Today -- Spend It Wisely

If you want to change who you are, change what you do.
The Big Book is like a cookbook - you can read it all day long and starve.
You have to take the action.
If you stay humble, you will not stumble.
Our neighbor's window looks much cleaner if we first wash our own.

Yesterday is a canceled check,

tomorrow is a promissory note,

today is cash in hand,

spend it wisely.

Elder's Meditation -- Everything Or Nothing

With the Creator in our lives, we are everything.
Without the Creator, we are nothing.
When the Creator is in our life, suddenly the impossible becomes possible.
The extraordinary becomes ordinary.
Things we thought could never happen start to happen.
Talents we never know we had, start to blossom.
Resources appear.
Help arrives to give us guidance and direction.
We become happy.
We have peace of mind and confidence.

Oh Great Spirit, today I want You in my life.

The days that I know You are with me are

the days that are perfect.

Let me be joyful today.

Gratitude -- Never Unresponsie

Gratitude takes nothing for granted,

is never unresponsive,

is constantly awakening to new wonder

and to praise of the goodness of God.

-- Thomas Merton

Elder's Meditation -- How Big Can Our Dreams Be?

We are created by God to be vision people.
First we set the goal and then we see.
If we create within ourselves a picture or vision and we hold that picture or vision in our mind, whatever we picture will show up in our reality.
If we can see ourselves being educated, then schools and teachers will show up in our lives.
If we picture in our mind a positive, spiritual person to be in our lives, we will attract this type of person in our relationships.
How big can our dreams be?

Great Spirit, let my visions today be Your vision.

Put within me a vision of the being you would have me be.

Then help me to keep the vision in my mind.

Words That Come From the Heart

Words that do not become flesh in us remain "just words."
They have no power to affect our lives.
If someone says, "I love you," without any deep emotion, the words do more harm than good.
But if these same words are spoken from the heart, they can create new life.
It is important that we keep in touch with the source of our words.
Our great temptation is to become "pleasers," people who say the right words to please others but whose words have no roots in their interior lives.
We have to keep making sure our words are rooted in our hearts.
The best way to do that is in prayerful silence.

--Henri Nouwen

Elder's Meditation -- Keepers Of The Earth

In order for the Creator to do His work on this earth, He needs the human being to do it.
How He guides us is through our eyes, ears, hands, nose, mouth, arms legs and feet.
We are instruments of the Creator.
We are His keepers of the earth.
We are the keepers of our brothers.
We are to teach His children.
We are to respect the things He has made.
We are to take care of ourselves and treat our bodies and our minds with respect.
We are to do respectful things.
We are to walk the Sacred Path.
We should have good thoughts.
We should do only things that we think the Creator would have us do.
What an honor to be a human being.
What an honor that He would talk to us and guide us to perform His wonders.

Oh Great Spirit, let me appreciate
the role you have given me.

Let my sense be sharp to hear Your voice.

Keep my mind clean so

I can do the things You would have me do.

An Inner Choice -- Peace

Often we look at the outside world and find it in a state of seeming chaos or disorder.
We feel compelled to transform the situation from one of turmoil into one of peace, yet we are often disappointed in our best attempts to do so.
One reason for this is that we cannot bring to the world what we do not have to offer.
Peace starts in our own minds and hearts, not outside of ourselves, and until its roots are firmly entrenched in our own selves, we cannot manifest it externally.
Once we have found it within, we can share it with our family, our community, and the whole wide world.
Some of us may already be doing just that, but for most of us, the first step is looking within and honestly evaluating the state of our own relationship to peacefulness.
Interestingly, people who manifest peace internally are not different from us; they have chattering thoughts and troubled emotions like we all do.
The difference is that they do not lend their energy to them, so those thoughts and feelings can simply rise and fall like the waves of the ocean without disturbing the deeper waters of peacefulness within.
We all have this ability to choose how we distribute our energy, and practice enables us to grow increasingly more serene as we choose the vibration of peace over the vibration of conflict.
We begin to see our thoughts and feelings as tiny objects on the surface of our being that pose no threat to the deep interior stillness that is the source of peacefulness.
When we find that we are able to locate ourselves more and more in the deeper waters and less on the tumultuous surface of our being, we have discovered a lasting relationship with peace that will enable us to inspire peace beyond ourselves.
Until then, we help the world most by practicing the art of choosing peace within.

-- DailyOM

Elder's Meditation -- Opportunity Of Life

We need to look at nature and its inhabitants as our brothers and sisters.
Whenever we pick plants or herbs, we should leave an offering of tobacco.
We should talk to the plants and ask their permission to use them.
The plants will feel honored to be of service for each of them knows they are here to serve.
Each of them knows they carry a special medicine and this medicine is about continuing the cycle of life.
We need always to be grateful to our brothers and sisters.

Creator, I thank you for the opportunity of life.

More Weeds

It does make a difference what you call things.

--Kate Douglas Wiggin

Most of us think of dandelions as weeds.

We buy special tools and poisons when they crop up and complain about them as surely as we welcome the spring that brings them.

Yet is there anything more lovely than a sea of yellow dandelions by the side of the road in June?

Or as remarkable in transformation as the filaments of the mature dandelion blowing on the wind?

Sometimes we let someone else define for us what are weeds and what are flowers.

We don't have to.

Much of the beauty of the world is that we ourselves decide what is beautiful according to our own feelings.

How lucky we are that, when we choose to, we can open our eyes and see!

Can I see the beauty in those around me right now?

Today's Gift by Anonymous

More Weeds

It does make a difference what you call things.

--Kate Douglas Wiggin

Most of us think of dandelions as weeds.

We buy special tools and poisons when they crop up and complain about them as surely as we welcome the spring that brings them.

Yet is there anything more lovely than a sea of yellow dandelions by the side of the road in June?

Or as remarkable in transformation as the filaments of the mature dandelion blowing on the wind?

Sometimes we let someone else define for us what are weeds and what are flowers.

We don't have to.

Much of the beauty of the world is that we ourselves decide what is beautiful according to our own feelings.

How lucky we are that, when we choose to, we can open our eyes and see!

