Thursday, June 30, 2016

LOVE THY NEIGHBOR

 
 
Ron Alexander: AWESOME! I too live in mixed race apts. and the African-American Neighbor has brought me up food and cough drops when I was sick with flu and a special meal on Father's Day. Everybody around her believes and practices Love thou Neighbor!. Thank you Barbara!
Barbara Walker
 
My neighborhood should be a poster child for how the world should work. There is a mixed race couple beside us. He puts out our trash cans,; she did the eveni...ng walk for Gracie. When she could not do it any longer (work schedule change), she contacted the Mormon family across the street, and the son picked up. One night everyone mis-communicated, apparently, and I tried to hobble out with Gracie on my cane; and the neighbor across the street saw me and offered to (and did) walk Gracie along with his big, lumbering boxer mix dog. A 13 year old from two streets over comes every morning and gives her her long walk, which he offered to do for free, though I will pay him. While he was at camp for a few days, his parents did the walking with her. Last night we got chocolate zucchini bread for the family across the street. I mention the religion and race issues, only to demonstrate the diversity of the goodness.
We notice all the ways the world looks crazy and hostile; and I wanted to report that good people are still very much in evidence. I feel very, very blessed. . .and besides that, my Phoenix Mercury are winning

Life is a mirror

 
 
Tony Dickens's photo.
Love
 
"Nothing needs to change in your life situation or in the world in order for you to have peace of mind.”
~ Dr. Lee Jampolsky in the book Smile For No Good Reason


How can we love empathically without an understanding of pain and sorrow?

 
 
The coin that pays for ecstasy is always stamped despair. One cannot love empathically until one wanders there.
Jane Krainin(gratefulness.org)
Dictated right before she died of ALS

All beauty of this world is wet with the dew of tears. 
 Theodor Haecker
 
 
 
Ron Alexander's photo.
 
 
 
asked my friend what she thought this quote meant and she replied -
.
How can we know joy without an understanding of pain and sorrow?
I think Krainin was saying that what we experience teaches us to understand and love others from a position of empathy for their feelings of pain, and of joy, and that there is a cost attached to that understanding. I had a friend once who survived ALS (only 5% of people who get it do), and she was very philosophical about her condition. She was in a wheelchair, but lived alone, a remarkable woman, who once said to me that she had learned so much about life, and God, and people that she wouldn't exchange that chair for anything. She ultimately died of cancer, but not before she helped a lot of people with ALS.What do you think?
.

What do I think? - Well a few weeks ago I was walking along one of Northlands beautiful and pristine beaches and saw this signpost in the sand. A signpost with no message. I think that Jane Krainins quote and my friends explanation should be written on the signpost for all to see and read.
.
Thank you my friend, because your insight goes some way to helping me with that old raw theological callus which C S Lewis tried to deal with in a book titled - "The Problem of Pain." Your explanation has increased the displacement of some of the partial answers I have struggled to find. Thank you.
.
There is a good feeling that comes with compassion, but it does involve suffering. They are intertwined. It reminds me of the poem, Kindness by Naomi Shihab Nye:

Kindness
by Naomi Shihab Nye


Before you know what kindness really is
you must lose things,
feel the future dissolve in a moment
like salt in a weakened broth.
What you held in your hand,
what you counted and carefully saved,
all this must go so you know
how desolate the landscape can be
between the regions of kindness.
How you ride and ride
thinking the bus will never stop,
the passengers eating maize and chicken
will stare out the window forever.


Before you learn the tender gravity of kindness,
you must travel where the Indian in a white poncho
lies dead by the side of the road.
You must see how this could be you,
how he too was someone
who journeyed through the night with plans
and the simple breath that kept him alive.


Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside,
you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.
You must wake up with sorrow.
You must speak to it till your voice
catches the thread of all sorrows
and you see the size of the cloth.


Then it is only kindness that makes sense anymore,
only kindness that ties your shoes
and sends you out into the day to mail letters and
purchase bread,
only kindness that raises its head
from the crowd of the world to say
it is I you have been looking for,
and then goes with you everywhere
like a shadow or a friend.

—Naomi Shihab Nye from Words Under Words: Selected Poems
 
 
 


Take LIfe Lightly

 
 
You don't have to take everything so seriously, Ron. Life isn't black and white, answers aren't always yes or no, and absolutely nothing has to happen today. Act when you're ready. Be led by your feelings. And the next time someone wants to fit you into a mold, just tell 'em that your jeans are in the wash, your angels are at the mall, and Oprah's on the other line. Fuzzy as dice,     The Universe
 
 


Wednesday, June 29, 2016

James Dillet Freeman: Poet Laureate of the Moon

 
 
While Rev Ed is on Sabbatical, we can enjoy some beautiful writings of reassurance and love by Unity authors.  Our first is by James Dillet Freeman who  was a poet and a minister of the Unity Church, a New Thought denomination. Freeman was born in Wilmington, Delaware. He was of Cherokee, Choctaw, English, and Irish descent.
 
