TO OVERCOME RESISTANCE, LOVE

 Mini blinding flash: 'Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me'...they do not punish, they enlighten.

I found my head totally entangled with an opinion of mine this morning. An opinion for the good of my Fellowship, adverse to a non-member taking dishonest advantage of the Fellowship. When I heard me thinking of the various heavy-hitters I could call in to back me up, a glimmer of light clicked on, with your resistance is your bane coming through. 

I let that perc as I journaled, and shortly that pinpoint of light opened a blinding flash of the obvious: You need to overcome your resistance with love. 

I was thrilled from my toes to my nose to have such direct instruction...and clearly not by my thinking...gave me leave to change my mind, to upgrade my opinion as it were. I realized that I needed inside help, as in, how, in the name of God and all the sainted popes, do I love this?

Came the clarification: Still more spiritual growth is inviting me to go higher more deeply...first in  importance to my reasoning mind is to acknowledge the problem to the other, that their actions represent a potential but real harm to the Fellowship. Second, for my peaced mind, make my point lovingly without anger but with a spirit of love. This can only be done by trust in the grace of God and the Fellowship itself. 

All of this is God's job, he does it perfectly, we just need to get out of  stay with him in his way and let him. Ah, another still more spiritual growth level of learning.

If you want a better world, tell a better story, even about the possibility of embodying justice without vengeance...restorative consciousness. -- Gareth Higgins, Fr Richard's Daily Meditation, January 31, 2024

Thank you.

NECESSARY SUFFERING...OF GOD

God offers us quiet, contemplative eyes; God also calls us to prophetic and critical involvement in the pain and sufferings of our world—both at the same time. -- Fr Richard Rohr, Daily Meditations, January 13, 2024

Necessary suffering. There was a time and not too long ago, from my eyebrows up, I was in complete agreement with the idea of necessary suffering. I have written about, mentally preached on, considered, rejected, committed to, reneged...repeatedly...the concept of necessary suffering. 

Today I feel as if I am in the midst of necessary suffering, meeting it with thank you every step of the way, and not praying for it to be lifted. I am coming to believe...or at least suspect...that necessary suffering is what we experience when our consciousness is being raised, and we do not know the  outcome...the where, when, how for us personally.

My mind is still shooting suggestions but is not manufacturing solutions for which I praise God. 

Face it, suffering does not have an inviting rep...the name says it all. Here's where the difference in material mind and spiritual mind earns its wings. 

The material mind rejects necessary out of hand and takes suffering personally, knows it as hurtful and therefore wrong. Spiritual mind knows necessary suffering as the ways of God which are not for our creature comfort but for our benefit while being for the benefit of others, too.

That's where I am now...feeling kinda cool 😎...look at me, I'm in the midst of necessary suffering and not kvetching about it.

The Lord loves us so much...where else could he get his grins?

Thank you.

COUNTERINTUITIVE...TO GO BEYOND REASON

To be truly secure, we must begin to find a source of security within ourselves. --  "Words to Live By," Eknath Easwaran, January 29

Ah, that "sense of security within ourselves" is our past lessons learned. That which, when the same-old-same-old comes calling again, we forget we had learned.

Comes the recalled lesson, growing deeper to lift us higher: We mentally chew our perceived foe a new one, then we edit that and "forgivingly" chew them a new one, then we repeat...until one fine secular moment we're flashed into spiritual awareness, and we know the answer: Agree with your adversary quickly. 

We will know this as our personal truth for this situation, and we will recall when we had a like experience before. We received the same answer which proved right as love came from it. 

The mini miracle is we do not beat up on our self for having forgotten. The major miracle is we intuitively know that forgetting in order to remember is God's will, God's way...counterintuitive is solidifying its part in our life.

We must go beyond reason to love. -- Thaddeus Golas

Thank you.

GRATITUDE...ANOTHER HIDEY HOLE OF GOD'S

Most important was the discovery that spiritual principles would solve all my problems. -- Anonymous

That is one of my favorite quotes. It became a favorite when I took the time to understand it. 

Say I am diagnosed with Stage 4 liver cancer, spiritual principles are not going to be the healer of the cancer. But the cancer is not my problem. Fear of the cancer is my problem...fear of all I'm projecting that it is going to put me through. 

