This morning I was thinking about all kinds of communication and how we may or may not strive for accuracy.
There is the communication wherein the person projects their viewpoint on us in various ways. One irritating, to me, example is the person who almost always says "you" rather than "I." "You know how it is, when 12:30 comes around you just have to stop everything to have lunch." No, I don't. That is NOT accurate.Perhaps it is a bit more irritating to me than to some people, because when I was little, my mother often told me (if I was crying, upset, happy, whatever) "You don't feel that way!" Yes I DO!
Then there is the projection where the person assumes you have the same political, religious, ecological, food or whatever point of view as them. Of course they have not spent time in real conversation where things actually get to be understood, to find out if you really are a liberal/conservative/libertarian/socialist or some original blend. I had this situation when I was a pulpit clergywoman. Some people were sure I was a Democrat while others were equally certain that I was a Republican. I never spoke of politics in church, however, so no one really knew and never asked me either. Guessing is not accuracy. It was fascinating to watch.
Some people, like me, are pretty much an open book. Ask me anything, and if I know it, I'll tell you. I know that perceptive people suspected this or that anyway, and ultimately you cannot hide who you are. Your consciousness is showing. I "dare" to write this blog where I bare my soul. Some may be intrigued, some upset, some happy about what I write. So be it. I write who I am at any given moment in time, knowing I am an unfolding, awakening spiritual being having a human experience. What I write next year, or years past or tomorrow changes because I do. I will always tell you the Truth as I know it, being accurate as best I can in any moment of time. At the same time I am definitely a work in progress. No one can call me stagnant. Circumstances don't deter me from seeking, learning, exploring, and growing.
Some people are very private, guarded, closed books as much as is possible. They share little of their depths, their history, their glories and defeats, their joys and their pains. They don't realize that even so, people know a lot about them, because you really and truly cannot hide your consciousness. They try to mislead by being closed mouthed. However, as I said, it only partially works. Worse, it deflects intimacy. It keeps people away, at arms length.
There are others who purposely give crooked communications as a control mechanism. They want something from us. They are selling the latest snake oil. They want our money. They want sex. They want us to do what they want. Watch out for them. They can take a great deal before we wake up to what's happening. They try to put us in the victim position, delaying as long as possible our clarity about what is really going on.
It would behoove us to develop our sixth sense, to pay attention to our intuition, when dealing with life. If it doesn't feel right, it probably isn't. If it seems they are playing us, they probably are. If they speak and act with inaccuracy, alert, alert, alert.
I think we need to strive to be as accurate and honest as possible in our lives. If we don't want to share something, just say "no, I do not wish to talk about the_____." That is accurate and honest. If we do wish to share, be as accurate as possible. If we do this, I'm pretty sure our relationships will grow, expand, deepen and be even more wonderful than they are right now.
Saturday, January 2, 2016
Thursday, December 31, 2015
End of the Year Thoughts
The somewhat arbitrary last day of the year, any day could have been chosen, nevertheless has meaning to us. It marks something is complete, wrap it up, go on to the new.
In some ways it is related to forgiveness where we release our attachment and feelings to some real or imagined hurt. We set ourselves free. The person/memory no longer affects us negatively. We may even move to the idea that they have been our teacher, and we have learned an important lesson.
2015 comes to an end tonight. Here in Temecula, the grapes drop. In New York it is a crystal ball. There will be fireworks, cheers, kisses and various celebrations.
Whatever 2015 was to us, it is almost over. Let us glean the lessons that make us better, wiser, stronger, deeper, more loving, more compassionate and rejoice we were here on earth to walk through it all. Let us release all that was, whether or not it lived up to our expectations and desires - forgive it, release it, be free of it, don't let it harm us. Don't drag it into the New Year.
Confucius suggested that wherever we find ourselves, be the gracious host [hostess]. When I think about that in today's context, I think about how that plays out in line at the store, on the freeway, in organizations, in the family, wherever we find ourselves.
2016 has not been lived yet. It is 365 blank pages. Let's write something new, refreshing, spiritual, loving, uplifting on its pages. Let's be gracious hosts/hostesses. Let's chose this year to be the best we can be, make the most positive difference we can, grow spiritually as much as possible, and be a light wherever we are.
This is our year. Let's live it to the fullest.
