by Ralph Cissne | Aug 28, 2017 | Love Works
I do not care about your hate. Tell me what you love, what difference you make. This is the lesson to be learned and the example to be set. To those motivated by fear, division and doublespeak, stop and think. What wounds do you heal? What bridge do you build? Now is...
by Ralph Cissne | May 24, 2017 | Love Works
The morning after the November 8 election the Northwest Classen hallways were ripe with sorrow. “How is it?” I asked. “Everyone is in a state of shock,” Mr. Decker replied. “Half the students in my previous class stayed home.” We watched his English Language...
by Ralph Cissne | Jan 5, 2017 | Love Works
I was shocked to learn that the majority of students in OKC Public Schools receive food assistance, meaning they live below the poverty level. I asked a yoga friend, who teaches English Language Development at Northwest Classen, my old high school, if it was that bad....
by Ralph Cissne | May 8, 2016 | Love Works
Two mothers gave me the life I know. The mother who birthed me taught the value of strength and the power of forgiveness. My spiritual mother, aunt Joan, taught me to live in the moment and to honor the divine feminine. The confluence of these two wise women opened my...
by Ralph Cissne | Apr 11, 2016 | Love Works
In honor of National Poetry Month, a poem from Don’t Be Shy. (In Memory of Steven C. Clark) I have seen your face before among the crowded paths I have crossed. I close my eyes and hear you calling from some dark and distant place where parents float in cocktail...
by Ralph Cissne | Feb 14, 2016 | Love Works
My brother’s life is a love story so it is appropriate that we gather on the eve of Valentine’s Day. Frank was born in Beaumont, Texas January 29, 1939. Life expectancy then was 59 years. Average monthly rent was $28 and you could buy a new car for $700. Gone with the...
by Ralph Cissne | Jan 11, 2016 | Love Works
One of the great characters in my life died early Saturday, surrendering to a lengthy battle with bladder cancer at age 76. Frank was staying with our sister Carol so we could look after him. When she called at 7 a.m. I knew his time had passed. An indifferent north...
by Ralph Cissne | Dec 21, 2015 | Love Works
I showed my nine-year-old granddaughter a photograph of a plate of artful Christmas cookies. “I did not eat one,” I confessed. “Can you believe that?” She looked skeptical. “No,” she said. “You probably ate them all.” I laughed. She knows me too well, but in that case...
by Ralph Cissne | Nov 30, 2015 | Love Works
The day my father died my mother did not shed a tear. Aunt Joan guided me, and my little brother Mike, away from the house full of mourners to the backyard where my father had introduced me to Classical Greek mythology and the wonder of stories well told. Joan...
by Ralph Cissne | Nov 24, 2015 | Love Works
On Friday, November 13 I cruised through OKC traffic to a yoga class observing radio silence and tuned into the rhythms of my breath. In practice I noticed imbalances between my left and right, amused whenever I wobble and wander from my center. In that moment I...
