Where love begins and never ends.

Old times never come back and I suppose it's just as well.What comes back is a new morning every day in the year, and that's better. George Edward Woodberry

The story goes that there was a man in Seville who was estranged from his son. After a year, he couldn't really remember what had caused the fight that pushed them apart, all he knew was, he missed his son and wanted to find him. He searched and searched to no avail. One day, he took out a full page ad in the local newspaper. "To Jorge. This is your father. I forgive you. Please forgive me. Please meet me on Saturday at 5:30pm under the clock tower in the civic plaza. I will be waiting with open arms. I love you."

At the appointed time the father arrived at the clock tower hoping desperately to find his son. He was surprised to see it so crowded. He pushed through the crowd, searching for his son, calling his name, "Jorge. Jorge. Jorge." Young man after young man turned to answer. "Father? Father? Father?" The father opened his arms. Not one man stood before him seeking forgiveness. Five hundred young men stood before him. Five sons named Jorge had responded to his ad hoping to reconnect with their father's loving arms. Five hundred sons seeking forgiveness. Seeking love.."

On Dec 9, 1953 at a few minutes past midnight, a child entered this world. She had eyes of wonder, a seeking mind, a questing spirit. She didn't know anger, or fear, or despair. She didn't know hatred or jealousy or envy. Those words would come to her as she grew. As she entered this world all she knew was love. All she experienced was the wonder of life. The mystery of connecting to this physical plane of the human condition.

As this child grew she held onto wonder and learned what it meant to be fearful. As she grew she held onto love and learned of hate and envy. As she grew she held onto joy and learned of sorrow and sadness. Of pain and failure and loathing. As she grew she learned to trust and distrust. She learned to tell the truth and to lie to hide her feelings. She learned to risk. She learned to play it safe. She learned to open up and to close herself off. She learned to dance and run and fly. She learned to stand still for fear of falling. She learned so much that opened her up to the wonders of this world. She learned so much that closed her off to the wonders of this world.

Today is that woman's birthday. Today she celebrates all that is holy. All that is mystical. All that is magical and wondrous and magnificent about her, around her, within her.

She doesn't remember the moment of her birth. She knows the stories. Those family histories that get trotted out with laughing reminders of, "remember when...." or "You were always such a ......" "You never..........." She wonders at the folly of the human condition that reminds us of all we've done wrong in the past, long ago, way back when in a time we cannot change. She wonders at our resistance to change, to letting go, to forgiving. She wonders at the things we hold onto in fear of getting what we want. She wonders at our despair at finding ourselves, where ever we're at, on the road of life in fear of celebrating this new day dawning for all we're worth.

She marvels at the beauty of the human condition that can overcome pitfalls and setbacks. The human condition that can fall so hard rock bottom becomes a welcoming place. The human condition that can journey so far from the source of love and beauty and truth and joy and wonder that it swims in a river of hatred and fear and self-denigration only to find itself again, swept out to sea, cleansed and free to swim in the ocean of love that is this human condition we all share, to which we are all connected, through which we must all pass.

Today is my birthday. Yesterday, as I sat with James, waiting for the nurse to enter to confirm the 'time of death', I marvelled at how one man can journey so far from home, only to come back again to that place where it all began. To that place where love begins and never ends.

We are created in love. Come into this world in love and leave it on a wave of love. Love is all we carry with us when we leave. Love is all we can leave behind. Love is all. The rest is just 'stuff'.

Today is my birthday. I celebrate the love that brought me into this world. The love that carries me each day. The love that lifts me up and fills me up with the truth of who I am.

I am a child of God. The Divine expression of His amazing grace.

Today I celebrate His grace by dancing joyfully in the truth of being all I'm meant to be. A fearless woman, touching hearts and opening minds to set spirits free. Today, I open my arms wide and embrace myself. I forgive me. I love me. I open my arms wide and embrace the world around me. I forgive you. I love you. Today I celebrate being me for all I'm worth. I am a miracle of life. The loving essence of what it means to be human, being all I'm meant to be when I surrender and fall in love.

Please celebrate with me the wonder and joy and mystery of being ourselves. Be your most amazing self. Your life depends upon it.

Today, let's celebrate our light. We are on the journey of our lifetime, illuminating the path to freedom with our joy and wonder, our beauty and truth, completing each moment we pass through in a prayer of forgiveness and love. I forgive you. I love you.