Invitation to Your Life

You are invited!

 

Your power and presence, purpose and passion, time, talent and treasure are hereby requested. It is up to you to wake up, stand up, suit up, show up, and step up to and for your life. Not the life your relatives, friends, teachers, bosses, critical inner voices, or anyone else thinks you should have, but the one which you know deep inside is your real life, your calling, your truth. The time is now, the person is you, and this is the place. 

 

It is time to stop hiding and holding back, to give your all, go for broke, follow your bliss , and live the large and in charge life you were meant for and which I intended. This is the reason you are here; to be exactly who you are, be yourself squared, and fulfill your magnificent destiny. It isn't going to be fast, easy, or painless, but it is more than worth  it. You are more than worth it. Your family and friends , just as they are, are more than worth it. 

 

No one else can fill your shoes and do your work but you, as only you know what is really needed in your corner of the world. You are not alone, for I am with you, wherever you are, and whatever you do. Just call on me, and then listen. I often answer with a still, small voice, hard to hear over the noise and clamor of the world. Look  to me deep inside and wherever you see love in the eyes of others, or in the world. I will help you every way I can. 

 

I have all the power, presence, and wisdom of the universe behind me. It is within you as well. You are my child, and as such, heir to all that I am. You are my hands and feet, my eyes, ears, and mouth. I ask you now to look  with love, listen with love, speak with love, and work with love. Love is what you are, and it multiplies synergistically and exponentially as you share it. What can you do today, this week, this month to help others, to help the world? 

 

I'm not asking for great things, but rather small things done with great love. That is how we get things done in the best possible way. There is much to do. Troubles and suffering are great. Together, we are greater! You may get down at times, but never count yourself out. You are needed. I need you to be a hero, a super powered SUPER hero. Your super powers are love, joy, compassion, and gratitude. They are my gifts to you, given to you before time began. All you need do to access them is look inward in prayer and meditation. 

 

Again, I am there for you, and I need you to be there for yourself, others, and all life. This is your invitation, your wake up call, your chance to live the full, abundant, wonderful life within, yearning to manifest in the world. Should you miss the call, or lose it along the way, remember I am the God of a million second chances. But don't wait! Don't miss the chance to make your dreams, our dreams, come true today and every day, one day and one step at a time!

 

                                                                                                                       Your Loving Higher Power

Castles, Warrior Kings, and Queens

If you read my recent post "A strong rope and unmasking" you know that I have a visual, even visceral understanding and experience of personal, cultural, and societal dysfunction. After sitting in on hundreds of meetings with severely wounded (and healing) people I have found the images and emotions deep and profound. Yet another scenario, another story is yearning to get out. Here goes.
Imagine first someone fortunate enough to get off to a good start with a loving family, a safe and pleasant environment, good health, and a sharp mind. Yet even those with the best of beginnings eventually must suffer pain, sickness, loss, and death of loved ones. The fortunate aren't pressed upon too badly, so are able to stay above the strife and woe and live happily. What of the others who suffer greatly, the walking wounded?
Without a viable support system to help them they must bandage up their wounds and carry on. To avoid further injuries both physical and mental, they bind themselves up. Imagine them with boots, leather leggings, padded vests, and thick gloves. Over this goes the armor, head to toe. Some use whatever is available, scrounged from junkyards and garbage heaps, others use the finest steel inlaid with precious metals and stones but a formidable and foreboding barrier none the less. Then comes the shields and weapons, and finally the mask, the more frightening these are the better.
Next we build our protective castles, and at its heart it's most fortified tower, the keep. The castles have tall stone walls, a moat, and drawbridge to keep out invaders. Sentries prowl the walls ever watchful and ready to sound the alarm and fight.
All of these play out in our lives and modern times as well, however hidden the festering wounds, layers of bloody bandages, wrappings, padding, masks, armor and weapons may be, we stand ready to defend or fight. Our castles take on the appearance of grand homes, fancy cars, vacations, and clothes. We seek the best educations, friends, work and societal positions, and partners to bolster our esteem.
Those unable to afford such comforts and luxuries often become bitter and cold, turning to drugs, alcohol, sex, and myriad other addictions to soothe the aching desperation. Workaholics, shopaholics, and entertainment addicts are but a few of the less noticeable manifestations of the silent but pervasive misery.
All is not lost. It is possible to break the don't talk, don't trust, don't feel rules and move from hurting, to healing, and helping. It is possible to find safe and caring people with whom we can be vulnerable enough to begin to lay down our weapons, remove our masks, armor, bindings, and bandages and at last clean and (address) dress the wounds properly. It won't be fast, easy, or painless. In fact it may hurt like all hell, but are strong enough, smart enough, and above all worthy of all the beauty and joy life has to offer.
We may then also swing open the windows, doors, and gates of our kingdoms to let in the light and freshness of the day. And to others, that they may join with us sweeping out the cobwebs and dust of years of neglect and misuse. Our dark, cold, lonely halls and rooms may now come alive with the sounds of song and celebration.
How is this possible? What will it take? Surrender. To a power greater than ourselves. Whether that means taking up with helpful, compassionate communities in the name of greater good and higher law, or turning inward to a personal, loving higher power and presence and working out from there to find like minds, wise and kind companions along this path.
This is our only hope. For if we continue as is, nature, our own selfish nature will spell our doom. It is up to us, and there is no time to lose. We must find ways to find and work with others who understand the situation, the one we share with all other people, all other life, and our dear mother earth itself.

