Full Moons and Other Transitions

Posted on July 14, 2011 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

Koko Crater from the Marina's edge

Good Morning, God!

Yesterday was the day before the full moon — and once again we dined at The Shack. Kit and I watched the moon rising over the waters of the marina — well, I watched the moon and Kit watched me. It was lovely.

It has to be the day BEFORE the full moon, God, because the full moon rises later — at or after our bedtime.

I recounted to Kit my adventures in Transitioning the Library Committee — speaking, listening, encouraging, with just a dash of exhortation. Perhaps, several dashes of exhortation. I felt unusually directive yesterday, God. But only because at one point I could see a Territorial Incursion looming.

It made me realize that I was finally “seeing” a lot of the emotional swirls that flare and then sometimes subside in groups — and Territorial Incursions generate the equivalent of massive Solar Flares. Aah! God, so much of what is REAL is so unseen.

I think it is in the book, Blink, that Malcolm Gladwell talks about the microsecond in which our faces “Tell the Truth” before our minds retake control. Our Bodies are such good communicators — and less is more. Last night, wanting to remind our server of my request for A1 sauce I caught her eye, smiled and slightly raised one finger. She responded instantly.

Less is more in many areas. I think, God, that my Heart and Body have finally released my Attachment for the last 14 years to my “job” as library consultant. I can feel how well the committee is going to do without me. I understand that while I was an innovator I was also an unintentional bottleneck. Finishing up finally feels good, God!

Posted in Communication, Heavens declare the Glory of God, meaningful work, seeing, Transitions

Smiling Dogs and Random Thoughts

Posted on July 13, 2011 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

One Happy Dog

Good Morning, God!

Such a smile on this dog’s face — I had to take his photo and that brought smiles to his owners’ faces. Actually, he looked happier before I came closer. Here he looks just a wee bit concerned — not worried — but clearly evaluating.

I’ve been thinking about our relationships with animals, God. I’m grateful that dogs were willing to become domesticated both to help us and live with us. And I’m pleased that cats deign to live with us. It’s true, God. Dogs have masters — cats have staff.

Queen Katrina

At the moment, God, my only real relationship with an animal is with my Mother’s Cat.

But Kit brought up the topic of our “relationships with Dead Animals” when he shared how upsetting it was to read in the July 11, 2011 issue of Delancyplace.com abut the future chefs having to kill the animals that they will later prepare as meals.

I had found that idea distressing too. As Kit said, if we had to kill our own food — we wouldn’t. Of course, God, I can “understand” killing for food. I have friends that do that. And, I understand that wild game is much better for us than feedlot animals. Then too, wild game does have a “life” and a “chance” unlike feedlot animals.

Now, I’m looking at the photo of that dog, God, and remembering how the Nazis who wanted to be part of the Gestapo had to kill the dog they had been given to work with. That was the way they “passed the test.” Aurgh. How did they do it? I suppose that first they had to kill a part of themselves.

I fear, God, that all of us have killed parts of our True Selves. Please, Revive and Restore us.

Posted in a prayer for healing, healing, inner paths of the heart, interspecies contact

A Mid-Week Sabbath Day of REST

Posted on July 12, 2011 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

the non-fiction collection at 15 Craigside

Good Morning, God!

A lovely S*L*O*W day awaits me. Actually, it has already been a good day as I lingered over my tea and then a little coffee in bed.

Kit likes to tease me, God, about Bed being my Natural Habitat. And he is mostly right. Beds after all are the Domains of our Bodies.

And my Body deserves and needs a nice slow day of recovery, today. Because yesterday I labored as go-fer, box mover and book arranger as I joined with the noble Library Committee members to put the non-fiction collection up on the new shelves at 15 Craigside. Boxes of often random Dewey Decimal books were opened, sorted, shifted, put in numerical order, reshifted, reordered — until DONE! I sort of planned to just rough sort the books — but the informal committee of librarians and teachers wouldn’t rest until all was in order.

