Nice Guys DO finish First: The Inauguration of Barack Hussein Obama, the First Black President of the United States

He seemed too nice.

He was so nice, I underestimated him.

I didn't support him....at...first!

Nice guys don't finish FIRST!

"What is he THINKING?"


I chose his opponent in the Democratic primary instead!

I attacked him with a ferociousness that surprised even me!
It wasn't because I wasn't BLACK enough, as so many accused me.
In some part of my Consciousness, I feared for him!

"Don't waste my time! Don't waste people's time! These are
critical times, we don't have TIME to WASTE with nice guys. We need a pit bull...
a bull dog who knows how to BITE BACK when 'they' unleash their attack dogs! We want someone who can FIGHT DAMMIT. Get out of the way, nice guy!

What are you THINKING! Those Republicans are gonna EAT YOU ALIVE?"

This nice guy proved he had staying power and stamina and a lot more
too! He was elected with a landslide!


When the final tally was in, he'd won more than 53 percent of the popular
vote and more than two to one the electoral votes.

This nice guy was a WINNER!

This week, we celebrate two important events in American History, and we can only wonder about the immensity of the power of our God!

Today, Monday, January 19, 2009, we celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday. Then tomorrow, on Tuesday, January 20, 2009, we will be witnesses to a first in U.S. history: the inauguration of the first black president in the United States. We will witness Barack Hussein Obama take leadership of these 50 United States and the District of Columbia to become the 44th President of the country!


January 19 & 20 2009 are powerful days for Americans of all colors, but mostly for Americans of African descent!
(Enjoy this technology created image!)



On Tuesday, the dream of Martin Luther King, Jr. takes form and shape in the body of the man known as Barack Hussein Obama!

On Tuesday, God's word will become LAW in our LAND!





We will witness the hands, the unseen hands, that were at work throughout the entire history of the United States...We know unequivocally now that there was a DIVINE ORDER AT WORK ...through the enslavement of African Americans... through the Civil Rights War and the deaths of the many men and women, both black and white, who died... through the emancipation of African Americans... through the enactment of Equal Rights and Voting Rights laws to protect African American... through the Affirmation Action Laws to aid African American where unfairness prevailed... through the growth in consciousness of ALL Americans... through the nomination of Barack Hussein Obama... through the election of Barack Hussein Obama to become president of the United States of America.

Only a silent force ... call it Cosmic Consciousness... that does not cater to the whims of the world could have executed such a perfect blow to those who would have injustice and inequality and unfairness continue in our world!


Only one of immense power could have shut up all the naysayers, like me, and others and SHOW us that we can have faith, we can believe, we can dream, we can DARE TO WIN!



Nice guys DO FINISH FIRST, sometimes.


Nice guys who are walking in the ways of our God!

Nice guys who are appointed and anointed by our God!

Nice guys who appoint their former opponent to the best job for her, Secretary of State, where she can do what she does best and who truly lives JFK's: "Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country!"


On Tuesday as you watch Barack Hussein Obama, CELEBRATE GOD'S HANDIWORK!!!

May God continue to bless Barack Obama in the days, months and years ahead!




May God Bless us ALL as Americans!

May you ALL continue to walk in faith, even as your lamps of hope
seem to be flickering, your steps faltering in despair and your
strength faint by the burdens you may have had to bear and are bearing.

God is ALIVE and WELL in the World! There is a Divine Order
still at work...ONLY Believe!


Namaste',

Che'

When Doing What You MUST Makes You a HERO!!!

It's just about two days ago that U.S. Airway's Flight 1549 landed in the Hudson River in New York City, making Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger, the pilot, an instant hero.

The media are replaying and replaying and replaying the incident.
Survivors are talking about being "born again."

I'm sure this real-life "hero" did not expect the over-the-top accolades for what he felt was his job to do.

I'm not trying to take credit away from Sullenberger's awesome accomplishment, but let's keep our perspective here.

This is a man with 30 years of training.
This is a man who is an ex-Air Force fighter pilot.
This is a man who has the integrity to do the right thing,
including saving his life and those of his passengers.

