Standing in the doorway between the ticket table and the concert last night, the music from the incredible jazz trio on the chancel washing over me, I was overwhelmed with gratitude. This is my life!

Somewhere between scheduling the termite treatments and the ceiling repairs from a leaky roof, between taxes and budgets, between making groceries and making amends – there is this gift – pure, sustaining creative joy.

On this Mother’s Day weekend, as we celebrate the creative power of women, I lift up some of the amazing, creative female artists I have had the joy of encountering as part of my work this year: Asali DeVan Ecclesiastes, Cindy Scott, Helen Gillet, Gina Forsyth, emma’s revolution…their creations remind me that life is a journey of choices – and that I can choose joy, I can choose to work for peace, for a world welcoming to all babies, all beings.

Beloveds, as you make your choices today, may you remember your sources of sustaining joy and celebrate your own power to create a life well lived.

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Rev. Deanna Vandiver

Deanna Vandiver is a community minister in New Orleans, LA, serving as the Executive Director for the Center for Ethical Living and Social Justice Renewal (http://www.celjsr.org).Since she accepted the call to ministry, she has not experienced one boring day.Good music, good food, and good friends have sustained her through heck and high water and she has a practice of gratitude for the wonders of this life.

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