Expressions of Love

   November/December 2008

 

In This Issue

I Voted - by Rev. Frank Arnold
Hope  -  by Rev. Sue Borg
Sufi Legend - The Lost Horse
Never Alone or Unanswered - Tama Kieves
Sense and Sensibility - D. Patrick Miller
 

 


   I Voted (and got a sticker saying so!)

By Rev. Frank Arnold

I went out and voted on November 4th.  I think voting is one of the only rights I have left after the patriot act of 2004.  I will not tell anyone who I voted for, but I will tell you that if you’re over eighteen and don’t vote, you get what you get and you have no right to complain about who gets elected.   

I’ve paid more attention to this election than any in the past, and I have voted in every election since 1964, so I’ve participated in many.  And, after all that time, I’ve finally come to one real conclusion – Who the Hell would want that job anyway?  It is clear in my mind that if you run for any office higher than dog catcher, you should be given psychological help and a lot of it.  I mean think about it! 

First off, the job doesn’t pay enough for what you have to put up with – whatever the salary – it’s definitely not enough.  After all, haircuts start at $400 and clothing can cost as much as $175,000 per shopping spree. J  Then no matter what’s going on in the world or who is in office with you, all the problems and woes of the world are ultimately yours.  Like I said, “Who the Hell wants that job?”  Someone with a very large ego (and we know where the ego gets you.) 

You would have to be crazy or really, really short on gray matter to want that job.  However, if you do get the job, once in office, you get all kinds of perks.  You get someone following you around wherever you go – even to the bathroom, you do get your own plane and travel planner, your own cook and you even get your own house with about 43 rooms and a garden and a gardener to take care of it. You have dinner party after dinner party with all the most important (?) people in the world.  You have press conferences where you really don’t have to say anything important, but the world listens anyway while you waste a bunch of time searching for the real issues – which I think are rent and food and a job to pay for them with a little left over for play.   We get it, why don’t they? 

Oh ya, back to - I do think you should vote and not give that right away for any reason.  We all know that there has to be someone to be blame for all our sins, to be nailed on the cross so the rest of us can do whatever it is we do.  I can see it now – God holds a class on how to be wrong, be blamed for everything and care-taker of the world and it only takes four years to get your degree.   At the end of the class, he says, “Now who wants the job, who wants to go?  Who wants to be President?”   

Only a few in the class raise their hands and he picks one.  Then God says to him –“you know that no matter what happens, you are going to be wrong and people will end up scorning you.”  The one he picks says “I will do it because I love you enough to try and show them that it’s not real.”     

 

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 Hope  By Rev. Sue Borg

Since the election of our new President, Barack Obama, I have received many emails with the word hope in them, and have I decided to write about hope. The dictionary describes hope as “a feeling that what is wanted will happen; desire accompanied by expectation; a person or thing on which one may base some hope; to want and expect.”

Years ago, my sister had a cartoon of “Cathy” on her fridge where she is telling her mother, “I feel so much better since I’ve given up hope.” I thought that was a profound and very true since hope meant you were experiencing lack and looking for something to make things better or different, and it felt like a way to dismiss “wanting.” When we live in the Now moment as described by Tolle, then we don’t need hope. We just must know that all is as it should be.

So I, like everyone else, have been learning the lesson that “everything is perfect exactly as it is,” but in all honesty, I haven’t yet been able to believe that totally in every moment. – I mean there are a few worldly things that don’t seem quite perfect. I do think I really want to believe that, but I still have a few judgments that pop up to test my belief. However, the emails I received after the election about hope made me feel what I would call hope and it seemed right for there to be hope in the world. Living with hope can actually lift your spirits when hope is expressed in this way

Here is one I received. I’ve only repeated part of it, but as you read, you will see why I sensed hope that morning.

Something is different today. This morning we woke up to hope. This morning we woke up to a real sense of possibility and potential. This morning we woke up knowing that real change is possible. And this morning we know that each of us has the power to create that change. Our votes and our voices were heard and counted. And our long desire for positive change has now begun to manifest…

...Now there is a bright light calling to us. But remember, no matter what happens, light is not out there, in the world. No, that light is within you. You are the light. You are the hope.

