TO BETTER SERVE YOU

[The following is a reprint of my blog of June 24, 2011.]

I am the dough, knead me as needed.

As the dough is being worked, it is constantly changing…becoming at each stage something other than what it was, into what God would have it be…a perfect loaf of bread, an imperfect roll, a so-so bun.

God is the builder, so the imperfections are only in our eyes. The perfect, the imperfect, the so-so…all are perfect in God’s eyes, all from the same dough…One.

Build of me, do with me, as you will, so that I may better do your will…I am yours to perfect.

Thank you.

ON MEANDERING THOUGHTS AND LOVING THEM

My thoughts are meandering this morning, and I remember again that in the midst of any apparent disaster or simply unwanted situation, to realize that God's hand is in it is all that is needed to bring peace.

In pondering that, it occurred to me that that realization ought to bring peace not only to me, realizing it, but to any others in the situation. But ought schmought...I cannot direct it, I can only know it. If the other is not on my spiritual wavelength...being higher or lower...s/he will miss it.

Spiritual power, however, is like water...it goes to its own level. That realization at that time may touch someone I have no knowledge of...and come as a needed blinding flash of the obvious to him or her. Maybe that's one way I get my blinding flashes of the obvious...from someone in meditation 100 miles away!

I love that image but what do I know? Just enough to know that if I'll love and laugh I won't have to analyze these things...and call it pondering.

God loves me so much.

Thank you.

GOD WRAPS US IN LOVE

When your material goal is reached, then the material will serve only to attain the spiritual. -- "God Calling," June 19

It seems to never fail...I read that sentence every year on this day, and my first thought is "When, not if...so I am going to reach my material goal?" Clearly, my first thought is eager anticipation of dollars coming my way...a lot of dollars a'coming my way. It is a flash, gone almost before it comes, but it does come.

Here's the great, glorious, Free At Last fact: A transformative thought then sweeps through me. It feels like my own personal warm velvet blankie, and it smothers my over-zealous free-floating guilt with the inner certainty that I have reached my "when." There is no "if" for me today.

I reached my material goal when I was freed from fear of financial insecurity. And not because of the amount of dollars in my savings account for sure. I was gifted with a consciousness of enough...of everything.

That fairly well exemplifies the nature of my spiritual growth...I need to be reminded that I have spiritual growth. And the reminder is not mine...it is God's. There. There's the gold in over-zealous, free-floating guilt...God wraps it in love, and it is gone.

Thank you.

GOD BREAKS ME FREE OF ME

I suspect many of us at one time have been unjustly accused of something and found that there was nothing we could do about it. At least nothing we could do about it that satisfied our reasoning mind.

The way to peace of mind in a seemingly unfair situation is to accept that God's hand is in it. Then focus on realizing that as truth. We will come to understand that we are the source of all our woes whether or not we know it, want to be, or aim for it.

According to Fr. Richard Rohr, "Franciscan spirituality *** incorporates the seeming negative and moves our life to its hard edges, thus making things like failure, tragedy, and suffering the quickest doorways to the encounter of God."

Rohr's Franciscan "negative way to freedom" made a home in my heart immediately because it was my own laughter at me slinging mud in my own face that freed me to realize it as God's gift.

We can be grateful that it is our imperfect but willing self that God uses to break us free. Since we are the source of all our woes, that's what we bring to him. I mean, God doesn't use Joe to purify Jill.

Thank you.

BOTH SIDES MUST COME OUT THE WINNER

There are two ways of seeing anything that life offers...the material, or reasoning mind, way and the spiritual way. By "what life offers," I mean, primarily, the crapola. It applies to everything, it's just that the less-than-wonderful makes a home in our ego-victory thoughts.

I've found it best to to accept my reasoning mind's view first...accept it and find my part in it, or I'll muddle everything, trying to excuse, justify and/or deny my part in it. Because the reasoning mind is linked with the ego and always legislates for itself, believing that I'm seeing God's will in my want-to is a pretty much inevitable result. I wind up believing my own press which explains the muddle.

We need not fret about the spiritual side...if we are willing, it will be revealed albeit seldom on our timetable...God is a drag foot to ego. That may be why "Sit and wait on the Lord" is so emphasized in spiritual work. It's easy to gift our self with insight as to God's way when it's really us making the circle complete...and in our favor.

Rule of thumb...p.d.q. and one-sided is not God's way; when and whenever both sides come out the winner, God's hand is in it.

Thank you.

CONDEMN NOT, LOVE

"Judgment isn’t the problem – it’s condemnation that’s the problem."  I wish I could remember where I read that so I could give credit, but there it is, unattributed, but truth to me.

A mistake we so often make is believing that we must show our individualism...maybe just to prove we can stand alone. All we prove is that we are against you, your good idea, your way...as in I-me-mine is better. That is the way of separation...from God and others.

I'm always disappointed when someone I like a lot is disrespected to me by another. (I wish I would think to be as disappointed in me when I do it.) But it brings cause to wonder...what's in it for him, for her, for me, that disrespect? What is it covering that the disrespecter isn't even aware of in himself? Why doesn't she look there, inside her own self, instead of trying to turn someone else's good opinion to bad?

Which takes me to the quote that judgment isn't the problem...it is necessary to make judgments daily, hourly, it seems. But condemnation? Condemnation is the problem because in the every day course of life, condemnation is rarely if ever called for...never the right answer.

Condemnation is practically a certain-sure way to receive condemnation from others...remember that individualism? Others do it, too. It comes back at us almost before our lips stop moving...whereupon we feel hurt, get angry, lash out at a safe bystander, and birth a resentment. There ain't no God there...plus, now we've got an unsafe bystander.

I suspect we feel if we don't condemn another's bad behavior (which really is our own perception, our own interpretation of our perception), it'll mean we approve...when another's behavior is not ours to approve of or disapprove of.

We each have to do what we each have to do...God knows it, and karma sweeps it clean. Our job is to not get in the way...of God or karma.

Thank you.

MORNING PRAYER

Thank you, Father, for every single person who is, or has ever been, in my life...for every good thing that has come to me...for every good thing dressed as ugly that has come to me...that I am open to receiving the realization  of the dark-made-light...that I stay out of my reasoning mind, not intellectualizing but open-hearted/open-minded realizing deeper at a higher level the fact of you in us in you.

For this we were born...to return to you.

Thank you.