The Doctor Said the Word, Cancer

Posted on October 19, 2022 by Orlando Ceaser

The company developed, manufactured, and sold anticancer drugs, i.e., breast, prostate, and bone. I was a sales representative and product manager for our breast cancer franchise. Additionally, I’ve given motivational talks to a Cancer Support Group at my church, intermittently, for 20 years.

However, I was diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer this year, received twenty-eight cycles of radiation treatment, and was given a clean health bill. I am a motivational speaker, author, and poet who writes about many human experiences. I have added my personal experience with cancer diagnosis and treatment through poetry in a piece entitled, The Doctor Said the Word, Cancer. I encourage personal examination, with regular checkups and a sensible diet with exercise. Early detection continues to be the best protection in identifying and treating cancer.

The Doctor said the Word, Cancer

One day I had a few questions,
I needed a few suggestions,
To calm my mind.
I needed answers,
When the doctor said the word,
Cancer.

Suddenly and immediately,
The shock,
Hit me like a ton of bricks.
My chest was in a headlock.
I was knocked out of orbit,
As my world was rocked;
I felt pressured,
And noticed the clock.

Suspended in a freefall,
The disturbance
Was like turbulence.
I was not asleep, but this wake-up call,
Caused the earth to shake;
I questioned, “Was this a cruel trick?
Was this a mistake?”
Mortality and invincibility
Began to quake;
The news struck and I was stuck
In a moment of doubt;
As I struggled in a bubble
To figure it out.

What happened to others
Was happening to me;
Worst-case scenario thinking
Was entrapping me.
Life is not only about me.
I must be free to act,
Courageously.

I wrestled with my primary fear
Of doubting how long, I would be here.
The inevitable became near.
My instinct was not to be succinct,
But the goal of survival was clear.
Don’t let cancer hyphenate my name,
I pray it’s a disease I can tame.

I pondered the consequences;
My body’s natural defenses;
Which treatment options would be severe,
Which therapies would extend my years?
As I watched, my priorities changed,
Elements of my life were arranged
From the small to the significant;
To be bold, scared, and magnificent.

Copyright © 2022 Orlando Ceaser

Invasion of the Idea Snatchers

Posted on October 25, 2021 by Orlando Ceaser

The Idea Snatchers invade our workspace. They sit next to you in meetings and slowly siphon your concepts and ideas. They steal them quickly in full view of witnesses. They sometimes collect them and stash them away when no one is watching. Later they will repackage them and pass them off as their own.

The Idea Snatchers walk among us in our workplaces, homes, and relationships. They seem harmless, but they drain energy, engagement, passion, and creativity. As in the movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers, these pods will lie next to you and pick your brain and replicate your ideas.

Ideas are necessary for growth and development. We have more than one great idea in us, so we must harness the ability of continuous generation. The process of duplication and replication of more ideas is a necessity. Ideas are in various stages of readiness. Some ideas should not be shared until they are fully baked and implemented. Others are resilient and modified and shaped into a form superior to the original. Many ideas have a shelf life and expiration date. If you sit on an idea and don’t release it, you will eventually see the idea expressed through the lives of others. An idea, like water, will seek its level and burst forth in time.

Ideas must live and we are the conduits to release them into a world waiting for their impact. We must, therefore, set them free and allow them to flow into the world. But we like to receive a credit; otherwise, we will shut down and shut off their supply.

Idea Snatchers may be ingenious deterrents for sharing ideas. They will question you to fully understand your idea and then use their gift of embellishment to enhance and disguise the origin of the idea. They are not concerned with plagiarism because they believe no one will discover their actions.

Idea Snatchers are prolific plagiarists. They may have the following traits.

Ruthlessly ambitious
Spontaneity
Opportunistic
Disloyal
Great at implementing
Poor at generating their own ideas

Document and track your ideas

Nature channels feature programs about scientific experiments with animals in the wild. They may be tracking fish, birds, or large animals. To keep track of the test participants they will tag the animal with a GPS device to flag them later. They will tag the subject to flag the subject so when they bag or capture the subject to complete the experiment. You must utilize similar techniques to tag, flag, and bag your ideas. It would also be helpful if you could document your idea with a follow-up memo or handouts. Preparing for the meeting will enable you to claim the idea as your own.

Circulate your ideas

Make your boss or others aware of your ideas and contributions. Write your ideas in a memo or in your journal with the date and time of origination. Take your idea from concept to potential utilization. The level of thought put into it will identify you as the creator. Think through the ideas and the value they can provide to the enterprise or the area that can benefit most.

