Thursday, June 30, 2005

Get Enough Sleep

Are you kind to others, but hard on yourself?

When we consider compassion, we usually think about compassion toward others. But compassion toward others is only half of our lesson of love. We need to practice kindness toward ourselves also.

Many people force themselves to stay up when their bodies and eyes are craving sleep.

Create the intention today to begin to be kind to yourself and get an extra hour of sleep a night. Over time it will make a huge difference in how you feel and the service you can render.

Join me in the following prayer:

Dear God,

You grant me deep and restful sleep.

Whatever my thoughts or needs or goals
You take them all away when it is time for rest.

All tension leaves me.
All worries evaporate.

I let go completely
And I feel safe and secure.

My back is peaceful, relaxed and comfortable.
My heart slows down
My breathing is slow and steady.

My mind goes on a sweet vacation
As I visit You in the realms of angels.

My sleep rejuvenates my body
My sleep clears the cobwebs from my mind
My sleep calms my emotions
And my sleep allows me to pursue my authentic path.

I remember my dreams, if it is Your will
And use them as guidance in creating a better life.

I affirm that dreams are a tool to help me,
Not a nuisance that keeps me awake.

Thank You for a good night's sleep, Lord.

Sleep is a precious gift that restores me.

I get restful sleep.

And so it is.

Amen.

From Prayerforce: 365 Days To A New Life

Wednesday, June 29, 2005

Compassionate Capitalism

Tonight I found myself mesmerized by PBS's documentary program The New Heroes.

This program tells the dramatic stories of 14 caring and innovative people who are "...alleviating poverty and illness, combating unemployment and violence, and bringing education, light, opportunity and freedom to poor and marginalized people around the world."

All the stories are inspiring. They may just drop you to your knees - first out of gratitude for all you have and then, secondly, to ask God to illuminate your intellect and heart so you can do as these people are doing.

Certainly after watching the program I feel like exciting things are possible and that I can do much more to make a positive difference and help people live their best lives.

Life is not a rehearsal. We are here to learn love and it is a required course.

Capitalism can be compassionate instead of the rapacious, self-centered and greedy practice it has become.

David Green, one of the people now practicing "social entrepreneurship," is convinced that western capitalism has failed to grasp opportunities in the developing world because of a focus on extracting the highest possible profit from every item sold.

He says chronic problems of poverty and suffering could be solved through "compassionate capitalism" which extracts a small amount of profit from each item sold, but generates a very high sales volume. In the process, it is possible to make available critical goods and services — like eye care — to billions of people.

When we die we take only the love we gave and received with us. God will not ask us about the size of our homes or our stock portfolios. God will ask each one of us how we gave and received love.

If we all start looking for new ways now, we can come up with some wonderful answers.

Tuesday, June 28, 2005

A Compassionate World

Dear God,

I live in a world that allows mystical experience
And depends upon intuition as much as logic.

I learn from a world that honors the teachings of Jesus Christ
And focuses on healing rather than destroying.

I rejoice in a world that values women as much as men
And the feminine as much as the masculine.

I thrive in a world
- that rejoices in my triumphs
- and helps me get through grief.

I contribute to a world
- that looks out for the well-being of all people
- and makes a decision to live in cooperation and harmony.

Dear Lord, by Your Grace
You help me now to create this world I want to see.

I live in a compassionate world.

Thank You, Father.

Amen.

from Prayerforce: 365 Days To A New Life

Monday, June 27, 2005

Hate Turns Us Into The Enemy

Beloved,

Our Source/Creator thrust me into a situation today in order to show me - clearly - how hating turns a good person into an enemy of Christ's message.

A very good person - with the best intentions - angrily talked about her hate for certain politicians. She called them evil.

I'm sure a skilled film maker could have filmed her and turned the footage into a silly comedy.

For in-between saying "I hate..." and "I hate... he is so evil," she talked about her early religious training and her connections with the church as if her knowledge of religion gave her a basis on which to justify her hate.

I wish I could have laughed at the absurdity of her position, but I was far too surprised to do so.

I merely told her we would have to "agree to disagree" for I saw quickly that talking about God's love was pointless. She was not content to label behavior as evil, she wanted to label the people as well.

Deaf to the truth she wanted to convince me of the righteousness of her hate, unaware that in hating she is no better than those she condemns as being evil.

For when we hate, we are filled with evil.

Beloved, no one on this earth is perfect. Everyone has different ideas. Hating people - no matter what they have done - is never righteous. Although it is understandable to hate those who frighten or hurt us, we are not following Jesus Christ if we hate and then, instead of repenting, make excuses for continuing to hate.

This dear woman who is so afraid and outraged said she loves Jesus Christ. Yet she will not even attempt to surrender her hate on His behalf. She will not take one step toward forgiveness or compassion. She refuses to believe that by hating she contributes more hate in the world.

Jesus Christ sacrificed everything for us. Why would she not sacrifice her hate and fear for Him?

The answer is, of course, that it is far easier to hang on to fear and hate than it is to decide to give it up.

Hate and anger are addictive. They activate our fight or flight response. Truly, giving up hate and anger is as difficult for the fearful as giving up alcohol is for the alcoholic. She is addicted and she likes those feelings.

Yet, we are here to learn unconditional love. And it is a required course. Therefore, accepting Christ does not mean parroting His words while we hate those we fear. Accepting Christ means we vow we will look at how Christ lived His life and we will emulate it no matter what it takes.

When we find we have stumbled - and we will stumble because everyone does - then we start over again, vowing to love ourselves so well that we are empty of hate.

Vow to learn to love yourself and others that well, Beloved.

Christ is asking you to love unconditionally.

Will you deny Him?

Say "Yes" to Christ today.

Sunday, June 26, 2005

Christian Science Monitor Alert

The Christian Science Monitor has published a special report entitled Empire Builders which discusses the men who have created our government's policies in this new millennium and who are determining the fate of our lives and our nation.

Among these is Richard Perle, chief architect of the "creative destruction" agenda to reshape the Middle East, starting with the invasion of Iraq.

Another is Paul Wolfowitz who co-wrote with Lewis "Scooter" Libby the 1992 draft Defense Planning Guidance, which called for US military dominance over Eurasia and preemptive strikes against countries suspected of developing weapons of mass destruction. After being leaked to the media, the draft proved so shocking that it had to be substantially rewritten.

During an interview of Sy Hersh in October of 2004, the Pulitzer winning journalist - who exposed the Mai Lai massacres - characterized Mr. Wolfowitz as a Trotskyite in that Mr. Wolfowitz, like Leon Trotsky who was a Russian revolutionary and a father of communism, believes in the need for continuous, violent change.

Many of the principles of that draft became key points in the 2002 National Security Strategy of the United States and are being acted upon now.

Another is Elliot Abrams who, in 1991 pleaded guilty to withholding information from Congress about the Iran-Contra affair.

