Uniquely Created Divinely Inspired . . . You

As humans we tend to divide people into groups of "US and THEM" camps, many times relying on our prejudgments, yep prejudices, about right behavior.  Pink Floyd wrote a song that details the harm in this type of thinking:  we lose sight of our shared humanity.  In ignoring the humanity of others we give ourselves permission to be inhumane.  Harsh word, but true.  "Us And Them" Us and them And after all we're only ordinary men Me and you God only knows it's not what we would choose to do "Forward!" he cried From the rear And the front rank died And the general sat And the lines on the map Moved from side to side Black and blue And who knows which is which and who is who? Up and down And in the end it's only round and round and round "Haven't you heard It's a battle of words?" The poster bearer cried. "Listen, son," Said the man with the gun, "There's room for you inside." "Well, I mean, they're gonna kill ya, so like, if you give 'em a quick sh...short, sharp shock, they don't do it again. Dig it? I mean he got off light, 'cause I could've given him a thrashin' but I only hit him once. It's only the difference between right and wrong, innit? I mean good manners don't cost nothing, do they? Eh?" Down and out It can't be helped but there's a lot of it about With, without And who'll deny it's what the fighting's all about? Out of the way It's a busy day I've got things on my mind For want of the price Of tea and a slice The old man died

Does anyone else feel like things such as civility and kindness are fracturing around us into classes based on agreement with one's belief system.  Maybe its always been this way which is why we are encouraged in religious and philosophical texts to act in  love, in kindness.  To see more in others than they are showing us. ---Neale Donald Walsh Conversations with God.  To Love our enemies.---Jesus Christ Matthew5:43To Love your neighbors as you love yourself.---Jesus Christ  Matthew 22:35-40; Mark 12:31Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace.---BuddhaHolding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.---BuddhaAs I radiate love and goodwill to others, I will open the channel for God's love to come to me. Divine love is the magnet that draws to me all good.  Paramahansa Yogananda Love Human and Divine On a mountain, in a valley I behold only God.  In hardship I see God by my side.  IN Ease and well being I behold only God.  Like a candle I melted, amidst the sparks of the candle I behold only God ---Rabia the Mystic Let's talk about finding peace and showing peave/love to others, even when we disagree.  Anger is getting us no where. Come Join me Mara

The last few weeks I've been thinking a lot about the wave of fear I see gripping the US. When people are afraid they don't listen very well except to their own righteous thoughts.  I've realized we need to talk more by asking questions and  "Listen[ing] with the ears of those who speak."  But we first must prepare by asking more questions of ourselves.  Each of us needs to know ourself, because as Socrates said, "To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom." Some questions to consider:  What are you afraid of that justifies your speaking and acting on your darkest words? Why are you afraid to say Black Lives Matter?  Brown Lives Matter? Asian Lives Matter? Why does using those words threaten you? Why are you frightened by everyone being treated equally?Why can you deny what is before your eyes?Why are you afraid to wear a face mask?  How does that threaten you?What are you losing by not wearing a mask? What are you gaining?  What makes you so afraid you take assault weapons to a protest that already scares you?One for me to you---How can you use your Bible to spew hate?  What happened to judge not? "Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye." ---Matthew 7:5What happened to Love others?  Jesus gave a new commandment : "Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples," John 13:34-35. Let's keep working on BEING LOVE:   ASK YOURSELF,  WHAT WOULD LOVE DO NOW?

The Least among you can do what I do and more!---Jesus Christ (John 14:12 )

God, by whatever name or pronoun you use, sees more in each of us than we show.  The Divine One sees through our walls and justifications straight through to the Divine Spark in each of us.  Is your Divine Light shrouded in a cloud because of past choices?  Don't worry---welcome to humanity.  The thing is what matters is what you do now.  So there's still time to ignite your inner light of LOVE.   Is your Divine Light bricked in by walls demanding to be in control?  Let go of the need to play God---let God in and work to control YOU with gudance from your inner Light.  God is within you guiding you to kind good choices.  Do you listen?   We used to sing songs in vacation Bible School that hold such truth:  "This little Light of mine, I'm going to let it shine....;" "You've gotta have faith, hope and charity that's the way to live successfully....;"  "Jesus love the little children, all the children of the world:  red, and yellow, black and white they are precious to his sight, Jesus loves the little chidren of the world...."  What happened?   Simpler times when we believed the way was staying in line with LOVE and Kindness, keeping our inner Light alive and shining. You cannot change the past, but you can the present:  Be Kind, See more in others than they show you...see their Divine Light. Take charge of you and let Your LIGHT shine, not to show you are right but to show you are KIND in your words and your deeds. BE LOVE PEACE BE WITH YOU Namaste M

