Index of Blog Posts

With Gratitude for Grace

Index of Blog Posts

(Alphabetical)

Acceptance, The Grace of (November 16, 2012)

Beliefs, The Grace of our (March 1, 2017)

Character, The Grace of (July 1, 2015)

Christmas Memories, The Grace of (December 14, 2013)

Compassion, With Gratitude for (December 1, 2014)

Creativity, The Grace of (February 19, 2014)

Dad, With Gratitude for my (June 20, 2015)

Divine Presence, The Grace of (April 1, 2015)

Faith, With Gratitude for (October 4, 2016)

Firemen, With Deepest Gratitude for the

Grace of 19 Heroic Arizona (July 1, 2013)

Forgiveness, The Grace of (January 10, 2013)

Forgiveness (cont.), The Grace of (January 31, 2013)

Giving, The Grace of (January 18, 2014)

Grace, Being Receptive to (September 17, 2012)

Grace, Messages of (August 21, 2012)

Grace, Peaceful (Canaan in the Desert) (June 14, 2012)

Grace, Recognition of (May 2, 2012)

Grace, Settle into (July 9, 2012)

Grace, The Christmas Present of (December 7, 2012)

Grace, With Gratitude for God’s Sacred (October 1, 2014)

Graces, Even the Tiniest (October 17, 2012)

Gratefulness, The Grace of (February 20, 2013)

Gratitude, With Gratitude for (January 1, 2015)

Grieving, With Gratitude for (June 1, 2016)

Grit and Gratitude, The Grace of (November 1, 2016)

Healers, With Gratitude for (February 1, 2016)

Health, With Gratitude for (January 1, 2016)

Human Spirit, The Grace of the (March 1, 2015)

Inclusiveness, The Grace of (March 8, 2013)

Index to Blog Posts (June 1, 2017)

Inspiration, The Grace of (August 1, 2015)

Inspiration, With Gratitude for Words of (September 1, 2015)

Invisible Hands, The Grace of (April 6, 2014)

Joy, The Grace of (December 1, 2016)

Kindness, With Gratitude for (February 1, 2015)

Leaders, With Gratitude for (November 2, 2014)

Life, The Unbelievable Grace of (April 1, 2017)

Lives, The Grace of Those Who Have

                                Given Their Lives for our Country (May 27, 2013)

             Love, The Grace of (February 1, 2017)

Maidenhair Ferns, With Gratitude for (August 16, 2014)

Memory, The Grace of (April 1, 2016)

Mystery, The Grace of (June 4, 2014)

Nature, The Grace of God’s Abundant (June 2, 2013)

Park, Grace at Woodland Lake (May 15, 2012)

Path, With Gratitude for our (August 1, 2016)

Peace, With Gratitude for (July 1, 2016)

Pope Francis, With Gratitude for (October 1, 2015)

Prayer, The Grace of (May 2, 2013)

Prayer, National Day of (May 3, 2012)

Prayer, National Day of (May 1, 2014)

Prayer, National Day of (May 6, 2015)

Prayer, National Day of (May 4, 2017)

Redemption, The Grace of (December 1, 2015)

Resilience, The Grace of (October 21, 2013)

Responsibility, With Gratitude for (September 1, 2014)

Self, With Gratitude for the (May 1, 2016)

Spirit, The Grace of Connecting to (August 5, 2013)

Spiritual Growth, The Grace of (November 8, 2013)

Spontaneity, the Grace of (July 3, 2014)

Story, The Grace of our (November 1, 2015)

Soul, With Gratitude for our (March 7, 2014)

Surrendering, The Grace of (January 1, 2017)

Survival, The Grace of (April 2, 2013)

Trust, With Gratitude for (September 1, 2016)

Twin, With Gratitude for my (March 1, 2016)

“Unstuck,” The Grace of Becoming (September 1, 2013)

Will, The Amazing Grace of God’s (October 4, 2012)

(By Date)

