Adding a Fifth Pillar to Lifestyle Medicine

Posted on September 18, 2010 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

Sandy standing on a rock in Sabino Canyon

Good Morning, God!

I forget exactly how I came across an article by Dr. Mark Hyman on Lifestyle Medicine. But I like what he said: Overwhelming evidence proves that the most effective prevention and treatment for chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes is what we eat, how much we exercise, how we handle stress, and our social connections. These factors are often referred to collectively as “lifestyle medicine.”

I would add one more factor — spiritual connections — that would be a connection with YOU, God! Knowing we are loved and valued — knowing the extent of Your Compassion for us and for all creatures — now THAT’S a help in handling stress. Certainly a help in keeping things in perspective.

I read a quote last week, God, about how we live on a tiny planet — going around a third rate star — in a corner of a pretty ordinary galaxy. So? You created us. We have incredible value to YOU. I love the Hasidic saying about balancing the two slips of paper in our coat pockets. One slip says From DUST you came and to Dust you shall return. The other slip says For you, the World was created.

Aware of our smallness on the one hand — and awake to Your Love, God — on the other. Oh, if only we KNEW in every cell how much You love EACH ONE OF US. Like a good parent, You want us to love, respect, encourage and care for one another.

Not soft love, God. Not love, that fails to Speak the Truth in Love. It takes backbone AND compassion to love well — to love with an eye to another’s high calling.

Posted in becoming the change I wish to see, being repotted, being together in a compassionate presence, healing, LOVE

Failure as The First Step in Learning

Posted on September 17, 2010 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

Teach Like a Champion by Doug Lemov

Good Morning, God!

Here’s a book I’d like to read. I just read an excerpt from it in Delancyplace.com about how failure is part of learning. Not only that, but the author urges us not to make a big deal of getting an answer right. The whole idea seems to be about getting started– with initial failures to be expected — and then learning how to do it better.

I really like that idea, God. That’s the way we learn to walk and talk. Then we go to school and it is all about being RIGHT! Or more to the point, it is about NOT MAKING MISTAKES! Worse yet, in school we are taught that there IS a RIGHT ANSWER.

And if we go back to the Goldilocks and the Three Bears story — it appears as if our chances of getting “it right” are one in three. Contrast THAT model with the REALITIES in which there often doesn’t even appear to be any right answers. Or as I have learned — there are a whole lot more ways to be WRONG, than there are to be right.

That Goldilocks Model is the cause of a lot of stress — it creates totally unrealistic expectations. As for myself, God, I really like the “Life as Bog” model. Life is messy, confusing and chaotic. I love it. But I sure can’t evaluate how I’m doing.

And that is just as well. It’s more about HOW are WE doing. Are we banding together and helping. Are we LEARNING from our mistakes? Are we WILLING to ADMIT we’ve failed? And are we willing to start over? I just finished One Good Dog which is so much more than a Dog Story. It is about FAILING as a GIFT. A painful gift. But then, God, some of Your best gifts are painful.

Posted in growing toward up, learning, web of life

Koko Head and a Soft Slow Evening

Posted on September 16, 2010 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

Koko Head from the Plumeria Beach House

Good Morning, God

I usually see this view in the morning — it is a softer light at dusk — wrapping around us, welcoming us into relaxation. I am a recovering adrenaline addict, God. Part of the “do two things at once and do them quickly” syndrome.

Dang! Caught! Yes, God, I WAS going to comment on how much wiser it is to relax! Making it sound as if I had mellowed and matured. But You reminded me that just this morning I was teaching two people at the same time — teaching them quite different things — and LOVING IT.

One person complimented me on my patience. But, teaching/tutoring is a JOY — at no point is patience ever required. Well, hardly ever.

The Stingray's pool at night

Still, I am pleased with the part of me that is now enjoying slow — the part of me that values and cherishes NOT working on the Sabbath. Of course, I still am not managing myself well enough to avoid TOO BUSY the day before the Sabbath. Ah, but I FEEL the PULL toward Centeredness and CALM.