Another is Robert Kagan who in 1997 signed the famous 1998 PNAC letter sent to President Clinton urging that we invade Iraq and force a regime change.

Another is Michael Ledeen who is said to frequently advise George W. Bush's top adviser Karl Rove on foreign policy matters. Mr. Ledeen is one of the strongest voices today calling for regime change in Iran similar to what we did in Iraq.

Another is William Kristol who from the 1991 Gulf War on called for Saddam Hussein to be overthrown by the U.S.

Another is Frank Gaffney, Jr. who is the founder, president, and CEO of the influential Washington think tank Center for Security Policy, whose mission is "to promote world peace" through American dominance which includes pre-emptive - a pseudonym for unprovoked - attacks on other nations.

Beloved, God is love. And God is very clear on how we are to treat others - even people we know want to hurt us, much less those we only suspect want to hurt us.

If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head. - Romans 12:20; Proverbs 25:21-22

Dear one, invading countries and attacking others that have not attacked us will never make us - or you - safe. What our government has done runs counter to the God in you that gives you life.

The politicians who push for wars - no matter how they may "use the Lord's name in vain" by evoking it to justify what they are doing - are truly God-less.

Aligning with God and His immense, forgiveness and compassion is God's wish for you. Only aligning with that love for you - and for all people - will make you and me and our nation safe.

Align with God's love and you can always be in the right place at the right time. Align with God's love and you can reach a place where you need fear no one.

It takes courage and faith to achieve that kind of fearlessness, but that is true safety.

For your own sake, the sake of our children, our country and the world, please start affirming that you are aligned with God's unconditional love today.

God bless you.

Friday, June 24, 2005

We Are Connected

Why are we in the war in Iraq?

Why did we not immediately realize 9/11 signaled a spiritual crisis and a need to turn to God's loving kindness instead of weapons?

As much as we hear about God and Christianity today, it seems that the God many are embracing is an angry God; a vengeful God with a list of rules and a chip on His shoulder.

This is unfortunate for these good people are missing the point.

God is love. God is loving-kindness. God is not about revenge, exclusion, weaponry or war. God is not about justifying an "us vs. them" ideology.

In Voice of the Earth, Theodore Roszak discusses the loss of spirituality in modern culture. He maintains that "Our sense of being split off from an 'outer' world where we find no companionable response has everything to do with our obsessive need to conquer and subjugate."

The solution is to realize that we are not split off, but that we are an intrinsically valuable part of the whole and God responds to us 24/7.

We are not just connected to God, we are in God and, in fact, each of us is a part of God. God is listening to us and responding to us in every moment whether we are aware of it - whether we see His hand or hear His guidance - or not.

There is nothing we do that does not affect God and the web of humanity. As Deepak Chopra, M.D. states in Ageless Body, Timeless Mind, "There is no flicker of activity in any of your cells that goes unnoticed across the entire quantum field."

God is, literally, inside us and God's light forms our bodies.

We are told this, again and again, in the Bible. God is closer to us than our own breath. We are the vessels of the Living God.

When we realize this - instead of just mouthing the words - we will be empty of all desire for revenge or attack, for God is love and love is the opposite of attack.

Open yourself to this realization today, Beloved. For the sake of our children and the world, let your true nature - Love - take you over and wash you clean of all doubts and fear.

Surrender to It, exult in It and be grateful to It, for It is God.

Thursday, June 23, 2005

Take Nothing For Granted

Today is a new day. The past is behind you. Begin by giving thanks for all you have.

Do you have a roof over your head in this moment? Do you have access to a shower, warm water, electricity, lunch?

Give thanks. Take nothing for granted. God is love and loves us fiercely.

Do your best to reciprocate in every moment.

In this way do you honor The Christ within you.

Blessings -

Love Yourself 5 Minutes 3X A Day

All problems stem from lack of love. Yet you, my dear, are full of love. So right now, just turn it on yourself.

Sit and breath deeply. Focus on your heart. Imagine a beloved puppy or kitten you loved dearly. Feel those feelings then turn them on yourself. Send that love into your heart.

Get in that space and send love to yourself for about five minutes three times a day.

I am convinced as we begin to do this, so will we begin to heal in profound ways.

Blessings -

Wednesday, June 22, 2005

Self-Deception

In Bucharest, Romania, a Romanian Orthodox monk and four nuns from the Holy Trinity Convent were indicted today for killing a 23-year old nun, Maricica Irina Cornici.

They bound the 23-year old to a cross and stuffed a towel into her mouth.

They left her alone that way, apparently without food or water, for three days. The young woman died of dehydration, exhaustion and lack of oxygen.

When asked why he had done such a thing, the monk said he was trying to "take the devil out of her." When asked if the nun had been mentally ill, the monk answered, "You can't take the devil out of people with pills."

Beloved, this tragic case illustrates - in the extreme - the self-deception that occurs when we focus on fearing instead of awakening the great love within us.

That monk - and the four nuns who helped him - completely lost sight of their mission as disciples of Christ and became the evil they were trying to eradicate.

Yet this man, from his comments, must still think he was doing God's work.

He was not. Torturing is not God's work. Killing is not God's work.

Kindness is God's work.

There can be no greater perversion of Christ's message than what was done to Maricica Irina Cornici

Beloved, do not worry about the souls of others but concern yourself with your own.

As you fill with greater and greater love, you will be God's hand in transforming the world in a wonderful way.

Love our Source/Creator with all your heart and focus on Him.

In this way you will do great good.

Monday, June 20, 2005

Be Activated By God

What is the best way to solve the problems of the world?

Be activated by God.

How are we best activated by God? Not through our minds, but through our hearts. The Bible urges us to be in the world, but not of it.

This means: Walk away from arguments over who is right or wrong. Do not lose sight of the reason for our being alive which is to love one another.

Instead, of arguing with your head, get in touch with God through your heart.

Jesus was - above all things - kind. Although he could have struck his captors down, he didn't.

Beloved, to rid the world of cruelty, none of us can be cruel - not even in our words.

Our prayers and intentions must be to fill ourselves to the brim with God's love so that whatever actions we take do no harm.

Sit down today for just five minutes and become still.

Take three deep, slow breaths and close your eyes.

Focus on your heart and love our Source/Creator that resides inside you for just five minutes.

That's all it takes to align with God's love.

Align with His love today - and every day from now on.

Sunday, June 19, 2005

God Is Kindness and Mercy

Beloved,

God is love. Therefore, those of us who want to bring God into secular life have only only one option: to increasingly become conduits for what God is: Love.

Yet, we have many voices chiding us to hate in God's name.

But we are not fooled. Christ never advocates throwing stones at others and we know this. Therefore, let us cleanse ourselves of all temptation to hate.

Let us replace our fears with the Love of God that is urging us to practice kindness and mercy towards all.

Join with me in prayer now.

Dear God,

I live in a world that allows mystical experience
And depends upon intuition as much as logic.

