Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
It Is All A Question Of Story
“It is all a question of story, we are in trouble just now because we do not have a good story. We are in between stories. The old story, the account of how the world came to be and how we fit into it, is no longer effective. Yet we have not yet learned the new story.
Our traditional story of the Universe sustained us for a long period of time. It shaped our emotional attitudes, provided us with life purpose and energized action. It consecrated suffering and integrated knowledge. We awoke in the morning and knew where we were.We could answer the questions of our children. We could identify crime, punish transgressors.
Everything was taken care of because the story was there. It did not necessarily make people good, nor did it take away the pains and stupidities of life or make for unfailing warmth in human associations. It did provide a context in which life could function in a meaningful manner.”
- Thomas Berry
Follow Your Bliss
“Follow your bliss… When you do this, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while waiting for you, and the life you ought to be living is the one you are living.
When you see that, you begin to meet people who are in the field of your bliss, and doors open to you. I say, follow your bliss and don’t be afraid, and doors will open where you didn’t know they were going to be.”
~ Joseph Campbell
Secret Wish
“The most secret, sacred wish that lies deep down at the bottom of your heart that seems to be so far beyond anything that you are or have at the present time is the very thing that spirit is calling you to become.”
~ Emmet Fox
Making Peace With My Mother’s God
… Or How One Word Can Change Everything.
photo: hand lines by Bill Rhodes Photography
“If you look deeply into the palm of your hand, you will see your parents and all generations of your ancestors. All of them are alive in this moment. Each is present in your body. You are the continuation of each of these people.”
~ Thich Nhat Hanh
In the class I am teaching on Sacred Archetypes, we explored the archetype of the Fool the first week. The Fool is that part of us that says YES!! She is available to us all the time. The Fool launches out on her new adventure and the unexpected regardless of what more “reasonable” minds may tell her. She steps out over the cliff of what she has known to boldly explore and say YES! to whatever may come.
YES!
As a co
mmitment to engaging my inner Fool, I decided to say YES! to whatever came my way. This was inspired by the Jim Carrey movie, Yes Man, a beautiful representation of the Fool’s journey. Almost as if on cue, a friend invited me to visit a large African American church the following Sunday. I gulped and said yes… not very enthusiastically. You see, I haven’t stepped foot into a church other than New Thought since I was a child. Sunday came and I attended as promised. It was wonderful. The congregation was friendly. The gospel choir was ROCKING and the minister and sermon were inspiring. It was a wonderful experience.
My YES! on that day opened something quite unexpected in me. You see, I was raised Jehovah’s Witness. By the time I was 6 yrs. old, I could not wait to grow up so that I would not have to endure what felt to me like torture every Sunday. As soon as I was old enough to stand my ground as a teenager, I refused to go. Jehovah was NOT a God I could endure. So I began my own journey.
As the years went by, whenever my mother would attempt to minister to me, I would cut her off and change the subject. Even after my brother went into “the Truth” I kept my distance and made it clear that I wanted to hear nothing of it. Intellectually, I respected their decision to serve God as they chose and could give you a list of the value of this religion in the lives of many. It simply was not for me. My own journey has been rich and deep… I never gave it another thought.
A breakthrough
Then on that beautiful day last month at church, I realized that I had rejected the God of my ancestors and in doing so, I had rejected a part of myself, of the story that is part of my very foundation. The realization was stunning to me. Though I was not in a Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Hall, I was experiencing the God of my ancestors, who were mostly Baptist. I realized that my childhood rejection cut me off from something vital to me. In that moment, at that church, I understood that I was and am free to express my faith as appropriate to me, however, I could do so without dismissing the gifts of this particular expression of the Divine.
In that moment, I could see how this expression of faith has sustained my people through the countless indignities of being
enslaved; of life-sucking Jim Crow institutions; of economic hardships; and of the social pressures that come with being human made more difficult by living in a society that regarded them as 2nd class citizens.
In that moment, something powerful shifted and I made peace with Jehovah God. Tears began to roll and people around me thought that I was being called to join the church. This was not what I was feeling. I was overwhelmed by the emotions running through my body as I silently expressed my gratitude to my ancestors, to the way they worshiped and to God for bringing me this healing. I began a conversation with Jehovah that day and realized that He is different than I remembered. I could hear a loving and benevolent Being whispering in my ear, very UNLIKE the angry and vengeful God of my childhood.