Let’s see, God, how many years since the electric light was invented? Was it in the 1880’s? Only 130 years to roll back the Night? To change the pattern of waking with the Dawn and sleeping in the Night?

Caught, again! I was just getting ready to blame our BUSY BUSY on electric lights! Before, only the wealthy few could dance the night away by candle light.

Technology, like Wealth, does set before us an incredible array of choices. God, You have set us FREE to choose — Help us cling to YOU and choose wisely. Help me see that RESTING in YOU is the KEY to WISE CHOOSING.

Posted in choices, choosing HARD, Choosing Meaning, Choosing to respond, relaxation, rest

The Eiffel Tower and Creatures of Certainty (sometimes, that’s me)

Posted on September 15, 2010 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

The base of the Eiffel Tower: Photo by Paul Seaman

Good Morning, God!

Yesterday I read that the French evacuated the Eiffel Tower and the area around it due to a bomb threat. Suz thought that the French ban on Islamic girl’s head scarfs might have had something to do with the threat. She thought the head scarf ban was a stupid thing to do.

We humans do A LOT of stupid stuff. Me too, God. I keep telling myself that we CAN choose our responses — we can try to let people know we hear them. And we can seek common ground — a deeper “truth.” A deft changing of the subject or of the focus can sometimes defuse disagreements. I much prefer defusing to detonating.

But, there are small groups of zealots that are so certain they are right that they feel justified in doing anything to prevail. With them, reason won’t work. Zealots know that they are after people’s hearts — through fear or feeling. Prudent men seem to miss that entirely. Ah, God. Reason doesn’t seem to be able to seep down into the human heart.

Ah my. Please, God, help the French. The Eiffel Tower “belongs” to us all and I hate to see it threatened. Help us all. Oh, that we would all be just a bit aware that we MIGHT be wrong. Perhaps that would keep us from becoming Zealots? Or is the person possessed of Common Sense and Reasonableness forever assailed by Creatures of Certainty?

Hmmm. This is surely a matter for PRAYER! Didn’t we just talk about praying for our enemies? So, this morning, God, help me to pray for ALL Creatures of Certainty! And, yes, God, from time to time I morph into one of those, too.

Posted in a prayer for healing, acknowledging another's existence, being together in a compassionate presence, Common Sense, Common sense and reasonableness, Communication

Grasping the Extent of Our Power to Create

Posted on September 14, 2010 by a moment with god — 1 Comment

A rainbow at sunset

Good Morning, God!

Nothing like observing YOUR creations to make us humble. A rainbow is always breathtaking . . . and one against sunset lit clouds . . . even more so.

But, humble or not, we ARE made in Your Image, God! Made to create. Finding in ourselves AS we create something deeply satisfying. I remember watching Toshiko Takaezu creating a bowl on a potter’s wheel. It felt as if she were reaching down — into the “Teeming Void” — to pull that bowl up and out into existence. It was a deeply sacred moment.

I was going to riff on the differences between handcrafted items and machine made products — but then I looked over at my new iPhone. I love it. It, too, has been pulled up into existence — designed with care, designed with love. How is it, God, that we recognize this quality?

palms indoors at the Kahala at night

Sometimes what tips us over into delight as we approach something isn’t even so much aesthetic as it is a small touch of joy. When I saw my car in the dealer’s lot — I saw the SWOOSH on its side — and responded, viscerally, with delight. Actually, I responded that way when I first saw, Kit. Smile!

The sight of these overlapping palm branches stopped me last night. I backed up and took a photo. It’s a jumble, but with an underlying pattern. Discovering — perhaps creating — underlying patterns is part of the creative process, too, God.

You command us to BLESS, BLESS and DO NOT CURSE. You tell us PRAY for those who despitefully use us! I think that is because You want us to know that WE CAN CREATE ENEMIES BY OUR EXPECTATIONS — and by our expectations we can open the door to creating friends, too. Please, HELP us, God, to “overcome evil with good.”

