The Invisible Realm is so rich and as a culture we tend to value that which is tangible and seen over that which is not visible to the eye. Last week I spoke about the Invisible Realm for thirty minutes at Unity of Chandler’s Sunday service and I could have gone on for five to six more hours and still barely scraped the surface of the potency within the Invisible. Take just a moment to think about all of the activity that is in the ethers right now that goes unseen. Electricity, wi-fi-, radio waves, wind, temperature, internal feelings, emotions, states of being and ideas/thoughts. While preparing for...
New is a lot more than a marketing gimmick. New is evidence of a transformation. The Bible speaks of being made new as a bi-product of opening and connecting to the Eternal Go(o)d that is always nearer than our breath. Scripture also speaks to the inability to return to the old once one has been transformed. Remember the parable of the wine skin? The new wine won’t fit into an old wineskin? What does this mean to you in your life? And what does it mean to you when John in his Revelation (chapter 21) has revealed to him “I make all things NEW?” You and I are stepping into...
I find it ironic that the more I’ve become awake to the God Presence within me, the less desire I have to refer to the Bible as a form of authority or guidance. Just last month I told my visioning group that I would cease placing emphasis upon a 2,000 year old story and speak, instead, with the metaphor of the Cosmos; a 15.8 billion year unfolding. After making this bold declaration I had a client session and watched myself speak one Biblical reference followed by another to a hungry client. Now, today, I find myself speaking metaphysically of Christmas holding the Bible in reverence for its masterful spiritual...
I returned to the Pacific Northwest for a brief moment earlier this month. Driving on roads covered in a blanket of leaves, windshield wipers batting the rain off the glass, pre-mature Christmas music playing louder than my thoughts, I pulled to the side of the road wanting time to stand still. Keenly aware that Life is so much bigger than my wanting; I grabbed my journal and pen and wrote about my desire for time to stand still for a moment. Craving the temporary to change places with the Eternal, knowing that it can’t and won’t. Desperately wanting for the people I love to remain beloved, and forms to not...
Exile and forgetting are natural states for most human beings, but so are remembering and recalling. All tasks are completed through cycles of visitation and absence. Poet, David Whyte I received an email from a friend the other day checking in to be sure I was all right. She referenced my lack of blog posts as her primary concern for my well-being. As I read her email, I knew she knew me. I have missed the part of me that is a writer. I have missed the Dashboard of WordPress, the competing thoughts vying for the limited space on the post. I have yearned for choosing the term...
Sunday’s sermon I gave was less a talk about the idea of God and more an experience of connecting directly with The Presence. The congregation’s response was lively and hugs were generously flowing as I left the building. In the direct heat of a 100 degree plus morning I was met by an older, stunningly beautiful woman standing next to my car in tears. “I have prayed for thirty years”, she said, “to meet you.” She continued saying she had actively prayed for three decades to see the vitality of God in someone’s eyes and today was the day and my eyes were the eyes. Flattered and humbled...
Last night Chef Linda demonstrated, with the assistance of dinner party guests, how to make simple, easy, vegan meals. My friend Michael invited me along and before showing up several serendipitous moments would occur. My home is being renovated so I’m staying with a friend. While on the couch, twenty four hours prior to this dinner, with laptops on each of our laps, she reads me a vegan recipe from an e-newsletter. I ask her to forward it to me and I begin reading about the vegan chef at which point I announce “I want to meet this woman.” She would be Linda Chef, our party’s instructor. I then opened a...
All space is not created equal. I am aware of this as I am in the process of renovating an empty condo and making choices that directly impact my soon-to-be living space. I try on colors, textures, woods, prints, within my mind and feel into the energy combination of each choice. In my bedroom and meditation space I want tranquility. No televisions, no computers, and colors that relax. In my office I am looking for vitality, movement, and design choices that encourage and energize my creativity. The kitchen feel I’m going for is a bit funky and the living room inviting. With my focus on space, I picked up...
Life is not for the faint of heart. To be alive — not survive, but REALLY live — means to be in touch with all aspects of Self. To see life from the perspective of the body or experience it through emotional states is different than seeing life through the eyes of Spirit. To see from the Sight of Spirit, means to have a larger peep hole or aperture from which to view or witness life. The journey of Spirit is filled with internal states of expansion and contraction. To transform, which is the call of the Spiritual, is to enter into deep dark states within oneself and...
Brother Lawrence (1614-1691) began his life as Herman, a foot soldier in the army. A poor man, the military gave him promise of regular meals and housing. One day while in service of France, perched under a tree, he saw the barren, almost deadlike state of it. He became awakened to the realization the tree was sitting fallow, as he saw his current state of being, to realize someday the tree would be filled with the vibrant leaves of life, as God would enliven him. This mystical moment deeply informed him and once his military service was complete he entered into an abbey and served in the kitchen. Daily he would prepare...
As a child there were things that I REALLY wanted. I really, REALLY wanting a moped one year for Christmas as a young teen. I REALLY wanted this moped so I could experience the freedom of faster movement with lesser effort. I wanted to go to the movies without taking a bus, or go to friend’s homes quickly instead of walking a mile or two. I had a vision as to the WHY of this engine-driven monster. I wanted it bad. I was attached. The Buddhist would say I craved it. My birthday is in November and Christmas is December, so I started my campaign that year in August. I...