In some ways it is related to forgiveness where we release our attachment and feelings to some real or imagined hurt. We set ourselves free. The person/memory no longer affects us negatively. We may even move to the idea that they have been our teacher, and we have learned an important lesson.
2015 comes to an end tonight. Here in Temecula, the grapes drop. In New York it is a crystal ball. There will be fireworks, cheers, kisses and various celebrations.
Whatever 2015 was to us, it is almost over. Let us glean the lessons that make us better, wiser, stronger, deeper, more loving, more compassionate and rejoice we were here on earth to walk through it all. Let us release all that was, whether or not it lived up to our expectations and desires - forgive it, release it, be free of it, don't let it harm us. Don't drag it into the New Year.
Confucius suggested that wherever we find ourselves, be the gracious host [hostess]. When I think about that in today's context, I think about how that plays out in line at the store, on the freeway, in organizations, in the family, wherever we find ourselves.
2016 has not been lived yet. It is 365 blank pages. Let's write something new, refreshing, spiritual, loving, uplifting on its pages. Let's be gracious hosts/hostesses. Let's chose this year to be the best we can be, make the most positive difference we can, grow spiritually as much as possible, and be a light wherever we are.
This is our year. Let's live it to the fullest.
Tuesday, December 29, 2015
Things and Stuff
Yesterday a dear friend and I had a discussion about the things of our lives. We both noted that things we have collected in our lives and things we've kept from our heritage (Great Grandma's silver for example), are not wanted by our children and grandchildren.
At first this phenomenon was odd to me, especially when I realized many of my generation are experiencing the dilemma of - why don't they want it? But I saved it because it is our family's and want you to have it!
I had an aha about that a few weeks ago. I was going to speak to the Methodist Women's group about my ministry in Russia. My things are in storage, so I borrowed some Russian items from a friend who had gone with me on one of my many trips (to teach spiritual seminars). When we packed up our house, I gave her several more Russian things, including a little carved box that meant a lot to me (I kept one of the boxes, and it is in storage). I had gotten it in Siberia in a sort of drug re-hab center. The wonderful Natasha found herself with a son in jail because of heroin. She didn't know what to do and there was no literature about it. As I understood it, the official stance was that there is no drug addiction here, so there was no literature about how to deal with it. She got the idea to get parents together to talk and support one another and their family member in trouble. She also got the idea to teach the prisoners how to do things such as carve boxes and then have them for sale in her center so that they would have some money to restart their lives when they got out of prison and she would organize support groups to help them stay off of drugs. She got the city to let her use three rooms to start her center. I admire her soooooo much! On intuition and desperation she created something so helpful. Whenever I went to that city, I went to her center and talked with the recovering addicts and parents. It was such a moving experience for me. I wish I could go there again and hug Natasha and help her work in some way.
So I say all this, because this little wooden box was a symbol for me of profound memories. My friend, who now owns the box, forgot the story I had told her about it, and the box meant little to her other than it was a trinket from Russia, I felt so sad about that. But it led me to a new understanding.
Our things in and of themselves have little value. The memories attached to each item are the value.I thought of some of my "treasures" which are only so because of the memories hovering with them.
There is the olive wood Jerusalem cross I received in the olive wood factory in Bethlehem from the owner who discovered I knew about the Aramaic prayer of Jesus. It doesn't look like much I guess, just a little piece of carved wood, but it means a great deal to me. There is my Toni doll I got a very long time ago. I gave her many "permanents" (remember Toni home permanents) and enjoyed playing with her for a number of years. There is the hand-hammered gold bracelet with a heart dangling. Inside the heart are photos of my paternal grandparents. On the heart there are engraved the initials of both of them in fancy letters. The dent on the heart was caused by my father's first tooth. My paternal grandmother died when my Dad was 7, so I feel a bit of her with this and remember what Aunt Jeannette and Daddy told me about their parents. I have also a couple of their wedding gifts from 1905 and their dining set (which I sat around with family long ago in Pennsylvania and with my family here after it came to me). I feel connected to my family with these, and they are really deeply moving for me to "have". I thought would pass these on to the future. Also, I had the cradle that for a couple of hundred years everyone on my Dad's side of the family slept, including me, my children and grandchildren. My son had it last, and since he has gone away from us, I don't know where it is. Interestingly, my daughter dearly wants it for her grandchildren one day. But I know she wants it because she has memories that mean something to her. I doubt she recalls being in it, but she remembers her three being in it. We hope he still has it, and it will resurface.