Tagged with: Perhaps we need a little chaos - a little unknowing - little humility
Posted in appreciation, Being a Blessing, Choosing to respond, Creating, creativity in loving service, responding to God's Spirit, Rethinking

Lost Sheep, Hungry Goats, Me

Posted on September 13, 2010 by a moment with god — 1 Comment

cashmere goats eating up Mongolian grasslands

Good Morning. God!

Yesterday the scripture reading was Luke 15:1-10 where Jesus talks about the lost sheep and the woman with the lost coin. I love those stories, God! I love how You CARE about the LOST. The image of a man leaving his 99 sheep — to go off looking for the one that is lost — and then carrying it home on his shoulders — always moves me.

Yes, God, it isn’t lost on me that the religious leaders of the day didn’t like Jesus. I’m not sure that many religious leaders TODAY like Jesus. I mean, God, they SAY they do. But they don’t follow.

Sigh. Not that I am doing such a great job of following Jesus.

Thinking of sheep made me think about GOATS — Matthew 25 — and how You separate the sheep from the goats. If sheep know their master’s voice and follow — goats just do as they darn well please. I found this photo of goats but it came with sad news that cashmere being relatively expensive there has been a rush to raise cashmere goats. The good news is cashmere sweaters have never been cheaper. The BAD NEWS is that there are so many goats that the grasslands of Mongolia — there since the time of Ghengis Khan — are being turned into deserts. Goats, it seems, eat the ROOTS of plants.

Money NOW vs Grasslands for the Future. I was going to wax indignant about valuing short term returns at the expense of long term good, God. But then you brought to my attention that I do that too. I scurry around being TOO BUSY. Then I pay the price. The Sabbath Rest yesterday was wonderful God. But I need another Day of Rest this Tuesday!

Posted in a new view of Commons, living within limits, lying fallow, Perspective

Rocks Are Part of Life

Posted on September 12, 2010 by a moment with god — 1 Comment

Sandy Beach at low tide, Labor Day: Photo by David Johnson

Good Morning, God!

It’s fun to look back on another morning — a morning spent at the beach. I had never noticed those rocks before. But I love them. High tide and Sandy Beach looks like smooth sand — lots of smooth sand. But when the tide is out, up pop the rocks.

So like our lives, God. When my tide is in — my life is smooth sand. But, let me get overloaded so that my energy tide goes out and ROCKS appear. My perfectionist streak kicks in. My normally pleasant voice gets sharp — perhaps even shrill — but only, of course, with my beloved husband, Kit.

It has taken me a long time, God, to think that perhaps You WANT us to see our Rocks. Jung talked about our Shadow. I have one. And it takes a fair amount of energy to keep it defanged. I was going to say, God, that at least I know I have a shadow. But, I felt You saying that I have NO IDEA what I could be like.

Sigh. That is true. Perhaps that is why the commandment to KEEP THE SABATH HOLY is so important. If we truly do REST and refrain from work — we will have the energy required to welcome in Your Spirit — and have the energy to RESIST TEMPTATIONS.

Dr. Arch Hart talked about how being too busy for too long builds a wall around our Pleasure Center. Small pleasures can’t get over the wall. We fall into a state of ANHEDONIA. And being without pleasure for a prolonged period makes us very vulnerable to temptation. Or as Dr. Hart said, it takes a BIG FORBIDDEN PLEASURE to JUMP THAT WALL.

Posted in lying fallow, Quieting my Lizard Brain, sabbath rest

Bringing the Word to Hawaii — and to Me

Posted on September 11, 2010 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

An especially beautiful morning from the Kahala

Good Morning, God!

Last night I was repairing a copy of the biography of Lucy Thurston — and reading portions of it — Lucy G. Thurston: Pioneer Missionary in Kona Hawaii. It is so easy, God, being here now — looking at all the beauty — to forget just how much courage it took in 1819 to come here on a five month journey by sailing ship around the Horn.

And because we humans fall so far short of YOU and YOUR WORD — it is easy for the Other Side to scoff at missionaries. But Lucy and the others came bringing Words of HOPE, Words of LIFE. God, we ALL need Your TRANSFORMING Presence.

