Resolutions of Abundance

Image via WikipediaI have made resolutions in the past and have been everything from a complete failure to a moderate success at keeping them. This year I want to go about them from a different angle. I am learning that life is about abundance and not scarcity, growth is about adding to and not taking away from. I have become convinced that the Universe in it's loving Grace and Wisdom wants us to succeed and prosper and to move toward fulfillment. All of my past resolutions have been focused on the negative; quit smoking (done), quit drinking (done), cut back on frivolous spending (done, but only because I am poor not because I have defeated this demon), lose weight (done and undone several times), etc.

I am sure you have made your own, similarly negative, resolutions. Focusing on the negative is not only counter to the Universe, but it is no fun. Is it any wonder I struggle to keep resolutions when they involve self-denial and the removal of things that, while they may be bad for me, are obviously so much fun that I have done them to excess?

• What if the focus for resolutions was on working toward gaining rather than loosing?
• What if we were to accept who we are, what we do and how we live as OK, but sought out ways to improve on it?
• What if instead of giving anything up this year we figured out what we could add?
• How much fun would that be?
  

I think this way of re-framing resolutions may be more than just semantics. It is possible that the concept of acquiring is just more appealing than losing, or giving up. It is possible that by adding the right things to our lives, the wrong things will just fade away.

This year, I resolve to add the following things to my abundant life in 2009:

1. Add more time to my schedule to talk to God.
   
2. Make more friends
3. Think more of others than myself
4. Take better care of my body
5. Devote more time to rest and renewal
6. Be more generous with my generosity

As I look over the list and think about the upcoming year I am aware of the fear that a year long commitment sometimes carries. Maybe it's best to go with the "one day at a time" approach. Instead of being intimidated by focusing on the whole of 2009 I could start each resolution with the line "just for today I will...". That seems doable! OK then, resolutions of abundance done one day at a time.

• How can you reword your resolutions to be in a positive rather than a negative voice?
• What can you add to your life that would enrich you and fulfill your spirit?
• How would you complete the phrase "just for today I will..." every day in 2009?

Blessings to you in 2009. Thank you for journeying along with the rest of us. May you be aware of the abundance of the Universe. May you give freely from that abundance.

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Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder?

We're back to blogging after a few days to focus attention on family and friends. Having been away from posting and realizing how excited I was to get back to it this morning, I suddenly heard the old axiom, "absence makes the heart grow fonder" rattling around in my head. I am wondering if that is universally true.

I know that I have missed the opportunity to express my thoughts and questions on spiritual stuff every morning. I have missed the way it forces me to jog my own brain and I have missed hearing from others how it jogs theirs as well. The discipline is welcome in my life and my sense of wanting to entertain and provoke the thoughts of others is well served by this blog and is missed when it is absent from my day.

• What of people and their Spirits though?
  
• How many generally absent friends or family members did you see this holiday that lifted your heart?
  
• What was it about them that you missed?
  
• Were you able to tell them?
  
• Are you going to maintain the relationship throughout the year, or is it best to keep the absence, lest the heart grow weary of them?
  

One of the most interesting absences I was blessed to rekindle this holiday season was not a person, but a familial relationship. I always see my Mother and my Siblings over the holidays but this year we were able to spend time together with a cousin. I see this cousin regularly, and I love him, but it was the community relationship that I was surprised to see had been missing. The addition of this member of our extended family who had been absent from our holidays for at least 30 years gave us a larger communal memory to look back over, to laugh about and to cherish. It was almost as if our family's touchstone of memory was increased exponentially by this spirit that had been away for too long.

Did the extended absence make any of our hearts grow fonder? I don't know. I can tell you that the reunion of the family made our hearts grow larger. We laughed harder than we had in the past, we felt fuller and more complete than in previous years, and our spouses and young children saw and heard parts of our history that they were never exposed to before. All of these things added up to a richer and more Spirit filled holiday.

Now, i am very aware that sometimes absence is necessary for the health of a person or a family. I know that there are some who are absent that should probably remain that way. What I would ask you to consider though is if your heart was lightened when you reunited with someone who has been absent from your life;

• what can you do to keep the absence from reappearing?
  
