Speaking of Spirit

Photo Credit: (c) 2016 Linda M Rhinehart Neas A New Day In the past 48 hours, I have read of 2 suicides, an attempted suicide and multiple post on suicide prevention and hotlines .  (1-800-273-8255) Those who are suicidal feel alone and desperate. They have lost all sense of hope. However, those around them can help. There are several common assumptions about suicide . Learn the facts. Here are a few: Assumption - People assume that suicide happens suddenly with no warning; however,   (FACT) hindsight has taught us that most people either blatantly or subtly give warning of their hopelessness. Assumption - Thanksgiving and Christmas are when most suicides occur. (FACT)  Actually, more suicides occur in the spring season.  Assumption - Most suicides are by people of minority groups and lower socioeconomic classes. (FACT)  Don't fool yourself, suicide can be found in every culture, subculture, race, religion, and socioeconomic class.   Th...

Photo Credit: Creative Commons via Bing "Our greatness has always come from people who expect nothing and take nothing for granted - folks who work hard for what they have, then reach back and help others after them." ~ Michelle Obama This weekend, we celebrated the life of one of the elders of our community. What a beautiful celebration it was! People from near and far, who knew and loved our neighbor and friend, Les Thomas, came to share stories filled with joy, love, compassion, and wisdom. Les was full of wisdom, but not the kind many think of - the old sage sitting with followers thirsting for a drop of insight. No, his was the wisdom of a life well lived, full of humility and compassion. This dear man left us a legacy far greater than all the riches of the world. He left us with examples, many of which we shared at his memorial, of how to serve others; thereby, making the world a much better place.  As I said, Les was humble. He didn't go around tell...

Photo Credit: (c) 2017 L. Neas As I sat this morning meditating on what today's message would be, a dove landed outside the window, cooing softly. For me, this was a visible sign that Spirit, most often portrayed as a dove, was with me. Instantly, I realized this was my message. When I attended parochial school as a young girl, I was taught about Spirit, or more correctly The Holy Spirit. We were told that when we became one with Spirit, we were given gifts that would help us live well and serve others. These gifts, or  charisms , are: teaching, serving, words of wisdom, giving, leadership, mercy and prophecy. In the world today, we are in sore need of these gifts. Looking at this through an interfaith/inter-spiritual lens, we can find many people, who have been graced with Spirit, who are diligently working to bring all humanity together in peaceful co-existence with all life on this planet.  Those who do the work of Peace are one in Spirit. When we are one ...

Photo Credit: https://goo.gl/images/VsQcm5 Pope Francis once again caught the ears of the world's journalists this week when he spoke about the problem of panhandlers in Italy . In an interview he gave in Milan , he said, "There are many excuses" for not giving.  " But giving something to someone in need 'is always right,' and it should be done with respect and compassion, because 'tossing money and not looking in (their) eyes is not a Christian' way of behaving." Around the globe, Christians have begun the observance of Lent, which is a time of sacrifice and penance prior to the Easter Sunday celebration. Many people give up bad habits, or try to; others do Corporal and Spiritual Acts of Mercy . What Pope Francis is calling followers to do is to ask themselves under what conditions are they doing these acts. In the Gospel of Matthew , Jesus speaks to his followers, answering their questions on many subjects. He tells them that if they p...

" The kingdom of God could be realized simply by daring to live differently from the normal conventions. The kingdom of God in the teachings of Jesus was not an apocalyptic or heavenly projection of otherworldly desire. It was driven by a desire to think that there must be a better way to live together than the present state of affairs. And it called for a change of behavior in the present on the part of individuals invested in the vision. " Burton L. Mack I was in seminary when I finally understood the quote from the Gospel of Luke, "The Kingdom of God is within you, now." We search and search, but what we dream of is here.  Too often, by the time we realize this, the time to enjoy reveling in the knowledge is too short. We, humans, are born with the ability to create the world we live in. We can create a world of peace and compassion or a world of hate and pain. The choice is ours.   Thing is, we must begin within, for there is where the Source lie...

"If we wish to free ourselves from enslavement,  we must choose freedom and the responsibility this entails."   ~~ Leo Buscaglia ~~  Many years ago, when I first began my search for those who believed that the world could be a better place, I found a book by Leo Buscaglia . His book, Born for Love, nearly jumped off the shelf into my hands. The minute I saw the title, I knew I had to read it.  After devouring the book, soaking in every microbe of wisdom, highlighting, notating and rereading, I felt I was finally on the path I was born to travel. Free of the fog of indecision and confusion, I had come to a place where I knew what resonated with my mind and soul.  However, with this freedom came responsibility. I quickly learned that I could not simply travel down my path in carefree abandon. No, there were still lessons to learn and teach. There were still people whose lives intersected with mine. There were still days filled with difficul...

Image via Wikipedia   Chinese depiction of  Jesus and the rich man (Mark 10) - 1879, Beijing, China - (This is a post from several years ago, but due to world events, I felt worth publishing again.  Blessings of Light and Love to all!) The one tenet almost every religion has in common is to Love one another .  For this month dedicated to Love, here are some sacred writings from around the world.  These are listed by the approximate dates they were written based on texts found by scholars. Hinduism : 3200 BC, From the Hitopadesa - "One should always treat others as they themselves wish to be treated." J udaism: 1300 BC, from the Old Testament, Leviticus 19:18 - "Thou shalt Love thy neighbor as thyself."   Zoroastrianism : 600 BC, From the Shast-na-shayast 13:29 - "Whatever is disagreeable to yourself, do not do unto others." Confucianism : 557 BC, From the Analects 15:23 - "What you do not want done to your...