Discovering Fire Anew

A Home in the Woods

Some day after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness the energies of love. And then, for the second time in the history of the world, we will have discovered fire. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Stillness. I was called to stillness this week. Quiet. Stillness. Inward. Outward. Expressionless Expression. Thoughtful without thought. Within. Without. Fullness. Emptiness. Rest. Deep Rest. Body rest. Mind rest. Spirit rest. Rest to restore. Rest for reset. Rest for the new. Rest to renew. Stillness. Quiet. Rest.

In quiet stillness, I continued to follow and reflect on the theme each day in the Gandhi King Season for Nonviolence. The themes included self-forgiveness, inspiration, mission, prayer, harmony, friendliness, respect. As in the themes leading to this point each resonated to different parts of my being.

Harmony, my personal ‘favorite’ this week, found me exploring acceptance and tolerance and recognizing just how violent unjust criticism of both self and others is.  I saw that each theme is not a goal to reach but a quality, a way of being, to be built from the inside out. Moment to moment. Day to day.

From that insight, inspiration found me wanting to celebrate those moments where I meet what nonviolence asks of me, while self-forgiveness reminded me to be gentle when I fall short.

Somewhere along the way, I saw (in a blinding flash of the obvious) with crystal clarity that LOVE is the essence in all of nonviolence and in the themes offered each day in the Season. Without love, the themes are simply words and any action stemming from them without love is dull, empty, impermanent. On the other hand, with love our words and actions are everlasting, full, and bright. Imagine a world where we each embrace ‘harnessing the energies of love’ as our mission. Imagine yourself and others navigating life with the respect and friendliness that the energy of love commands.

I’m imagining that I’m building my capacity to harness the energy of love and to pour that love into every person, every event I encounter (and, yes, I have a L O N G way to go to meet that high standard of ‘every’). But taking on that as purpose and mission reminds me of the truth that we are all one of the One. We are not separate from Source or from one another. Violence toward another is violence toward self just as love toward another is an expression of self-love.

My prayer for humanity and for our planet is that we ‘let peace be on the earth and let it begin with me’. Give yourself a few moments to allow this beautiful version (click here) to wash over you and to enter your being.

A Snowy Day at the Ziggurat

Reliable Source

Blessed by the Beauty of Fresh Snow on the Peaks and a Colorado Blue Sky Day

With so much information pouring through media of all kinds, we need our minds to belong to us, not to external stimuli. Rev. Dr. Margaret Stortz (Daily Guide for January 26, 2020 in Science of Mind Guide for Spiritual Living)

One might add ‘and disinformation’ to the above quote. From time to time over many years I’ve wondered what sources were accurate and reliable as I sought to keep up with current events and be an informed citizen, voter. It’s troubling and sad how we’ve come to use technology to control rather than to inform. But that’s what those who, fearing the wisdom of the individual and the collective wisdom of the whole, seek: ‘power over’. And, they use whatever means are available.

It's to their (and there are many ‘thems’!) advantage that we stew in this uncertainty, wondering who and what we can trust. ‘Me!’ they each loudly proclaim. That’s the bad news.

The good news? The systems of business, government, etc. that we have built using this approach throughout human history are breaking down and falling apart under the weight of these unstainable ways. Ways that are unstainable because they defy universal law. And that law will prevail.

The even better news? There is a Reliable Source, one available 24/7, weekends and holidays included, without regard to any external conditions or circumstances. We only need to call upon and use it.

The more you feel the love issuing forth from Source, the more you are able to receive in your daily experience. Gregge Tiffen (Fanned Fire and Forced Love Never Did Well – February, 2008)

As I observe the countless breakdowns and crises across the globe, hear the cries for new systems, even make those cries myself, deep inside I know that no new system, no technology, no approach to these very real problems will work unless we have a giant shift in our collective consciousness. It is a shift that occurs one by one, step by step, building until a giant wave propels us forward collectively. Examples abound of individuals and collectives doing this work grounded in the love of Reliable Source.  

Somewhere and sometime along this road of life, it would be wise for each of us to stop and to go off alone for a period of time in order that we may give up beliefs in the power of the coin and the weapons of defense. Let us once again put our dependence on love to sustain us. Gregge Tiffen (The Numerology of Love – February, 2007)

In these times we need the confidence, creativity and conviction that comes with belief in and true love of oneself. Love that is deeply centered in the heart and comes from but one Reliable Source. That is how we make sure our mind belongs to us. That is the foundation for moving forward.