Can I see the beauty in those around me right now?

Today's Gift by Anonymous

Downward Mobility

The society in which we live suggests in countless ways that the way to go is up.
Making it to the top, entering the limelight, breaking the record - that's what draws attention, gets us on the front page of the newspaper, and offers us the rewards of money and fame.
The way of Jesus is radically different.
It is the way not of upward mobility but of downward mobility.
It is going to the bottom, staying behind the sets, and choosing the last place!
Why is the way of Jesus worth choosing?
Because it is the way to the Kingdom, the way Jesus took, and the way that brings everlasting life.

-- Henri Nuowen

Elder's Meditation -- The Center Of A Circle

Every human being gathers information from the center of a circle.
If we are not careful, we soon think we are the center of all things.
Therefore, it is easy to become self centered.
Once we become self centered we start to think we are above all things and therefore superior.
But we are really only one part of a great whole.
The universe is all connected.
Each part is here to do something special and according to its design.
We are here to honor and respect the job of each part.
We are neither above nor below anything.
We need not be ruler over anything, we need only to live in honor and harmony with the system.

My Creator, help me to view and conduct

myself in a manner of respect,

dignity and honor to all creation.

Let me see You in all things.

The Ladder

No one who drank as I didwakes up on the edge of the abyss one morning and says:
Things look pretty scary;
I think I'd better stop drinking before I fall in.
I was convinced I could go as far as I wanted, and then climb back out when it wasn't fun anymore.
What happened was, I found myself at the bottom of the canyonthinking I'd never see the sun again.
AA didn't pull me out of that hole.
It did give me the tools to construct a ladder, with Twelve Steps.

-- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 316

I stood in the sunlight at last.

G I F T S = Getting It From The Steps.

Discovery Of Truth

A deep and genuine concern for other people will remind us that the discovery of truth is not to be a victory for some and a defeat for others.
Unless all can claim a share in that victory, truth itself will continue to be rejected by the losers, because it will be regarded as inseparable from the yoke of defeat.
And so, confrontation, controversy and the like might yield to a genuine united search for God's truth and how it can best be served.

-- From Saint of The Day

Elder's Meditation -- A Hollow Bone

In order for us to use our power well, we must become a hollow bone.
We must prepare ourselves to become a channel.
Our channel must be clean before we can use our power well.
We must be free of resentments, guilt, shame, anger, self pity and fear.
If these things are in us, we cannot be hollow bones.
These things block us from our power.
The cleaner we are, the more power we move.
We must become a hollow bone so the Creator can use us to do what he wants us to do.

My Creator, remove from me today

all resentment, anger, fear, guilt and selfishness.

Do not let my weaknesses stand

in the way of my usefulness to You.

Make me a hollow bone so

Your power can flow through me.

Retire To Calmness

Retire to the center of your being,
which is calmness.

--Paramahansa Yogananda

Elder's Meditation -- The Four Winds

Each of the four directions has special powers.
These powers or Grandfathers are there to help us.
The powers are from the East, the South, the West, and the North.
To call upon the power we need to stand in the center and face each of the directions and honor all forms of life in each direction.
Facing the East we honor all the two legged, four legged, winged ones, plants' nation and the animals.
We repeat this prayer in each of the four directions.
This allows us to become centered.
When we are centered, then we are ready to call the helpers.
It is said, when the student is ready, the teacher appears.
If we are to be ready, we need to remember to always get quiet first.
We do this by honoring and praying to the four directions.

Grandfathers from the four directions,

come to me today with Your powers.

Give me Your gifts so I can serve the people.

A Courageous Life

"Have courage," we often say to one another.
Courage is a spiritual virtue.
The word courage comes from the Latin word cor, which means "heart.
A courageous act is an act coming from the heart.
A courageous word is a word arising from the heart.
The heart, however, is not just the place where our emotions are located.
The heart is the centre of our being, the centre of all thoughts, feelings, passions, and decisions.
When the flesh - the lived human experience - becomes word, community can develop.
When we say, "Let me tell you what we saw. Come and listen to what we did. Sit down and let me explain to you what happened to us. Wait until you hear whom we met," we call people together and make our lives into lives for others.
The word brings us together and calls us into community.
When the flesh becomes word, our bodies become part of a body of people.

-- Henri Nouwen

Ego

The ego seeks the destination;

the soul seeks the journey.

The New Day

Every morning I arise afreshed in Christ my light.
Ancient Christian writers warn against " morning demons": yesterday's worries and grievances returning to poison the new day.

-- revised from Magnificat, June 2007

I realize that all I'm guaranteed in life is today.

The poorest person has no less

and the wealthiest has no more --

each of us has but one day.

What I do with it is my own business,

how I use it is up to me individually.

The Narrow Gate

Enter through the narrow gate;

for the gate is wide and the road broad

that leads to destruction, and

those who enter through it are many.
How narrow the gate and

constricted the road that leads to life.
And those who find it are few.

-- Matthew 7:13-14

The Golden Rule

Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.

This is the Law and the Prophets.

-- Matthew 7:12

Love

"All through the Verba Seniorum [The Sayings of the Desert Fathers] we find a repeated insistence on the primacy of love over everything else in the spiritual life: over knowledge, gnosis, asceticism, contemplation, solitude, prayer.
Love in fact is the spiritual life, and without it all the other exercises of the spirit, however lofty, are emptied of content and become mere illusions.
The more lofty they are, the more dangerous the illusion.Love, of course, means something much more then mere sentiment, much more than token favors and perfunctory almsdeeds.
Love mean an interior and spiritual identification with one's neighbor, so that she is not regarded as an "object" to "which" one "does good."
The fact is that good done to another as an object is of little or no spiritual value.
Love takes one's neighbor as one's other self, and loves him with all the immense humility and discretion and reserve and reverence without which no one can presume to enter into the sanctuary of another's subjectivity.
From such love all authoritarian brutality, all exploitation, domineering and condescension must necessarily be absent.
The saints of the desert were enemies of every subtle or gross expedient by which "the spiritual man" contrives to bully those he thinks inferior to himself, thus gratifying his own ego.
They had renounced everything that savored of punishment and revenge, however hidden it might be."