             January 1, 2017 – The Grace of Surrendering

             February 1, 2017 – The Grace of Love

             March 1, 2017 – The Grace of our Beliefs

             April 1, 2017 – The Unbelievable Grace of Life

             May 1, 2017 – National Day of Prayer

             June 1, 2017 – Index to Blog Posts

December 1, 2016 – The Grace of Joy

November 1, 2016 – The Grace of Grit and Gratitude

October 4, 2016 – With Gratitude for Faith

September 1, 2016 – With Gratitude for Trust

August 1, 2016 – With Gratitude for our Path

July 1, 2016 – With Gratitude for Peace

June 1, 2016 – With Gratitude for Grieving

May 1, 2016 – With Gratitude for the Self

April 1, 2016 – The Grace of Memory

March 1, 2016 – With Gratitude for my Twin

February 1, 2016 – With Gratitude for Healers

January 1, 2016 – With Gratitude for Health

December 1, 2015 – The Grace of Redemption

November 1, 2015 – The Grace of our Story

October 1, 2015 – With Gratitude for Pope Francis

September 1, 2015 – With Gratitude for Words of Inspiration

August 1, 2015 – The Grace of Inspiration

July 1, 2015 – The Grace of Character     

June 20, 2015 – With Gratitude for my Dad

May 6, 2015 – National Day of Prayer

April 1, 2015 – The Grace of Divine Presence

March 1, 2015 – The Grace of the Human Spirit

February 1, 2015 – With Gratitude for Kindness

January 1, 2015 – With Gratitude for Gratitude

December 1, 2014 – With Gratitude for Compassion

November 2, 2014 – With Gratitude for Leaders

October 1, 2014 – With Gratitude for God’s Sacred Grace

September 1, 2014 – With Gratitude for Responsibility

August 16, 2014 – With Gratitude for Maidenhair Ferns

July 3, 2014 – The Grace of Spontaneity                

June 4, 2014 – The Grace of Mystery      

May 1, 2014 – National Day of Prayer

April 6, 2014 – The Grace of Invisible Hands

March 7, 2014 – With Gratitude for our Soul

February 19, 2014 – The Grace of Creativity                                        

January 18, 2014 – The Grace of Giving

December 14, 2013 – The Grace of Christmas Memories

November 8, 2013 – The Grace of Spiritual Growth

October 21, 2013 – The Grace of Resilience

September 1, 2013 – The Grace of Becoming “Unstuck”

August 5, 2013 – The Grace of Connecting to Spirit

July 1, 2013 – With Deepest Gratitude for the Grace of 19 Heroic Arizona Firemen

June 2, 2013 – The Grace of God’s Abundant Nature

May 27, 2013 – The Grace of Those Who Have Given Their Lives for our Country

May 2, 2013 – The Grace of Prayer

April 2, 2013 – The Grace of Survival

March 8, 2013 – The Grace of Inclusiveness

February 20, 2013 – The Grace of Gratefulness

January 31, 2013 – The Grace of Forgiveness (cont.)

January 10, 2013 – The Grace of Forgiveness

December 7, 2012 – The Christmas Present of Grace

November 16, 2012 – The Grace of Acceptance

October 17, 2012 – Even the Tiniest Graces

October 4, 2012 – The Amazing Grace of God’s Will

September 17, 2012 – Being Receptive to Grace

              August 21, 2012 – Message of Grace

July 9, 2012 – Settle Into Grace

June 14, 2012 – Peaceful Grace (Canaan in the Desert)                                  

May 15, 2012 – Grace at Woodland Lake Park                                                     

May 3, 2012 – National Day of Prayer

May 2, 2012 – Recognition of Grace

National Day of Prayer - May 4, 2017

The Theme for this Year’s National Day of Prayer is:

“For Your Great Name’s Sake. Hear us… Forgive us… Heal us!”

(Taken from Daniel 9:19)

There is so much going on in our nation and in our world right now that can cause anxiety and concern. Prayer is a very effective means of getting that fear out of ourselves by calling upon a Higher Power to guide us, to protect us and to give us courage. And, so we pray:

Dear God,

Today, as I go about my day, please help me to feel the trust that You so beautifully provide to each one of us. Please help me to see beyond my issues to those of the fellow souls around me. Please help me to know and feel Your presence.

