<div style="font-size:10pt;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;color:black;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">I wish I had
written this piece. That’s how close it mirrors my own belief.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></font></font></u></b></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">It’s a strong and
daring piece. <o:p></o:p></font></font></u></b></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3">There are some
that will be<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></font><font size="3">offended</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font size="3"> </font></span><font size="3">and challenged. <o:p></o:p></font></font></u></b></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3">Others, like
myself, will take heart in the support it gives<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></font><font size="3">to the non-traditional way in which we see things.</font><font size="3"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></font></font></u></b></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3">All the slashes
necessitated my slowing down my computer reading voice to be able to
distinguish<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></font><font size="3">all the words on either side
of those slashes.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font size="3"> </font></span><font size="3">Thank you for writing
it. <o:p></o:p></font></font></u></b></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><o:p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></o:p></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
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</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Date:</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
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</font><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Wed, Aug 21, 2019 7:21 pm</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
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</font><p class="yiv3625542184msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">I
Believe In God, Under Any Name<o:p></o:p></font></font></span></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p class="yiv3625542184msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">Marcia
J. Wick, The Write Sisters<o:p></o:p></font></font></span></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p class="yiv3625542184msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">August
2019<o:p></o:p></font></font></span></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p class="yiv3625542184msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">Word
Count: 537<o:p></o:p></font></font></span></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p class="yiv3625542184msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman"> <o:p></o:p></font></font></span></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p class="yiv3625542184msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">Note:
Religious subject matter not intended to offend; intended to include all
believers.<o:p></o:p></font></font></span></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p class="yiv3625542184msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman"> <o:p></o:p></font></font></span></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p class="yiv3625542184msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3">Yes,
I believe in God. I believe in God under any and all names. I believe in God as
Jesus, Mohammed, Yahweh, Buddha, <st1:place w:st="on">Krishna</st1:place></font><font size="3">,
Abraham, the Dalai Lama, and Allah. I believe God was manifested in Martin
Luther King, Mother Theresa, Nelson Mandala, Gandhi, and John Lennon. I believe
God performs miracles through the touching hands of teachers, doctors, and
parents every day. I believe I hear God’s words on the radio and television -
in the cries of children torn from the arms of loving parents, in the screams
of wounded soldiers paying the price of politics, in the pleas of women whose
bodies are controlled by others, and in the desperate petitions of the homeless
and oppressed. <o:p></o:p></font></font></span></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p class="yiv3625542184msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman"> <o:p></o:p></font></font></span></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p class="yiv3625542184msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">I
believe God has no gender, as that is a characteristic assigned to humans and
animals. God is a He/She/It, none of the above or all of the above, as
She/He/It/is inclined to “be.” Being God, after all, It/He/She wouldn’t be
limited in any way, shape, or form, would She/It/He? <o:p></o:p></font></font></span></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p class="yiv3625542184msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman"> <o:p></o:p></font></font></span></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p class="yiv3625542184msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">God
can make his presence known any time God chooses. God can reach people in the
desert or on a mountain top. God can touch urban dwellers or cave dwellers;
Black or White or Asian; at any point in time - past, present, or future; on
any continent, in any hemisphere, on any planet, in any universe, or in a
galaxy far, far away that perhaps He/She/It hasn’t even created yet.<o:p></o:p></font></font></span></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p class="yiv3625542184msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><font face="Times New Roman"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font size="3">I would add a thought that seems to follow
logically; God is always touching<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></font><font size="3">everyone and everything all the time. It is god’s nature.</font></span></u></b><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p></o:p></span></font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p class="yiv3625542184msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman"> <o:p></o:p></font></font></span></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p class="yiv3625542184msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">I
believe that God existed before humankind, dinosaurs, bacteria, or cockroaches
on this planet we call Earth. I believe that God will exist after the
extinction of life as we know it. I believe God isn’t bound by man, to
only one group of people at one moment in time. God created man. God created
time. God caused the Big Bang. Before that, all space and time was God. After
that, all space and time is God.<o:p></o:p></font></font></span></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p class="yiv3625542184msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman"> <o:p></o:p></font></font></span></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p class="yiv3625542184msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">I
believe in life after death, in life before death, in life that may take any
form. Like water molecules seamlessly connected, we’ll move in synchronicity
through space and time; we’ll flow together as an endless river through the
veins of God.<o:p></o:p></font></font></span></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p class="yiv3625542184msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><font face="Times New Roman"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font size="3">This last line in particular,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></font><font size="3">is beautifully poetic.</font></span></u></b><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font size="3"> <o:p></o:p></font></span></font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p class="yiv3625542184msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">I
believe in the power of prayer. I pray to God regularly. I pray in the Catholic
church and the Jewish synagogue. I pray when I’m walking with my Guide Dog. I
pray when forest fires explode. I pray in thanks and gratitude, supplication
and fear. I pray alone in silence, and loudly among thousands at the Women’s
March when I chant, “Immigrants are welcome here!” I pray that I will
have the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the
things I can, and wisdom to know the difference. I pray to anyone and everyone
who will listen, hedging my bets.<o:p></o:p></font></font></span></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p class="yiv3625542184msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman"> <o:p></o:p></font></font></span></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p class="yiv3625542184msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">God
isn’t “yours” or mine.” God isn’t something we can claim to own . God doesn’t
belong to the Catholics, Presbyterians, Baptists or Jews; God doesn’t exclude
the agnostics, atheists, or innocents. God doesn’t give one of us priority over
another – He/She/It has a boundless heart big enough for all life throughout
space and time, forever and ever, Amen.<o:p></o:p></font></font></span></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p class="yiv3625542184msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman"> <o:p></o:p></font></font></span></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p class="yiv3625542184msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman"> <o:p></o:p></font></font></span></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p class="yiv3625542184msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman"># #
#<o:p></o:p></font></font></span></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p class="yiv3625542184msonormal" style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></span></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
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