Potential, or Capacity...?

What if, in the eyes of God, we're all complete, perfect, and how have UNlimited capacity to express it brilliantly...?

I wonder how many of us have been cursed with "potentiality"...? Is it just me, or did anyone else grow up hearing about all the "potential" you have? Did adults look at you, somewhat wistfully (if not with unadulterated desperation), and speak of "all the potential" that you had ..? And did you pick up on the subtle (if not glaring!) message that this was in stark contrast to whatever you currently WERE -- as if to say, "you look like an utter failure, and I'm at my wits end with you, BUT, I'm stubbornly denying it, and, O God Please Hear Me, I hope-hope-hope this is just a stage you will outgrow, and that you will eventually be good enough!"

And, if this person were perhaps a parental figure, the unspoken post-script might well be, "SO that you will reflect well upon me!"

Ahhhh, such pressure is put upon people who are cursed with their potentiality...!

We're then under the tyranny of endlessly projecting into the future, rather than enjoying the present ... living in the despair of never measuring up to the nebulous standard of the projected-potential. Our ego takes the position of the tyrant who demands that we be who we think others think we *should* be ... without benefit of the guide-book for how to achieve this great mystery ...!

Yuck-O.

Consider, on the other hand, capacity. Capacity speaks of the immediate present -- the NOW. To what is *at hand*. Would Jesus tell us to "be perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect" if it were not remotely possible...? How cruel, if it weren't! The key is not in achieving, or attaining, or accumulating ... but in *owning* what we already have inside of us.

When all we have is the curse of potentiality, we can become frozen by our choices ... we can see all manner of possible paths to choose, laid out before us, and inside we can hear that voice that warns us that we'd "better get it right, or else there will be utter waste, as well as dire consequences!" It's often paralyzing if we believe we have to figure out which path leads us to the realization of our "potential."

What if we consider this: rather than obsessing over Point Z, how about if we look at what's right in front of us, and choose to step from Point A to Point B...? What if we listen within, and realize that God meant it when He said we would hear Him saying which way to go ...? And what if we realized that even if we take what we THINK is the "wrong" path, we will end up learning whatever it is we need to learn, which will enable us to make a clearer choice the next time ..? What if mistakes are the God-given vehicles for learning?

Which brings me to another form of paralysis: perfectionism.

When we think we have to do ALL things well, the first time we do them, we will sit on our proverbial (or literal) butts, bemoaning out self-induced misery...! But we can be virtuosos, once we realize that virtuosity in life doesn't mean singing perfectly -- it means singing out loud, to the best of our yet-discovered capacity...!

Have you ever had the nagging, depressing feeling that your life is yet to start, even as you look in the mirror and realize that you've lived for a certain number of decades...? Have you ever wished for the permission to cut loose, let go, and REALLY start to live fully? To experience the Abundant Life we were promised...? Do you have a sense of reigned-in, suppressed, pent-up energy and talent? Is your talent "buried" (& do you realize who buried it?)? Do you have a hidden-belief that you were meant to do great things, coupled with a sneaking suspicion and fear that you've been wasting your life...?

Do you feel as if you've been locked up within, unable to get free?

Guess who holds the key?

We're each our own prison-guard.

We have locked the door with our own fear.

Our egos are invested in having us die with the same unfulfilled potential we think we were born with.

It takes a miracle to set us free ... the good news is that a miracle has been provided for just that freedom.

Shalom, Dena

Random Yet Related ...

Various things that spoke to me today:


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Our circumstances are not an accurate reflection of God's goodness. Whether life is good or bad, God's goodness, rooted in His character, is the same.

-- Helen Grace Lescheid

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
How Important Is Oneness?

It is worth an entire book, not just half of one. Everything would change if this one idea was "gotten," if this one thought resided in your subconscious and became your natural instinct, if this one concept became your operating philosophy, and the operating philosophy of your species.


