2005-02-12

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To me receptivity implies an openness, a willingness, maybe even a looking for and being attentive to what I am to receive. When I am receptive I do not reject but rather I accept what is in each moment. Receptivity would also mean a letting go of expectations. I am not open to receive what is before me if I am expecting a particular result to appear. I cease to look for where it is not and I focus again on the now. I cease the regrets of the past and let go of fears of the future. There is only one moment to truly be in. I cannot be in 1975 again and I cannot be in 2015. I am here now.

2005-04-11

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When a feeling comes I do not necessarily need to know the why, the explanation or the full understanding. It is more that I allow myself to experience the feeling. It is a matter of being at the heart level instead of moving to the head all of the time for the whys and the explanations. I can just be with the rage, the joy, the fear, the uncertainty, the confusion. With any feeling I need to initially admit to it so I can be free to move on rather than being unsettled or begrudging my experience, my now. Sometimes, I do not see the new life from the tree or the precious gems. Sometimes, all I smell is the ashes and all I see is the brokenness. Again, the choice is to see things differently. Where do I focus my attention? That is the secret.

2005-05-21

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As each of us is unique in our experiences, in our way of being in the world and in our responses to life, we must each come into a relationship with what we believe. It is always a matter of choosing what resonates with us. For awhile another’s beliefs may fit for us but eventually we are either pushed or led to the place where we stand on our own. It is then that we truly live our own lives.

2005-06-18

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For the fun of it, I have decided to share a few thoughts from my next book. They are as follows: "I was at a church service once and the minister had a quote about black and white. In that quote, black was referred to as evil. As I listened to the quote, I received the image of snow blindness. In snow blindness, when all you see is white your eyes experience a blindness. I do not understand the physical phenomena that happens in snow blindness but it makes for a powerful metaphor or image. It seems that contrast is very important in our experience as human beings. As we experience the black versus the white, the up versus the down, the hot versus the cold, we can better orient ourselves. When all we see is white we have no landmarks to help us find our way. It is quite similar to the feeling expressed earlier of being lost at sea. In this case, the contrast serves to guide us through time. Maybe that is why we need the distinctions of past, present and future as well. It is all well and good to be in the present moment, not wishing for another but perhaps it is my nature as a human being to seek out the contrast, even in time."

2005-08-09

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... the image came to me of the surfer who rides the waves of the ocean. Rather than fighting the current somehow the surfer balances on the crest of the very turbulent wave. He uses the force of the wave to his advantage rather then fighting and resisting the pull of the wave. And what a way to go! Ride the wave. The surfer, who arrives at his height of balance and skill with the waves, does so after much practice and many instances of falling back into the turbulent sea in a fight for his breath and very survival. Therefore, I can have patience with myself when I too fall into the waves and am overcome with the intolerable. With much practice, I will maintain my balance and skillfully ride the wave. This is another image of being in the flow and being one with the flow in order to get me moving and on to where I want to go (the end product). I see the falling into the turbulent sea as falling into my anger. Sometimes that will happen and that is okay. Other times I will stay the course on the wave. All is to be embraced. Yes, even the intolerable.

2005-09-10

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I believe the following is pertinent at this time.

When I was thinking about the whys of the World Trade Center deaths I received the image of light spreading in the darkness and rigidity melting in the fire of love, compassion and understanding. I had no real answers to the whys so I asked another question, “What could I do in my own personal arena?”. Aside from living in the moment more fully, some helpful activities for increasing my own positive energy were to meditate daily, to write in my journal, to love those around me, to be open to any opportunities for service and sharing that availed themselves to me. I could offer each day to God that my time might be well spent. The Spirit within me was the same Spirit within all people and by my accessing that Spirit, it would be one more conduit to bring life, healing, new vision, peace and joy to the world. As I became more free, I freed the world. Visions and prayers were two sides of the same coin. I could honor the vision as one possibility and then adjust my world view so the new possibility could arrive. That possibility could be in the personal or in the global arena.

My prayer each day is for a new way of being in the world. No more loss, no more terror, no more devastation, no more abandonment. For what I am cannot be taken away. I cannot be destroyed. I can let go of judgment so the walls can be replaced by bridges. It is possible to let go of the anger so right action, right thought and peace of mind can prevail.

2006-01-13

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I have come to the conclusion that surprise is the antithesis of expectation. Sometimes when an event catches me by surprise I am delighted. That delight is definitely a positive feeling. It is almost like a kiss or embrace from the universe, the touch of angel’s wings. Expectation, on the other hand, implies a demand placed upon circumstances. Expectation has an element of entitlement involved with it. With an expectation, I want things to go my way and only my way. In expectation there is no room for surprise, delight or possibility. Expectation definitely limits while surprise expands horizons.

2005-12-02

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.....Maybe part of the lesson is to remember that what we consider a positive or a success may be different than the real success of being with life as it shows up.

2006-05-06

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Once in a conversation with others, the topic of the oneness of all arose. At that time I made a connection between the oneness of all and the water on the earth. When water evaporates it returns to the oneness. The return of the water to the earth occurs when the clouds come bearing the rain or snow. The water never really leaves the earth. It merely changes form.

Not only does water flow in lakes, rivers and oceans but water is within all life that exists on the earth as well as above in the earth’s atmosphere. Water is a necessary ingredient for life continuance whether that life be plant or animal. Water is an excellent representation for life and the oneness of all.

The rain in Florida may eventually become the snow in Colorado. Tsunamis in Asia affect the coastal waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The water we drink today is of one essence with the water Jesus drank at the well (John 4:13-15). In water, we find unity, infinity and eternity.

2006-11-19

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I asked a friend if she could help me to learn to wait well. That request was my attempt to rid myself of my natural inclination to impatience. Her answer to my request was that the concept, to wait, illustrated that I was not in the present moment. Waiting shows the involvement of time. If I am waiting for something to occur, I am looking elsewhere than where I happen to be. I believe waiting well can reflect a state compatible with being in the present moment. Being in the current of the sea is to be in the now. To wait well is to content myself with the current flow of events.