This month, I have challenged each of us to awaken to the beauty in life and its experiences. Perhaps that is why I was drawn to this quote by Emily Dickinson who wrote: “Beauty is not caused. It is.” As we focus on our connection to the Divine and the presence of the Divine in us, we are better able to appreciate beauty in everything we see, touch, and experience. As John Keats's observed in Ode on a Grecian Urn: 'Beauty is truth, truth beauty.' As we live in the truth of who we are as spiritual beings brought here by the Ultimate, we can begin to recognize not only the beauty within ourselves but all of life. Each time we see beauty, we see a symbol of the Divine. Every time we encounter truth, we encounter a symbol of the Creative Spirit. Every day of our lives, we are invited to experience the beauty in each day.
Read moreSimplify and Declutter
When I was in seminary, I was introduced to the writing of Dorothee Soelle. The first of her books I was exposed to was Thinking About God. Since then I have had the chance to watch her writing evolve and as it has, it has helped me to evolve in my own life and journey. Her more recent book, The Silent Cry has influenced my own approach to the spiritual practice of leading a more simplistic and clutter free life.
So often, when people reflect on asceticism, they tend to think about this sense of denial and strict discipline of all indulgences. As Soelle reflected on this, it was not asceticism to the point of denial of all things, but the development of boundaries in our life, which prevent our soul from being devoured by clutter in our life. It is about finding balance in our lives as we work on simplifying and decluttering our lives. The impoverishment of our lives of all that feeds us is not healthy. At the same time, an overabundance can also impoverish the soul. It is hard for us to develop any kind of meaningful relationship with anything in our lives when we lack boundaries and balance.
Read moreNINE WAYS OF OBSERVING
I was first exposed to the writings of a woman who goes by the name of Starhawk when I began reading about ecofeminism. Her writings have always intrigued me because they challenged me to pay attention to the physical landscape that surrounds me in new ways. In one of her books, which I read almost 10 years ago, she outlined nine ways of observing the spiritual in the physical. My meditations this week, have led me back to this book and the lessons it taught me about paying attention. So I thought I would share a few excerpts from her book this week.
Read moreLook at the View
Anna Quindlen in her book, A Short Guide to a Happy Life, wrote, “He stared out at the ocean and said, "Look at the view, young lady. Look at the view."
And every day, in some little way, I try to do what he said. I try to look at the view. That's all. Words of wisdom from a man with not a dime in his pocket, no place to go, nowhere to be. Look at the view. When I do what he said, I am never disappointed.”
How often do we take the time in our lives to look at the view? How often do we take the time to really see what is right in front of us. I know I am so often guilty in my own life of not seeing the view. Sometimes I focus on all the things that I have yet to accomplish today that I forget to take the time to look at the view. I have been trying this month to take my own challenge to notice something new every day.
Read moreThe Word is Ours
This quote from Lao Tsu brought me back to my childhood and all of a sudden, I can hear myself as a child singing, “She’s got the whole world in her hands. She’s got the whole wide world in her hands. She’s got the whole wild world in her hands. She’s got the whole world in her hands.” Whenever my Bubby and I would sing this, she would remind me the Ultimate did not have a sex or a gender. The Divine could be male, female, and everything in between. Because of this, she would say, we could sing it she or he.
Perhaps more importantly, she would always use this song to remind me that when I kept the Ultimate close to me, then I would never lack for anything. She would remind me that the Divine would provide me with everything and anything I needed in my life and that I would never lack anything essential to my purpose in life.
Read moreIt’s pay attention time!
When I was pastoring, one of the least listened to parts of the service was the announcements. One of the young girls in the congregation came to talk to me about how disrespectful the adults were being. I asked her if she had any ideas on how to get the adults to pay attention and she said yes. The next Sunday, this powerful 7 year old got up in front of the congregation and loudly proclaimed, “It’s pay attention time!” The adults immediately paid attention and then she explained that announcements were not a time to talk to their neighbors, but a time to pay attention to the announcements. It has been years since she taught this lesson and took over that part of worship, but I still remember her telling everyone, “it’s pay attention time!”
