When we were children, most of us learned in Sunday School that we go to Heaven when we die. No one spoke too much about Hell, because they expected us to be good and to do good to earn our way into Heaven.
So, the belief was that if we were good on earth, we’d get to Heaven one day i.e. when we die.
Hell, as far as we knew it, was reserved for the really, really bad people. If we ever thought of "Hell", we thought those people certainly had earned their place there.
We learned this. Then...came...LIFE!
On most days, you could do a sampling of 100 people and ask them if they thought they were in heaven or hell right now, based on their current life experiences. With the state of the economy being what it is, don’t be too surprised if you get most people, i.e. at least 60 percent, stating that they are in some form of hell.
To become aware of this is to become aware of the fact that Heaven or Hell is not a place we go when we die. Rather, heaven and hell are states of mind, reflective of our affairs and our peace, or lack of peace, at any given time.
For some people, “hell” is when the man or woman they love does not love them in return. For others, it is much more severe: getting through the day without pain or with enough food to eat.
What is the key differentiator of a person who states that he or she is in heaven versus one who states in hell?
How do we get to heaven from hell?
More importantly, how do we earn a place in heaven or hell?
It’s all about choices, i.e. the choices that we make moment by moment, day by day.
Years ago when I gave up my secure life circumstances, I thought I’d entered into the Gates of Hell when the freedom that I thought I would have quickly led to a path of uncertainty and the way of the unknown.
Initially things did not start out that way. In the beginning, I felt I was entering “heaven,” because of the freedom just to “BE,” i.e. living without any proscribed behaviors or following any corporate rules. Then my sense of security began to change, and I soon questioned the heavy price I was paying for “freedom.” Often it is this very “questioning” that leads us into the Gates of Hell.
For many others, entering the Gates of Hell may sometimes come from a lover leaving their side or an illness that creeps up without any warning. These folks are thrown for a loop.
One day it seems that all of their life is flowing smoothly, the next day, they are thrown into the wiles of the world and seemingly into the Gates of Hell. Darkness, uncertainty...doubt and fear...are their day to day, moment by moment experience.
Recently I visited with a close friend who has been battling cancer for years. She overcame all the trials of breast cancer, having had a double mastectomy. Then the cancer metastasized to her lung. Being a strong Unity Student and Science of Mind Practitioner, my friend remained calm and positive throughout this experience and entered into a long period of remission.
I felt prompted to go visit her this past weekend. Now, I’m so grateful that I followed guidance.
My friend is now battling a third round of cancer. This time, it has gotten to her brain.
No one had informed me of her condition prior to my visit, but as soon as I saw her, I knew my friend was very ill. I discovered that she has been having rounds of chemotherapy, has lost most of her appetite and now has to be under 24-hour supervision because of frequent falls. Despite all this, when my friend and I were alone, i.e. away from all the caregivers, I caught her Spirit!
It is fully alive and as strong as anything, despite this last bout of cancer.
Sitting alone with her, my sadness soon dissipated, as I felt my friend’s Strength of Spirit, overriding her current life experience!
I could not be sad when she was expressing absolutely no victim emotions! She was not bed-ridden, as a matter of fact, she insists on helping herself around the kitchen and in attending to her personal needs. She is experiencing absolutely NO PAIN! She has absolutely NO AGONY! This is the way my friend has been throughout the many years of fighting her condition: no pain, though she's on little medication...and especially, NO COMPLAINING!
I never once heard my friend question why these trials had come upon her. Never once! I never heard her agonize or panic about her condition...or express any concern about her future. With this recent visit, my friend was the same person in Spirit I’d always known for all the 18 years I’ve known her. Nothing has changed.
Over the time I’ve known her, my friend has modeled for me what it means to walk the world as a black woman of substance. A few decades separate us in age, but this matters little to our friendship. My friend always has reflected for me the grace, style, dignity, compassion, success and generosity I hope to one day achieve. Now, during this critical and pivotal time of her illness, she is reflecting no less!
As a matter of fact, after we got over talking about her physical challenges, we began to talk about the plans for her daughter’s wedding coming up in two weeks!
I felt blessed being in my friend’s presence, and the next day I left her home in San Francisco much stronger and better in MY SPIRIT than I’d been in recent times.
I was renewed in my spirit...because I was touched...by a truly beautiful spirit!
What do we do when the Gates of Hell open up to welcome us? How do we “negotiate” our way out, once we’ve entered? Can we “earn” a place back in Heaven?
Well, it depends on your view...your willingness to let go...and trust the circumstances of your life...to the unknown.
Quite frankly, it takes GUTS!
Prayer and affirmations work...for a time. But mostly, it takes a reaching into your soul...to find the strength within. When you’ve done enough of that and you still find yourself waking up in Hell, then you must just keep walking...through the darkness...until you hit the light. For light must be there!
Light must be there...because God is there!
God is in the midst of the darkness. God is there in the "hellish" circumstances...walking the distance with you. My friend did not have to tell me this: I knew this from the quietness and peace I felt emanating from her soul!
She’d always affirmed when things went awry: ”Everything in my life is in Divine Order RIGHT NOW!”
Everything truly is in Divine Order, though we may not see it.
I learned from my friend, especially during this last visit, that Hell is the mindset you adopt during times of trials. You really can reach "Heaven"...even in the midst of circumstances that others would see and experience as "Hell."
The consciousness in which you choose to “make your bed” truly is up to you.
Which gate do you choose to enter: Heaven’s or Hell’s?
Namaste’,
Che’
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Saturday, July 26, 2008
God's On Display Everywhere This Summer... Make Sure You Don't Miss Him!
I love the San Francisco Bay Area in the summer time. No. I love the San Francisco Bay Area...all the time.
But I especially love the San Francisco Bay Area in the summer time. That’s when I can see God on display in city after city, town after town, on most weekends... if I choose to follow the displays.
I thought I’d stopped this special past time since I'd moved away to Arizona for three years. But, no, this summer, the joy of seeing God on display is in me greater than ever.
You see in the summer time in the Bay Area, as I’m sure in many towns and cities in the Southwest United States, at least, there are all these people ....all these people with the greatest of talents...
...all these people who can paint like you’ve never seen before...
...all these people with imagination you’ve never believed possible in one human body...
...all these people with creativity that is exploding and being put and twisted on canvas, silk, wood... in glass, in brass, in leather, in wool, in water and in the air...
...all these people show up in the Bay Area in the summer time. (In Arizona, too, to a lesser extent, and if you want to see them all the time there...just go to Sedona)...
...in city after city, in town after town.
The immensity of the talent on display every weekend day is beyond belief, especially now that these people with eyes and imagination we didn’t know possible can marry technology with their talent.
They can turn a photo upside down...around and then some...and have you thinking you walked into the Twilight Zone of Magic in Art!
That’s what happening in city after city, town after town, in the San Francisco Bay Area with all these people.
Yes. They are turning these towns into Twilight Zones of Magic in Art!
It’s magic..
It’s God.
You see on any given weekend day in the summer time, if I choose to, I can go to Art and Wine Festivals that are held throughout the Silicon Valley and up and down the Peninsula Area of San Francisco Bay.
In order to not compete with each other on the same weekend, the towns now work it out so that one weekend, you may be at an Art and Wine Festival in Fremont, where I live, and the next weekend, you can cross over the Dumbarton Bridge and go to Palo Alto’s. Then the next weekend...to Menlo Park’s. The next weekend...to Sunnyvale’s or Mountain View’s...to Los Altos...and on and on and on.
And if you still haven't had enough...you can cross over the Golden Gate Bridge and go into Mill Valley or Tiburon or Sausalito... to get some more!
Most weekends you hear musicians playing from Jazz to R&B and see so many artists with such a range of talent. At each booth, you can see so many different displays of talent. Artists who created "wares" for us to enjoy from their raw talent.
One artist I spoke with for a time this past weekend said that she’d moved from painting on canvas to silk because she wanted her art to reach more people. So, now she has her art on silk...silk scarves that you cannot imagine! And now she said more people can afford her art for a fraction of what it would have cost them to purchase the same art on canvas. She’s using her skills now to touch more souls...to give them a little bit of God’s presence and power wrapped around their necks... or their waists... or around their shoulders.
This artist spent time showing me how she gets started with each piece: plain white silk! From there she traces the art onto the silk with a pencil. Then she starts injecting colors and starts “painting” on the silk. When she’s done, she’s got vibrant rich colors...designs of all kinds...that’s when she knows God came alive in her!
Then there are the photographers. There are those who spend the midnight hours in the Grand Canyon, outside Flagstaff, Arizona, or in the mountains in Utah somewhere, waiting for the night to turn to light...for dawn to start creeping in...so that they can creep out of their cabins...and get the right view...the right vision...the right angle on their lens. They then snap... and snap... and snap. They capture images of the Canyon, with the light hitting it in ways you and I would never see because we just won’t be up at that seemingly ungodly hour to get the right shot!
Then there are those artists who work with stones...then the ones who work with metal and turn them into earrings... and necklaces... and bracelets... and “things.”