And all of this Hard Work was just the culmination of Jean’s two years of selecting, cataloging and processing each and every book on these shelves.

So, here I sit, God. Feeling pleased. And I intend to STAY pleased. Stay Pleased and on OFF. Of course, I really know that only my Eager and Purposeful Mind will be on Off. My Body will be doing it’s Noble Work of Sorting Things inside me.

Relaxing and Resting for the Whole Day, God? Taking a Mid-Week Sabbath? YES! SMILE! Perhaps, later on, I might putter about a bit — putting some of the stuff on my desk in piles for later. But, maybe not. I will be consulting with You about that, God!

Thank You, God, for my Body that finally put her foot down, so to speak. Depriving me of the energy level needed for GO GO GO. We Slow Learners need help.

Posted in reframing, relaxation, rest, sabbath dreaming, sabbath rest

After the Launch — the hard work of keeping up

Posted on July 11, 2011 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

Opening the hatch and into the space station

Good Morning, God!

Why are these people wearing regular clothes? I guess part of my mind was expecting astronauts to still be in space suits. I haven’t kept up, have I God.

Keeping up is getting harder! I have an iPhone 4 and an iPad 2 — and I’m looking forward to the iPhone 5. But, that is just the tinsel. The real changes are more profound.

There are changes like overturning the idea we couldn’t grow new brain cells. That was held to be a scientific FACT for over 100 years. Now we know that it isn’t true. Click to see how we can grow new brain cells. Well, a few folks know that. Most people are stuck back in the Old Science. It takes time for new research to become so established that it is taught to the teachers — who will teach it to the next generation.

I asked a doctor recently if his hospital had started doing checklists. He just looked at me. But actual practice shows that instituting checklists for surgeries can cut death rates by around 40% and complications by around 30%. But have the doctors kept up?

They might, God, because reducing complications saves money — so the insurance companies will push hard. Gosh, there are really cost effective alternatives to prisons, too, like Delancy Street. They cost a lot less and they work. Then there are ideas in the AntiCancer book that could help us all live healthier and longer.

Maybe our society is like me, God. Maybe we are all having trouble focusing. There is so much going on. And even when we “learn” important stuff — who helps us apply it and then practice it? Hmm. Please help us, God!

Posted in a series of molts and upgrades, asking for help for myself, being a Slow Learner, compassion to care for myself, courage

Will Power or Focus Power?

Posted on July 10, 2011 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

Influencer: the power to change anything

Good Morning, God!

I’ve been listening to the book, Influencer for some time now. It’s filled with fascinating information that overturns many of our common assumptions. Yesterday it overturned the “Marshmallow Studies.”

For years, God, I have heard about the “marshmallow” studies — the ones where you put ONE marshmallow in front of a child and tell him he can eat it now, but if he can resist eating it while you leave the room to run an errand you will give him TWO marshmallows. This simple “Ability to Wait” is an excellent indicator of the child’s future “success.”

This “Will Power” factor was assumed to be somehow inherent, part of a person’s character. You had it, or you didn’t. And, if you didn’t have the ability to wait — that was just too bad.

I found that sort of sad, God. So I was overjoy to learn that what looks like “Will Power” seems to be having just one small skill. People who can WAIT for the second marshmallow do so by SHIFTING their FOCUS OFF the marshmallow. Some children made up games to play — others moved so they couldn’t see the marshmallow. They distracted themselves. They didn’t just sit and stare at the marshmallow and exercise “Will Power.”

Better yet, when the researchers took the One Marshmallow Kids and put them with an adult who modeled the skill of waiting through changing focus — almost all of the kids picked up that skill after one exposure.

Now, God, this seems like a very pivotal piece of information — an incredible important point. But HOW am I going to make use of it in MY life? Hmmm. I will do a Focus Inventory after Church!