--Thomas Merton, The Wisdom of the Desert

"Love demands a complete inner transformation -

for without this we cannot possibly come to

identify ourselves with our brother [and sister].

We have to become, in some sense,

the person we love."

--The Wisdom of the Desert

Guarantee

I realize that all I'm guaranteed in life is today.
The poorest person has no less and the wealthiest has no more-- each of us has but one day.
What we do with it is our own business, how we use it is up to us individually.
I feel that I have been restored to health and sanity these past yearsnot through my own efforts nor as a result of anything I may have done,but because I've come to believe -- to really believe --that I alone can do nothing.
That my own innate selfishness and stubbornness are the evils which,if left unguarded, can drive me to alcohol.

c. 1976 AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous [3rd Edition], p. 471

What are you coming to believe?

Belief is a continuing action.

A Simple Smile

I will never understand all the good
that a simple smile can accomplish.

Blessed Mother Teresa

Tribute To The Marine Corps

Marine Tribute From Tommy Maddox, former Pittsburgh Steeler quarterback.

Tommy Maddox, former Pittsburgh Steeler, brought his family to Camp Lejeune to participate in the Marine Corps Celebrity Classic golf tournament which is held here to support charities such as the USO and Hope for the Warriors (Wounded Warriors). He wrote this letter afterwards and sent it out to his family and friends. It's a bit long, but well worth the read.

(From Tommy Maddox)
To Everyone,

This past weekend my family and I had the opportunity to spend five days at Camp Lejune in North Carolina.
It was a trip that our family will never forget.
We were able to watch as the Marines went through several exercises that would blow you away.
To see them handle the equipment is amazing.
Colby particularly liked the tanks.
He even got to sit in one.
But this is not about our weekend.
This is about the young men and women that serve our country.
I wish that each and everyone of you could look into the eyes of these Marines.
This is about Sgt. Jones, who I had the privilege to play golf with.
He has lost both of his legs and so proud to be an American and a Marine.
This is about all the men and women that call the Wounded Warriors barrack their home because of the wounds that they have suffered giving us the freedom that we take for granted each and every day.
To see these Marines wanting to get back in the fight, wanting to do their job, even after suffering an injury that had taken a leg or an arm is amazing.
There is a wall of Marines that have been injured and are now back in Iraq serving this country.
It is also about all the wives that I met this weekend that are here alone because their husbands are overseas.
The pride that they have in them and the pride that they have in this country is amazing.
One night, we got to watch a training exercise that involved a convoy getting ambushed, helicopters giving air support, and having to fight their way out of danger.
After this we got to join the Marines at mess where a former Marine that was injured during Vietnam gave a talk.
He talked about sacrifice and suffering for the cause of freedom.
He talked about what it took to be a Marine and to be a good citizen, but he said something that will ring in my ears forever.
He said that we are ALWAYS called to be loyal, we are ALWAYS called to be faithful.
He said that this is true in every walk of life.
We were put on this earth to be faithful to one another, faithful to our wives, faithful to our friends, and most importantly faithful to our GOD.
Semper Fi means always faithful, but he put the emphasis on always and not faithful.
I have heard this many times before, but never quite like this.
To sometimes be faithful does us no good.
It is black and white; we are either faithful, or we are not.
We either serve God in all that we do, or we do not all.
We are not called to serve God some of the time, but all of the time.
We are not called to be good husbands and friends some of the time, but all of the time.
To see this played out in everything that they do was amazing to me.
I was able to go through a training exercise that included M-16's loaded with paint cartridges(yes they hurt).
As we stormed a building the Marine that I was with only said two things.
Stay with me, and when we go -- we go.
No matter how many bullets are flying when we say we are going -- we are going.
I thought of my relationship with Jesus.
Am I that way?
I have said that I am going, but do I hesitate when the bullets start to fly?
How do they keep going?
They have trained for it.
They are more worried about the Marine in front of them and in back of them than themselves.
I want to train myself for that.
I want to spend time daily so that I am more concerned with the people around me than myself.
I want to keep going when the bullets fly.
I want to serve God in everything that I do, even if it is hard sometimes.
We live in a great country.
Anyone that does not believe that needs to go spend a week at a Marine base and they would come away feeling so much different.
I wish that we all had to spend time serving our country the way these men and women do every single day.
I just want to say thank you.
I want to say thank you to the young man that sat next to me at dinner.
The helicopter pilot from Vietnam that I got to play golf with.
To General Dickerson, for allowing us to see a glimpse of what it is that they do.
I want to say thank you to all the Marines that I met this weekend, and to all the ones that I didn't.
I am more proud to be an American than I ever have been.
God has blessed this country with more than we deserve and more than we could ever imagine.
If we will stop looking at ourselves and start looking to serve and protect others, it will continue to be the greatest country in the world.
One person at a time, I believe that we can make this happen.
I thank God for this weekend.
I thank God for each one of you.
And I thank God for this country.

-- Tommy.

Forgiveness

Forgiveness: Giving up on the hope that the past will change.

Belief Without Evidence

My Creator, faith is belief without evidence.

Today, give me the faith.

Let me trust that You are running my life.

Let me know You are in charge of all things.

Let my mind not wonder;
let me stand strong on Your path today.

Irresponsibililty

Today, I will search my conscience for
evidence of irresponsibility that
I may have been filing under other names.

Anger

Anger is the wind that blows out the light of reason.

God Of My Understanding

Inside of every person - man, woman, and child - is the knowledge that there is a Supreme Being.
Many of us have been taught that the Creator is a punishing God.
We have been taught about feelings of guilt and shame when we do things wrong.
We have been taught that God gets angry and disappointed with us.
The Elders teach us that the Creator is a loving and forgiving God.
He loves us during our good days and He loves us during our bad days.
He doesn't know how to do anything but love.
If I really want to find out about the true God, I only need to ask in prayer.
There is one thing that God cannot do and that is refuse help to one of His children who asks.

My Creator, I ask You to be a part of my life today.