Look at the things that seem important, and I imagine you will notice that it is the memories that hover around them that really matter. If we don't want our treasures to end up in a thrift shop, we need to somehow pass on the memories that make them shine to us and hope our descendants will pass on the stories - and maybe even the things themselves.
At first this phenomenon was odd to me, especially when I realized many of my generation are experiencing the dilemma of - why don't they want it? But I saved it because it is our family's and want you to have it!
I had an aha about that a few weeks ago. I was going to speak to the Methodist Women's group about my ministry in Russia. My things are in storage, so I borrowed some Russian items from a friend who had gone with me on one of my many trips (to teach spiritual seminars). When we packed up our house, I gave her several more Russian things, including a little carved box that meant a lot to me (I kept one of the boxes, and it is in storage). I had gotten it in Siberia in a sort of drug re-hab center. The wonderful Natasha found herself with a son in jail because of heroin. She didn't know what to do and there was no literature about it. As I understood it, the official stance was that there is no drug addiction here, so there was no literature about how to deal with it. She got the idea to get parents together to talk and support one another and their family member in trouble. She also got the idea to teach the prisoners how to do things such as carve boxes and then have them for sale in her center so that they would have some money to restart their lives when they got out of prison and she would organize support groups to help them stay off of drugs. She got the city to let her use three rooms to start her center. I admire her soooooo much! On intuition and desperation she created something so helpful. Whenever I went to that city, I went to her center and talked with the recovering addicts and parents. It was such a moving experience for me. I wish I could go there again and hug Natasha and help her work in some way.
So I say all this, because this little wooden box was a symbol for me of profound memories. My friend, who now owns the box, forgot the story I had told her about it, and the box meant little to her other than it was a trinket from Russia, I felt so sad about that. But it led me to a new understanding.
Our things in and of themselves have little value. The memories attached to each item are the value.I thought of some of my "treasures" which are only so because of the memories hovering with them.
There is the olive wood Jerusalem cross I received in the olive wood factory in Bethlehem from the owner who discovered I knew about the Aramaic prayer of Jesus. It doesn't look like much I guess, just a little piece of carved wood, but it means a great deal to me. There is my Toni doll I got a very long time ago. I gave her many "permanents" (remember Toni home permanents) and enjoyed playing with her for a number of years. There is the hand-hammered gold bracelet with a heart dangling. Inside the heart are photos of my paternal grandparents. On the heart there are engraved the initials of both of them in fancy letters. The dent on the heart was caused by my father's first tooth. My paternal grandmother died when my Dad was 7, so I feel a bit of her with this and remember what Aunt Jeannette and Daddy told me about their parents. I have also a couple of their wedding gifts from 1905 and their dining set (which I sat around with family long ago in Pennsylvania and with my family here after it came to me). I feel connected to my family with these, and they are really deeply moving for me to "have". I thought would pass these on to the future. Also, I had the cradle that for a couple of hundred years everyone on my Dad's side of the family slept, including me, my children and grandchildren. My son had it last, and since he has gone away from us, I don't know where it is. Interestingly, my daughter dearly wants it for her grandchildren one day. But I know she wants it because she has memories that mean something to her. I doubt she recalls being in it, but she remembers her three being in it. We hope he still has it, and it will resurface.
Look at the things that seem important, and I imagine you will notice that it is the memories that hover around them that really matter. If we don't want our treasures to end up in a thrift shop, we need to somehow pass on the memories that make them shine to us and hope our descendants will pass on the stories - and maybe even the things themselves.
Sunday, December 27, 2015
Do You Remember T.A.?
Back in the day when my children were small, Transactional Analysis, T.A., was a big thing. Maybe it still is, but I've not heard of it lately. Actually I hope it is because it simply describes how we relate to one another in a way almost anyone can grasp. In fact, my daughter's 3rd grade teacher had the whole classroom set up on that theme. Part of it was two basic ways to interact - warm fuzzies or cold pricklies. Just reading the words, a person can get the gist of it. A person who gives warm fuzzies is different than a cold prickly kind of person. Of course, we are all somewhere on a continuum between the two, however, some seem stuck on one side or the other.