Yesterday morning started with shopping at the downtown Phoenix Farmer’s Market. Individual tables with tented fabric overhead are set around a funky coffee shop that serves farm fresh breakfast and sells few grocery items that are regionally unique. I begin at the Pichuberry booth, my favorite fruit, now for a few years. The table has a clear clam shell container with samples, so I peel back a thin skin, hold the bottom bud and pop the bright yellow-orange firm fruit into my mouth. My Saturday morning ritual has begun. The next table is by Grindz, a local Scottsdale company that specializes in raw chocolate. I buy their raw zesty...
This past weekend we celebrated the Fourth of July, or our nation’s independence FROM King George’s rule. Our country’s founders declared a new country, a new congress, and a new way of doing governance. A new way grew out of an old idea that no longer fit. We do this all of the time. Everyday individuals decide to become sober as there is a rub between the addicted self and the emerging desired new. There is a past FROM which liberation is the desired goal. Likewise individuals graduate FROM a college or university as an accomplishment has been made and a status change is underway. These are examples of Freedom FROM....
Many of my friends and clients are currently undergoing job searches. Last night I was woken up at 12:20 am with the internal knowing I was to write an Affirmative Prayer for all the job seekers out there wanting prayer support. I recommend printing out this prayer and praying it in the morning and at night before bed. I suggest keeping a job search journal along side this prayer where I would capture who I met throughout the day and in my evening prayers I would give thanks for each one and pray for their well being and the well being of their families. I would practice being a...
I am in the midst of such an exquisite awareness. Curiosity and innate wisdom have joined their hands together and are leading me to resources describing what I know to be true in new ways. I find myself reading books on emergence, field and systems theory, lost (now found) books of the Bible, collective revelations, tribes, and watching videos by teachers that move me. This is interspersed with my own silent reflection and meditation. If I could bottle up this feeling tone and pass it around we’d all be talking about the party for the remainder of our lives. One of the books I am reading is called Presence: Human...
I have a new affirmation — feel free to borrow it. I am using it often now and the power of it is incredible. Ready? Say it out loud as you read this and FEEL the energy of it as you speak it … “That was so yesterday.” A friend called me, she wanted to know if I’d heard anything on the condo I’d put an offer on almost six weeks ago. I have experienced bouts of anxiety with the wait. My response to her was, “no news, and the anxiety surrounding it was so yesterday.” Laughing loudly she said, “I’m going to use that.” A client had a...
Oprah gave a heart opening address at her mentor and friend Maya Angelou’s memorial service where she referred to Maya as her “Spiritual Mama.” The love for her friend was palpable in her energy field of grief (note to self: grief is evidence of having loved). I administered two memorial services for my father. A private graveside one for my family and a public one for the greater community. In both I cried like a baby throughout the service as periods punctuate sentences throughout a paragraph. Fine for awhile and then a flood. If I were to describe my relationship to my father, I would say he was my “Earthly...
Think back to how you woke up this morning. What was the first thought that went through your mind? How did you greet today? What was the first, second, and third action you took? And, did these actions bring you closer to your Soul or push you away from your Self? I have had the rare opportunity this past year to observe the lives of many people close up and personal. These past eight months I’ve been a gypsy rover. I lived mostly in California, some in Arizona, and another chunk in Nevada. I rented out my home and took to the road. I slept on floors, blow up mattresses, guest...
I am at times called into deep contemplation and prayer for a day. Today is such a day. As I have taken my prayer seat in my prayer chair to begin the process, I have asked my inner guidance for today’s meditation to clear the energy around me and within me that has impeded my ability to know the Allness of God. The meditation that bubbled to the top for the day is repeating the following words of Truth and feeling them in my body: There is One Life and that is the Life of God and it is my life NOW. This contemplation isn’t new to...
Just as the sun was setting over the desert, I entered the Botanical Gardens in Phoenix, Arizona. The desert wears its own unique beauty and scent and the glass blown art of Dale Chihuly’s team emphasized this beauty. I walked in a garden of inspiration. I turned to my friend and said I felt as though at that very moment; all was right with humanity. I experienced the Beauty of God; the Beauty of Life. I recalled a passage from The Autobiography of a Yogi. “By ignoble whips of pain, man is driven at last into the Infinite Presence, whose beauty alone should lure him.” At that...
Motherhood in America is often associated with traditional American values. Just go to your local card shop and pick up a card from the rack. Chances are you will need a warm shower and pouf afterward to wash off the sugary glaze. Motherhood truly is a sacred calling and holy assignment. It is no small feat to nurture a child into their Divine Wholeness. However, I have worked with many clients who felt gipped in the mother department. Their mother was abusive, inattentive, self-centered, addicted, or invested in an image over the needs of their children. These kids are left with a different experience of Mother’s Day, and...
Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. Matthew 6:26-29 This past Saturday I joined a group of hundreds to experience the “Lilies of the Valley” consciousness facilitated...