The Magic Word

A recent book and movie called Three Magic Words asked the question "who am I?"  It's considered a magic question because it forces us to look deeply within, into our very souls. The premise is that should we ask this question in earnest we can't help but find we are in essence spirit, and God's infinite intelligence, power, beauty, and presence made manifest.  Although I agree, and find this to be true, what comes next? What are we to do with this potential for greatness? For me, this begs an even better question; why am I here"? What is the reason I exist at all, what is my purpose and passion? There is magic in this question as well, but the real magic lies in the answer.

As A Course In Miracles puts it; "I am here to truly be of service". This is why it is said that no matter how low you may feel, helping others will always lift your spirits. And that's the point here isn't it? To lift us out of "lives of quiet desperation", and our myriad selfish and trivial pursuits. And not just to serve mankind, but to serve all life, including our mother earth. The devastation we have wrought upon the land, waters, and skies, our societies and cultures, our families and friends, as well as our own bodies and minds, is vast and profound.

We need to ask these questions so we can focus our energies on the magic, simple, and also profound answer; service. And to serve with all the determination and resolve we can muster. This is our great cause, our great purpose, and the only chance for the survival of life as we know it. Before long pollution and climate change will strain our systems beyond the breaking point and the bullets and bombs will surely fly in ever greater numbers. We must ask this question again and again in every situation and event. Is it for the greater good of all life for me to buy this, to go there, to eat this, to say or do that?

This writing is due to the fact that in meetings at work I keep hearing "We are here to make money". This rubs me the wrong way. I am here to be truly of service, and if I do my job well income will be an outcome. In fact, the better I am at serving others the better the income usually gets!  I may not have the highest income because I don't want to sacrifice this all important value to earn more. Also this way I get into alignment with greater good, with higher purpose and power, the best path to true success.

Our ego driven societies and cultures are like an enormous bomb, and it has already gone off. Our only hope now is to minimize the damage and redirect the shockwave in beneficial directions wherever possible. That won't happen if we focus all of our time, talents, and energies on small matters. We must look to the bigger picture. We must let go of our small and selfish concerns and embrace the best within us that we may bring out the best in others and all the world.  