Last night you became the change you wished to see in the world! Continue to be that light. Shine that light on the world. And watch, with amazement as your world, your life, reflects the change you are becoming.

So here is to hope. Here is to joy and light and positive expectation. And here, most of all, is to the awakening and unfolding of YOUR greatness! With deep appreciation for your presence in this world, Edward Mill www.intuitivelifecoaching.com

It makes me have a real sense of hope and encouragement for the years I have spent changing my mind from fear to love. It makes me have a sense of hope that so many others are now looking forward with a belief there can be a better way, which is the very thought that got The Course started in the first place. The better way, of course, is living life fully realizing you are one with creation and as a light of the world, that creation will express through you as love and peace and joy for everyone.

In this season, I send a blessing of Love and Peace and Joy to everyone. It is a blessing that comes from my heart, a prayer if you will, that your experiences are so filled with the Love of God, that there is no way you need hope for more – a feeling that what is wanted will happen. What I want most is to recognize the Peace of God in every moment.

Thank you to everyone for sharing our lives. We love the mirrors!      

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Sufi Legend:  The Lost Horse


 Many years ago in a poor Chinese village, there lived a peasant with his son. His only material possession, apart from some land and a small straw hut, was a horse he had inherited from his father. One day, the horse ran off, leaving the man with no animal with which to till the land. His neighbors, came to his house to say how much they regretted what had happened. He thanked them for their visit, but asked, How can you know that what has happened has been a misfortune in my life?

Someone mumbled, He can't accept reality, let him think what he wants, as long as he isn't saddened by what happened. And the neighbors went off, pretending to agree with what they had heard. A week later, the horse returned to the stable, but it was not alone. He returned with it a fine mare for company. Upon hearing this, the villagers returned to the peasant's house, in order to congratulate him on his good fortune. Before you had only one horse, and now you have two. Congratulations! - they said. Many thanks for your visit answered the peasant, but how can you know that what has happened has been a blessing in my life? Thinking he must be going mad, the neighbors went off, and on their way commented, does he not understand that God has sent him a gift?

A month later, the peasant's son decided to tame the mare. But the animal unexpectedly reared up and the boy fell and broke his leg. The neighbors returned to the peasant's house bringing gifts for the injured boy. The mayor of the village offered his condolences to the father, saying they were all very sad at what had happened. The man thanked them for their visit and their concern, but asked, How can you know that what has happened has been a misfortune in my life?

They were all astonished to hear this, since no one could be in any doubt that the accident of a son was a real tragedy. As they left the peasant's house, some said to others: "he really has gone mad; his only son might limp forever, and he is still in doubt about whether what happened is a misfortune."

Some months passed, and Japan declared war on China. The Emperor's envoy traveled throughout the land in search for healthy young men to be sent to the battle front. Upon arrival in the village, they recruited all the young men except the peasant's son, whose leg was broken. None of the young men who left returned alive. The son recovered, the two animals bred and their offspring were sold at a good price.

The peasant began visiting his neighbors to console them, since they had all been so caring. Whenever one of them complained, the peasant said: “How do you know it is a misfortune?" If anyone became overjoyed, he asked, “How do you know it is a blessing?" And the men in that village finally understood that beyond appearances, life often has other meanings.

Ed Note:  So, once again, we learn that all things are perfect just as they are even if we have an assumption they should be different or we perceive them as good or bad.  Hmmmm.

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 Never Alone or Unanswered:
Walking with Infinite Love - By Tama Kieves.

The more I cultivate a relationship with my own inner voice, the more I step into a precious, responsive life of abundantly answered prayer. These days, I often feel as though I'm walking with an Unseen Friend, a playful, quirky, Mojo-powered force that infuses my life with meaning and tenderness. I'd like to share a recent example with you...  

This past summer I went home to New York and spent some time with my mother who just turned 80. My mother weighs no more than a graham cracker and I watch her discarding her enthusiasms for life. She is tired. Her conversation, world, and size seem to shrink with every blink of the eye. It is so hard to watch someone who has been such an archetype in your life, a pillar in the story of you, start to turn into a memory. I have so much crazy compassion for my mother, a reckless love, even though I have spent almost all of my life seeking and finding mothering elsewhere. It's complicated: therapy, forgiveness, angelic intervention, and growing up.

