Let love start, end and transform this day...

Let love start this day. Let love end this day. Let love transform the minutes in between. RACHEL MACY STAFFORD

Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is...

Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths. ETTY HILLESUM

...the only thing that makes sense...

Reality is always falling apart. In this fleeting situation, the only thing that makes sense is for us to reach out to one another. PEMA CHÖDRÖN

Rev. Ed's Theory of how he would heal all the violence..

I can't not address what happened yesterday with regard to the shootings in Texas, and previously, Buffalo, etc.. I speak for myself, not Unity Church. We will love each other through this pain. Love is who we are. Can I hear an amen. Yet, what is the root of all the violence? In my humble opinion, it's power, fear and separation. Every one of us seeks power.....every one of us. The 18 year old who shot those kids was seeking power because he suffered massive bullying as a child and as a teen. Obviously that is not justification to kill, but he was seeking power by letting his anger fly. Individually, we seek power by needing to be right in our relationships, rather than just BE right. Or to feel better about ourselves. I'll be the first to admit that I have an egoic need to be right. Politicians seek power rather than thinking more of the people they're elected to serve. May humankind heal its addiction to power. Gun control will not fix violence yet gun safety can help. No one's guns have been taken away, ever (unless deservedly so). But we can certainly do universal background checks, as 84% of Americans think we should do. But the need for power and the need to be right keeps us from acting on this legislation. Again, we need to heal ourselves of our need for power. Power is addictive and we all want it. Of course, fear is at the root of power because we're afraid of losing control, or not getting elected, or not being right. We think guns give us power...IMHO that is deluded. I'll say it again and again: may humankind heal the egoic need for power and the need to be right. Even more deeply, we think we are separate from each other. If we truly realized how connected we are to each other, and taught this concept to all beings everywhere, this would help. We might be less inclined to hurt another if we realize we are connected. This is one of the tenets for morality, our connection and oneness. That, plus the Golden Rule and my personal credo "no one gets hurt". So how do we heal our egoic need for power? By looking at ourselves: by healing our inner pain and wounds in prayer and meditation and therapy and talking to our friends and being courageous enough to face our inner pain. If we don't heal our inner selves, we will lash out of pain. If we're acting like fools out there, acting out of our pain, that won't help. If we don't transmute the pain, we will transfer it others. We need to bring meditation to our prisons and juvenile detention centers. We need to learn skills to deal with our emotions and hurts. We need to pray and know our oneness with Spirit. If we all touched and felt God's presence, the giant hole in our being would be healed. Perhaps that is our deepest need... Violence is a multi faceted issue and not one thing will stop it. All the above and I'm sure other things I've missed are necessary. What are some of those in your opinion? Finally, we practice our principles: there is only one presence in the universe, in us as us, God the good omnipotence; we are divine in nature and act out of that; we create our world through our thoughts and feelings; we pray and meditate as the foundation of our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual well being; and we help others to heal, not fix them, but support them in their process. Amen, and Amen.

Be careful of how this "silence" is broken...

The fact that we are here and that I speak these words is an attempt to break that silence and bridge some of those differences between us, for it is not difference which immobilizes us, but silence. And there are so many silences to be broken. AUDRE LORDE

Some of us may be only "ditties" though, LOL

Every single soul is a poem. MICHAEL FRANTI dit·ty Learn to pronounce noun plural noun: ditties a short, simple song. "a lovely little music-hall ditty"

Why I am happy to be back volunteering at VA Hospice

I have had experiences from the after life and have heard and read near death experiences of going to the Light, then told to come back. Lots of books and documentaries about after life incuding Netflix has a long one called Surviving Death. My Mom became more right wing the older she got living with her Sis her last few years. Sis, my Aunt watched Fox from the start 6Am all day. They were telling each other "life is just awful." Mom became meaner, and they hated my politics with more positive outlook. A lot more to this, but deep down, I knew Mom loved me. So after disinheriting me, she came back a few years after her death, and saved my life, when my heart was failing. I thought I had sleep paralysis. Her distinct voice yelled at me 3 times from bedroom, "RONNIE". I decided then to call VA Nurse, who told me to get to Hosp NOW. The ER displayed a terrible EKG, and the next day, I was given a Pacemaker. Scientifically, energy never dies, so our bodies fall away, our energy never dies. I worked with life-threatened teenagers starting with an internship. And it was the best job of my life, these kids knew they were going to die, but wanted to live while still alive. They were the best at being in the moment, so I took them to alot of adventures. When they could not go anymore, we as a group, would go to their bedside. Besides, my co-counselor was the best therapist ever. Let me see if I can find a photo of Honey.

Great story. I still have experiences with our Beloved Mother and Sister who have passed away. The spirit never dies 🙏 Vicki Carefree

BELOVED COMMUNITY

Beloved community is formed not by the eradication of difference but by its affirmation, by each of us claiming the identities and cultural legacies that shape who we are and how we live in the world. BELL HOOKS

If grief can be a doorway to love

If grief can be a doorway to love, then let us all weep for the world we are breaking apart so we can love it back to wholeness again. ROBIN WALL KIMMERER

We need movements rooted in love right now

We need movements rooted in love right now, movements powered not by difference and exclusion and punishment, but by common ground, compassion, humility, healthy boundaries, patience and healing. ADRIENNE MARIE BROWN

I expect something good to happen because of these barbaric racist murders

Actually, I have been sickened ever since hearing about the Buffalo killings. I expect something good to happen because of these barbaric racist murders. Biden is already introducing gun control, to take guns for wars taken out of circulation. Also, people are waking up to the domestic terrorists being of more danger to US than International terrorists. Fox news needs to get Tucker Carlson off the air, and trump and his minions need to be held accountable. Tomorrow, I shall go to yoga and then work out and get out of this funk.

