Portland Pride

My day began when my daughter Manko called to wish me happy Father’s Day. She has done that since she was in junior high school. She says I was both father and mother to her, so she always thanks me for being her father. And it always makes me cry.

Bella and I went to Sue’s this morning for a Father’s Day brunch for her two sons and their families. I really wanted to go to Portland’s Pride Parade after the brunch. In the aftermath of Orlando, it seemed especially important to show up. However I am exhausted. Bella’s mom is on her way back to Portland, and I think I just need more than anything to go to bed for a long nap once Bella leaves. So I shot this of Bella in my parking lot: the hotel across the street from my building is flying their rainbow balloons for Pride. 

I hope that by the time Bella reaches adulthood she will live in a world that exhorts all people to be proud of being entirely who they are, whoever they are. In honor of GLBTQ Pride, I share this prayer of a kind-hearted African-American Buddhist priest, Zenju Earthlyn Marselean Pierre-Manuel. 

May all beings be cared for and loved,
Be listened to, understood and acknowledged despite different views,
Be accepted for who they are in this moment,
Be afforded patience,
Be allowed to live without fear of having their lives taken away or
their bodies violated.
May all beings
Be well in its broadest sense,
Be fed,
Be clothed,
Be treated as if their life is precious,
Be held in the eyes of each other as family.
May all beings
Be appreciated,
Feel welcomed anywhere on the planet,
Be freed from acts of hatred and desperation including war, poverty,
slavery, and street crimes,
Live on the planet, housed and protected from harm,
Be given what is needed to live fully, without scarcity,
Enjoy life, living without fear of one another,
Be able to speak freely in a voice and mind of undeniable love.
May all beings
Receive and share the gifts of life,
Be given time to rest, be still, and experience silence.
May all beings
Be awake.