• what common glue can you find to "keep it together"?
• can you, at the very least, express to them what they mean to you?
  

May your absences in 2009 be few, may your heart be fonder of everyone and everything, may you grow in peace.

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Family and Holidays

Image via Wikipedia
One of the most beautiful things about holidays with spiritual or religious origins is that they give us time to pause and give some intentional thought to what our spirituality means to us. We all do this to greater or lesser extent. It doesn't matter your culture, your belief system, or where you are on your journey, these holidays give us all a reminder that we are on a road of discovering who we are, where we come from and how to live more fully in tune with the Universe.

Another thing that is universal to many of our holidays is family. They are a time to get together and remember our earthly roots. We revisit traditions, share hugs and stories of our younger years and generally bask in one another's company. I say all of this knowing full well that many of our families of origin are less than warm and loving. I believe that there are two families we all live in; the family we were born into and the family we choose along the way. My prayer is that for many of you, there is much overlap between the two. If there is not, may you be richly blessed by your family of choice and may they fill you and sustain you in friendship and love.

As Christians, this is our season for spiritual reflection, waiting for release from oppression and exile, and celebration at the birth of a Living God who teaches us, guides us, saves us from ourselves and the forces of the world and showers us with Grace and wholeness. Part of this season for us means time to be with our God and our families by removing as much distraction as possible. We will resume posting sometime after the 26th (within a day or two). We pray for you this season for healing where you need it, truth where it is lacking, light where it is darkest, and love where there is loneliness.

We'll be back on line soon enough, for now it is off to our families and our God.

Peace to you,
The folks at Spiritualevity

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Comfort Foods and Inner Peace

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Meatloaf, oatmeal, grilled cheese sandwiches, chocolate chip cookies, chicken soup, mashed potatoes, comfort foods. The name of some of those foods alone can conjure up a smell, a taste and often a feeling.

• What is your ultimate comfort food?
  
• How old were you when it entered your life?
  
• When do you crave, or turn to that food now?
• What is it about that food that feels right to you?
• Have you shared it with other people?

For me, I have two that stand out in my mind tonight.

The first is pear juice. That's right, pear juice. If you haven't had it, you should. You need to make sure it is chilled well and DO NOT PUT ICE IN IT! Pear juice has a wonderful thick and grainy texture that gets diluted with ice. My mother would get it for me whenever I got sick as a child. I swear it still, to this day, speeds my recovery. Really though, it tastes like nurturing and support, love and care.

Another food that really does it for me is pupusa. Pupusa came into my life much later. At the age of 39 I went, for the first time, to El Salvador. I fell in love with the country, the people and the spirit of that small nation. I learned there that community is our hope, that life and the desire for survival is stronger than we know and that faith is alive and can be consumed like oxygen or food. I left there after a week. I have returned there and will many more times, God willing. When I am lucky enough to find decent pupusa in the U.S. (no small feat), I am instantly transported back to El Salvador. It is for me the taste of Spirit, unity and the blessings of poverty.
Image via Wikipedia

• If there was one food you could have right now, what would it be?
• How is it that food can bring us such a sense of peace and constancy?
• What does love taste like to you?
• Ask someone else what their favorite comfort food is and why.

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How do you shake a bad day?

It's raining/snowing out, your heart feels lonely and the tapes in your head are running at full, you are so inadequate, speed. How do you break yourself out of it?

What activities or diversions are sure fire winners for you when it comes to pulling out of the doldrums?

Share your comments below and let's see if we can't give each other a hand up on those days when we feel down. That is one of the benefits of community.

Home for the Holidays

Image by TW Collins via Flickr

"There's no place like home for the holidays", "I'll be home for Christmas", "Please come home for Christmas", These are all lines or titles of songs about coming home this time of year. They happen to be about Christmas, but I don't think the thought need be Christo-centric. Going home, returning to our roots, getting back to where we started from, being where our hearts are, those are all fairly universal themes that definitely do spring to mind this time of year.