Whisper to me Your wisdom.

Let me feel Your presence.

If I am doubtful and afraid, show me,

in terms I can understand, You are real.

Waste Of Time

Nothing is a waste of time if
you use your experience wisely.
Auguste Rodin,1840-1917

Right Living and Right Speaking

To be a witness for God is to be a living sign of God's presence in the world.
What we live is more important than what we say, because the right way of living always leads to the right way of speaking.
When we forgive our neighbours from our hearts, our hearts will speak forgiving words.
When we are grateful, we will speak grateful words, and when we are hopeful and joyful, we will speak hopeful and joyful words.
When our words come too soon and we are not yet living what we are saying, we easily give double messages.
Giving double messages - one with our words and another with our actions - makes us hypocrites.
May our lives give us the right words and may our words lead us to the right life.
-- Henri Nouwen

I Am Offended

Congressman James Weaver, on a recent Sunday talk show, berated fellow lawmakers for "spending money like a drunken sailor."

As a former drunken sailor, I take offense at being compared to a member of Congress!

We sailors always got our moneys worth!

The Fruit of the Spirit

How does the Spirit of God manifest itself through us?
Often we think that to witness means to speak up in defense of God.
This idea can make us very self-conscious.
We wonder where and how we can make God the topic of our conversations and how to convince our families, friends, neighbors, and colleagues of God's presence in their lives.
But this explicit missionary endeavour often comes from an insecure heart and, therefore, easily creates divisions.

The way God's Spirit manifests itself most convincingly is through its fruits: "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness and self-control" (Galatians 5:22).
These fruits speak for themselves.
It is therefore always better to raise the question "How can I grow in the Spirit?" than the question "How can I make others believe in the Spirit?"
--Henri Nouwen

Don't Curse The Darkness

It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.
-- Chinese Proverb

With all the negativity that surrounds us, it is easy to become overwhelmed.
It is also tempting to fight against the negative or to declare war on it.
Yet a master teacher offered a better way: "Resist not evil, but overcome evil with good."
Imagine you are in a dark room.
Wanting the darkness to leave, you curse and fight against it.
But no matter how much effort you make, the darkness remains.
Turn on the light switch, however, and the night vanishes in an instant.
In a similar manner, when the light of truth is shed on a situation, fear and disharmony dissolve.
When you send out a positive thought to another person or take a constructive action, an enormous amount of good is accomplished.
Each good act begets another until a network of love and light is created.
The purpose of life is to reflect this light into places that are dark.
Let your light shine and stay focused on the power of love.
When enough of us have turned on our spiritual light switches, the earth will become as bright as a shining star.
Where, then, could darkness dwell?

Listening to Your Inner Voice by Douglas Bloch

Forgive Me

Forgive me, Lord, for those times when I see things
from my own perspective and not as you do.
Forgive me when I am selfish and possessive and
without enough trust in your mercy, providence and absolute love.

-- From Songs of Our Hearts, Meditations of Our Souls: Prayers for Black Catholics

Independent Thought

"Someone has to try to keep his head clear of static
and preserve the interior solitude and silence
that are essential for independent thought."

-- Thomas Merton,
Faith and Violence: Christian Teaching and Christian Practice

Giving

You never need anything when you give
away that which you thought you lacked . . .
you suddenly experience that
you had it to give all along.
-- Neale Donald Walsch, Tomorrow's God

Bank Account of Life

A 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud man, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock, with his hair fashionably coifed and shaved perfectly, even though he is legallyblind, moved to a nursing home today.
His wife of 70 years recentl y passed away, making the move necessary.
After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, he smiled sweetly when told his room was ready.
As he manoeuvred his walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of his tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on his window.
"I love it," he stated with the enthusiasm o f an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy.
"Mr. Jones, you haven't seen the room; just wait."
"That doesn't have anything to do with it," he replied.
"Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time.
Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is arranged . . . it's how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it.
"It's a decision I make every morning when I wake up.
I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do.
Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open, I'll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I've stored away.
Just for this time in my life.
"Old age is like a bank account.
You withdraw from what you've put in.
So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories!
"Thank you for your part in filling my memory bank. I am still depositing."

Remember the five simple rules to be happy:
1. Free your heart from hatred.
2. Free your mind from worries.
3. Live simply.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less.

I Used Everything

When I stand before God at the end of my life,
I would hope that I would not have
a single bit of talent left and could say,
"I used everything you gave me."
-- Erma Bombeck

Small Steps of Love

How can we choose love when we have experienced so little of it?
We choose love by taking small steps of love every time there is an opportunity.
A smile, a handshake, a word of encouragement, a phone call, a card, an embrace, a kind greeting, a gesture of support, a moment of attention, a helping hand, a present, a financial contribution, a visit . . . all these are little steps toward love.
Each step is like a candle burning in the night.
It does not take the darkness away, but it guides us through the darkness.
When we look back after many small steps of love, we will discover that we have made a long and beautiful journey.

Running Away

You cannot run away from a weakness;
you must sometimes fight it out or perish.
And if that be so, why not now,
and where you stand?
-- Robert Louis Stevenson

I Am The Student

The Medicine people focus on their Being, not their doing.
After all, we are human beings not human doings.
The Medicine people are very patient and consciously trying to live a live of humility.
Medicine people are servant leaders.
Their main purpose is to serve the needs of others.
By this service attitude, they become the leaders people listen to and the leaders the people want to follow.
The Medicine people say everyone is their teacher.
Maybe we should try to live this way ourselves; humble, patient, honoring the Earth and listening to our teachers.

Creator, today, let me know all people are
my teachers and I am the student.

Doing Love

Often we speak about love as if it is a feeling.
But if we wait for a feeling of love before loving, we may never learn to love well.
The feeling of love is beautiful and life-giving, but our loving cannot be based in that feeling.
To love is to think, speak, and act according to the spiritual knowledge that we are infinitely loved by God and called to make that love visible in this world.
Mostly we know what the loving thing to do is.
When we "do" love, even if others are not able to respond with love, we will discover that our feelings catch up with our acts.

