Divine Harmony

Today I have been made more aware of the importance of my ability to sense the divine harmony and love in everything within my environment. I find this discipline to be physically healing as well as emotionally and spiritually fulfilling. Sensing the love and harmony is relatively easy when I witness some interaction between a young mother with her child. It is harder to sense but just as present when I see a cockroach scurry across the living room floor. The cockroach is a wondrously perfect example of survival and thriving within situations where humans try to eliminate it. "When the will, in becoming aware of the satisfaction afforded by the object of sight, hearing or touch does not stop with this joy but immediately elevates itself to God, rejoicing in Him who motivates and gives strength to its joy, it is doing something very good. (St. John of the Cross)

Gifts

For the last couple of days I have been meditating about and processing a dream which tells me that I have unique and special abilities, gifts from God which carry responsibilities with them. The main responsibility right now is simply to look at the evidence of my life objectively and admit the gifts which are unique to me. One of the main gifts is my ability to transmit (beam?) God’s love through my hands, a gift which I have used in hands on healing and to help other people feel God’s Love. Another gift is my ability to work with spirits, a skill I am still developing. I find it hard to look at myself objectively and admit my own uniqueness.

Perspective

I strive to live by what I call the "Rainmaker Ideal"; to love, allow and cherish all aspects of myself and others. I do this in order to be of maximum service. It is a perspective that requires humility, ego deflation and constant introspection. I get this approach from the writings of Irene Claremont deCastillejo, who described it well; "In those rare moments when all the opposites meet within a man, good and also evil, light and also darkness, spirit and also body, brain and also heart, masculine focused consciousness and at the same time feminine diffuse awareness, wisdom of maturity and childlike wonder; when all are allowed and none displaces any other in the mind of a man, then that man, though he may utter no word is in an attitude of prayer. Whether he knows it or not his own receptive allowing will affect all those around him; rain will fall on the parched fields, and tears will turn bitter grief to flowering sorrow, while stricken children dry their eyes and laugh."

Love

Today, in addition to the regular activities of a recovery meeting, weeding and exercising, Maria and I went to visit our niece and nephew and their new baby. The baby was, of course, adorable and just learning to walk. What was remarkable to me was the amount of love we were all expressing toward the baby and that she was beaming back at us. That love obviously promotes the growth and well being of all. The love was a marked contrast to what I saw through the families I worked with in Catholic Services or what I personally grew up with. The love was wonderful to experience.

Humanity

For the last several entries in this blog I have described some of the considerable effort I go to in order to maintain my health, sense of well being and spiritual connection and, in addition, I find myself mildly irritated by people who would like the same benefits but will not put in the effort. The reason I am irritated is that I also wish I did not have to put in so much effort. Having done so I can say that the results are well worth the effort so I will continue. But it is notable that the thoughts are still there! "We want to be spiritually alive, but also to be comfortable; to be prayerful, but not to rise early in the morning to pray; to possess power to lead, but not to undergo the discipline that it takes to control the power." (Gilbert Kilpack)

Holistic Healing

In order to remain functional and mentally at my best I exercise most days in spite of the lack of coordination and pains associated with my disability. I do some exercise six days a week and a full range on three or four of those days. The full range consists of an exercise bike, free weights, calisthenics and a treadmill and takes two to three hours. Minor muscle and joint pain results from the muscles not working smoothly together (like they used to!). If I do not exercise the pain quickly gets worse. While exercising I focus my thoughts on harmony, love and gratitude. It is a lot of effort but it works for me.

Practice

I lead a life of compassion, love and service which is modeled after what I understand of Christ, yet many would not consider me to be Christian since I do not accept Christ as my one and only savior who can and does forgive me for my sins. I am also not Quaker though I do attend Quaker meetings since I benefit from the silent worship I find there. It seems to be important that I have no religious or spiritual affiliation. Having no affiliation is important for me since I can listen during meditation with minimal bias. Having no affiliation is also important since it shows that the membership is not important but the compassion, love and service is. I am Charlie and my devotion is total.

Being Present

What a glorious day! It was a beautiful spring day and I attended a recovery gathering of several hundred people, which took me out of my comfort zone of avoiding crowds. At the closing of the meeting everyone moved to form a line around the perimeter of the large room we were in. As usual I moved very slowly and people gently nudged me out of the way and kept going around me joining the line and holding hands. One young man noticed that I was having a difficult time and was being excluded so he made it a point to break the chain and make room for me. A bit later the same young man held a heavy spring loaded door open for me and inquired if I was alright. I thanked him for noticing me.

Connection

I had another day with multiple, intense, loving connections, some therapeutic and some more casual and incidental. As Irene Claremont deCastillejo wrote "For there to be a meeting, it seems as though a third, a something else, is always present. You may call it Love, or the Holy Spirit. Jungians would say that it is the presence of the Self. If this 'Other' is present, there cannot have failed to be a meeting." The actual circumstances of the meeting do not seem to matter when there is love present. It amazes me how much healing can take place in a short time when that sort of connection is made. "Great deeds can only be achieved when we are more than our little selves. When we are lent wings we should not reject them." (Irene Claremont deCastillejo)

Death

Today I was able to talk with someone about the glorious process of death and dying. She had the privilege of helping someone else die, a sacred activity. I was able to speak of the fact that the transition of death was a very special part of life. We also spoke of the human feeling of loss, the eternal and temporal. It was a good conversation and reminder. "The pure in heart know that when the Kingdom of the Spirit is seen in all its beauty and desired with a single will, then order is brought out of confusion."(Gilbert Kilpack)