There are those, too, who work with wood. They see things in wood...in plain wood...that you and I would look and look and never can imagine. But they do. They see the same piece of wood we see. But with them...they start imagining the wood turning into a bird, or a turtle, or a dog, or a cat or some other creature of nature.
Yes. That’s it...Creatures of Nature!
That’s what these artists are too: Creatures of Nature!
Creatures of God...seeing things you and I can’t see with our naked eyes.
Make sure you don’t miss them this weekend when they’re in your town.
Wherever you are in these United States this weekend, I’m sure there’s an Art Festival going on somewhere.
Try to go out out and support the artists. Even if you can’t buy anything, just show up to let them know that you care.
If you can afford it...buy their stuff, even if you already have so much “stuff.”
In that case, buy their stuff as gifts...and give it with love to someone else.
And when you give it to your people, just tell them…
...that God made it for them...
...that God sent it... with love!
Namaste’,
Che’
But I especially love the San Francisco Bay Area in the summer time. That’s when I can see God on display in city after city, town after town, on most weekends... if I choose to follow the displays.
I thought I’d stopped this special past time since I'd moved away to Arizona for three years. But, no, this summer, the joy of seeing God on display is in me greater than ever.
You see in the summer time in the Bay Area, as I’m sure in many towns and cities in the Southwest United States, at least, there are all these people ....all these people with the greatest of talents...
...all these people who can paint like you’ve never seen before...
...all these people with imagination you’ve never believed possible in one human body...
...all these people with creativity that is exploding and being put and twisted on canvas, silk, wood... in glass, in brass, in leather, in wool, in water and in the air...
...all these people show up in the Bay Area in the summer time. (In Arizona, too, to a lesser extent, and if you want to see them all the time there...just go to Sedona)...
...in city after city, in town after town.
The immensity of the talent on display every weekend day is beyond belief, especially now that these people with eyes and imagination we didn’t know possible can marry technology with their talent.
They can turn a photo upside down...around and then some...and have you thinking you walked into the Twilight Zone of Magic in Art!
That’s what happening in city after city, town after town, in the San Francisco Bay Area with all these people.
Yes. They are turning these towns into Twilight Zones of Magic in Art!
It’s magic..
It’s God.
You see on any given weekend day in the summer time, if I choose to, I can go to Art and Wine Festivals that are held throughout the Silicon Valley and up and down the Peninsula Area of San Francisco Bay.
In order to not compete with each other on the same weekend, the towns now work it out so that one weekend, you may be at an Art and Wine Festival in Fremont, where I live, and the next weekend, you can cross over the Dumbarton Bridge and go to Palo Alto’s. Then the next weekend...to Menlo Park’s. The next weekend...to Sunnyvale’s or Mountain View’s...to Los Altos...and on and on and on.
And if you still haven't had enough...you can cross over the Golden Gate Bridge and go into Mill Valley or Tiburon or Sausalito... to get some more!
Most weekends you hear musicians playing from Jazz to R&B and see so many artists with such a range of talent. At each booth, you can see so many different displays of talent. Artists who created "wares" for us to enjoy from their raw talent.
One artist I spoke with for a time this past weekend said that she’d moved from painting on canvas to silk because she wanted her art to reach more people. So, now she has her art on silk...silk scarves that you cannot imagine! And now she said more people can afford her art for a fraction of what it would have cost them to purchase the same art on canvas. She’s using her skills now to touch more souls...to give them a little bit of God’s presence and power wrapped around their necks... or their waists... or around their shoulders.
This artist spent time showing me how she gets started with each piece: plain white silk! From there she traces the art onto the silk with a pencil. Then she starts injecting colors and starts “painting” on the silk. When she’s done, she’s got vibrant rich colors...designs of all kinds...that’s when she knows God came alive in her!
Then there are the photographers. There are those who spend the midnight hours in the Grand Canyon, outside Flagstaff, Arizona, or in the mountains in Utah somewhere, waiting for the night to turn to light...for dawn to start creeping in...so that they can creep out of their cabins...and get the right view...the right vision...the right angle on their lens. They then snap... and snap... and snap. They capture images of the Canyon, with the light hitting it in ways you and I would never see because we just won’t be up at that seemingly ungodly hour to get the right shot!
Then there are those artists who work with stones...then the ones who work with metal and turn them into earrings... and necklaces... and bracelets... and “things.”
There are those, too, who work with wood. They see things in wood...in plain wood...that you and I would look and look and never can imagine. But they do. They see the same piece of wood we see. But with them...they start imagining the wood turning into a bird, or a turtle, or a dog, or a cat or some other creature of nature.
Yes. That’s it...Creatures of Nature!
That’s what these artists are too: Creatures of Nature!
Creatures of God...seeing things you and I can’t see with our naked eyes.
Make sure you don’t miss them this weekend when they’re in your town.
Wherever you are in these United States this weekend, I’m sure there’s an Art Festival going on somewhere.
Try to go out out and support the artists. Even if you can’t buy anything, just show up to let them know that you care.
If you can afford it...buy their stuff, even if you already have so much “stuff.”
In that case, buy their stuff as gifts...and give it with love to someone else.
And when you give it to your people, just tell them…
...that God made it for them...
...that God sent it... with love!
Namaste’,
Che’
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Spirit Operating FULLY in Those Not Awake!
Think of some of the most successful people you know.
These can be public figures or people in your personal sphere.
Think again about their overwhelming attributes. The qualities that stand out about them.
It’s an unknown something that makes them “tick.”
Yes. You can’t put your hands on it...but you know it’s there.
That’s it. That’s IT!
Spirit.
Within all these folks who don’t know the name of “God,” there is an overwhelming PRESENCE working in and through them. They are not aware of it, but you and the whole world of folks who know them are aware of “IT.”
We see it at work in and as their lives.
I have a pile of those people in my sphere...friends and acquaintances. They have a truckload of the stuff...without making any effort to do anything...but BE.
That’s where we all need to get.
I’m not equating material success to any spiritual aspirations we should have, but “success” often is the measure of the man. It is through material success that people of the “world” measure “success,” and it is through “substance” that people of the spiritual realm measure “manifestation."
When we wake up to the qualities operating in those who claim no allegiance to God, yet they go on rising and shining brighter than the rest of us, then we’ll fully understand the workings of God and the intimacies he wishes to share with us all.
God is not wishing and praying we’d go to church and “do good” and “right” by him.
No.
What’s he’s hoping those of us who are working so hard to connect to him will realize is that we don’t need to go anywhere to find him. He’s always at work in all of us...as us.
Where we tend to make our mistake is when we believe we have to do “something” to find him.
If only we can BE ...like the successfully unconscious folks that we know, then we’d get it right!
But you say you want to KNOW him...you answered "His Call" to your soul!
Yes. That’s right.
But what do we all do when we get "The Call"?
We begin searching.
That’s our first mistake.
When we realized "The Call"...the first time...the search had already begun and ...had ended.
That’s where we should have stopped and gone inside right to where "The Call" came through: into the Silence.
That’s the only searching that we ever need to do.
If you’re like me, when you got "The Call,” you began to look around...everywhere...BUT...inside of you!
If you’re like me, too, you went around many, many circuitous places and to so many faces of God that it’s no wonder you're probably still searching!
Like me, you may have gotten confused.
It was too simple.
"The Call" came from Inside...but you began to look...Outside.
“To and Fro” we go...
Here, there and everywhere...but...
Then, when all is tired and weary...
We give our soul a rest...
That’s when the answer we were seeking comes through.
I’m here.
I’m here.
I am HERE!
We feel grateful that we KNOW!
So, we begin to search for a place to PUT the gratitude.
Yes. A church.
An Anglican church. No. A Catholic church. Nope. A metaphysical church. Nope. A Buddhist church. Nay...nay...nay...a Hindu church. No...Christ church. No...no...no...
God speaks.
OBSTACLES appear in every attempt to connect closer to ANY church.
Do we listen? No. No. No.
I must...I must...let my gratitude SHOW!
Show to WHOM?
To the one who is already there?
No.
The only "gratitude"that is expected is to...“Get Closer, Child."
Go within.
Go into the Silence.
That’s the best form of GRATITUDE!
Not in a public display of TRUTH! Not in a public connection for TRUTH!
Only in the Silence...can TRUTH be told and GRATITUDE...fully expressed.
When you heed "The Call," the next and ONLY step should be to go inside...stay connected to the Inside.
That’s all the searching that is required.
In the Silence: no affirmations...no prayers...no words...no voice.
Be Still...in the Silence.
Witness the Presence. You, too, can become wildly
"successful" in the eyes of the world but...by being fully AWAKE!
Which "success" would you rather have?
Namaste’,
Che’
These can be public figures or people in your personal sphere.
Think again about their overwhelming attributes. The qualities that stand out about them.
It’s an unknown something that makes them “tick.”
Yes. You can’t put your hands on it...but you know it’s there.
That’s it. That’s IT!
Spirit.
Within all these folks who don’t know the name of “God,” there is an overwhelming PRESENCE working in and through them. They are not aware of it, but you and the whole world of folks who know them are aware of “IT.”
We see it at work in and as their lives.
I have a pile of those people in my sphere...friends and acquaintances. They have a truckload of the stuff...without making any effort to do anything...but BE.
