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In Quarantine or on a Retreat?

Do you have any idea how much money you have saved by going on retreat in your own home? You are going to be asked to stay home, so, why not turn part of your time into a spiritual retreat? You can create for yourself a private retreat replete with spiritual guidance, spiritual practice, journaling, creativity and reading. And add to it, you get to choose your own food. Do you want to fast on this retreat? Drink juice and tea only? Have a vegetarian retreat? Stop for a moment. With the Coronavirus pandemic unfolding and the outside world closing down around you; YOU are at the perfect place to give yourself permission to retreat and reflect. How do you plan your own retreat? Well, what are you interested in? Are you interested in spiritual practices? Give yourself a day, two, or three of no electronics and silence. Allow your nervous system to have a break from being bombarded and nurture yourself. Follow your curiosity and allow it to...

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The Weinstein Verdict is In

My devices were buzzing this morning with the news that the Harvey Weinstein verdict was in. I went to the Court TV website to find the outcome. Weinstein was convicted of two of the five charges and will serve somewhere between 10 and 25 years for his offenses — criminal sexual act and rape in the third degree. I then watched a few additional interviews and learned that the above results were just for New York and there will be another court case to follow in California. I learned that California has passed laws doing away with non-disclosure agreements linked to sexual assaults. This new law has gained attention across states. I hadn’t put a lot of thought into it before, but once a victim was paid to “compensate for injury” then the non-disclosure rendered them mute which had the potential to turn more individuals into victims. Light is disinfecting. The door to my heart is wide open at this moment and Light is streaming both inward and outward....

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Don’t Hate and Pray

  A few days ago, Nancy Pelosi was asked by a journalist if she was undertaking the impeachment process because she hated the President. Her response (paraphrased) was she has learned to not hate through the practice of her Catholic Faith.  Impeachment, she said, was about holding the president accountable to keeping his oath of office (behavior). She went on to say that she prays for the president often. This comment brought me back to when I first learned that someone’s behavior and our affection for them, can be different. My career has focused around training adults in different environments, public, corporate and spiritual. In my first corporate job I took a course and later taught a training program where I learned to separate my perception of someone (personal opinion) with the facts of their behavior. This has served me well as a supervisor, parent, friend, and definitely a clergy person. For example, if an employee was chronically late, I didn’t tell them they were worthless, (opinion) instead, I...

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Yom Kippur: Fast, Repent and Atone

Tonight at sundown is the beginning of Yom Kippur, which is part of the largest celebration of the Jewish calendar (like Christmas is to the Christians). The celebration of Rosh HaShana, or the welcoming in of the Jewish New Year. Yom Kippur closes out the old Year with a somber 24 hours of fasting, repentance and atonement. As you and I deepen into our spiritual journey, we come to realize that the stories which hold the different religions together are unique to the culture of the religion. However, the spirit underneath the story and the practices to connect with the spirit are similar. It is here where we can connect with each other. As Rumi says, “it is a field beyond the ideas of right-doing and wrong-doing.” In all faiths there are practices of fasting, repentance and atonement. I like to pay attention to what is going on within the religious and spiritual communities as fields are created and made more potent through collective agreement. This is not only something...

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Curiosity … The Great Revealer

Becoming curious is one of our greatest spiritual practices. It opens the stuffy mind to let a soft gentle breeze in. Once open; Spirit has a chance to direct us. I saw a friend post the book cover Outrageous Openness on her Facebook page. I asked myself (curious) if I ought to pursue this title and my answer was YES. The author shares a practice she used when forgiving someone who stole money from her. I have done this practice for twenty minutes each day, now for ten days. I left in the reference to money because it feels good, and I could change the words to reinforce Love or Peace or whatever quality I desire to deepen. As I do this practice I bring up the names of friends, family, and perceived foes and I end up feeling as though I have an emotional facial complete with extractions and buffing. Here it is, in case you too want to join in on this practice: Let me release my...

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In the Name of God

I took my Groupon or Living Social, one of my online coupons, to a neighborhood salon to get my hair done. I brought  book Going Clear, an expose’ about the Church of Scientology, along with me to read. The hair dresser introduced himself and then walked me to his station. He asked me what I was reading and I told him adding my friend’s comment on the book “when you think it can’t get weirder, it does.” With his interest peaked, he asked me what made it weird and I proceeded to tell him about L. Ron Hubbard taking his followers to sea and for punishment when they didn’t “obey him” he’d throw them overboard, as one of the many examples. My stylist then confided in me that he had been in what he referred to as a Christian cult. At age 18 he was part of a year long internship program for youth where he was pushed to do strenuous labor like carrying logs from one part of a camp with another. The...

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