Lately I've been pretty quiet as I've read and watched leaders using vile, unkind, language across our country. People are threatening to shoot others and in some case are. Protests are turned violent by masked unknown soldiers similar to what we see in Russia and other places where disagreement is treated as disloyalty and put down.  In the midst of this, a terrible virus plagues our country and the world.  The virus reminds us we are all equally vulnerable, as do the loyalty tests that allow it to run rampage.  We need as a nation to decide to what are we loyal to: God by whatever name you call God, I prefer "LOVE," or Politics with its fickle policies and leaders?  I suggest Loyalty to LOVE.  Had people been loyal to love and treating others the way they want to be treated themselves in the same situation:  Wearing masks would be natural and intuitive---no one wants to get sick or have someone else get sick;Guns would remain at home unloaded and uncocked rather than a "go to" solution;Dissent would not be met with violenceNo one would be called a name for expressing his/her opinions because no one wants to be called a name by others for expressing differing opinions;Respectful words designed to unify the United States would be the norm for our leaders not name calling and cussing;Governors would have a national plan to follow in response to the virus that dignifies all, not one to demonstrate loyalty to a national leader; andThere would be no need for protests! We have lost sight of our values and misplaced our loyalty to love one another with politics.  FEAR BEGATS FEAR AND JUSTIFIES UNLOVING CONDUCT. SEE MORE IN OTHERS THAN THEY SHOW YOU: THE DIVINE SPARK OF LIGHT PLACED THERE BY GOD AT BIRTH. NAMASTE, GOD BE WITH YOU,  m

Many of us have been raised to show and believe we are better or more worthy than others whether because of our position, our race, our money, our religions or any other enumerable characteristics often disconnected from our hearts.  We are taught to justify our belief we deserve more: better treatment, better things, more respect because we are better or more than others.   I grew up in an economically challenged family, we weren't allowed to say "poor."  That was an insult to my parents.  They had seen real poverty, poor people, in the hills of West Virginia. So, We were not poor!  We had food, even if it was stuff discarded by the Market Basket. Poor people don't have food. We were better than that.   When my first grade teacher in the project school I attended thought I would never learn to read and told my dad, he was furious   He taught me to read by sight.  When they told him the same about my brothers, he was again angry. We all learned to read.  Today, I wonder how many poor kids are kept down by such judgments.  Kept from fulfilling their potential? Judging others as less than is prejudiced thinking designed to show the speaker is superior. Imagine opening our minds by seeing everyone as equal to us, no less no more  Now against that backdrop open your mind to see possibilities for showing that equality rather than doomsday prophecies.  So instead of your children will never read and implicitly are doomed to a life of poverty, let's look for a way to change that to help them reach their full potential.   Equal is enough.  Treating others as equal without judgment is empowering for all.     GUIDE YOURSELF FROM LOVE

Let's just for now forget about property damage caused by riots, and focus on why people are screaming and rioting.  The kind of rage we see did not start last year.  It is part of our heritage but everytime its explodes people begin talking in platitudes with a lot of tinges of "us and them" thinking.  Some people call out the root cause treating others as less than and denying them the full benefits of the law and life in the beginning, but pretty soon that discourse gets replaced by discussions of property damage.  In essence the property damages eclipses the human damage that caused the eruption.  People start to blame, which reinforces their prejudices about the eruption caused by their prejudices.  It's time we stop this cycle of hate.  As Pink Floyd sings: Us (us, us, us, us) and them (them, them, them, them), And after all we're only ordinary men, Me And you (you, you, you), God only knows, It's not what we would choose (choose, choose) to do (to do, to do) ... Haven't you heard it's a battle of words, The poster bearer cried, "Listen son", said the man with the gun, There's room for you inside "I mean, they're not gonna kill ya, So if you give 'em a quick short, sharp, shock, They won't do it again. Dig it? I mean he get off lightly, 'cause I would've given him a thrashing, I only hit him once! It was only a difference of opinion, but really, I mean good manners don't cost nothing do they, eh?" Down (down, down, down, down),  And out (out, out, out, out), It can't be helped that there's a lot of it about, With (with, with, with), without, And who'll deny it's what the fighting's all about?Out of the way, It's a busy day,I've got things on my mind, For the want of the price Of tea and a slice, The old man died

Building on last week:  Love your enemies.   For now, let's treat everything as arising from Love or Fear.  Now, lets ask ourselves how we would want to be treated when we are afraid--ah kindly, so Love becomes the way.  So where do you put anger:  Love or Fear? Why are people angry at each other?  Let's try Love and create a force that circles the planet showing Love.  Bottom line you are either a teacher of Love through your reactions or a student of the power of love through fear and your reactions to kindness.  Both a student and a teacher.  LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE IN LOVE NOT JUDGMENT, WHICH IS MASKED FEAR

This week I recognized people are consumed with fear based on what they've been taught to fear.  People seem to think their way of thinking should be the only way.  They are afraid of different beliefs, threatened.  Looking at everything as happening now as we, imperfect humans, being afraid actually helps me.  I've noticed admitting fear is not an easy thing for most of us.  Its usually one of of those moments wher if you say hey I think we're all afraid; the response is usually followed by "Not me" and words explaining why their reactions are right....   We don't have to live our lives in fear.  We don't have to live in a world consumed by distrust, We don't have to be angry because others see the world differently than we do---I mean, of course they do, none of us have lived the exact same life, We don't have to judge each other---in fact we are warned of the pitfalls of doing so all over religious texts. We can relax and treat others with respect and dignity because they are human beings, We can be kind, We can see more in others than they are showing us, We can look for the Light of Divine in all, We can ask questions rather than judge---it takes a long time to build the kind of fear we are seeing, WE CAN BE LOVE What should Love do NOW? Let's each map out what we want our future to look like and then start living as though it looks that way.  Maybe, just maybe, LOVE WILL CONQUER ALL.  But even if not, we can relax in the tranquility of knowing the being over whom we have control, ourself, is doing his/her part to live in peace and in so doing is working to build a world of peace.  It takes strength to be peace, to be love, to be kind---together we can do it.   Namaste Mara