In a brainstorming session, it is hard to determine who generated an idea because they bear the fingerprints of many potential owners. A solution is to make your idea the center of the discussion so that it stands out from the others. You can also set up the idea by saying you thought about the idea a long time ago and list the advantages and disadvantages in a full-blown presentation.

Captured in performance evaluations

Submit your ideas when you provide input for your performance evaluation. Be sure you are claiming credit for your ideas only. Make sure your boss is aware of your ideas before your input. You do not want to be an Idea Snatcher.

Share your ideas

Be careful how and where you share your ideas. Networking events are promising environments to collect the ideas of others. You may willingly share ideas, concepts, and suggestions believing in the Law of Reciprocity, what goes around comes around. You will be rewarded for your generosity in helping others. When you pollinate ideas, don’t be surprised when your ideas come back under the name of someone else. A professional speaker said, “the first time I am quoted, the speaker may mention my name and give me credit. The second time it was something the speaker read. The third time the speaker was just thinking about a topic, and it popped into his head.” The only time you may get full credit is the first time.

You are the conduit, the vehicle to release ideas into the atmosphere. Victor Hugo said, “There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come.” Consequently, if you generated an idea, you want to get credit for creating it and keeping it safely out of the hands of the Idea Snatchers.

For The Children – Read by 5 and Lead by 10

Posted on July 12, 2021 by Orlando Ceaser

The Read by 5 and Lead by 10 mindset will give parents and influencers a guideline for the intellectual stimulation and development of children. We know that children have an amazing response to stimuli and their knowledge grows exponentially in the early years. Read by 5 and Lead by 10 could be a slogan, a mantra, helping parents focus on two aspects of the development of their children, which could reap phenomenal rewards.

In the first three years of development
The brain in a rapidly growing state 
Responds to training as a stimulant
Allowing knowledge to accumulate;
If given structure and taught discipline,
Children can read by five
And lead by 10.

Mental synapses grow at lightning speed
Teach them to think, read, write, speak, play and do.
As time elapses give them what they need
A foundation to flourish because you 
Will nourish and love them as they begin 
The work to read by 5 and lead by 10.

Their mind’s receptive to information,
Absorbent as a sponge, eager to learn; 
If properly pushed through education,
If given an environment to earn,
We will raise stronger young women and men,
If they can read by 5 and lead by 10. 

Reach the children, when it is easy to shape
Their thinking, be intentional and find
Learning is a habit they can’t escape;
It helps them compete and not fall behind;
Success is a given, not if, but when 
If children read by 5 and lead by 10.

Ensure they are active during the day
And constantly find ways to train their brains.
When their imagination is on display,
Let them grow socially for it ingrains
The passion to help them network and to win,
Able to read by five and lead by 10.

Libraries say that “readers are leaders.”
But they need encouragement to succeed.
The leaders are not the bottom feeders,
They point to the mountain and take the lead.
Their vision is simple, they want to win,
Teach them to read by 5 and lead by 10.

You want the child to face competition;
Confident they can keep up with the class;
Training puts them in position
To grow their intellect and to surpass
The average with the power within,
As they read by 5 and lead by 10.

Copyright © 2014 Orlando Ceaser

Everyday is Children’s Day

Posted on July 2, 2021 by Orlando Ceaser

Growing up we were very aware of special days where we could them to hone our presentations skills. For example, Mother’s Day was the second Sunday in May and the Father’s Day was the third Sunday in June. We did not spend much time on Children’s Day because everyday seemed like Children’s Day and the Covid-19 pandemic made this very clear. I have created an anthology of poetry to supplement our focus on their growth and development.

Teach the Children to Dance – CD

Monologue – Dance Instructors

We are dance instructors, gifted by our Creator with talents and abilities that make us unique. We have practiced our craft in church, in school and at work. Our dance routines were honed on street corners, playgrounds, in living rooms, beauty parlors and barber shops, wherever conversations were held. We have learned new moves and perfected our signature techniques along our journey, developing our own sense of style.

As dance instructors, we must capitalize on teachable moments to pass our skills on to our children. They have challenges, as forces try to distract and devalue their potential. We are obligated to inspire, educate, motivate, up lift their spirits and self-esteem. They need to have the advantages of old school wisdom and common sense to complement their technology, to create their own dance steps and develop their own sense of style.