Only a person not in his or her "right mind" and with a "death wish" would not have done what he or she is trained to do.

Chesley Sullenberger is both a man in his "right mind" and does not have a death wish.

He did the right thing. He cared about the safety of other people and himself. He used his mind and his God-given talents to ensure there was no crash landing.

In a USA Today article, his sister, Mary Wilson said:

"I think his tendency is to say, 'I'm not a hero, the crew all worked for this. There really is no hero, just a bunch of people who did their jobs and we all worked together.'"

For that, the media and the world of people are going NUTS about his unusual bravery.

I hope Chesley Sullenberger keeps right on doing what he's always been doing all his life, quietly and unnnoticed, and truly does not let the response of the public or the media sway his opinion of himself.

I doubt it.

Look at Chesley Sullenberger. EVERYTHING about him looks SOLID.

The fact that he seems so solid makes me know that he will keep his balance throughout all the hyping and all the "stuff" people are making out of his thoughtful actions.

Had Sullenberger been younger and more impressionable, though, I would have worried about him and for him.

You see, it is at this point that most of us begin to lose sight of our own perspective and begin to assume the identity the world gives to us.

It is when we are UP that the world laughs, sings and dances with us, and uses accolates to describe us that eventually...YES...you got it...MAKE US A STRANGER TO OURSELVES.

I contend that these are the times that we move from WHOLENESS and start the journey to WOUNDEDNESS.

Let's say in another month, with the strong interest surrounding him, the media begin to search for "stories" about Chesley.

They eventually dig and dig and dig and find out something unflattering. Let's say, for example, he didn't pay his taxes last year.

Now, under the GLARE of the media, we have to know that this wonderful "hero" ain't so wonderful anymore.

If the patterns are true, Chesley Sullenberger should begin to shrink, like a wounded man.

I know this SOLID MAN WON'T, even in dire circumstances, as he's proven. But a lesser man would.

Therein lay the ways and means of destruction of the pathway to the Soul! There begins the journey away from Soul and to the ways of the world.

Be careful...of both your "friends" and your "enemies." Get to know them well!

As for the survivors of U.S. Airway Flight 1549, I hope the lessons they learned on that important day about the Spirit of calm that descended on them in their moment of crisis, is not LOST or FORGOTTEN, for the rest of their lives.

May God Continue To Bless Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger and all 155 lives that he saved!

Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger: YOU ARE A STANDUP MAN AND AS SOLID AS A ROCK!



2 Timothy 1:7: "For God hath not given us a spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."

Namaste',

Che'

Everything You've Ever Wanted to Know...But Didn't Ask...About Scientology!

Che’s Disclaimer & Note:
This post was scheduled several months ago. The untimely death of John Travolta's son, Jett, did not prompt this writing.

As a service to all my readers, I try to be as objective and positive as I possibly can with each teaching or religion I profile in this blog. The same is true with the following posting on Scientology. But I would be remiss in bringing you the information below, without also directing you to the voluminous number of voices that criticize the teachings and practices of Scientology. The most fascinating of these is an interview with Village Voice Writer, Mark Bunker, and actor Jason Beghe, a Scientologist for 12 years until 2007. If you wish to see this interview go to: http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runningscared/archive. Also go to: http://whatstharm.net/scientology.html.

In early November 2008, there was a news report about two monks, one Greek and one Armenian, getting into a fist fight in Jerusalem and being thrown in jail. The courts can debate all they want about why this incident happened and who started the fight. As bystanders, we also can ponder how two men of the "cloth" could get to such a low state that they took to settling an argument in the way of "lesser men."

If you're a follower of Lafayette (L) Ron Hubbard, and of Scientology, you'd know what happened! The real culprit is the "reactive mind" of both monks that took over.

A true Scientologist would tell you that they need to get “Clear!”

According to Scientology beliefs, the single source of all your problems, "stress, unappiness and self-doubt," is the reactive mind. If you get “Clear,” a Scientologist would say, you would serve your problem.

Dianetics is a powerful book written by L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology. This book preceded the founding of the religion in 1952. When I was in graduate school at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, I remember someone knocking on my apartment door to introduce me to Dianetics.