Ever grateful for the beauty that awaits when I step outside.

My Prayer of Thanks - 2019

Grateful for the Blessed Moisture of the Season’s First Snow

The power of giving thanks gives life its vitality! The power of giving thanks comes through your awareness that you are always in a position to receive all the elements the Universe has to offer. Everything is available to you.  Gregge Tiffen (The Power of Giving Thanks, November, 2007)

 This week finds those of us here in the U.S. in the midst of Thanksgiving. While it is good to have a special day to give thanks, the irony of Thanksgiving’s origins in this country deserves a pause for thoughtful consideration. As you give thanks, I’ll leave that consideration to your heart and soul.

Despite the sadness I feel for the atrocities we force upon one another and on our dear planet, I’m grateful for this life and for the opportunities to learn and grow that are ever present.  Despite the irony of the holiday’s origins, I celebrate. I’m grateful for my understanding that, despite history and the current chaos and cruelty worldwide, justice and light will prevail. 

Several years back, sitting quietly by the fire on a cold morning, I began to write in my journal. The words that came surprised me and took me to an unexpected place: gratitude for being me.  As I ease into Thanksgiving Day, I remember all that I’m grateful for and my words then inspire my prayer of thanks for 2019

 I ‘m grateful for how I live my life, the choices I make, the insight and curiosity I experience, my love of quiet and of nature’s beauty. I’m grateful that I take reasonably good care of myself. I’m grateful that I take time to ease into the day and enjoy the morning quiet. I’m grateful for introspection and for how I see the world unfolding perfectly in this human experiment despite events that are horrific beyond my understanding.

I’m grateful for nine years with Cool Hand Luke Skywalker and for all that he teaches me about patience, forgiveness, rest, play, listening and so much more. Although he’s no longer curled up near-by in physical form, his ongoing presence reminds me that life is a continuum not a finite event.

I’m grateful for how I’ve faced the challenges in my life, even those where in hindsight I saw a different way for me to be. Each offered a gift and I did my best to accept it.

I’m grateful that I enjoy my own company as well as the company of others. Both are so very important, yet we humans so very often shun being alone for fear of being lonely, forgetting that in our aloneness we hear Your voice and feel Your presence.

Thank You for always being with me/in me. Thank YOU for allowing and guiding me to be me. I feel so close You, God, in these quiet moments and I am so very grateful.

When we give thanks for being who we are, we tap into the vitality of life.

Wherever this week finds you, may you feel a depth of gratitude that goes deeper and further than any you have felt in your past. May this special Thanksgiving prayer from Gregge Tiffen (http://cindyreinhardt.com/blog/thanksgiving-prayer) contribute to transporting you to that place.

Curious, Beautiful Bucks

Three Legs of the Stool of Life

Warm, spring weather gives way to snow …

Freedom awaits on the other side of self-awareness and self-love. (Rev. Jane Beach - Science of Mind Magazine, Daily Guide for April 5, 2019)

These words caught my attention one morning last week as I read the SOM Daily Guide, part of my morning ritual.  They’ve stayed with me, aligned as they are with my beliefs and understanding about their importance to living a good life. Yet, despite that alignment, I sensed something to be missing. A solid stool needs three legs.

I hadn’t given the idea much thought until this morning as I began to put attention on this week’s post. What’s been my focus this week? What’s had my attention? The answer came quickly: self-care and rest.

 As I generally do on blog day, I opened one of Gregge Tiffen’s booklets to see what would catch my attention as a starting point. I opened it to the last page.

The spiritual purpose of sleep is to refurbish in order for you to create. … Life responds to you! (Gregge Tiffen - The Language of a Mystic: Application – April, 2009)

Hmm, I thought as I turned to the preceding page.

Ask your body what it needs in terms of stamina and maintenance. (Gregge Tiffen - The Language of a Mystic: Application – April, 2009)

Although I knew this post would flow from what I’d read, I didn’t sense the direction. I felt empty and tired so I set aside my journal, curled up and dozed in and out of awareness and with a sense of going deep within.

When I woke a short while later, I gulped. Self-honesty was the missing ingredient that I’d sensed. For some time I’ve ignored the awareness that my body will be healthier and happier if I eliminate sugar from my diet.