On my last day of visiting with her, I feel helpless saying goodbye, knowing I can't hold back the tide of time. I feel small and exhausted myself, having zip-locked all of my emotions inside myself, so that I can show up as my mother's bright and resourceful daughter, the one who can tap dance on a pin head, and never stumble or weep. I also feel tired knowing I face a long train ride to Grand Central Station, where I will hop a shuttle to JFK, and then a plane back across the country to Colorado. Then this: I feel stupidly helpless because I have 90 minutes to wait until I can catch the shuttle to JFK. It's not enough time to see more of New York City as I'd hoped or go shopping as I'd really wanted to do while here. Those 90 minutes feel like some vestiges of yarn that can't knit a blanket or even a cap. For some reason, those 90 minutes make me feel even more vulnerable. They represent running out of time again, and also one more thing I'll have to figure out, in a life that feels as though there's already too many buckets to fill.

The minute I board the train and wave goodbye the tears come. Passing olive green lakes and willow trees outside the window, everything blurs. I cry because I am tired of holding it all in, swallowing a big rubber ball and watching Law and Order and the evening news with my mother. I cry knowing that my mother is going home alone to eat her microwave dinners, and that so many souls feel alone in this life, and that all of us deal with scary, incomprehensible junctures that make us feel like gauzy leaves in Autumn, waiting our turn to be swept up in the astounding unknown. Then I do something brilliant. I ask Spirit to be with me, to let me know that I am not forsaken and that none of us really have to ride the train alone. To be honest, it feels like a dry gesture, not a true-hearted invocation, but more of an across-the-board cry for help, any help available anywhere.  

When I get off the train, I walk through majestic Grand Central Station and out into the street looking for something to do with "my extra yarn." I am thrilled to see a cluster of street vendors selling leather goods, tee shirts, sunglasses and other items. I love the street vendors of New York City and feel so grateful that I have at least a few moments of shopping before finding a Starbucks to sit in to pass the time. But as I walk, I begin to notice that it isn't just a cluster of vendors on one block, it's a cluster on every block. With sheer delight, I see that there is no end in sight, that the vendors span for miles with every kind of ethnic food, designer cosmetics, silver jewelry, leather goods, all available for discounted prices.

I ask you, how can you doubt the presence of God amidst an infestation of bargains? I mean, come on, I even had my choice of Estee Lauder lipsticks. I am tickled.  Almost everything I'd wanted to experience in New York City is right here. Fantastic people watching, endless cheap Italian, Indian, Thai, and Halaal food, live music, and the Chrysler building towering and winking at me like some urban genii granting my commercial indulgences. There's even a slight breeze, in August, and not one pound of humidity. Everyone is relaxed, as relaxed as New York gets, in a Sunday afternoon type mood.

I feel new tears in my eyes, tears of abundance and gratitude, for the grace of this spontaneous experience, and for 90 minutes to enjoy it. I ask a large Italian man selling tee shirts if this street fair takes place in this location every Sunday. "No," he said. "It's special today." I feel as though one hundred doves burst out of my tight rib cage.  He might as well have said, "No the Beloved did this just for you."

Yes, I understand that not everyone will look upon this as a miracle. It's not exactly the presence of the Virgin Mary (though she was for sale at the street fair), or the turning of water into wine. But that's the thing about having a relationship with an Infinite Friend. The language of spirit is exquisitely personal. The Sufis say that "God is the Great Beloved who kisses the individual on the inside of the heart." I felt smooched. I recognized a signature feeling.  I felt soothed and answered, as though I was walking on rose petals set down just for me, below a soft, bright canopy of all-encompassing generosity. Suddenly, I felt cherished, even though I still felt sad, and there was still litter on the streets, and time would still march on. But, even so, I felt as though I would always be okay, my life would have big love, and that my mother would be okay under her own canopy, and that we'd all be okay, because the Presence was within us and we all find meaning, sweetness, and inexplicable liberation in our own time and way.