-- Henri Nouwen

Demolishing Anger's Walls

Resentment

Anger, when channeled into the pursuit of change, can be a useful tool in our emotional palette.
Anger is experienced by most people, some more than others.
It is when anger has no outlet and morphs into resentment that it carries with it the potential to cause great turmoil.
Allowing us to assign blame for the pain we are feeling, thereby easing it, resentment tends to smolder relentlessly just below the surface of our awareness, eroding our peace of mind.
The target of our resentment grows ever more wicked in our minds and we rue the day we first encountered them.
But resentment is merely another hue on the emotional palette and therefore within the realm of our conscious control.
We can choose to let go of our resentment and to move on with our lives, no matter how painful the event that incited it.

Hanging onto resentment in our hearts does not serve us in any way.
Successfully divesting ourselves of resentful feelings can be difficult, however, because doing so forces us to mentally and emotionally confront the original source of anger.
When we cease assigning blame, we realize that our need to hold someone or something responsible for our feelings has harmed us.
We thought we were coping with our hurt when in fact we were holding onto that hurt with a vice grip.
To release resentment, we must shift our attention from those we resent back toward ourselves by thinking of our own needs.
Performing a short ceremony can help you quell resentful feelings by giving tangible form to your emotions.
You may want to write down your feelings and then burn the paper and close your ceremony by wishing them well.
When you can find compassion in your heart, you know you are on your way to healing.

Free of resentment, we have much more energy and attention to devote to our personal development.
We can fill the spaces it left behind with unconditional acceptance and joy.
And, as a result of our subsequent freedom from resentment, blessings can once again enter our lives as the walls we built to contain our anger have been demolished.

-- DailyOM

Choosing Love

How can someone ever trust in the existence of an unconditional divine love when most, if not all, of what he or she has experienced is the opposite of love - fear, hatred, violence, and abuse?

They are not condemned to be victims!
There remains within them, hidden as it may seem, the possibility to choose love.
Many people who have suffered the most horrendous rejections and been subject to the most cruel torture are able to choose love.
By choosing love they become witnesses not only to enormous human resiliency but also to the divine love that transcends all human loves.
Those who choose, even on a small scale, to love in the midst of hatred and fear are the people who offer true hope to our world.
-- Henri Nouwen

Kindness

Kindness does wonderful things to a face.
-- Dixie Doyle

Owning The Roots

Owning The Roots -- Leading By Example

We all know from experience that we can't change other people, yet most of us have a tendency to try.
This is because we naturally feel the need to do something to change situations that we find troubling.
It often doesn't occur to us that the best way to create change is not to try to convince others to change but to change ourselves.
When we make adjustments from within, we become role models for others, and leading by example is much more inspiring than a lecture or an argument.

We sometimes look outside ourselves for what's wrong with the world, but the outside world is really just a mirror reflecting us back to ourselves.
When we encounter negativity-anger, depression, fear-we empower ourselves by looking for its roots inside of ourselves.
For example, if you have a friend who is unreliable, observe yourself and notice if there are ways in which you are unreliable.
You may be surprised to discover that you have your own struggles with this issue in ways you weren't able to see.
Once you own the issue for yourself, you can begin to work for change within yourself.
This will also enable you to have more compassion for your friend.
At the very least, as you strive to become more reliable, you will become more of the person you want to be.
In the best-case scenario, you will be an inspiration to others.

You can apply the same method to larger issues.
For example, if there is something you see in the larger world that you would like to change-let's say, greed-try taking responsibility for changing it in yourself.
Instead of being angry with those you see as greedy, seek out the roots of your own greed and come to terms with your power to transform it.
This may be the best way to lead the world toward greater moderation and generosity.

-- DailyOM

Depression & Despair

Very few of us give ourselves the opportunities to explore our real interests and potentials.
We "lock" ourselves into rigid ways of regarding the world and our options.
We often settle for less than our highest aspirations because we have conditioned ourselves into thinking life is joyless endurance or survival at best.

In order to change the empty circumstances in my lives I need to change my limited thinking patterns.
Instead of looking at life as a prison, I can view it as a smorgasbord of opportunities that are well within my reach.
By exploring and sampling the choices before me I can discover which choices bring me inner satisfaction and increase my sense of purpose.

Today I will remind myself of what Roman philosopher Seneca said hundreds of years ago:
"The great blessings of mankind are within us, and within our reach . . ."

THe Cycle Of Life

The Creator designed all life to happen in a circle.
For example, the cycle of life for the human being is Baby, Youth, Adult, Elder, then we die.
The trees and the leaves happen in a circle; the leaves bud, then the leaves mature, next the leaves change color and at last they fall off the tree to return to the Mother Earth.
The birds bear their young, raise their young, then they die.
The salmon are born, swim to the ocean, live their lives, swim back to the spawning grounds, then die.
All aspects of the Life Cycle should be honored.

Creator, today, let me enjoy today.

The Source of All Love

Without the love of our parents, sisters, brothers, spouses, lovers, and friends, we cannot live.
Without love we die.
Still, for many people this love comes in a very broken and limited way.
It can be tainted by power plays, jealousy, resentment, vindictiveness, and even abuse.
No human love is the perfect love our hearts desire, and sometimes human love is so imperfect that we can hardly recognise it as love.
In order not to be destroyed by the wounds inflicted by that imperfect human love, we must trust that the source of all love is God's unlimited, unconditional, perfect love, and that this love is not far away from us but is the gift of God's Spirit dwelling within us.
-- Henri Nouwen

P U S H = Pray Until Something Happens

Prayers may seem unanswered, but never are.

We Must Discover Wisdom

We don't receive wisdom;
we must discover it for ourselves
after a journey that no one
can take for us or spare us . . .
--Marcel Proust

Life is a learning experience. I can learn the lesson of my life, but not someone else's.

