Happy New Year

"Reexamine all you have been told in school or church or in any book 

and dismiss whatever insults your soul."

- Walt Whitman

We humans are a walking contradiction.  We sometimes feel that we suffer from poor self esteem and lack of worthiness and acceptance.  Simultaneously we know in the core of our being we are children of God.  We are expressions of Divinity.  We live in conflict.  We are emanations of the Divine yet we feel less than others.

As we begin this new year let us begin with kind and gentle self reflection.  We know we are loved.  We are children of an unconditionally loving Mother/Father God.  Allow this recognition to start and end each day.

All assessment is an opportunity to grow and expand in consciousness and love.

We are all worthy of love, just the way we are.

Christmas Day

On Christmas Day we have an opportunity to celebrate the essential and core common values of humanity.  In reverence, we recognize that a little Jewish baby boy was born and his expanded consciousness, nurtured by  Divine love embraced all life.  This little boy realized that he was an emanation of the Divine and his profound legacy has touched many world religions and influenced the spiritual development of humanity.  We continue to be guided by the master teachers core values; unconditional love, empathy, compassion, courage, vulnerability, sacrifice and inclusion for all.

As we enjoy our personal and familial traditions, let us humbly remember the source.  We are all brothers and sisters in God's love.  Reflect on the qualities of Jesus and assess your common ground.  Know that as you interact with others on this day you interact with God's children.  When we offer love and acceptance, we offer the warmth of God's home.  We welcome everyone in to the grace of God.

We are all part of the same Divine family.  Let unconditional love be our legacy.

"Peace on earth - goodwill to all"

"It is not how much we give but how much love we put into giving."

- Mother Teresa

"When you give yourself, you give more than you get."

- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Please remember on this Christmas season, we are all children of God.  Just as you have pictures of your loved ones on your bedside table, so does God have pictures of each of you in his heart.  You are loved, you are accepted just as you are.  The infinite love of God brings us all emotional safety and transforms all our lives.

Our strength as human beings is in our diversity.  When we respect and honor our differences, the world benefits.  The growth of each of us blesses all of us.  None of us are free until all of us are free.

"If light is in your heart, you will find your way home."

- Rumi

We are one great chorus in harmony.  The music of the universe echoes through the heavens.  "Peace on earth - good will to all."

You are each a gift of joy that God has given to the world.

Share your gift, share yourself and the world will be transformed.

Acceptance

"If every person knew that they were loved and accepted by God exactly as they are right now, 

the world would be transformed."

- Chris Michaels

We have the power to offer acceptance and emotional safety to everyone we meet.  Let us embrace our differences.  We are all unique emanations of God.  Life is change.  We are ever evolving and changing.  Give yourself and others permission to change and grow.

"If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other."

- Mother Teresa

The joy, peace and love of the holiday season is a choice we each make on a daily basis.  Life is consciousness unfolding.  When we change our inner life, our outer life changes as well.  When we do our internal, self reflective homework, we become a vehicle for love and acceptance.  Let us acknowledge and accept each other for who we are, children of God.

Gratitude

There is no prescribed set of lessons that bring us peace and contentment.  We each have our own path to discover and experience.  The work of our life is to overcome our common human mistakes that are part of our inherited ego.

I have found that gratitude is an essential aspect of the work.

"We are not human beings 

having a spiritual experience.

We are spiritual beings

having a human experience."

- Teilhard de Chardin

The challenge is to remember our true nature.  We are children of God, emanations of Divinity.  Every day appreciate the blessings of life.  In appreciation and gratitude we are transformed back to our true, spiritual natures.  In gratitude we make a conscious choice to focus on the good, the kind, and the loving in each moment.  We build the foundation of our lives on these grateful moments.

Let us pause and be mindful.  Breathe and be thankful for the life we give and receive in grace.

Light and Love

We can not see the sun's light.  We can only see it's impact on what it touches.  We can feel it's warmth.  Even in my moments of significant stress, I am comforted by the warmth of the sun.

Unconditional love often moves between us, unseen.  In moments we feel the warmth and comfort of unconditional love.  We are often invigorated by these moments.