Go ahead, play with it. Ask the Sacred Friend or the Beloved One, or your Inner Teacher to join you, guide you and help you open to the love that surrounds you. If it helps, "pretend" that you're held dear and guided and see what you notice in your experience when you do so. Dare to live an awakened, irrationally happy life. Dive into your own intimate relationship with the Presence, the tenderness in between the broken moments, the nudges, the coincidences, and uncanny, joyous juxtapositions.  Go ahead, be as weird as they come, at least you'll be filled with wonder.

I leave you with this line of poetry from St. Teresa of Avila, who apparently knew how to have her own intimate and lively relationship with the infinite. "Love once said to me, "I know a song, would you like to hear it?"  And laughter came from every brick in the street and from every pore in the sky."

Yours in the dance,  Tama 

Tama J. Kieves is a national A Course in Miracles presenter and the bestselling author of THIS TIME I DANCE! Creating the Work You Love (How One Harvard Lawyer Left It All to Have It All!) Visit her at www.ThisTimeIDance.com and sign up for free inspiration and support through her monthly e-newsletter. Want to find your calling? Download Tama’s Free Report on “Finding Your Calling” right now at www.ThisTimeIDance.com. 

 

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 Sense & Sensibility

A personal commentary on contemporary spirituality by author and journalist D. Patrick Miller from his blog on Wednesday, October 8, 2008

When I Reeked


"I would rather be whole than good." -- Carl Jung

Some years ago I wrote an article about the "new wave" of alternative spirituality for a regional weekly newspaper, and in the next week's edition there appeared a reader's letter opining that my article "reeked of suspect holiness." My pal D. Jouris has never let me forget this; to this day he likes to leave phone messages asking if I'm still "reeking." When you write books in the spiritual field, especially inspirational books, it's a hard charge to deny completely. I can too easily page through my books now and find at least a few wince-worthy passages that tempt me to think, "That reeks!"

In my everyday life lately, however, I feel like I'm becoming decidedly less holy, if perhaps more suspect in other regards. When I was younger I tended to see the process of spiritual growth as one of becoming ever more perfect and error-free. If you just meditated, prayed, or surrendered enough, then you gradually ascended into holiness (and people noticed, of course). But after the last few years of tumultuous personal change, I find myself much more attuned to the less brightly-lit goal of wholeness, which seems to be reached by an entirely different, 4-step process:

1. You screw up a lot.
2. You apologize or make amends for your screw-ups whenever possible.
3. You reflect for a while (not too long!) on the last screw-up that went down, then
4. You go forth into the next day and see what happens.

Even my chosen spiritual discipline, A Course in Miracles, advises its students that "Your good intentions are not enough." What that means is that the spiritual aspirant needs a strong sense of inner guidance, which the Course calls the Holy Spirit, to correct not only the ego's obviously bad ideas, but also the ones that seem noble and selfless.

That makes life a little tricky, though, because in the course of a typical day it can be pretty damn difficult to distinguish between one's own smart and wonderful ideas -- which may all too easily backfire -- and the genuine, supposedly infallible guidance of the old HS. Sometimes you just don't know until you've gone through the day and seen how things turned out. If you're interested only in becoming more holy, then it will probably seem that your screw-ups are counting against you. But if you're focused on wholeness, then there's something to be learned from every misstep -- especially how to recognize the kind of ideas that seemed so wonderful before they went way down south.

And yes, I know that "holiness" and "wholeness" are kissing cousins, semantically speaking. But going for holiness just seems to get people in trouble more often, in terms of becoming self-important, hypocritical, or otherwise suspect. After all, when was the last time you ran into someone with a "wholer than thou" attitude?

Anyway, my dear spiritual readers, it would be fun to know the last time you found yourself reeking of suspect holiness. C'mon, fess up... after all it's just between me, you, and the worldwide Web....  

You can learn more about Patrick at his website www.fearlessbooks.com  You may remember him from the International ACIM Conference in Salt Lake City in 2005, and as the publisher that took a risk and published Gary Renard’s The Disappearance of the Universe book.  What a risk??? 

 

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