A New Beginning

Lasting change does not come from the outside in.

It comes from the inside out.

A Human Be-ing

"Just know that in this moment you are enough."

- Dr. Jennifer Howard

Being Authentic

An authentic life requires that we summon the courage to face the pain in our lives.

This should be done with as much compassion for ourselves as possible.

The Harvest

For a long time now I have been noticing that the past is connecting to the present - not only in my life - but also in the lives of those around me.

First it started with opportunities to let go of grudges, forgive myself and others, right any wrongs, resolve any unhealed relationships.

This weekend was a time of visiting familiar places where there were blessings in store for me. Again, each in their own way, others around me were experiencing the same kind of thing in their lives.

From unknown source:

"As a ship,

When unloosed from its dock,

Can start its new run

With compass guidance,

So I,

When unloosed from the past,

Can start my new run

With God's guidance."

Sail on!

Conscious Evolution

I am taking an online course with Barbara Marx Hubbard on "Conscious Evolution" - "evolving by choice, not chance"

We are in week 5 of this very exciting course now. I was completely overwhelmed for the first two weeks with all the scientific terminology that was new to me.

Then I began to realize that while the terminology was new to me - the concepts were not.

"Co-creators" led me back to my bookshelf and Gary Zukav's "Seat of the Soul" which I re-read with newly opened eyes.

"Making the shift from ego to essence", of course, led me back to Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth".

I can hardly wait to finish Shakti Gawain's "Living in the Light" so I can move on to "Handbook to Higher Consciousness by Ken Keyes, Jr.

I can't believe how much I missed in the initial reading of these books when they impacted my life so deeply the first time I read them.

She's a Keeper

Taken from "Living Gently in a Violent World" by Stanley Hauerwas and Jean Vanier:

"I know a man who lives in Paris. His wife has Alzheimer's. He was an important businessman - his life filled with busyness. But he said that when his wife fell sick, 'I just couldn't put her in an institution, so I keep her. I feed her. I bathe her.'

I went to Paris to visit them, and this businessman who had been very busy all his life said, 'I have changed. I have become more human.'

I got a letter from him recently. He said that in the middle of the night his wife woke him up.

She came out of the fog for a moment, and she said, 'Darling, I just want to say thank you for all you're doing for me.' Then she fell back into the fog. He said, 'I wept and I wept.' "

Physician-Assisted Suicide

I took part in an online survey yesterday "Should physician-assisted suicide be legalized?"

I could not believe the figures so far - 79% were in favor of it.

I honestly feel that this move is so far in the wrong direction.

For one thing, so many people would feel guilted into taking this route rather than burden their loved ones when they are no longer able to care for themselves. And if they didn't already feel this way, I know many people who would only too gladly help them come to this conclusion.

And another thing that some people don't realize is that the end time of a person's life presents many opportunities for very intimate moments of reconciliation. Healing both for the persons as individuals - and their relationship. Healings for brokenness that they often are not even aware of on a conscious level at the time.

With modern technology, we have the means to keep people as comfortable as possible throuhout their transition.

We just need to learn to be "present" to people who are making this very sacred journey.