Being Excited About Vacuuming!

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After being engaged Monday through Friday in corporate work, even though it’s the weekend, I designated today as a personal work day. There’s been a lot of adult things needing to be done that I’ve been procrastinating about simply because I just haven’t felt like “adulting”! And, yet, now, at the end of this day of “adulting,” I feel peaceful and serene. In fact, I have felt that way throughout the day—on a mission, but neither hurried nor harried, and in joy.

I was very productive: changing the three HVAC filters in my home; working on 2021 taxes (yes, I’ve already filed an extension 😊); making data entries in QuickBooks; writing tithe checks; cooking my weekly batch of kitchari; replying to emails; and, more.

Being excited about vacuumingMy philosophy is that whatever I do, I want to do it in joy, in peace. Now chores don’t always easily fit into that slot. However, when I set the intention and the time to work on them, I actually get enthusiastic about the activity and look forward to that time. Imagine being excited about vacuuming!

But, that’s how today was. Not only was I productive, I was efficient, and I enjoyed myself. Plus, I felt closer to Spirit, perhaps because I was in a focused, mindful state. I am so grateful to be in such a frame of mind and accomplish what I did.

I’m reminded of this morning’s reading from “365 Science of Mind: A Year of Daily Wisdom from Ernest Holmes”:

“A completely integrated person is one who has learned to meet every thing as it comes along and to make the best of it… for we know there is a way to meet every situation through the use of the Power greater than ourselves.”

Working with Spirit, I accomplish all that I need to, with ease and grace, in joy and peace.

One Power

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The theme of two of my morning readings overlapped once again. I am tickled when that occurs, for the Universe is providing me with a stronger message to contemplate.

“Love… builds and builds. It can’t be stopped. There is nothing Love can’t fix and no problem it can’t solve.”
– “Everyday Joy, 365 days of ohmygod life,” by Z Egloff and Melissa Phillippe, April 8

“Through spiritual discernment, we see that we have within us a power greater than anything we shall ever contact; a power that can overcome every obstacle in our experience and set us safe, satisfied and at peace, healed and prosperous in a new light and a new life.”
– “The Science of Mind,” by Ernest Holmes, page 146

I can call this power spoken about by a host of names. God. The Divine. Great Mystery. Allah. Source. Elohim. Presence. Jehovah. Spirit. Buddha. Jesus. The One. The list is exhaustive really, and truly personal, something I didn’t know was “allowed” until I walked into the 12 Steps rooms decades ago and “came to believe.”

Of course, there’s Love, the sweetest name of all.

As one of my favorite New Thought singers and songwriters Daniel Nahmod says, “But whatever name you give it, It’s all One Power, can’t you see? It’s the power of the love in you and me.”

Click here or on the image below  to listen to Daniel’s anthem for humanity, “One Power.”

The Guest House

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the guest house
The Guest House by Rumi

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from above.

– “The Essential Rumi: Translations by Coleman Barks with John Moyne”

Tonight, after returning home from my women’s empowerment group, I pulled the above poem out at random as material for today’s daily blog post—it was surely synchronistic!

In “The Guest House” Rumi tells us that emotions are valuable, and all are from Spirit. We should embrace them, even the ones we would like to evade, because each can lead to a new state of being and awareness. The range of emotions are part of being in a human suit, all of them part of the whole. It behooves us to welcome them.

Reading this tonight was synchronistic because the sharing at tonight’s group brought out a gamut of emotions. Since we met last month, each of us have been experiencing some sort of loss and grief, frustration, and stress. But we’ve also felt gratitude, love, and joy. Someone got an ah-ha when she realized that the talk she gave to 7th graders was really meant for her! She appreciated the awareness and felt release.

Yes, the guest house of human beingness is filled with richness, leading us ever higher in consciousness and delight.

Spirituality is Action

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action

“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 lane, how do I react? Do I curse at them or do I simply bless them and continue on my way? The latter way is not only spirituality in action towards another, but it permits me to be in peace, another attribute of God.

If you examine individuals who are considered spiritual, for example, Mother Teresa, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Mahatma Gandhi, none kept idle with their spiritual beliefs, but rather were in action and of service.

Life is surely an adventure, but only when we are actively engaged in it and with others. Spirit shows us the way.

 

 

 

 

Could Be Lifted

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Evening Sky

Here is something to contemplate this evening, written by the Persian poet Hafiz:

Could Be Lifted

If you knew the end of your story, nothing on
any page—not one of your dramas, could bother
you as much.