• What does it mean to you to "go home"?
  
• Is it a geographical place?
  
• Is it a group of people that you call family?
  
• Is it certain foods or traditions?
  
• Why is it important for you to "go home" every now and again?
  
• What is it that you are looking for by "going home"?
• If your family of origin's home is not the kind of place you would or could return to, have you replaced it with a new definition of home or a family of choice?

All of those are wonderful and appropriate questions to ponder, but what if going home meant something else? What if going home meant getting back to our roots and our fundamental nature in the most basic sense?

If home is truly where the heart is, let's start there. When we sit in our quietest and most honest moments, we all probably know what brings us joy, what makes our hearts sing. If we stop what we do on a day to day basis, for just a little while, we can probably conjure up some of those dreams and passions about life that maybe we have discarded. Are you able to remember where your imagination takes you to when it is allowed to run wild? What talents have you had like forever that you may or may not be using anymore? Those passions, talents and dreams are all indicators of where our heart, potentially is. They are things that have been with us since birth that call us toward fulfillment.

Life often pulls us in other directions. We have bills to pay and careers to advance. We, or circumstances, have put us on different paths than the ones we heard when we were young. The expectations of others and the challenges of "growing up" have taught us that those dreams were just that, dreams.

What if this was the year that we went "home", home to where our hearts are? Take some time to check in on your dreams and passions this year, ask them how they are holding up. Blow some of the dust off of those latent talents of yours that have been resting and see where you can integrate them into your life this year, for good. If home is where the heart is, let's check in with ourselves to see if we are living anywhere near our hearts.

Return home this December, home to your self, to your core, to your heart. If you find you have been living far from it, move a little bit closer, slowly of course, but closer. Go home.

Sing a New Song

This little video today is to remind us all that in order to really get to know people, sometimes we have to change the language we speak. Sometimes people, or Muppets, are so caught up in their own world that it is up to us, really, UP TO US, to change the tune, or the words, or the speed at which we speak. When we can do that, when we are able to set aside all of our prejudices, our agendas and our "sense of rightness", then we will be able to get to know people for who and what they really are. To love the unloveable, to sing to the disinterested, to smile at the grouchy, to watch as they are transformed because someone cared enough to reach in towards them, oh yeah... now we're getting it.

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Person Refuge?

Image by Dizzy Girl via Flickr
Yesterday was the day every week that my family has chosen to set aside and rest. we use the word sabbath for that day. That word fits for us culturally, but I am becoming more and more aware that that word is also loaded with religious significance for many people. Sometimes, as I talk to people about their Spirits and their Universal Truths, I am struck by just how much those words that are closely tied to religion can be a real turn off. The words themselves seem to actually become roadblocks to some wonderful practices and ideas. Why that happens is probably fodder for another posting, and probably another blogger. Today though, I would like to take one word, sabbath, and deconstruct it. The concept itself is so important to serenity and fulfillment that it is worth blowing up the roadblock.

Sabbath- n - [Middle English sabat, from Old French sabbat and Old English sabat, both from Latin sabbatum, from Greek sabbaton, from Hebrew abbt, from bat, to cease, rest; see bt in Semitic roots.] Definition courtesy the free dictionary. com

To cease, to rest. To set aside all of the business and work of the other 6 days of the week and engage in stopping and resting. There is no religion tied to the word itself. Certainly, that connection comes up in the Judeo-Christian tradition, it is even one of the commandments but at it's root, the word and concept itself, sabbath simply means to cease and to rest.

Why rest? We seem to be so busy, to have so much to do. We know that there is no time to rest because in resting, something important won't get done. To answer why rest, let's look at nature:

• Plant crops in a field for too many consecutive years and the field will be depleted of nutrients
  
• Stay awake too long and there will be serious mental and physical consequences
• Trees and flowers all have seasons of growth and output followed by seasons of dormancy
  
• Wild animals have times of active hunting and gathering followed by periods or rest or in some cases, hibernation.

If any of these naturally occurring seasons of rest is skipped for too long a period of time, life can not continue. Rest, ceasing, seems to be built into the very fabric of nature.