A Strong Rope

A Strong Rope

Rumi: "Why stay at the bottom of the well when there is a strong rope in your hand"? I often think of things as being on a spectrum, a line from one extreme to the other. This is because life is filled with paradox, as my eastern teachers say, good rests on bad, bad rests on good, happiness on sorrow, sorrow on happiness, and so on, for pretty much everything. It all depends on our point of view. A lion attacking someone walking in the mall downtown somehow seems tragic, but if they were walking alone in a deep jungle we might say they were asking for it! Also it's like the story of the man who loses his horse, but it comes back with others, his son breaks his leg, but doesn't have to go to war, etc. There is a bigger picture and the story is long.                  

 Disease, dysfunction, and insanity are on a spectrum too, and at the other end; well being, functional living, and sanity. Personally, our character and personality have a broad expanse as well. We may be somewhat dishonest, hateful, angry, jealous, punishing, with  a host of other maladies on one end, and a really awesome, loving, giving, kind, and helpful person on the other. Which one is true? I consider the wise one the "true self". It doesn't mean we don't get totally caught up and lost in the false self of wounded inner child and critical Higher Power and critical inner parent at times, it means the loving Higher Power, loving inner parent, and inner wonder child are always there too, however much buried in bullshit.                                                                                                             

These are our better selves, our best selves, our perfect selves. I now recognize this spectrum also goes vertically, with the bottom being the pit of suffering, sorrow, and despair. There is a gravity to that damn hole, like a black hole in space sucking up everything in its grasp, so powerful even light can't escape it's pull. It really sucks in so many ways. Unfortunately if that is what we grew up with or spent a lot of time with, it becomes "the new normal" and we get so used to it we will fight to stay there.

Because life has its difficulties, or we could say storms, conflicts, battles, or even wars, we run for cover and safety. Where do we run, to home perhaps? But what if home and family is the source of our distress? Some run away to other possibly more dangerous places, some fight back as best as they can, others turn inward, shutting down and shutting out their broken world. It often starts out as a foxhole, a "depression" we crawl into to avoid getting hurt.  

We gathered sticks and stones around to protect us from a frightening and dangerous would. The walls may have become so tall and thick no light, no love could get through. The pit gets deeper and deeper over the years and wounds. Stuck inside our the boundaries of our fears, the urine and feces accumulate as well. We find ourselves covered with the rancid mud in our eyes, ears, nose and mouth. No wonder many have places on their bodies that feel "dirty" due to the abuses they have received in those areas.                                                                                                                                   If we are fortunate, through kinder family, friends, counselors, therapists, recovery programs, spiritual and other leaders, we might gather strength to look up. Even then the night, storm, or war may go on for years. Through the our efforts and those of others the clouds eventually clear, the stars show brightly, the moon reflecting light and life in through the cracks. This is the strong rope of which Rumi speaks. The day will turn to night, the sun beaming in to warm heart and soul. We may peer through the cracks in our walls to see a better world on the other side.

After the night, storm, winter, and war have played out and their energy subsides, we may again see the green of growth, blossoming, and blooming beyond the fortress walls. We also may also hear kind, and caring voices talking, singing, and laughing, as well as birds singing, and soft breezes blow. Can you see the life beyond your prison walls? can you hear the voices, the laughing, the symphony, the songs? A world of joy, cooperation, and play?

It isn't fast, easy, or painless, as it may take countless encounters and years of hard work to make significant headway, but we are worth it! Even if we knock down the walls, we are often still in the pit. We may try to climb out again and again only to fall back down. Remember this is first on the external level of what is going on in the world good and bad, and secondly what goes on inside, how we think of ourselves. Wise people use the blocks and transform them into stepping stones for a stairway to freedom and functioning.                            
Even if the walls are down, the sun is shining, and it is safe to escape we may be stuck for a time. Prisoners with their doors swung wide take time to process what has occurred and build the confidence to venture out and live again. And what is it like to live out there in the big and bright world? What is it like to live in connection with our community, friends, family, and intimates? For those climbing out from the depths of perhaps decades of isolation and despair this is just the beginning of life, of really living. 
I can't tell you. This is something each of us has to discover for ourselves. If we didn't get these crucial lessons growing up or they were crushed in dysfunction, trauma, and abuse we can yet learn anew. It is never too late. Again, we may go to safe, kind, and loving family, friends, counselors, therapists, or recovery programs for help. 

