Advice to students graduating from high school in 2018

Gratitude and Thanksgiving

On November 17, I had the blessing of participating in another of Craig Boyer’s “Dig This! Music with a Message” shows on KKRN 88.5 FM. The theme was “Gratitude and Thanksgiving” hosted by Craig Boyer with guests Alex Colvin & Pamela Spoto.

Craig always picks out wonderful music. His selection for this program were:

LET’S TAKE OUR HEADS OUT OF THE SAND by: BOB WICKLINE

THIS IS OUR COUNTRY HERE by: JOHN McCUTCHEON

HARVEST HOME by: JAY UNGAR & MOLLY MASON

SEEDS by: DENNIS WEAVER

LOVE TILL YOU’VE LOVED IT AWAY (aka, THANKSGIVING EVE) by: BOB FRANKE

THE RAINBOW RACE by: PETE SEEGER

SONG BY ALEX COLVIN  was  : TRAVELING IN THE MAINSTREAM OF LOVE

In between songs we conversed on the theme of gratitude. If you have time to spare, please give it a listen.

 

Heart of Gratitude

Once, sitting on my back patio I looked into my self, into my heart. I wanted to know who I was in my essence. What I discovered was an infinitely deep well of love. Then a silent voice said, “Your gift is your presence, and your purpose is enlightenment.”

It is from the deep well of love within the heart that gratitude springs. It is from this deep well that compassion flows.

The well within the heart is fed by the springs of Divine Love.

Just as looking into myself, I discovered a well of love, so also, if we contemplate absolute reality, we will discover that at the core of the cosmos there is a living and giving heart of endless and everlasting love.

The river of love flows from our Father the creator and fills the hearts of all who trust in Him.

The prophet Jeremiah said:

“… blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
    whose confidence is in him.
They will be like a tree planted by the water
    that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
    its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
    and never fails to bear fruit.” Jer, 17:7-8

A heart filled with love naturally feels gratitude towards the one who fills the cup.

All existence is quickened by giving and receiving. Gratitude is an acknowledgement and affirmation of the gifts of love expressed in the desire to give back and to give to others.

The divine river of love flows to us and through us. It flows into our hearts and then amongst us, one to another.

Jesus said, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”

Gratitude itself is potent. It completes the circle of love. In so doing it magnifies and multiplies the power of goodness.

Those who are truly grateful do not betray the one they love. Therefore gratitude gives us strength to overcome the power of the evil one.

Once, as I sat in a hot spring looking down at the Pit River, a silent voice said, “Let love flow through you so that your heart may be pure.”

Let us be grateful. Let us cultivate an attitude of gratitude. Let us express our gratitude in thought, word, and deed.

 

I Am

Circles Giving Birth to Circles

I am
a soul
manifesting
thought
feeling
and experience
through a physical body
in a material world

I am
an individual expression
of God’s spirit
shaping reality
in a world
of divine creation.

One Most High God – One Way

Road to the Temple of Peace

There is only one Absolute Reality.
There is only one source of all that is.
There is only one Most High God.

There appear to be many ways.
Yet in their essence they are all one.

Love God with all your heart and all your soul and all your strength.
Love your neighbor as yourself.

In Silence

Definitely
God can minister to one’s soul in the silence.
In silence, one can experience the presence of God.
In silence, one’s questions can be answered
and new questions can be raised.
In silence, direction can be discovered.
In silence, the balm that heals
mental, emotional, and physical ailments
pours forth and one can embrace
the peace that passes all understanding.

Open the Door of Love

Love is such a journey. Loving God, loving oneself, loving others. How does one open the doors of love. When one has been traumatized or wounded it is not easy.

Rev 3:20 says, “I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in…”

So God is there, ready to come into our hearts if we open up. If we do, we pass from death to life.

We have an inner world and an outer world. However, in relation to the love of God the boundary is somewhat vague.

“Where is the love of God,” my cousin asked me at, shortly after I had opened the door, or in my case, dissolved the bubble that encased me to become immersed in the golden light of love.