This morning I awoke with someone vividly on my mind. It is someone I love, yet who is stuck on the cold prickly side of life. He wants so desperately to be loved, and at the same time, he pushes people away with his cold prickly way of relating, combined with a rather large pinch of paranoia. I spent quite awhile praying for him. I saw he has an essential, profound need to be enfolded in love. But, he finds something wrong with everyone and pushes away with caustic rages and attacks.
Then I began to see that so many push their good away with similar tactics. Then I saw those who live far (in their minds) from God, have cold prickly reactions toward God. But, I'm pretty sure their cold prickly God relationship is based on some of the history of religion, which has often been led by those with no spiritual understanding at all and so distort the meanings. So many have become religious leaders for all the wrong reasons - feeds the ego, is a good living, etc. and not - I am called, I have felt the hand of God, I have seen the Light, It seems to me that the ego-led religious leader becomes a religious tyrant who has tons of rules to control others. This is opposite of the founders of their religious traditions who taught setting people free to love and live and be all they can be, knowing they are living in the Presence of God,
In my journey I have met many agnostics and atheists. They tell me they don't believe in God. They talk about the strange god that people have made in the image of the worst of humankind, This god is jealous, angry, violent at times, keeps score and eventually will put some subset of people into fire for the rest of eternity. You'd better not upset this god, or you'll be one of those people in the fire. And on an on, I'm sure everyone is acquainted with this incredibly sick idea of God.
I tell them that I don't believe in that god either, I believe in an Infinite Presence who is pure, unconditional Love, This God lives and has Being in all of us. This God has given us freewill. This God participates in our lives with Guidance and Insight, Forgiveness and Love, pure Light and is also the Creator, Creating and re-Creating every moment. This God is limitless, thoroughly good, always with us as Divine Energy, the Holy Presence. This God does not judge, but rather encourages us to grow and expand and make ever more holy choices. Since God gave us freewill, there has to be a contrast, so there is darkness/evil. Without the contrast, there is no actual freewill, for there would be nothing else to choose. So, we are free to choose the light or the darkside, and there are consequences, which are our feedback, our teachers. In some ways, its a giant bio-feedback mechanism set up for us to learn what happens when we choose well and what happens when we choose poorly.
So I ponder this morning, how can we heal the cold prickly situation that binds people in a lonely place seemingly far from God. I think I've mentioned before, that the word "hell" is an old English term meaning walled off. There are people walking this planet who walk in hell because they are walled off by crazy notions about God. Jesus told us the Kingdom is within. There are people walking this planet who walk in heaven.
Guide us out of any remnant of a cold prickly kind of life. Open our hearts to live a warm fuzzy kind of life. Open us to live aware of the Holy Presence every moment, THE Presence. We release old, superstitious, strange notions about God. We open to know the actual God, the God of Love and walk this earth in a heavenly way.
This morning I awoke with someone vividly on my mind. It is someone I love, yet who is stuck on the cold prickly side of life. He wants so desperately to be loved, and at the same time, he pushes people away with his cold prickly way of relating, combined with a rather large pinch of paranoia. I spent quite awhile praying for him. I saw he has an essential, profound need to be enfolded in love. But, he finds something wrong with everyone and pushes away with caustic rages and attacks.
Then I began to see that so many push their good away with similar tactics. Then I saw those who live far (in their minds) from God, have cold prickly reactions toward God. But, I'm pretty sure their cold prickly God relationship is based on some of the history of religion, which has often been led by those with no spiritual understanding at all and so distort the meanings. So many have become religious leaders for all the wrong reasons - feeds the ego, is a good living, etc. and not - I am called, I have felt the hand of God, I have seen the Light, It seems to me that the ego-led religious leader becomes a religious tyrant who has tons of rules to control others. This is opposite of the founders of their religious traditions who taught setting people free to love and live and be all they can be, knowing they are living in the Presence of God,
In my journey I have met many agnostics and atheists. They tell me they don't believe in God. They talk about the strange god that people have made in the image of the worst of humankind, This god is jealous, angry, violent at times, keeps score and eventually will put some subset of people into fire for the rest of eternity. You'd better not upset this god, or you'll be one of those people in the fire. And on an on, I'm sure everyone is acquainted with this incredibly sick idea of God.