A Thin Stream Of Fear

Worry is a thin stream of fear
trickling through the mind.
If encouraged, it cuts a channel into
which all other thoughts are drained.
-- Arthur Somers Roche

When a worry nags me, it is like that trickle.
It poses little threat to me and can be stopped at any time because it is so small.
But if I let more worrisome thoughts feed into the stream, I will allow it to grow until all of my thoughts and energy are focused on one worry that has attained great power.
Everyone has things to worry about.
But I don't have to give these worries more than passing acknowledgment.
The trickles that run through my minds are okay to have.
But to keep them at that size, I need to remember what is important to me at this very moment.
I don't need to let the worries grow.
I have worries just like everyone else.
However, I don't have to dwell upon my worries or make them any bigger than what they are.

For You Alone

Give me the strength that waits upon You in silence and peace.
Give me humility in which alone is rest,
and deliver me from pride which is the heaviest of burdens.
And possess my whole heart and soul with the simplicity of love.
Occupy my whole life with the one thought and the one desire of love,
that I may love not for the sake of merit,
not for the sake of perfection,
not for the sake of virtue,
not for the sake of sanctity,
but for You alone.
For there is only one thing that can satisfy love and reward it, and that is You alone.
-- Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation

Let my eyes see nothing in the world but Your glory,
and let my hands touch nothing that is not for Your service.
-- Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation

I Remember Aprons . . . . Do you?

I don't think our kids know what an apron is.
The principal use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath, but along with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven.
It was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears.
From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.
When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids.
And when the weather was cold, grandma wrapped it around her arms.
Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove.
Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron.
From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables.
After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls.
In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.
When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds.
When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the men knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner.
It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that "old-time apron" that served so many purposes.

Thankgiving

The greatest gift one can give is thanksgiving.
In giving gifts, we give what we can spare,
but in giving thanks we give ourselves.
-- David Steindl-Rast, Gratefulness, the Heart of Prayer

The Feelings Of Spring

Spring is the season of love.
Spring is the season of new life, new relationships.
It is the springtime that really reacts to the new position of Father Sun.
New life forms all over the planet.
Life is abundant.
New cycles are created.
Mother Earth changes colors, the flowers are abundant.
It is the time for humans to observe nature and let nature create within us the feeling of Spring.
We should let ourselves renew.
We should let go of the feeling of Winter.
We should be joyful and energetic.

My Maker, let me, today, feel the feelings of Spring.

Beginning Of Wisdom

I really need prayer in sorrow of heart,
more humble thought of how to go
about saying and doing what I say and do.
I try to act as if I were wise,
but I do not have the fear of God
without which there is no beginning of wisdom.
-- Thomas Merton, A Search for Solitude

Words For The Day

Borrow the Beloved's eyes.
Look through them and you'll see the Beloved's face everywhere.
No tiredness, no jaded boredom . . . things you have hated will become helpers.

-- Jalaluddin Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks, We Are Three


Even in a world that's being shipwrecked,
remain brave and strong.

-- Hildegard von Bingen


You simply will not be the same person two months from now after consciously giving thanks each day for the abundance that exists in your life.
And you will have set in motion an ancient spiritual law:
the more you have and are grateful for, the more will be given you.

-- Sarah Ban Breathnach, Simple Abundance


We are the ones for whom we have been waiting.

--Hopi Elders


To live content with small means;
to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion. . . .
In a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common.
This is to be my symphony.

-- William Ellery Channing


Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach.

-- Clarissa Pinkola Estes

Recovery Russian Roulette

Some people in recovery cling to rebellion.
While they don't want to return to the horrors of active addiction, they aren't willing to surrender what they think of as individualism.
They "get away with" skipping Steps and ignoring suggestions.
One helps out at meetings, but keeps booze in the house.
One gives advice to newcomers, but goes un-sponsored.
The program doesn't ask that we give up what truly makes each of us an individual.
It offers us clear guidelines, and promises that if we follow them, we won't have to risk a relapse.
The program works for us, if we work it.
Testing our recovery by trying to see what we can "get away with" is like playing a game of Russian roulette.

Today, I feel safety and strength as
I follow the principles of this program.
I know that true individuality comes from
the self-knowledge that recovery affords me.

Walk In Prayer

Have you ever tries going through your day and carrying on a conversation with the Creator?

Many of our Elders live in prayer.
They talk to the Creator like the Creator is their best friend.
It is easiest to do this if we pray in the morning and ask the Creator to direct our thinking.
When the Creator in involved in guiding our lives, we will have less stress, anxiety and tension.
Maybe this is something we would like to try today.
"Oh, Creator, look at the Sun, how beautiful you have made it. Oh, look at this child, isn't she just beautiful! Well, Creator, I'm not sure how I should do this task, what do you think? This person is starting to irritate me; I need your help to redirect my thinking. Thanks for returning me to a peaceful mind."
Remember, the Creator also has a sense of humor.

Creator, let me walk in prayer.

Empowered to Pray

Prayer is the gift of the Spirit.
Often we wonder how to pray, when to pray, and what to pray.
We can become very concerned about methods and techniques of prayer.
But finally it is not we who pray but the Spirit who prays in us.

Paul says:
"The Spirit ... comes to help us in our weakness, for, when we do not know how to pray properly, then the Spirit personally makes our petitions for us in groans that cannot be put into words; and he who can see into all hearts knows what the Spirit means because the prayers that the Spirit makes for God's holy people are always in accordance with the mind of God" (Romans 8:26-27).

These words explain why the Spirit is called "the Consoler."

-- Henri Nouwen

Empowered to Be

Who are we?
Are we what we do?
Are we what others say about us?
Are we the power we have?

It often seems that way in our society.
But the Spirit of Jesus given to us reveals our true spiritual identities.
The Spirit reveals that we belong not to a world of success, fame, or power but to God.
The world enslaves us with fear; the Spirit frees us from that slavery and restores us to the true relationship.

That is what Paul means when he says:
"All who are guided by the Spirit of God are sons [daughters] of God, for what you received was not the spirit of slavery to bring you back into fear; you received the spirit of adoption, enabling us to cry out, 'Abba, Father!'" (Romans 8:15).

Who are we?

We are God's beloved sons and daughters!