Everything would change. Everything. Politics would change, economics would change, relationships would change, your ideas about careers and parenting and sexuality and conflict resolution and the purpose of all of Life — everything — would change.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Elder's Meditation of the Day - November 21

"In the absence of the sacred, nothing is sacred, everything is for sale."
--Oren Lyons, ONONDAGA

The Elders often say that when something is sacred it has spiritual value. You'll hear, on the Earth there are sacred spots. You'll hear, our ceremonies are sacred, our children are sacred, marriage is sacred. When something is sacred it means it's so holy you can't attach a value to it. Therefore, it's not for sale. It's an insult to suggest buying something sacred. On the other hand, if we look at it differently, as there is no sacred land, ceremonies are not sacred, our children are not sacred, etc., then everything is for sale. Sacredness creates spiritual space. Sacredness makes things holy. Sacredness shows respect for God.

Great Spirit, let me honor things that are sacred.

['Course, I see all things as being sacred/holy ... albeit much of it in need of a perspective-tweak! ~ Dena]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


MODELS OF SURRENDER


Question of the Day:
What are we modeling for the next generation?

The greatest gift of centered and surrendered people is that they know themselves as part of a larger history, a larger self. Their life is not about them! They are just one lovely instance of a Much Larger and More Wonderful Life.

In that sense, holy people are in one sense profoundly conservative, knowing that they only stand on the shoulders of their ancestors and will be shoulders for the generations to come. They are only a part of the Eternal Mystery of God unfolding in time, and yet they are a part!

So these same people are often quite open and reformist because they have no private agendas or self-interest to protect. They are unattached to any superior self-image or inferior self-image. Both are a waste of time. It is all about God, and they are just participating.



Adapted from Radical Grace: Daily Meditations, p. 265
(Source: “Center and Circumference,” Radical Grace, Feb. 1990)

Current Mantra:
Let It Be


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Saturday, November 21, 2009 – Not Alone

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”
~Robert Frost


Today's Affirmation

I follow the path that Spirit illumines before me.

Today's Meditation

Dear God,

When we are yielded and still and seek Your will, love lights the way.
Thank You for nudging us onward, especially when we think we are lost.
Wherever we are, whatever we are doing, You are with us.
Alleluia!
Amen


Shalom, Dena

Happiness ... a Choice?!?

Some random thoughts about happiness ...

What if God WANTS me to be happy...? What if I need to train my mind to see the good all around me ... to see the beauty in life ... to see the reasons to celebrate rather than to gripe, or to mourn ...?

(what if I don't WANT this responsibility ...? what if being a victim of circumstances is *easier*... and more *familiar*...?)

But what if happiness is NOT circumstance-dependent...?

What if happiness is a choice, that requires a decision...?

(what if my ego is right-now rising up, declaring this to be WRONG...?!? Hmmm... a clue!)

I notice that my ego does hidden battle against happiness ... I notice it prefers that I see the chaos, the calamity ... the confusion ... I notice that it's really invested in skewing my thinking so that I see the glass as "half-empty" (with a leak...!).

But, I cannot get away from what I've been learning, lo these past many months -- that the most important realization of any condition is that I am always at the brink of CHOICE -- I can always choose to perceive things differently.

I notice that whatever I focus on, I get more of it. It seems that creation is an extension of thought -- that reality begins in the mind. If I think "lack" ... I get lack. If I think "enough" or even "abundance" ... that's what I get.

Funny that ... and funnier that I don't YET trust it...!

I can hear my own egoic voice, and what I imagine could be the voices of some who are reading: "But that's just pretending -- it's not being honest to deny the negative crap that's happening!"

What if the negative "self" is not the REAL self ...? What if it's the impostor? I see that yes-indeedy, I need to get in touch with my negative feelings, but ONLY for the purpose of releasing them ... so that I can be aware of the love that's always and ever flowing beneath the cacophonous frenzy of negative confusion. Just as the "grey" skies are only a temporary, ephemeral illusion ... the sky continues to be blue -- and if I rise up "high" enough (in my consciousness), I can see it, if only in my mind's eye ...

To my ego, there is no greater "crime" than in claiming my natural inheritance ... which is joy, peace, hope, happiness, abundance, security, generosity, LOVE! It will continuously point out all the "reasons" I "should" instead have misery, confusion, despair, anxiety, lack, insecurity, selfishness, FEAR!