We must teach the children to dance and give them the opportunities, resources and perspectives to succeed in a difficult world.

Teach the children to dance
(Reprise)

We must teach the children to dance,
To strut with eloquence and prance
And flow with the rhythms of chance,
To master each new circumstance.

We must teach the children to dance,
Present the tutor in advance;
Choreograph their moves, enhance
Their skills from structure to freelance.

They should study life’s musical scores
And synchronize actions with the beat
Across school rooms and corporate floors;
Developing new skills to compete.

Adjust their moves in a meeting
Or in the classroom;
Raise the glass ceiling
In the glass room.
And slide from side to side
And stand erect;
And then provide
More than some expect.

Raise their hands in the air
And declare victory.
Drop to the floor
And look back on history;
Look forward to each new circumstance,
As they add new steps, to the dance.

We must teach the children to dance
In a group or to dance alone
To bridle their extravagance
Until the time to set the tone.

We must teach the children to dance
Provide the tutors in advance;
Choreograph their moves, enhance
Their confidence and when it’s expressed
A generation will be blessed.

Excel as if the audience cares;
Play to internal standards please
Themselves as each one prepares
To demonstrate their abilities.

Adjust their moves in a meeting
Or in the classroom;
Raise the glass ceiling
In the glass room.
And slide from side to side
And stand erect;
And then provide
More than some expect.

Raise their hands in the air
And declare victory.
Drop to the floor
And look back on history
Look forward to each new circumstance,
As they add new steps, to the dance.

Teach the Children to Dance is available where you purchase your music

Preview at

Old School Leadership Practices

Posted on January 6, 2021 by Orlando Ceaser

An organization will periodically engage in a campaign that focuses on fundamentals. The bedrock principles and skills necessary to achieve objectives, are put at the forefront of their practices, as they kickstart a pursuit toward excellence. I was involved, during my sales career, with numerous initiatives labeled, “back to basics.” They were a clarion song to get everyone on the same page, as one team of talented individuals, forging ahead to accelerate achievement.

My generation speaks about the old school, which contains more than a reference to nostalgia. There were values and commitments we made that were universal and should be regarded as timeless in our pursuit of living up to personal and professional expectations.

We are role models and must be aware of the fact that we are setting examples for our peers and the next generation of leaders. These old-school leadership principles should be brought into the limelight and used to improve our relationships, achieve our dreams, and improve the human condition, by acting positively and optimistically.

 
 
 Old School                         
 Old school is a working philosophy;
 Authentic, real without hypocrisy;
 A strategy for life and survival;
 A legacy to teach new arrivals.
  
 Old School, we are from the day we were born.
 With methods, that are time tested and worn.
 We fought and struggled, as we learned to spar,
 To work the system, so they raised the bar.
  
 Old School is determined by how we felt;
 Skillfully playing the hands we were dealt.
 We are classics that laid a foundation,
 They shaped a culture and built a nation.
  
 Our dances have a different groove,
 We are originals patented and smooth.
 You sample examples of our moves,
 Our repertoire is new and improves.
  
 We branded our system as Old School,
 For you to build on and follow the rules.
 The rules are structure to internalize;
 To help you learn and then improvise. 
  
 The Old School has powers of deduction.  
 We can explain the journey, as we go.
 The roads are always under construction.
 We are the guides to teach you what we know.
  
 We are ancestors who can be trusted.
 We played the roles of outlaws and outcast.
 The living legacies that adjusted
 Through practices that have worked in the past.
   
 We are Old School and we have explored
 And experienced, we’ve plunged and we’ve soared.
 We are Old School and should not be ignored;
 We have wisdom you may wish to record.    
  
 Copyright © 2017 Orlando Ceaser

Pandemic Inspirations: Bless Somebody

Posted on December 11, 2020 by Orlando Ceaser

 

 Bless Somebody
  
 Address somebody with a smile and nod
 They may not know that you were sent by God,
 To give them sunshine on a cloudy day,
 To be the joy promised to come their way.
   
 To bless somebody is why you are here,
 To add the fragrance to their atmosphere;
 Unless somebody has a heart of stone,
 They will be grateful for the kindness shown.
  
 Bless somebody and you bless your maker.
 You are a giver and not a taker,
 Confess to somebody and seize your role,
 To elevate others to warm your soul.
  
 Assess somebody, determine their need.
 Ask them lovingly how you should proceed. 
 Distress can place a person in despair.
 You should be there to let them know you care.
  
