ON WALKING FREE IN OUR OWN HEAD

Random thoughts: 

What if President Trump is God's gift to America? It may be that we have become arrogant, power hungry, self-willed...in need of humility in short. For sure, Trump can be viewed as America's visible humility.

He may well be bringing US to our knees which is where we must needs be in order to make the necessary U-bie that has been needed for awhile now (according to me).

All who follow Trump for material gain (money/power/glory) will get what they get. Those who follow Trump sincerely believing in his message will get what they get.

Those who curse Trump and call his name evil will rue their own resistance. Those who make peace with President Trump as the 45th president of America will live free in their own heads.

Blinding flash of the obvious: Though we lose all material things, if our mind be stayed on Thee, we will know and we will show peace, love and joy.

Thank you.

LOVE, PATIENCE AND GRATITUDE

We can realize God's will as always done in our life if we will thank God for everything...every single thing...that comes to us before we allow our reasoning mind to personalize whatever is appearing.

Whether we're personalizing it upward or downward, to personalize is to be disappointed since our ego always legislates for itself, and there is no enough. Wonderful becomes boring in a heartbeat, and  less-than-wonderful arrives as unfair and poor me.

For me, I have become willing to live from a non-oppositional consciousness. Becoming ready is my goal today and to actually live there means I have my work cut out for me. The work is to refuse my ego Lucy every day in every way.

The great get-up-and-shout news is that God does the heavy lifting...as in, God can and will perform that which is given us to do. He picks us up, heads us in the right direction, and walks us forward. How long it takes before we find our peace in that depends entirely on how long it takes us to remember to think thank you.

To think thank you first thing is to live an attitude of gratitude. Gratitude is boundaryless, unlimited good...ours through our own state of mind. It is, however, akin to love and patience...always available, last thing called forth.

Thank you.

PRAY WITHOUT CEASING...THANK YOU

The times of trials in our material world...ah, in the spiritual dimension those are our green pastures, our still waters. We will not believe that unless and until we are willing to change our mind so our eyes can be opened...to see through God's eyes.

I'm beginning to believe that it is the grace of gratitude alone that changes our mind. It is grace that opens our eyes to our trials as seen through God's eyes. When we try to make that happen, to will it, we separate our self from grace. 

That self-will transmutes a want into a self-determined objective, limited, held within a mental box of time and space. This objective is simply our own idea of what we want to happen in order to rid us of our trials, and, of course, benefiting us all the while. Of course, we wish no harm to the other person (there is always another person) which to the reasoning mind qualifies our want as God's will...thus, to be granted.

I'm guessing there are a lot of atheists born as a result of unfulfilled self-determined objectives. The fact is, however, that God's will is always done if we thank God for everything that comes our way. It becomes an easy thing to do the more we do it...before we take the time to form a judgment, learn to think "thank you." 

To pray without ceasing, get grateful, be thankful.

Thank you.

INTELLECTUAL LEAPS INTO FAITH

For me, this wondrous universe cannot be an incoherent and accidental cosmos, nor can it be grounded in evil, although I admit that this intellectual leap and bias toward beauty is still an act of faith and trust. -- Fr Richard Rohr, "Daily Meditation," February 25, 2018

It is a comfort to read Rohr's admission that this intellectual leap and bias toward beauty is still an act of faith and trust. Sometimes, for sure not always but simply sometimes, it feels an act of faith and trust is my entire spiritual foundation.

And, honestly, if it is, that is enough. 

Not to split hairs, but what soul comfort has the fact that 2 + 2 = 4 ever given me? That's probably the equation that assures the world is going around and in the right direction, but it's hard for me to feel peace, love or joy because of it. 

Whether a blinding flash of the obvious or a self-determined objective, the fact is I'm at peace with my intellectual leap upward toward the Father within being enough...right Now.

Possibly the best intuitive advice I ever got: Hold your nose and take a leap of faith.

Thank you.

TO STAY DETACHED FROM THE TEMPTATION

The grace of God is a wind which is always blowing. -- Sri Ramakrishna [from Eknath Easwaran, "Words to Live By," today]

Isn't that a comforting thought? That the grace of God is an ever-present wind blowing in, around, through us. All we need do is stay our mind on Thee, and the grace of God walks us free.

The block to the grace of God is our self in the form of our self-determined wants that we choose to believe are needs. Those wants, depending entirely on our attachment to them, become the God of our understanding in the moment. No matter how insignificant they appear (running late? the green light is our God right then) or how significant they appear (unexpected and steep medical expenses turn the dollar into our higher power without another thought).

According to me, any perceived lack that we consider essential to our life becomes our entire focus, our God, and grace blows by unrealized, unaccepted, unfulfilled.

"God Calling" note dated 2/24/12: BFO - realized "the kingdom of heaven" as our worst fear/greatest glory signifying nothing - Jesus in the wilderness being tempted and staying detached from the temptation.

Thank you.

FATHER, FORGIVE US...AGAIN

I saw a man on the news last night...a farmer-type. Looked a lot like my Dad, like my uncles. Did not sound like them. But I knew within my heart that he used to sound like them...that is, reasonable, steady, calm. And I wondered if Dad and my uncles were alive today...would they sound angry, mean, vengeful? Would they be accepting bald-faced lies (or saying they do) just to put the thoughts presented by "the other side" down?

I heard myself  talking back to the man on the news, and whoa! I had him blasted half way to Georgia with words that I did not learn at my mama's knee...as in, mouth meet soap. I had a smart return for every stupid word he uttered, and mine were cleverer by half. Maybe not wholly true, but his were entirely false. And I did not care because I was winning. 

Who knew winning could feel so ugly? 

Then the thought popped up: What if I were face-to-face with that man? Would I be so carelessly outspoken? So rigid, righteous and right at any cost? To my own Self?

I wonder if that isn't the source of our country's woes today...us, in a word. Us and our refusal to allow us to be thought anything but right...or righter-than-they-are at any rate. Specifically, what we are allowing ourselves to think about those we disagree with.

It is not them or their beliefs, it is the lack of any spirituality in our thoughts about them and their beliefs. Which is the price we are willing to pay to believe ourselves right...a lack of our spiritual foundation within...a reckless disregard of the God of our own understanding right here and right now. Later. Later, we'll pray. Later, we'll ask for the other fellow to be forgiven.

Father, forgive us for we know exactly what we do, and we do it anyway.

Thank you.

UNTHINKING OUR WAY INTO HEAVEN

According to me, our greatest block to realizing our own spiritual growth is our failure to pay attention. Unthinkingly inviting someone to go ahead of us at the grocery is a spiritual act. Forcing our self to do it is a self-determined objective...Miss Manners nice, but not spiritual. It's the unthinking that counts and at the same time causes our failure to recognize our angels among us.

Here's us, our ego longing to do the personal act that will have the "New York Times" writing about it/us...brass band on the march, flags unfurling in our honor. When, Lucy thinks, when we get that, then we'll be able to know, to trust, that God is on our side.

Ah, but it is our teeny tiny unconsciously loving acts that are our gold nuggets, the macadam of our life's journey. They are throwaways to our ego, too small to even note, all the while our very own angels are high-fiving all our Heaven in happiness for us.

The thing is...we don't want that to change. The not noting, that is, not wanting the brass band. That want will be with us until three days after we're dead, I'm guessing, but we'll die with a grin on our face. If we've done it right.

God is on our side. God does have our back. That we trust since God lets Lucy reign through love and laughter...thus showing forth God.

Thank you.