-- Henri Nouwen

"You're Fired"

Strategy Page
June 9, 2007

The U.S. Navy has relieved six ship or unit commanders in the last six weeks. The latest relief came after the destroyer Arleigh Burke ran aground off Norfolk Virginia on May 15th. The damage was superficial, and after that was confirmed, the ship resumed its training exercise.

The others relieved include the captain of a nuclear submarine, a EA-6 electronic warfare squadron commander, the head of a recruiting district, another destroyer captain, and the captain of the sailing ship USS Constitution (a museum ship.) The navy rarely releases details of why the officers were relieved. But the usual reasons are character flaws of one kind or another.

Running the ship aground is seen as a rather obvious failing, but it is not the most common one. Rather common are cases involving "zipper control" (adultery with another officers wife, or a subordinate). The British also relieve a lot of commanders, and are more forthcoming with the reasons.

One British skipper got the sack recently for "bullying." In the last five years, the navy has been relieving more commanders. In the first few years of the 21st century, the navy relieved 6-8 commanders a year. In 2003, that went up to seventeen, and the number has remained high every since.

Currently, 2-3 percent of commanders a year are getting the boot. At the end of the Cold War, in the late 1980s, the rate was about a third less, and after the Cold War ended, it declined further. So why has the relief rate gone up more than doubled in the last few years?

Only a small percentage of reliefs have to do with professional failings (a collision or serious accident, failing a major inspection or just continued poor performance.) Most reliefs were, and still are, for adultery, drunkenness or theft. With more women aboard warships, there have been more reliefs for, as sailors like to put it, "zipper failure."

There may have been more than are indicated, as sexual misconduct is often difficult to prove, and a captain who is having zipper control problems often has other shortcomings as well. Senior commanders traditionally act prudently and relieve a ship commander who demonstrates a pattern of minor problems and who they "lack confidence in."

Most naval officers see the problem not of too many captains being relieved, but too many unqualified officers getting command of ships in the first place. Not every naval officer qualified for ship command. Only a small percentage of the 53,000 commissioned officers gets one. The competition for ship commands is pretty intense. This, despite the fact that officers know that, whatever goes wrong on the ship, the captain is responsible. It's a hard slog for a new ensign (officer rank O-1) to make it to a ship command.

For every hundred ensigns entering service, about 90 will stay and make it to O-4 (Lieutenant Commander), usually after about nine years of service. About 67 of those ensigns will eventually get to serve as XO (executive officer, the number two officer on a ship) after 10-12 years of service.

Some 69 of those ensigns will make it to O-5 (Commander), where it first becomes possible to command a ship (a frigate or destroyer.) About 38 of those hundred ensigns will get such a command, usually after 18-20 years of service, and for about 18 months. About 22 of those ensigns will make it to O-6 (Captain) after 20-21 years of service.

But only 11 of those ensigns (now captains) will get a major seagoing command (cruiser, destroyer squadron). Officers who do well commanding a ship will often get to do it two or three times before they retire after about 30 years of service. But with all this screening and winnowing, why are more unqualified officers getting to command ships, and then getting relieved because they can't hack it?

Navy captains point to the growing popularity of "mentoring" by senior officers (that smaller percentage that makes it to admiral.) While the navy uses a board of officers to decide which officers get ship commands, the enthusiastic recommendation of one or more admirals does count.

Perhaps it counts too much. While the navy is still quick to relieve any ship commander that screws up (one naval "tradition" that should never be tampered with), up until that point, it is prudent not to offend any admirals by implying that their judgment of "up and coming talent" is faulty. In the aftermath of these reliefs, it often becomes known that the relieved captain had a long record of problems.

But because he was "blessed" by one or more admirals, these infractions were overlooked. The golden boys tend to be very personable and, well, look good. The navy promotion system is organized to rise above such superficial characteristics, but apparently the power, and misuse, of mentoring, has increasingly corrupted the process.

In some respects, there have been fewer reliefs. It's now common to leave a captain in charge after a major incident. When the destroyer "Cole" was hit by a terrorist bomb in a Yemen harbor in 2000, the captain was not immediately relieved.

This is part of a new pattern which makes many naval officers uneasy. Officers, and sailors, would be more disturbed if the rate of captains being relieved went down. No captain is perfect, and crewmembers feel more comfortable if they know that their boss will quickly get the axe if there is a major problem.

Thoughts To Ponder . . .

The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.

Forgiveness of others is a gift to yourself.

A Rose

Each day can be like a rose unfurling according to the plan of a Power greater than myself.
Each stage of the petals' unfolding can bring wonder and delight if I do not interfere or let my expectations override my acceptance -- and this brings serenity.

Trying To Pray Is Praying

I have learn that prayer helps me with my faulty dependence on people, places, and things by giving me the insight and strength to rearrange my priorities.
Prayer doesn't change God, but it changes those who pray.

Do You Think To Much?

Thinkers Anonymous

It started out innocently enough. I began to think at parties now and then to loosen up.
Inevitably though, one thought led to another, and soon I was more than just a social thinker.
I began to think alone - "to relax," I told myself - but I knew it wasn't true.
Thinking became more and more important to me, and finally I was thinking all the time.
I began to think on the job.
I knew that thinking and employment don't mix, but I couldn't stop myself.
I began to avoid friends at lunchtime so I could read Thoreau and Kafka.
I would return to the office dizzied and confused, asking, "What is it exactly we are doing here?"
Things weren't going so great at home either.
One evening I had turned off the TV and asked my wife about the meaning of life.
She spent that night at her mother's.
I soon had a reputation as a heavy thinker.
One day the boss called me in. He said, "Skippy, I like you, and it hurts me to say this, but your thinking has become a real problem. If you don't stop thinking on the job, you'll have to find another job."
This gave me a lot to think about.
I came home early after my conversation with the boss.
"Honey," I confessed, "I've been thinking . . ."
"I know you've been thinking," she said, "and I want a divorce!"
"But Honey, surely it's not that serious."
"It is serious," she said, lower lip aquiver. "You think as much as college professors, and college professors don't make any money, so if you keep on thinking we won't have any money!"
"That's a faulty syllogism," I said impatiently, and she began to cry.
I'd had enough. "I'm going to the library," I snarled as I stomped out the door.
I headed for the library, in the mood for some Nietzsche, with a PBS station on the radio.
I roared into the parking lot and ran up to the big glass doors. . . they didn't open.
The library was closed.
To this day, I believe that a Higher Power was looking out for me that night.
As I sank to the ground clawing at the unfeeling glass, whimpering for Zarathustra, a poster caught my eye.
"Friend, is heavy thinking ruining your life?" it asked.
You probably recognize that line.
It comes from the standard Thinker's Anonymous poster.
Which is why I am what I am today: a recovering thinker.
I never miss a TA meeting.
At each meeting we watch a non-educational video; last week it was "Porky's."
Then we share experiences about how we avoided thinking since the last meeting.
I still have my job, and things are a lot better at home.
Life just seemed . . . easier, somehow, as soon as I stopped thinking.

