Speaking of Spirit

Franz Stuck [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons COME TO THE CIRCLE by Linda M. Rhinehart Neas Mother, You rock to a lullaby beat.   Nurturing, loving,   Guardian Angel to those   Whose tiny hands leave prints upon your heart. Come to the Circle. Woman, You stiletto march your route.   Scorned, abused,   Necessary evil to those   Whose eyes see not your soul. Come to the Circle. Daughter, You run headlong into Life.   Laughing, singing,   Radiant hope to those   Whose hands guided you along the path. Come to the Circle. Woman, You climb the corporate ladder.   Aggressive, determined,   Amazon warrior to those   Whose fears scorn the beauty of your mind. Come to the Circle. Grandma, You sit in aging silence.   Feeble, forgotten,   An empty shell to those   Whose lives fa...

As a child, Bible stories fascinated me. I tried to imagine what it was like to live in times so long ago. Rarely, however, did I ever see any connection to what happened in ancient times with what was happening in my life. After all, my world was close to 2000 years older and far from the lands of Pharaohs and Roman invaders.  As I grew, I learned to see the lessons within Scripture. But, again, I found it difficult to connect to these men who battled giants or spoke eloquent words in the Temple. The only women I remember mentioned were few and far between. How I wished there was more for a woman to connect with in the Bible. A few weeks ago, I had the great pleasure of receiving a copy of Bible Sisters by Rev. Gennifer Benjamin Brooks in the mail. Bible Sisters is a 365-day devotional that includes the well-known women of the Bible (Eve, Sarah, Ruth, Rebecca, Mary, Martha...) as well as those we know little about and who often go unnamed like Hagar or the Widow of Zar...

photo credit: Linda M. Rhinehart Neas (c) 2015 In order to have balanced health, we must be healthy in mind, body and spirit. Low self-esteem keeps many from this balance.  Low self-esteem is like a fog that descends upon us, keeping us from seeing what lies ahead, what possibilities exist.   Where does low self-esteem come from?  Most commonly, it is the result of insidious emotional abuse from childhood , although, happy children can fall into emotionally abusive adult relationships that destroy their self-esteem, also. According to the United Nations' World's Women Report 2015 , over 47 percent of women in the United States have experienced some form of emotional (also termed psychological) abuse in their lifetimes.  The biggest reason for this form of abuse is that it is cyclical. The abused becomes the abuser, over and over again. Healthy behavior isn't modeled and isn't known. Sadly, many people don't understand that abuse can be emotional. They...

In Memory of Anne Marie Kasper Neas - who taught me to believe.  On April 21st of this year, I launched a campaign to create a Wave of Change to bring the girls from Nigeria home.  The idea came as a way to honor my Mother. April 21st is her birthday and the event ended on Mother's Day.  People from around the world joined me in prayer, mediation, positive energy and a variety of other means for connecting to Spirit.   Recently, someone ask what difference did all that effort make.  This person wasn't the only skeptic or critic.  I was also asked, "What if at the end of the event, the girls are still not found?" My answers is and always has been, "Yes, it makes a difference! and We will keep praying." Faith, Hope and Love are what motivated the Wave of Change Campaign.  From the moment that I first presented the idea to spend 9 days envisioning the girls of Nigeria safe and with their loved ones again, that Wave went from a tiny ripp...

All photos in collage from Wikimedia Today is International Women's Day , a day set aside to recognize, celebrate and empower women everywhere. I believe, no observance would be complete without recognition of the prayers of women. Using Google, I thought I would be overwhelmed by the choices of prayers from around the world written by women.  To my surprise, however, I found it very difficult to find anything in the public domain.  There are some recent books written with prayers by women, but they are just that - recent. Why is this, I pondered. In seconds, Spirit answered me. Prayer for women is private...we say our prayers while doing our daily tasks - caring for family, working at our careers, sharing time with friends. Our prayers are often the silent, unspoken words of our hearts. Words only heard by Creator. Interestingly, there are many prayers for women, including  International Women's Day prayers written by many people from many spiritual p...