The Song Of Your Soul (12/31)

May you have the gift of understanding that
there is no separate dwelling place for God.

New Year’s Eve

We each find our own way to observe, to celebrate this happening. I guess I lean away from the loud and noise filled celebrations, the ball dropping, the fire works, and the boisterous crowds. That’s all fine and good for folks who like that.

Years ago, the drunkest I ever got was one noisy New Year’s Eve when our host was mixing all these drinks with fruit juice in a huge blender. Hmmmm. I can laugh now – it was embarrassing at the time. I was young and just going along with the culture – it really wasn’t me.

Do you ever catch yourself not really being you?

I guess now, I lean in a different direction. These words are from a good friend – they touch something deep inside of me. Think of slowing the pace – opening to grace. Being awake and present. Note the use of the word ‘notice’.

What will you notice this day?

“Autumn streams by and December dawns. I am tired and Christmas seems distant. Driving to work, I notice veined branches curled against the morning sky and watch a lone crow caw with an energy that rocks his sleek body. Nature offers beauty and zest, if I slow down to notice. As the year subsides, I find the sweetness of Christmas in the deep quiet of a starry night, the minor key of an Advent melody and the spark of hope I hold in my heart.”

Some music for your meditation and reflection on this Eve of a New Year. Let the music flow through you – opening inner spaces in your soul – your spark of hope.

Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth.

Love to you and a gentle hug – we all need four hugs a day to survive – 12 hugs to thrive.

We are all sparks of the Divine flame
Blessed Be
Compassionate Be
Boldly Be

You Are The Light Of The World (12/29)

“You are the light of the world … let your light shine.”
[Matthew 5:14]

This message was part of a Christmas card we received this year from a good friend. I thought you would appreciate it:

“One of the most calming and powerful actions you can do to intervene in a stormy world is to stand up and show your soul. Struggling souls catch light from other souls who are fully lit and willing to show it.”
–Clarissa Pinkola Estes

I invite you to remember times of struggle, times when your light was dim and barely flickering. And remember the individuals and institutions that were there for you when you needed some help to let your light shine. And now it is you who are willing to stand up and show your soul. Thank you for letting your light shine in our dark streets.

“And we are put on earth a little space, that we may learn to bear the beams of love.” -William Blake

Be true to the light within you.

Wisdom, courage and compassion.

Dr. Howard Thurman (12/27)

Questions to ponder in your heart:

• Could there be in you an inner Herod who resists and wants to kill the new life that is seeking to breakthrough into your being?
• What is the cost/promise of your action or of your refusal to act?
• Are you willing to consent to the Spirit’s presence in your life?

Dr. Howard Thurman, theologian and civil rights leader, came to The Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in my second year for one semester in the 1960s. All of the faculty and students were deeply engaged and influenced by his presence. We took an active part in prayer vigils and marches and demonstrations for open housing, civil rights, for justice and equality for all. It was a most creative and moving time – a palpable sense of presence was felt by all.

Please allow these words taken from Dr. Howard Thurman’s Footprints of a Dream: The Story of the Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples to flow deeply into your heart for the living of your life now?

“The movement of the Spirit of God in the hearts of men and women often calls them to act against the spirit of their times or causes them to anticipate a spirit which is yet in the making. In a moment of dedication, they are given wisdom and courage to dare a deed that challenges and to kindle a hope that inspires.”

Prayerfully, allow the words, images, and music to flow through you – opening inner spaces within your heart.

“When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among brothers,
To make music in the heart.”
-Dr. Howard Thurman

Dare to live your one wile life with courage and with holy boldness.

We are all sparks of the Divine flame
Blessed Be
Compassionate Be
Boldly Be

Christmas – A Halting Of Hate Time (12/25)

Be positive, inclusive, and compassionate to all.

It is Christmas time – a halting of hate time.

On this Christmas Day, I invite you to listen to the music and then to read the powerful, deeply ecumenical and inclusive poem on peace by Maya Angelou. I invite you to read the poem slowly, prayerfully, and aloud to yourself. And you might be asking yourself: “Are other people safe with my theology?”

Amazing Peace by Maya Angelou

We clap hands and welcome the Peace of Christmas.
We beckon this good season to wait awhile with us.
We, Baptist and Buddhist, Methodist and Muslim, say come.
Peace.

Come and fill us and our world with your majesty.
We, the Jew and the Jainist, the Catholic and the Confucian,
Implore you to stay awhile with us
So we may learn by your shimmering light
How to look beyond complexion and see community.