I learn from a world that honors the teachings of Jesus Christ
And focuses on Healing rather than destroying.

I rejoice in a world that values women as much as men
And the feminine as much as the masculine.

I am loved in a world

- where women are cherished
- and men are appreciated.

I thrive in a world

- that rejoices in my triumphs
- and helps me get through my grief.

I contribute to a world

- that looks out for the well-being of people
- and makes a decision to live in cooperation and harmony.

Dear Lord, by Your Grace,
You help me, now, create this compassionate world.

I live in a world of love
Because I live in You.

And so it is.
Amen.

©Prayerforce: 365 Days To A New Life

Touching the Face of God

Beloved -

We live, today, in a privileged era.

We reside in a space and time in which science is about to touch the face of God.

Through the study of quantum physics, science has reached a breakthrough point. If we are willing to see it, in the next few years scientists will be able to provide us with a scientific explanation of the guiding principles of creation.

Scientists have discovered the smallest units that comprise the material world. They cannot be seen and, in fact, they take up no space.

These "packets of energy" are called by different names depending upon the country in which a physicist works and who finances the research.

In the U.S. these building blocks of existence are called "neutrinos" by some and "quarks" by others.

No matter what they are called, this "non-matter" is the stuff of which everything else - including you and me - is made. Proving that it exists gives credence to what mystics and saints have talked about for millennia: non-form changes into form. God becomes manifest.

Everything is God, dear one, and science is about to prove it. Do not fear this, for it will have the potential to usher in a golden age in human affairs.

Once physicists prove that we are, literally, many manifestations of One God, many false arguments that separate us can cease:

Arguments over whether God does or does not exist can cease.

Arguments that are brought against the value of science and the scientific method can be abandoned as we see that, yes, scientists are manifesting the work of God, too.

Most important of all, scientists will be able to finally explain why it is that whatever you focus on increases.

This is what's coming:

- proof of how God loves everyone and everything
- revelations that we are here to be administrators of God's love
- conclusions that whatever we focus on increases

With scientific evidence in our faces, it will be much more difficult for people to refuse to understand that we create more of what we fear by hating and create more of what we love by loving.

Jesus taught us that the purpose of life is to master love and compassion because God is love.

We have free will to love or hate, but if we want to flourish and be happy, we need to learn how to put egos and fears aside and choose the love of God.

If you want to live in a safer and more God oriented world, then cultivate the love of God that waits - in your heart - to be activated toward yourself and others.

It is the only way to get what you really want.

Friday, June 17, 2005

God Is Love


God is Love bumper sticker  Posted by Hello

Available at:An Inspiration

Thursday, June 16, 2005

Attack - Coals On Our Heads

In Corinthians 3:16, the Apostle Paul states: Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the spirit of God dwells in you?"

Yet how many of us take those words at face value?

There is a lot of scripture thrown around today to justify many positions, some of which are unjustifiable by any measure of the human heart.

Yet the scripture above is seldom mentioned nor is Romans 12:20 - echoed in Proverbs 25:21-25: If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.

What are the writers of the Bible saying?

They are saying that everyone - every one of us - has God inside him.

The ideas that allow God to bless an individual - and make an person a gift to the world - may be locked inside a vault of iron strong ideas that promote fear instead of love, but God is still there, waiting.

God is within the terrorist although is not heard beneath the busy and thunderous thoughts of anger and fear within the terrorist's brain.

Likewise, the terrorist's heart is so deaf to God that he or she cannot feel compassion for strangers, for people other than his family or those whom he knows personally. He takes this as proof that compassion is not needed.

But not feeling compassion does not mean God is not within us. It means God gave us free will to acknowledge and listen - or not.

Meanwhile, God waits - within the heart and mind of each of us - for recognition.

God is waiting for recognition that being "right" or "wrong" doesn't matter.

God is waiting for a sincere desire on behalf of the vessel who contains Him to be filled with love, not hate.

God is waiting for us to understand that fighting with others misses the point. When we attack others - no matter who they are - we are really attacking ourselves.

Even more tragic, when we attack others, we attack a piece of God. When we kill another, we kill a piece of God.

It is our obligation to love God - as ourselves.

Not because God will punish us, but because when we turn on God - the essence of our being - it is like the lamp turning off the electricity that powers it.

Our light must go out. In other words, we must, eventually, self-destruct.

Therefore, when we are tempted to judge others, when we are tempted to justify torture or hate campaigns for a political cause or to "keep us safe" let us apply the scripture from Mark 12:31 first:

You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

If we - honestly - can say it would be okay with us for others to be able to torture us for suspected wrong-doing, then ignoring the torturing of others is consistent with our beliefs.

However, it will never be consistent with God, for God is love and love never tortures.

Dear one, torturing others, attacking others or blaming others will never make you safe. These activities run counter to the God in you that gives you life.

Only aligning with God and His immense love for you - and all people - can make you safe.

Do that and you can always be in the right place at the right time.

Do that and you can reach a place where you need fear no one.

It can take a lifetime to achieve that kind of fearlessness, but that is true safety.

For your own sake, the sake of our children, our country and the world, please start affirming that you are aligned with God's unconditional love today.

God bless and keep you always.

Wednesday, June 15, 2005

Family and Discord

Family's purpose is to nurture each member and to provide support during times of change.

The best thing that families can do is cultivate laughter.

We look to family to hold us and give us a feeling of safety so we can get our breath before going back out into the world.

So if family does not cheer for us - if our family does not keep a vision of success for us - who will?

Likewise, if we will withhold love from a family member who is not pleasing us, we are wasting the lives God gave us.

All of us are participating in an experiment called life.

No one gets out without making mistakes, sometimes serious ones.

It is the job of family to praise each one of its members for the bravery it takes to pick ourselves up after we fall.

We each have a plan for our lives given to us by God. Call it a genetic imprint, call it fate, call it destiny, call it a map.

Whatever the name, it is a mission - a calling - to live the best life possible, to use our gifts to greatest advantage and to give the greatest service of which we are capable.

Family helps us become the person we want to be - or blocks us through criticism.

Family can make the difference as to whether we lead successful lives on our own terms or become miserable failures.

When family can accept who we are and help us give birth to the best within us, then we are truly blessed. But if our families desire that we fulfill their dreams instead of our own, we are caught between a rock and a hard place. We need the love of our families, but more than that, we need to be authentically who God made us.

This conflict, if it remains unresolved, will go one of two ways. We will stifle ourselves - who we are and our dreams - in exchange for love. Or we will cut ourselves off from our families so we are not continually dragged down.

If either happens, it is tragic. For the support of family makes the difference not only in how we see ourselves and how far we can go, but in how much happiness we experience during the journey of life.

Let us pray to God and give joyous thanks if we have families that nurture us, that laugh with us and pray with us.

Never take your family for granted but let each person know how important he or she is to you.