I tell them that I don't believe in that god either, I believe in an Infinite Presence who is pure, unconditional Love, This God lives and has Being in all of us. This God has given us freewill. This God participates in our lives with Guidance and Insight, Forgiveness and Love, pure Light and is also the Creator, Creating and re-Creating every moment. This God is limitless, thoroughly good, always with us as Divine Energy, the Holy Presence. This God does not judge, but rather encourages us to grow and expand and make ever more holy choices. Since God gave us freewill, there has to be a contrast, so there is darkness/evil. Without the contrast, there is no actual freewill, for there would be nothing else to choose. So, we are free to choose the light or the darkside, and there are consequences, which are our feedback, our teachers. In some ways, its a giant bio-feedback mechanism set up for us to learn what happens when we choose well and what happens when we choose poorly.
So I ponder this morning, how can we heal the cold prickly situation that binds people in a lonely place seemingly far from God. I think I've mentioned before, that the word "hell" is an old English term meaning walled off. There are people walking this planet who walk in hell because they are walled off by crazy notions about God. Jesus told us the Kingdom is within. There are people walking this planet who walk in heaven.
Guide us out of any remnant of a cold prickly kind of life. Open our hearts to live a warm fuzzy kind of life. Open us to live aware of the Holy Presence every moment, THE Presence. We release old, superstitious, strange notions about God. We open to know the actual God, the God of Love and walk this earth in a heavenly way.
Thursday, December 24, 2015
Where Is God?
St. Bonaventure said many amazing things, including this: God is an intelligible space whose center is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere... God is within all things, but not enclosed, outside all things but not excluded, above all things but not aloof, below all things but not debased... God is supremely one and all-inclusive.
Acts 17:27-28 states: So that they should seek and search after God, and find him by means of his creations, because he is not far from any one of us; For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as some of your wise men have said, for we are his kindred.
I could give hundreds and hundreds of references saying similar things. God is here, now, with us, in us. We may turn and act as if we are alone, but we are not. We may have forgotten, but God is still present. God is The Present our soul longs for.
So much of "modern" life keeps us busy with nothingness, so that few of us seem to have time to sit quietly listening, watching, being. The path of the mystics, the deep path requires some investment in what does matter and turning from what does not matter.
I love the statement in Acts "find him by means of his creation." That is in alignment with Celtic Christianity that says there are two places to read God - in the scriptures and in nature/creation. I have often been comforted, guided and awakened while contemplating in nature. One such time was a couple of months after my husband had died suddenly of an aneurysm in the main artery of his brain (many years ago). I was in the mountains on a retreat, but I just couldn't participate, so I went outside to be away from people. I sat on a rock and just was there with an evergreen tree. I was pondering why he had died, what happened, etc. Suddenly I heard a message - Your life is like this tree. Some people just stop by and caress your branches (as the butterfly I watched). Some run around quickly and leave (as the squirrel I had just met). Some build a nest and stay awhile (as the birds I was watching). None stay with you the whole way except for yourself and Me.
Where is God? Here. With us. In us. We live in the Presence of God. Whatever we do or say or think is done in the Presence. The catch is we have to listen, watch, be still, be in the moment, believe. I also know that part of the deeper path requires kindness and compassionate participation in making the world a better place for everyone. I am sure that James is right that faith without works is nothing, In fact, I wrote an entire chapter about his book and point of view in my latest book and found a formula for living in it. He tells us how to live the Christ Light, be it, show up as a point where God can be known.
Here on Christmas Eve, the Present awaits. Open the Present from your Kin, the Divine Presence.
Lead me to the quiet place wherein I may find You. Clear my eyes so that I see the meaningless and release it from my life. Show me the meaningful things that You would have me do.
Guide me to receive The Present which is You and so live a Christ-filled life.
Acts 17:27-28 states: So that they should seek and search after God, and find him by means of his creations, because he is not far from any one of us; For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as some of your wise men have said, for we are his kindred.
I could give hundreds and hundreds of references saying similar things. God is here, now, with us, in us. We may turn and act as if we are alone, but we are not. We may have forgotten, but God is still present. God is The Present our soul longs for.
So much of "modern" life keeps us busy with nothingness, so that few of us seem to have time to sit quietly listening, watching, being. The path of the mystics, the deep path requires some investment in what does matter and turning from what does not matter.