Honesty has become a premium in our time. Self-honesty has become like a lode of uranium. To the person who is willing to dig for it and carry it to the surface, the life rewards are abundant. (Gregge Tiffen - The Journey Continues: The Legacy for Generations – November, 2010)

I want a strong, healthy body, and I love chocolate.  The internal conversation around sugar is the same I experienced more than three decades ago when I (finally) quit smoking: I want to stop, but … I want to be healthy, but …. I discovered that the truth was I only desired to ‘want to stop’.

I needed to shift: from ‘wanting to want to stop’ to truly desiring to do so. Making that shift gave me the clarity to prioritize my health and to honor the request of my precious (and at that time precocious) young step-son who clearly saw the hypocrisy of smoking while saying and doing other things to be healthy.

In hindsight, I see how the three legs of self-awareness, self-love, and self-honesty were at play in coming to that choice. From that awareness and the dose of self-honesty that fell in my lap this morning, can I summon the self-love to fuel my will and honor what my body so clearly needs? Will I stop the game I’ll stop when _____ (this batch of cookies is eaten, this chocolate bar is gone)? Will I leap from ‘wanting to want to stop’ to ‘truly desiring  eliminating sugar’?

What are you ‘wanting to want to’ do or to stop? Are you ready to join me in making the leap?

Interesting shapes naturally mark this trail in the woods.

Anchoring In What Is Real

A Clear, Cold Winter Morning …

Life is apparently going to be more complex than we could have ever imagined. If we do not have something real to anchor ourselves we will possibly be swept away at sea. Gregge Tiffen (The Significance of Beginning – January, 2007)

I chuckle as I read Gregge’s words first published 12 years ago.  Indeed life is and seems to continue to become more complex, more chaotic.  THAT is our opportunity! WE get to deepen our learning in how to navigate the stormy seas of life on planet earth by anchoring in a foundation of what is real.

We’ve turned the page on yet another year. We made it through a year that for many was tumultuous at best. Hopefully, we made some progress – not simply in terms of how the world measures progress (money, career, etc.) – but progress in our capacity for self-awareness, self-belief, self-love and faith in the ultimate good of the Universe. THAT is where our opportunity lies.

Deepening our capacity to adapt to changing conditions and to respond to unexpected events is a requirement in a world that seems ever more chaotic. Otherwise we may be swept into the sea of the world’s chaos and find ourselves contributing to its intensity rather than living a life that counters the craziness.

We need more than a life raft. We need a solid foundation in which to anchor ourselves and our choices.  We need to be stable yet remain flexible. We need not to be stuck, but able to move. Adaptability is the key.

And, we won’t find adaptability ‘out there’. It’s an inside job that requires consistent attention and care if we are to deepen our capacity to not get caught up in the world’s chaos or in the unexpected events that life brings our way.  We measure our progress in how we navigate these each and every day.

Does the ringing phone that I ignore as I write this disrupt my train of thought? Yes. How much? How do I adjust and refocus?   Do I allow an event that could disrupt my holiday plans to do so?   Do I participate or not? How do I do so in a way that contributes positively and expresses my true being?

These are the choices we face each and every day, dozens of times. Many seem insignificant. We may not even notice them. Yet each is a building block that contributes to our quality of life AND to the atmosphere and quality of consciousness on the planet. Positive contribution is our opportunity.

Beyond reporting of the so-called news and the punditry of opinion that follows it is an unseen world of cycles within cycles, vortexes within vortexes. This infinite sea of pure, raw energy is what is real. This is the Universe. Events occur. We choose to step into an event or not using this energy. Play or don’t play. These are our choice points, new beginnings.

We are either caught in their chaotic spin or operating with the self-awareness, self-belief, and self-love to sail our own ship.  When we sail our own ship, we discover the Universe is pretty friendly, and our faith in something beyond, yet connected to, ourselves grows.

I continue to discover that when I make decisions that are true for me, choices from this foundation, they tend to serve me well, if not immediately, then certainly long term. Even decisions that don’t work out as planned turn out in my favor in the long run.

This week I invite you to take a deep look at what anchors you in the sometimes stormy sea of life. How rock solid is your foundation?  How might you strengthen it in the year ahead?

… And Cool Hand Luke LOVES It!