Through the Portal, or Into the Hole...

From White Eagle, Hopi Indigenous

"Bird at Heart"
creation of Sandy Starbird

“This moment humanity is going through can now be seen as a portal and as a hole. The decision to fall into the hole or go through the portal is up to you.
If you repent of the problem and consume the news 24 hours a day, with little energy, nervous all the time, with pessimism, you will fall into the hole. But if you take this opportunity to look at yourself, rethink life and death, take care of yourself and others, you will cross the portal. Take care of your homes, take care of your body. Connect with your spiritual House.

When you are taking care of yourselves, you are taking care of everything else. Do not lose the spiritual dimension of this crisis; have the eagle aspect from above and see the whole; see more broadly.

There is a social demand in this crisis, but there is also a spiritual demand -- the two go hand in hand. Without the social dimension, we fall into fanaticism. But without the spiritual dimension, we fall into pessimism and lack of meaning. You were prepared to go through this crisis. Take your toolbox and use all the tools available to you.

Learn about resistance of the indigenous and African peoples; we have always been, and continue to be, exterminated. But we still haven't stopped singing, dancing, lighting a fire, and having fun. Don't feel guilty about being happy during this difficult time.

You do not help at all being sad and without energy. You help if good things emanate from the Universe now. It is through joy that one resists. Also, when the storm passes, each of you will be very important in the reconstruction of this new world.

You need to be well and strong. And for that, there is no other way than to maintain a beautiful, happy, and bright vibration. This has nothing to do with alienation.

This is a resistance strategy. In shamanism, there is a rite of passage called the quest for vision. You spend a few days alone in the forest, without water, without food, without protection. When you cross this portal, you get a new vision of the world, because you have faced your fears, your difficulties.

This is what is asked of you:
Allow yourself to take advantage of this time to perform your vision-seeking rituals. What world do you want to build for you? For now, this is what you can do -- serenity in the storm. Calm down, pray every day. Establish a routine to meet the sacred every day.

Good things emanate; what you emanate now is the most important thing. And sing, dance, resist through art, joy, faith, and love."

The Healing Power of Silence

photo credit: Arthur Bruno

I heard an interesting analogy concerning the body's immune system and the world's ability to heal itself. Each and every one of us are a cell in the immune system of the universe. Every thought we think is either contributing to the unified health of our planet or the propagation of fear and terror. Every prayer, every meditation, ever reaching out through inward listening is magnified exponentially. We have the power to change the world through ourselves. Every interaction brings us closer to a world of love or a world of fear. The Love which heals us personally spreads through the web of Oneness. In the same way that we take personal responsibility for ourselves, our health, our well-being, we can take responsibility for a return to Love. It does matter what we do and what we think. We never know when an interaction with someone will make the difference in that person's life which turns them away from reactive fear to healing Love. The Truth which corrects all errors in our mind is our ascension into heaven within. Never doubt that you matter, that you make a difference.  Allow silence and listening to guide you to being the change you want to see! 

"Immortal ideas, pure, perfect, and enduring, are transmitted by the divine Mind through divine Science, which corrects error with truth and demands spiritual thoughts, divine concepts, to the end that they may produce harmonious results." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 259: 27-31

Protests of Truth

2,000 form peace sign for
John Lennon's 75th birthday

Mary Baker Eddy refers to prayer in many ways, but the one which keeps coming to my thought tonight is a reference to prayer as "deep and conscientious protests of Truth". The protests which we are seeing in every nook and cranny of the world today are, at their highest, this protest of Truth, don't you think? The people who are showing anger, those who are taking advantage and stealing anything they can, people who are there to bring turmoil and violence -- Well, I am reminded of the old African way of dealing with someone who has committed a crime. They surround the person and tell them everything good they know about them, even if it takes days -- especially if it takes days! While a crowded street in a city is not the place you can surround someone and tell them all the good they've done in the world, it certainly is the spot where you can mentally surround them with Love, and keep hitting them with it until they feel it! Most of us have had the experience of seeing Love change things -- whether it be a situation with another person, an interaction with an animal, or nursing a plant back to health, Love is the healer. So when we hear and see heartbreaking incidents, or horrifying images, let's not slip into the ditch, but rather rise up in thought, remembering everyone's true Being as a child of divine Love. Love is the liberator!