And for you who lack family or if your family punishes you for being different in your views or lifestyle, please bless your family anyway.

People often fear what they do not understand. Some people cannot stand the slightest disagreement with their opinions. Just bless them. If they try to fight with you, refuse. Know this: the argument you want to have with them is not with them, it is with God.

If you have any doubt about the correctness of your path, people - and especially family - will get in your face and offer you opinions that your path is incorrect.

Therefore, go to God and sincerely ask Him to either correct your path if it is in error or, if it is not, to cleanse you of all self-doubt and self-hate for not being able to be like others.

One or the other must be done for you to experience true joy in being you.

Now, Beloved, let us pray for our relationship with family.

Dear God,

I open my heart to family.
You send me the love I need through family.
Our hearts bring us to each other
In the deep peace of belonging.

Thank You, God, that I have family.

If I lack family, then I affirm
You bring my true family home to me,
The family who loves me beyond words.

Thank You, God, for my family.
I love and understand my family
And, by Your Grace,
You help my family understand and love me.

And so it is.
Amen.

Tuesday, June 14, 2005

Sen. Mary Landrieu Does It Again

Kudos to Senator Mary Landrieu.

Once again she has proved herself to be a Senator dedicated to integrity, moral purpose and the highest American values.

Senator Mary Landrieu (D-La.) has sponsored a Senate resolution - S.RES.39 - that is long overdue. Assuming it passes - and so far the resolution has 60 co-sponsors [6/20/05 - the final number was 86]- the Senate will finally - officially - express its remorse over its failure to outlaw lynching in the United States.

Over 4700 people were lynched in this country between 1882 and 1968. Yet, believe it or not, despite 200 anti-lynching bills that were introduced between 1890 and 1952, none were passed by Senate vote. This despite the fact that 7 Presidents asked the Senate to approve an anti-lynching bill.

The reason the bills weren't passed?

Filibusters by right-wing Senators.

Now Senator Landrieu has taken advantage of the current anti-filibuster sentiment of the Republican majority to finally get this legislation passed, once and for all.

This is an inspired way to make lemonade out of lemons because given all the threats against Democrats using the filibuster, anyone who might otherwise filibuster against the Landrieu's resolution is going to have to bite his tongue or become a moral - and political - pariah.

What I love about this resolution - and admire about Senator Landrieu and the mix of 60 Republican and Democratic Senators who are co-sponsoring it - is that this group is not merely passing a law that should have been passed over one hundred years ago if we, as a nation, had been walking the talk of our Christian heritage.

Through their resolution the Senate - an incredibly powerful body of government - will humble itself, admit it can make a mistake, admit its failure and apologize to those who remain haunted and continue to feel wronged by what was government sanctioned domestic terrorism.

Not making lynching a crime was an incredible moral failure on the part of our government.

Yet, there are people who say "What's the big deal?" and that black people should "get over" slavery, get over the lynchings, get over the past.

How do you get over an unthinkable wrong if there is never an apology?

How do you heal from such wounds in your family history if you think no one is really sorry for what happened?

I've seen newspaper accounts of grieving families who have lost loved ones to killers. Some hope - sometimes until the last minute before an execution - that they will hear a sincere apology from that person who took their loved one away from them.

When we have done wrong - whether as an individual, a governing body or even as a country - we owe apologies to those we have injured. We owe it to them to admit our wrong doing, apologize and make whatever amends are possible.

And in this case we - and the Senate - owe an apology to people like Doria Dee Johnson, the great-great granddaughter of a black farmer who was killed by a mob of individuals who knew there would be no repercussions.

To withhold that apology is to heap cruelty upon cruelty.

We were not created to be cruel, but to be merciful.

Germany finally issued an apology to all Holocaust survivors for the terror inflicted upon them and their families.

Do we wish to withhold ours from those whom we have wronged?

I pray not.

So I hope you are very pleased with this gesture by Senator Mary Landrieu and her 60 co-sponsors.

I know God is.

Monday, June 13, 2005

"Negativity" In Prayers

I believe that being aware of the problems around us helps us pray more effectively for ourselves and for world healing.

I also believe we must cultivate positive thoughts in order to create a more positive world.

So how do we keep a balance? How do we remain aware but not become mired in fears about the reality we see? How do we face the negativity in the world and maintain positive thoughts?

My answer has been through connecting with God and working to be a conduit for God's love and compassion. I maintain this connection through speaking positive prayers, through listening for the "still, small voice within" and by continually training myself to think thoughts that affirm positive outcomes and positive ideas about the people and world around me.

A fair question has been raised, therefore, as to whether contemporary prayers should include "negative" ideas. In other words, should prayer be limited to uplifting words without reference to the problems the prayer is being used to overcome?

My answer is: prayer is personal. The words that move me and define my deepest needs may not do the same for you. However, we do know that confession has been part of the prayer process for centuries - because it helps free us to accept healing - and admissions during confession are almost always viewed as "negative."

However, putting the phenomenon of confession aside, the inclusion of awareness of "the negative" - or problems - is not without example in prayer.

Consider the two most powerful, revered and well-known prayers we use today: The Lord's Prayer and The Prayer by St. Francis of Assisi.

In The Lord's Prayer - which I have used in times of peril for protection - we say:

"The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want."

Yet this is not totally positive. The statement implies and admits that want exists in the world.

Also, I think it is fair to say that people most often use this prayer when they are feeling the effects of want. They are experiencing scarcity, poverty or danger in their lives and are invoking God's power in getting out of it. People seldom say The Lord's Prayer outside of church unless they want something. And the feelings they have may be quite desperate.

That line is - by the way - the most skillful use of language, for both the negative reality and the solution are implied in: I shall not want. It states both the need and the answer.

Also, look at the statement:

"He leadeth me through the Valley of the Shadow of Death."

This implies we are in a place where death occurs and that we are perpetually - in the present moment - in danger of dying.

I do not believe it was written to merely imply that we live in a world in which death exists. Living in a place in which death is possible - and inevitable - implies we are at continual risk. And, truly, whenever I say The Lord's Prayer, I feel a sense of awe. I am brought to extreme awareness of how fragile my life is.

Is this, then, not a negative idea? That we are - even potentially - in peril every moment of every day throughout our lives?

Yet The Lord's Prayer is amazing prayer "technology" if you want to think of it in modern terms. There are many stories of people reciting this prayer in times of danger and coming through unscathed. It has certainly worked miracles for me. I believe part of its power comes from the fact that it has us admit this vulnerability - this reality - so that we may connect at the heart level with the One who can save us.

There are more lines I could comment on in terms of their including ideas of "negativity" but you get the idea, so let's switch to The Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi. This prayer is another miracle worker. Recite it over and over and positive change happens in your life.

Lord, make me an instrument of Your Peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
And where there is sadness, joy.


In each of the statements above, "the negative" is brought up first which is then followed by a solution which is positive.