 Say yes to somebody when they extend
 Their hand to you so they could be your friend.
 Impress somebody with an open heart,
 Bless somebody for to love is an art.
  
 Address somebody with a smile and nod.
 They may not know that you were sent by God,
 To give them sunshine on a cloudy day,
 To be the joy that is coming their way.
  
 Copyright © 2020 Orlando Ceaser
  
    
 
 
 
  
 
   Web-site: OrlandoCeaser.com
 Email:orlando.ceaser@watchwellinc.co

I Am Not Enough

Posted on March 16, 2020 by Orlando Ceaser

We work together as a team. No person is an island and no person should work in isolation. Most goals are designed to be reached i coordination with others. Additionally, no one should think that they should go through the ordeal on their own, that the objectives should be reached on their own merits.

You are sufficient, as an individual. You are enough within your own right, but when the storms of life are raging and objectives and performance targets must be achieved., you are not enough, nor should you be all that is needed. Involve the team. Involve mentors and coaches and peers. Your growth will accelerate and escalate when you realize and say to yourself, “I am not enough.”

I Am Not Enough

In search of wisdom I think vanity

Will hide the weakness of humanity,

As ego converts the truth into lies.

Misguided in the darkness I confuse

Reality with an elegant ruse;

What I surmise as wisdom is not wise.

Sometimes rejected, the world will mock me

And life will rock me, and friends will shock me,

Reminding me that I am not that tough.

Though I consider myself fully grown;

The evidence is present and has shown;

When I am in need, I am not enough.

I am proud of being spontaneous,

With wit that’s sharp and instantaneous

And eloquent when speaking off the cuff.

I state opinions with precision

Use intellect to discuss religion;

An empty vessel who’s seeking more stuff.

The myth of the person who is self-made.

The courageous one who’s never afraid.

Gregarious in the face of trials.

Despite a vivid personality,

I’m stuck with the truth and the reality

That something is missing behind the smiles.

A goal in life is to be prominent;

To play a role, forceful and dominant;

Confident life, will never call my bluff;

A revelation is inside of me;

Doubt points to an innate deficiency.

I was created for community,

When I am alone, I am not enough.

And when friends have aching hearts filled with grief;

I search for the right words to bring relief,

But silence is all that I can bestow.

The pain seems permanent as I confess,

To being anemic and powerless,

Aware that my incompetence might show.

I often question what I see in me;

An arrogant idol, a deity;

I cannot survive independently;

I finally came to the conclusion,

That life without God is an illusion;

When I was lost and bound; He set me free.

When I deliver all I can provide,

I still fall short of being satisfied;

Love has made me a diamond in the rough.

I bask in the splendor of His brilliance;

I ask the Lord to give me resilience;

Until I’m with Him, I am not enough.

Copyright © 2013 Orlando Ceaser

More information available through books and speaking engagements at

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orlandoceaser.com

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Leadership Greatness through High Performance Poetry

Posted on March 5, 2020 by Orlando Ceaser

Innovation demands that we seek different and distinctive ways of stimulating our imaginations. This may be achieved by making an association through poetry, which is not often seen as a companion of business thinking. It is the other soft skill. Hopefully you are open to this additional insight.

book_of_poems

High performance poetry is an invaluable vehicle for expressing leadership greatness. This art form emphasizes key elements of achievement and helps to cultivate development for personal and professional gain. “Leadership above the Rim turns out to be a shockingly original collection of poems by Orlando Ceaser, a manager-cum-poet who shares them at team meetings and when his direct reports are promoted.”¹This comment from the Financial Times magazine was an early confirmation of the radical insight found in poetry.

People go to work and school and keep their gifts or their light hidden from their peers. Those with a gift of poetic expression will shy away from putting it on full display due to a perceived negative stigma. However, poets can be important to business. Poets have keenly developed powers of observation, outlook and curiosity that lead to investigation and interpretation. These powers can lead to leadership greatness and high performance if we harness the inherent strength of the language and imagery.

Poets use their senses to gain a better understanding and appreciation of their world. They are introspective, intuitive and deep thinkers who are able to view a situation from many perspectives. They are used to experimenting with different approaches. This can be very helpful in leading people and running a business.

Webster’s Dictionary defines a poet as:

Gifted in the perception and expression of the beautiful or lyrical
A creative artist of great imaginative and expressive gifts and special sensitivity to his medium.