Read moreOut of the Shadows
About this time last year, I was reminded of a story I had heard once 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 often see in department stores. We are just revolving through life and not evolving.
Part of this revolving is our inability to put closure to things in our life. Whether it is putting closure to an old job or an old relationship, if we do not put closure to the feelings and situation, then it follows us with us into the next situation or relationship. Sometimes we need to put closure to some of the beliefs we grew up with in our lives. As we grow and evolve, what we believe also changes. These beliefs only have power over us as long as we agree they are true and give them power in our lives. When we realize they no longer need to reside in our minds, we can say to them, “you are no longer true” and put closure to that part of our belief system.
Read moreShare the Peace
As we move closer to the holiday season, people’s lives tend to become increasingly hectic. We love the holidays because they are a time filled with presents, food, and time with friends and family and for some people even time off from work. However, sometimes this time with family is not always filled with peace. I was reminded of this recently as an associate shared with me how the holidays are her house quickly turn into a time for arguments and sometimes have been so stressful that she has left and come home. We cannot enjoy the peace of the holiday season when we are arguing with each other and pressing each other’s buttons.
Read moreP.E.A.C.E.
Recently, I was rereading a reflection by Iyanla Vanzant and she listed Peace as an acronym for Please Excuse All Crazy Experiences. We all have “crazy” experiences in our lives. By “crazy” I mean anything which causes us to be extremely enthusiastic or extremely angry, irritated, frustrated, agitated etc. Crazy can include all those experiences that take us to the extreme from being crazy about shoes (i.e. I know someone that has over 300 pairs of shoes and keeps buying them) to that place of extreme agitation and anger where one is in need of therapeutic care to help restore balance. Sometimes we have those experiences in our life, which can easily pull us off balance and make us feel “crazy”, such as pain, anger, loneliness, being tired, hunger, and sickness. I know when I am extremely tired, due to the lack of sleep I am experiencing, I have to work intentionally at staying focused and centered and am constantly asking the Ultimate to give me energy to balance out my tired.
Read moreWhat is your status?
As many people know today is World AID’s Day. So the question I want to ask each of you today is “What is your status?” Are you positive or are you negative? I don’t want to discount the experiences of those who are living with this virus. I know that living with this virus affects every aspect of your life, just as much as being whatever racial or ethnic identity you are, or sexual orientation you are, or what class you are, or what sex you are, or what gender you are. I know it affects your life in ways that those of us who have a medical diagnosis of HIV- may not understand.
But what I want to know is this, what is your status when it comes to HIV/AIDS?
Read moreOpening up!
As most of you know, I had a near death experience on November 1, 2014 and have spent quite a bit of time the last 10 days processing everything that has happened in my life. I have learned a number of lessons along the way. One of them is about how opening up is an act of service. One of the most significant aspects of my healing has been my active choice to be transparent about what is happening in my life and jumping into the blessings, which this significant change has brought me. The only way for me to grow in my own personal journey was to work and climb to the next level.
This morning was a real test of my willingness to do that.
Read moreYou are worth the investment!
The other day I came across this quote from Kevin Ngo and it fit perfectly with the theme for this month. Occasionally we all need a word of encouragement or a reminder that we are worth the investment. That includes me. If, as don Miguel Ruiz suggests we do the best we can in all things, then that is our best. We each have the potential to do our best and to know that we can manifest the life we are trying to create. It is important that we always remember to stay focused on the vision we have for the life we are seeking to manifest. If we work on this vision a little bit every day, then we will achieve it. When we stop taking those daily actions in our lives, we inadvertently or unconsciously create the life we do not want. So stay encouraged and create a circle of support, as encouragement is important for all.
Read moreBreath light into your dark side
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.
Read moreUse it!
In this month’s newsletter, I gave us a few things about self-worth to consider. I asked us to think about whether we knew God loved us just as we are. I suggested we think about whether we see life challenges as confining or empowering. I encouraged us to remember to periodically empty out the emotional, mental, and spiritual clutter and keep ourselves from becoming a “dumpster.” Finally, I challenged us to remember that we are of value to ourselves, others, and our community.