To set aside one day a week in honor of who you are and Who created you is a gift. It is a gift to yourself, the fulfillment of your potential and to the universe itself. It is a way of respecting and nurturing the gift of life that was placed in you.

Call it what you need to, sabbath, rest day, refuge, sanctuary, cease and desist day, whatever works for you, just call it something and honor it. Set aside a day, every week, to not engage in business as usual. To honor the creation that you are and the Universe that Created you (in your own understanding). We provide wildlife refuges to protect animals from hunters, pollution, construction and noise, why do we think that we do not need that same protection once in a while. Pick a day and create your own "person refuge".

• Do you take time out of "business as usual" regularly?
• What would you do with that time if you took it?
• How would you include your family in those times?
• Can you figure out a way to try this, if not for a whole day, how about a morning?
• How has not taking a person refuge day impacted your body, Spirit and relationships in the past?
  

Forgiveness

Image by daftgirly via Flickr
He who cannot forgive breaks the bridge over which he himself must pass. ~George Herbert

Forgiveness is difficult. Difficult is an understatement. Forgiveness can seem impossible, can feel unattainable. Holding a grudge feels easier, more logical, an understandable response. It often feels like forgiveness is tantamount to surrendering, to declaring the one who wronged us the victor.

The reality is that not forgiving holds us captive. It keeps us locked in battle with the one who hurt us. An unending tug of war for victory. The problem is it is an internal struggle happening only within you, the offended. The other party is often unaware that you are still locked up in this conflict. The energy you spend on this is diverted away from seeking peace and love and balance in your life.

The Fetzer Institute does great work with it's Campaign for Love and Forgiveness. Is there something or someone that you are having trouble forgiving or putting behind you? Try their on-line ritual for letting go.

Spend some time today releasing others from grudges and past hurts. You maybe surprised how much you actually release yourself.

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Speed Limit Warning

Image by F.A.C.E. Ministries via Flickr

We have speed limits on the highways to help keep us safe and to conserve energy. We follow those speed limits (give or take 5 MPH) because we fear the consequences of getting caught. What about the speed limits that exist in our bodies? Are we even aware of them? Would we follow them if we were?

According to Helpguide.org, adults need 7 to 8 hours of sleep a night, every night in order to allow our bodies to heal and recover from the normal wear and tear of a day. this includes our nervous system, our brain function and our immune system not to mention our moods, memory and concentration. Try this fun little test to see how alert you are right now! How did you do? Are you less alert than you thought?

How's your breathing? Did you know that the average adult citizen of the United States breathes in and out at the rate of anywhere between 12 to 20 breathes per minute? According to Lumrix.net,

A trained, systematic approach to deep breathing may lower respiration rates in cardiac patients, helping them to maintain healthy blood oxygen levels and become more physically fit. In one study, 15 cardiac patients were assigned to one of two experimental groups. One of the groups learned "complete yoga breathing," a style of respiration that encourages slow, deep breathing at a rate of about six breaths per minute. Those patients continued practicing the breathing method at home for an hour a day. After a month, the patients practicing the breathing technique breathed more slowly, had higher levels of blood oxygen, and performed better on exercise tests.

http://www.lumrix.net/health/Respiratory_rate.html

http://snipurl.com/81p2a

That would mean we are probably averaging half the oxygen saturation we need for more energy, faster metabolisms, and better overall health. How many breathes are you taking in a minute? You can time yourself here. Can you even get yourself to 6 breathes per minute?

How about for one week, you give yourself permission to slow down. Breathe slower and more deeply. Sleep at least 8 hours a night. Think about why we are so willing to obey the speed limit in our cars, but not with our bodies. Maybe part of why we feel so tired all the time is because we actually are so tired all the time. Not enough fuel (oxygen) in, too much fuel spent (lack of sleep) = empty tanks.

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What Are You Hiding in There?

