Speaking of Spirit

(c) 2006 Linda M. R. Neas - Good Vibrations Don't try to comprehend with your mind.  Your minds are very limited.  Use your intuition.  ~ Madeleine L'Engle, A Wrinkle in Time ~ Long ago, one of my spiritual guides reminded me that we must not use our ears to hear but our hearts and souls. While I had done this since childhood, I was not mindfully aware of the process until my attention was called to it. Listening with our hearts and souls means that we trust our intuition - that little "knowing" that calls to us from deep inside. Our ears hear words and sounds, but our hearts and souls sense things that are unseen, unheard, and untouchable.  Some people describe it as "human radar," which is actually a pretty accurate description of what happens when we use and trust our intuition. Let me explain. All matter is made up of energy. Energy gives off waves. Those waves bounce off and into each other. When we allow ourselves to be open to ...

Photo Credit: (c) 2014 Linda M. Rhinehart Neas " I will break their hearts of stone,  Give them hearts for love alone." - Dan Schutte The words above are from one of my favorite hymns, Here I am Lord , which we sang at my ordination several years ago.  This hymn is about answering the call of Spirit to serve others.  In the chorus, we sing, "Here I am, Lord...I have heard you calling in the night." This is based on the Bible stories in which Isaiah and Samuel, at different times, answer the call to serve their brothers and sisters. We are all called to serve. Each of us has special gifts that are meant to be shared with the world. Our gifts are many and varied - compassion, music, healing, art, writing, speaking, raising children, raising crops - the list is endless. What is important is that we understand that we are called to serve others with these gifts. To turn our backs on this call is to turn our backs on all that we hold sacred. Some of us turn ...

As the sun shines into my kitchen-corner office, I write about an event that came as a soft whisper after a long day of difficulties and a video sent by a friend. In many ways, the whisper to do something to make things better has always been playing in the back of my consciousness, but on this day after one sad or tragic story after another, it almost reached a shout. So, listening, I created Changing the World , which is a Facebook event. During this on-going event, participants are asked to focus on the positive in prayer, mediation, affirmations, and even actions.  Do everything in Love, as Van Gogh said, and it will be done well.  Some doubt the validity of that statement, but science has proven it to be true! HeartMath was " founded by Doc Childre in 1991 to help individuals, organizations and the global community incorporate the heart’s intelligence into their day-to-day experience of life."  Scientists at the HeartMath Institute have studied how focusing on...