BE YOUR OWN ENVIRONMENTALIST

PEACE

comes within

by disengaging

from conflict

without

Being green is all the thing, but rarely is it applied to where it counts most--within.  We need to focus our environmental activism close to HOME.

As much attention as we pay to air, land and water quality, our inner environment is often left overlooked, suffering from a surprising lack of oversight.  We tolerate mis-management in varying degrees.  We allow shocking amounts of conflict and dis-ease to disrupt our PEACE, leaving ourselves as virtual dumping grounds to whomever might walk by.

Our focus without needs to be re-directed to more oversight within.  Our PEACE must supersede all outward recycling efforts.  Environmental cleanup should have top priority, and then a sustained effort on inner quality be an ongoing program.

LOVE, PEACE, and HAPPINESS is GOD’s desire for us.  We should, therefore first, be our own environmentalist.

MIRACLE WORKERS

A

miracle occurs

in each moment

when

a choice is made

for LOVE

Not many of us consider ourselves miracle-workers.  When we think of miracles, we think of the blind seeing, the crippled walking, and the dead being raised.  But, there is another category of miracles which we “work” all the time that almost goes completely unnoticed by ourselves and others.

The miracle-working we are talking about here is our acts of LOVE.  We are amazingly adept at discounting and downplaying the importance of this miracle-working, but, it is the very act the world is always in need of, and the only one that really counts.

We could spend all day healing other bodies, which will still only die, but it is the all-important extension of LOVE that represents a lasting change upon that which is ETERNAL--TRUE miracle-working indeed.

The “dog-eat-dog” dynamic that plays itself out continuously as the software of the universe is “infected” by the virus of LOVE.  It is most dramatic when the scenario calls for just the opposite.  When “he who deserves no LOVE” has it bestowed upon him, it turns the tables on all that seems to “be”--a counter-force to the status quo, and the application of a miracle that can actually cause permanent change.

Miracle-working opportunities abound all around us.  Seemingly “random acts of kindness” which are actually not random at all, are miracle opportunities in the waiting.  To respond in LOVE in a situation that would otherwise find justification for other responses, is the application of a miracle--the TRUE workings of change.

We need not be bothered about trying to raise the dead.  We need to simply recognize the miracle-workers we already are.

PUNK’d!

KEEPING

it

REAL

is to not

make it

REAL

There once was (and may still be) a certain show, on a certain network, that would devise false scenarios, in order to entrap various celebrities into believing it all to be ‘real’.  They would then pull the rug out from underneath them at their most vulnerable moment, disclose the whole thing to be a ruse, and everyone would enjoy a hearty laugh.  This is a good thing to remember when we find ourselves being caught up in making it all ‘real’.

We all have those moments when we need to slap our own face, and declare, “PUNK’d!”

Be it when the computer freezes, someone cuts us off in traffic, or the person in line at the grocery-store has 25 coupons, we need to ‘punk’ our self when we are caught taking it all too seriously.

All seriousness aside, it’s better to be PUNK’d than to make it all ‘real’.

MY FAVORITE VERSION OF MYSELF

OUR

packaging

attempts to distinguish

our contents as different

when

in TRUTH

our contents

are the same

Great effort goes into distinguishing ourselves from others.  Being born separate and unique, we continue to push the issue.  One of our greatest concerns is to end up feeling lost amongst the ‘unwashed masses’.  This perspective leads us to unconsciously view the masses as such, when in TRUTH, each individual represents a unique expression of the greater WHOLE, not a piece from an assemblage of random parts.

When we encounter another, we are actually viewing another version of our SELF.  As foreign as that concept may seem, each represents an expression of the same desire to experience life uniquely, thus, the commonality of the content.  Instead of being put off by versions of our SELF that may seem ‘off-putting’, we should, instead, turn the tables on our thinking and be absolutely amazed at the lengths we have gone to in coming up with so many different versions.  Where we may be tempted to cast judgments, we might want to simply step back in our minds and enjoy the immense variety.

Every encounter should elicit a smile that recognizes that although the package is different, the content is the same.  Relinquishing the burden of judgment can then give way to simply being in wonder at the incredible variety that surrounds us, even though that expression may sometimes try to fool us into thinking that it is ‘un-enjoyable’.