If you knew the glorious end of your journey,
at least half of your attention could be lifted
from anything you can now focus on that may
cause you pain.

His hand is like that, when it is realized neat,
it will always turn your gaze in the direction
of more light.

– “A Year with Hafiz: Daily Contemplations,” January 7, by Daniel Ladinsky

This poem reminds me to stay in the present moment and to focus on God, uplifting me towards the light. How joyous, how hopeful!

Visit with Spirit

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Letter and penI spent a fair amount of my time after work tonight catching up with friends and acquaintances—via the written word. Some may think that “old-fashioned” but then again, the younger generations have grown up frequently communicating with others using 140-280 characters in a tweet! I don’t exactly call that correspondence.

When I get engrossed in writing to a friend, I truly feel like I’m having a visit with them. It so warms my heart and I feel connected to them. And, it feels so direct.

In these times of being physically separated, be it due to relocation, the pandemic, or perhaps conflicting schedules, it is freeing to be able to jump onto my laptop or select a notecard from my stash, and sit down, relax, and catch up with a friend.

Since I have lost a number of friends in recent years, and also relocated somewhat recently—and during the pandemic no less—I’m eager to grow new, local friendships. Nevertheless, it’s heartwarming to know that if I’m feeling alone, at any time of the day or night, I can always connect with friends through writing.

That’s how it is with Spirit too. I can always connect with Spirit anytime. It’s often through writing too: at bedtime, writing out my gratitude list; in the morning, when I journal; and; some other time during the day when I’m writing my spiritual blog post (like now). Of course, there are many other ways to connect with Spirit; I also resonate strongly with music, reading spiritual literature, and meditating.

But since I’m a writer, I’m delighted that I can visit with Spirit as I do with my friends, through writing.

My Level of Acceptance

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acceptance

“… acceptance is the answer to all my problems today. When I am disturbed, it is because I find some person, place, thing, or situation—some fact of my life—unacceptable to me, and I can find no serenity until I accept that person, place, thing, or situation as being exactly the way it is supposed to be at this moment. Nothing, absolutely nothing, happens in God’s world by mistake… unless I accept life completely on life’s terms, I cannot be happy. I need to concentrate not so much on what needs to be changed in the world as on what needs to be changed in me and my attitudes.” (pg. 417)

“… my serenity is directly proportional to my level of acceptance. (pg. 420)

– “Alcoholics Anonymous,” Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., Fourth Edition

As the world opens up and I step out interacting with more people than I have during the past two years, I am getting the opportunity to see how accepting I am of the people, places, and situations coming across my path in my new community.

Today I was disturbed by a situation, but I am grateful to know that instead of pointing the finger at it, I need to turn it around and point it at myself. I become quiet, go inside, and be introspective in order to see what the lesson to learn is for me.

External circumstances reflect my inner environment. And if I do not want to be disturbed and in pain, I must accept the situation and see what I can glean from it in order for a shift to occur. That shift is in me, in my attitude, for after all, I cannot change anyone else, I surely cannot control outside circumstances. These days I have the wisdom to know the relationship between my level of acceptance and my serenity. And, my goal is serenity.

There is a plan and Spirit makes no mistakes; Spirit is in charge. God is the only Power and the only Presence, in, through, and around me and everything and everyone else. Embracing that, acceptance comes easily and serenity follows.

There is Only the One

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Just One“We believe in spiritual mind healing. It is part of our conviction and our practice. At the same time, we do not disbelieve in any form of healing, whether it be medicine, surgery, psychiatry, diet or exercise.

“Some people say to me that they think we should believe in only one. Every new discovery in medicine is just as much a revelation of God for a specific purpose as a new invention or a new interpretation of Life Itself.

“There is only the One operating in all these channels.”

– Excerpt from “Your Mind is Creative“ by Ernest Homes, reprinted from the January 1965 Science of Mind magazine

Healing is on my mind acutely due to a friend’s 19-year-old son, Kelton, having had a brain hemorrhage earlier this week, as I wrote about in yesterday’s blog, Practicing the Presence of God.

I’ve not been a fan of western medicine most of my life but I know that it has its place in health. That has been quite evident in the treatment of Kelton’s critical emergency. I’m grateful to report that as of this writing, the actions taken to get his situation manageable have worked. His body was in the condition to have the necessary surgery and he is back in his room; if all goes according to plan, the doctors will start bringing him out of his medically-induced coma tomorrow.

There is no doubt medicine has enabled Kelton to come this far after this tragedy. I would say all the prayers and spiritual mind treatments contributed too. Spirit is at work in everything and everyone. It cannot be any other way.