The poet has inspirational words for winning, has a vocabulary for victory and can speak effectively against the language of losing. The poet is a panoramic thinker. The poet can use

high performance poetry to link the vision and mission of the organization to desired outcomes. Further, through conversations with their peers, poets can help you sell the vision and the goals of the organization. They can approach a subject, such as business, with the radical insight that could lead to inspiring innovation in ideas, products and services. Their observations and perspectives will add to brainstorming and problem-solving sessions.

High performance poetry focuses on using achievement-oriented language to encourage and celebrate excellence. Dana Gioia, a poet with extensive business experience, is a graduate of Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, and the former Vice president of General Foods. In addition, and quite notably, he is the past Chairman of the National Endowment of the Arts. As he rose up the managerial ranks, he felt he had “an enormous advantage over his colleagues because he had a background in the imagination, in language and in literature.”²
In a business setting, high performance poetry allows people the use of language, through stories and metaphors. Through these stories and metaphors, the poet is able to paint a positive and attainable picture of the company’s vision. On a deeper level, the poetic communications will touch the hearts of people to build trust and engagement.

The poet may be the introvert in the room, deriving their energy from absorbing everything around them and processing it later in the day. They may be the creative ones, who are insightful, observing and analyzing problems from many different perspectives. They may see things that others don’t see, mainly because they are looking. In my book, The Isle of Knowledge, I tell a story about my friend Buttons from my childhood. During our walks around the West side of Chicago, Buttons was always finding money and other things of value. I tried to match his skill, but with little success. His secret was that he was always looking down and therefore, had a greater opportunity to find things. He was looking where the treasure was located. The poet is always looking for treasure in the places where they reside.

They are always observing, always using their senses, always connected and involved in the world around them. Identify the poets in your midst. Whenever possible, be sure to include them on cross-functional teams and you will be rewarded with a higher performing team that will exceed your expectations.

Another quality that poets bring to the table is a love for experimentation. Their use of metaphors, similes, allegories and hyperbole are some of the ways in which they explore different portrayals of the current reality. At work, they use the same talent to experiment with different solutions, searching for more than one right answer, to improve the quality of decision-making.

It is beneficial to know the poets in your organization and to encourage their expressions of creativity. When these individuals and others focus on high performance poetry, they will leverage their talent to help you utilize and maximize the innate abilities within the team.

You may have heard that poetry and business do not go together. However, this perception may hinder people from exploring and experimenting with a valuable perspective. The high-performance poetry featured in this book will help employees examine its use for achieving their goals. This perspective, if harnessed, will improve the culture within your business in a myriad of ways.

Max DePree, former CEO of the Herman Miller furniture company, tells a story in his book Leadership is an Art, which is a part of the Herman Miller company history. It is a story about a millwright. “In the furniture industry of the 1920’s the machines of most factories were not run by electric motors, but by pulleys from a central drive shaft. The central drive shaft was run by the steam engine. The steam engine got its steam from the boiler. The boiler, in our case, got its fuel from the sawdust and other waste coming out of the machine room – a beautiful cycle. The millwright was the person who oversaw that cycle and on whom the entire activity of the operation depended. He was a key person. One day the millwright died.”

One day the founder of Herman Miller went to the house of the recently deceased millwright. While visiting his home, the widow asked if the young manager would mind if she read some poetry aloud. After listening to her read beautiful poetry, he asked the author of the work. She replied that it was her husband, the millwright. For years the young manager and others at Herman Miller who were apprised of the story wondered,” was he a poet who did millwright’s work, or was he a millwright who wrote poetry?”³

High performance poetry will start you on the path of discovering more about the people in your group or organization. It will help you to explore various aspects of the work experience. It will illuminate and elucidate human motivation and the desire to innovation on an even grander scale. This greater understanding of people will be instrumental to the team’s commitment to exceeding expectations.
Max Dupree goes on to say, “understanding and accepting diversity enables us to see that each of us is needed. It also enables us to begin to think about being abandoned to the strengths of others, of admitting that we cannot know nor do everything. This simple act of recognizing diversity in corporate life helps us to connect the great variety of gifts that people bring to the work and service of the organization.”⁴Leadership greatness can be achieved through many avenues. Achieving leadership greatness through high performance poetry is another way to experience the variety and versatility present within your team. I trust that this book will assist you in extracting and multiplying the greatness around you and within you.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface

Acknowledgments

Adapting

An Ancestor’s Apprentice

Ask (Acquire Selling Knowledge)*

Athletes Leading As Role Models – (ALARM™)

Be humble as you hustle

Be strong to the finish

Championship Thinking

Circle of Excellence*

Coming Through in The Clutch

Confessions of a Corporate Climber

Do You Ever Want to Spin with Me?

