rollie with Corona; for the medical staffs, teachers, and coaches in our public & private schools.

Also, remembering the family of Geri Moran's friend, Elsa Billman, who passed this past week.

 

 

Remembering….Kevin, Georgie, & Buddy (and Sir Charlie!)

 

Birthdays:  Kevin, David Ekes, Sir Charlie, Miguel, Mary Hall

Anniversary:  

 

Community Finances, January 24, 2021

Expenses: $300.00  

Outreach   $50.00   (often for Souls Harbor, Legacy, etc.)

Thanks again, Folks, for doing what you can.

 

Mike, the Initiator of this Enterprise.

 

Rosemary's Blessing:

I was regretting the past

And fearing the future.

Suddenly my Lord was speaking

“My name is I AM.”

 

He paused.  I waited

He continued,

 

“When you live in the past

With its mistakes and regrets,

It is hard.  I am not there.

My name is not I WAS.

 

“When you live in the future,

With its problems and fears,

It is hard.  I am not there.

My name is not I WILL BE.

 

“When you live in this moment,

It is not hard. I am here.

My name is I AM.”

 

I Am by Helen Mallicoat