The main point is that there in only the One operating through all of life, through all of us, through everything. Period.

Practicing the Presence of God

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Practicing the Presence of God“Nearly every day most of us experience a few small, though troubling, inconveniences. Some days we suffer through a major setback and, on occasion, even a personal tragedy. When we trust that God is in our life, and we look for comfort and guidance every moment of every day, we are prepared for any upset, whether minor or grave.

“Practicing the presence of God provides us with a refuge, even in the throes of turmoil. In time, as we make this a daily routine, we’ll seldom doubt God’s closeness or feel forsaken, even when all about us is dark. The darkness will give way to the light of hope in the mere moment it takes to remember God’s presence.”

– “In God’s Care*: Daily Meditations on Spirituality in Recovery,” April 1
*As We Understand God

I couldn’t help but think about my friend, Jennifer, and her soon-to-be 19 years old son, Kelton as I was reading the above passages. Earlier in the week Kelton experienced a brain hemorrhage, and at the time of this writing, the doctors still don’t have the situation under control so that they can perform surgery. They have induced a coma so that his brain can get some relief from activity, helping to stabilize his body in preparation for the surgery. It was determined that Kelton has an arteriovenous malformation (AVM), a tangle of abnormal blood vessels connecting arteries and veins in the brain, and one of them had ruptured.

Jennifer is not in a 12 Step recovery program, but she is a believer in Islam and has a strong faith in Allah. Through social media she is keeping friends, family, and community apprised of Kelton’s status and events as they unfold. I’m so grateful she is, as it enables us to help support her and him in any way we can. I’ve been praying and have sent prayer requests in to Silent Unity and out to Science of Mind practitioners. I’ve made a financial donation through GoFundMe and posted the link in the hopes that more folks can provide support.

I am not a parent and can only imagine what Jennifer and Kelton’s dad are going through (and his siblings too); still, I know about loving someone precious. It is a tragic situation, someone so young and vibrant having to go through this experience. At least for Jenn, she has been practicing the presence of God for years, and I trust that this journey she is walking through now is a little less painful as she feels Spirit’s closeness. And, with others practicing the presence of God as well, uplifting and healing vibrations are pouring out to Kelton.

We are all part of the One Source of perfect health and wholeness, of love. May Kelton and all of us know that truth and feel God’s closeness wherever Life’s journey takes us.

The Spiritual Life

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The Spiritual Life“I came to this program to save my ass and found out it was attached to my soul.”– Anonymous

“God gets our attention in a lot of different ways.

“And now we are learning about the spiritual aspect of our life, the one we had so long neglected. Now we are partaking of God’s love—soul food—and discovering that the spiritual life is fuller and more rewarding than anything we thought possible. Nothing we do to please our body can compare to the joy of unconditional love.”

– “In God’s Care*: Daily Meditations on Spirituality in Recovery,” March 31
*As We Understand God

God, aka Spirit, got my attention by hitting me over the head with a baseball bat in the form of food (an eating disorder). And, I do believe it was the only way Spirit was going to get this devout atheist’s attention. Nevertheless, it was not until I was in my mid-thirties that I finally found the solution to my eating disorder, not to mention my less than joyful life and relationships.

Starting my conscious spiritual journey with the Twelve Steps led me to learn about and practice additional spiritual ideas and concepts, including A Course in Miracles, Naam Yoga, and Unity. These days my main focus is on the Science of Mind philosophy.

“Spiritual mind science cannot promise something for nothing. It does not teach that you can have anything you want, no matter what it is, or that your thought can precipitate a million dollars. It does, however, teach, and it can demonstrate, that a betterment of circumstances and conditions and relationships brought about through spiritual mind treatment. We believe that the great Intelligence of the Universe cannot lack for anything or that It can plan for Its creation to lack what expresses Its own Being.

“We may be certain that the Divine intends only good, only abundance for Its creation because It is the very essence of life and givingness.”

– “365 Science of Mind: A Year of Daily Wisdom from Ernest Holmes,” March 31

There is no doubt that the spiritual life is richer and more rewarding than any other way I lived prior to coming to believe through the Twelve Steps of recovery. What I really had been hungering for was not physical food but soul food, unconditional love, God. I also have no doubt that the spiritual life has improved all the circumstances, conditions, and relationships in my life, making life more abundant and meaningful.

Spirit only intends good for Its creations and has the power to carry it out. We can use that power to enrich our life and the lives of others. I am so grateful I have come to embrace the spiritual life living in a human suit on planet Earth.