"It is neither Science nor Truth which acts through blind belief, nor is it the human understanding of the divine healing Principle as manifested in Jesus, whose humble prayers were deep and conscientious protests of Truth, -- of man's likenss to God and of man's unity with Truth and Love." Mary Baker Eddy - Science and Health - Prayer - Page 12:10

Education Reform -- and other things

Clear Spring School

Almost every day I think of something wonderful we're learning from this isolation. Today's thought was how the closing of schools can be a very good thing. Most of us have known for years that our education system is faulty. Our teachers aren't paid enough, we think the arts are not important, everyone must learn to standardized tests so the districts can receive their money to keep running -- the list goes on. Now that parents are trying to help their children continue an education at home, not only are they seeing how some of the problems they thought were with the school are actually with them, the parents themselves, hopefully they are also seeing the holes in the education we're forcing upon our youth. When we look back on our own primary and secondary schooling, do we see things which were simply not true being peddled as gospel? Why did we stop teaching civics? Perhaps if more people knew what a republic was, we would have one! When someone tells our kids that government is bad or good, do they have any idea what government was meant to be in this country? Do they know what we the people did to our native Americans? Do we know -- really know -- about slavery and its aftermath? I am looking forward to education reform being one of the many changes we shall see in the near future. Don't give up! Take heart, because there are more people with an actual education than with a 24-hour-a-day news channel education.

"The law of the divine Mind must end human bondage, or mortals will continue unaware of man's inalienable rights and in subjection to hopeless slavery, because some public teachers permit an ignorance of divine power -- an ignorance that is the foundation for continued bondage and of human suffering." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 227:7

Herein Lies the Peace of God

Moon Over Utah
photo credit: Aaron Springston

A friend sent me an article entitled, "The 10 Protests That Changed the Course of History Forever", by Geraldine Cremin. After Kevin read them he said to me: They're all the same. From Gandhi's salt march in 1930 to to Selma in 1964, he is absolutely correct. They are all about the same thing. Their common denominator is treating your fellow human being as you would want to be treated: fairly, kindly, unselfishly. Why is it so dad-gummed difficult to do this?? Is it learned behavior from decades of our ancestors putting on airs and pretending to be better than someone else? If it's as simple as that, let's just stop it! One of the many reasons I love A Course in Miracles is the workbook lessons in which we learn how to release long-held beliefs and look at things as they are, without our preconceived ideas coloring everything and everyone around us. I leave you with the introduction to this marvelous book. Namaste, Friends...

     "This is a course in miracles. It is a required course. Only the time you take it is voluntary. Free will does not mean that you can establish the curriculum. It means only that you can elect what you want to take at a given time. The course does not aim at teaching the meaning of love, for that is beyond what can be taught. It does aim, however, at removing the blocks to the awareness of love's presence, which is your natural inheritance. The opposite of love is fear, but what is all-encompassing can have no opposite.

     This course can therefore be summed up very simply in this way:

Nothing real can be threatened.

Nothing unreal exists. 

Herein lies the peace of God." 

Taken from A Course in Miracles Textbook Introduction

Tell Your Story!

Storytelling Workshop circa 2015

Have any of your friends been telling the stories of their lives? I've noticed a number of people doing this, and I think it's grand! How often have we wished our parents and grandparents had documented events from their lives. It's a lot easier now than it was 50 years ago, for sure. Today I received a newsletter from a delightful couple I feel I've always known. They are telling of how they first met, married, moved into a home -- and all in delightful detail, with pictures! I'm happy to find out more about people I love and like, and am grateful they are sharing in this manner. Also today, a dear woman whom I've known all my life, but never really well, made a post to Facebook about a time in her life when she auditioned for a spot with a voice teacher whom she admired. The openness of her writing brought tears to my eyes through my smile. I think telling our stories is very important. Start a blog, make a digital record of any sort, write emails to grandchildren -- or heck, start an old-fashioned, on-paper journal!  I have one friend who has written one version of her life story for her family, and another for everyone else -- ha! Do whatever you think is best, but don't be afraid to do it!

"The mine knows naught of the emeralds within its rocks; the sea is ignorant of the gems within its caverns, of the corals, of its sharp reefs, of the tall ships that float on its bosom, or of the bodies which lie buried in its sands: yet these are all there. Do not suppose that any mental concept is gone because you do not think of it. The true concept is never lost. The strong impressions produced on mortal mind by friendship or by any intense feeling are lasting, and mind readers can perceive and reproduce these impressions." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 87:19

The Habit of Stubborn Gladness

The Art of J. Clement Wall
judyclementwall.com

I do not personally know J. Clement Wall, but I follow her on Facebook and love her uplifting art. Her words and the new art which she posted today say what I would like to, so I'm going to quote her here. Everyone, please find some gladness today. We all need that from you.

"I painted this little guy a few days ago, but it hasn't felt like the right time to post it. In the midst of chaos and unrest, my whimsical art sometimes feels out of place. There's so much to be sad and angry and anxious about right now. I feel sad and angry and anxious all the time. But...

I also find myself stubbornly searching out beauty, kindness, generosity. I believe we are at a moment when real change is possible - by choosing love, by choosing not to be silent in the face of racism, falsehoods, and callous disregard for the well being of others. More than ever, it's time to decide who we are, and what kind of world we want to live in. We aren't powerless. We can do and be better." J. Clement Wall