Freeman was sometimes referred to as the "poet laureate to the moon" because his poems were twice brought to the moon, "a distinction he shares with no other author." His 1941 "Prayer for Protection" was taken aboard Apollo 11 in July 1969 by Lunar Module pilot Buzz Aldrin, and a microfilm of Freeman's 1947 "I Am There" was left on the moon by James B. Irwin on Apollo 15. While James Dillet Freeman worked for Silent Unity and was a writer for the Unity magazine called Daily Word for most of his adult life, he proudly proclaimed on many occasions that he had never joined Unity, revelling in his independent nature and personifying a spirit present throughout Unity and the New Thought Movement.
 

I AM THERE

By James Dillet Freeman
 
Do you need Me?
I am there.

You cannot see Me, yet I am the light you see by.
You cannot hear Me, yet I speak through your voice.
You cannot feel Me, yet I am the power at work in your hands.

I am at work, though you do not understand My ways.
I am at work, though you do not recognize My works.
I am not strange visions. I am not mysteries.

Only in absolute stillness, beyond self, can you know Me as I am, and then but as a feeling and a faith.
Yet I am there. Yet I hear. Yet I answer.

When you need Me, I am there.
Even if you deny Me, I am there.
Even when you feel most alone, I am there.
Even in your fears, I am there.
Even in your pain, I am there.

I am there when you pray and when you do not pray.
I am in you, and you are in Me.

Only in your mind can you feel separate from Me, for only in your mind are the mists of “yours” and “mine.”

Yet only with your mind can you know Me and experience Me.
Empty your heart of empty fears.

When you get yourself out of the way, I am there.
You can of yourself do nothing, but I can do all.
And I am in all.

Though you may not see the good, good is there, for I am there.
I am there because I have to be, because I am.

Only in Me does the world have meaning; only out of Me does the world take form; only because of Me does the world go forward.
I am the law on which the movement of the stars and the growth of living cells are founded.

I am the love that is the law's fulfilling. I am assurance. I am peace. I am oneness. I am the law that you can live by. I am the love that you can cling to. I am your assurance. I am your peace.
I am one with you. I am.

Though you fail to find Me, I do not fail you.
Though your faith in Me is unsure, My faith in you never wavers, because I know you, because I love you.

Beloved, I am there.

Love All that has been Created by God



Love all that has been created by God,
both the whole and every grain of sand.
Love every leaf and every ray of light. ...

Love the beasts and the birds,
love the plants, love every separate fragment.
If you love each separate fragment,
you will understand the
mystery of the whole resting in God.

Fyodor Dostoevsky (gratefulness.org)

THE POWER OF MEDITATION

 
 
Source of Power
As I relax my body, consciously and definitely - which I am able to do by mentally relaxing (meditating) and dropping all strain-I feel flowing... through me a vital energy, a dynamic force, a great surge of living Power. I feel immersed in and saturated by a vital Essence of Perfection, which brings me into turn with life. (Ernest Holmes - paraphrased - I added "meditation" - my truth)


Grass is greener when...

 
 
The grass is not, in fact, always greener on the other side of the fence. No, not at all. Fences have nothing to do with it. The grass is greenest where it is watered. When crossing over fences, carry water with you and tend the grass wherever you may be.
Robert Fulghum(gratefulness.org)
 


COURAGE, FEEL THE FEAR AND DO IT ANYWAY!

 

Here, from where you call heaven, Ron, there's an ever-present buzz of joy amongst your followers. "Look! Ron's getting closer to having a dream job!" "Fear means nothing to Ron!" "Score! Ron is going to love how this plays out!" "Listen! Ron's talking to a tree!" and the sort.

Lots of dream job... and tree fans here,


     The Universe

The Live Oak Trees were happy this morning looking very green after the downpour yesterday. Plus I am enjoying interviewing the old vets for the Veteran History Project for the Library of Congress.
 

 
 



Number one way to release stress....

Getting Unstuck
Do you feel under constant pressure – time pressure, peer pressure, pressure to flawlessly juggle a million things at once? This state of overwhelm can make life stressful, stale, and unfulfilling – and leads to us becoming “stuck” in unhealthy patterns.
On July 11, we’ll take the first step towards relief in Getting Unstuck: Creating a Limitless Life. Oprah and Deepak will be your guides as you learn to break free from feeling trapped under day-to-day pressures and create a life you look forward to every day.

Tuesday, June 28, 2016

SELF-ACCEPTANCE HELPS US DROP OUR MASKS AND BECOME MORE REAL

 







Use your mind to change....

