Joy Based Living

Hello friends,

It’s Reverend SASSY SHORTS here for another SASSY SUNDAY!

Hope you’re doing well and feeling in good spirits during this very strange time in the quirky history of our beautiful world.

I’m new to being a reverend. It’s only been a year. And I’ve only really celebrated it publicly over the last few weeks. And I’m a tongue-in-cheek reverend, at that. I mean, it’s official, but my certificate is from Universal Life Church. You should sign up for their email newsletter. It’s funny as midnight comedy. So, I’m new to being a reverend.

Plus, I’m Jewish. Which means that I mostly have rabbi’s that run around in the depths of my psyche, not reverends.

So – from this very skewed and unpracticed perspective of reverendhood – when I found myself feeling really tired today – due to lack of normal sleep patterns and extreme contribution over the last week – really leaving it all on the court – and waking up from my latest nap a few minutes ago (it’s now 1:49 on Sunday morning) –

I discovered a twang of guilt that my SASSY SUNDAY SERMON for this week wasn’t completed yet.

The awareness of said guilt led me to a weird discovery:

I have this deeply strange idea that reverends aren’t supposed to be tired.

Rabbis can be. But not reverends.

Lol! I know, that’s so silly!

Acknowledging the silliness of this mental distortion publicly to you, my dear congregant, helped me drop the guilt.

I smile as I wonder: Was it Jewish guilt?

Reverend SASSY SHORTS is a very caring bundle of contradictory feelings and perspectives. And SHE LOVES THAT.

So, I’m going to leave you with these 2 thoughts.

1. First, I’m human. So are you. We are going through an amazingly, outrageously huge transition where all of our normal patterns have been interrupted. With the shakeup of routine, this is THE PERFECT TIME to discover our inner “shoulds”, “shouldn’ts” and other beliefs, inner contradictions and strange perspectives. Every awesome human I know holds a HUGE space for all of the perspectives to exist within themselves: Nonsensically. Simultaneously. Ridiculously. Illogically. And lovingly. Let’s aim to be the most awesome humans we can be.
2. Second, the Good Book says that on the 7th day God rested. Well, if God rested, does that mean that God actually ever gets TIRED? THAT is a fun thought to wonder about and contemplate on my way to another nap.

What inner contradictions are you aware of in yourself?

Which ones have you accepted and which do you struggle with? Or are you a perfect  enlightened being who is reading this SASSY SUNDAY SERMON? That would be really cool, too. I encourage you to reach out to someone and let them know that you see their humanness – and to let them see yours.

And I would like to share a special gift with you. This is a really sweet fairy tale that I wrote a few years ago. The cover art is by my dear friend Vito Acosta, an amazing artist who lives in Bogota, Colombia. Her husband just passed a few weeks ago. I’m sending her lots of prayers and love.

You can listen to Samantha the Sleepy Girl right here. The first couple of listens are free.

https://getfairytales.bandcamp.com/album/samantha-the-sleepy-girl

Much love,

Reverend SASSY SHORTS!

Debbie Happy Cohen, author and coach, is also the founder of Joy-Based Living. Her Master’s Degree is in counseling, specializing in family systems, healing emotional trauma, and practical spirituality.

Also affectionately known as Happy D! and Reverend SASSY SHORTS!, she lives on Lookout Mountain in Alabama, near Chattanooga, Tennessee. Her books include Reach Your Stars!, SANCTUARY, It’s All About Kids: Every Child Deserves a Teacher of the Year, and I Don’t Think So!  You can find her blogging at http://www.joybasedliving.com.