Category: Uncategorized

Love and Fear, Uncategorized

Heaven (aka Love’s Presence) can wait, but doesn’t have to.

Love, right here, right now.

A modern interpretation of many scriptural claims puts heaven out there somewhere, someday, maybe.

Let me get to the point. We can have Love (aka heaven) here today, if we chose to. To do so we must recognize, but not get imprisoned by, the voices within and around us telling us we don’t deserve it or must earn it. Love is here all the time for all of us.

The other day I came across a blog from a well known pastor pointing to a heavenly reward someday if we “follow our calling today.” The multiple and clear pointers throughout various holy scriptures, including the Bible, point to heaven on earth, Love here and now.

… on earth as it is in heaven.

The story of the prodigal son from the Bible shows both sons misunderstanding of how deep and broad Love is. In a similar story from the Buddhist tradition, a lost son is so startled by the intense Love shown by his father, he actually becomes fearful, leading the father to prepare a path helping the son rediscover Love slowly over time.

So, we have a son’s return met with celebration; another son’s bitterness met with the statement “everything I have is yours my child”; and in a third case a son who becomes fearful over Love’s welcome, and thus is wooed over time back to Love. The message is clear: every one of us is Beloved.

Every one is Beloved.

Practice

So what’s the inside move you can make to recognize Love, here and now for you and for everyone?

Voices will continue to arise within and circumstances around you saying “I’m not worthy”, “they’re not worthy” or “it can’t be true because of this reason or that”.

Be still and invite Love’s Presence in. You may be tentative at first, allow yourself to go slow.

You might want to involve your breath.

Take a deep breath breathing in Love, which surrounds you. Breathe out breathing the Love within you back into the world.

As you continue with this practice various thoughts and emotions will come up within you. As they do and as you’re able, simply observe. As each new thing comes up, invite Love to be there too.

Be patient as you watch Love grow within you.

Optional: Going deeper…

When you feel calm, and sense Love’s Presence, begin to go within yourself once again and locate a judgement or difficult feeling you carry toward someone else then hold it together with Love’s Presence as a prayer. Consider creating a cup with your hands as a way to hold this open to Love’s healing.

Allow Love to surround you and be patient as you observe Love in action within you.

Love is patient and kind, Love keeps no record of wrongs.

In our busy lives, full of inner and outer activity, we can easily miss the quiet persistence of Love.

Even a few moments right now can help you recognize the flow of Love within. It may seem a difficult or odd moment but know that Love is right where you are with a standing invitation.

As you practice the presence of Love, I’d appreciate hearing from you about your experiences and any other ways you’re finding Love within and around.

Uncategorized

Journey of love signposts – discontent is here, you are enough, sitting with our pain.

Recently I had a chance to ask a dear friend about his spiritual journey, his soul journey.

As a teacher, leader, musician, father, friend, and businessman, my friend wears many hats! One of the wonderful attributes about him is his willingness to be open about his inner experiences. Candidly, that’s why I wanted to talk to him. I wanted to ask him what he has experienced, learned, struggled with along his path.

As I listened and he shared, I was taken by three themes that I will explore more in depth in future blogs.

  • Human discontent brings energy and suffering
  • We are enough, and yet we strive to be better, more, greater, etc.
  • We are quick to try to avoid pain. Often pain comes to us unexpected. In many cases, we try to act our way out of or through pain. In some cases, when we sit with our pain, or sit with others who are in pain, we open the possibility of healing.

Through our conversation, we talked about many things but what struck me was the commonality we share on these three themes. The other thing that struck me is that each of these themes are not good or bad, right or wrong, they are “both and.”

As this is an introduction, I’ve included a number of quotes that highlight different views on these themes. I hope you are both intrigued and challenged by the breadth of thought.

On discontent…

  • “Discontent has a creative force in it.” – Sunday Adelaja
  • “The ones that always, always want something better, will never find better.”  – Anthony Liccione
  • “When you have no choice, you have no discontent either.”
    ― Vivek Shanbhag, from the book Ghachar Ghochar

On being enough…

  • “Let yourself be drawn by the stronger pull of that which you truly love.”
    – Jalaluddin Rumi
  • “Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” – Jesus words from Matthew
  • “Remember always that you not only have the right to be an individual, you have an obligation to be one.”
    – Eleanor Roosevelt

On sitting with pain…

In some cases, levels of human suffering and pain reach levels which I do not understand nor have experienced directly. As I write about pain in the future, I will count on you to help me articulate, differentiate and discuss the depths of pain and suffering we experience.

  • “Have pity on me, my friends, have pity, for the hand of God has struck me.” – Book of Job, chapter 19
  • “Perfect humility tends to the annihilation of self.” – Meister Eckhart
  • “Everyone can master a grief but he that has it.” –William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing
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My Soul Journey into Vulnerability

As Soul Journeys is birthed, I am very aware of the thing that I have tried to avoid my entire life.

Vulnerability.

Truly, I have spent most my years trying to show up with the right “look”. Confident, having all the answers, willing to take appropriate risks, responsible, measured, smart, good husband, father, friend, you know, good, and always trying to be better. The truth is I’m able to portray all those things but I am so much more! I am fearful, sad, frustrated, confused, lazy, negative, ashamed, needy, jealous … need I go on?

As I launch Soul Journeys, I am deep into openness and vulnerability which, as it turns out, provides much of my inspiration to begin Soul Journeys. On my own journey, I’ve realized that acceptance of whatever arises within me or around me may be the thing that leads me to the transformation I need. In truth, I often don’t want, or run from, what appears initially.

My intent is that Soul Journeys becomes a framework for those of us who wish to explore the hidden places within where love and peace, joy and sadness are intertwined with all that we don’t want to be or don’t want others to see. We each spend a lot of time and energy projecting what is acceptable and hiding what is not. As we accept ourselves and realize our sacredness, our inner love may break forth.

For me, my journey seemed to begin with a goal which I’ve somehow lost and found and lost again many times along the way. Just because the goal wasn’t, and still isn’t achievable, doesn’t mean I don’t often find myself all twisted up in the goal of being greater, better, smarter, wiser, more… than I was yesteryear, yesterday, yester-minute.

As I explore and reflect on what I see and notice, I find that often what seems like a goal is actually more discovering what is truer. I have often been caught in the trap of “finding truth” but that defines an endpoint which seems elusive.

So as my soul journey continues and your soul journey continues, Soul Journeys begins as it joins you and I along the way.

Soul Journeys is an invitation; a framework; an opportunity;  a challenge; to journey  together and alone experiencing more fully all that is within and around us.

I humbly invite you to consider joining your soul journey to Soul Journeys so that together we may unearth all the beauty, mystery, energy and joy that exists in this miraculous gift we call life.