O Divine Master,

Grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console;
To be understood as to understand;
To be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal light.


Again, the lines above tell "how things are" - how we so often seek to be consoled or loved or to receive rather than the opposite. This latter paragraph points out human selfishness - and this is surely a "negative" idea.

My last example is Mother Teresa's incredibly powerful statement On Being Love and Light, which can be used as a prayer. It recognizes the state of the world and - through recognizing what we face - inspires us to rise above it.

Look at her first two line:

"People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered.
Forgive them anyway."

Is that not beautiful?

Look at her next two lines:

"If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.
Be kind anyway."

These are words that can change a life. But note, as beautiful as the words are, they still point out the negative to us - so we are aware of what we are trying to cope with and heal - before we are given the loving solution.

I believe part of the reason so much prayer is ineffective - and it is fashionable now for pundits to say, "Well, God is answering but he's just saying 'No,'" is because there is a lack of vulnerability in our prayers, a lack of real confession and admission of the problems and that we, ourselves, contribute to them.

God never says "No." God gives us what we hold in our minds and hearts. If we - on the deepest level - feel we deserve what we are asking for, we'll get it.

We cannot run from recognizing that negative exists side-by-side with the positive in our minds. By recognizing - not dwelling upon - the negative conditions of the world in our prayers, we affirm that we own them - as part of humanity - and are ready to heal the negative in our own minds for our sakes and the sake of the world.

When we do that, prayer creates miracles.

Sunday, June 12, 2005

View Of The River After Sunrise


Early morning view from my patio. The long rays of sunrise have turned both clouds and the homes across the river pink. Posted by Hello

Saturday, June 11, 2005

You Matter

Yesterday the NewScientist.com published an article entitled Kids' asthma linked to mother's depression.

I am not surprised. I have relied upon Louise Hay's little book Heal Your Body for over twenty years to help self-diagnose illnesses and - with prayer - heal the spiritual cause.

Hay attributes problems with asthma in babies and children to "Fear of life" and "Not wanting to be here."

Hay's book has proved so useful in my own life, I don't question her explanations, but even if I did, this one rings true.

For does it not make sense that if a mother is broadcasting thoughts and feelings of depression during a pregnancy - and/or after childbirth - that her child would be afraid of life and not want to be here?

After all, a child doesn't have to think thoughts to sense fear and lack of joy, react to it and be shaped by it.

And who would want to be here if he or she was continually bathed in feelings of depression, dread, fear or anxiety?

Yet, I bring this up not to create guilt for these mothers, but to raise awareness and promote an understanding of how important it is to feed ourselves a steady diet of prayer and positive thought.

We do not yet fully understand the extent to which the thoughts we think create our lives - and what we see in the world.

We do not yet realize how the thoughts we think create subconscious programs nor do we understand how that programming - especially the negative programming - works. Yet Psalm 19:12 gives us a clue about how it affects us and how difficult it is to understand: Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults.

So how do we get programmed?

By words. We are programmed by the words we hear and the words we say. Matthew 15:11 confirms this with: Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.

What this means is that what we say to ourselves - all day long - that is what shapes our lives and makes them either joyous or unbearable.

In Romans 12:2 we are instructed further: ...do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind...

What this means, is that the real potential for change is in changing our thoughts - what we tell ourselves all day long - from negative to positive.

We cannot - we must not - allow our minds to indulge in negativity. But I'm not talking about sticking our heads in the sand and ignoring the suffering of others.

The negativity I'm referring to is the type of thoughts that tear the self down and deny what the Apostle Paul stated in Corinthians 3:16: Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the spirit of God dwells in you?

God is here, now, within us. All He asks is that we think those thoughts that will allow us to feel His Presence and do the greatest good - thoughts which enable Him to heal us individually and collectively.

Thoughts that nurture depression tend to be a continuous loop of ideas that say we are not good enough, we cannot make a difference and/or that our lives have no meaning.

In a celebrity and media driven culture it's easy to feel that way. It's easy to feel very small and as thought we must achieve some "larger" recognition by millions of people to prove we are important and our lives are worth living. Still, we must resist that type of thinking because it is a web of lies.

We're all important - immensely important - to all the people with whom we interact. When you go to the store, do you smile at the clerk and compliment her smile or her efficiency? If you do, you actually improve her health - according to scientific studies - because her serotonin levels rise when she's praised. You also set her up to greet the next customer with a smile and pass that boost on.

You make an impression - one way or the other - on every person you meet and even every person you pass on the street. As Dr. Deepak Chopra writes in Ageless Body, Timeless Mind (pg.46, para.3) "There is no flicker of activity in any of your cells that goes unnoticed across the entire quantum field."

Likewise - and you know this - everything we do, say and are is absorbed by our children.

So if not for our own sakes, let it be for the sake of our children that we choose to "renew our minds" through prayer and positive thinking.

To that end - and for anyone who is feeling depressed - I tell you, there is nothing wrong with you that cannot be cured by the love in your heart.

Turn the great love within you upon yourself - instead of damaging yourself with those critical thoughts I know you have - and see what happens. To help, I offer this prayer:

I Release Anxiety About Who I Am

Dear God,

As I think on who I am,
Let me consider myself
Like a beautiful crystal
With a hundred facets
All reflecting Your light.

No one facet is all that I am.

And no one, ten or twenty aspects of myself
Define me.

A band of ranging frequencies,
A rainbow of many colors,
I am a thousand points of light
And I am beautiful in Your eyes.

I release anxiety about who I am, Lord,
For I am as You made me.

You turn me in the palm of Your hand
Marveling at my beauty
And all anxiety dissolves.

Thank You, God.

I feel secure and happy
As I release all anxiety about who I am.

Amen.

©Prayerforce: 365 Days To A New Life

Friday, June 10, 2005

God's Love - In Quilts

There is an exhibit of quilts touring the country and currently on display at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts. The quilts were made by the women of Gees Bend, Alabama - descendants of slaves who sweated their lives away picking cotton.

In honor of their ancestors hardships, the women create quilts made of cotton cloth. Described as "extraordinary," according to an article in the Christian Science Monitor, their quilting "...is now heralded as an indigenous art form on a par with jazz."

These are spiritual women who - although they never had much materially - are not big on criticizing the world, acting like victims or holding resentments. Instead, they pray and focus on their creativity and their friendships. As a result their quilting is bringing them blessings beyond their imagining.

What a wonderful example they are to us, urging us to be aware of social injustice and seek spiritual solutions instead of blaming. They have demonstrated, beautifully, how - when we align with God's love - God will manifest the creativity and love within us as gifts to both ourselves and the world.

May this inspire you to let your own light shine.

A Prayer For Women

Here is a prayer for all you beautiful, loving women out there.

Women Are Blessed

Dear God,

Thank You for blessing all women.

In touch with their intuition,
Nothing and no one can hurt them.

In touch with their divinity,
Women travel their authentic paths without fear.

