Speaking of Spirit

Over that past two weeks, the stories of love and compassion shared with our family and friends have been extraordinary.  My brother, Barry touched the lives of others in so many ways.  During his eulogy, I said that his life was a mosaic - broken pieces held together with hope, faith and love. After hearing all the stories about Barry, I can see that Love was the glue that made a difference. You see, Barry believed in treating everyone from prince to paupers the same. The mosaic of Love Lessons from Barry's life can help us all learn. Here are a few that really touched my heart. When a young woman and companion was stuck in a parking lot with a car that had broken down, Barry and his niece saw them, lent a hand and developed, on the spot, a life-long friendship. When Barry was recovering from a liver transplant, his donor needed help on the farm. Barry went...no questions asked. As Barry was battling from stage 4 lung cancer, he learned of the cancer diagno...

Photo credit: Wikimedia Once our sacred celebrations are over?  What happens when the stable is empty, the candles are burned down, or the fire is gone cold?  Do we simply return to our lives as before?  Or, do we take something from whatever practice we follow to begin anew in the new year?  Do we release the pain and sorrow of the past so that we might travel lightly and with strength into the future, believing that we ARE the change we have been waiting for all this tim e?   The following was written by Rev. Howard Thurman.  I first posted this back in 2012, but I think it bears repeating. The message in this poem is universal and we need to consider it more today than ever before. Work of Christmas Begins by Rev. Howard Thurman "When the song of the angels is stilled, when the star in the sky is gone, when the kings and princes are home, when the shepherds are back with the flocks, then the work of Christmas begins: to fin...

"For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven:" Ecc 3:1 Recently, I heard this beautiful folk song again after many years. What it reminded me was that we live in a world of duality - Yin and Yang.  We cannot have one without the other.  Too much of one thing and not enough of the other causes gross imbalance, as we have seen in our world today.  So, as the Ancestors have told us, from every culture on the planet, that we must strive to walk the middle way, strive to maintain balance, strive to stay on center . In meditating on this, I came to see that I was working too much. Each day I "played" less and less. My health has not been great recently. I wondered at the connection, but not for long, because I know that stress weakens our immune system and I was stressed.   What to do? First, I evaluated what I HAD to do and what I could let go of - WOW!  What a weight off my shoulders when I did that!  Second, I looked a...

This evening, about one hundred people gathered in front of Memorial Hall in Northampton, MA.  Like their counterparts around the world, they were Gathering to Remember the Armenian Genocide. Many countries, including our own, do not want to recognize the killings of the Armenian people as genocide.  However, the facts speak for themselves - 1.5 million Armenians died - over half the population of Armenians living in Turkey in the spring of 1915 were systematically killed.   As we stood in the New England cold, Rev. Dr. Andrea Ayvazian gave a brief history of what has happened over the years to the Armenian people.  She said, "My Dad called it 'the massacres;' my Grandmother called it 'the attocities.'  Many scholars agree that the killing of the Armenian people was the first genocide of the 20th century." The crowd heard stories of those who had been martyred and those who had survived as well as heart-wrenching poetry by an Armenian  ...

 Albrecht Dürer  - Study of an Apostle's Hands (Praying Hands)  - Public domain The power of prayer to heal has been scientifically proven . I know in my life, I have seen miraculous healing occur when prayer was added to the mix. So, today, I would ask that we think about those in our lives who are ill, those who are suffering from pain or disease.  Let us all pray for them.  We don't know everyone's name, but the Creator knows and that is all that matters. Let us pray... Magnificent Healer of All, we come to You today from all over the world.  Please hear our prayers for the healing of our families and friends, please hear our prayers for the healing of those we do not know but who suffer from disease and pain.  Bring them Your Eternal Love. Bless them with balance of mind, body and spirit.  Give them Peace and Strength to deal with whatever comes their way. We thank You for all You give us.  Amen, Blessed be, Aho, So b...