When we look upon each other in love, God is revealed.  Take a moment to slow down, stop and really look at each other.  See the gentleness in each other's hearts.

In our gentleness and kindness of spirit our Divine connection is revealed.

Worldview

"The world is not as it is,

the world is as we see it"

- Octavio Paz

We each see the world through our own unique lens.  We all may think we see the same thing but our perceptions are all unique, complex and colored by our life experiences.  The world we see is a direct result of our perspective.

If you want to change the world, change yourself.  If you want to change yourself, change your perspective.

At any moment we can choose to see beauty, kindness and gratitude.  The world we see is reflected in our perspective and vision.

Servant Leadership

"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, 

do more and become more, you are a leader"

- John Quincy Adams

"A man was hiking in the woods when he saw a deer that had lost his leg, and he wondered how it would continue to survive.  He decided to watch a while, when he noticed a mountain lion with game in its mouth.  When the lion had eaten his share, he left the rest of the meal for the deer.  The next day the man noticed Spirit fed the deer yet again by means of the lion.  He thought to himself, "If Spirit provides for this deer then, by all means, It will take care of all my needs as well."  He put his trust in the Lord and waited to be provided for, just as the deer had done without question.  After a couple of weeks during which nothing was provided and now literally starving to death, the man heard a voice: "Open your eyes to the Truth.  Be the lion, and stop following the way of the injured deer."

- Dr. Christian Sorenson

I believe we are called to be servant leaders.  We are here to save others.  When we serve others, we and the entire organization we serve grow and flourish.  We are all capable of empathy, courage and sacrifice. 

Empathy and trust must become our highest standards for our work and our life.  To earn trust we must extend trust and believe in the goodness of people.  We must lead with a balance of heart and mind.

When we work from a servant leadership mindset, we tap into our spiritual well-being.  We have a more expanded view of the possibilities of life.  Abundance of spirit becomes a reality.  Our work as servant leaders leaves us feeling inspired, satisfied, fulfilled and grateful.

All those we serve, no matter their age or nationality, are someone's beloved child and we as servant leaders are responsible for their precious lives.

We need to rebuild our world so our highest priority 

is the care and compassion for all human beings.

Kindness and Compassion

"Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you can"

- Anonymous

I find great joy in giving my life in service to others.  There are many forms of generosity and service.  Kind words, thoughtful actions, a compassionate smile, an empathetic touch, all these can lighten and uplift the spirit.

Our kindness and generosity is an emanation of the kindness and generosity of life.  We are all connected in the spirit of kindness and compassion.

Find the Spiritual in your every day

"A cobbler told his rabbi, "Most of my customers are men who work every day and drop their boots off to me at night for repair.  I often stay up all night to get their boots ready for them in the morning.  Sometimes I am so tired that I do not say the morning prayer.  Other times I just say it quickly so I will have time to work.  Other times my heart just sighs, 'How I wish I had the time and energy to say my prayer.'"
The rabbi answered, "If I were God, I would value that sigh more than the prayer."

- from "A Deep Breath of Life" Alan Cohen

Love for God and love and connection with each other is a heart to heart experience.  Today, it seems, we all lead very busy lives.  We are bombarded with input.  When our awareness is connected to spirit our daily activities can be our prayer.  Connection is our communion with the Divine.

Sometimes I forget that I am more then what I do.  Then I am reminded...

We are not human beings

having a spiritual experience.

We are spiritual beings

having a human experience.

- Teilhard de Chardin

Keep you heart open throughout your activities.

Stay connected to the sacred.

Celebrate Life

I have never liked the word tolerate.  Throughout my life I have heard tolerance used in a variety of interpersonal, human, life challenges.  It never felt right to me.  It never felt human enough.  I never wanted to be tolerated.  I never wanted to be tolerant of you.  Tolerance means to put up with something, to endure.  I guess that is a sticking point but I see it on a continuum.

Tolerance - Understanding - Appreciation - Celebration

Understanding is the beginning of peace and forgiveness.  "Seek first to understand and then be understood." said Stephen Covey.  Understanding is the first step in unity.  Appreciation of your uniqueness is the movement into the joy of life.  We are different.  Hallelujah!  Diversity is the spice of life.  Diversity literally is life.

