Listening

  The ability to listen is very important to me.  I wish to hear with clarity, lack of bias and free of the concerns of self image or self in general.  I want to be sensitive to whatever the Universe has to tell me, whether the source be God, spirits or something else in the ether around me.  This morning I began thinking of listening and the fact that I listen with more clarity if I am lean and a bit hungry, rather than full and overweight.  That thought and listening led me to this entry in my journal.  The point I am led to is that listening requires discipline.  “To undertake to live a discerned life, to endeavor daily to be attuned to authentic movements of the Spirit leading us into greater fullness of life, is a strenuous undertaking.” ( Patricia Loring)

Self-Concept

  The other day standing in my backyard there was a visiting goshawk, looking sleek, strong and stately.  I was captivated by the vision and I felt his presence.  Maria, my wife, suggested that I meditate on the hawk and see if there was some sort of message for me and since I realized I had been impacted, I did   During my meditation I realized that I admired the hawk but certainly did not consider myself as “sleek, strong and stately”.I became very aware that the low self-concept I had when I was young was incorrect and based on the way my family saw me, but that I still had vestiges of that view.  Through that vision I was being urged to view myself as the strong, independent, remarkable person I had become, a tall order but worth listening to.

Love

  For some reason I have been given the power and feeling of love in my life and I chose to share or spread it as much as I can.  I am no saint or anyone special in any way outside of the presence of that gift.  I feel that Love all of the time and most strongly during my near-death-experience, during healing and in meditation.  That feeling has certainly changed my life.  I refer to Love as a power since, for me, it has brought about physical healing and abilities that other people consider impossible.  I also believe the source of that power to be God but see no need to make that connection — Love is stronger than that.

That Small Quiet Voice

  Within each of us is that part which senses the loving/compassionate action to be taken, the part that senses God and eternity, the part commonly called “that small quiet voice”.  In my case I cultivate that voice by listening, acting and being grateful for it.  In my case it is no longer small or quiet, and I like it that way.  I note that most of technology, like the internet, social media or I-phones, can draw me away from that part, if I indulge in them for any length of time.  On the other hand sitting quietly, walking in nature and meditating bring me closer to that part.  I do a lot of the latter, things that fit well within the pandemic!

Spiritual Path

As I say in my book “You are on a spiritual path whether you know it, intend it, admit it or not.”  We are all on a spiritual path.  A major part of my path is to change the world by spreading the Love I was shown during my Near-Death-Experience.  I have been doing that for years but now there is a change afoot and I do not know what that change is.  I am impatient and I am fond of clarity so the uncertainty bothers me.  My path has always been on a “need to know”, so I suspect that I’ll know when the time is right!  I write this to re-assure myself."...would you say all of humanity is on a spiritual path?  Absolutely.  It's a beautiful thought, Emmanuel.  The entire universe is a beautiful thought."  (Pat Rodegast and Judith Stanton)

 

Holistic Healing

  For the last day I have spent much of the time focused on the feeling of unconditional love and reflecting on the power/force those thoughts contain for physical, emotional and spiritual well being and healing.  As far as my physical healing I focus on God, love and harmony with all things, direct that feeling into my hands and send it wherever I need healing.  I can feel the shift in energy and assume healing is taking place.  I get miraculous result which are really just an expansion of what is commonly called “the placebo effect” There is a lot of power/force there which is frequently not recognized.

Silence

A great deal of what I do daily  requires a high level of focus and concentration, even the muscular control of walking or eating.  If my focus on walking is broken by being surprised by something or having my attention drawn away, I stumble and occasionally even fall.  Similar things happen with my other activities, which is why I value silence so highly.  Silence around me enables me to easily focus on the thoughts or activities at hand, even unconditional love or other internal emotions.  I prefer to not have noisy distractions around me.  “When a peaceful silence lay over all, and the night had run half of her swift course, down from the heavens, from the royal throne, leapt your all powerful word.” (the book of Wisdom 18:14, 15)

 

Love

  I mentioned the other day that my goal is to change the world one person at a time.”  Right now many decisions are made out of fear, resulting in separation, aggression and defensiveness.  I am promoting a shift to acting out of love, resulting in connection, understanding and compassion.  I do not know what that will look like precisely since everyone is different and the loving approach is to honor and support that difference.  The shift I envision would benefit all people and everything on earth.  I am one man but I will do what I can each day.  “We shall never succeed in stopping war until we have a human society permeated with persons who practice a way of life which removes and abolishes the grounds and occasions of war, and at the same time matures and ripens a spirit of mutual understanding and personal cooperation.”  (Rufus Jones)

Connection

  When I go to a recovery meetings I can feel the presence of the other people because of their energy fields, it’s easy and, often, very pleasant sometimes chaotic or sad.  Today is a Saturday when I meet face to face with someone and we talk about recovery for an hour or so and I feel that connection.  I also feel that connection when I talk one-on-one over the phone, though the connection is less present so I have to work at it a bit.  I find the connection very meaningful and fulfilling.  For some reason, which I don’t fully understand, I do not get that connection during Zoom meetings.  Fortunately, I suspect, we will begin in-person meetings at some point.  For now it is good to know about the connection.

Being At Peace

  I am still searching for a new path, looking for that familiar feeling of inspiration for some sort of activities directed at my overall goal of “changing the world one person at a time”.  I continue with my own healing work and I have begun my journaling again and will begin revising my website to include more about the “unseen” aspects of reality — Sound like enough, but I am impatient.  I am seldom satisfied and always looking to do more.  I think it’s time to be at peace with what I am doing.  “You create a path of your own by looking within yourself and listening to your soul, cultivating your own ways of experiencing the sacred, and then practicing it.  Practicing until you make it a song that sings you.” (Sue Monk Kidd)