Letting Go

  A friend once said, That everything she ever released had claw marks on it, because she held onto it so tightly even while trying to let it go.

Sometimes in life we have no choice but to let go. My longest and dearest friend died Saturday night. I have to let her go for she's no longer here. It's sometimes hard. In many ways I'm happy for her because she had so many physical problems and was in such agony. It is really a relief that she is free and no longer in pain and suffering. My reluctance to let go was about me not about her. My grief is about the hole left in my heart, while my joy is about her happiness that she is free now and having a grand adventure.

Sometimes it seems that we humans have a hard time letting go. We have a hard time with change.   When we hold on to negative things such as  anger, resentment, negative memories, ETC, we are eally hurting ourselves.We're hurt by our resistance and own negative thoughts and fears, negative charges running through our bodies and holding us back. The most spiritual thing we can do with that is to live in the moment and release the past - because in the one moment where we are alive and breathing, we can be the best person we can, touch the presence of G,od. We can be guided. We can remember we are whole and holy.

Ultimately we come to remember that one of our prime missions in life is to learn unconditional love toward ourselves and toward all other people. Opening ourselves to love unconditionally opens us to awareness that we are living in the presence of God, realizing we're not alone, realizing that we have guidance available, that we are loved unconditionally, and we should pass that love on.

Instead of holding on to the past or to the stories of how we wish it was, let us learn to let go and live fully and gloriously in each moment. We can't change the past But we can make the moment that we are alive the moment where we are, the second in between seconds, that glorious moment make it a moment of love. Let's go forth today and shine that love, let the light of love lift us and lift everyone who comes in contact with us. What a wonderful day you're going to have God bless you.

Knowledge, Where Does It Lead?

 This morning it occurred to me the huge difference between knowledge of something and use of that knowledge.  A simple example - reading a recipe, understanding the ingredients and directions, and putting it down and never making it. Versus then actually making the recipe, sharing the results and enjoying eating it. 

For those of us on a spiritual quest, the example can also apply. There is a difference between reading, say the Sermon on the Mount, understanding what is asked of followers of Jesus, and putting it down without actually applying it in our lives. 

Christians are criticized for being hypocrites. Reading the Bible, going to church, wearing a cross does not make one a Christian. Going out and bad mouthing someone, being harsh and judgemental, being unforgiving and not shining unconditional love tells the world and God you are Christian in name only. You know God's recipe for living His Way, but you don't implement it in your life. 

If we want to really awaken spiritually, want to make a difference with our lives, be responsible with the gift of life, we need to examine our own lives and get to applying what makes us actually a follower of The Way. 

How Do We Approach Problems/Opportunities?

 In meditation this morning I saw the anger and strife erupting all over the world.

A question presented itself  - Where are the spiritual leaders leading with spiritual principles?

Where are large groups praying for us to remember we are one human family, praying for peace and understanding, for win/win solutions, for ways to live the things we know to be the highest and best?

Where are the great teachers reminding us we are accountable for what we do on earth?

Where is the spiritual response? Where are the potential leaders that are to remind us of who we are, to speak of higher choices, to awaken us out of ego's dream that leads to destruction?

Oh wondrous God, awaken Your people. Awaken visionaries to lead us out of the trap we have fallen into, helped to create. Open us to Your solutions, to the ways we need to think and act to move the future to higher ground. Inspire us. Open our eyes and ears and hearts. Save us from ourselves. Tap just the right people to speak and lead us to spiritual sanity while there is still time.  May the highest and best prevail. Amen

Cooperation Factor

 

For prayer is nothing else than being on terms of friendship with God. --- Teresa of Avila

How profound is this little quote!  It might seem like a new idea here in the 21st century, but it goes at least as far back asTeresa in the 1500's. 

Consider what a friendship entails. In general, it includes trust, support, cooperation, communication, and shared experiences that build deep bonds, among other things. Prayer (and I would add meditation and contemplation) helps us develop all of these aspects of friendship with God, with The More.

The more in tune with God we are, the greater our trust in God. The primary way we get in tune with The Infinite is prayer. We feel supported as we experience the Presence in our prayer time, and this support carries us throughout the day.

We may not have thought of cooperation, but it seems to me that we have to do our part in this relationship. We need to cooperate with the things asked of a person in relationship with God. Forgive our trespasses as we forgive, judge not, take care of others, show mercy as mercy is shown to us, let our light shine, etc.  When I think of cooperation, one of the scriptures that also comes to me is Matthew 25:31-46, the parable of the sheep and the goats. I urge you to re-read it today. It is a clear picture of what is asked of us. As we share in God's work here on earth, it changes us.

Add cooperation into your equation of how to live spiritually, and something truly amazing will unfold. All aspects of your relationship with God will expand and deepen. And just maybe, if enough of us do it, it will change everything for the better, helping to create the long-held vision of the kingdom of God on earth.

