Self-Care

Life is good - very messy but good! I know that as long as I do my prayer, meditation and take care of my physical needs. If I take care of myself and stay humble and grateful then I enjoy life and tend to be amused by the silly humanness of myself and others. If, on the other hand, I do not take the necessary time for self-care, I begin to take things more seriously and feel stress, pretty simple. I just spent a couple of days working pretty hard, concerned with complex family issues of my clients, so now I need to recognize that and back off a bit.

Priorities

I make it a point to be very involved in typical day to day challenges like taxes, bills, material possessions or dealing with workplace drama while also keeping in mind the importance of love, compassion and faith in something. I attempt to keep in mind that "Nothing matters very much and very few things matter at all". During meditation I frequently laugh gently at myself for being concerned about things that don’t matter much. That laughter helps me to then realize that things like love, connection & relationships matter.

Love, Compassion and Faith

I have been privileged many times to be in the presence of and work with people that were going through very difficult physical and emotional times, frequently involving extreme pain, fear and threat of death. I say privilege since their condition strips away the trivialities of life and forces us both into a position of greater love, compassion, reality and faith. I am very familiar with that position because of recovery from my own difficulties and those other people sense that. I now carry that position with me through the day and benefit from that position during every encounter or interaction. I am passionate about spreading greater love, compassion and faith in something.

Spirit Person

I am a spirit person or, some would say, mystic, meaning that for me God is an experiential, ever-present reality. I say this knowing that some people will consider me arrogant, be jealous or just think me ridiculous. I have to keep in mind the words of Williamson when she commented "Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." I simply want people to know, feel and be with that same force or presence.

Clarity

For the first time today I have a strong feeling of clarity of planning the next steps in my life’s adventure, which surprises me since neither the time scale or the means (mostly money!) are at all clear. I suspect that they will become clear also, when the time is right. It feels like the universe is breathing a sigh of relief at my realization. My next steps include a shift in my career to being an author, beginning a series of workshops around the spiritual life style talked about in my book and moving back east, though the location is not clear at this time. I will await clarity on the rest.

Love 2

As I indicated yesterday, having encountered the same loving force that Jesus describes, I feel compelled to share it, to "pass it on". In fact, being with that love and desiring it to continue gives me no choice - a wonderful and fulfilling choice.. I have certainly been transformed because of that love and I will do everything I can to nudge others to experience that transformation, be it through religion, science or whatever.

Love

I find it quite remarkable that according to the scholars who have studied the life of Jesus, "His own self-understanding did not include thinking and speaking of himself as the son of God whose historical intention or purpose was to die for the sins of the world, and his message was not about believing in him. Rather, he was a spirit person, subversive sage, social prophet, and movement founder who invited his followers and hearers into a transforming relationship with the same Spirit he himself knew, and into a community whose social vision was shaped by the core value of compassion [love]." (Marcus J. Borg). Having encountered a small portion of that love myself, I have to ask "how could he have done otherwise". That love is totally consuming and transforming.

Knowing

Once again today I find myself wondering what to do with the information I have received. As I commented earlier this month, I have had numerous miraculous, numinous, sacred, God-shot experiences and am familiar with the Christian view of those experiences. Through experiences like the sweat lodge and vision quests I have explored several aspects of the Native American approach to the sacred and I also have some familiarity with the approach of other indigenous people. Through my prayer and meditation I have come to know the Buddhist perspective expressed by Jack Kornfield and Nisargadata Maharaj. I also have some familiarity with the more scientific but approaching the spiritual perspective of quantum physics. I am quite aware that they are all talking about the same thing, generally using different words. I know that all of these approaches support each other and are within the realm of knowing, not knowledge.

Acceptance

In the recovery meeting today a fellow spoke of having some serious physical problems and his need to accept life on life’s terms. When I spoke I also spoke of my own physical challenges and expressing gratitude since things could be and have been a lot worse. I also admitted having gone through some hard times, especially due to my disability. I mentioned the fact that it is difficult dealing with a body that does not "cooperate" and also that dealing with my body has led me to a better spiritual connection. My body is perfect for me.

Life Is Good.

I lead a fairly simple and extremely rewarding life based on love, my spiritual connection, connection in general, inclusiveness and being of service to my fellow travelers. I have had many difficult times and have grown from overcoming them. I have gotten and given a lot of help. I have learned to accept that I am disabled and also have the normal difficulties which result from getting old. I don’t fight any of that and I am very grateful for the many gifts I have received in the process. Life is good.