Posted in accepting my ability to REDESIGN

Loving the Ride

Posted on July 9, 2011 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

with Nose wide open -- enjoying the ride

Good Morning, God!

I was so delighted when I saw this dog hanging his head out the car window when we were stopped at a red light.

When we’d been moving, his head was UP — nose in the air — enjoying stuff far beyond my senses. But, as You will understand, God, I couldn’t take his photo when we were moving.

I identify with this dog, God! Sniffing, sensing, enjoying, appreciating. It is really hard for me to pull back from the World of the Senses. To close my eyes (which must be my equivalent of the dog’s nose) and for 20 minutes to engage in Centering Prayer is to embrace Beyond My Senses stuff. Even now, God, my Dog Part is pulling . . . stretching out the car window . . .

Still, last night, God, when I was sitting in Centering Prayer, I could imagine myself as a dog lying at Your Feet. That was a lovely image. I remember seeing a friend’s beautiful Border Collie — stretched out in total repose — resting with not a care in the world.

If a busy and purposeful Border Collie can rest so completely . . . surely I can, too. Because, God, just as I cannot begin to comprehend the Vivid World of Odors so, too is the Cosmos of Prayer way beyond me. Hmm.

Now, that is a helpful thought, God. After all, embracing silence at the ten-day retreat helped me “tune up” my other senses. Hmm. Yes, God. Please help me see sitting in Centering Prayer as stepping in to Your Unseen and Unknown Reality.

Posted in Centering Prayer, Prayer, processing on deeper levels, putting down daily diversions, The World of our Senses

Scrubbing “algae” and other small acts of maintenance

Posted on July 8, 2011 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

Dolphin trainers scrubbing the algae off the steps

Good Morning, God,

I love watching the dolphins at Kahala. When I stop to think about it, I feel sort of guilty, God, since I disapprove of keeping intelligent animals in captivity. It isn’t right!

In the book The Elephant Whisperer, the author tells of of his goal to connect several large game parks so that the elephants could migrate as they used to do. Free to follow the old paths.

Sigh, but what I want most to talk to You about this morning is the dolphin trainers “scrubbing the algae” off the steps. The trainers were quite cheerful about their work — but, I was struck at the difference between (a) the glamorous job of interacting with dolphins and (b) the mundane job of scrubbing off algae.

I was surprised, God. But, now that I think about it, most jobs involve a fair bit of the unglamorous. In fact, LIFE has a large component of MAINTENANCE. Hmm. I think, God, that You are trying to tell me something.

Something like, I’m not devoting enough time and focus to “scrubbing off algae” in my life — my “at home” daily life? Hmm. Well, yes, God. I am not doing well at “putting away,” am I? My Create : Cleanup ratio is badly out of whack. Inside my body, too.

Well, I am staying home this morning, God. I am not going out to “socialize and exercise and have fun.” I am going to go back to resting and very light sessions of putting stuff away. Thank You God for waking me via my Body. Now I am going back to bed — and I will have a restful morning.

Posted in humility, lying fallow, Maintenance

How to Become Lucky or Luckier

Posted on July 7, 2011 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

Playing cards with my Mom

Good Morning, God!

One of my Joys in Life is playing games with my mom. We play Scrabble and then Skipbo, a card game. In both games there is an element of luck.

But, with Skipbo I have noticed that Luck seems to flow back and forth. And, at times Luck seems to leave the room.

But, yesterday, God, I was HOT. I won — and I won quickly and consistently. I was explaining to my Mom that I was just LUCKY. Then my Mom looked at me and said, “WHY are you so lucky?”

Why? Is there a WHY to luck, God? I didn’t have an answer, so I went home and Googled “luck.” Sure enough, God, I found “research” on it. Professor Richard Wiseman at the Universty of Hertfordshire did an article back in 2003 entitled, “The Loser’s Guide to Getting Lucky.”