I was too busy with my studies then to even give the person a hearing. I declined the invitation to explore Dianetics. Now, so many years later, I wish I'd taken up the invitation, as I may have understood the fascination that millions of people around the world, including many Hollywood celebrities, have with Scientology. Indeed, today, I might be "CLEAR!" and not CONSTANTLY falling into the traps of my "reactive mind!"

Scientology seems to be growing at one of the fastest rates of any religion or teaching. According to the religion's official Website (http://scientology.com), it is the only new religion introduced in the 20th century.


According to research, in 2005 Scientology stated it had approximately eight million members worldwide. In the United States alone, the Church claimed 3.5 million members. Critics have said the numbers are significantly less and that the number is under 500 thousand people.
Whatever the number and the truth about membership, Scientology more than any other teaching has the ability to attract those who are at the top of their game!

Tom Cruise’s strong support for Scientology cannot be underestimated. As a matter of fact, his enthusiasm and outspokenness about his religious beliefs in recent years have given his previously untarnished image a major hit! John Travolta*, less vocal and public in his support, has been an avid Scientologist for many, many years. On the current volume of Dianetics, there's this quote from him:


"Dianetics put me into the big time. I always had the ability to be somewhat successful, but Dianetics freed me up to the point where something really big could happen, without interference."

The late Isaac Hayes was a Scientologist from 1995 until his death in August 2008. More recently, I've heard that Will Smith and his wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith, reportedly are practicing Scientology. As is Katie Holmes, Tom Cruise's wife.


There are other star followers as well, including Priscilla Presley, Lisa Marie Presley, Jason Lee and Kirstie Allie, among them.
What is it about Scientology that attracts so many stars and other highly successful people?

Why are so many successful people called to the teachings of L. Ron Hubbard, a former science fiction author?


BELIEFS
Scientologists believe that Mind, Spirit and Body compose three distinguishable parts of all humans. The belief of the teaching is that the basic principle of existence is to SURVIVE, and that humans survive within a classification, referred to as the “Eight Dynamics.”

These are: Self, Family & Sex, Group, Humanity, Life, The Universe, Spirituality and the Supreme Being (or Infinity.) If a person, in his or her survival, promotes all eight dynamics, he or she is considered “good.”

The Scientology cross represents these eight dynamics of life, as practiced by the teaching’s followers.

Where most of us would define ethics as “the morals of a specific course of action," Scientology defines ethics as "the actions an individual takes on himself to ensure his continued survival across the dynamics." According to Scientology, various ethical states, or "conditions," represent the degree of a person’s success and the sequence of steps that can improve that individual's "condition." Scientology uses statistical measurement to assess a person’s "survival potential," with a downward trend identifying negative effects and an upward trend used to identify positive ones.



Scientology materials are called "Technology" or "Tech." These are structured in sequential levels, or "gradients,” so that easier steps are taken first and greater complexities are handled at the appropriate time. Progression in the study of Scientology materials is often noted as moving along "the Bridge to Total Freedom," or simply "the Bridge." Scientologists believe that every step on the "bridge" works towards more personal freedom.

The Church of Scientology is one of a number of groups involved in the anti-psychiatry movement, and one of the few organizations that publicly oppose the study and application of psychology in addition to psychiatry. The Church reportedly claims that psychiatry was responsible for World War I, the rise of Hitler and Stalin, the decline in education standards in the United States, the wars in Bosnia and Kosovo, and the September 11 attacks.

The Church's point of view on these issues is documented mainly by Church groups and magazines such as those published by the Citizens Commission on Human Rights and Freedom Magazine.

TEACHING
The word "Scientology" means "the study of knowledge or truth."

Scientology holds that man is basically good, not evil. The religion teaches that it is people's experiences in life that cause them to commit evil deeds; it is not in their basic nature to do so. People can mistakenly solve their problems by thinking only of their own personal interests and overlook or ignore how their acts affect others. This creates interpersonal strife and problems.

Scientology also teaches that individuals advance to the degree that they preserve their spiritual integrity and values, and remain honest and decent. Indeed, individuals deteriorate to the degree they abandon these qualities.