I'm becoming aware of the dangers of hidden beliefs ... and one of the universal hidden beliefs, it seems to me, is the belief that it's somehow wrong to be too happy...!

The collective, institutionalized ego known as religion hasn't helped matters here ... suffering has become glorified. We have been taught to fixate on the crucifixion, while all but ignoring the more-transformational resurrection...! (Did you know that the crucifixion was not focused upon, in Christianity, for the first 1000 years ... instead, the resurrection was the primary focus ... think on that.) Crucifixion without the resurrection is just a meaningless symbol of death... focused on fear. Resurrection is a shift in that perspective -- fear overcome by love -- death overcome by life.

It's SO easy to have great faith when things are going "well". But sometimes we have to fly by auto-pilot faith ... "blessed are those who have faith who cannot see," Jesus tells us. Sometimes we're in a faith-fog ... all we can see are the circumstances -- we can't see on the other side. That's when we have to trust what the Spirit has shown us (I notice that what religion has preached to us does NOT work here ... it has to be something we've known within, not heard from without).

This is a learned process -- we can LEARN to trust in happy endings ... in good resolutions ... in the reliability of miracles. When we have this faith, our trust invokes the proof of our beliefs.

It's a CHOICE.

Really.

The Talmud says, "during the time of the darkest night, act as if the morning has already come."

I mean, if I can choose to focus on the negative -- then surely I can choose again, and instead focus on the positive.

And yeah, it's harder than anything to start that shift ... when I'm eye-brow deep inn negativity, it takes gargantuan effort (so it seems) to find something to be grateful for ... something in which to derive hope ... something that inspires joy.

Negativity is SUCH a learned habit ... and harder to kick than heroine or nicotine!

The universe conspires to support us in every way ... God is always expressing His love and care for us. The problem is that we don't agree with Him ... we don't yet love ourselves as He loves us, and so we rebuke His messages ... we block ourselves from experiencing the miracles that are ever coming in our direction ...!

The world teaches us that since we are less than perfect (by appearances), we do not *DESERVE* to be happy. And so we are stuck. When good things come our way (love, success, supply, abundance), if we think we don't deserve it, we sabotage ourselves from receiving it. We cannot accept and receive joy when we believe we are not deserving.

What if it's not just our right to be happy, but our *responsibility*...? What if we are meant to be conduits of God's happiness and love ... meant to extend to others around us...?

What if happiness is a sign that we have accepted God's way of thinking, God's will?

What if hope comes as we participate in hopeful solutions..?

What if optimism and happiness are the results of choices, and the intentionality of learning a NEW spiritual perspective...?

Jesus said, "Be of good cheer -- I have overcome the world."

Nothing in this world can thwart the will and plan of God -- NOTHING!

That which comes against us is not real ... it's an illusion that WE empower with our minds.

The only reality, the only power, our only natural state: is love.

Try it on for size -- just for kicks and giggles...!

Shalom, Dena

Revelation: God's Way of Knowing

This was passed on by my dear friend Annie, and as you read it you'll realize why I couldn't NOT share it:

Revelation: God's Way of Knowing
Dan Stone

The Holy Spirit teaches both by revelation and experience. The revelation can be instant and direct, without being transmitted by any formal ''teaching.'' We say, ''Oh, I see.'' The Spirit then uses seen and temporal experiences to work that revelation into us. The revelation gets established in us through personal experience.

Some people have a hard time relating to that, because they associate the word teacher with a schoolroom, where we just impart knowledge. But the Holy Spirit's teaching is experiential teaching. Of course, we do learn facts, but I'm talking about the process whereby we become one with what we are taught. We become one with the truth through experiential teaching.

This experiential knowing is indicated in the biblical words for know. Both the Greek and Hebrew words for know that I am referring to indicate experiential understanding of and oneness with. When ''Adam knew his wife...'', it wasn't an intellectual thing. Adam experienced oneness with his wife. That's exactly what knowing is. There is no anxiety about those things that you know, because you become mixed with them. You and what you know are one.