"...love for all living creatures is the most nobel attribute of man."

- Charles Darwin

Through appreciation we know that all life is valuable.  No one is more important than another.  We appreciate that all of us, no matter our situation in life, have value.

Celebration is the joy of togetherness, understanding and appreciation.  Acceptance and appreciation of ourselves and others leads to celebration.  In celebration, we experience the beauty, honor and glory of each individual soul.  Healing begins with acceptance and as we embrace ourselves and each other, we rejoice in celebration.

We are all miracles of Divine love.  Let us see each other in this perfection.

Ashley's Lessons of Love

In my house there lives an angel.  She does not speak.  She does not offer prophecy or ask for followers of her light.  She is not dressed in a white flowering garment.  She is often seen dressed in a pink sweatshirt and pants.  She does not offer her blessing from a holy temple or church, but from a wheelchair.  Identified as severely profoundly retarded since birth, she sits in her wheelchair and emanates unconditional love.  She can not consciously move her body.  She remains calm with a beautiful expression on her face inviting love.  She offers communion and connection to everyone who is near.  

I am privileged to see her every day.  I pause from the tasks of life and she reminds me what is essential.  I am always filled with joy, peace and love in her presence.  She is making her contribution to the healing of humanity.  In her special way she is transforming the world by bringing unconditional love to everyone.  What a beautiful purpose she serves in life.

I find that my life is created by the spirit in which I respond to the world.  When choosing to respond to any situation, check with your heart.  Do you feel peace?  Does this feel meaningful?  Is there joy?  Do we greet everyone with value and respect?  Do we offer kindness and compassion to those in the supermarket lane?  Can we retain our sense of humor in highway traffic?

I am living my life knowing that whatever good I can offer is an act of my love for life.  In the end we will not ask to have more time in the office or the work setting.  We will ask for more time with those we love.  

Use every moment to give and receive love.

Peace of Mind

"It is not easy to find happiness in ourselves, and it is not possible to find it elsewhere"

- Agnes Repplier

Throughout the course of my life, the biggest road blocks to happiness and peace of mind have been the concerns of others, the concerns of the world and myself.  My training and belief confirms that I have been my biggest road block, by far, to my peace of mind.  As I have grown in authenticity and vulnerability, I find that I get lost in feeling sorry for myself and I also get lost in judgement of myself and others.

Even though I have been lost at times, I still have found the true path repeatedly.  The essence of the Divine in each of us always beckons us forward to truth and lights our way.

My Calling

"The purpose of life is not to be happy.  It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Recently I have spent time with family and friends who have retired.  They lovingly ask if I am retired and I respond no.  I am now moving into the second half of my 60th decade of life.  I have no desire to retire.  One of the greatest blessings in my life is I get to do work I love.  I feel on purpose.  I feel I am fulfilling the mission God called me to accomplish.  My work brings me great joy.  It moves me forward in my life.  It brings meaning and purpose to each and every day.  

What I do every day is mostly filled with joy.  Even when it is hard, painful and sometimes extremely stressful, below the surface, deeper then my ego, there is joy.

One aspect of my work is to communicate a positive message of hope.  It is my belief everyone can find joy in their work.  All our work, all our lives, contribute to the creation of a beautiful world.

Stories

I love stories.  I love listening to stories, I love reading stories and I love telling stories.  Stories are the wealth of humanity.  Stories are our heart expressing experience.  Stories are how we make meaning of life.  We share our legacy.

When I share a story from my life, I am consumed with emotion.  I am fully in the moment.  I am in the story.  I often experience the sweat and tears that bring great meaning to the story.  Telling stories heals us.

There are stories about my daughter Ashley that repeat often.  I repeat the story to invite my listeners to be fully human.  Because Ashley is so fragile and vulnerable, I comfortably share my vulnerability.  Each retelling of Ashley's story brings enhanced meaning to the experience.  I continue sharing the story that opens my heart and invites listeners to open their hearts.  Each retelling brings me back to her angelic eyes and the Divine presence that fills her life.

I never really know what I am going to say.  The story tells itself, it reveals my essence and it saves my life again and again and again.