Inner Paths of the Heart

Posted on March 3, 2010 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

View from the Dillingham Transportation Building

Good Morning, God

It just struck me that my life is fairly orderly. Orderly is maybe too positive word — I just resisted saying ROUTINE.. Do I feel negative about this? I’m not sure, but I do travel on a minimum of paths. I mostly go where I have been before.

This view out the window of the ladies room on the second floor shows paths I haven’t walked on. Hm. I guess walking is the best way to explore a new path. New Paths. New Views. They help me look and see — as opposed to autopilot travel — where often I don’t look because I know.

But, as I am saying this — the thought comes to me — that I might possibly be seeing my family and friends through “autopilot” eyes. That is NOT a good thought. Part of the blessing of being with another person is to be wide open to his or her uniqueness.

So, God, maybe this meandering contemplation of paths has more to do with INNER TRAVEL than it does simply taking a new route back to the parking garage. Each person is a GIFT waiting to be enjoyed. . . to be see . . . to be heard . . . to be laughed with.

Today at lunch a friend from California shared how she wanted a house where people from around the world could come and dine together — share ideas — open their hearts to each other. She wants it kid friendly so people can come with their families. She can SEE just what it looks like. She is believing that YOU are in this. I believe it too. How good it was to hear her heart! It was as if she walked me into her heart to look and see what she saw — to travel her inner paths with her. Ah, God! Thank you! This is the very best kind of travel!

Posted in inner paths of the heart, people as gifts

The Face of Hope and Africa Works

Posted on March 2, 2010 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

A farmer in Mozambique with her first bean crop

Good Morning, God,

This woman is so happy! When I took the photo I thought it was just because she was harvesting her first bean crop — on land that Africa Works had irrigated.

But I’ve just heard a talk by Samuel Grottis the founder of Africa Works — and now I understand. She is smiling because she has a future!

I didn’t understand the current reality of rural life at ALL! I didn’t know that with dry land farming she might harvest a crop once every 2 years — a low yield crop from stunted plants. Understanding takes information AND time to digest it, doesn’t it God.

Her village of around 500 people had gone to Africa Works and gotten an infrastructure loan — and are now pumping water up from the Limpopo River onto their fields. Her first crop was harvested in just 5 months.

Now she has FOOD SECURITY! She and her family will not go hungry. She will sell enough beans to pay back the loan for the seed and fertilizer and some toward the infrastructure loan and some into her savings. Africa Works provides technical assistants — local people who teach and explain what it takes to do commercial farming. Africa Works helps with the marketing as well as setting things up. When the loan is repaid, Africa Works will use it to help other farmers.

Winnowing beans the old way -- letting the chaff blow away

This village was told that the land could “support” 50 families. They talked together and came back and told Africa Works — we want to share with others in our village — let’s cut the plot size in half and have 100 families farm it. And that is what they did. Caring for one another is built into us, isn’t God.

Caring for the land — Mother Earth — was part of traditional cultures. Ah, but then Enter Civilization stage left.

Stewards — You made us stewards over the land — caretakers and caregivers. Help us, God to see that helping farmers make a living — is far better than sending them off to the cities for jobs that aren’t there — not yet — maybe never.

Thank you for Samuel Grottis and Africa Works. I think this might be YOUR CURRENT BEST PLAN FOR ELIMINATING POVERTY.

Posted in a hand up, Africa Works, helping farmers, Self sufficiency

Cows on the Commons

Posted on March 1, 2010 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

Cows pasturing in Swiss meadows

Ah God, isn’t this a glorious part of Your World? I love Switzerland — I loved walking up the mountains with the cows all around me placidly eating the grass. And that was before I knew HOW IMPORTANT it is to have our food — grass based.

But the real point of this photo is that Elinor Ostrom (first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Economics) points out that Commons CAN WORK. In fact, the Swiss sensibly combine private land ownership in the valleys with Commons up in the high pastures. The reason is that rainfall up there is unpredictable — spotty — so that they can’t tell which would be the best land to own. So sharing — letting the cows go to the good areas — is like a form of insurance. Over time they all benefit most by the use of Commons. A profound show of Common Sense!