Some religions try to help humanity by solving people's problems for them. Scientology believes in increasing the ability and intelligence of the individual, so he or she can improve his own life, overcome those factors that hold him down, and solve his or her own problems.


Once a person is able to do that, he or she is considered
“CLEAR,” meaning that all the past input or disturbances from the past have no power to hurt his current path. What's more, once a person has accomplished this he or she naturally starts to reach out to help his family, friends and society.

MIND-BODY-SPIRIT
According to Scientology, the individual is not a body but a spirit. But because Hubbard believed there have been so many different concepts of the term “Soul” through the ages, he developed a new term, "thetan," from the Greek letter theta, the traditional symbol for thought and life. The thetan is the person himself, not his body, his name, the physical universe or anything else. It is that part of him which is aware of being aware; the identity that IS the individual.

One phenomenon of the Spirit, or Thetan, researched by Hubbard, is exteriorization. Exteriorization is the ability of the thetan to leave the body and exist independent of the flesh.

Exteriorized, the individual can see without the body's eyes, hear without the body's ears and feel without the body's hands. Man previously had little understanding of this detachment from his mind and body. With the act of exteriorization, attainable in Scientology, the individual gains the certainty that he is himself, an immortal spiritual being, and not a body.

THE EIGHT DYNAMICS OF EXISTENCE
A "dynamic" is an urge, drive or impulse towards survival. With an understanding of the eight dynamics in Scientology, a person gains insight and can bring all aspects of his life into alignment. The first four dynamics were initially described by Hubbard in his texts on Dianetics in 1950. He expanded this to encompass four additional zones of existence the following year when he began research into the spiritual nature of man. These dynamic urges are best viewed as a series of concentric circles moving out from the first to the eighth.

Scientology teaches that by simply delineating these dynamics, a person is able to clarify and and brings order into his or her life by becoming “CLEAR.” A person can observe the dynamics in his or her own life, note what needs improvement and work to do so.

Scientology advocates that people have lived many lifetimes.

THE BEGINNING
In Dianetics, L. Ron Hubbard is profiled as a man who had a thirst for knowledge and truth about life. He searched for it, according to Dianetics, “From the open ranges of his home state of Montana to the hills of China, from the frigid coast of Alaska to the jungles of South Packfic islands, whether working with men on explorations or teaching inexperienced naval crews to survive the ravages of a world war, L. Ron Hubbard truly leanred what man and life are all about.”

Hubbard is said to have studied Far East philosophies but rejected it as “truth,” when he “observed widespread suffering and poverty” THERE. When he returned to the United States in 1929, Hubbard set about utilizing his Nuclear Physics background and “set out to find the basic principle of existence...something other philosophers had attempted but never found.”

Through a series of expeditions Hubbard undertook to the Caribbean and West Indies, in Haiti, where he studied voodoo, and Puerto Rico, where he studied the “hill people,” he discovered that there was a common denominator in all life: SURVIVAL. In 1938, he wrote his first philosophical work, “Excalibur.”

In developing his philosophies, Hubbard gives credit to Painter Francis Bacon and Philosopher Herbert Spencer and also credits a meeting with Cmdr. Joseph Cressman Thompson, a U.S. Navy officer who studied with Sigmund Freud. Hubbard also acknowledged the influence of Alfred Korzybski's General Semantics.

Scientology itself also reflects the influence of the Hindu concept of karma and dharma as well as the psychological theories of Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung and William Sargant. Hubbard called the Vedas Scientology’s earliest ancestor. In addition, Hubbard also gave recognition to the Tao Te Ching, the Dharma and Gautama Buddha as forerunners to Scientology.

PRACTICES
The Church of Scientology provides Sunday services as well as social ceremonies for marriage, birth, and death that are performed by an ordained Scientology minister. Most, if not all, of the actual ceremonies used were written by L. Ron Hubbard and are collected in the book, Ceremonies of the Church of Scientology. At a funeral service, the minister speaks directly to the departing spirit and grants forgiveness for anything the deceased has done so he can begin life anew.