The prodigal daughter comes home
A week later, I called my mother to tell her that I respected and loved Jehovah in my own way. She almost burst into tears and told me that I had given her a very great gift. I could feel the ground of my being shift during that conversation. Somehow, I felt more solid. My relationship with my 83 yr. old mother shifted, deepened. What I had not realized was how deeply my life-long stance affected her and our relationship. In gratitude, she invited me to come to Passover, which was last Tuesday. In that moment, I thought “Yikes!”. I was ready to make peace, but NOT go to the Kingdom Hall.
All 
kinds of thoughts ran through my head… “I don’t want to do this… but, I made a commitment to YES!… how do I get out of this now?” Thinking out loud, I said “Okay…” she said, “great, see you on Tuesday.” After hanging up, I was regretful. I wanted to make peace not attend. I remembered my FOOLISH spiritual practice and decided to do it.
Tuesday came and it was very much as I had remembered it, however, this time I could sit in appreciation and respect. No, it was still not for me, but now I could truly appreciate how they found and nourished their faith. Just like the church I had visited the week before, I saw people doing the best they could with what they had been given. What more can any of us do?
Ground of being
Something powerful continues to stir in me. It feels like a brick that has been missing from my foundation for 35 yrs. is suddenly back in place. I feel greater access to the wisdom of my ancestors and a greater appreciation for the struggles they endured so that I could have THE CHOICE to “reject” their religion and choose my own path. But I wonder, can we really reject something so integral to ourselves without denying something that is foundational to who we are?
We all have to make our own way and create our own relationship with the Divine as we understand It. This is the gift of our times, hard-won by the sacrifices, blood and tears of countless generations before us. And today, many people around the world still do not have religious freedom.
And so, on this day, I say thank you to my mother and father; to my grandmothers and grandfathers and ancestors… all my relations, as our Native American sisters and brothers would say. I say thank you to you for your journey, which enriches my own, and all those who went before us…. all our relations. We are the farthest point of evolution for them. In many ways, we are their dreams made manifest. As my mother and grandmothers cooked and cleaned houses, they dreamed that their children and grandchildren would have more choices born of greater freedoms. As my grandfather drove that truck, he imagined a world where a college degree would be a real attainable goal for his children.
So here we are. Let’s honor them, their journey and legacy even as we further it with our own lives and our own relationship with a living and evolving God/Jehovah/Great Spirit/Universe/Divine… and may we be good ancestors.
Namaste.
“Our greatest responsibility is to be good ancestors.”
~ Jonas Salk
The Obstacles Are The Path
“For a long time, it seemed to me that life was about to begin – real life! But there was always some obstacle, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.”
~ Alfred D. Souza
Everybody can be great…
“Everybody can be great… because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”
-Martin Luther King Jr.
Sacred Archetypes Class Begins March 10th
You are invited to join us in a NEW CLASS!
Sacred Archetypes: Awakening to Your Mythic Life
6 Wednesdays, beginning March 10th
7:00pm-9:00pm
Archetypes are universal symbolic patterns or creational blueprints that trigger our cellular memories.
They provide the deep structure for human motivation and meaning. When we encounter them in art, literature, sacred texts, advertising—or in individuals or groups—they evoke deep feeling within us.
In this interactive class you will learn about 6 major archetypes affecting your life now and how to utilize them for your growth, evolution and achievement.
- The Fool/Child
- The Empress/Queen
- The Emperor/King
- The Hermit/Mystic
- The Hanged Man/Martyr
- The Magician/Wizard/Inventor
We will explore symbols, colors, numbers, tarot and keywords, movies, literature, history, art, positive and shadow expressions and more. And, you will leave with tools and practices to help you integrate your learning.
This class will help you to:
- Increase communication between your conscious and unconscious minds
- Trigger a greater sense of meaning and fulfillment in your life
- Inspire and motivate others
- Have greater flexibility to respond to the challenges of life
- Be more effective within your family, workplace, and community
Investment: $269
Early Bird Registration (through 3/3): $249
I hope you can join us!
You Are EVOLVING- Do You Get It?
This chief aim of this work is to transform your life! We want you to have the love, happiness, peace, creativity and resiliency that is naturally yours.
We are in the midst of a spiritual revolution. How you pursue your journey of evolution is up to you. There are many paths home to your luminous soul. What is important is that you consciously CHOOSE to evolve. This gives you back your power and gives you resiliency to ride the waves of evolution sweeping across the planet. Coming home to yourself requires opening yourself to new worlds and ways of thinking. It means examining your thoughts and beliefs and releasing the ones that do not serve your well-being. It means healing the wounds of childhood and those pre-modern, outworn survival skills inherited from our ancestors. While still honoring the immense legacy that we have inherited.