Of course, running a Commons takes Communication, Rules made by those involved and Consequences or as she calls it “graduated sanctions” — it sounds so SENSIBLE. Elinor Ostrom said one of the eight keys is to Build responsibility for governing the common resource in nested tiers from the lowest level up to the entire interconnected system. To put that more clearly she said I’m not against government. I’m just against the idea that it’s got to be some bureaucracy that figures everything out for people.

God, I was SO THANKFUL to read this article (yesmagazing.org/issues …elinor-ostrom). Thankful because it confirms what I have experienced — that YOU did do a LOVELY job of designing us! We CAN work together for our common good — IF WE TALK TO EACH OTHER — really talk and really listen. And if we can overcome the foolish illusion that more stuff will make us happy or successful. Thank YOU, God!

Posted in a new view of Commons, Common Sense

Tsunamis and Thanksgivings

Posted on February 28, 2010 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

Sky over Kalanianaole Highway

THANK YOU,GOD, THANK YOU!

This morning is a quiet, rainy, Sabbath Day — and our home is still here. In fact, the bath tub is still filled with water — to be used if the water system was shut off or destroyed. The sounds of the SIREN have gone — the siren that went off yesterday at 6:00 a.m. to WARN US of a possible tsunami — a BIG tsunami.

The quiet, gentle, tsunami has come and gone — pulling water out of our bay and then flowing in again. Thank YOU, God!

And the tsunami of adrenalin inside me has come and gone, too — leaving me AWARE of all sorts of things. Certainly I am far more aware that nothing here on Earth lasts. You would think Earthquakes would make that point — and they do, sort of. But the FEELING that my HOME might be WASHED AWAY — EVERYTHING GONE — that feeling is a true wake up call. Yes, BIG FEARS are useful.

I am mindful of 2 Chronicles 7:14:
if my people, who are called by my name,
will humble themselves and pray and seek my face
and turn from their wicked ways,
then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin
and will heal their land.

But, what, God, does that LOOK LIKE in MY DAILY LIFE?

I remember thinking, as I left with Kit and my computer, for a friends’ home higher up our valley — Gosh, and I’d JUST cleaned and readied our two guest rooms, too. Now, I know, God, that preparing guest rooms for guests is not a foolish waste of time. But, it makes me think WHAT LASTS? C.S. Lewis responded by saying WE LAST! Friendships last — Family lasts — all that is GIVEN to YOU lasts. Yes, and I am here — here NOW — asking You for help in how my life — my daily waking around life — could change. OH! Not so much change for You — as RESPOND to You! Thank YOU!

Posted in becoming the change I wish to see, Centering Prayer, courage to see myself, God's Provision, gratitude, Help me to see, sabbath dreaming, thankfulness, Thanksgiving!

My Lizard Brain and Centering Prayer

Posted on February 27, 2010 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

Australian frilled lizard Photo by Belinda Wright

Guess WHAT, God? Right after talking about small hidden fears I listened to Seth Godin’s book Linchpin and he was talking about our Lizard Brain — the part that WANTS to KEEP US AFRAID — TO KEEP US SAFE. Thanks, God, for having the timing just right!

It really helps me to go back over a thought — especially this thought. I really don’t like the idea of having fears. I attribute that to some Viking genes. It feels like warriors are afraid of being afraid.

Seth Godin said our Lizard brain deals in Fear, Anger, Revenge, Food and Sex. The basics. And here we sit with our SMART Neocortex (Human Brain) thinking we are in charge — only to be blocked, sabotaged, or hijacked by our LIZARD Brain. Dang!

I knew we had a Reptilian Brain — but I thought it just dealt in anger — because I’ve seen the anger. I find it incredibly useful to realize that it also deals in FEAR! Real basic fears — like the FEAR of standing out and being noticed. It isn’t smart enough to get us to stop smoking or overeating because of a “theoretical future fear.”

What to do? Seth Godin says he finds it helpful to say OUT LOUD what the Lizard Brain is telling him. That seems to embarrass the Lizard — being caught like that. Of course, the problem is to CATCH the Lizard’s whispered fear.

Perhaps it isn’t too surprising, God, that after I sit quietly in Centering Prayer, I get up more FOCUSED. After all, that Centering Prayer is all about letting go of my thoughts as they come — and letting YOU have my Mind between thoughts!

Yes, God, THAT WOULD make a noticeable difference. Help me do it OFTEN!