Bread and Wine

The wine  is the wine of divine wisdom. The bread is the bread of life: these nourish the soul and enlighten the mind of the spiritual body.   --- Origin

 First, concerning the cup. We thank thee, our Father, for the holy vine, David thy Son, which thou hast made known unto us through Jesus Christ thy Son; to thee be the glory for ever.And concerning the broken bread. We thank thee, our Father, for the life and knowledge which thou hast made known unto us through Jesus thy Son; to thee be the glory for ever.  -- The Didache

 We see from early teachings a different view of the Eucharist than is common later on.  

It makes more sense, particularly when we consider the Jewish understanding of blood, for example, having to be drained from an animal before cooking it.  The idea of drinking blood and eating flesh would have been abhorrent. It still is abhorrent. 

I think the early ideas above would make the experience more meaningful. 

Knwing God Is Not Just a Mystical Event

My love of the mystics and my own mystical experiences are something I cherish. And, knowing God can be practical as well.

Yesterday I decided to wear to church the pearl ring L.B. gave me our first Christmas so long ago. I tell the story in my book I hope to publish soon. He was the father of our children and a great love. He had an aneuyrism in his brain Christmas 1976 and died on New Year's Day 1977. This ring was all I had left from him because of Gilbert's disasters (see entries starting in April, 2025)

I stopped at the car wash and a grocery store after church. I was putting away the groceries and realized the ring was not on my finger. I panicked. I looked everywhere I had been in the apartment and in the trash and recycle bag, retraced my steps, and thorouhly checked my car. Then I texted several people to see if they had seen it at a church, called the car wash and grocery store. 

I cried deep grief. I had lost so much.  Not this precious reminder of love too, please God NO. I prayed and prayed - God You know where it is. Lead me to it, bring it to me.

Finally, I went to bed after 11, so exhausted I couldn't even pray anymore. I woke up praying, and I had an irresistible urge to look in the recycling in the kitchen, even though I had gone through it yesterday. Nothing. Then I saw the crumpled-up plastic bag that friends at church had given me, filled with their homegrown lemons. I had looked in it too yesterday, but I now had a strong, strong urge to do so again. I looked and saw nothing. I ran my hand through it and felt a lump under the fold in the corner. I turned it out, and there was my ring!

Yes, God, I was almost hysterical yesterday, even though I prayed. You just showed me, again, that You are here with me in large and small moments. Thank You, Thank You!!!!! 

If I had focused on that Truth, I could have saved myself a pile of emotional turmoil. But, it did show me how raw I still am over all of the losses due to Gilbert. There is definitely more healing to do. Scratch the surface, and tears lurk there.

Dear and Wondrous God, my heart is overflowing in joy and gratitude for the return of my pearl ring from L.B. What a powerful lesson, and what a powerful reminder of the need for more healing.

I ask that You guide me to find the way out of this valley of darkness and grief. Help me release Gilbert fully to You. Help me to release my treasures so that the pain is neutralized. I am thankful that I once had them, and I do miss them so. I realize I shall never have them physically again as they are scattered to the winds via the auctions. Please grant me peace.

I am incredibly thankful to know You hear my prayer and are always with me. I give thanks in advance for my healing.

I release this all to You as I seal it with the ancient seal of faith and integrity, Amen, Amen and Amen.

The Second Coming

For two thousand years, Christians have been waiting for the second coming of Christ. Predictions of the day have come and gone countless times. People have given away all of their possessions and eagerly awaited the appearance in magical clouds with angels and trumpets. But, as we know, that has not happened.

Over the years, I have pondered this escatology. It seems more in line with Greek and Roman gods than with the Jesus I know in the Sermon on the Mount.

I have done a lot of study, trying to understand the first century, trying to get back to the original Jesus before speculations from men piled upon him and hardened into dogma - before the fights and intrigue, and sometimes murder and war over theological ideas.

Dr. James Tabor suggests the closest we can come to the historical Jesus is Q (the material in Matthew and Luke and not in Mark), the book of James, and the Didache. These are before the Pauline idea took hold that it was only about his death and resurrection, not about his life and teaching. Q is the Sermon on the Mount and on the Plain, parables, one liners, etc. It is the Jesus that has framed my life.

I have a theory about the second coming, maybe a stretch for you who are "reular" Christians. In Luke Jesus says that you have looked "lo here and lo there" but the Kingdom is within you. I think the second coming is when we open our hearts to the teachings of Jesus, letting them guide our lives, doing our best to be like him, letting the Divine Light of Christ fill us,  lead us, and instruct us. It is when we become followers of The Way, the Sacred Way, so much so that we embody it.

When we say "Marantha" - we really say come into my heart Lord Jesus.