When God gives you a flash of insight, that's it. ''Oh, I see!'' Everything else, from then on, is just an elaboration on that flash. When you know, you are forever changed in that area. You'd have to make a conscious effort to go back on what the Holy Spirit showed you. That's why it's hard to sin in an area when the Holy Spirit truly shows you something. It's hard to go back on truth. Truth liberates.

I've always liked the word awareness more than the word growth. Because what really happens in each of us? Our awareness simply expands. We become more aware of Who already was. ''Oh, I see more and more of Him.'' We're not seeing more and more about Him. We're seeing more and more of Him. He is the peace. He is the joy. He is the life. He is the love.

Until we see that, we are always saying to God, ''Give me something. Gimme. Gimme. Gimme.'' But when that insight comes (and I'm not saying it has to be sudden, although it was with me), we say, ''Oh, I see. I already have life. I already have Him.''

When God gives your spirit a revelation, often your soul responds with, ''That can't be. That can't be.'' But your spirit is saying, ''It is. It is.'' Revelation doesn't take place in your brain. God reveals Himself in our spirit. He says, ''Yes, the absolutes are true. When you begin to live in My reality, you'll begin to say, 'I am.' Until you live in My reality, you'll say, 'I am becoming' or 'I want to be' or 'I hope I am.'''

How many times have I said, ''I'd like to be. I wish I were. Maybe someday.'' And God was on His throne saying, ''You are! You are!'' When you truly see that Christ is your life, time ceases to be a decisive factor in your life. Everything is just now. You live in the present tense of God. He is not becoming. He is. You are not becoming. You are. You operate from ''I am,'' not ''I will become.''

Every revelation is according to God's good pleasure and His own timing. Timing is so important. You might get the itch before God wants to scratch. You think that you're ready to stop the itch, but God may say, ''You're not itching enough yet. If I were to meet you right now, it would be like harvesting something before its time. You wouldn't grow to full maturity.'' In His own way, in His own time, God reveals.

What is it that the Holy Spirit primarily reveals to us? Jesus told us:

[The Holy Spirit] will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me; for He will take of Mine, and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you. (John 16:13-15)

The work of the Holy Spirit is declaring to us the Father and the Son within us. The Spirit makes no declaration about Himself. He attempts no glorification of Himself. He doesn't point to the fruit or the gifts. The Holy Spirit does not single Himself out because nothing originates with Him. The Spirit is the means by which the life of the Father and the Son comes forth. He wants us to know that we manifest the life of the Father and the Son. That is His revelation.

From: Stone, Dan, The Rest of the Gospel: When the partial Gospel has worn you out. Dallas: One Press. 2000. pgs. 126-129.

(I intend to get back to money ... unless I'm inspired otherwise, LOL!)

Shalom, Dena

How to "Better Others" ...!

Every so often, I run across a quote that says not only what I most need to hear, but what I then most desire to share ...

This is one of those:

"Do you sincerely wish to help others to better themselves? Avoid
criticizing them or moralizing, and start by bettering yourself.
Merely by your example you can show them they are making a
mistake or behaving badly. Yes, by your example. Because, when
you work on yourself, you are working on others: they notice
qualities in you that are lacking in them, and that makes them
progress, as they understand the advantages for them in doing as
you do. Those who concern themselves with the weaknesses and
vices of others become dull and disagreeable, as if the faults
they talk about finally rub off on them; it's awful, you feel
sorry for them.

So start by making changes for the better in yourself, and let
other people be. Accept them as they are, be patient, work
relentlessly, day and night, to show them just what can be
achieved through sincere endeavour. If they don't yet know, they
won't learn it from your words, but they will from your example."

Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov

Breathing this one in deeeeeeeeply ... SO simple, SO liberating ... releasing my obscene, absurd notion that I was put here to *fix* anyone ... I am here to learn who I am, which can then be contagious for others to learn who they are ...!

Shalom, Dena

What About Money...?

Do what you love. Do what makes your heart sing. And never do it for the money. Don't go to work to make money/ go to work to spread joy." (Marianne Williamson, in "A Return to Love")

What if poverty isn't more holy than wealth...?