That’s where we all need to get.
I’m not equating material success to any spiritual aspirations we should have, but “success” often is the measure of the man. It is through material success that people of the “world” measure “success,” and it is through “substance” that people of the spiritual realm measure “manifestation."
When we wake up to the qualities operating in those who claim no allegiance to God, yet they go on rising and shining brighter than the rest of us, then we’ll fully understand the workings of God and the intimacies he wishes to share with us all.
God is not wishing and praying we’d go to church and “do good” and “right” by him.
No.
What’s he’s hoping those of us who are working so hard to connect to him will realize is that we don’t need to go anywhere to find him. He’s always at work in all of us...as us.
Where we tend to make our mistake is when we believe we have to do “something” to find him.
If only we can BE ...like the successfully unconscious folks that we know, then we’d get it right!
But you say you want to KNOW him...you answered "His Call" to your soul!
Yes. That’s right.
But what do we all do when we get "The Call"?
We begin searching.
That’s our first mistake.
When we realized "The Call"...the first time...the search had already begun and ...had ended.
That’s where we should have stopped and gone inside right to where "The Call" came through: into the Silence.
That’s the only searching that we ever need to do.
If you’re like me, when you got "The Call,” you began to look around...everywhere...BUT...inside of you!
If you’re like me, too, you went around many, many circuitous places and to so many faces of God that it’s no wonder you're probably still searching!
Like me, you may have gotten confused.
It was too simple.
"The Call" came from Inside...but you began to look...Outside.
“To and Fro” we go...
Here, there and everywhere...but...
Then, when all is tired and weary...
We give our soul a rest...
That’s when the answer we were seeking comes through.
I’m here.
I’m here.
I am HERE!
We feel grateful that we KNOW!
So, we begin to search for a place to PUT the gratitude.
Yes. A church.
An Anglican church. No. A Catholic church. Nope. A metaphysical church. Nope. A Buddhist church. Nay...nay...nay...a Hindu church. No...Christ church. No...no...no...
God speaks.
OBSTACLES appear in every attempt to connect closer to ANY church.
Do we listen? No. No. No.
I must...I must...let my gratitude SHOW!
Show to WHOM?
To the one who is already there?
No.
The only "gratitude"that is expected is to...“Get Closer, Child."
Go within.
Go into the Silence.
That’s the best form of GRATITUDE!
Not in a public display of TRUTH! Not in a public connection for TRUTH!
Only in the Silence...can TRUTH be told and GRATITUDE...fully expressed.
When you heed "The Call," the next and ONLY step should be to go inside...stay connected to the Inside.
That’s all the searching that is required.
In the Silence: no affirmations...no prayers...no words...no voice.
Be Still...in the Silence.
Witness the Presence. You, too, can become wildly
"successful" in the eyes of the world but...by being fully AWAKE!
Which "success" would you rather have?
Namaste’,
Che’
Saturday, July 19, 2008
I met Christian in a laundromat...Tony...and... Brenda, too: Truly Sharing Life!
We’re often so locked into our worlds at work, at home, with our immediate family members and friends that we sometimes don’t make room for anyone, or anything, else. I was reminded of this “safe-world” community we tend to build around ourselves recently when I visited a laundromat. This visit was a clear reminder to expand my world...my life...my joy!
I was preparing for guests this weekend and wanted the comforters and everything in the guest room to be perfect. So, I headed with these large items to the laundromat, mid-morning, one recent weekday. I’m so glad I had the occasion.
In my heart, I still carry the memories of joy and love I shared with Christian, a four-year old boy. Then...there was Tony, too, whom I met and shared a sacred moment. Then, too, there was Brenda.
Let’s start with “Christian,” my four-year-old friend.
I had just slammed the washer shut and was turning away to attend to something else, when Christian stopped me in my tracks. I looked down and smiled at him. He came closer. I smiled some more. But Christian would not move! He wanted me to speak to him. He blocked my way, with his little four-year-old body and...with determination. I acquiesced. He had my attention.
“What is your name?” I asked. He lifted four fingers to show me his age.
Realizing that he mostly spoke Spanish I quickly asked in Spanish his name. “Christian,” he boldly and quickly said with a smile. “Hi, Christian. You’re four years old?” I asked, continuing to test my limited Spanish capabilities. He nodded. I rubbed his head.
Our friendship had begun.
Christian followed me, with his mother’s approval, to get extra change from the coin machine. He collected the quarters, while I put in the dollar bills. He was so happy to be my “assistant.”
When I settled on a bench to tie his shoe laces, Christian was beyond thrilled. He gave me such an unequivocal smile of love. It truly melted my heart!
Such a little thing I'd done......yet it meant so much to him.
Before he left, I gave him a gold dollar, closely hugging him. “Keep this safe,” I told him. He smiled as he waved goodbye.
Two minutes later, I looked up...there was Christian...again.
He’d returned from his mother’s car to offer me a gift of thank you: “Air Heads” candy!
Now, he had the opportunity to see me smile just as widely as he had when I’d tied his shoe laces.
He wanted to see my pleasure as I unwrapped then, ate, the candy. I would not oblige, as I rarely, if ever, eat candy. But I told him, "I will eat it...and enjoy it." He nodded, showing me that the candy stretches and in that is the real JOY!
I wanted to reach into my purse to find anything of sentimental, but lasting, value to give Christian. There! The rosary mailed to me by The Basilica of the National Shrine, Washington, DC, just a few weeks ago. I placed it over his head and around his neck. I touched him and said, ”Be Blessed Christian. Be Blessed.”
He was solemn as he left, but he was proud of the rosary beads hanging around his neck.
I reflected for a long time on Christian, tears in my eyes, as I thought of the “gift” of Spirit I’d experienced that day. Christian must have felt the need for affection and attention that day, as his mother had a months-old daughter in a carrier, who, on and off, was crying for attention.
Then, I went out to my car for a brief moment, and there I met Tony.
“I love your car,” he said. He turned to his girlfriend and repeated to her that he “LOVE (s) this car!”
I explained my car was almost 10 years old...but, yes, I loved it too.
Tony was in the laundromat about five minutes later to collect his clothes. Once again... he exclaimed about my car.
I told him,”You can have one too, if you’d like.” He seemed surprised.
I told him that he only had to believe that he could ...then, he, too, could achieve it.
I spoke some more about achieving through believing.
He stopped me and said, "It’s so strange you would be telling me this. It’s only recently I decided to move closer to God.”
I reinforced the message of Spirit within and told him that through life, all he really, really needed to do was to focus on the power within him. Through that connection, I told Tony, “You can do anything!”
Tony left, seemingly very grateful for our exchange...and yes...seeming very hopeful!
I moved to the back of the laundromat to fold my bulky comforters.
There was Brenda.
“It’s a nice day,” she said to me.
“Yes, nice...but hot.” I said
“Oh, I love the heat,” Brenda said. “That way, I get to sweat off the fat.”
We laughed and continued talking about the heat, with her reinforcing that she knows she loses weight when the weather is hot.
“I go out in the garden in 90-plus degree temperature, and I mow the lawn or do something physical,” Brenda said. “That way, the excess weight rolls off. I love the heat for that.”
Brenda and I continued our exchange. I’d learned something new: yes, heat would melt any excess fat, wouldn’t it? So...begin to appreciate the heat!
I said goodbye to Brenda, thanking her for the time she’d shared.
I finally headed out to my car, after 90 minutes at what had now become the "Laundromat!"
Ninety minutes... outside the confines of my home and my busyness.
Ninety minutes...of sharing love with a four-year-old boy...giving hope to a young man...gaining insight from a knowledgeable person.
Only ninety minutes ...once a month, if possible, to experience life anywhere... outside our “normal” zone...beyond the confines of our homes...our world... our people and...into...LIFE!
Spirit is in the laundromat! It’s in every place we choose to look.
Love is in the eyes of a stranger, not just those of our family.
Caring is in the words of a stranger, not just in those of your lover and best friends.
Reach and expand your world. You will enrich your life!
Namaste’,
Che’
I was preparing for guests this weekend and wanted the comforters and everything in the guest room to be perfect. So, I headed with these large items to the laundromat, mid-morning, one recent weekday. I’m so glad I had the occasion.
In my heart, I still carry the memories of joy and love I shared with Christian, a four-year old boy. Then...there was Tony, too, whom I met and shared a sacred moment. Then, too, there was Brenda.
Let’s start with “Christian,” my four-year-old friend.
I had just slammed the washer shut and was turning away to attend to something else, when Christian stopped me in my tracks. I looked down and smiled at him. He came closer. I smiled some more. But Christian would not move! He wanted me to speak to him. He blocked my way, with his little four-year-old body and...with determination. I acquiesced. He had my attention.
“What is your name?” I asked. He lifted four fingers to show me his age.
Realizing that he mostly spoke Spanish I quickly asked in Spanish his name. “Christian,” he boldly and quickly said with a smile. “Hi, Christian. You’re four years old?” I asked, continuing to test my limited Spanish capabilities. He nodded. I rubbed his head.
Our friendship had begun.
Christian followed me, with his mother’s approval, to get extra change from the coin machine. He collected the quarters, while I put in the dollar bills. He was so happy to be my “assistant.”
