The J Words

January 14, 2025 Sharon Jacobson

The J Words

Give thanks for everything,
my Bubby would say.
I used to disagree with her,
especially when I felt jealous.
Jealousy, has always been like one of those guests
I never invited,
but always seemed to show up.
Jealousy, when I gave thanks for it,
became the pathway to joy.
It became a gift from the Ultimate.
Jealousy, went from being something I tried to hide,
even when it refused to be hid,
to something which
helped me celebrate in myself
what I saw in others.
Jealousy became a gift
when I began honoring
my talents and abilities.
when I gave thanks for the opportunities
in my life.
Jealousy has been a guide
on my spiritual journey
helping me to grow, evolve,
celebrate my blessings,
and leading me to feelings of
joy.
Joy which freed me from being jealous of others
to a place of feeling nothing
but joy
for your blessings and mine.

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Celebration Speech

August 16, 2023 Sharon Jacobson

Celebration Speech

Growing up
I have always felt like a round peg in a square hole.
I was told I was different
for so many reasons.
What made me different
was pointed out as something
which made me of less value,
not as good as,
not as worthy as others.
Then I came to understand
that my differences are
what make me original.
There is not,
never has been,
never will be
anyone exactlty like me
I am perfect just as I am.
I am who I am and who
the great I am created me to be.
It was once suggested I write an
acceptance speech talking about
how I have accepted myself.
I said no.
Not because I have not grown
in my ability to love myself unconditionally,
but to say I accept means there is something
to accept.
Instead I would write a celebration speech
where I celebrate all of who I am.
A speech where I celebrate all who I was created to be.
A speech where I celebrate all who created me
and all I have been,
all I am,
and all I am becoming.
I would write a speech
that did more then accept.
I would celebrate.
So when you are told
you won the God’s choice award
write your celebration speech
celebrating you and the won who chose you

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Cybergrace

December 5, 2022 Sharon Jacobson

Cybergrace

It’s funny how naming something
changes everything.
We name people, pets, and cars
but how about machines.
What if we named our phones,
our computers,
all the machines which serve us every day.
What if we gave thanks for the technology
and all that is present for us in this digital world.
What if our technology knew we care about it
and recognized it as a gift from the Ultimate?
I remember hearing how abusers
dehumanize the ones they abuse
by identifying them by role, not name.
By not naming that which supports us
are we devaluing it?
If we say hello to Candice, the Computer,
or Monica, the mouse,
or any other cyber sources in your life,
do we give them a value and energy
that makes them feel loved
and lets us experience them differently.
Does doing so allow us to show and experience
a new form of grace?

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Everyday Transformations

February 15, 2022 Sharon Jacobson

Everyday Transformations

Transformations
are sometimes significant
and life changing.
Other times,
they occur in
everyday moments of life.
I see these moments in my
students posts in our online classes
as they have these aha moments
they share with everyone.
I see them in my own life
when I remember to not
take things personally and
use life as a chance to grow and evolve.
I thought about it as I ate
my udon noodles the other day
and was reminded of how
every strand’s movement
affected another strand,
transforming the entire plate.
I thought about it as I watched
my wife fill the gas tank
and how each day our lives are
filled with what we need
to keep us going and growing
in our lives.
There is nothing major
in any of these little
everyday transformations
but together
they each make a difference
in the bigger transformations
in life.

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I <C < T

March 17, 2021 Sharon Jacobson

I <C < T

I <C < T
I know this sounds like a mathematical formula,
but its not. It’s about
Improvement,
Change and
Transformation.
Improvement is good,
but all too often it is only temporary.
We say we are going to improve,
but then we hit a bump in the road,
and we stop.
How often do we put on the improved label
and then forget we are even wearing it.
Improvement is good,
but change is better.
Change tends to be not just about behavior,
but about our will.
As long as we will it into being it is,
and when we don’t, its not.
Transformation is about our metamorphosis.
It’s about us undergoing an internal change
that comes when we allow Spirit
to crack us open as if we were a seed,
allowing what was within us
all this time
to burst forward,
and to begin to grow
and evolve
in a way we could not before.
This is why
I < C < T

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Divine High

June 10, 2019 Sharon Jacobson

I have friends who drink
to get high
do drugs
to get high
gamble
to get high
shop
to get high and
engage in all kinds of behaviors
to get high.

I have had my own moments of
getting high.
They come in moments of
transformation
moments of Divine grace,
moments of revelation
where I become intoxicated
in a way that involves nothing but
the presence of the Divine.
This is when I experience
a high that can only come
from being in the presence
of the Divine.
This is my Divine High

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T > I AND C

June 26, 2017 Sharon Jacobson

Looking at the title of my blog for today, some of you might be thinking it looks like a mathematical formula. Let me see if I can walk us through this mathematical expression. Metamorphosis is the transformation that occurs in some animals as they move from one state of being to another, like from a caterpillar to a butterfly. Over the course of our lives, we have been in the process of our own transformation, physically and spiritually.