Image by Liquid Paper via FlickrDo you remember playing Hide and Go Seek, or Manhunt, or Flashlight Tag, or any other game where you would make yourself difficult to see and your friends would have to work to seek you out? How much fun to run away and know that the people who enjoyed our company would came and find us. How reassuring when they actually did. I did have a rather mean cousin who every once in awhile, would leave us out there, waiting for someone to take the trouble to come and find us.

Though we tend to play those games less and less as we grow older, I am often aware that we still hide our true selves away. We disguise out true nature and feelings behind masks of confidence, bravado, irritability, sarcasm, sadness, quietness, braggadocio, all kinds of ways of being in the world that are designed to keep our authentic self hidden safely away where no one will find it.

I am convinced that on some level, we really want to be found. We long for someone to take the time to seek us out. Think about your best relationships. Weren't they with people who didn't give up on finding you? The people who you know you can really trust were the ones who were patient and found you behind the hiding place you show to the rest of the world.

Points to consider today are in two directions, inward and outward:

• What disguise do you use to hide behind? What would happen if you "came out of hiding" once in awhile and allowed others to see you fully and authentically?
• Where are your friends and acquaintances hiding? What mask are they wearing that makes it challenging for you to want to go find them? What would happen if you stuck it out and went and discovered who they really are?
  

Holy Humor

Image via WikipediaVoltaire: "God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh." I do not know if Voltaire really said that, I found it on the internet. As a matter of fact, I am not even 100% sure who Voltaire was (is).

I do however share the belief that this universe is filled with humor and things that we should be laughing at, but on some level we are afraid to. It's almost as if by laughing, we are admitting to being somehow less relevant, less serious, less important.

The reality is that laughter is a gift. According to Helpguide.org:

"Laughter activates the chemistry of the will to live and increases our capacity to fight disease. Laughing relaxes the body and reduces problems associated with high blood pressure, strokes, arthritis, and ulcers. Some research suggests that laughter may also reduce the risk of heart disease. Historically, research has shown that distressing emotions (depression, anger, anxiety, and stress) are all related to heart disease. A study done at the University of Maryland Medical Center suggests that a good sense of humor and the ability to laugh at stressful situations helps mitigate the damaging physical effects of distressing emotions."

Knowing all of that might make it easier for us to laugh, really laugh, no matter who is around, or whether or not it is "appropriate". According to this evidence, God has given us the ability to luagh as an important part of our bodies and our spirits.

• What can you do to bring more laughter into your life?
• Where do you currently look for laughter?
• What things do you think are funny, but also feel like you just "shouldn't" or "can't" laugh?
• Write down 5 things that you think God may have made funny on purpose. (giraffes, farts, tickling, etc.)
• When was the last time you were thankful for laughter?
  

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Roller Coasters, Thrills, and Life

Image via WikipediaSpeed, screams, drops, laughs, curves, adrenaline, noise, fear, up and out of your seat air-time, exhilaration, nothing beats a roller coaster for many of us. It reminds us that we are alive.

I think, for me at least, a big part of that thrill is the excitement of being vulnerable, subject to being knocked around by the sudden changes in direction and g-forces that the ride dishes out. I get the illusion of being out of control, as if something could go horribly wrong at any moment. I get all of this but at the same time, I get the security of a lap bar and a seat belt, thrice daily safety checks and fail safes built into the ride to keep me from ever really being in danger. I can relax and enjoy the stimulus of vulnerability at very little true risk to myself.

These thrills are so much fun that we spend admission, food, parking and souvenir money to ride. It seems like when the seat belt comes off though, when we face vulnerability and loss of control among one another, the fear is too much. We go from being willing riders waiting in line to frightened isolationists running for the comfort of solitude or superficiality rather than enter willingly into the unknown of truly honest relationships.

I have found such depth in my relationships once I decided to try my best to live transparently in them, to relish the thrill of vulnerability, the excitement of feeling like this could all go horribly wrong at any moment. I need to push through my tendency to imagine worst case scenario outcomes and be honest about who I am, how I feel, what I need, where my boundaries are and what I wish for. All of those roller coaster emotions are available to me in my relationships too. The same thrills, the same exhilaration, the same adrenaline, they will come and they will fill the interaction between me and others with a sense of excitement about life and growth in the relationship. They will heighten and sharpen the senses.