When I settled on a bench to tie his shoe laces, Christian was beyond thrilled. He gave me such an unequivocal smile of love. It truly melted my heart!
Such a little thing I'd done......yet it meant so much to him.
Before he left, I gave him a gold dollar, closely hugging him. “Keep this safe,” I told him. He smiled as he waved goodbye.
Two minutes later, I looked up...there was Christian...again.
He’d returned from his mother’s car to offer me a gift of thank you: “Air Heads” candy!
Now, he had the opportunity to see me smile just as widely as he had when I’d tied his shoe laces.
He wanted to see my pleasure as I unwrapped then, ate, the candy. I would not oblige, as I rarely, if ever, eat candy. But I told him, "I will eat it...and enjoy it." He nodded, showing me that the candy stretches and in that is the real JOY!
I wanted to reach into my purse to find anything of sentimental, but lasting, value to give Christian. There! The rosary mailed to me by The Basilica of the National Shrine, Washington, DC, just a few weeks ago. I placed it over his head and around his neck. I touched him and said, ”Be Blessed Christian. Be Blessed.”
He was solemn as he left, but he was proud of the rosary beads hanging around his neck.
I reflected for a long time on Christian, tears in my eyes, as I thought of the “gift” of Spirit I’d experienced that day. Christian must have felt the need for affection and attention that day, as his mother had a months-old daughter in a carrier, who, on and off, was crying for attention.
Then, I went out to my car for a brief moment, and there I met Tony.
“I love your car,” he said. He turned to his girlfriend and repeated to her that he “LOVE (s) this car!”
I explained my car was almost 10 years old...but, yes, I loved it too.
Tony was in the laundromat about five minutes later to collect his clothes. Once again... he exclaimed about my car.
I told him,”You can have one too, if you’d like.” He seemed surprised.
I told him that he only had to believe that he could ...then, he, too, could achieve it.
I spoke some more about achieving through believing.
He stopped me and said, "It’s so strange you would be telling me this. It’s only recently I decided to move closer to God.”
I reinforced the message of Spirit within and told him that through life, all he really, really needed to do was to focus on the power within him. Through that connection, I told Tony, “You can do anything!”
Tony left, seemingly very grateful for our exchange...and yes...seeming very hopeful!
I moved to the back of the laundromat to fold my bulky comforters.
There was Brenda.
“It’s a nice day,” she said to me.
“Yes, nice...but hot.” I said
“Oh, I love the heat,” Brenda said. “That way, I get to sweat off the fat.”
We laughed and continued talking about the heat, with her reinforcing that she knows she loses weight when the weather is hot.
“I go out in the garden in 90-plus degree temperature, and I mow the lawn or do something physical,” Brenda said. “That way, the excess weight rolls off. I love the heat for that.”
Brenda and I continued our exchange. I’d learned something new: yes, heat would melt any excess fat, wouldn’t it? So...begin to appreciate the heat!
I said goodbye to Brenda, thanking her for the time she’d shared.
I finally headed out to my car, after 90 minutes at what had now become the "Laundromat!"
Ninety minutes... outside the confines of my home and my busyness.
Ninety minutes...of sharing love with a four-year-old boy...giving hope to a young man...gaining insight from a knowledgeable person.
Only ninety minutes ...once a month, if possible, to experience life anywhere... outside our “normal” zone...beyond the confines of our homes...our world... our people and...into...LIFE!
Spirit is in the laundromat! It’s in every place we choose to look.
Love is in the eyes of a stranger, not just those of our family.
Caring is in the words of a stranger, not just in those of your lover and best friends.
Reach and expand your world. You will enrich your life!
Namaste’,
Che’
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Book Review: "Change Your Thoughts...Change Your Life: Living the Wisdom of the Tao" by Dr. Wayne Dyer
Most of what I learned about spirituality in my early years on the path, I learned from Wayne Dyer. I wish he’d written this book first. It would have saved me so much angst on the journey and so much “striving to arrive.” But as his colleague and friend, Deepak Chopra said in his book, The Third Jesus, “Spirit, like water, remains fresh only when it flows.”
Dyer’s consciousness was not there yet. Mine was so much, much further away.
As a matter of fact, I’d purchased Dyer’s book last year. I skimmed it and thought it would be a daunting task to weed through the many chapters to find the “pearls” I knew had to be somewhere in the pages. So, I read it sporadically, not making much connection with it, until recently when I picked it up again.
Now, with a changed consciousness, I find “pearls” in every page, in each chapter, in each day I read. “Wisdom of Tao,” is now my day- to- day guide for living. Each day, I pick a new chapter, or two, and try to “work” with it as I go through my day, trying to indeed practice the simple “Way” of the Tao.
“Living the Wisdom of the Tao” is not a book you read and put away on the shelf. It’s a book that’s intended to help you live your life in a clear, uncomplicated, simple, yet powerful way. Once you’ve reached a certain level of spiritual consciousness, then "Wisdom of the Tao" can provide a natural way to respond to the world unfolding around you and through you.
“The Wisdom of the Tao” that Dyer offers is based on “Tao Te Ching,” teachings that were dictated by Lao-tzu of China about 500 years before the birth of Jesus. In his “wisdom,” Dyer undertakes all 81 verses that make up the slim and tiny Tao Te Ching volume and interprets Lao-tzu’s meaning. Taking 81 very profound and insightful verses and trying to interpret the meaning of each line, each verse, obviously was not an easy thing to do. So, as Dyer explains, what we end up reading are his thoughts about what Lao-tzu meant.
He painstakingly went through each verse and strove for the meaning. Here’s how he said he did it:
“I awake before 4 a.m, meditate, consume juices and supplements, and enter my sacred writing space. In the table, I have some framed drawings of Lao-tzu: In one he’s clad in simple robes, in another he’s standing with a staff, and in a third he’s astride an ox. I ease into my work and read one verse of the Tao Te Ching, letting the words stay with me and inviting the forces of both the outer and the inner life to inform me.
Some of the passages contain ideas that seem to be directed to political leaders---yet in all cases I keep the average reader in mind. In other words, I seek the wisdom for “everyone”, not just for those in positions of government or business. I jot down a few notes, and for the next three days I think about what Lao-tzu is offering. I invite the Tao to be with Me throughout the day in all my activities as a background to the title of this book.'Change your thoughts, Wayne,' I tell myself, 'watch how your life changes.' And my thoughts' do' change!”
Using 10 of the most “well respected translations” of the "Tao Te Ching" in a period of over a year, Dyer set about writing his interpretation of the wisdom of the Tao, “the supreme reality, an all-pervasive source of everything .”
According to Dyer, The Tao cannot be named or defined. It never begins or ends, does nothing yet animates everything in the world of form and boundaries and which Lao-tzu calls ”the world of the 10,000 things.”
The 1st Verse Dyer interprets as “Living the Mystery.” Here his interpretation is that we just practice “letting go of always naming and labeling” things and relationships. Just let them be. “Let the world unfold without always attempting to figure it all out,” he writes. “Relax, let go, allow and recognize that some of your desires are about how you think your world should be, rather than how it is in the moment.”
I will not attempt to recount verse by verse, Dyer’s interpretations of the Tao. But this is truly the only way the essence of the book can be shared. To attempt to put words to Dyer’s message would be doing a disservice to him and all the work he put into translating the Tao so that we may benefit.
What I will say is that EACH chapter, each of the 81 verses, from the first to the last two, “Living Your Own Utopia” and “Living Without Accumulating,” offers pearls that people search a lifetime to find. The good thing is that you don’t have to read the chapters in sequence. You can go to “the one” that speaks to you on a certain day and work with it.
For example, if you feel the need of “letting go,” you would select Verse 55, “Living by Letting Go.” If your preference is to learn how to put aside the ways of the world, then you’d select Verse 35,”Living Beyond World Pleasures, ” or you may choose, Verse 37, “Living in Simplicity.”
My goal is to go through each one of the verses repeatedly over the next year, until their essence is a part of my “being.”
One important verse that you may want to incorporate immediately to deal with any stress you currently may be experiencing is Verse 50: “Living as an Immortal.”
Here, Dyer offers that “since the fear of death tops virtually everyone’s list of anxieties,” why not die now...while you’re alive!? He offers this exercise to “Die While You’re Alive!”
“In your imagination, contemplate the death of your physical shell: Visualize it lying there lifeless, and observe how you, the witness, aren’t identified with this corpse. Now bring that same attention to your body as it gets up and goes about its daily tasks. Nothing could harm your human form when it was dead, and nothing can harm you now because you are not that body---you’re the invisible witnessing essence. Remain in this realization, knowing that you’ve experienced the death of your earthly container as your primary source of identification. In this new awareness, you’re impenetrable and free.”
Dyer sees this exercise as allowing you to “change how you think about death by seeing your essential spiritual beingness, and you’ll be able to enjoy this world without the dread caused by believing you are of it."
I tried this exercise, and it does seem to take you to a different level.
I’m confident that like me, after you read this powerful offering by Dyer, you’ll feel tremendously grateful to him for providing this message of love, hope, and guidance in “Living the Wisdom of the Tao.”