When I extend myself to the world’s issues, I lose my sense of security – please help me to bring that outer world closer in, to my nation, to my state, to my community, to my town, to my home and finally to my heart. Please help me to feel the sense of strength, courage and protection always available to me. Help me to realize that extending myself to the wider, outer world, only lessens myself by becoming too easily distracted and discouraged. Please help me to find the real sense of security in my heart.

Please help me to face the silence and not be afraid. Please help me to face my anger and not be afraid. Please help me to face my sadness and not be afraid. Please help me to face my lack of belief and not be afraid. Please help me to face any illness and not be afraid. Please help me to face my insecurities and not be afraid. Please help me to face all my fears and not be afraid ever again.

Please help me to rise above it all – the shame I may feel, the feelings of insecurity, the lack of belief in myself, the wrongs that I have done, the petty inequities to which I cling.

Please help me to be a person to whom others can count on, a person who faces his/her trials, a person who doesn’t complain, a person who seeks forgiveness instead of holding grudges.

Please help me to be cognizant of the beauty always surrounding me – that of humanity, of nature, of writings and creativity, of gifts of Grace, always available to me and continually being showered upon each one of us.

Please help me to dispel my feelings of boredom – how could I be bored with all that You have provided; please help me to let go of any addictions that take me away from my true self and get in the way of my relationships; please help me to release any need to prove myself in order to be accepted or approved of; please help me to stop vacating or escaping when I feel Your lessons coming toward me.

Dear Lord, please help me to be grateful for positively everything, to find gratitude for the hills that You’ve helped me climb, to be appreciative of all that I’ve become and all that is yet to come. Please continue to heal me and to bless me.

I ask this, as always, in Your Name. Amen.

The Unbelievable Grace of Life

As you breathe in new life each day, please remember…

You came here for a purpose and it took great courage and the full love of your Soul to make this excursion – find deep reverence for that and know that you have the strength and courage to do it.

Know, too, that many Souls (on this side and on the other side) made a Sacred Contract to support you in this experience.

Know very deeply in your heart that everything is happening exactly as it’s meant to happen, for your Soul’s expansion and the further expansion of All That Is. Trust that deeply.

Know, too, that each of us on this beautiful place called Earth agreed to come here together (the loving ones and the warring ones) – each to provide a presence, each to provide a contrast – for each of us to decide how we will create our own life. Choices – they’re very important; they’re very sacred.

Know that you are always and at every moment connected – connected to the Whole, the Universe, to God, to the Source, to Spirit; the name you choose to call that Gift of Grace is your choice. That energy is instilled in each one of us...feel It…live It…breathe It…be It. That’s it – allow yourself to be…to be within.

Don’t be afraid. Find a quiet place of silence to truly know yourself within. It is a place of beauty and calm and wonderment, of love and peace.

Pay attention to your feelings, they are the transmitters of wisdom…the guiding posts, letting you know if you’ve wandered off and away from your Soul’s plan.

Throughout the day, feel your heart, feel your gut, feel your throat; they are places of energy. When any of those places feel the pain of worry, anger, resentment, revenge, depression, know that you have wandered away from love and trust, to doubt or fear; you have wandered away from your Soul’s plan.

Know that your Soul is guiding you inward when you feel those feelings that hurt or scare you or bring about anger. At that very moment, when the pain of sadness or anger is so strong, breathe, breathe, breathe…deeper and deeper. Feel the pain release. Catch yourself when you want to preoccupy yourself, instead, with trivial things; that will only push the pain deeper inside. Stay focused. Breathe the pain away and accept that very moment as a Gift of Grace for your healing, your Divine Healing. It is sacred; find reverence. Accept it. Believe it. Know it.

In order to hear and feel and sense that inner wisdom, we must find silence, which is hard to find in our world. Shut off the television and the smart phones and the tablets and the social media sites, turn off the noise in your head, stop thinking about what you have to do, that’s not why we’re here. Those are the gimmicks, those are the “hooks” and the things we attach to – but they provide us with nothing, nothing at all. They are only addictive attachments that keep us from spiritually expanding.

