Spiritual Journey

A couple of days ago while in a group talking about our spiritual journeys, I found myself saying "I have found that kingdom", meaning the kingdom of God. By that I meant that I feel great joy, love and peace much of the time in spite of being disabled, having chronic pain and aging. As Jesus said, according to Luke, "The kingdom of God is not coming with signs that can be observed, nor will they say; ‘Look here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ for the kingdom of God is within you." In my life journey, I have found that to be true. In order to achieve that feeling (reality?) I have done a great deal of introspection and the daily practices I mention in my website and book. According to Thomas, Jesus also said "If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you."

Service

Maria’s and my most recent service commitment (ministry) is to clerk or lead the Thursday evening Friend’s worship meeting, a task which I find very exciting and loaded with potential. Maria will handle most of the talking part and we will both take care of other duties. Patricia Loring wrote "It requires even more discernment to discover whether the ministry called for from a particular individual in a particular instance requires prophetic speech, humble and hidden activities, bold and dramatic action, professional service or some, novel and previously unimagined course." For me, so far, my task is mainly the "humble and hidden activity" of being present, beaming loving energy and encouraging the local spirits to do the same. At the end of each meeting I take the "bold and dramatic action" of approaching and talking with the attendees about whatever came up for them during the meeting. We shall see.

Connection

In my enjoyment of the "variability and vibrancy of spring" which I wrote of yesterday it was implied that I feel a part of the trees, flowers and birds, we are all connected. I cannot say that I understand that connection but I know it is real and that connection is part of my joy. In the words of Jack Kornfield "The happiness we discover in life is not about possessing or owning or even understanding. Instead, it is the discovery of this capacity to love, to have a loving, free and wise relationship with all of life. Such love is not possessive but arises out of a sense of our own well-being and connection with everything."

Presence

I truly enjoy the variability and vibrancy of spring. Some of the early flowers like the crocuses, daffodils and some hyacinth have begun blooming and two days ago it snowed heavily (for this area!) and has gotten cold. Yesterday and today, as the snow melted the flowers, once again, began showing themselves. I have also been watching a video cam of nesting bald eagles. As I observe these events I also feel the presence of God or the life force. "I tell you, I am in every flower, every rainbow, every star in the heavens, and everything in and on every planet rotating around every star. I am the whisper of the wind, the warmth of your sun, the incredible individuality and the extraordinary perfection of each snowflake. I am the majesty in the soaring flight of eagles, and the innocence of the doe in the field; the courage of lions, the wisdom of the ancient ones." (Walsch)

God Seed

Today it snowed several inches and the spirit side of me connected with the wondrous life-giving nature of the event. I even communicated that to the big oak out back when I did my dawn blessing. The human part of me also felt some irritation at the inconvenience of the snow, but that was slight and modified by the positive thoughts and feelings. I have similarly dual thoughts and feelings about most life events and the eternal or spirit view usually predominates. The Love or God seed in me makes it possible to connect with the Love or God in everyone and everything around me, changing the way I feel and interact. According to the gospel of Thomas, "Jesus said, ‘I am the light which is before all things. It is I who am all things. From me all things came forth, and to me all things extend. Split a piece of wood, and I am there; lift up the stone, and you will find me.’"

Recovery

During my recovery process I have bathed myself in unconditional love and spirituality in order to address my alcoholism, drug addiction and, later, my disability. I have used love and spirituality to alleviate the hurt and anger resulting from earlier life experiences. I tried using my intellect, reading and therapy and found that they helped my understanding but did not result in the peace I sought. Love and spirituality did. The "allowing" that came with Love was crucial for me to reach resolution. I now give the same to others. "In the Dhammapada the Buddha teaches that in this world hate never dispels hate. Only love dispels hate."

God

When I meditate I connect with the loving force I call God. That force is much more powerful than anything human caused that I have felt and the feeling brings me great joy. As I describe on my website and in my book, I have also found physical healing power in that feeling. It is a feeling that causes me to be other directed, service oriented and selfless. I cannot imagine how such a force could be negative in any way. I do well up with tears of gratitude at times. "There are, says the saint [John of the Cross], encounters with God such that the devil cannot possibly counterfeit them, nor can one’s imagination create them. Some are so indelibly imprinted in the center of one’s being that they can neither be described nor forgotten."

Practice

Maria and I are now co-clerking (leading) the Thursday evening Friend’s worship session. She does most of the talking, I beam Love and presence to the attenders and we both extend love and welcome to new-comers. We are focused on diversity, passion and mystical connection. The passion piece and truly welcoming the messiness frequently present with diversity are attitudes that have been largely missing. That particular meeting is small enough and out of the mainstream enough that we can push the envelope a bit. So far I have enjoyed encouraging the spiritual "stray dogs" that I meet there. They are my brothers and sisters. "Yet I sometimes encountered, in churches and elsewhere—in the presence of a venerable Buddhist monk, in the cantor’s singing at a bar mitzvah, and on mountain hikes—something compelling, powerful, even terrifying that I could not ignore, and I had come to see that, besides belief, Christianity involves practice—and paths toward transformation." (Elaine Pagels)

Perfection

Recently I have been hearing people talk about perfection and their belief that they were falling short, while I kept thinking each time that they were beautiful and perfect in God’s eyes. In my meditation and connection with God it is my understanding that God’s idea of perfection is closer to the idea of Harmony with all that is versus the human ideas of perfection meaning a total lack of what are thought to be faults. The actions that I take today are certainly not free of mistakes or faults but they are my best attempts at harmony. I almost always act in accordance with the three questions outlined in my book (would I do this in front of God, or whatever you call that power/force?; is my name really on it or is it really my responsibility?; will this increase the integrity of the universe, or is this loving?). I am perfect in God’s eyes. "What I [Jesus] say to you in the dark you must repeat in broad daylight, what you hear whispered you must shout from the rooftops." Mathew (10:27)

Serenity

Today I went about the day-to-day activities of exercise, laundry, a recovery meeting and cooking with a feelings of quiet joy and peaceful gratitude, feelings that I value highly. My life used to be filled with chaos, drama and excitement, which I thought gave my life meaning. I now find meaning in peace, serenity and loving connections. Last evening I met and connected with a couple of very attractive young females and had no sexual thoughts, only that loving connection as I might have with my own children. I have found these thoughts and feelings within myself but still find it easy to be pulled back into less pleasant thoughts. "From everywhere, it seems, we are bombarded with the idea that our nature is innately violent, that our chief preoccupation is with our sexuality, and that our main purpose in life is the acquirement of ever more nifty possessions.......Indeed, if is only through the practice of inner silence that we can begin to disentangle ourselves from our culture and its illusions. (Seeger)