Sometimes it may feel like your life is not where you would like it to be. Most of us, myself included, have those moments. It is then I remember the words of Ram Dass who said, “Everything in your life is there as a vehicle for your transformation. Use it!” Life is a veritable toolbox to help you achieve whatever you desire to achieve in your life. Use it!
Read moreSit, Meditate, and Trust
A few days ago, I read this quote by Sylvia Bookstein, which read, “Don’t just do something. Sit there.” I had spent some time thinking about what this means to me personally, but this morning as I was thinking more about trust, I began to think about how it is one’s meditation practice, which awakens our ability to trust in the knowledge that all the wisdom and compassion we need in life is already within us. When I take the time to sit there and spend time with me, then I become more aware of all of who I am, the good, the bad, and the ugly. I get to sit with my passions, my aggression, my wisdom, and my ignorance. I remember Pema Chodron talking once about a form of meditation, which meant tranquility insight. It was through this approach to meditation, which one was able to get to know each other. We gain peace and trust with and within ourselves when we get to know all of ourselves.
Read moreTrust Me
When I was intentionally beginning my personal healing work, the writer my therapist was using and encouraging all clients to read was the work of John Bradshaw, author of Home Coming: Reclaiming and Championing Your Inner Child. This book discusses how the process of healing your wounded inner child is one of grief, and it involves these six steps. The first of these six steps is trust.
The person we most need to trust in our lives is ourselves. In order for us to begin our own healing process (emotionally, mentally, physically, or spiritually); we must begin by trusting ourselves. For many people, our wounded inner child is in hiding. That wounded part does not trust others and to some extent does not even trust the older version of who we are. To keep themselves safe, they learned to hide until they could find someone who would be a supportive and non-shaming ally.
Read moreThe One You Feed
There is an old Cherokee tale that I share quite frequently, normally when I am talking with someone about choices and energy. However, the other day I came to realize it was about learning to trust the voice of the Divine within. The story goes like this for those who have not heard it yet.
One evening, an elderly
Cherokee brave told his
grandson about a battle that
goes on inside people.
Trust the process
Long before I was ever exposed to the book of Galatians in the New Testament, I had heard the saying “you reap what you sow.” I have come to understand that there is a truth behind this saying. Recently, someone shared with me that it was important for people to tell their torch song, that woe is me song, that somebody done me wrong song. I told them that the only thing that needed to happen with the torch song is that it needed to be torched. See when we sow our torch song and focus on all that we think is wrong with our lives, what we reap are more things that are wrong with our life.
Conversely, when we focus on the positives and the blessings in our lives, then we reap more of those in life. One of the things I have learned is that we really do reap what we sow. If I am going to sing any song, it is going to be my praise song, my what I have overcome, what I have to be grateful for, how blessed I am song. What I have come to realize in my life is that it is this positive energy, attitude, and momentum, which carries me through.
Read moreTrust and Faith
After having spent a month reading about, reflecting on, and thinking about faith, I realized how natural it was to transition to trust. Trust is the belief in that in which we have faith. It is the ability to believe in what we know in the core of our beings to be true. We have faith in that which we trust. Simultaneously, we trust that which we have faith in, that which we know to be true at the core of our being.
Some people struggle to trust things that raise their consciousness and/or vibrational level. We sometimes wonder what we are sensing is really happening, or are we simply making this up because it feels good. So how do we trust that which can help us to grow and evolve in our connection to the Ultimate.
Read moreLet’s Dance!
Faith, for some, is about the relationship they have with their Higher Power. Faith is about one’s level of awareness and attunement to the presence of the Higher Power in our everyday lives. So deepening one’s faith is like developing any relationship. That deep knowledge of what the Divine can do in and through our lives develops over time. It is about our constant interaction with our spiritual partner. Through our interactions we
Practicing faith, then, is like developing any relationship. You have to give it time and attention. We have opportunities to interact with the Divine in every aspect of our lives and with all of our senses.
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