Letting go of the fear though, there is the rub. There are some that do not ride roller coasters. That is OK for them, but I long for the excitement. The risk is worth the ride. Open up, get on, seek the thrill of a vulnerable and transparent relationship. Who needs a seat belt when the very nature of the Universe is to encourage and promote love and life?

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When I Grow Up...

Image by kim_salyer via Flickr"What do you want to be when you grow up?" When was the last time you heard, or answered that question? Today, let's re-ask it from a couple of different perspectives.

• What was the answer when you were young? My first memory of what I wanted to be was a coroner, a la Qunicy M.E., my favorite show when I was pre-adolescent. I wanted the life this man had in the theme song for the show. Brains, the ability to help solve mysteries, excitement, a sailboat, and beautiful girls! Maybe for you the answer is Ballerina, Superhero, Astronaut, Teacher, but what was your answer at age 9 or 10?
  
• Did you grow up and become this dream? For me, quite simply, no. Too much school, too much dedication, too much dsitraction, too much blah... blah... blah... Maybe you have better luck at answering this question than I did.
• As an adult, what were the real attributes about that 'dream job" that speak to you now? For me and my long dead coroner dream, those attributes would include: solving mysteries, doing research, helping people get closure, using my brains more than my back, making my own schedule (at least Quicy seemed to), having a job that others think is odd and being surrounded by beautiful women.
• How many of those attributes are found in your current career choice? It took me 20 years to get to a place where I can say most of them! I have been in sales, management, security, entertainment, and hospitality and all of them left me a little south of joyous. I am finally doing work I love, solving and dealing with mysteries (personal and universal), helping people on thier journeys, thinking more than lifting, coming as close to a free schedule as possible, and believe it or not, I am at a point where i can declare the "surrounded by beautiful women" thing not only immature and shallow, but truly second place to marrying one.
• What is the answer today? What do you want to be when you grow up? If you have not had the chance to live out that childhood dream, how many of those attributes that were important to you then could you go on to fill now? How many are you doing? Are you finding Joy? Is it possible that the career dream you had when you were young knew something about the Spirit that is within you?
  

Perhaps the state of the economy is giving you and your career a chance to reassess the relationship you have with each other. Are you giving equally to the relationship, or is work sucking the soul out of you?

May the work you do fill you and enrich your soul so that it is an extension of who you are.

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Things, Things, and More Things

I saw this picture in an email someone sent me. Not sure where they got it. My apologies for not giving a proper nod to the photographer or the creator but I know not who they are. What struck me though was the honest truth of this sentence. In this Holiday season, it is so tempting to think about all of the "things" we want, or the perfect "thing" for little Joey that I almost needed this little bit of spray painted truth.

The best things in life are actually us, our creativity, our grace, our empathy, our love, our kindness, our individuality, our "ourness".

What part of yourself are you truly thankful for? What part of yourself can you wrap up and give away this Holiday season? What "thing" were you going to buy that you could choose to leave on the shelf at WalMart and instead give someone a piece of yourself?

The best things life are us...

It's all Relative!

Cool image generated at Hetemeel.com

According to Einstein, a thing could appear to move faster or slower depending on where you were in relation to it. I think this not only applies to physics or objects, I think this also applies to outlooks and attitudes.

Imagine driving to work and getting stuck in a freak ice storm. Cars are hitting each other, spinning and sliding, people are stuck on hills and no one is moving. It is becoming obvious that you will not get to work, no work means of course, no pay. Eventually after an hour of this, the police arrive in big SUV's and begin to clear the mess.

Looking at this as one who is short of money, short of time, self centered and tired, this could make you quite angry. Not only that but the hour that goes by seems to take forever.

