Category Archives: service – giving

A Light to All

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“What we once enjoyed and deeply loved we can never lose, for all that we love deeply becomes a part of us.” —Helen Keller Today marks four years since my dear friend Samara passed over to the other side. I’ve really been thinking about her a lot in the last two weeks or so. She was very intuitive, a trait I strive to develop. She was about eight years’ older than me and quite a wise woman; hence, she was like an older sister to me. That was delightful especially since I’d never had a sister. We met in NYC and it was clearly a Spirit-orchestrated coming together, so meant to be—even if our meeting was delayed a bit. I was researching colonic hydrotherapy and seeking a colon therapist; Samara was the only professional to return my call. After being a devout atheist for many years, thanks to joining (and working) a 12 Step program, I was on a conscious spiritual path for about 18 months when we met. I was still so thirsty to talk about Spirit, learn about the various concepts of the Divine, know more about the Universe in a way I’d never wanted to before. While … Continue reading →

Comparing Myself

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In my current work contract, I participate in a weekly meeting of my fellow technical writers hired through the same staffing agency. It’s an informal forum to share knowledge, ask questions, and simply to connect. We are an eclectic mix of demographics and technical writing formal education and experience. There are three job levels, and I am one of the senior technical writers. When I hear my colleagues talk about software, processes, experiences, and the like that I’ve little-to-no clue about, I often compare myself to them, inevitably ending up feeling discouraged. Now, I learned years ago in 12 Step program that the only person I should ever, ever compare myself to is me at different times of my life. In so doing, then I get to see how far I’ve come, and that’s all to whom it matters. This morning I got an ah-ha about comparing myself, my knowledge, and my experience to other technical writers. Sure, I may not have experience using the markup language DITA, or writing API documentation, which is so greatly in demand these days. And, my degrees may not be in technical communication, a relatively new college curriculum, or in Information Technology. However, I … Continue reading →

Happiness Comes From Giving

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“Beginning with childhood, we all receive messages that getting is the purpose of living: we must have romantic love, sexual fulfillment, possessions, and prestige to be happy. “God has a different message: Help one another. We learn from experience in our program that happiness comes from giving—whether it be time, talent, money, or other things. Experience tells us that giving what we have to help someone else makes us a lot happier than keeping it to ourselves.” – “In God’s Care*: Daily Meditations on Spirituality in Recovery,” April 14 *As We Understand God Growing up, my parents were caring, giving people, but not strong role models of volunteerism. I did some volunteering as I grew older, but still wasn’t all that much into being of service. That changed dramatically when I joined a 12 Step program. Service and giving of one’s time, talent, and money is a huge part of the Program; it is the final step after working through the other ones: “Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to compulsive eaters, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.” Step 12 is the culmination of a spiritual … Continue reading →

Spirituality is Action

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“The life of the spirit is centrally and essentially a life of action. Spirituality is something done, not merely something believed or known or experienced.” – Mary McDermott Shideler “Spirituality is action.” – “In God’s Care*: Daily Meditations on Spirituality in Recovery,” April 6 *As We Understand God Ya know, it’s pretty easy to go sit on a mountain top and be alone, not having to deal with people. I’d guess it’s boring too. Life is about relationships, which makes it rich. It is when I am actively engaged with others—friends, family, work colleagues, et al—that my greatest challenges arise and I learn, and I realize my greatest joys too. Exercising my spirituality means that I get to see how much my God-like and God-given qualities are in play. In my interactions with others, am I being kind? Patient? Compassionate? Loving? Helpful? Those, of course, are just a few of the qualities of Spirit, but as you can see, they’re not easily evident until I am interacting, into action with others. By being in action with my Spirit qualities I get to gauge the progress I’ve made on my spiritual journey. If a driver does not allow me into their … Continue reading →

Helping God Out

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I’ve taken note that I often receive guidance, creative ideas in the middle of the night when I’m not quite sleeping, yet not really awake. This also can occur once I’ve finished my morning chant and head into some silent meditation time. I try to remember what’s been imparted, but am not always successful, although I do ask Spirit to help me to remember. And, sometimes the stuff actually makes sense in the 3-D world! This morning I received an idea about asking for help from people. That in and of itself was interesting since I don’t ask for help very often. The idea was that whenever I ask someone for help, I’m actually asking the Divine for help. And, ya know, that’s an idea that makes sense to me! The Divine does not have a corporeal body so expresses Itself through people who obviously do have a physical body. We are each the hands of God, the feet, the eyes, etc. That thought brought to mind a poem attributed to St. Teresa of Ávila. In reading it, you might want to substitute “Christ” with Spirit, God, Oneness, etc. Christ has no body but yours, No hands, no feet on … Continue reading →

Make a Contribution

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A few weeks ago, I volunteered to use my many years of experience and expertise in creating and publishing electronic newsletters to train the person newly responsible for the e-newsletters at my spiritual center. Since I work full-time, we made arrangements to have the first session today following the Sunday service. Having these plans, I found one of today’s morning readings timely: I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble. – Hellen Keller “This is what gives our life real importance: to know that with God’s guidance, we can make a contribution that is necessary and unique.” – “In God’s Care*: Daily Meditations on Spirituality in Recovery,” March 6 *As We Understand God Well, Spirit had other plans. While this person was present at the Sunday service, she left before it had concluded, without a word to anyone. We don’t know if perhaps she wasn’t feeling well, or something else came up; no one had her personal phone number in order to contact her. I trust she is well and am sending light and love to her; I’ll check in tomorrow at … Continue reading →

In the Service of Others

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“When you are in the service of your fellow beings you are in the service of God.” – Anonymous Tonight, I attended a new women’s group forming at my spiritual center. I liked that it’s a mixture of ages, races, and cultures. I was keenly aware of myself, ensuring I didn’t try to take over leading the group, impose my ideas about how it should be, or exude an attitude of I know better than y’all. I simply wanted to be in the present moment and be of service, if at all possible. Well, I got the opportunity. During introductions and us each expressing what we hoped the group would be about, one woman—I’ll call her Jane—stated that she desperately needed support as her husband had just passed away two months ago. She was still grieving and felt very much alone. She’d joined a grief support group, but it was a religious-based group and it didn’t sit well with her. I thought it courageous that she was venturing out as much as she was and sharing her struggle; it was also self-love. I was glad that during one impromptu exercise to learn and remember everyone’s name, Jane was able to … Continue reading →