<div dir="auto"><div>Sharing. Thanks so much.</div><div><br></div><div data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><b><font size="1">JOYCE (JOYSEE) PFAFFLE</font></b><br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div></div></div></div></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Sat, Jul 5, 2025, 9:57 AM Riantee Rand via Thespiritexpress <<a href="mailto:thespiritexpress@lists.mcn.org">thespiritexpress@lists.mcn.org</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div style="line-break:after-white-space">Yes! Yes! Yes!<div>Thank you so much.</div><div>R<br id="m_7800360342071854254lineBreakAtBeginningOfMessage"><div><br><blockquote type="cite"><div>On Jul 5, 2025, at 07:57, Ron Nadeau via Thespiritexpress <<a href="mailto:thespiritexpress@lists.mcn.org" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">thespiritexpress@lists.mcn.org</a>> wrote:</div><br><div><div style="line-break:after-white-space"><div style="text-align:center"><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal"><span style="font-family:Helvetica;font-size:16px">Enjoy this </span><font size="3">Weekend</font></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal"><font size="3">~We live in a beautiful part of the world ~ a lot of Blessings being counted...</font></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal"><font size="3">w/Love</font></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal"><font size="3"><br></font></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal"><font size="3"><br></font></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">~This poem came through on my morning feed:</span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica"><br></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica"><br></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica"><b>Pledge </b><u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica"><br></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">Today is Independence Day. <u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">Tomorrow will also be Independence Day. <u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">I wave the banner of the present moment.<u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">I pledge allegiance to no flag, no nation. <u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">I pledge allegiance to no tribe or party.<u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">I pledge allegiance to no bombs bursting in air.<u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">I pledge allegiance to silence and a day of prayer.<u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">Patriotism is rebellion. <u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">Rebellion is joy.<u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">Cast down the mighty, the masters of war.<u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">I pledge allegiance to the poor.<u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">I pledge allegiance to the boy I used to be. <u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">The girl you were, the boy in the girl and the girl in the<u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">boy before wholeness was shattered by<u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">our education.<u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">I pledge allegiance to hemp and sod.<u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">I pledge allegiance to the unnamed God,<u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">to the moon and the tide, to sun and<u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">wind and what I cannot know,<u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">to a light that contains all colors, to the rainbow.<u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">I pledge allegiance to no belief<u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">but an heirloom tomato seed,<u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">a living coral reef,<u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">the wisdom in a weed.<u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">when the fireworks last too long after<u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">midnight and sulfur lingers in the air.<u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">I pledge allegiance to the huddled deer,<u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">the stray dog in the street, <u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">the shivering sparrow in a bush,<u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">the veteran cringing in the heat of his<u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">most ancient fear.<u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">I don't need more bombs.<u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">I need to hear the gentle bursting of<u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">peonies in my garden.<u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">To notice the sun set here as it rises over Gaza.<u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">To greet who ever I see with a breath of peace.<u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">They don't even need to know,<u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">something in my chest will melt away the<u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">borders of every nation.<u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">Now take off your shoes.<u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">Go slow.<u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">Don't burn the flag.<u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">Unravel its thread.<u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">We hunger for a common bread.<u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">With all my relations gathered at birth,<u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">I pledge allegiance to the earth,<u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">the infant curled in mother's sea of<u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">trust.<u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">I pledge allegiance to the dust. <u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">To all winged and swimming things, to creatures<u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">that crawl or come out at night.<u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">Brothers, sisters, four-legged and two,<u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">I pledge allegiance<u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">to you.<u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">I pledge allegiance<u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica">to you.</span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica"><br></span></div><div style="text-align:center;margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica"><span style="white-space:pre-wrap">    </span>- Alfred Lamotte</span></div><span style="text-align:start"><div style="text-align:center;font-size:16px">______________________</div></span></div></div>_______________________________________________<br>Thespiritexpress mailing list<br><a href="mailto:Thespiritexpress@lists.mcn.org" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">Thespiritexpress@lists.mcn.org</a><br><a href="https://lists.mcn.org/mailman/listinfo/thespiritexpress" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">https://lists.mcn.org/mailman/listinfo/thespiritexpress</a><br></div></blockquote></div><br></div></div>_______________________________________________<br>
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