Posted in Centering Prayer, Quieting my Lizard Brain

Charging Elephants and small snakelike fears

Posted on February 26, 2010 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

Elephant charging our Land Rover in Swaziland

Good Morning, God.

When this elephant charged our Land Rover I was TERRIFIED! I was sitting in the back — therefore the CLOSEST. There were 2 or 3 seconds in which he was gaining on us — LONG SECONDS — then we pulled away.

Fear like that is easy to identify. You know it. And after it’s over there is almost hysterical relief. Once we were safe we laughed and laughed.

But a couple of years ago, God, You began to show me that there were HIDDEN FEARS in my life. Fears I wasn’t conscious of.

I remember asking You, God, HOW am I supposed to find them WHEN THEY ARE HIDDEN? You suggested I write down all the things I THOUGHT I WANTED TO DO, BUT HADN’T DONE — then pray about what FEAR might be holding me back.

There at the top was LOOSING WEIGHT! I thought, WHAT’S SCARY ABOUT THAT! But I did pray — and You revealed my fear of being different. Because to CHANGE what I ate — to avoid grains — would make me different. Now, God! You MADE us DIFFERENT. I THINK I like being different.

But, as I sat and prayed, I could feel the deep childhood fear of being odd — an outcast – different and ejected from the “group.” It was an OLD DEEP HIDDEN FEAR — and it IS STILL POWERFUL!

But becoming AWARE of it — helped me to PRAY about it — to LAUGH about it. And, I lost weight. NOW I hear You telling me — GO BACK TO THE LIST! Let’s FIND THE NEXT CLUMP OF SMALL SNAKELIKE FEARS HIDING UNDER THE ROCK OF CONSCIOUSNESS — ENTANGLING FEARS!

You really do WANT TO SET ME FREE – ALL OF US FREE! Thank YOU — THANK You.

Posted in acknowledging my need for prayer, authority over my life, courage to see myself, finding hidden fears, small hidden fears

Personal Checklists — coming soon

Posted on February 25, 2010 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande

Good Morning God,

I was caught by this title — kept thinking about it. But then told myself — HOW MUCH could there be to learn about CHECKLISTS! Still, (with You helping?) I did buy and read it and I’m so glad I did. The book is about WHY we need checklists and HOW HARD it is to accept and adopt them.

The book got started when the World Health Organization called Dr. Gawande and asked him to help reduce the unnecessary deaths and complications in surgery around the world.

How to do this? They did it by finding the most common mistakes or missed steps and created a checklist to confirm they were done. The author and his team came up with a 19 point (90 second) checklist and implemented it in eight hospitals around the world. It was overwhelmingly successful. Major complications fell in all eight hospitals by 36% and deaths fell by 47%. Did hospitals rush to adopt checklists?

Of course not. Change is hard. And change that looks like giving up freedom is even harder – even for 90 seconds. There’s a lot of resistance. I feel both the need and the resistance . I’m no surgeon but modern life is complex — I’d like to drop fewer balls and forget fewer things.

So, I’m working on a few daily Personal Checklists. Things to do before bed. Things to do before leaving home. Then weekly checklists on finances and time management. If I’m smart, God, I’ll show them to friends and ask for feedback.

Habits? Rituals? Checklists? There’s a continuum here, God. And if I want to take it up a notch I can reframe Your Ten Commandments as a CHECKLIST! How many major complications would I avoid if I really took one day a week totally off? Keeping that ONE commandment would help me keep all the rest.

In all of this I would need to ASK and ACCEPT Your help to set new boundaries — to rearrange what I do and when I do it. I would, in short, have to come humbly before You and submit not just my Very Self, but (GASP!) MY EVERYDAY LIFE!

You Love us enough to WANT to be in the Daily Details of our lives, don’t You! YES. YES, GOD, YES!

Posted in A weekly day of rest, Personal Checklists, The difficulty of changing

Hedgehogs and Mother Teresa

Posted on February 24, 2010 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

a young hedgehog

Good Morning, God

I’ve never seen a real hedgehog and I think this is the first photo of a hedgehog that I’ve seen. One look at his adorable little face and I was more than ready to donate to a Hedgehog Preservation Fund. Is there one of those?

But it does remind me that ONE animal or ONE person seems to fit easily into our compassion basket. But, more than one — even two who need help — and the the urge to give goes down. We give – we care – on a sort of one to one basis.

