RANDOM THOUGHTS...TO DELAY DOING

Snow and frigid temps have kept me house-bound for over a week. I realize that I am feeling crazy as a cockroach which is no exaggeration.

I am reminded of a God-gift to me from some years ago; namely. mental resistance is the only block....

There it is, written in my "God Calling" as if it were news: Mental resistance is the only block. That feels like news to me today,

But what other kind of block could there possibly be to the personal experience of a loving God in our life?

I am reminded of a favorite line from a song from yesterday...Looking back and longing for the freedom of my chains....

That is a well-nigh perfect description of rues, regrets and remorses...looking back and longing for the freedom of my chains....

It doesn't get any clearer than that...to me at any rate.

I am rambling...putting off going outside where I get to knock the snow off my car, then drive to the store, shop and return home. 

There...put down in black and white it doesn't seem that daunting. But I'm going nowhere, doing nothing toward that end for a few more hours. I got sober, I didn't get stupid.

Ah, a rush of gratitude just visited me...God is so good to me, and I am so grateful.

Thank you.

CHEAP SHOT AT GRATITUDE, I

[The following is a reprint of my blog of  January 31, 2014.]

God is so good to me.

I've had a bad case of I See Me for the past X number of days, and God has not lifted me out of it. Has not gifted me, has not punished me. There. That's how it's done. That's how we become transparent to our perceptions, our self-determined problems. Do as God does. Which is to laugh...as in, I wish!

I feel an attack of my mother coming on: "You have only yourself to blame." 

Oh, Mom, if you only knew. I have a whole cast of characters that I can blame...and will if left to my own devices. There's my cheap shot at gratitude...I'm never left to my own devices today.

That's how I know God is so good to me...I aspire to be God, and He sends Mom to set me straight. Hoo-boy.

Thank you.

I AM THAT I AM

 As I meditated this morning, I realized: I am as You need me be. 

Thank you.

LOST IN THE BUSY-NESS OF EGO, I

[The following is a reprint of my post of January 28, 2015.]

We must ever be aware that what we speak, what we share as ours, is indeed ours by the living of it. It comes to us, we live it, then it passes on. Skip the living of it and we miss "making it ours" which is our only chance at realizing it as our own truth.

Some of the best lessons I've ever received have come from my own mouth, and no one has been more surprised than me. But that's just surface stuff for then the task begins...we must learn to live that "best lesson" and not just talk it.

Again, it comes to us, we live it, then it passes itself on. Miss that second part, and we just continue to live in the busy-ness of ego.

Then, too, if we are just quoting others and calling it ours, we are not growing in our own consciousness. That is what Joel Goldsmith calls, "...mentally perceived, and not spiritually discerned..." [The Heart of the Mystic, at p. 1135], and Fr. Richard Rohr in his Daily Meditation of January 21, 2015, describes as "an idolatry of words."

Thank you.

ON GIVING GOD A GRIN

I just read a recent post of mine, and this sentence sang to me: ...living doubt-free is a given when we live by grace and by God.

I had to ponder that again...to ponder living doubt-free, which led to a mind-trip. 

I wondered if it is possible to live entirely doubt-free...the operative words being to live. I'm reasonably certain we can exist...there are hermits, singletons, loners and others who are as happy as they choose to be all alone, relatively stress free. 

It seems to me that living without people-contact, as in service to other than oneself, is virtually being the God of one's own understanding. In other words...God-less. To me, that is a life lived in unacknowledged fear.

I doubt not that allowing life to say us nay or to give us our atta girl is essential to our spiritual growth.

As an aside, it's a wonderful way to develop a sense of humor...the one God sends to guide us seems more often than not to be a less-than for Heaven's sake. Ah, lessons learned.

Don't tell me God doesn't enjoy a good grin.

Thank you.

GOD IS ALWAYS RIGHT, I

{The following is a reprint of my post of January 22, 2013.]

Truth is within ourselves and we must open out a way for the imprisoned splendour to escape. -- Robert Browning

Consider this: What if truth is just another word for kindness, patience, love, understanding, forbearance, consideration, empathy? Each is inside of us right this very minute. If not, where would we go to get them? To pray for any one or all is our ego's prayer, in effect.

The minute we recognize a need to be kind, be kind...a need to be understanding, be understanding...a need to be patient, be patient. Loose it and let it go forth from you.

I'm told that we cannot even utter the highest form of prayer...we can only receive it from within. It comes in the form of realization of that which is is perfect just as it is. Our job then is to accept that, and then learn the how of it, the why of it...in other words, we are simply looking at it from the wrong perspective (i.e., our own).

We are not always wrong, but God is always right.

Thank you.

ON WALKING INTO THE UNKNOWN

Faith is stepping off the map of what’s known and making a new road by walking into the unknown. -- Richard Rohr, "Daily Meditations," January 19, 2026

I like that quote, but I find I need remind me that making a new road begins with patience. My patience is born and bred through the need to sit and wait on the Lord.

Blinding flash...patience requires patience. 

Our need is to use it...we already have it; we just rarely use it. Our m.o. is to rush to fix a perceived problem without a thought for God's will, God's way.

There...why still more spiritual growth is our first (maybe only) requirement in life. We will be in need of still more spiritual growth three days after we are dead. Ponder that.

Blinding flash: Life is walking into the unknown...every morning as we open our eyes, we begin our daily walk into the unknown whether we realize it or not.

Faith is stepping off the map of what’s known and making a new road by walking into the unknown.

Thank you.