Years ago, I’d purchased the “Tao Te Ching,” because someone somewhere had told me that it was a MUST read for anyone on the spiritual path. I still have my tiny little volume, and now thanks to Wayne Dyer, I can pick up “my little black book” and feel a “connection” with the verses.
With “Change your thoughts...and Change your life: Living the Wisdom of the Tao,” you are given a powerful way to becoming more empowered, yet living simply, with less complications and less at the will of your ego.
All you need do, now, is pick up a copy and keep it as your companion to following the “way” to the TRUTH within you! You’ll be so much richer...and much, much wiser... for doing so.
Namaste’,
Che’
Dyer’s consciousness was not there yet. Mine was so much, much further away.
As a matter of fact, I’d purchased Dyer’s book last year. I skimmed it and thought it would be a daunting task to weed through the many chapters to find the “pearls” I knew had to be somewhere in the pages. So, I read it sporadically, not making much connection with it, until recently when I picked it up again.
Now, with a changed consciousness, I find “pearls” in every page, in each chapter, in each day I read. “Wisdom of Tao,” is now my day- to- day guide for living. Each day, I pick a new chapter, or two, and try to “work” with it as I go through my day, trying to indeed practice the simple “Way” of the Tao.
“Living the Wisdom of the Tao” is not a book you read and put away on the shelf. It’s a book that’s intended to help you live your life in a clear, uncomplicated, simple, yet powerful way. Once you’ve reached a certain level of spiritual consciousness, then "Wisdom of the Tao" can provide a natural way to respond to the world unfolding around you and through you.
“The Wisdom of the Tao” that Dyer offers is based on “Tao Te Ching,” teachings that were dictated by Lao-tzu of China about 500 years before the birth of Jesus. In his “wisdom,” Dyer undertakes all 81 verses that make up the slim and tiny Tao Te Ching volume and interprets Lao-tzu’s meaning. Taking 81 very profound and insightful verses and trying to interpret the meaning of each line, each verse, obviously was not an easy thing to do. So, as Dyer explains, what we end up reading are his thoughts about what Lao-tzu meant.
He painstakingly went through each verse and strove for the meaning. Here’s how he said he did it:
“I awake before 4 a.m, meditate, consume juices and supplements, and enter my sacred writing space. In the table, I have some framed drawings of Lao-tzu: In one he’s clad in simple robes, in another he’s standing with a staff, and in a third he’s astride an ox. I ease into my work and read one verse of the Tao Te Ching, letting the words stay with me and inviting the forces of both the outer and the inner life to inform me.
Some of the passages contain ideas that seem to be directed to political leaders---yet in all cases I keep the average reader in mind. In other words, I seek the wisdom for “everyone”, not just for those in positions of government or business. I jot down a few notes, and for the next three days I think about what Lao-tzu is offering. I invite the Tao to be with Me throughout the day in all my activities as a background to the title of this book.'Change your thoughts, Wayne,' I tell myself, 'watch how your life changes.' And my thoughts' do' change!”
Using 10 of the most “well respected translations” of the "Tao Te Ching" in a period of over a year, Dyer set about writing his interpretation of the wisdom of the Tao, “the supreme reality, an all-pervasive source of everything .”
According to Dyer, The Tao cannot be named or defined. It never begins or ends, does nothing yet animates everything in the world of form and boundaries and which Lao-tzu calls ”the world of the 10,000 things.”
The 1st Verse Dyer interprets as “Living the Mystery.” Here his interpretation is that we just practice “letting go of always naming and labeling” things and relationships. Just let them be. “Let the world unfold without always attempting to figure it all out,” he writes. “Relax, let go, allow and recognize that some of your desires are about how you think your world should be, rather than how it is in the moment.”
I will not attempt to recount verse by verse, Dyer’s interpretations of the Tao. But this is truly the only way the essence of the book can be shared. To attempt to put words to Dyer’s message would be doing a disservice to him and all the work he put into translating the Tao so that we may benefit.
What I will say is that EACH chapter, each of the 81 verses, from the first to the last two, “Living Your Own Utopia” and “Living Without Accumulating,” offers pearls that people search a lifetime to find. The good thing is that you don’t have to read the chapters in sequence. You can go to “the one” that speaks to you on a certain day and work with it.
For example, if you feel the need of “letting go,” you would select Verse 55, “Living by Letting Go.” If your preference is to learn how to put aside the ways of the world, then you’d select Verse 35,”Living Beyond World Pleasures, ” or you may choose, Verse 37, “Living in Simplicity.”
My goal is to go through each one of the verses repeatedly over the next year, until their essence is a part of my “being.”
One important verse that you may want to incorporate immediately to deal with any stress you currently may be experiencing is Verse 50: “Living as an Immortal.”
Here, Dyer offers that “since the fear of death tops virtually everyone’s list of anxieties,” why not die now...while you’re alive!? He offers this exercise to “Die While You’re Alive!”
“In your imagination, contemplate the death of your physical shell: Visualize it lying there lifeless, and observe how you, the witness, aren’t identified with this corpse. Now bring that same attention to your body as it gets up and goes about its daily tasks. Nothing could harm your human form when it was dead, and nothing can harm you now because you are not that body---you’re the invisible witnessing essence. Remain in this realization, knowing that you’ve experienced the death of your earthly container as your primary source of identification. In this new awareness, you’re impenetrable and free.”
Dyer sees this exercise as allowing you to “change how you think about death by seeing your essential spiritual beingness, and you’ll be able to enjoy this world without the dread caused by believing you are of it."
I tried this exercise, and it does seem to take you to a different level.
I’m confident that like me, after you read this powerful offering by Dyer, you’ll feel tremendously grateful to him for providing this message of love, hope, and guidance in “Living the Wisdom of the Tao.”
Years ago, I’d purchased the “Tao Te Ching,” because someone somewhere had told me that it was a MUST read for anyone on the spiritual path. I still have my tiny little volume, and now thanks to Wayne Dyer, I can pick up “my little black book” and feel a “connection” with the verses.
With “Change your thoughts...and Change your life: Living the Wisdom of the Tao,” you are given a powerful way to becoming more empowered, yet living simply, with less complications and less at the will of your ego.
All you need do, now, is pick up a copy and keep it as your companion to following the “way” to the TRUTH within you! You’ll be so much richer...and much, much wiser... for doing so.
Namaste’,
Che’
Friday, July 11, 2008
Love Will Find a Way! Don't Give IN... Don't Give UP...when "forces" are at Work!
“There’s only one presence and one power: God the Good, the Omnipotent!”
As a Unity student, I know this is TRUTH.
But to ignore the “other “ forces that seek to disrupt the flow of life is to be in total denial and reckless! There are negative forces at work---continuously---in our lives. This is also truth. But the difference with TRUTH and truth is that only ONE is absolute. Knowing this difference is the key to remaining steadfast even when cast into the “eye of the storm” (s) in life.
I grew along the spiritual path, wanting to believe only in TRUTH. As a new Unity student, I was able to stay true to this belief and life unfolded beautifully for me. Then, a phenomenon started: the steeper my climb along the spiritual path, the more determined I became committed to climb even higher and go deeper, the more “battles” I had to fight ---constantly---along the way.
When I gave in to these "forces," I knew I was going against TRUTH. It is then that only prayer and meditation pulled me out of the grasps of this “evil.”
I lived to fight another day!
Just when I thought I’d reached another spiritual plateau...more "forces" erupted...to challenge me.
I could not believe this! How many battles do we have to fight in one lifetime, I wondered?
Then, a curious thing began to happen.
When I truly held to TRUTH...no matter what the circumstances, no matter how fierce the storm...I always came out victorious and stronger for the wear!
Holding to TRUTH is a difficult, difficult thing to do, when life all around you would suggest that you are in denial of the battle waging against you. Things happen outside you that make absolutely NO sense; you are suspended in a surreal state. I described this as being in “Twilight Zone.” But it is in those times that you must hold on with a tighter rein and never, ever let go of TRUTH!
For the battles that we fight in life ...the seeming “evil” that we have to overcome...truly have NO power. Those forces of negativity arise precisely because of our faltering belief in TRUTH.
You see the "evil forces" are: fear, anger, disbelief, worry, guilt, impatience, hatred, stress, or any condition that would seem to challenge the omnipotence and omnipresence of God in our lives. They can be forces coming at us from the outside, or from within our own soul! Sometimes, so "dark” are these "forces" that at one time, the Catholic Church used to perform exorcisms.
These "forces" want us to give in and give up! If there is a “Satan,” these "forces" are it! This was the "force" at work in the life of Job!
Like Job discovered, they are all “forces” of the mind. So, if we give them “power” in our minds, then they would have power! But if we see them as arising only to challenge TRUTH as we know it, then we will see these very "forces" wither away and die!
I say this...because it is the absolute TRUTH!
The only thing that has power over you in your life is that to which you give power!
I know this because I’ve lived it and... almost...gave in.
I remember vividly the day I thought I’d fought one battle too many. So, I quickly told God to “Let Go of me...just let ‘it’ win for now.”
“I’ll be back,” I said to God. “Just give my soul a rest for a while. I’m weary.”