Scientology promotes a belief that people have hidden abilities that have not yet been fully realized. The Church of Scientology claims its tenets are not a matter of faith but of testable practice. Further spiritual awareness and physical benefits are accomplished through counseling sessions, referred to as "auditing".

AUDITING
Through auditing, Scientology believes people can solve their problems and free themselves of ethical transgressions and bad decisions.
Those who study Scientology materials and receive auditing sessions advance from a status of "preclear" to "Operating Thetan (OT)".

"Auditing" is a one-on-one session with a Scientology counselor or "auditor." Most auditing requires an E-meter, a device that measures minute changes in electrical resistance through the body when a person holds electrodes (metal "cans"), and a small current is passed through them; Scientology states that it helps locate an area of concern.


In the auditing process, the recipient, or "preclear," discloses specific traumatic incidents, prior transgressions and bad decisions to the person auditing. In one form of auditing, the auditor asks the recipient to respond to a list of questions in strict order.

During the auditing process, the auditor may collect personal information from the person being audited. Auditing records are referred to within Scientology as "preclear folders." In Scientology it is considered a high crime to audit people who are: terminally ill;have an extensive history of psychiatric treatment or have been denied processing on the grounds that it might affect the safety and security of the organization and people who are members or ex-members.

Scientologists who have advanced to a state of "Clear" may continue onto the higher OT (or "Operating Thetan") Levels.

The high-ranking OT levels are made available to Scientologists only by invitation, after a review of the candidate's character and contribution to the aims of Scientology. Individuals who have read these materials may not disclose what they contain without jeopardizing their standing in the Church. Excerpts and descriptions of OT materials were published online by a former member in 1995 and then circulated in mainstream media. This occurred after the teachings were submitted as evidence in court cases involving Scientology, thus becoming a matter of public record.

There are eight publicly-known OT levels, OT I to VIII. The OT VIII designation is only granted at sea, on the Freewinds, a Scientology ship.


THE ORGANIZATION
There are a large number of organizations overseeing the application of Scientology as separate legal entities. Most notable of these organizations is the Church of Scientology, whose primary role is to uphold the beliefs of the teaching.


The Church of Scientology upholds the notion that individuals can discover for themselves whether Scientology works through personal observation and experience rather than blind faith. The Church promotes "auditing" as a means of spiritual rehabilitation. Scientology runs several promotion campaigns through closely related organizations and in the form of a set of moral standards, an anti-drug program, an education methodology, a volunteer organization and a business management method.

Fascination of Celebrities with Scientology

From its official Website, the religion states that Scientologists are "construction workers and corporate executives. They are plumbers, dentists and doctors. They are school teachers and policemen. They are newscasters, politicians, musicians and actors."

The attraction of celebrities with Scientology is not an accident. Hubbard saw to the formation of a special church that would cater to artists, politicians, leaders of industry, sports figures and anyone with the power and vision "to create a better world." As such, there are eight ”Celebrity Centres,” with Hollywood’s being the largest.

Former Scientologists say that celebrity practitioners get more attention than non-celebrity practitioners, like "Sea Org" members. Those who are “Sea Org” level scientologists, have been involved for decades, are at the highest level and typically devote their entire lives to the organization, wanting only to serve HUMANITY.


L. Ron Hubbard's aim in forming Scientology was to see manifest, "A civiilization without insanity, without criminals, without war, where the able can prosper and honest beings can have rights and where man is free to rise to greater heights."

A Truly Noble Cause!

Namaste’,

Che’

NOTE: We extend our deep sympathy to the Travolta family whose son, Jett, died on January 2, 2009 in the Bahamas.
In February, we will feature Star Edge's Avatar teachings, a derivative of Scientology.

Begin to Paint On your NEW Canvas Today!

Imagine that yesterday never was. Tomorrow may never be.

Imagine that today is ALL that matters to you in life.

I’m giving you the thought that with this brand new year, you can
begin to paint a new picture for your life.




I want you to start today, with the events you plan for today, as the
start of that painting.

Like the genie, I’ve wiped away the clutter of yesterday. All the muck and dirt and sorrow and tears from yesterday are gone. I’m not just wiping away that old painting and throwing it away, I’ve bought you a brand new canvas: unblemished and sparkling white waiting for you to create new images.