In touch with their capacity to love,
Women magnetize worthy partners to themselves.

In touch with their profound power,
Women respect themselves unconditionally.

In touch with their self-respect,
Women are respected by others.

In touch with their logic,
Women solve problems easily.

In touch with their mystery,
Women work miracles of healing.

Thank You, God, that women are in touch with their authentic selves
And the miraculous is everywhere.

Amen.

Thursday, June 09, 2005

Will you trade five minutes to help save lives?

"We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow man; and along those fibers, as sympathetic threads, our actions run as causes, and they come back to us as effects." - Herman Melville

I'm asking you, today, for a piece of your life.

I'm asking you, dear one, for five minutes of your time.

Pray for those in Dafur and then send a letter to your representatives to support putting pressure on Dafur's Arab government to stop the genocide of rape and murder which has resulted in unbelievable suffering and the deaths of 400,000 men, women and children¹ so far.

If it helps to put things into perspective, think of the Janjaweed militia - who are, right now, invading homes, raping and killing peaceful Africans - as Nazis. Think of them as little Hitlers practicing their own "Final Solution."

Because that's what they are.

And think of those at their mercy as family.

Because, in God's eyes, they are.

Please help save your family - our family - today.

Thank you and bless you.

¹According to a new study by the Washington based Coalition for International Justice (CIJ) and experts from Northwestern and Toronto Universities.

Prayerforce: 365 Days To A New Life


Prayerforce: 365 Days To A New Life Posted by Hello

Here's a photo of my book.

Wednesday, June 08, 2005

Creating A Compassionate World

Yesterday I lost focus of all the good that people do – and all the good I do.

Yesterday, in writing about the need to extend compassion to the people of Dafur, I wrote not from a feeling of empowerment – from a “come on, we can do something about this” perspective – but from a position of shaming.

While it was not clear to me at the time I wrote my blog, I was basically saying: shame on us.

It’s easy to understand why. We have a strong tradition of shaming in Christianity. Some Christians choose to believe that people are more bad than good and preach that we all must be shamed into behaving.

But shaming doesn’t work in the long run. Despite the tradition, look at all the Christians – 30 million of us by estimates – that are addicted to Internet porn.

No, shaming doesn’t work to create better people. Why? Because garbage in, garbage out. Convince people they are no good – that they are shameful and their true nature is sinful – and they will live up to your expectations and if not out in the open, then secretly.

I have seen too much of the beautiful – and the loving – in people to believe we are more bad than good. I am convinced that the core within each of us is love – not indifference – and that the core within each of us is God. It's just that God's shining light gets covered up with the muck of our thoughts.

So how did I fall into the trap of shaming? For instance, I am fully aware that people didn’t open up their hearts and wallets for the tsunami victims out of shame, but out of love. There is no shaming force on earth comparable to the love that motivated hundreds of millions of people into giving.

And I know that. So why did I slip?

It happened due to feelings of powerlessness. I read one too many stories about suffering and it was making me ill. I kept thinking: “I haven’t done enough,” but then wondered “what on earth more can I do?”

So I was frustrated and – as frustrated people do – projected. I projected my own feelings – that I am not doing enough to alleviate suffering – upon the world.

It’s understandable – and even justifiable – given how we’ve been taught to deal with moral problems by blaming others. But projection is just not helpful. It’s not helpful because it’s old paradigm thinking. It has me taking my attention away from what I want to see more of – compassion – to what I do not want to see – indifference.

And it – really – has nothing to do with others, but with my own fears about whether I am compassionate enough or doing enough or not.

Bottom line, projection is the rearing of that inner fear of not being good enough.

Volumes have been written on how people do not feel like they are ever good enough. But as Wayne Dyer and others teach, focusing on the problem only brings us more of the problem.

In other words if I focus on how I appear to be powerless and not accomplishing goals – if I see myself as unable to accomplish goals such as getting attention on solving the problems in Dafur – then I will keep on getting more of that.

Wayne Dyer has been traveling all over the country with his Power of Intention Tour.

Monday night – when I meant to be asleep – I woke up and, roaming about, turned on PBS. When I saw Dr. Wayne Dyer lecturing, I knew I was awake for a reason.

Dr. Dyer reminded me that God creates whatever we hold in our minds. If we are holding thoughts of lack, God’s energy has no choice but to create lack for us. If we are holding thoughts of prosperity, then God’s energy has no choice but to create prosperity for us.

Likewise if I’m holding thoughts that no one cares about Dafur – and I am powerless to help those people - then guess what? I’m contributing – in consciousness – to the atrocities that are happening.

Now I know this. But you know how you can “know” something and still ignore it?

The solution would have been to write about Dafur while telling myself - and you - that I believe in you; that I believe in the goodness and compassion of my fellow Americans and that we are going to act and help for the people of Dafur is imminent.

I didn't take that approach, if you've read my blog.

So God, in His great Wisdom did two things for me. He knows I want to be of greatest service and that my goal is to help alleviate suffering.

So the message to me was: Oh, no you don’t, Clyo. You get your mind off thinking those hopeless thoughts and onto something positive. You’re being part of the problem and I need you to be part of the solution.

That’s why He prompted me to tune in and watch Wayne Dyer – to remember that the best way to grow compassion is to focus on all the compassionate people in the world who are actively making a difference.

Then, as part of a “one-two hug,” God “arranged” for me to get an e-mail – out of the blue this afternoon – from the M.I.S.S. Foundation, “a nonprofit, volunteer based organization committed to providing emergency support to families in crisis after the death of their baby or young child from any cause,” which was “established to help families cope with the resultant feelings of overwhelming grief and loss.”

At M.I.S.S. I learned that more than 120,000 children die every year in the United States and, of those, more than 80% die before their first birthday.

Imagine. We have hundreds of thousands of people today – parents, siblings and grandparents – who are walking wounded and in real pain due to loss of a child. And a year is nothing when you’ve lost a child. I have a friend who cried at his daughter’s grave thirty years to the day that she died.

The founder of MISS knows that all too well, having lost a child.

So MISS's mission statement is: “That our program will serve to strengthen families when a child has died and help to reduce the number of child deaths that occur through public awareness and education campaigns. No family should have to endure the pain of a child family member's death alone: MISS is committed to the memory of the children who lived, who died, and who continue - even in death - to matter.”

If you go to the Family Support page, you’ll find links to their Missing Angels Newsletter, Photo Gallery, Memorial Quilt, Cherish Corner and so much more. But that’s not all. Take a look at the “Kindness Project.”

In the Kindness Project, parents remember and honor their lost children by performing random – and anonymous – acts of kindness. To let the recipients know the act was done in memory of a beloved child, a kindness card is sent or left with the gift.

As of last December, 500,000 of these cards had been delivered around the world – along with 500,000 acts of kindness.

Amazing, isn’t it? Is it not beautiful and awe-inspiring that such compassion and love exists within the hearts of those so scarred by loss?