Just in that moment of defeat...I felt the LOVE...of TRUTH...of God...take over!
I fought back...hard!
I found the strength in me that had been dormant for a few weary days rising up to strike back. I became determined to survive...to not give in... to not give up... believing in TRUTH! I knew that “it” was hoping to get me in its ugly grasp...and was waiting...to snap shut its mouth on me.
That’s when I rose up...from within.
In that moment of triumph, I sang the first song I’d ever heard at Unity:
“I am free...I am unlimited...there are no chains that bind me.
I am free...I am unlimited...right now...right now!”
I found energy that I thought was long depleted, as I headed out the door.
I turned on the car radio to Lionel Richie’s voice. It took me a while to register the lyrics of the song, so powerful were they in that moment in time:
“Are you feeling down, and lonely.
Feeling like you can't go on.
Just remember love will find a way.
Tell me are you going through changes.
Time seems like it's passing by.
Just believe that love will find a way.
I see the tears you cry.
I see the pain that's in your eyes.
So many times you were so lonely.
And no one seemed to care.
But if your hopes, for your tomorrows.
Are drowning in your sorrows.
Know your heart will show you the way.
Are you trying to find a beginning.
Or something just to hold on to.
Always know that love will find a way.
Is it hard this life you're living?
Does the world seem so unkind?
Don't you worry, love will find a way.
Some say we've lost, our way.
Some say the world has gone astray.
But if you know where you're going,
there's nothing you can't do...
'cause problems will come...
and they will leave you.
The world will try to deceive you.
But the truth will always be in your soul!”
Wow! Was God not talking to me!? Until then, I never realized that Lionel Richie was singing a spiritual song!
Most every religion or teaching talks about not giving in to the negatives...about having faith. We see this in Christian Science’s entire focus only on “God, the Good,” with anything else being “error thought.” Mormonism, too, focuses only on God, and on absolute faith. And there are so many others...speaking TRUTH!
“God did not give us a spirit of fear...but of Power and Love and of a Sound Mind!”:2 Timothy 1:7
“Oh help, thou, my unbelief!”: Mark 9:24
“The battle is not yours but God’s!”: 2 Chronicles 20: 15
“Stand ye still and see the salvation of the Lord!”: Exodus 14:13; 2 Chronicles 20:17
If you’re ever tempted to give in and give up...to fear, anger, despair, hopelessness, worry, guilt...challenges or darkness of any kind...
...always try to remember these words...as they point only to TRUTH...the absolute:
Love (God) always will find a way! The truth will always be in your soul!
Namaste’
Che’
As a Unity student, I know this is TRUTH.
But to ignore the “other “ forces that seek to disrupt the flow of life is to be in total denial and reckless! There are negative forces at work---continuously---in our lives. This is also truth. But the difference with TRUTH and truth is that only ONE is absolute. Knowing this difference is the key to remaining steadfast even when cast into the “eye of the storm” (s) in life.
I grew along the spiritual path, wanting to believe only in TRUTH. As a new Unity student, I was able to stay true to this belief and life unfolded beautifully for me. Then, a phenomenon started: the steeper my climb along the spiritual path, the more determined I became committed to climb even higher and go deeper, the more “battles” I had to fight ---constantly---along the way.
When I gave in to these "forces," I knew I was going against TRUTH. It is then that only prayer and meditation pulled me out of the grasps of this “evil.”
I lived to fight another day!
Just when I thought I’d reached another spiritual plateau...more "forces" erupted...to challenge me.
I could not believe this! How many battles do we have to fight in one lifetime, I wondered?
Then, a curious thing began to happen.
When I truly held to TRUTH...no matter what the circumstances, no matter how fierce the storm...I always came out victorious and stronger for the wear!
Holding to TRUTH is a difficult, difficult thing to do, when life all around you would suggest that you are in denial of the battle waging against you. Things happen outside you that make absolutely NO sense; you are suspended in a surreal state. I described this as being in “Twilight Zone.” But it is in those times that you must hold on with a tighter rein and never, ever let go of TRUTH!
For the battles that we fight in life ...the seeming “evil” that we have to overcome...truly have NO power. Those forces of negativity arise precisely because of our faltering belief in TRUTH.
You see the "evil forces" are: fear, anger, disbelief, worry, guilt, impatience, hatred, stress, or any condition that would seem to challenge the omnipotence and omnipresence of God in our lives. They can be forces coming at us from the outside, or from within our own soul! Sometimes, so "dark” are these "forces" that at one time, the Catholic Church used to perform exorcisms.
These "forces" want us to give in and give up! If there is a “Satan,” these "forces" are it! This was the "force" at work in the life of Job!
Like Job discovered, they are all “forces” of the mind. So, if we give them “power” in our minds, then they would have power! But if we see them as arising only to challenge TRUTH as we know it, then we will see these very "forces" wither away and die!
I say this...because it is the absolute TRUTH!
The only thing that has power over you in your life is that to which you give power!
I know this because I’ve lived it and... almost...gave in.
I remember vividly the day I thought I’d fought one battle too many. So, I quickly told God to “Let Go of me...just let ‘it’ win for now.”
“I’ll be back,” I said to God. “Just give my soul a rest for a while. I’m weary.”
Just in that moment of defeat...I felt the LOVE...of TRUTH...of God...take over!
I fought back...hard!
I found the strength in me that had been dormant for a few weary days rising up to strike back. I became determined to survive...to not give in... to not give up... believing in TRUTH! I knew that “it” was hoping to get me in its ugly grasp...and was waiting...to snap shut its mouth on me.
That’s when I rose up...from within.
In that moment of triumph, I sang the first song I’d ever heard at Unity:
“I am free...I am unlimited...there are no chains that bind me.
I am free...I am unlimited...right now...right now!”
I found energy that I thought was long depleted, as I headed out the door.
I turned on the car radio to Lionel Richie’s voice. It took me a while to register the lyrics of the song, so powerful were they in that moment in time:
“Are you feeling down, and lonely.
Feeling like you can't go on.
Just remember love will find a way.
Tell me are you going through changes.
Time seems like it's passing by.
Just believe that love will find a way.
I see the tears you cry.
I see the pain that's in your eyes.
So many times you were so lonely.
And no one seemed to care.
But if your hopes, for your tomorrows.
Are drowning in your sorrows.
Know your heart will show you the way.
Are you trying to find a beginning.
Or something just to hold on to.
Always know that love will find a way.
Is it hard this life you're living?
Does the world seem so unkind?
Don't you worry, love will find a way.
Some say we've lost, our way.
Some say the world has gone astray.
But if you know where you're going,
there's nothing you can't do...
'cause problems will come...
and they will leave you.
The world will try to deceive you.
But the truth will always be in your soul!”
Wow! Was God not talking to me!? Until then, I never realized that Lionel Richie was singing a spiritual song!
Most every religion or teaching talks about not giving in to the negatives...about having faith. We see this in Christian Science’s entire focus only on “God, the Good,” with anything else being “error thought.” Mormonism, too, focuses only on God, and on absolute faith. And there are so many others...speaking TRUTH!
“God did not give us a spirit of fear...but of Power and Love and of a Sound Mind!”:2 Timothy 1:7
“Oh help, thou, my unbelief!”: Mark 9:24
“The battle is not yours but God’s!”: 2 Chronicles 20: 15
“Stand ye still and see the salvation of the Lord!”: Exodus 14:13; 2 Chronicles 20:17
If you’re ever tempted to give in and give up...to fear, anger, despair, hopelessness, worry, guilt...challenges or darkness of any kind...
...always try to remember these words...as they point only to TRUTH...the absolute:
Love (God) always will find a way! The truth will always be in your soul!
Namaste’
Che’
Saturday, July 5, 2008
What I know to be the Truth About Mormonism!
"Seeking Common Ground" series: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS)!
Five years ago this June, Elizabeth Smart, then 14 years old, was kidnapped from her bedroom at her parents’ home in Salt Lake City, Utah. For nine months, she was held captive by a drifter and his wife, until she was recognized on a city street with her captors and reunited with her parents.
When Elizabeth was found, I was thrilled, yet fascinated with the fact that she was indeed found safely, albeit a bit dazed and somewhat altered. I saw the joy of her father, Ed, who for all the nine months had never wavered in his faith, composure and “knowing” that she would eventually be returned home.
So of course when I saw a recent cover story on Elizabeth, five years after the ordeal, I was very interested to learn how she was doing. Well, of course she’s fine.
Elizabeth Smart today is a poised and, seemingly, well adjusted 20 year old. She also seems much wiser than her years. “We are all tested and tried,” Elizabeth said in the interview. “But I don’t think we were sent here to be unhappy or hold on to hurt feelings.”
She also said, “I feel so fortunate that I was able to come through this unscarred. I want to tell other people ’Don’t give up. Miracles do happen.’ ” She also added at another point,”I no longer feel that this was something bad to happen to me.”
According to reports, Elizabeth declined psychotherapy, choosing instead to speak with her parents and grandparents whenever she felt the need for guidance. In truth, I’m not a least bit surprised about Elizabeth’s resilience and the tremendous growth and “wisdom beyond her years” that she has gained from the ordeal.