Fear of the future...fear of the projected pain...fear of death...fear. I tend to believe that fear is the source of all our woes.

Spiritual principles, hear my plea! And my plea is thank you. Nothing lessens the power of fear like thank you or welcome!

God lives in gratitude...grow an attitude of gratitude, and cancer may or may not still be with us, but we'll be reasonably fret-free about it. (Just as an aside, going in for chemo treatments requires trepidation at least...if we're doing it right.)

I do not now have nor have I ever had cancer, but I do have an incurable, progressive disease which, I am convinced, will kill me if I forget about gratitude. 

Such a small adjustment to make to live happy, joyous and free. Plain and simple, we change our mind. That starts with thank you...and who is the "you" we're thanking? A Power greater than our self. God.

Thank you.

IN THE END, ALL THAT MATTERS...II

[The following is a reprint of my post of December 29, 2009]

“In the end, all that matters is what you have done for Christ.”

Some years ago, I saw that message, framed picture-like, at the home of a lovely lady who was my mother’s friend.

I’ve thought of that message over the years, and it becomes truer to me as I open my mind to it…true for all, when one realizes “for Christ” as for God, for Allah, for Buddha, for Mohammad, for Mary, for Self, for Spirit, for….

In the end, all that matters is what you have done…selflessly…for others.

Thank you.

REMAIN CALM, TRUST GOD, LOVE AND LAUGH

The following is an example of my favorite thing, i.e., proof of God in my life...personally:

Some years ago, a friend and I were in a rather heated "debate." She was adamant that she heard me say whatever, and I was equally adamant that I didn't either! 

Out of my mouth, which shut the debate down, came God's gift: I am not responsible for what you hear me say...nor am I responsible for how you choose to interpret what you hear me say.

This comes to mind this morning because I am obsessing about what someone quoted me as having said which quote isn't even close to what I said...and, not to put too fine a point on it, but only a stupid person could think that I would say something so stupid. There, end of clarification. 

I was well into a mental letter/text/phone call to her to set her straight when God gifted me yet again. I picked up my "God Calling," and read today's entry: Keep your Spirit-Life calm and unruffled. Nothing else matters. Leave all to Me. This is your great task, to get calm in My Presence, not to let one ruffled feeling stay for one moment.

I read that and knew again and again and yet again that God is with me, within me. 

I prayed thank you as my thoughts spoke to me...It was a remark. It was only a passing remark. Does a remark really merit a nuclear response? And when did a nuclear response ever get classified as spiritual? What am I so afraid of that I am allowing that remark 'truth' status? I've only got one job: Remain calm, and trust God.

God goes before us to make the crooked places straight and has our back at the same time. No matter what is appearing, we love and laugh. When we're doing it right.

Thank you.

OUR SOUL, OUR LEADER

4. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.  5. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.  -- Matthew 5:4-5

I keep being returned to those two revelatory statements. I am comforted that they are the basis...the foundation...of my faith. 

My experiential truth with Matthew 5:4: To me, the valley is heart-pounding, mind-muddling panic attacks. The first time I experienced the miracle, it came by way of a full-blown panic attack with me stuck on the Metro under the Potomac River. I became calm, released from my panic, and I knew not how or why. That was my first spiritually driven thank you. My being given to anxiety, it is today the pearl that releases my fear of fear...God is with me.

Then, with 5, I had a blinding flash of the obvious: One moment I was ho-humming along, and the next Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies flashed in my mind. I could see that it is God that prepares the table, God that puts my enemies at that table, God that seats me with my enemies there. It is not me making bad decisions, me being self-centered again, me being...me. It is not me...it is God, and I need not know more than that. Trust, and be not afraid.

That realization opened the secret to a peaced mind: God works not in reasoning mind consciousness but in raised consciousness...sometimes counterintuitive, sometimes a higher consciousness than humans can grasp...or this human at any rate. 

That's another reason we need never worry, fret or stew...when, not if, wrong, promptly admit it, pray for peace and keep on trucking.  

There is a journey you must take. It is a journey without destination. There is no map. Your soul will lead you. And you can take nothing with you. -- Meister Eckhart 

Thank you.