 
 
Manuela Vonk's photo.
Love


Confrontation with fearful parts

 
Ra Divakar: Lloyd Leamon: All we have to fear is fear itself (and that is why we confront our fear)

Universal Vibes's photo.


 




 

As part of a whole, Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.

“A human being is part of a whole, called by us the Universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.” ~Albert Einstein

Where is the next message? = Expressing gratitude!

 
 
The next message you need is always right where you are.
Ram Dass(gratefulness.org)

Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.”
WILLIAM ARTHUR WARD

 


Ten million? I will settle for one million!

 
 
One million dollars is only a lot when you don't have it. With ten million, one million can practically be overlooked and is therefore much less intimidating.

Ron, pretend you have ten million dollars.

To the bank,
    The Universe



Monday, June 27, 2016

Love you to the Stars!

 
 
Practice loving what God created as YOUR DIVINE ESSENCE this much. Uplift the whole world. God didn't create junk!!!!!! LOVE the BEAUTY, the LOVELIGHT, the I AM PRESENCE that you are. Discover why I LOVE you soooo much.....still, really! Join me? thanks Susan Boles


Love as Long as you live...

Ra Divakar's photo.
Ra Divakar
Everything is Going Right for You
Deal with what is in front of you joyfully. Bring joy to the occasion. Your own vibration is the only thing to slow you down, so if you will allow the unfolding to occur, you will see more of what you want popping into your existence. Don’t judge yourself. Where you are is exactly where you should be.

You look at your activity and you think that doesn’t have much to do with where you want to go, and then you louse up your vibration with self-doubt. Then things grind to a halt, as the vortex shifts around your new destiny, a destiny based on loss and lack. You begin to doubt God and doubt the process. When you seed doubt, you reap doubt.

Relax and let go of the self-judgment. If you are going to allow that everything is going exactly right in the Universe, then allow that everything is going exactly right with you also. Lighten up on yourself, lighten up on the Universe, and allow the magic to do its magical thing. The fairies of the universe are lined up to help you, you just have to stay on the boat with Source and quit trying to do it all yourself. Do the fun parts. Do the joyful parts: That is where your connection with Source Energy lies.

You are blessed and loved upon your journey,
~ Twelve

www.TwelveSpirit.net

Live like a River Flows...

 
 
I would love to live like a river flows, carried by the surprise of its own unfolding.
John O'Donohue(gratefulness.org)

 
 
 


Unexpected Good News - soon come?

 
 
If, once upon a time in your life, Ron, suddenly and without warning, an event, a person, or some unexpected good news changed everything for the better, it can only mean one thing...

Chances are astronomically high that it will happen again.

I'm just sayin' -
    The Universe






Pssst... Ron... I wasn't going to say anything until tomorrow


Make today worth remembering


Blessing in disguise


Count your blessings


Every moment contains a gift

 
Blessing
To the degree that we are able to empty ourselves of resistance to life as it is in this moment, to that degree we are available to recognize and receive blessing. For every moment contains a gift. It might be the gift of patience, perseverance or compassion. The blessing is always available to those who can receive.
Anne Mortifee
 

 


Sunday, June 26, 2016

Freedom!

 
 
Susanne Dau-Kayser's photo.
Susanne Dau-Kayser to OPEN MINDS for ACIM & NTI
10 hrs
Let all things be exactly as they are. Let me not be Your critic, Lord, today, and judge against You. Let me not attempt to interfere with Your creation, and distort it into sickly forms. Let me be willing to withdraw my wishes from its unity, and thus to let it be as You created it. For thus will I be able, too, to recognize my Self as You created me. In love was I created, and in love will I remain forever. What can frighten me, when I let all things be exactly as they are? - ACIM 

Open your heart by the encouragement of Light

 
 
How did the rose ever open its heart and give to this world all of its beauty? It felt the encouragement of Light against its being; otherwise we all remain too frightened.
Hafiz, translated by Daniel Ladinsky
 


Saturday, June 25, 2016

Have a peaceful Sunday!


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"The man who practises unselfishness, who is genuinely interested in the welfare of others, who feels it a privilege to have the power to do a fellow-creature a kindness - even though polished manners and a gracious presence may be absent - will be an elevating influence wherever he goes." - Orison Swett Marden

Make Every Moment Count

 
 
 
In being with dying, we arrive at a natural crucible of what it means to love and be loved. And we can ask ourselves this: Knowing that death is inevitable, what is most precious today?
Roshi Joan Halifax
Volunteering at Hospice, that is possibly the most important mantra?  ron Alexander

Valerie Stiehl: FROM THE MOMENT WE ARE BORN, WE ARE DYING. WORDS OF WISDOM AND GUIDANCE, RON. THANK YOU AND BLESSINGS. Thank you Valerie, love Ron
 
Image result for hospice