Watch this from a slightly different perspective, perhaps one that is intensely interested in human behavior, or awed at the power of nature, someone who maybe a little tight on cash but generally has what they need (you are in a car that you own and you ate three meals today after all) and everything changes. Perhaps from this relative position you are able to be thankful that no one is hurt, maybe even amused at the sight of tons of steel sliding around as if it weighed mere ounces. It is possible that this experience could leave you inspired at the kindness, patience and sense of community you witness among the other stranded drivers. Most amazingly, and in keeping with Einstein's theory, the whole experience could seem to fly by and this wonderful adventure could feel like it is over in a few short moments!

It's all relative. We can choose to suffer and be caught up in the agony of everything going wrong, or we can choose to look at it from a different perspective.

In an amazing coincidence, Einstein had another theory that relates to our thoughts and our attitudes. You can read more about that in the article link below.

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Truth and Peace

I have been thinking a lot lately about truth; truth hurts, truth will set you free, truth is stranger than fiction, etc.

It hasn't always been that way. There was a time, not too very long ago, when truth came somewhere after convenience, personal agendas, political gain or loss and some twisted sense of what I thought people wanted me to say or do. Since trying to focus more on truth I am finding that truth is often annoying, disruptive and seemingly illogical from a self preservation standpoint.

Even in it's sometimes difficult wake, the truth is always disarming. You can not ever effectively argue against truth in the long run. The truth will always win out. It has to. It is a constant. It is not subject to changes of opinion, winds of doubt or shifts in the rules. Truth is truth is truth.

What would the world be like if we all lived into and out of, the truth? What if we were true to who we are, acknowledged how we truly felt, took responsibility when the truth says we are at fault, suffered no hurt feelings at the hands of the truth and remembered that, at the end of the day, the truth has no agenda other than itself?

Where in your life are you currently living as if some illusion or other were true? Where is it that you could shine a little truth and free yourself to live in reality?

This might not be easy. People get nervous when the truth starts flying. Start with yourself. Who are you, really? Where is your heart, really? What makes you happy, really?

Be Different! Play on One String Willy.

Click the link and watch this video next time you feel like you are not cool because you are different. Don't let anyone tell you you are anything less than amazing in your passions!

Who needs all 6 strings anyway.

One-String Willie
One-String Willie Only 1/6th as radical as regular acoustic guitar players... JavaScript is disabled! To display this content, you need a...

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Signs That God has a Sense of Humor

A Friend sent this picture to me in an email. I don't know who took it. I wish I could attribute it to a photographer but instead I will attribute it to the Universe.

What are the odds of snapping this picture at exactly the right time to capture this little "Universal Smiley"? Isn't it great when things like that happen? When all of a sudden, out of the blue, the universe reminds you that it is laughing and playing and celebrating it's own existence.

I think it happens more often than we are aware.

What if you spent a whole day just looking for God giggles like this one? You would have to slow down. You would have to make sure that the world and it's makeup were worth paying more attention to than any agenda, meeting, goal or destination. You would have to be really tuned in to the hidden and the mysterious, but imagine how many times over the course of a day God is sending you a laugh-o-gram.

Stop imagining and commit a day, or a few hours to searching these moments out. Journal about them, photograph them, tell others about them. Make a collection so that you can look at it whenever you feel like either you, or your world is getting a little too serious.

File This Under Strange and Wonderful

Today I saw something beautiful. I was driving along following another car, two more cars behind me everyone in a hurry as usual and up ahead, I noticed something lying in the street. I was trying to figure out what it was and formulating my plan to cross over the double yellow line into the opposing lane of traffic to swerve around said obstacle. As we got closer it became obvious that this was someones large plastic trash can, blown off the curb and into the street.

Here is where the beautiful happened. I watched as the car in front of me stopped, the driver got out and put the trashcan back on the curb gently. He waved me on to go around him as he got out but I found myself patiently applying my brakes and very happily admiring his selfless act. I could not go around him. His decision to stop his own life to help someone else forced me to do the same. Out of respect for his act, I paused and reflected on my tendency to blow by and not help, to look for the fastest way around someone else's troubles. The cars behind me also stopped. No one honked or yelled or sped by. We all became observers in a life that we are all called to lead. One man's example. One small act. One huge and beautiful reminder.