Here are Professor Wiseman’s four top tips for becoming lucky: “1) Listen to your gut instincts – they are normally right. 2) Be open to new experiences and to breaking your normal routine. 3) Spend a few moments each day remembering things that went well. 4) Visualize yourself being lucky before an important meeting or telephone call. Luck is very often a self-fulfilling prophecy.” He says we can PRACTICE these tips to increase our luck.

Apparently, God, when we are tense or task-focused we tend not to SEE opportunities. One of his experiments was to give both groups (self identified Lucky and Unlucky people) a newspaper to read and asked them to count the photos. Midway through the paper was a half page ad with two inch type saying, “Tell the researcher you’ve seen this and win 250 pounds sterling.” Lucky people saw it far more often than Unlucky people.

Oh, Please, God, open my eyes to SEE Your opportunities and blessings.

Posted in attitudes, blooming, connecting, seeing

My Mother’s Stout Cat — and Other Stout Animals

Posted on July 6, 2011 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

My Mother's Cat -- on my Mother's Bed

Good Morning, God!

My Mother’s Cat has morphed from a svelte and agile Princess Katrina — to a rather stout Queen Katrina. But she has never for one minute doubted that she is the Alpha Female in the apartment. This seems to be just fine with my mother, who takes it all in stride.

I can remember the vet saying that “cats are too smart to overeat.” But, I have not noticed much of a correlation between intelligence and weight in humans, God. Perhaps Queen Katrina overeats because she is confined to a one bedroom apartment? I do let her out in the hall, God, but there is little of interest in the hall — except for the time she discovered another cat living a few doors down. All she did was hiss outside the closed door. But,the neighboring cat was terrified, later that day escaping and hiding behind the dryer down the hall. Cat and owner subsequently moved.

But, back to overeating, God. While I was at the Silent Retreat, I bought The Slow Down Diet: Eating for Pleasure, Energy and Weight Loss. It was a prescient purchase, God! The next three week trip — followed by three weeks of being sick and with low energy — is showing up around my midsection.

So far, God, I am working at putting two ideas into action. The first is to eat slower and more mindfully. The second is a bit harder and that is to eat EARLIER. Apparently, that gives out bodies time to digest the food before we sleep — leaving our bodies free to rebuild and repair over night. Aah! Sleep is a nightly “sabbath” of rest and restoration!

Please help me live in harmony with Your Design, God!

Posted in God wants to nourishes us, God's Provision, living within limits, mindfulness

It Was a Happy 4th of July!

Posted on July 5, 2011 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

Fireworks at Princeton in late May

Good Morning, God!

We had a Happy 4th of July . . . a quiet day at home. Well, quiet up until it got dark and we heard (and saw from our bedroom) the fireworks show at Maunaloa Bay Beach Park.

The Fourth was also the day a dear friend’s grandson came home from Afghanistan — wounded — but alive! Thank YOU. God!

Ah, God. Surely, our Species can do better than we are doing? So many GOOD people in the World, God. Why then . . . is there so much trouble?

I am half way through the book The Body Never Lies: the Lingering Effects of Cruel Parenting in which the author, Alice Miller, states that cruel parents produce cruel despots. Probably true. But, somehow, I don’t think it’s that simple, God.

Actually, I suspect that nothing is ever simple. The recent issue of the Atlantic has an article, “How to Land Your Kid in Therapy,” about the fragile “teacup” young adults who have been so protected all their lives that they never had a chance to develop resiliency. They had parents that were “too good” instead of “good enough.” But, then, just how do we define “good?”

Perhaps, God, it is more a question of balancing assorted “goods” like Freedom and Responsibility? Children need to be free — free to have a certain amount of failures and falls. At the same time, children need to develop a sense of responsibility and limits. Hmm. We adults are still grappling with this “balance thing,” aren’t we God?

Please, God, help me today to Practice Your Presence — in all the myriad activities of my Mind and Heart.

Posted in Balancing and adjustments, Celebrations, embedded in God's Time, growing toward up