"LOVE IS LETTING GO OF FEAR."

LOVE IS THE ANSWER. Can yoo take love in, can you give it out?

"Fear allows us to hate people we don't know, and it even makes us forget the best in ourselves."

 Rob Reiner

@robreiner

The racist massacre in Buffalo rest at the feet of Donald Trump, Tucker Carlson, and the GOP. There are not fine people on both sides.

MSNBC's Joe Scarborough blamed a certain cable news network for a white supremacist who gunned down 10 Black shoppers at a Buffalo grocery store.

The shooter posted a lengthy manifesto online before driving more than two hours to Tops Friendly Markets, which he targeted because it was located in a predominately Black neighborhood, and the "Morning Joe" host said his hateful screed matched racist theories promoted by conservative broadcasters.

"Fear locks our minds on the past, and it makes us anxious about future," Scarborough said. "Fear allows us to hate people we don't know, and it even makes us forget the best in ourselves. Once again, fear is a tool being used by media moguls and tyrants to target the weakest and most emotionally fragile among us. Fear feeds on the dispossessed minds mired in lost causes like this."

Later in article: "It is the mst grotesque of marketing schemes that is killing, yes, literally killing those very American whose existence is now being used as leverage by news networks and a political party to breed that fear, to make more money and to win votes," he concluded. "It is sick." *can be found on YouTube.

I add - are they trying to divide genders also? My newest sign: 

Can racist violence be healed?

 

I think our journey is all about healing ourselves and healing each other in our own special ways.

RAM DASS

UNconscious teacher?

 

I don’t know anything about consciousness. I just try to teach my students how to hear the birds sing.

SHUNRYU SUZUKI ROSHI

YES TO LIFE In Spite of Everything

 

May you embrace this day, not just as any old day, but as this day.

 

May you embrace this day, not just as any old day, but as this day. Your day. Held in trust by you, in a singular place, called now.

CARRIE NEWCOMER

Shining the lamp of mindfulness upon the mental formation (thought), it will naturally transform in a wholesome direction.

  

We will consider breathing exercises 9-12 as taught by the Buddha to cultivate our capacity to "Observe the Mind in the Mind" by looking deeply into our perceptions, mental formations, and consciousness. These are all mind functions and are the objects of our concentration. We practice to observe the arising, presence, and disappearance of mental phenomena which are called mental formations; we recognize them and grow curious about them in order to see their substance, their roots in the past, and their possible fruits in the future. Shining the lamp of mindfulness upon the mental formation, it will naturally transform in a wholesome direction. 

Formerly, when cut off in traffic, in anger, I would fantasize about catching up with them and cutting them off. Then I learned to observe the anger and attempt to let it go, which I have gotten better at. Lately, another teacher advised to not only let it go, but to observe the driver with admiration of his ability to drive skillfully in and out of traffic. (This is an example of shining a light on mental formations, and naturally it will transform in a more positive way. "Choosing joy over anger."

With a purpose, I have peace of mind...

 

Thanks, "I am still here."

 

Gratitude is the capacity to stare doubt, loss, chaos and despair right in the eye and say, ‘I am still here.’

DIANA BUTLER BASS

Gratitude is happiness doubled...

 

Gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.

G.K. CHESTERTON won·der Learn to pronounce noun a feeling of surprise mingled with admiration, caused by something beautiful, unexpected, unfamiliar, or inexplicable. "he had stood in front of it, observing the intricacy of the ironwork with the wonder of a child"

HAPPINESS IS AN ATTITUDE

 

No trick, your choice!

 

The trick, it seems, is to be able to hold both things very close – the gratitude and the misery – and then, with a semblance of faith, to let them fly.

ELIZABETH AQUINO

Grateful hearts, hands, eyes, minds for grateful living.

 

Grateful hearts truly love. Grateful hands reach out. Grateful eyes see generations. Grateful minds imagine big ideas like justice, peace, and health. Our world needs no less than grateful living.

KATIE STEEDLY CURLING

Dr. Frankl...freedom to choose one's attitude.

 

...freedom to choose one's attitude...

Viktor Emil Frankl was an Austrian neurologist, psychiatrist, philosopher, writer, and Holocaust survivor. He was the founder of logotherapy, a school of psychotherapy that describes a search for a life's meaning as the central human motivational force.

... transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life…and the world."

 

Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life…and the world.

SARAH BAN BREATHNACH

Meet Maya and Ezra from Bar Harbor, Maine at monument

mayacaines@gmail.com 

ALL LIVES MATTER WHEN BLACK LIVES MATTER

Excellent Tip for deep listening:

 

To listen is to lean in, softly, with a willingness to be changed by what we hear.

MARK NEPO