It requires that we fiercely and lovingly face down our demons and look squarely into our shadow, and in doing so, reclaim our power, freedom, joy and happiness. Paradoxically, we must also surrender to the natural flow that is Life- trusting the natural benevolence of the Universe. And, in doing so, allow life and events to unfold in the timing that is optimal for our growth and evolution.
“There will come a time when you believe everything is finished. That will be the beginning.”
~ Louis L’Amour
The world opens up more and more as we move layer-by-layer and step-by-step along the Spiral Dance. Old belief systems are discarded or folded into more expanded ones. Our sense of our place in the world and cosmos changes. We change. Our outlook changes, our sense of purpose awakens anew and synchronicity increases. We feel more peace, we open new vistas of perception and we continue to walk in and transcend both the shadow and the light- understanding that Life requires death and rebirth; the luminous light of love; and, the dark mysteries of creation and destruction.
We awaken to our multi-dimensional nature and begin to recognize that we are both individuals and part of a vast organism that is HUMANITY… one living, breathing life-form that is a part of the life-form that is earth, that is a part of the life-form that is our solar system, that is a part of the life-form that is the Milky Way Galaxy, that is a part of…
And, we continue to live, have relationships, run late and get stuck in traffic. The spiral of Being and Becoming is never-ending. Evolution is always evolving. Change is inevitable. Why not take the bull by the horns and ride that baby!
If you could do just one thing today, no matter how small that would give you the greatest leverage towards well-being and freedom, what would you do?
What will you do?
Please leave a comment and let us know.
Namaste
This is Our Moment!
Moving beyond change to transformation…
We are living in a moment of extraordinary change. Things seem to be falling apart all over the place and we are uncertain how or when it will come back together again. For those of us who have honed the skills of resilience, steadiness and deep inner reserves this is our moment. THIS IS YOUR MOMENT! When things fall apart, we can affect real change –> transformation. Far beyond change, in metaphor change would be like moving the living room furniture around, while transformation would be ripping up the floor, moving the walls and adding windows for a more expansive view. Like any major home renovation, this much change (transformation) can be more than a little unsettling. This is where we find ourselves as Americans and as global citizens. This is our moment.
We have been living with the same furniture, in the same spots for a long time. Sure, it worked great for many and for many others it has not been comfortable at all. Even though the sofa may be on the other side of the table from the chair, they both inhabit the same room. I may live in Houston and you in Hong Kong, but we inhabit the same world. Now, in the midst of the ripped out floor of our economy, climate change, population growth etc., we get to decide… change or transformation. Tapping our inner reserves to steady ourselves, to calm our nerves, let’s think clearly:
- How can you use this opportunity to transform your life, business, career, community, the world?
- What are the personal habits and mind-sets that will serve you well now?
- Who are your allies, those people who are ready to ride the wave to greater love, joy and happiness?
- If everything is up for change, what would you really like to change about your life right now?
- What are you willing to let go of… to be open to?
Consider these questions. Then set about nurturing the habits, choices, goals and mind-sets that will enable you to transform our world!
“Every few hundred years in Western society there occurs a sharp transformation. Within a few short decades, society rearranges itself… We are currently living through such a transformation.”
– Peter Drucker
We are living in a moment of extraordinary change. Things seem to be falling apart all over the place and we are uncertain how or when it will come back together again. For those of us who have honed the skills of resilience, steadiness and deep inner reserves this is our moment. When things fall apart, we can affect real transformation. Far beyond change, in metaphor change would be moving the living room furniture around, transformation would be ripping up the floor, moving the walls and adding windows for a more expansive view. But like a major home renovation, that much change (transformation) can be more than a little unsettling. This is where we find ourselves as Americans and as global citizens. We have been living with the same furniture, in the same spots for a long time. Sure, it worked great for many and for many others it has not been comfortable at all. Even though the sofa may be on the other side of the table from the chair, they both inhabit the same room. I may live in Houston and you in Hong Kong, but we inhabit the same world. Now, in the midst of the ripped out floor of our economy, climate change, population growth etc., we get to decide… change or transformation. Tapping our inner reserves to steady ourselves, to calm our nerves, let’s think clearly:
- How can we use this opportunity to transform our lives, businesses, careers, community, the world?
- What are the personal habits and mind-sets that will serve us well now?
- Who are your allies, those people who are ready to ride the wave to greater success, joy and happiness?
- If everything is up for change, what would you really like to change about your life?
- What do you need to let go of… be open to?
Let’s consider these questions. Then set about nurturing the habits, choices, goals and mind-sets that will enable us to transform our world!
“Every few hundred years in Western society there occurs a sharp transformation. Within a few short decades, society rearranges itself… We are currently living through such a transformation.” – Peter Drucker