There is a scripture in the New Testament Book of Romans which tells us quite simply do not conform to this world, but be transformed in it by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God – what is good and acceptable and perfect. Paul’s words challenge us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.

Evolving or Revolving

June 12, 2017 Sharon Jacobson

What a difference an R can make. It made me think about the story I was once told about how the difference between evolving and revolving is an R. When we keep doing or believing the same thing repeatedly, then we are not evolving. It is as if we are trapped in one of those revolving doors, which we have often seen in a department store. We are just revolving through life and not evolving.

It is reassuring to remember we do not have to believe in or agree to the same things for our entire lives. As we grow and evolve, what we believe should also change. What we believe is in our minds. Those beliefs only have power over us as long as we agree that they are true and give them power in our lives. When we realize they no longer need to reside in our mind, then we can say to them, “you are no longer true” and release them from our Book of Law.

The Stripping Process

June 6, 2017 Sharon Jacobson

My wife and I have several restoration projects that have been on our things to do list for a long time, some of them years. It is not that we do not have the dream of restoring them, we just have not begun the work of doing so. As I have been thinking about the process of transformation, it dawned on me it was like getting to those projects we have not tackled yet.

The hardest part is getting started and saying today we ARE going to begin work on this project. Our friends have told us the first thing we need to do is strip all the layers of paint and coatings off of the piece we want to refinish. We need to strip it down to the bare wood. We are going to have to strip away all the years of dirt, layers of pain, varnish and anything else that might be on it. Doing so is a lot of work, so we need to really think about how seriously we want to do this. Once we start, then we have to be intentional about getting rid of all the layers and getting to the solid wood that is underneath all these layers.

Testify to Love

July 20, 2016 Sharon Jacobson

I had been sitting here all week thinking about what to write about love and then my friend Eileen Hooper McConville posted something on Facebook that took me back to a song about love that has lived in my heart for about 14 years. I remember the first day I heard this song. I was sitting at home curled up in front of my television, well actually a friends, watching an episode of Touched by an Angel. It was an episode where a young boy Petey was working through his bucket list so that he could die in peace. The last thing on his list was a wish that his mother finish a song she had started when he was born. In the episode, she called it Psalm 151. Avalon, who recorded it, called it Testify to Love.

Here are the lyrics and the video to the song

Breath light into your dark side

October 14, 2014 Sharon Jacobson

Recently, a friend shared a song called Secrets with me. It is sung by Mary Lambert. She begins the song by acknowledging some of her secrets, some of what some might call her dark side. The parts of ourselves that we do not always want to like or own. As Lambert says,

“They tell us from the time we're young
To hide the things that we don't like about ourselves
Inside ourselves”

We are all aware of our dark side. We know when we have had dark thoughts, dark actions, or dark behaviors. I can remember in my own life thoughts, actions, and behaviors that I am not proud of. Like Lambert sings, I was taught to hide those secrets inside myself.” Hiding our secrets, our shadows, our dark aspects only strengthens the power of the darkness in our life.

Time, Discovery, and Patience

December 9, 2013 Sharon Jacobson

Have you ever had the privilege of watching something transform before your eyes. Perhaps you did not see this transformation immediately, but slowly and over time. This morning, I was reading a selection from Mark Neepo’s book The Book of Awakening. In his reflection for today, he wrote:

I recently learned that the first form of pencil was a ball of lead. Having discovered that lead, if scratched, would leave markings, people then wrestled with large chunks of the stuff in an attempt to write. Through the work of many, the chunks were eventually shaped into a useable form that could fit the hand. The discovery became a tool.
I am humbled to confess after a lifetime of relationship that love is no different. Be it a lover or a friend or a family member, the discovery of closeness appears in our life like a ball of lead – something that is wrestled with, will leave markings by which we can understand each other.
But this is only the beginning. The work of love is to shape the stuff of relationships into a tool that fits our hands. With each hardship faced, with each illusion confirmed, with each trespass looked at and owned, another piece of the chunk is whittled and love begins to become a sacred tool.
When truth is held in compassionate hands, the sharpness of love becomes clear and not hurtful.

Love Letters

August 1, 2013 Sharon Jacobson

I have a dear friend, who I may never meet, who lives in Australia. I love Jane because it seems as if whenever I am thinking about her I get an email from her. The other day was no different. I was thinking about what I wanted to share about empowerment and how you can empower yourself, when up pops an email from Jane. She was at fair where her daughter-in-law had a booth when she came upon a booth “run by Ben Lee. He is a very famous Australian musician but resides in the US.” Ben’s booth was about Handmade Postcard Making: The purpose of this booth was to help “combat spiritual amnesia. Send yourself an important truth that you forget too often. A friendly reminder from your Self to your self.” He invited people “to take stock, think about your truth and what needs some work? Whatever it is, own it. Write it down. Make a postcard and send it to yourself as a reminder of what you have decided to let go of.” She thought this sounded like me and something we could do here at Inspiritual.