But they are beautiful beings. As are we.

As human beings, we have unlimited capacity for love and compassion. So that’s what I’m going to keep focusing and re-focusing on.

No more shaming. Because we all deserve to live in a compassionate world.

Blessings,

Tuesday, June 07, 2005

What Is The Business of Life?

“Refugees fleeing to Kalma (Sudan) from a village called Saleya described how nine boys were seized by the janjaweed, stripped naked and tied up, their noses and ears cut off and their eyes gouged out. They were then shot dead and left near a public well.”

So writes Nicolas D. Kristof today in Uncover Your Eyes.

In his article he pleads for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and President George Bush to exert their tremendous powers on behalf of the people of Dafur.

I know we are all involved in making a living, shopping and looking after what we feel is the business of our lives. But our first business, in God’s eyes, is awareness and choosing to give the best of our selves in order to alleviate suffering.

We cannot count on small organizations to stop what is going on. Organizations such as Doctors Without Borders are run ragged trying to mop up one atrocity after another in Dafur as members are harassed and even arrested for aiding victims.

I am convinced our lack of national will to write to President Bush and insist he take action is due to lack of education on this topic. We need an education about it that our media is failing to give us.

More and more concerned about how our walk is not matching our talk, media sources decry the torture that is going on in prison compounds in the name of our “war on terror.” People are horrified by the idea that over 100 detainees have died as a result of inhuman treatment. And they should be. God is very clear on how we are to treat others – even people we know want to hurt us, much less those we only suspect want to hurt us.

If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head. – Romans 12:20; Proverbs 25:21-22

Yet while I agree with those who say – as a Christian nation – we cannot tolerate treatment of even our enemies in so deplorable a way, how is it that we can ignore the terrorizing and extermination of – not 100 – but hundreds of thousands of innocent people who only want to gather their firewood, cook their meals and attend to their families?

We are all responsible for one another.

I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. - John 13:34-35

You shall love your neighbor as yourself. – Mark 12:31

Those are not just words. They are a call to action to everyone who calls him or herself a Christian.

And right now, calling – or writing – President Bush would be loving your neighbor as yourself, would it not?

For if this horror were happening here, in your neighborhood, would you not be praying for someone to notice, care and clamor for action? And if they did, would you not fall on your knees to Almighty God and sob tears of gratitude?

Blessings –

Rape Is Government Policy in Dafur

Although there are not enough hours in the year to take in the amount of information that is produced each day in a world containing 6.3 billion people, there are certain stories to which God calls my attention.

One of these is the story of what has been happening – and continues to happen this very moment – in Dafur.

Dafur, Sudan - whose indigenous people are African - has been taken over by Arabs. The ruling Arabs have absolutely no respect for the African race and have been practicing genocide against the Africans of the Dafur region for the last two years.

Nicholas D. Kristof keeps writing about it, but although President Bush has labeled what is happening as "genocide," neither he nor Congress has done anything to try and stop these atrocities.

We can make excuses. We can say we are overextended in Iraq.

And we can, perhaps, understand why Congressional Majority Leader Tom DeLay would be reluctant to get involved since he blocked legislation that would have stopped the virtual enslavement of women that is also going on in the U.S. controlled
Mariana Islands
.

But if Representative DeLay has no empathy for the suffering of women under U.S. “protective” care, why should he care about African women in another country?

Yet this very moment – as you read this – innocents are falling victim to genocide. But not only are they being hunted down and killed, another horror is being waged against them as the women of Dafur are terrorized and traumatized through the government policy of rape.

These victims are not rebels. They belong to no army. They are peaceful people just trying to live, like you and me.

Yet imagine the local police invading your neighborhood and setting fire to your home and your neighborhood. As you and your neighbors scream and flee, this armed militia chases you down and shoots you – and your children – in the back.

If, somehow, you avoid the bullets and they catch you, they will take turns torturing you. If you are a man you are likely to be castrated before you are killed.

But if you are a woman and you are caught, you will not be killed even though you will very likely have lost your husband and some or all of your children, siblings, parents and friends. Instead you will be gang raped, perhaps until you are so injured you cannot walk. Then you will be left to die or limp off to live a life of social ostracism.

Kristof who wrote his report from Nyala, Sudan after interviewing survivors, reports that a woman named Toma was gang raped by seven men in police uniforms who told her “We want to finish you people off.”

In March a 17-year old was raped. She made her way to a French-run clinic where she was examined and her condition confirmed as consistent with the damage sustained as a result of rape.

However, the police broke in, carried her off, chained her up, denied her claim and are going to charge her with submitting false information.

Then there are the women who are raped with sticks that tear their insides apart so they have no bladder control for the rest of their lives.

Can you imagine that? Living with that trauma while displaced and on the run?

Another woman – who survived – was raped with a bayonet.

And those who become pregnant as a result of rape? They are imprisoned for adultery.

As Nicholas writes: “Doctors Without Borders issued an excellent report in March noting that it alone treated almost 500 rapes in a four-and-a-half-month period. Sudan finally reacted to the report a few days ago – by arresting an Englishman and a Dutchman working for Doctors Without Borders.”

Yet we in the U.S. do nothing. It is not “polite” to talk of rape.

When I try to get people's hearts engaged so they will write to Congress and the President about these horrors, I'm told that it makes people “uncomfortable.”

Excuse me, but what makes me "uncomfortable" is our non-action.

And this is not some television show that can be turned off. This is happening to real people in real time.

Today.

This minute.

Sadly, I also see that out of the top 25 stories e-mailed today, Mr. Kristof’s was #24. The 23 other stories that were more important to readers were about wealth, class, mobility, technology, monkeys, the French Open, Madrid's top chefs and the Tony Awards.

Don't get me wrong. I'm interested in all that stuff too. And I love tennis.

But - if it were your sister over there - and it is from God's perspective - would you be fooling around e-mailing a story about tennis? Or would you be screaming and crying on the White House line about what was happening to your sister?

At least Kristof’s story made it on the list. But where is our compassion? Why are we not ALL writing - and calling - President Bush today and demanding that he "do the right thing?"

We are all one. What happens to the people in Dafur damages our collective being. That is why we are admonished to “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

It's because if we don't, our actions will come around to haunt us.

But can you imagine Jesus turning his back on these people?

I can’t.

So why, as Christians - and as a Christian nation - are we?

Sunday, June 05, 2005

Bellefontaine, Ohio Shocked Over Scott Moody Shootings

Last Sunday, May 29, 2005 – a week ago – I delivered a sermon to a small church in Hudson, Florida. My topic was “Healing Humanity’s Destructive Side.”

My message was this: we are composed of both soil and spirit. We are dualistic in nature. We each contain the very best – and the very worst – in humanity and that realization is the key to creating a better, safer world.