I love the statement in Acts "find him by means of his creation." That is in alignment with Celtic Christianity that says there are two places to read God - in the scriptures and in nature/creation. I have often been comforted, guided and awakened while contemplating in nature. One such time was a couple of months after my husband had died suddenly of an aneurysm in the main artery of his brain (many years ago). I was in the mountains on a retreat, but I just couldn't participate, so I went outside to be away from people. I sat on a rock and just was there with an evergreen tree. I was pondering why he had died, what happened, etc. Suddenly I heard a message - Your life is like this tree. Some people just stop by and caress your branches (as the butterfly I watched). Some run around quickly and leave (as the squirrel I had just met). Some build a nest and stay awhile (as the birds I was watching). None stay with you the whole way except for yourself and Me.
Where is God? Here. With us. In us. We live in the Presence of God. Whatever we do or say or think is done in the Presence. The catch is we have to listen, watch, be still, be in the moment, believe. I also know that part of the deeper path requires kindness and compassionate participation in making the world a better place for everyone. I am sure that James is right that faith without works is nothing, In fact, I wrote an entire chapter about his book and point of view in my latest book and found a formula for living in it. He tells us how to live the Christ Light, be it, show up as a point where God can be known.
Here on Christmas Eve, the Present awaits. Open the Present from your Kin, the Divine Presence.
Lead me to the quiet place wherein I may find You. Clear my eyes so that I see the meaningless and release it from my life. Show me the meaningful things that You would have me do.
Guide me to receive The Present which is You and so live a Christ-filled life.
Wednesday, December 23, 2015
What On Earth Is Going On - Spiritually Speaking?
I was thinking of my book of the above title, which my dear, dear friend, Sveta, is translating into Russian for me. My dear physicist friend, Wm. Gough, wrote the forward (I hope you read it - one thing he said was science is catching up with my ideas! Wow!), and my spiritual discussion group went through it with me and challenged me to make the ideas ever clearer. And then it went up on Amazon for all with Kindle apps to be able to read. I hope and pray that it will touch and lift many people.
Someone remarked to me that my books there are not very much money, and I replied that I just want to share the ideas and make them accessible to as many people as possible. I suppose my book on forgiveness most especially is in that category as everyone has hurts that need to heal, and I have heard so many testimonials as to what a difference that book has made in so many lives in various countries. It made the ugly twists and turns of my early life worth it to be able to write authentically about forgiveness and be able to be of help to others.
So many things I want to share and discuss and lift to a higher level. Ideas swim into me from somewhere, I think often from a spiritual dimension. In fact, often when I re-read something I've written, I am surprised by it as if I had not written it but it is as if someone far wiser than I did. It is an odd feeling.
Anyway, I just want to share a bit of my intro in the book of the title of this day's blog:
Someone remarked to me that my books there are not very much money, and I replied that I just want to share the ideas and make them accessible to as many people as possible. I suppose my book on forgiveness most especially is in that category as everyone has hurts that need to heal, and I have heard so many testimonials as to what a difference that book has made in so many lives in various countries. It made the ugly twists and turns of my early life worth it to be able to write authentically about forgiveness and be able to be of help to others.
So many things I want to share and discuss and lift to a higher level. Ideas swim into me from somewhere, I think often from a spiritual dimension. In fact, often when I re-read something I've written, I am surprised by it as if I had not written it but it is as if someone far wiser than I did. It is an odd feeling.
Anyway, I just want to share a bit of my intro in the book of the title of this day's blog:
I didn’t want to write this.
It kept
nagging at me. I ponder life on earth, as have countless billions I suppose. As
far as we know, human life has been on this planet since the cave people days,
hundreds of thousand years ago. We have records of some of those who have gone
before and their thoughts on ---what on
earth is going on?
It is remarkable, I think, the consistency of
the woes, challenges, answers and journey of us humans. Why is this I began to
wonder???
The most obvious answer would be that this is
a school or a correctional planet or insane asylum or an incubator for souls,
some even say this IS hell, some say this is the lowest plane of the Divine Ray
emanating from Pure Consciousness. At best, we all seem not quite put together
yet. And, we seem to be experiencing the same kinds of positives and negatives
that people have always experienced here. So, as some have said, this is third grade for souls. We cannot
change it because the next batch of souls needs third grade. When you
really think about it, that is hard to disagree with. It doesn’t ever seem to
change. There must be a reason, a purpose buried in it somewhere.