Becoming a butterfly!

November 26, 2012 Sharon Jacobson

For the last several months, in our newsletter, I have been writing about the metamorphosis type transitions we undergo when we are faced with a major life transition. Metamorphosis is not easy, not simple, and the process is filled with challenges. Metamorphosis is the process a caterpillar undergoes, as it becomes a butterfly. Metamorphosis is not about being a caterpillar or a butterfly, but the journey from caterpillar to butterfly. Metamorphosis brings about a dramatic change in character or appearance of those who go through it. Metamorphosis is about evolution. It is about rebirth. It is about transformation. It is about conversion. It is about making corrections at any point in time in your life. It is about remolding, realigning, and readjusting to what the Divine is calling you to become next in your life. It is about the willingness to take quantum leaps in your life and make total changes, often times radical and sudden. Are you ready?

Transformation Lessons

September 10, 2012 Sharon Jacobson

The other morning our love and inspiration group had a powerful conversation about how prayers are answered. In the midst of sharing stories, I was reminded of how the universe directs energy where our attention and intention goes. The universe has a way of helping us tap into the power and gifts we already have in an interesting way. Let me explain. About ten years ago, shortly after I had started seminary, I was praying God would help me become a more forgiving person. I had always thought I was forgiving, but about that time I had come to realize there were a few people, one in particular, I was not quite able to forgive. I had said I wanted to forgive them, but never seemed to get to the space I could forgive this individual. A few days later, a fellow student at the seminary asked if he could borrow my car. To make a long story short, he wound up “renting” my car for drug money.

Be a Leap Frog

May 22, 2012 Sharon Jacobson

When I taught Sunday School to youth, which now seeks multiple reiterations of my life ago, I talked with the children about being a FROG. This was an acronym for being Fully Reliant On God. So often, even as adults, we need to be reminded of the need to be receptive each moment to our connection to the Divine. Amazing things happen in our lives when we stay Fully Reliant on the Divine/God/Higher Power. As a child, we used to play Leap Frog. Sometimes we would leap forward in baby leaps.

Activate your DNA

April 16, 2012 Sharon Jacobson

Are you ready to activate your DNA? When I ask about activating your DNA, I am not asking about your genetic DNA, but your spiritual DNA. We are far more then our genetic coding. Our genetic coding also contains spiritual coding from the Divine buried within us, like a treasure in a clay jar. It has always been there waiting for us to choose to connect with it, cultivate it, activate it, and express it in our lives. While our genetic DNA makes us candidates for all kinds of traits in our lives, our spiritual DNA makes a perfect candidate for enlightenment and transformation. Those qualities and traits will lay dormant in us until we choose to activate them. We are the ones who have to choose to engage in a spiritual journey. Until we do, our spiritual DNA lies dormant.

It’s a new day!

July 20, 2011 Sharon Jacobson

It is funny how the universe confirms things for you. I woke up the other morning with this song by Avalon in my heart, called “New Day.” Over the next two days, the conversations between friends and I, and friends and others were all about how today is a new day. The reality is that today is a new day and each moment is a new moment. Each second is a new second. As Alice Walker once wrote, “we are never the same river twice.” Each moment in our lives is a new moment and each day is a new day. The chorus to Avalon’s song says, It's a new day Oh, it's a new time And there's a new way I'm gonna live my life All the old has, passed away And the new has come Thank God, It's a brand new day

Being a Sacred Observer

April 26, 2011 Sharon Jacobson

Yesterday, I was challenged to do something I had not done in a while and that was to be mindful of what I said and what I thought. Denise Linn calls this being a sacred observer. Miguel don Ruiz uses a similar exercise in which he has you write down all those thoughts that float through your head. So often, we are not aware of the language of our thoughts. Even when we do not speak language that is disempowering, we may think it. It is a humbling experience when you observe your speech and thought patterns. One of the things I wrote about in my process journal about being a sacred observer yesterday was how even others conversations can bring up disempowering and negative thoughts in our minds, especially when they trigger unhealed wounds.

Love thyself!

March 29, 2011 Sharon Jacobson

It really doesn’t matter what faith tradition you explore. When I look across ancient wisdom writings and contemporary writings on spirituality, I find myself coming across some very basic and simple teachings about loving one’s self. Over the last few years, I have been making notes about things I have learned to do and am working on doing in my life to bring myself to that place of unconditional self-love. The other day, I started organizing some of my notes, part of my spring cleaning ritual, and realized I had a whole list of lessons I had learned about how to be more loving of myself. I could probably write a whole book on this, so I thought I would share a few of the highlights J

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