I made it clear that I was not just talking “in general terms” in reference to our species as a whole, but saying that we each – as individuals – carry all the stuff of humanity within us. Each of us taps into, feeds and receives information from humanity’s collective consciousness and because we are joined to it, we each have access to all qualities contained within it.

Now, today, I read the following headline on Earthlink: Ohio Community in Shock Over Shootings.

On May 29th – ironic for me since that was the day I delivered my impassioned plea for people to “heal their piece of collective consciousness” and stop tragedies like this from occurring – a teenager in Bellefontaine, Ohio did something completely out of character.

Scott Moody, scheduled to go through high school graduation exercises later in the day, entered his grandparent’s farmhouse – where he was a frequent visitor – put a gun to his grandfather’s neck as Gary Shafer was fixing breakfast and shot him three times. Scott did not stop there. He found and killed his grandmother. Then he went back to his house, killed his mother and two friends who were at his home and then killed himself.

Now, no one can believe this boy – who was reportedly respectful and hard-working and appeared normal in every way – did this. Or rather, they know – intellectually – that he did it. But they cannot reconcile the boy they knew with this horrific behavior. It makes no sense to them. Many knew him from the time he was a small child. And they are at a complete loss to explain his actions – and who exactly he was – when he acted them out.

Sadly, this story demonstrates the principle that we must recognize and accept if we are going to change this world for the better :

We each are capable of all behaviors – good or bad. And trying to separate the world into “good” people and “bad” people compounds the problem. Instead, our task is to – individually and collectively – learn how to heal collective consciousness. Labeling certain people as sinners, blaming others for influences we feel put us at risk or building more and more jails in which to throw people after the fact are not preventing these kinds of tragedies.

In order to stem the tide that is threatening to engulf us in unexplainable behaviors and violence, we need a shift in thought and approach. We need – each one of us – to recognize something we deny and resist: that these people who act out violence are doing so on behalf of all of us.

Let me repeat that. These people, for whatever reasons – are acting out these behaviors on behalf of all of us.

For we all contain the seeds. And until we recognize that we carry those seeds and begin seriously growing other seeds that will give rise to compassion, love and spiritual fearlessness, we are going to not only keep getting what we are seeing now, but the incidence of this kind of senseless violence will increase.

A huge reason for what is happening is due to how we allow our minds – and our individual pieces of collective consciousness – to be programmed.

I don’t watch much television. Why? Because when I turn it on, as I did last night, I flip from channel to channel finding program after program focused violence and crime.

I don’t blame the media entirely. The media is not “doing the right thing” in my opinion by catering to our baser instincts. Still, this is a profit driven culture – as opposed to a culture driven by respect for the Spirit within – and they provide what we tune into.

But making the choice to watch violence and giving into what really is an addiction or craving to have our "fight or flight" responses activated – and our refusal to wake up and realize what that craving for vicarious excitement is doing to us – will be our undoing based on this truism:

Garbage in, garbage out.

Obsession with watching re-enactments of grisly crimes cannot help but pollute our collective consciousness with more and more ideas and variations on cruelty, depravity and heartlessness.

The magic – and curse – of being a part of collective consciousness is that even if Scott Moody never watched those shows, hundreds of millions of us do. And he – like all of us – draws from that energetic body of archetypal and mythical information to inform his own ideas and behaviors.

Don’t ask how Scott Moody slipped so disastrously out of character. Ask instead why we make exulting in violent books and movies such a priority in our culture. If you can answer that, you will have the answer to Scott Moody’s heartbreakingly tragic actions.

More importantly, ask yourself this: Do you want to continue to contribute to reducing humanity to its baser actions? Or do you want to give birth to the greatness – the magnificence – within you and humanity?

For you – and I – feed one or the other with our choices of what thoughts we think and what ideas we allow to prevail within us. We either feed the monster or feed the angel inside us.

There is no neutral ground.

So – which one are you choosing to feed?

Friday, June 03, 2005

"Doing the right thing" and Senator Mary L.Landrieu

There is so much judgment in the world.

I'm not referring to people weighing options and making decisions in regard to what to do in their own lives. We need to make choices in our lives. We need to weigh options. That's why God gave us minds as well as hearts, so we can strive to see what works in our lives - and what doesn't.

I'm referring to the - subjective - accusations and exhortations to others to "do the right thing" which clearly mean: "stop doing what you are doing and do what I want you to do. "

Oddly enough, these pleas are not, typically, about alleviating real suffering for real people, but have to do with getting people "in line" to support someone's bid for power.

For instance, do these exhortations of "do the right thing" come up when a developer secretly buys up a mobile home park and delivers eviction notices to people in their seventies, eighties and nineties?

Do either we - or our representatives - show up and stand in front of the bulldozers, wag our fingers and say: "Now you know - and God knows - no matter what the law says you can do to these people, you are doing them wrong. Remember the Golden Rule? Come on now and do the right thing."

Yet, the displacement of our retired -formerly working - lower and middle class is becoming a real problem. I don't know about your state, but here in Florida old people - not just retirees who are still healthy - but old and frail people are being cast out of their homes with - literally - nothing. They are told to leave and the bulldozers come in. Yet I have not read about any U.S. legislators standing on pulpits and imploring those developers to "do the right thing" by compensating those seniors or giving them adequate time to try and match the sales offers to their park owners and save their homes.

Yet, this week a freshman Louisiana Senator - who is apparently in favor of approving a judicial nomination and against filibustering - wrote a letter to a colleague in the U.S. Senate -telling her to "do the right thing" and approve the nomination.

It apparently has not occurred to the freshman that Senator Mary L. Landrieu believes she is doing the right thing.

In perusing her official website, Ms. Landrieu appears to be doing one thing right, for sure. She spearheaded a conservation measure in the tradition of that greatest of Republican Presidents, Teddy Roosevelt.

So I'm thinking of writing a letter to her - even though she is not my Senator - and asking her: Senator Landrieu, what would you do if you represented Florida and you found out that your retired constituents were losing their homes - without compensation - to bulldozers?

It surely does not matter to God which political party we belong to, so long as we are honest about our intentions and that those intentions serve God.

In this respect, Senator Mary L. Landrieu (D-La.) seems to be a conservative - and a conservator - in the truest sense. She is working to preserve life through preserving our environment. She is working to preserve the freedom of the little people - the meek people who have not sought fame or glory or riches or power for its own sake - to have their say in how this great nation is governed.

Too few of us remember the Biblical passage that tells us to remove the plank from our own eye before we look for the mote in our brother's.

Yet, I feel Mother Teresa said it best: "Nothing is between you and them. Everything is between you and God."

So before we tell another to "do the right thing" we might consider: is that message really ours to deliver to someone else? Or are we really talking out loud to ourselves without realizing it?

Perhaps it is we who need to do more of "the right thing" - alleviating suffering and spreading real joy - than the person we are focusing on. Because it is a truism that we always try to teach others what we most desperately need to learn ourselves.

Blessings

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