With the craziness ever flooding us from the daily news, this opening thought came to mind today. And, I ask myself, and you, once again - What on earth?????? Anyway, I do dig into that in this book and offer some original thoughts on it all. What do you think is going on here on this little blue planet????
Sunday, December 20, 2015
This Moment
This morning I saw this moment at the top of a pinnacle. This moment is the culmination of all that has gone before. And, in this moment we have the thoughts, decisions and actions that determine the next moment atop its pinnacle, and on an on. The points of the pinnacles are this moment, here and now. The rest of the pinnacles are filled with what has gone before.
I also saw multiple pinnacles - the world's, the various nation's, the various religion's, the various family's, the individual's, etc.
We can learn from what has gone before, but we cannot change it really. We can of course change our perspective via forgiveness, compassion and love and thereby change the effect upon this moment. What has gone before can seem to be changed by historians who write what they think happened, --- which is never what happened because their version is the version of the winners or sometimes the bitter losers, plus it is filtered through the eyes and understanding of those recording what may or may not have happened.
But this moment, yes this moment, has not been written yet. This is the moment of possibility. My question to myself is -- am I able to come to this moment freshly, without bias, and fully listening to the Holy Presence?
Whatever I do in this moment can make a tiny or maybe even a major difference. It changes things because out of all the possible futures laid out before me, this choice, this moment sorts out some of those and makes others more likely.
Life is lived only in the present moment. We can live imaginary lives in the past or in various possible futures. But this moment is here, now and it is our place of empowerment. Here and now we can do something new, something loving, something holy.
Can I stay awake enough to live this sacred here and now in alignment with the Holy Presence? Can I grasp the courage and truthfulness to be in this moment, and the next, and the next... so that the impact I have on the direction of my life and the life of others is what God calls forth? Or do I sink into ego and separation, otherwise known as hell?
I suppose this is a spiritual practice that takes a lifetime. Be here now. Be fully here now. Be fully present to the Holy Presence and be One. Let go of what the world distorts, and open to the lens of the One. See with holy eyes. Speak with holy words. Act as a holy one. That is what is the truth of us. Love, forgive, be the Light, let go and let God be God in us.
This is what I saw this morning. Sitting on top of the pinnacle of all that has gone before, being empowered in this moment to alter the direction of the next moment, is a sacred challenge. I shall do my best. Lord help me. Lord help us all.
I also saw multiple pinnacles - the world's, the various nation's, the various religion's, the various family's, the individual's, etc.
We can learn from what has gone before, but we cannot change it really. We can of course change our perspective via forgiveness, compassion and love and thereby change the effect upon this moment. What has gone before can seem to be changed by historians who write what they think happened, --- which is never what happened because their version is the version of the winners or sometimes the bitter losers, plus it is filtered through the eyes and understanding of those recording what may or may not have happened.
But this moment, yes this moment, has not been written yet. This is the moment of possibility. My question to myself is -- am I able to come to this moment freshly, without bias, and fully listening to the Holy Presence?
Whatever I do in this moment can make a tiny or maybe even a major difference. It changes things because out of all the possible futures laid out before me, this choice, this moment sorts out some of those and makes others more likely.
Life is lived only in the present moment. We can live imaginary lives in the past or in various possible futures. But this moment is here, now and it is our place of empowerment. Here and now we can do something new, something loving, something holy.
Can I stay awake enough to live this sacred here and now in alignment with the Holy Presence? Can I grasp the courage and truthfulness to be in this moment, and the next, and the next... so that the impact I have on the direction of my life and the life of others is what God calls forth? Or do I sink into ego and separation, otherwise known as hell?
I suppose this is a spiritual practice that takes a lifetime. Be here now. Be fully here now. Be fully present to the Holy Presence and be One. Let go of what the world distorts, and open to the lens of the One. See with holy eyes. Speak with holy words. Act as a holy one. That is what is the truth of us. Love, forgive, be the Light, let go and let God be God in us.
This is what I saw this morning. Sitting on top of the pinnacle of all that has gone before, being empowered in this moment to alter the direction of the next moment, is a sacred challenge. I shall do my best. Lord help me. Lord help us all.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)