Every Moment is Sacred

In this Christmas season, allow yourself to remember that every moment is sacred. In every moment, the sacredness of life is being expressed. Somewhere a flower is in bloom. Somewhere a bee is gathering pollen and somewhere a bird is singing its song. In your life, children have been born and loved ones have passed. In this life, a smile can lift your heart and someone's tears can touch your soul.

Let us all remember the sacred moments of laughter, deep conversation, meaningful connection, and unconditional love. We have all overcome challenge, and it is time to hold hands, heal hearts, and come together.

December is for Gratitude

 

December is for Gratitude by abbymorgan15

Success

"Success is not measured by the heights one attains, but by the obstacles one overcomes in its attainment." – Booker T. Washington

Those of us who have experienced success know we are not better than anyone else. The truly successful do not act with arrogance or dominance. Those who have been successful know that along with their hard work, they are blessed. The truly successful become stewards for the success of others. We help others grow and blossom into their greatness. We share responsibility to enhance the greatness of everyone.

"When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds. Your mind transcends limitation, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great, and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be." – Pantangali

"Heaven on earth is a choice you make, not a place you find." – Wayne Dyer

Every day, every moment is an opportunity. Will we choose love or fear? Will we choose heaven or hell? When we choose love, we choose heaven where we fully commit to life. 

Every time we let those we love know that we love them.

Every time we reflect on our own journey and realize we are better today than we were yesterday. 

In all of these moments, we are creating heaven on earth.

"The kingdom of heaven is within you" – Jesus of Nazareth

Everyday life and love are calling us to embrace life. Embrace love. Embrace each other.

Heaven is in the embrace.

Love...

Love is a way of being in the world. 

It is more than something we give and/or get. 

Love transforms the world. 

We become grateful and we recognize grace. 

Love is more than an emotion. 

Love is more than an attitude and more than what we do.

Love is who we are!

For the wellness of all humanity...

 "I'm convinced of this: Good done anywhere is good done everywhere...As long as you're breathing, it's never too late to do some good." - Maya Angelou

My grandfather used to say "as long as you're breathing, there is work to do." I thought he meant the work we needed to do on the farm. Now I know he was talking about a much greater responsibility.

We need deep empathetic listening and compassionate, courageous action to serve the needs of our human family. We can no longer turn away from unconscious bias and the impact of our choices. We are all responsible for taking the actions that are needed to awaken and serve the greater good.

Love and service are at the heart of our efforts to connect. We are one interconnected whole. When anyone hurts, we all hurt. When anyone is diminished, we are all diminished. This is empathy. This is our birthright and responsibility. We can all thrive. We are all emanations of one unified whole. 

Let us compassionately and courageously act for the wellness of all humanity.

What we put our attention on grows...

Sometimes I need to stop, think, reflect, and remember how blessed my life is. I am living, I am breathing, and I am still able to make choices.

Life has taught me that complaining about our lot in life gets us nowhere. I don't like complaining to myself or others. We all have challenges, both internal and external. We all must do the work, internally and externally, required to meet our personal challenges. We all have difficult periods in our lives and we all have down and melancholy days.

I find we must always spend more of our time remembering and practicing what works. Affirm and acknowledge those around us who speak and stand up for the good and positive in life.

What we put our attention on grows. We must choose to focus on supporting all life, in all its evolutions. This brings us to greater truth and greater trust in the universe.

You belong.

"You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here." 

– Max Ehrmann

You all have a right to be here. You are an essential part of the universe. Life would be less without you. When you feel a sense of separation and isolation, remember you are part of one unconditionally loving life.

You belong in this life because you are here now. You belong to our universal family. We are one love living together. You are part of creation. The moon, the sun, and the stars are our sisters and brothers.

YOU BELONG.

You are sacred.

You are sacred.

The stress, tension, anxiety, and fear that we experience is the baggage of our life.

Every day, make time to quiet your mind, go within and feel the flow of Divinity.

When you speak and act, remember to the best of your ability, to be understanding.

Practice non-attachment. Let go of your need to control and someone else's need to control.

Cultivate your gifts. Share your joy.

Be kind.

Just be kind.

Love...

True friendship is everlasting because true love lives forever. In loving friendship, our hearts speak to each other. 

Love continues beyond our physical death. When we love deeply, that love ripples out into the world and touches many other lives. 

I still remember with great love, a dear friend who passed four months after high school graduation. That was 52 years ago and I still see his smile and hear his voice.

Love is the essence of our intimacy, trust, and compassion for each other. All those I love live on in my heart and mind.

Let us all have the strength to love each other. Giving and receiving love connects us to the Sacred and brings us to eternity.

One Spiritual Family

 "One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in all." Ephesians 4:6

Love and faith respects all people. 

Our spiritual family includes every ethnicity, religion, language, and culture. 

I pray for the love and faith to respect and be kind to all people. 

I communicate acceptance and empathy to all who are different than me. 

I am grateful that we are all one in the same spiritual family.

Faith and Diversity

All life and human growth, at some point, asks us to adapt to what is unfamiliar to us. Faith in ourselves and our ability to meet new people and situations is essential for our health, well-being, and growth. Most of us feel safe and secure in our homes. Many of us are comfortable in our own community. When we are in unfamiliar surroundings, we get frightened and feel defensive.

Our faith invites us to adapt and learn when the environment, culture, language, skin color, or food is different.

Our faith is essential in building bridges and closing cultural gaps. 

Our faith gives us an opportunity to grow.

Faith is the key to opening our minds and hearts so that we can love each other.

The higher the walls...

The higher the walls we build, the more we are imprisoned by fear. 

If we invest our energy in feeling safe and secure from those we perceive as different, we will paradoxically feel less secure. 

Physical walls and psychological walls, which are created to keep the "others" out, also keep us imprisoned in our limited perspective. 

The more we invest in security and defensiveness, the greater the cost to our spiritual growth and freedom.

Begin now!

"And so we lift our gazes, not to what stands between us, but what stands before us." 

– Amanda Gorman, Inaugural poem, 2021

The work of coming together and healing our separation begins in the heart and soul of each one of us. If healing is to happen, and I believe it will, it will be made real by each one of us. No one will do it for us. The answer to healing our national divide can be found in the infinite potential and possibility of our Divine heritage.

We have joined together after hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, tsunamis, war, and terror attacks. Let us join together for the children who go to bed hungry. For the sisters and brothers who fear for their lives. For the women who have been abused and degraded. For all those who have experienced hatred, racism, sexism, and trauma.

Each one of us is called to heal our world.

Begin now!

Fear...

"Fundamentalism of all kinds – political, psychological, theological – offer the sweet promise of certainty, of resolution of ambiguity, and of strict instructions on how to live one's life.

...the secret fuel of fundamentalisms of any kind is fear- fear of others, fear of challenging, dialectic values, fear of change." - James Hollis, PhD

All fear is natural. We have all experienced fear. When fear wins and overtakes our lives, it leads to intolerance, hatred, and violence.

When we cannot face ourselves, when we cannot deal with the complex issues in our diverse world, when I fear you, I often try to repress or attack you.

Throughout our lives we have all been afraid. We have all been the attacker and be attacked.

"Fear is the enemy. Life is not your enemy; the other is not your enemy; fear is the enemy...Ask yourself of every dilemma, every choice, every relationship, every commitment… 'Does this choice diminish me, or enlarge me?" – James Hollis, PhD