Wisdom = Living Life

One cannot have wisdom without living life.

--Dorothy McCall

Understanding circumstances, other people, even myself, comes with the passage of time and my willingness to be open to all the lessons contained within a moment.
Immersion in the moment accompanied by reflective quiet times promises a perspective that offers me wisdom.
I all long for happiness, an easier life, and wisdom.
I have learned so slowly that both happiness and the easier life are generally matters of attitude. Therein lies my sought-after wisdom.
How much simpler it makes living through even my most feared experiences when I have acquired the wisdom to know that the mind I carry into the moment, any moment, will be reflected in the outcome.
It takes patience and willingness to live fully enough to reap the benefits that accompany wisdom.

An Empowered Perspective

Importance Of Forgiveness
When someone has hurt us, consciously or unconsciously, one of the most difficult things we have to face in resolving the situation is the act of forgiveness.
Sometimes it feels like it's easier not to forgive and that the answer is to simply cut the person in question out of our lives.
In some cases, ending the relationship may be the right thing to do, but even in that case, we will only be free if we have truly forgiven.
If we harbor bitterness in our hearts against anyone, we only hurt ourselves because we are the ones harboring the bitterness.
Choosing to forgive is choosing to alleviate ourselves of that burden, choosing to be free of the past, and choosing not to perceive ourselves as victims.
One of the reasons that forgiveness can be so challenging is that we feel we are condoning the actions of the person who caused our suffering, but this is a misunderstanding of what is required.
In order to forgive, we simply need to get to a place where we are ready to stop identifying ourselves with the suffering that was caused us.
Forgiveness is something we do for ourselves, and our forgiveness of others is an extension of our readiness to let go of our own pain.
Getting to this point begins with fully accepting what has happened.
Through this acceptance, we allow ourselves to feel and process our emotions.
At times we may feel as if we are slogging uphill through dense mud and thick trees, getting nowhere.
If we keep going, however, we will reach a summit and see clearly that we are finally free of the past.
From here, we recognize that suffering comes from suffering, and compassion for those who have hurt us naturally arises, enhancing our new perspective.

-- DailyOM

Think Before Speaking

When we are tempted to speak uncharitably or
to bring up someone’s past failures,
let us hear Jesus say:
Throw the stone only if you are free from sin.

-- from Thirsting for God: A Yearbook of Prayers and Meditations

Forgive and Forget

You must forgive and forget all the difficult things
of yesterday for yesterday has gone.

Tomorrow has not yet come.

But you have today to love Jesus as he loves you,
with a deep personal love.

-- from Thirsting for God: A Yearbook of Prayers and Meditations

On Gobal Warming

What Bush won't say

Lead paragraph in the German publication Deutsche Welle: "Former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt called for an end to the 'hysteria' over global warming in the lead-up to the [Group of Eight] summit. The topic is 'hysterical, overheated, and that is especially because of the media.' "

Mr. Schmidt reasoned there's always been climate change on earth, "warm [ages] and ice ages for hundreds of thousands of years." To assume that global climate change can be altered by world leaders attending this week's G-8 summit, he said, is "idiotic."

-- Washington Times

Inside the Beltway

06.06.07

Negative Pull

Sometimes we start out with the best intentions to think and speak only positive thoughts, but the people around us throw us off course. Not everyone fully understands the power our thoughts and words have, or even if they do, they may be stuck in old patterns of negativity. Much of our habitual communication takes the form of complaining and criticizing, and it can be hard to find a way into certain conversations without lapsing into those old habits. However, we always have the option not to participate in negativity or to find a way to influence the situation in a positive direction. In the right company, you may even be able to directly acknowledge the fact that things have taken a negative turn, thus freeing yourself and others from the negative pull.

Not everyone will respond to your cues, and there's no need to become overly attached to the idea of changing other people, because people have to choose for themselves how they will be in the world. Many people choose negativity because it is familiar to them and feels safe. It is important to give people the space to find their own way, but you can always set an example, subtly representing the power of being positive. At times you may interject an affirmative statement into the conversation, and at others you may simply change the subject. You may also simply withdraw your energy and presence, which also makes a subtle statement. If you feel comfortable enough with somebody that is always negative, perhaps you can have an honest conversation with them; after all, awareness is the first step to change.

A powerful way to free yourself from the negative pull is to enlist allies who are similarly minded. You and a friend, coworker, or family member may agree to work together to continually shift the energy in a situation in a positive direction. The power of two people working to promote the positive is exponentially greater than one person working on their own. As you and your allies work together to lift the energy around you, you will be amazed to see how quickly the positive pull begins to draw people into its orbit, freeing one mind after another from negativity into light.

-- DailyOM

Relationships

If only the human being could understand the power of proper relationships, the need for power and control could be abandoned.
It's not what is going on that matters, but how we look at what is going on.
It's our relationship to it that counts.
Nothing in the world has any meaning except the meaning we give to it.
To be more effective at this, we need to consider our relationship with the Creator.
Our relationship to the Creator determines how we will perceive the meanings we put to places, people, institutions and things.
We need to let the Creator tell us and guide our thoughts about these relationships.
Any relationship that we have that is causing problems means we need to pray for a new point of view.

Creator, let me see the world and the people through your eyes.