Follow through

Front-line Leadership*

He Makes Leaders for a Living*

Habits and Hustle

Hustle

I Am Not the One

I am in sales

I Am the Good

Faith Effort

Imagine a Company Anarchy On Demand

Inertia

Intellect Fulfilled is an Awesome Thing

It Is Time

Keep the Ones We Love Alive (Drive

Defensively)

Last Will and Testament

Leadership in a turbulent Season

Leadership is Allowed

Let them Lead

Make your own good news

My time and my touch

Obstacles

Passion makes you cry

Paying your dues

Peace

Quest for meaning*

Quotas and forecasts*

She is not too old

Someone you may never know

Stronger together

Structure

The Box

The Hunger

The Lady and her Legacy

The Leader Within

The Mark*

The Old Guard and the New Way

The Third Quarter of Life

The Temple of Wasted Time*

The Unabridged Life*

The Un-led

The Year in Review

Uncertainty

Universal Coach

We are committed

What will you be known for?*

When I say diversity, What do you hear?*

When we announced the merger*

Where is the diversity?

Whether Report

You have been chosen to lead*

About the Author— Orlando Ceaser

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The Saga of the Least of These

Posted on February 11, 2020 by Orlando Ceaser

This third installment of the Trilogy of Mercy is The Saga of the Least of These. It was inspired by an encounter with a former classmate. It teaches us to be mindful of the personality of Jesus and His intent for His followers to model love and compassion for everyone.

The Saga of the Least of These

He came in contact with the least of these;

Strategically positioned beneath his gaze.

They walked the streets and loitered under trees;

Fought for survival on difficult days.

Rather than seeking to understand,

He figuratively gave the back of his hand.

Invisible to some, but to his glance;

The poor decisions they made in their lives,

Were not deserving of a second chance.

But they were not angry for life deprives

On one hand and gives with the other;

At times a way forward is discovered.

He came in contact with the least of these;

He did not know their stories or their plight;

To those down trodden and knocked to their knees,

He gave an uppercut, a left and right

And offered platitudes instead of food

And chastised a non-existent attitude.

His words were a punch to their mid section;

His accusations were born of neglect;

His demeanor inflamed their rejection

Their current state was not their fate and yet

He blamed them for their present condition

And gave them negative recognition.

One day he came upon the least of these,

Not the image on the evening news,

But a panhandler who wanted to please

By offering to shine his shoes.

After a few pleasantries were exchanged

He noted that the man was not deranged.

He was spell bound by the look in his eyes.

There standing before him was a classmate;

A football team member to his surprise;

A high school friend he had not seen of late.

They had a reunion for old time’s sake,

But pondered the difference time could make.

He was outrageous, loud and authentic,

While they reminisced within the concourse.

He found out his friend was schizophrenic

And lost his job while on the police force.

He was homeless and as a last resort,

Tried to survive working at the airport.

The image of suffering changed for him;

Became personal and it changed his heart.

He no longer felt the need to condemn,

But to contribute and play a part;

For if not by the grace of God he sees

He could have been among the least of these.

Reprinted from the book Daily Resurrections

By Orlando Ceaser

The Trilogy of Mercy

Posted on February 7, 2020 by Orlando Ceaser

daily_resurrections (1) (2)

The trilogy of mercy are three works inspired by Scripture that wrestles with the mandate of love your neighbor. They are,

What would Jesus say, if he was just like us?
Jesus did not say (which speaks to no qualifications or disclaimers on his love)
The saga of the least of these

These poems are present in the book Daily Resurrections. The book is not a devotional, but it can be used that way. The title refers to the signature poem covering points during the day and during our lives when we are submerged and immersed in situations from which will rise.

Intellectually, we submit to the basic tenets of love and forgiveness. We accept that we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. However, we must be reminded about mercy and how it goes hand in hand with love and forgiveness.

The first installment of the trilogy is a poem entitled What would Jesus say, if he was just like us? The poem is good for personal reflection and a group discussion. There is an irony in us expecting good things from God when we are reluctant to have His goodness trickle down from us to our neighbors.