No Matter Where You Go, There You Are

“Maybe the only enemy is that we don’t like the way reality is now and therefore wish it would go away fast. But what we find as practitioners is that nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know. If we run a hundred miles an hour to the other end of the continent in order to get away from the obstacle, we find the very same problem waiting for us when we arrive. It just keeps returning with new names, forms, manifestations until we learn whatever it has to teach us about where we are separating ourselves from reality, how we are pulling back instead of opening up, closing down instead of allowing ourselves to experience fully whatever we encounter, without hesitating or retreating into ourselves." ~ Pema Chödrön, in "When Things Fall Apart"

“Your whole perspective on the world will shift by just a little, every time you let your mind escape its chains. The world is not where it belongs. And you belong where it would be, and where it goes to rest when you release it from the world.Your Guide is sure. Open your mind to Him. Be still and rest.” A Course in Miracles W-128.7:3-8.     

“The human mind, imbued with this spiritual understanding, becomes more elastic, is capable of greater endurance, escapes somewhat from itself, and requires less repose. A knowledge of the Science of being develops the latent abilities and possibilities of man. It extends the atmosphere of thought, giving mortals access to broader and higher realms. It raises the thinker into his native air of insight and perspicacity.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 128:11-19

Taste the Apples

 

Andrea Kowch - Reflections on Humanity, 2017

“Life will break you. Nobody can protect you from that, and living alone won't either, for solitude will also break you with its yearning. You have to love. You have to feel. It is the reason you are here on earth. You are here to risk your heart. You are here to be swallowed up. And when it happens that you are broken, or betrayed, or left, or hurt, or death brushes near, let yourself sit by an apple tree and listen to the apples falling all around you in heaps, wasting their sweetness. Tell yourself you tasted as many as you could.” Louise Erdrich

Grace

People are interesting. Everyone has an opinion, especially when it comes to what is right and what is wrong. Moral compasses are flipping from one point to another, wildly fluctuating with the opinions of their favorite newscaster or podcast host. Upon waking up this morning, I discovered (via my favorite  news source, YouTube) that a famous actor had  slapped a famous comedian at the Oscars for making a joke about said actor’s wife. It seems this is all people can talk about today. I suppose it’s nice to take a break from the horrors of wars and politics, and I don’t chastise either side of this moral debate. I know I’ve followed Will Smith’s spiritual journey over the last few years and it would be easy for me to judge him for his actions.  I admit to having done so in thought. But this is what those years of spiritual study do for us; they allow us to realize when we’re thinking we could have done something better, or handled something with more wisdom and love than someone else. I hope to more fully understand what the phrase “growth in grace” means, and put it into use in daily life every moment. Namaste …  

“What we most need is the prayer of fervent desire for growth in grace, expressed in patience, meekness, love, and good deeds.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 4:3

Awareness

 

Awareness by John Austen

Awareness-

her gaze is so constant,

our every move

watched

with such affection,

a ceaseless vigil

without condition

or agenda,

silent,

patient,

unrelenting in her

embrace.

There is endless room in

the heart of this lover,

infinite space for whatever

foolishness we may

toss her way.

But she is also

crafty, this one-

a thief who will steal away

everything we ever cherished,

all our beliefs,

all our ideas,

all our philosophies,

until nothing is left

but her shimmering

wakefulness,

this simple love

for what is.

The Friend Who Can Be Silent

John Currin - Pistachio, 2016.

“When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares.”

Henri Nouwen

“Learn to be quiet in the midst of turmoil, for quietness is the end of strife and this is the journey to peace. ⁶Look straight at every image that rises to delay you, for the goal is inevitable because it is eternal. ⁷The goal of love is but your right, and it belongs to you despite your dreams.” A Course in Miracles T-12.II.5:5-7

Still Here …

Photocredit:BlakeLasater

Having heard the news that a good friend passed on this evening, I’ve been thinking about that. Phyllis is certainly as alive to me today as she was yesterday. I can still hear her laughter, see the light in her eyes, feel her excitement about living. As with my dear Kevin, my parents, anyone I have loved who is no longer walking around in their body, they are alive in my sleeping dreams. After having had an adventure with them while asleep, waking up is wonderful because I can still feel their presence. So have they really gone anywhere? I don’t think so. I’m not sure there’s anywhere for them to go. Mary Baker Eddy says the big surprise will be when they wake up and find out they’re not dead. What an adventure awaits us all! Tomorrow is an act of heroism, simply to wake up and love the world. If I don’t wake up in my physical body tomorrow, that, too, will be a great adventure. We are all Spirit. One. We are all the expression, the manifestation of Love. The tears may fall for a while, and that’s just the love overflowing from our bodies. Let’s hold each other close and know there is no end …

“A blundering despatch, mistakenly announcing the death of a friend, occasions the same grief that the friend’s real death would bring. You think that your anguish is occasioned by your loss. Another despatch, correcting the mistake, heals your grief, and you learn that your suffering was merely the result of your belief. You will learn at length that there is no cause for grief, and divine wisdom will then be understood.” Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 386

Friendship

Today I’m contemplating friendship. I know a man who thinks he is no longer friends with someone if they don’t “keep up” with each other on a regular basis. I find this to be sad, because I have hundreds, maybe thousands of friends, and naturally do not stay in regular contact with most of them. But our connections are unique and beautiful; I cherish them deeply. What fond memories I hold with childhood friends, and social media has enabled us renew our friendships in a way which would not have been possible 20 years ago. And I am grateful. There are a multitude of folks who became friends because our children had connections. The bonds we have made through the friendships of our children are some of my favorites. We have many warm fuzzy memories and love our time together. The people who shared metaphysical meetings are an eclectic group which has continued to grow through the years. Joel Goldsmith said that people who share a spiritual love are bound together throughout eternity. What love is not spiritual? Today I took a woman, who has been a friend for many years, to meet a person who is a good acquaintance through my association with her as an accompanist where she is in the church choir. These two are helping each other in a nurturing and heart-warming way. I’m still glowing from witnessing the interaction between them! Old friends, new friends, close friends, good acquaintances — the list is never ending! The joy it brings is exponential in scope and rich with blessings. And we are grateful …  

“When your friend speaks his mind you fear not the "nay" in your own mind, nor do you withhold the "ay."

And when he is silent your heart ceases not to listen to his heart;

For without words, in friendship, all thoughts, all desires, all expectations are born and shared, with joy that is unacclaimed.

When you part from your friend, you grieve not;

For that which you love most in him may be clearer in his absence, as the mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain.

And let there be no purpose in friendship save the deepening of the spirit.

For love that seeks aught but the disclosure of its own mystery is not love but a net cast forth: and only the unprofitable is caught.” Kahlil Gibran