Begin to imagine your day NOW! Imagine all the things you'd like
to happen today!

Where ever life has taken you so far, or wherever you’ve taken your life, through the power of your imagination and manifestation, imagine that those exercises of the past were practice sessions.

Today is when you begin actually using the training of your past, all that you learned good and bad, into a future you can’t see but only can imagine and visualize through your thoughts.

Today is the day for a new painting to begin.

Today is the day for new images of your beautiful future to be formed.

I don’t care if you got up with a headache or a heart ache. Today, all that can stop!

Decide today that people, things, situations of your past have ABSOLUTELY NO POWER OVER YOU!

So, no matter what burdens you may have imagined you are carrying on your shoulders that may be drooping from the strain, those burdens too are ONLY PART OF YOUR IMAGINATION ...a part of your past that has ABSOLUTELY NO POWER OVER YOU!

Lay your burdens down today and pick up new weapons of creation.

The mind is a powerful thing!

The mind is a powerful thing to create!

The power of your imagination overrides all your weak yesterdays.

The power of your vision creates for you the life that you want, the places you’d like to visit, the people you’d like to see, indeed, the very life that you desire!

Begin to paint a new picture today!

Begin with the color that you love.


Choose carefully only the colors and the images that you want to see on that canvas.


It is yours!
So, don’t tell me you can’t paint.

Begin to paint ANYWAY!

No one else is gonna see your canvas, at least not for a while.


No one else has a say-so into the colors you choose, how lofty your vision, how far you want to go in your imagination. It’s your canvas and you CAN DO whatever you want to do with it!



Begin thinking of the images you’d like to see come to life on that canvas.

Begin to imagine that you didn’t have to struggle or strain to get any of what will manifest on that canvas.

Begin to imagine that it is all YOURS for the asking.


All you’ve got to do today is to rid yourself of yesterday’s images and feelings and begin to paint on a brand new screen.

This is the screen of your life that will unfold for the rest of this year and the next and the next.

So, only paint good images. If a bad image pops up, immediately ask yourself if you’d like this image to go on your beautiful canvas.

If it’s not something you want to create on that beautiful screen of your life: DISCARD IT IMMEDIATELY!


You can do so by getting QUIET and going within and telling your Spirit, i.e. the God force within you, that you’re not gonna keep this one. Tell your Spirit that you’re leaving it to him to discard it for you ... that you’ve already turned it over to him and you don’t want it to pop back up.

After you’ve done that, then immediately go to your canvas and put some color on your canvas, the screen of your life. Even if it’s just one stroke of color, put it down...the image will form later.


Every day, no matter how challenging your day, discard all the bad images before you go to bed!

Every night, no matter how tired you may be, go within and discard ALL negative images and put down some beautiful color on your canvas.

I want you to begin painting today.

I want you to begin imagining today that your life is exactly as you want it to be!

I want you to pick up that paint brush today and put down some color. This is the color of your life.

This is the color of your imagination.


From a blank canvas, from a blank screen, you will create a new and beautiful life for yourself.

All you need to do that is to get the image of what you WANT onto that screen, discarding all that you don’t want immediately as they try to input and interfere.


Do not ...do not... DO NOT...share your painting with anyone!


Wait until it’s complete.

Then the image of you...the new beautiful YOU...will shine through for ALL the world to see!


Make this day...this week...this month...this year...the building block, the foundation for the rest of your life!

I'm off now...to try to start mine! Maybe, at the end of this year, I'll be ready to show you. At least...I pray I will.


Namaste’,

Che’

"The Year 2008 In Review: The Lessons We Should Have Learned!"

"We may forget with whom we laughed, but not with whom we shared tears."

Tansanian proverb

So begins my very sober New Year's Day 2009!

I dedicate this blog to all the people, to all my many friends, with whom I shared tears last year and especially those who responded. I also dedicate this to those who showed me the stuff of which they are truly made, especially those I had held close to my heart through most of my life. This includes family members and friends.

