Speaking of Spirit

An epiphany came to me this morning as I awoke. Lying in the warmth of the bed, stretching and slowly becoming aware of a new day, I realized that each day is, in essence, a resurrection - a rising again, which is the exact meaning of the word in Latin. In the evening, as we fall asleep, we leave the conscious world behind. Each morning, we rise again to a new day.  Most of the time, we go through life monotonously, o ne day spilling into the the next. No beginning, no end. What if we were mindfully aware as we awoke each morning that we are beginning a new day?  What if, in rising again,  we realize a fresh opportunity to let go of our past hurts?  What if, in rising to a new day, we grasp the opportunity to begin our lives anew. A life full of gratitude and the intention of sharing the blessings we are given.  Consider how different our lives could be if everyone was fully aware of this wonderful opportunity to begin each day anew! This week, let us ...

"No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit."  Helen Keller  Over the past few weeks, we have suffered the wrath of natural disasters around the world.  In spite of total destruction, humans tenaciously begin to reconstruct their lives.  How? Everything I know about life, after 64 years of living, tells me that the "can do" attitude comes from faith, which inspires hope, which calls forth creativity, which brings forth incredible things.  (In this instance, when I say faith, I don't mean belonging to a religion. I mean real belief that comes from the knowledge that there is more to life than meets the eye.) Proof of this phenomenon can be found everywhere. People in countries totally devastated by floods, landslides, earthquakes and tsunamis, can be found pulling together to rebuild their lives. I find this incredible! Recently, I viewed a video ...

When it feels as if all that we love is falling apart, it is difficult to see a silver lining.  The despair this brings causes fear. Fear leads us to unconscionable situations, where all manner of horrors live. William Sloan Coffin, Jr., minister, peace and civil rights activist said, "The opposite of love is not hate; the opposite of love is fear."   Hate is something learned through fear.  Fear comes first.  For example, as a child, I feared falling from high places. After seeing images of people falling, being told over and over to get away from the edge and finally, having someone in our community fall from a height that crippled him, I learned to hate high places. This hate grew into a phobia that nearly crippled me. Fortunately, I learned to retrain my brain to understand that high places can be dangerous if I am not in a safe position. In other words, I don't hang by one hand from a cliff edge. (I still don't like to be up high, but I am not afraid like...