Higher Powered

It's easy to think that each of us is a separate individual, a complete and self contained entity capable of thinking, reasoning, remembering, and speaking, as well as art, math, song, and many other mental functions seamlessly. I don't believe it. I have told this story many times and as the words come pouring out so clearly, quickly, and comprehensibly it can't be all me. The ideas and images flowing out with such precision and intelligence essentially "without thinking." Have you ever really considered it? It is incredible. Too much for little old me. Consider instead, that we are all conduits, receivers of the "one mind", the infinite intelligence, power, and presence that permeates the universe from the microscopic atom to the macrocosm of a solar system. These two even look and work alike, electrons spinning around the nucleus like planets spinning around a sun. There is also the consciousness and mental functioning of all of life forms, mammals, reptiles, insects, and yes, as well as the intelligence of plants. And yet there is another level, that of biological intelligence, as eating, balancing, digesting, fighting off disease, seeing, tasting, touching, hearing, growing, birthing, singing, dancing, laughing, crying, and much, much more. All of these also infinitely too amazing to be little old me, or you, or any living thing. For me this is proof positive of a higher power, intelligence, and presence that animates and informs us all from the microscopic life of bacteria to the gargantuan life of 200 ton whales.

The Finger Prints of God - Sacred Geometry

There are many ways to explore Sacred Geometry. It honestly is so intelligent, beautiful, and amazing it can be no less than the fingerprints of God. I have been studying it for a while and wrote out an explanation for both Sacred Geometry, the Fibonocci series, and phi (click here). There are images attached to help you grasp the principles. Search Sacred Geometry images online and you will find thousands of awesome images in full color with links to their sites to inspire you.There are also hundreds of videos on  YouTube, so I've gathered my favorite shorter ones here for your enjoyment. I hope to have one of my own soon. So here we go, and get ready to be AMAZED... Nature by Numbers  Fibonocci Fractels  Sacred Geometry Series  Sacred Geometry Disney Cartoon  Sacred Geometry Explained  Part Two Fibonocci Numbers The Golden Ratio  Golden Ratio in Humans Divine Proportion  FS

A Course In Miracles

In my search for truth, purpose, and meaning in life, I came upon Marianne Williamson's book A Return To Love based on her healing through A Course In Miracles and it really clicked for me. I was also searching for community because of Dean Ornish's book Love & Survival: The Scientific Basis for the Healing Power of Intimacy. It took awhile, but I eventually found a group of Twelve Step people that had regular course in miracles meetings. They also had an eleventh step ("Sought though prayer and meditation to increase our conscious contact with God as we understood god, praying only for knowledge of Gods will for us and the power to carry that out") meeting on Sunday morning I frequented. We would start with a short calming meditation then read a couple of paragraphs and share about them for a few minutes (over and over). The book itself is a combination of Christianity, eastern philosophy, and western psychology. It is over 1,100 pages, somewhat of a bible in itself. It all comes down to love or fear, the miracle being the simple act of changing our minds. A few smaller books that express the essential wisdom and love of a course in miracles that I enjoy and you may as well are: Choose Once Again, Love Is Letting Go of Fear, and Gifts from a Course in Miracles. A few of years later I had underlined and highlighted most of the book and had bought a hundred other related books for a mini library I brought to meetings for others to buy. I thank the course for helping me clarify my Christian, Buddhist, and psychological knowledge. Honestly however, I have moved on from the course, only occasionally going back to the teachings. Twelve Step and other interests have taken over and become my main paths as you will see if you look further on. I do recommend the course however, as it has a sublime peace and poetry that are very helpful. When I started the course, I thought peace was boring, I wanted passion! These days, I realize love and peace is are very worthy goals. You may find some helpful quotes here.