In 2003, I chronicled "Portrait of a Life: On the Road to Becoming." The first lines in the book were: "Life is a series of Lessons. That's all. No matter what we do or become in life, no matter how many triumphs or failures we experience, life is about the learning and uncovering of our true selves and about...just becoming."

At that time, I thought I'd learned most of life's serious lessons, though I knew I still was becoming what I needed to become.

Well, in 2008, I became ALL that I had set out to become: I became compassionate, loving, forgiving, caring, feeling, and truly ONE with the source of my being. I fully blame Michael Beckwith, Spiritual Leader of Agape, for all this. That's because the three days prior to bringing in 2008, Michael had led about 300 of us in meditation and celebration of our Spirit. We'd attended a "Meditation Retreat" in Rancho Palo Verde, California. The hours leading up to the New Year, we all were fully pumped to begin 2008 with a renewed outlook and Spirit.

Well I did that and more!

The year 2008 will go down in my life as The YEAR I finally grew UP!

With Spirit as my guide, I saw my life unfold in a way that was ALIEN to me.

I seemingly had absolutely NO control of the events that unfolded. I simply, day by day, responded to the "happenings" of that day.

I saw "Golden" opportunities for which I was perfectly suited slip through my fingers, not because of anything I'd done or failed to do, but simply because that is the way life is sometimes...seemingly unfair!

Why was my life partner SILENT? Why was my life partner NOT stepping in!?

He wanted me to learn the TRUTH about me!
He wanted me to learn the TRUTH about LIFE!
He wanted me to learn the TRUTH about people, places and "things," especially THINGS!

Yes, day by day, God would wake up with me at the crack of dawn and he helped me plan my day. We would do what we had to do and throughout the day, whenever I'd checked in with him, I KNEW he was still there. But as challenges mounted with the growing days, knowing he was still PRESENT with me, I asked him: "How Can YOU...BE SO BLIND? DON'T YOU SEE WHAT I'M GOING THROUGH?"

Sometimes, I'd hear his faint whisper, "Yes. I see what youre GROWING THROUGH!"

I could not believe this was my God! So seemingly cold, so unfeeling, so DETACHED!

My soul ACHED. Yet I felt his arms! Those were the moments I felt truly protected...the times when my soul ached the most!

I did not think I could go on as month after month the challenges grew...my old confident self fading with each passing day.

What WILL become of ME, I wondered?

I heard him ...

smile.

I felt him...SMILE.

If I could ...I would have struck back.

But...

I needed him...even more.

We grew closer, oh so much closer, as my old faded garments fell away.

I woke up today to a brand NEW YEAR...a brand NEW DAY...a brand NEW SELF.

Nothing has changed on the outer. But EVERYTHING has changed in the INNER, if you could SEE AND KNOW what I KNOW!

I know the Life lessons that I learned in 2008...God could have found no other way to teach me.

It is about living modestly throughout the most properous times.
It is about looking around ALWAYS to see the least among you who needs help.
It is about feeling LOVE despite your disappointments, anger and pain.
It is about feeling compassion, when you're rather not SEE!
It is about standing up and believing in something, mostly your FAMILY AND FRIENDS!
It is about living with your simplicity and TRUTH, even when the world wants you to live with EXCESS!
It is about knowing the God of the Universe, but letting your God Self be the master!
It is about honoring ALL the gifts you have been given!
It is about being GRATEFUL for all that you have, not about what you lack!
It is ALL about being HUMAN and SPIRITUAL AND REAL!

There were people who stood up for me when they had ABSOLUTELY NO REASON TO DO SO, other than they were Human and Spiritual and REAL!

These are the people God wanted me to KNOW about, those with whom I'd shared my tears.

Yes. I will remember those with whom I laughed, too.

But with 2008 as my guide, God knows, I can NEVER, EVER GO BACK!

By sharing my story, my prayer for all of you is that God does not have to BREAK you so badly in order to MAKE YOU...so Human...so Spiritual...so REAL!

The best gift you can give to yourself...and to God...is to listen to his Spirit, seek his guidance, even BEFORE you have the need!

The year 2008: The worst of times. The best of times!

Namaste',

Che'