If you’ve spent any time with Mormons, you’d know that these are people who not
only try to teach their faith, they live it!
My close exposure to Mormonism started sometime in 2003 when two missionaries, in their late teens/early 20s, knocked on my door in Hayward, California. I welcomed them in but quickly told them I was not interested in being “preached” to about the Mormon teachings; I had my own beliefs.
Those two young men were so respectful that I told them to stop by anytime they were in the neighborhood, and we could chat. Well, they did.
Even when those two moved on, others came, with a set of two Mormons stopping by my home throughout 2003. They knew that it was one of the homes in my neighborhood that had an “open-door” policy towards them. So, if it rained or if they were simply tired, they came in and sat and chatted with me. We talked about everything else... but not... religion.
I was especially grateful for my friendship with these young Mormon missionaries, when I needed to have someone available in my home for a large-item donation to the Salvation Army. I needed to be away, attending to business elsewhere, and it was two missionaries who stayed in my home and waited for the Salvation Army to show up.
The Mormons I’ve known are trustworthy, loving and full of faith. I was thrilled meeting so many in the three years I spent in Arizona and always had great encounters with them too.
Today, my home always will be open to any Mormon who wants to stop by and visit.
I know people in neighborhoods throughout the country are not always so open to Mormons, and possibly don’t even give them a hearing, because of presumptions they make about the Mormon teachings. That really is too bad! They truly are missing out on meeting some wonderful people, especially young men who are so full of hope and love and respect.
I am not blind...nor deaf...to the many controversies surrounding Mormonism. But the truth is...I don’t care what the Mormons teach! Those teachings have...nothing...no-thing...to do with me! The teachings of Mormonism is strictly between the church and its followers. All that I am concerned about and all I know is true about the teachings is that the “product” of a Mormon upbringing is one most parents would be proud.
For our purposes, here, today I will not focus on the many and deep controversies of the Mormon church. Instead, I’ll share with you information I know provide some truth about the teachings so that you have a basic understanding.
The Mormon Church is known as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS).
The history of Mormonism began in 1820 near Palmyra, New York. Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of Mormonism, claimed to have received a series of visions in which he was told by God that all the churches were "wrong," their "creeds were an abomination in his sight," and all their "professors were corrupt." Smith was told that God would restore the true New Testament church, using him as a mouthpiece. Consequently, Mormons believe that the Christian Church went into apostasy after the death of the Apostles. Smith came to restore the church as it was before the Apostles died, thus, the Mormon church considers Joseph Smith, Jr. to be the first prophet of a new dispensation.
In the course of his visions, Smith was visited by an angel, Moroni, who disclosed to him the location of a book "written upon gold plates, giving an account of the former inhabitants of this [American] continent, and the source from whence they sprang". Moroni also said that "the fullness of the everlasting Gospel was contained in it, as delivered by the Savior to the ancient inhabitants" Smith was instructed to retrieve the plates and translate them with God's assistance. The result is called the Book of Mormon, first published on March 26, 1830. Smith referred to the Book of Mormon as "the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion"
In conjunction with its belief in modern prophets and revelation, Mormonism teaches that the Bible is not the sum total of God's words to man, though it is certainly one major portion. The canon of scriptures in Mormonism contains the Bible and three other books: the Book of Mormon (a record of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas whom Christ visited after His resurrection), the Doctrine and Covenants (revelations given to Joseph Smith and his successors concerning Church policy and doctrine), and the Pearl of Great Price (which includes additional writings by Moses and Abraham as well as a section that outlines the basic tenets of Mormonism).
Another major teaching of Mormonism concerns the Godhead. Mormonism teaches that God the Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are three separate and distinct individuals united in purpose.
About Jews and the Mormon Faith
The theology of LDS incorporates many Old Testament ideas. As such, Mormonism has a historical affinity for Judaism. The beliefs of Mormons sometimes seem to parallel those of Judaism and certain elements of Jewish culture. These are primarily historical and doctrinal connections with Judaism.
In his time, Joseph Smith named the largest Mormon settlement he founded Nauvoo, which means "to be beautiful" in Hebrew. Later, Brigham Young, LDS leader from 1847 to 1887, named a tributary of the Great Salt Lake the "Jordan River." The LDS Church created a writing system, the Deseret Alphabet, based, in part, on Hebrew. Currently, the LDS Church has a Jerusalem Center in Israel, at which some college-aged youth study and learn to appreciate and respect the region.
The LDS church also teaches that its adherents are members of the House of Israel. Patriarchal blessings are received by most Mormon individuals in their youth. Among other things, the purpose of the blessing is to declare one's lineage i.e. the tribe to which the individual belongs.
There has been some controversy involving Jewish groups and Mormons. In the 1990s, Jewish groups vocally opposed the LDS practice of baptism for the dead on behalf of Jewish victims of the Holocaust and Jews in general. According to LDS Church general authority Monte J. Brough, "Mormons who baptized 380,000 Holocaust victims posthumously were motivated by love and compassion and did not understand their gesture might offend Jews ... they did not realize that what they intended as a 'Christian act of service' was 'misguided and insensitive.'"
About Blacks and the Mormon Faith
The LDS movement has had a range of policies and doctrines relating to black people.
When the Mormons migrated to Missouri they encountered the pro-slavery sentiments, and initially, Joseph Smith, Jr. supported the laws regarding slaves and slaveholders. Eventually, though, Smith rejected the institution and supported its abolition. Smith also welcomed free blacks into the church and ordained black men to the priesthood.
[Entertainer Gladys Knight converted to Mormonism]
Following the death of Joseph Smith, Jr. and a succession crisis, leaders of the major LDS denomination continued to welcome all people, regardless of color to be members. But they began to exclude people of “black African descent” from priesthood ordination and from participation in temple ceremonies. These practices continued until September 30, 1978, when church President Spencer W. Kimball, acting in his office as Living Prophet declared that in early June of 1978 he had received a revelation from God to extend the priesthood and temple ordinances to all worthy male members.
Other Latter Day Saint denominations dealt differently with the issue. The Community of Christ, The Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonite), and the Strangites have always allowed those of black African descent to hold the priesthood and participate fully in the religion. The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and other Mormon fundamentalist groups continue the practice of exclusion based on race.
About Polygamy and the Mormon Faith
Mormonism has been closely associated in public discourse with polygamy.
In the 1830s, Joseph Smith, Jr. instituted a form of polygamy referred to as plural marriage, which Brigham Young acknowledged and promoted after he moved the LDS church's headquarters to Utah.
Upon learning about the practice, various political and church organizations became active in seeking the banning of the practice in the early 1880s. In 1890, the United States Congress finally passed laws that upheld criminalizing polygamy and set about dissolving polygamous families. A few months after the U.S. Supreme Court decision, the LDS church issued its 1890 Manifesto renouncing the practice of polygamy.
The 1890 renunciation of polygamy by the LDS Church also led to a number of schisms involving relatively small groups who today describe themselves as Mormon fundamentalists and who still practice polygamy as well as other elements of 19th-century Mormonism that have been rejected or denounced by the LDS Church. These organizations believe that their doctrines and practices remain true to the original teachings of Joseph Smith, Jr. and Brigham Young.
Today, the LDS Church asserts the time for polygamy has ended, rejects the practice, and excommunicates members who engage in it. In 1998, President Gordon B. Hinckley said, "I wish to state categorically that this Church has nothing whatever to do with those practicing polygamy."
With the recent raid of a polygamist compound in Eldorado, Texas, the LDS organization felt it necessary to issue a strong statement in April 2008, denouncing polygamy and stating unequivocally that it had no ties to Warren Jeffs, the polygamist leader. The statement said, “Jeffs is not now, and never has been a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons). Neither does he have any connection or association, official or unofficial, with the Church.”
State of the state of Mormonism Today
There are currently more than 120 LDS temples worldwide. In order to qualify as a temple, approximately 65,000 members must be in an immediate area. Temples are required for Mormon marriages and for proxy baptisms of ancestors. Before an LDS member is allowed to enter a Temple, he or she must prove to be worthy and “pure” in thoughts and intentions. Local LDS churches are called Wards or Stake Centers and members meet for worship in what the LDS calls "meeting houses.”
One prophet leads the Mormon church. Beneath the prophet, in authority, is the Council of the Twelve Apostles. A third group of men is called the First and Second Councils of the Seventy. All of these men together are called the General Authorities.
Teachings of Mormonism
Mormonism also has many teachings regarding the personal lives of those who live by it.
•Family: Family is very important in Mormonism and members of the Mormon Church are encouraged to love their families and strengthen their relationships with them. Through temple work, Mormonism teaches that families and marriages can remain intact after death and throughout eternity.
•Physical and Mental Health: Mormonism has a health code, known as the Word of Wisdom. Mormonism teaches against smoking, drinking alcohol, tea, or coffee, and the use of harmful drugs. It also promotes eating healthy foods such as fruits, vegetables, and grains. Mormonism also stresses the importance of everyone receiving the best education they can.