The work-around to automatic judgments can be rather simple.  Instead of assuming we need to make any improvements on their expression, simply take the position to enjoy the creativity that it represents, and leave it at that.  If we are being challenged by that expression, we need only trump our own reactions by secretly declaring to ourselves that they represent our ‘favorite version of our SELF’.

With ‘one mind’ actually generating all this variety, it is a lot easier to enjoy when we remember that we made it all up anyway.

TOO MUCH FUN

BY

connecting with that

which brings JOY

to another

we connect

with their JOY

and increase

JOY for our SELF

It may be difficult for us to accept the fact that it is GOD’S DESIRE for us to be altogether JOYFUL.  Amidst a world of pain and suffering, how can we actually believe it’s OK to walk around bleeding HAPPINESS?  And yet, that is GOD’S WILL for us.

The dynamic of this TRUTH has broad implications, from seemingly “important” issues such as career choices, down to whatever we happen to be doing in the moment.  The source of the JOY really doesn’t matter.

In the world, “doing” means everything; to GOD, not so much.  To the world, which has ranked and categorized all activities into complicated hierarchies, the importance of doing is almost everything.  To GOD, the state of mind in which the doing takes place is what counts; a happy dishwasher will trump a miserable CEO any day.

The easiest way to have the time of our life and to keep a smile on our face, is to look for opportunities to connect with JOY in others, and, thereby, increase it for our self.  Once again, it doesn’t matter what it is.

Connecting with a happy dog who is walking his JOYFUL owner is easy pickins’.

Commenting on a sport-jersey worn by an excited fan is a no-brainer.

Joking with someone about bringing you dinner as they carry a pizza is easy money.

One cannot have too much fun when opportunities abound.

All it takes is a desire to connect, an awareness that extends, and we might even end up with a slice of pizza.

FRONT-END ALIGNMENT

EGO

rushes ahead on its way

only to discover

that it has lost its way

by not

following the WAY

Life is filled with twists, turns, and a few significant potholes.  It doesn’t take many to discover that releasing the wheel for a moment has us drifting off course rather fast.

We have all experienced those moments of TRUE “in-SPIRIT-ation”, when the creative juices start to flow, the excitement builds, and we can hardly contain ourselves.  We may engage the moment in SPIRIT, or allow the ego to attempt a hijack and “take it from here”.

Those “take it from here” moments usually end up with all the fun drained out of the initial INSPIRATION, and the result is a far cry from what may have transpired otherwise.  But, all is not lost; we merely require a front-end alignment.

The WAY of SPIRIT can be characterized as:  

the shortest distance between two points

effortless

always exceeding expectations

fun

The way of the ego is usually characterized by:

detours & dead ends

effort & striving

continual disappointments

no fun at all

Both have other characteristics too numerous to mention, but why bother?  One can simply stop for a moment, get realigned in PEACE, continue on down the road with the utmost efficiency, and arrive at the INSPIRED destination with the tank still on FULL.

MINDFUL OR MINDLESS?

THE

all encompassing

MIND of GOD

means

we are in HIS MIND

not outside of it

In some traditions, the concept of being mindful is to be “altogether present”, which, in a manner of speaking, is a way of being mindless (not being distracted by reflection or projection).  However meritorious, it still infers a certain unspoken “attachment” to being defined by the activity in which this mindfulness is engaged.  The mindfulness that we will be addressing is the mind that is “full” with the awareness of being WHOLE, or ALL-ENCOMPASSING.

Our experience seems to dictate a mind which feels trapped within the boundaries of our own skin--a “separate” mind to go along with a separate body.  While this feels “real”, it hardly represents REALITY.  A “world” of separate minds, all bumping into one another, along with a “mind of GOD” perhaps included in the mix somewhere, seems to dictate our perception.

Quantum physics has even arrived at the conclusion that one mind (or consciousness) is the source of what we perceive, with each “perception” derived from a unique perspective.  The trouble with the hypothesis is the identification of who the perceiver is, and what is being perceived.  The concept of a separate perceiver (or mind), is, in itself, delusional.  With the mind being ONE, the concept of a separate mind is essentially “mindless”.  To relinquish our identity with the self-created artificial barriers which establish our experience as being separate, is to allow ourselves to go from being mindless to mindful.

To identify with the WHOLE MIND, the ONE MIND, the ALL-ENCOMPASSING MIND, is to identify with the FULL MIND, and to be TRULY MIND-FULL.