What if a boring life, a boring career, isn't more holy than an exciting life and fulfilling career...?

What if money isn't evil, but a neutral tool to be used either for harm, or for healing...?

What if every business would stop viewing people as potential pawns for a sale, and instead view them as humans for whom to extend love ...?

What would it look like if there was a radical shift from a sales-mentality, to a (true!) service-mentality...?

What if the only purpose for money is to heal the world, to demonstrate love ...?

What if all money is God's money, and there is no lack ... and there's only how our own perspective gets in the way of us receiving love in that form...? What if our fears are our only problem...?

What if we could become responsible enough to be open to whatever money comes, and to trust that it always will...?

What if we asked the Holy Spirit to remove the obstacles to our reception of money...? What if we believe lies about money, and need to see truth?

What if, in begrudging someone else's right to make a living, we are begrudging ourselves the same...?

What if it's true that what we give, we receive, and what we withhold we have withheld from us ...?

What if we prayed this:

Dear God - I surrender to You all my thoughts about money. I surrender to You my debts. I surrender to You my wealth. Open my mind to receive abundantly. Channel Your abundance through me in a way that serves to heal the world.

What if ...?

Shalom, Dena

What About Careers (Part Three) ...?

I've noticed something (& not for lack of trying) ... we can't fake authenticity.

It seems that we tend to put a whole lot more effort into being special, rather than being real. It's as if we all secretly believe that we're a fake ... that we're an impostor ... that we're really horrid wretches, and must. at. all. cost. hide. this. from. everyone. else. must. pretend. to. be. OK ..!

And so we dazzle 'em with our embellished personality-bling...

Such a charade, with everyone trying to conform with everyone else, who's doing the same...!

My, my, aren't the Emperor's new clothes to die for...?!?

(well, yes! so, drop the illusion and live!)

Think of a bunch of little children ... before they start to worry about the "shoulds" in life. Imagine their open, bright little faces ... so receptive, so unselfconscious ... so shining. It's only when they later learn to compete, conform and comply, that their light becomes dimmed and distorted ...

That natural light, which we all have (we are the Light of the world, according to Jesus), is our grandeur. The ego's attempts to "improve" upon this natural state becomes distorted into grandiosity. And they are different ...

The former says, "I'm complete as I am - and so are you."

The latter says, "I'm better than you - no, wait, I'm less than you - no, wait, I'm better than you" ... and so on.

The liberating truth is that we're just like everyone else ... we're all offspring of God. The truth is that everyone is accepted ... there's no need to compete for anything we need. There is enough. Of everything.

(I know, I keep saying that ... and I'll *keep* repeating it 'til I GET it...!)

We can be tempted by our own attempts to be impressive ... but, of course, others perceive that as pathetic. Grandiosity is always a cover for despair. But even when the ego receives a positive stroke, it cannot receive it, for it knows that it was just one masked-ego stroking the mask of another ... it knows it's not authentic. What isn't real doesn't exist ...

Here's what Marianne Williamson says (in "A Return to Love"),

A miracle worker is an artist of the soul. There's no higher art than living a good life. An artist informs the world of what's available behind the masks we all wear. That's what we're all here to do. The reason why so many of us are obsessed with becoming stars is because we're not yet starring in our own lives. The cosmic spotlight isn't pointed at you; it radiates from within you....

If we wait for the world's permission to shine, we will never receive it. The ego doesn't give that permission. Only God does, and He's already done so. He's sent you here as His personal representative and is asking you to channel His love into the world. Are you waiting for a more important job? There isn't one.

There's a plan for each of us, and each of us is precious. As we open our hearts more and more, we're moved in the directions in which we're meant to go. Our gifts well up inside of us and extend of their own accord. We accomplish effortlessly...

We are to do what there is a deep psychological and emotional imperative for us to do. That's our point of power, the source of our brilliance. Our power is not rationally or willfully called forth. It's a divine dispensation, an act of grace."

Go forth and shine as the Light you ARE.

Shalom, Dena