“Is it inside or outside,” he queried.

“When you are feeling the love of God,” I responded, “There is no inside or outside.”

God’s love is everywhere. In a sense, it is the absolute reality. The foundation of all existence.

Those who open the door to know the depth of their soul know that we are all one in the love of God even though we are each a unique expression of that love.

Those who open the door to know the depth of their soul know that the inner world and the outer world are both expressions of one reality, two side of the same coin.

What is this door? Where is this door?

Indeed it is the door of faith. It is here now.

If you can’t find the door, perhaps you’re consciousness is preoccupied with thoughts and sensations.

Retreat into the silence and the stillness.

Don’t think about it.

Simply ask, “God, are you there?”

Knock and the door will be opened.

When the door is opened you will find the Way.

Trust God and Do Well Sept 6 2016

Is it possible to heal our nation and heal the world. I believe so, if we have faith, love God, and do well. Peace.

 

Pledge of the Brown Bear

I pledge allegiance
To the Way

And to the Love, Freedom,
Creativity, and Abudance
That it provides

One Cosmos
With God as its Center and Circumference

E Pluribus Unum
With Compassion for All

Doing without doing

Lao Tzu

Sometime around 2600 years ago there lived a man whom we refer to as Lao Tzu, which simply means “Old Master.” One story is that he was the keeper of archives for the royal court of Zhou. At the age of 80, he decided to leave the kingdom and venture into the mountains to the west. At the border he was recognized by a guard Yingxi, who  asked him to write down some of his wisdom before he left.

Lao Tzu wrote 81 short passages which have come down to us as the Tao Te Ching, or the Book of the Way.

I am not going to try to define the Tao. Actually, the opening statement of the Tao Te Ching is

The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao
The name that can be named is not the eternal name

– Tao Te Ching 1

I have been reading Stephen Mitchell’ translation of Tao Te Ching for the past few weeks. The short book is full of wisdom that runs contrary to contemporary Western culture. Our modern culture pursues the vision of Francis Bacon, seeking to dominate nature through science and to create a progressive society organized and controlled by an intellectual elite.

Lao Tzu on the other hand says,

… the universe is forever out of control
and that trying to dominate events
goes against the current of the Tao

– Tao Te Ching 30

Lao Tzu saying

One of the ideas that stands out in the Lao Tzu’s teaching is “wei wu wei,” doing without doing.  The third chapter of Tao Te Ching ends with the advice:

Practice not doing
and everything will fall into place.

Let us briefly imagine this mysterious Tao as the source of all that is and that it is immanent and active in all being. When we are opinionated and willful, our thinking gets in the way of the Tao. We forget where we come from. We forget that we are a part of the oneness that is the Great Tao.

If you don’t realize the source,
you stumble in confusion and sorrow.
When you realize where you come from,
you naturally become tolerant,
disinterested, amused,
kindhearted as a grandmother,
dignified as a king.
Immersed in the Tao,
you can deal with whatever life brings you,
and when death comes, you are ready.

– Tao Te Ching 16

Artistic rendering of taiji

This is kind of like Obi Wan Kenobi in Star Wars saying to Luke, “Trust the Force.” Or like the Christian saying, “Let go and let God.”

Nowadays, there is a lot of interest in ancestry. People want to know where they came from. From a Biblical point of view, we can all trace our lineage back to Adam and Eve, who were the son and daughter of God.

From an evolutionary or scientific view also, we all come from the ultimate source. Where do human beings come from? Where do animals and plants come from? Where do molecules and atoms come from? Where do quantum particles from? As the Tao Te Ching says, all come from one source.

The Tao is infinite, eternal.
Why is it eternal?
It was never born,
Thus, it can never die.
Why is it infinite?
It has no desires for itself;
thus it is present for all beings.

– Tao Te Ching 7

The Tao is called the Great Mother:
empty yet inexhaustible,
it gives birth to infinite worlds.

It is always present within you.
You can use it any way you want.

– Tao Te Ching 6

Stop thinking. Start doing without doing.