•Missionary Work is a fundamental principle of the Mormon Church, and has become one of the most readily identifiable characteristics of Mormons. Members of the LDS church are easily recognized by the darks suits and white shirts of male missionaries, 19-24 years old, called Elders, biking or walking two by two on the streets of cities, both large and small, throughout the world. Female missionaries, typically 21 years old, who also go forth two by two, are called Sisters. All missionaries have been assigned by Church headquarters to their area of work, which can be in any part of the world where governments allow them to preach. They contribute to their own support for up to two years, frequently learning another language.
But missionaries could also be young, old, or married couples as well, depending on their type of “mission.”
As Elizabeth Smart turns 21, it’ll be interesting to see whether LDS leaders make her “exempt” from missionary work, based on her nine-month ordeal.
I know this...whatever the LDS leaders decide about Elizabeth, they should know that she already has been a faithful, loyal and true “ambassador” of their teachings and beliefs!
Namaste’,
Che’
NOTE: For more information on Mormonism, there is an active Mormon site with a blog: http://www.mormonstories.org. The official site on Mormonism: http://www.lds.org. Also see: http://blacklds.org.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Are you WILLING to Sacrifice your "only begotten Son"? Going the Spiritual Distance!
This is: "I'd rather be blogging Post!" ;-)
I get many e-mails during the course of the day. Before, I used to spend time carefully reading, sorting through, then deleting or forwarding them on to others. Now, I read them and smile. When they are funny, and would truly brighten someone else’s day with laughter, I forward those on to my e-mail buddies.
I mostly erase and not forward those that are “spiritual” now. I especially don’t forward those that state at the end how much one needs to prove their love for “God” or “Jesus” by forwarding! (I tend to still fall for those with great photography and graphics!)
So many, many, many people claim to love God and to love Jesus!
Yes, forwarding an e-mail to prove such love is a very, very easy thing to do! It costs nothing! The people to whom the e-mails are forwarded already subscribe to some spiritual or Christian beliefs. So, the forwarder loses no “face” with anyone in that circle.
Try forwarding it to a boss or colleagues. That’s when I’d say you’re going beyond the bounds of the ordinary!
When people claim to love God and love “Jesus,” I’m often so tempted to ask:”Would you give up your only begotten son, like the old Testament fable of Abraham’s willingness to give up his son, Isaac?"
Maybe...in another age and time, God did ask us to make human sacrifices. This...I do not know. Maybe...according to some religious beliefs...he still asks this of us today. I cannot speak to those types of sacrifices.
What I can speak to are the sacrifices I know God asks of us day by day, and we pretend we don’t hear, or we say, “he can’t be talking to me!”
Yes... God is talking to you!
He’s not asking you to prove anything! He simply is asking you to get “closer” to him!
Often, the “sacrifices” he seems to be asking of us today do seem to many to be their “only begotten son!”
Those are the sacrifices close to our hearts: like our comfort zone.
Our comfort zone is...in...
...the job that people may hate so much but stay in because of a "paycheck!”
...the relationship that only provides torture but where many stay because of the need for a man or woman in their lives!
...the $50 you hold on to as “security” for your future because of a belief in lack and “never having enough” to spare?
With people being so reluctant to give up these “small” sacrifices, then it becomes laughable...yes... indeed laughable...to believe God would ever ask anyone to give up their real, live “only begotten son!”
If a child is taken seemingly prematurely from a family, the entire world mourns! That’s when many people throw up their fists at God and turn their backs forever on any belief in religion or spirituality! Indeed, this is the time that people believe God is absent in their lives.
But I challenge you to believe that these are the times that God is very, very present in your life and is inviting you to move closer!
The “things” that God seemingly asks us to sacrifice for a closer walk with him are the very things that keep us, and will keep us, separated forever from a closer walk with him.
The spiritual walk is not for the faint hearted.
God indeed asks us to make sacrifices....those of the ego!
Through the creative spirit of God coursing through our veins, God does provide for our human needs and comforts, often exceeding our wildest expectations. Through grace, mercy and love, God does provide for those not able to provide for themselves at certain times, or for the disabled, throughout a lifetime. Those are God’s gifts of Spirit to us.
The walk with Spirit, however, has nothing to do with what the Tao te Ching calls the world of “10,000 things!”
The walk with Spirit involves a conscious effort day by day, even moment by moment, to get closer to God’s whispers in our lives.
The walk with Spirit involves a trust and a faith that goes beyond any human capacity to explain or to share, as it is unique to that individual and Spirit, only!
The walk with Spirit involves making sacrifices that defy logic... but doing so anyway.
The walk with Spirit leads us through deep valleys of the “shadow of death” and yes, some of the highest peaks... but generally not knowing what is coming next... but following anyway.
The walk with Spirit is a test of human will, against the guidance of Spirit.
The walk with Spirit is a willingness to forego EGO.
The walk with Spirit asks nothing more than a willingness to go the distance...in trust, in faith, in hope, in peace, in joy, in ...letting go...and yes, in having blind faith, and yes, in walking the way of uncertainty, and yes, loving God ...enough.
This July 4, I ask you to consider the ways you walk in the world...
...the ways in which you are fully conscious of making a full commitment to God.
Are you willing to sacrifice "your only begotten son"?
Are you willing to seek your "independence" from the ways of the world?
Namaste’,
Che'
I get many e-mails during the course of the day. Before, I used to spend time carefully reading, sorting through, then deleting or forwarding them on to others. Now, I read them and smile. When they are funny, and would truly brighten someone else’s day with laughter, I forward those on to my e-mail buddies.
I mostly erase and not forward those that are “spiritual” now. I especially don’t forward those that state at the end how much one needs to prove their love for “God” or “Jesus” by forwarding! (I tend to still fall for those with great photography and graphics!)
So many, many, many people claim to love God and to love Jesus!
Yes, forwarding an e-mail to prove such love is a very, very easy thing to do! It costs nothing! The people to whom the e-mails are forwarded already subscribe to some spiritual or Christian beliefs. So, the forwarder loses no “face” with anyone in that circle.
Try forwarding it to a boss or colleagues. That’s when I’d say you’re going beyond the bounds of the ordinary!
When people claim to love God and love “Jesus,” I’m often so tempted to ask:”Would you give up your only begotten son, like the old Testament fable of Abraham’s willingness to give up his son, Isaac?"
Maybe...in another age and time, God did ask us to make human sacrifices. This...I do not know. Maybe...according to some religious beliefs...he still asks this of us today. I cannot speak to those types of sacrifices.
What I can speak to are the sacrifices I know God asks of us day by day, and we pretend we don’t hear, or we say, “he can’t be talking to me!”
Yes... God is talking to you!
He’s not asking you to prove anything! He simply is asking you to get “closer” to him!
Often, the “sacrifices” he seems to be asking of us today do seem to many to be their “only begotten son!”
Those are the sacrifices close to our hearts: like our comfort zone.
Our comfort zone is...in...
...the job that people may hate so much but stay in because of a "paycheck!”
...the relationship that only provides torture but where many stay because of the need for a man or woman in their lives!
...the $50 you hold on to as “security” for your future because of a belief in lack and “never having enough” to spare?
With people being so reluctant to give up these “small” sacrifices, then it becomes laughable...yes... indeed laughable...to believe God would ever ask anyone to give up their real, live “only begotten son!”
If a child is taken seemingly prematurely from a family, the entire world mourns! That’s when many people throw up their fists at God and turn their backs forever on any belief in religion or spirituality! Indeed, this is the time that people believe God is absent in their lives.
But I challenge you to believe that these are the times that God is very, very present in your life and is inviting you to move closer!
The “things” that God seemingly asks us to sacrifice for a closer walk with him are the very things that keep us, and will keep us, separated forever from a closer walk with him.
The spiritual walk is not for the faint hearted.
God indeed asks us to make sacrifices....those of the ego!
Through the creative spirit of God coursing through our veins, God does provide for our human needs and comforts, often exceeding our wildest expectations. Through grace, mercy and love, God does provide for those not able to provide for themselves at certain times, or for the disabled, throughout a lifetime. Those are God’s gifts of Spirit to us.
The walk with Spirit, however, has nothing to do with what the Tao te Ching calls the world of “10,000 things!”
The walk with Spirit involves a conscious effort day by day, even moment by moment, to get closer to God’s whispers in our lives.
The walk with Spirit involves a trust and a faith that goes beyond any human capacity to explain or to share, as it is unique to that individual and Spirit, only!
The walk with Spirit involves making sacrifices that defy logic... but doing so anyway.
The walk with Spirit leads us through deep valleys of the “shadow of death” and yes, some of the highest peaks... but generally not knowing what is coming next... but following anyway.
The walk with Spirit is a test of human will, against the guidance of Spirit.
The walk with Spirit is a willingness to forego EGO.
The walk with Spirit asks nothing more than a willingness to go the distance...in trust, in faith, in hope, in peace, in joy, in ...letting go...and yes, in having blind faith, and yes, in walking the way of uncertainty, and yes, loving God ...enough.
This July 4, I ask you to consider the ways you walk in the world...
...the ways in which you are fully conscious of making a full commitment to God.
Are you willing to sacrifice "your only begotten son"?
Are you willing to seek your "independence" from the ways of the world?
Namaste’,
Che'
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