This idea came to me via an article by Nicholas Kristof. I recognized the truth of it immediately. A BIG number overwhelms us. We want to make a difference — and when it is ONE of us vs. MILLIONS of people needing help — we shut down.

The article is titled “Nicholas Kristof’s Advice for Saving the World” and he starts by saying: What would happen if aid organizations and other philanthropists embraced the dark arts of marketing spin and psychological persuasion used on Madison Avenue? We’d save millions more lives.

Well, that caught my eye because just yesterday I was helping prepare brochures for Advocates for Africa’s Children ( afachildren.org ) and I observed that a FACE attracted my attention far more than a group shot. Now God, You clearly designed us to CARE for one another! Perhaps we just need to adjust our focus? Mother Teresa said, “If I look at the mass, I will never act. If I look at the one, I will.”

So, God, help us to see One by One — as through Your Eyes. Bless those who help One by One — as though it was YOU. “For as you have done it unto the most unfortunate of your brothers and sisters — you have done it unto Me.”

Posted in Advocates for Africa's Children, Giving, Our Extended Family - all creatures great and small

Waking up in the Web of Life

Posted on February 23, 2010 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

Large Blue Butterfly Photo: Cornwall Butterfly Conservation

Ah, God, how amazing is this one small planet we call home!

My Discover magazine came yesterday and there in the front was a photo of a Large Blue Butterfly (yes, that is its name) and a short story about how it had bounced back from near extinction.

That’s nice, I thought. But then I read that the reason they had made a comeback was because the researchers discovered that species spends part of its life cycle in a red ant nest — and the red ants hadn’t been doing well. So, the researchers adjusted the vegetation to help the red ants and VOILA! The Large Blue Butterfly returned.

Now, God, I know that Everything is connected to Everything else. I know that intellectually. But, then I read this small story and WOW! My awareness — my awe — at the incredible Web of Life just deepened.

And, much to my surprise, that means — I MATTER! And better yet — WE ALL MATTER! If a small change to vegetation can help red ants and thus bring back a beautiful butterfly — well then, our actions, our thoughts, our intentions change things. THAT’S SCARY, GOD!

And, I guess, it ought to be scary. Please, God, Scare me AWAKE! Help me to RISK a bit more. Help me to overcome the cultural imperative to BLEND IN — AVOID NOTICE!

We humans feel so much safer thinking and acting as if we don’t matter. Please help us – me – to wake up to our interconnected reality!

Posted in an invitation to abundant life, connecting, connections, Help me to see, interactivity, Our Extended Family - all creatures great and small, relationships

The Concept of the Commons

Posted on February 22, 2010 by a moment with god — 2 Comments

The Library at Wolfenbuttel, Germany

Good Morning, God.
I met some good people last week to discuss what we might have for the library at 15 Craigside. It will be attractive, but primarily functional.

Ah, it has been a number of centuries since we spent this kind of money on libraries.

Money used to go to libraries, train stations, civic monuments like Congress. Where does our money go now? Hospitals? Hotels? It goes to what a society values – – or what the wealthy value. Big homes? I say “wealthy” as if I weren’t. Yet one has only to travel just a bit outside of the West to realize we middle-class American’s are all wealthy. The trouble is — we spend more than we earn. Well, I spend more than I earn. Ah, God, it is SO EASY to be enthralled by the products of this world — iPods, iPads, a delightful array of Stuff and Books! Although, I DO check the library first before buying.

I do try to recycle books back to the library. I say, God, The Library is a Commons — a shared resource — open to all, benefiting all. There aren’t a lot of COMMONS anymore. Well, not commons in the sense of grasslands where the villagers grazed their sheep. But, parks — national parks — are a recent version of the Commons. Land set aside for the benefit of all.

I’m sitting here smiling, God. What if we managed to see, envision, manage our small planet as a COMMONS? For the benefit of all? How could we reward the “hard workers”, the “innovative” the “risk takers”. . . how could we care for the “dreamers”, the “creative” the “gentle and quiet ones”? The drug damaged? The abused? The impaired?

Could that happen? Ah God, these moments with You always seem to get back to me — How shall I become the change I wish to see? Or the change YOU wish to see?

Posted in a new view of Commons