May you slow down and act graciously.

Peaceful Video Games?

I found this on the web today. It is a classroom video game called Virtual Peace. According to the web site:

Virtual Peace: Turning Swords to Ploughshares brings together digital learning technologies and international humanitarian assistance efforts. Students and educators enter an immersive, multi-sensory game-based environment that simulates real disaster relief and conflict resolution conditions in order to learn first-hand the necessary tools for sensitive and timely crisis response.

How cool is that? Imagine using video technology to help young people become interested in working toward peace and humanitarian efforts.

• What are some video games that you might create to help people explore the concepts related to social justice?
  
• Do you think these games would ever catch on like the hundreds of war simulation games? Why or why not?
• Would there be any "political correctness" issues raised by a game like this?
• Are there any "political correctness" issues raised by a game like "Call of Duty: World at War?
  

Giving it Away (a little of it anyway)

My good friend Paul Lyons is one of the funniest, and nicest, comics I have ever been blessed by meeting. He has an amazing outlook on life, joy and the gift of just being alive. If you have the chance to see him perform, don't miss it.

One of the gifts Paul gives to me and others is conversation. We talk about Paul's belief that we all move too quickly. We are in a hurry to "get somewhere", "accomplish something" or "grab a bigger slice of the pie". He often wonders out loud, "what do we miss when we rush on by?"

Paul recently told me about something he does every once in a while to really make people "slow down". He gets about 7 or 8 dollar bills and gives them away one at a time to strangers out in the world. Paul reports that the reactions go from disbelief, that someone would give away money without strings, to excitement and eventually to laughter and lightness for the whole group of strangers.

What a neat exercise! Imagine, meeting someone and having them be generous to you for no good reason. Especially now, at a time when we put so much fear and anxiety onto our money. Paul is running counter to the culture, but in sync with the Holy.

Do you have 7 or 8 dollars that you could give away today? Go to the mall, the bus, the airport, or how about your local IRS office! Go and hand out some generosity and watch what happens to people.

Abundance vs. Scarcity

What would happen if we lived out of a mindset of abundance. Imagine that no matter what happened in the economy, no matter what we owned or didn't own, no matter how our pile of stuff stacked up against our neighbors pile, we believed that we had enough. What if we knew we had enough food, enough resources, and enough courage to just live in a state of sufficiency.

Would some of our fears go away? Would we shake off some of the stress and worry about "keeping up". Would we spend less time being protective of our stuff and more time being generous? Would those changes allow us to help others feel less stressed as well?

Are you willing to try a little experiment in trusting the Universe? How about changing a few small behaviors for one week and seeing if they make a difference in how you feel. If you are willing to be generous in a few small areas, perhaps you may find that while the rest of the world is afraid to "run out" you can enjoy the comfort and security of knowing you have more than you need. So, just for one week could you:

• Tip the servers where you eat 25%, whether they "deserve" it or not? I'll bet the extra change won't be missed by you and who knows, it may change their outlook and attitude.
• Pay the bus fare of the person behind you every day? That $10.00 investment may actually set some other chain of events in motion that you will never see. At the very least, the smiles you get will lighten you heart.
• Give an hour or two to a volunteer cause? I know, time is at a premium and we all are crunched. Don't worry though, you'll still get done what needs to get done.
• Cook an extra meal every day and set it aside for your local "Meals on Wheels" organization? You know, much of that food gets put in the fridge as leftovers and then thrown out anyway. How about we feed someone instead?
• Give up the best parking spots when you go to mall or grocery store? There are plenty of spots out there, you may have to walk a little bit but that will do you some good anyway.

Try, just for one week, to live as if you have more than you need. The truth is, you do.

Thanksgiving

It's Thanksgiving weekend. Take a moment to think about what it is that you are most thankful for.

Is it a person, a thing, a talent?
Is it a moment in time, a relationship, an outlook?

Go on, think deeply about this one. What one thing in this life are you most grateful to have received? If you have the opportunity to share this thankfulness give that a try.

A grateful heart has little room for sadness.