I have caught a glimpse of the difference Your Word makes in the stories our Pohnpeian friends share about how life in Pohnpei was BEFORE the missionaries came in 1950 and how different it became AFTER Your Word was shared.

One of the changes was the view and treatment of women. Women are now participants in decision making bodies there in Pohnpei. You so clearly state (Galations 3:28) that in Christ there is no Jew or Greek, no male or female (meaning that neither culture nor gender are limiters).

Ah, God, if we could but step out of our culture and into YOU — then how different we would be — how different our World would be. Yes, Our World. This morning Kit said to me that he really wished that after people say GOD BLESS AMERICA . . . that they would add GOD BLESS OUR WORLD!

So, God, today, please help me. Help me be apprehended by YOU. Lift me out of my small world and into Your World. Hmmm. that isn’t quite right. Today open up my Heart and Mind to MORE OF YOU!

Will I make TIME for You? Today? NOW?

Posted in courage, Expand my Heart, God's Light, Prayer, reframing, The Flow of God's Love, the Light of the World

Interacting with a Stingray

Posted on September 10, 2010 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

Animal specialist interacting with a stingray at the Kahala

Good Morning, God

I enjoy seeing the trainers at The Kahala interacting with the dolphins — it’s a familar sight. But yesterday morning I watched with amazement as a young woman seemed to be pulling a stingray around its pool by its mouth.

I had NEVER seen any interaction with a stingray so I asked what she was doing. She said that the stingray was actually on a plastic pad that had a hole in it. She was feeding the stingray through the hole — thus keeping the ray on the pad.

They made a couple of circuits of the pool while I watched. The trainer said they feed the ray that way — so that the fish don’t eat its food. They do it 4-5 times a day and vary the time so as to provide some novelty in the ray’s day.

You know, God, I have watched stingrays in larger pools go around and around — with a tip feeling the edge — looking for a way out — so SAD. Perhaps stingrays don’t really want to escape. But, it looked that way. And if I were a ray, I would want to escape.

Freedom, novelty, stimulation — did You build the desire for them into all Your Creatures?

When I was a child, God, I loved the Dr. Dolittle stories. I loved the idea of talking to animals. Even now, my mother’s cat often sits and stares at us, for all the world as if she is telepathically communicating. We just can’t receive.

Ah, God, THAT is one of the purposes of Centering Prayer — to help us become better receivers!

Posted in Communication, connecting, connections, interspecies contact, Prayer

Could I be Wrong? Really?

Posted on September 9, 2010 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error

Good Morning, God!

I’ve been listening to the book Being Wrong for several days now. The author is doing a very good job of helping me to understand that being wrong is part of how we think quickly and make decisions as needed — which is to say WITHOUT conclusive evidence. It isn’t so much sloppy or careless as essential to being decision makers.

That really made me think, God. Actually, what it did was make me feel better about being wrong. And as I step back from identifying WRONG as a sort of character defect and moral misstep — then it gets easier to relax about BEING RIGHT.

So many “arguments” have ended up just being about different definitions of a word. What do we MEAN when we say X or Y? We know in our minds that we are all different. But that doesn’t help us UNDERSTAND HOW DIFFERENT WE ALL ARE! I remember how good it felt when Kit suddenly realized that I didn’t process light as effectively as he did. (He can read in the dark, God, I can’t.)

All of a sudden — I went from being wasteful of electricity for leaving lights on (read: WRONG) — to being a MOTH who needed and loved light. Wow! I can tell You, God, being seen as DIFFERENT is so much better than being seen as WRONG!

Being the object of Moral Judgment is to be confined and limited. Compassion on the other hand — helps us to SEE ourselves and others in new and liberating ways.

You, God, are the Ultimate in Compassion. And You desire to set us free — free not just from being wrong — but FREE from Old Ways of being “Right.” WOW! THANK YOU!

Posted in A God given diversity, adjusting, clapping our hands in joy, complexity, Expand my Heart, On being Different, people as gifts