It is Christmas time, a halting of hate time.
On this platform of peace, we can create a language
To translate ourselves to ourselves and to each other.
At this Holy Instant, we celebrate the Birth of Jesus Christ
Into the great religions of the world.
We jubilate the precious advent of trust.
We shout with glorious tongues the coming of hope.
All the earth’s tribes loosen their voices
To celebrate the promise of Peace.

We, Angels and Mortals, Believers and Nonbelievers,
Look heavenward and speak the word aloud.
Peace. We look at our world and speak the word aloud.
Peace. We look at each other, then into ourselves,
And we say without shyness or apology or hesitation:

Peace, My brother.
Peace, My sister.
Peace, My soul.

Blessings, Shalom, Peace to all beings everywhere.

We are all sparks of the Divine flame
Blessed Be
Compassionate Be
Boldly Be

Thanksgiving and Christmas (12/14)

I am reflecting on the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas – two huge holidays with lots of family connections. For me, Thanksgiving was always at my Grandmother’s house, and I experienced it as a time of gratitude for all that had come before. What are your Thanksgiving memories?

My father died on Nov. 9, 2001 and my Mother died a month and a few weeks later on Christmas eve, Dec. 24, 2001. I wonder if I ever adequately expressed my thanksgiving for the gift of life which they gave me. My younger brother, Richard, died on Feb. 14, 2012 – death by suicide. I am grateful too for his life.

And then there is Hannukah – Christmas – New Year – which in my mind is to not look backward like Thanksgiving, but to move forward into the new and the unknown. Behold, something new is coming to us, calling us to look forward, to be conscious of our life and the new ways that it is unfolding even when we are in our 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s – even 100s!!! This is fresh, new, exciting. Creation continues. Even in our death something new is coming.

Creation continues as God, the absolute, the course, the ground of our being, is always with and within us – The Eternal Now. Yes, this time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is quite mysterious and sacred. Makes me think of this great prayer by Dag Hammarskjold:

For everything that has been – Thank you!
For everything that will be – Yes!

I invite you to ponder your experiences with Thanksgiving and Christmas and your family connections. Consider all that you are grateful for – beginning with your birth and going forward into the New Year 2015. Ponder all the new life that may be breaking forth within you in these holy days coming up and in the new year.

Like Mary, can we be open, receptive, ready to welcome the new life that is coming to each one of us? Where will we shout our “YES” to life? You might ponder your mission in life now … how can you love and serve others? Where will you hurl the moral ounces of your being?

“When we come to know our inner God, which is our true Self, we will know that the divine is in everybody.”
-Howard Murphet

With you in awakening to who God is in us and to who we are in God.

We are all sparks of the Divine flame
Blessed Be
Compassionate Be
Boldly Be

Living The Questions Today – NOW! (12/8)

My hunch is that some time in our younger years (18-25), we consciously or unconsciously wrestled with the questions:

• Who am I?
• What are my strengths and talents?
• What do I want to do with my life?
• What am I passionate about?
• What are my values, my visions, my hopes?
• What is my purpose, or if you like, my own personal mission statement?

None of us are at that age now. Most of us on the Soul Nugget list are between 39-96 years of age. Yes, the times they are a-changing. Carl Jung wrote: “that which served you in the morning of your life, will not serve you in the afternoon of your life.” The morning of life has more ego issues and concerns, the afternoon has more soul issues and concerns. This is a time for a new consciousness and a new creativity. So, this time for many of us is a time for rebooting, for new directions, for new ways to engage the mystery of life. New adventures. New ways to contribute to the common good, to love and serve others.

Two of our best friends have just retired, selling their former businesses and are entering a new land. Another two set of friends just retired from a ministry of coaching and have written a new book. Several of you have recently lost a spouse, or partner, and are entering a new land.

All of us are living in a land so different from the one into which we were born. Change is everywhere. And a new land is calling out to us. Creation continues!

I retired on January 5, 2014 after 46 years of a ministry with The Presbyterian Church, something I loved and valued more than I can say. But it was time for me to step aside and to move in a new direction. My life was unfolding in a new way. It is a time for many of us to live the questions anew. Listen for the fresh answers that arise from deep within you now.

• Who am I now?
• What are my strengths and talents now?
• What do I want to do with my life now?
• What am I Passionate about?
• What are my values, my visions, my hopes now?
• What is my purpose, or if you like, my personal missions statement now?

Read “Ecclesiastes 3” by Holy Bible (KJV) on Genius

Advent Questions:

• Am I willing to receive the new life that is seeking to breakthrough to me now?
• Am I listening to my life now?
• Am I too comfortable in my well upholstered rut?

I welcome your responses to the above. But more, I hope you will gift yourself with time to lean into and to reflect on the questions of your life now. We do not learn from experience as much as we learn by reflecting upon experience. Listen to your life now!

Peace, Justice, and Equality for all.