In the midst of all that’s happening in our country, the divisiveness, the resistance; the more we “fight” against one another, the more we move further away from our Soul’s plan on this earth. The earth is lovely; there will be warring, there will be scars, just as there are scars on our hearts; but those are the lessons. We are meant to face those lessons and rise above them, not linger within them – that is negative energy, which eventually causes illness. It takes trust, lots of trust. We are, very strongly, moving to a better, lighter, more radiant energy; in that process, many will be scared, that is what we are seeing. Fear begets fighting and anger. But this, too, shall pass. We really do not understand how powerful we are – not in the way of weapons, but in the way of the love and peace we can each bring to the world – it begins with us, individually.

Start now, pay attention to what’s going on within, not without. You will get distracted if you attach to all that’s going on exteriorly.

“If you want to change the world, go home and love your family.”

“If you judge people, you have no time to love them.”

(Mother Teresa)

The Grace of our Beliefs

September 11, 2001 changed our lives and our beliefs in a very dramatic way. I remember very well, shortly after 911, I began to see huge Hummers driving down Central Avenue in Phoenix as I drove to work. I couldn’t help but wonder – do you really think that “monstrosity” is going to keep you safe in the kind of attack that hit the Twin Towers? Feeling safe and secure is one of our core beliefs; however, expending thousands of dollars on a vehicle will not provide a true feeling of security. Ever since 911, there has been a steady change in our core beliefs related to safety and security; more recently, we have seen a rise in the anxiety level of members of our society because of the change in our leadership. Change is constant; however, when it threatens one of our core beliefs, it makes a personal impact.

Another core belief relates to our self-worth. Building a child’s self-worth begins as soon as he or she is born. They say a child gleans his/her self-worth by the energy that is given off by his/her parents or guardians until he/she is able to communicate. Every day, depending on the level of nurturing society we’re in, we either grow in self-worth or our self-worth is harmed. As we go through life, we create beliefs around that nurturing – or lack of. We come to a belief that we are worthy or we are not.

Love is a very important core belief. Once again, based on the nurturing and guidance we receive, we create a belief as to whether we are loveable or not – deserving of love or not. At a recent spiritual conference, I learned that children are no longer being taught the touching aspect of life. With everyone’s concern for potential child abuse, people are hesitant to touch children any more. Also, we are connecting so much through the Internet and social media; yet, we’re not really connecting through the heart. The heart brings about feelings and involves a stronger connection with the eyes and that of touch, warm hugs, radiating energy. So, remember to extend that as you go about your day.

Lastly, another core belief that sums up how we’re doing is whether or not we feel whole. I remember in my 20s not feeling whole. I had no idea how to fix it. I read as much as I could and little by little I healed but it took many years. This is why it is so important to make sure our little children are attaining good and positive beliefs from the start.

Remind yourself throughout the day to keep yourself in check as to your core beliefs – pay attention to whether your beliefs are positive or negative. Listen to your self-talk. Do you see yourself as loveable or not; do you feel safe and secure or not; do you feel worthy of human decency, respect and acceptance; do you feel whole or detached. Reading inspirational passages or stories, getting guidance from counselors, prayer and meditation are all beneficial to pull us up and out when we’re feeling as if we’re lacking. Sometimes, we have to actually re-parent ourselves.

Positive beliefs bring fulfillment and broaden our life’s experience. Negative beliefs cause us to project them upon others and create dysfunction in our relationships. Everyone comes here whole, fully worthy, loved and in full safety and security. As we go through life, when any of those are waning or lacking, our core beliefs are compromised. Remember that God never sees us as less than or unworthy. If you have a negative belief of yourself, you will probably be able to zero in on how that was created; however, try not to spend a lot of time on that. Change your belief, align with God’s belief in you and your life will change for the positive.

“What you believe about yourself is always reflected back to you.”

(Deepak Chopra)

I credit Deepak Chopra’s 21-day Meditation on Belief and our Core Beliefs for input.

The Grace of Love

Love is Grace at its very best! Love comes in all shapes and sizes and in numerous forms. At this time of year, we often think of romantic love, when hearts melt over flowers and chocolates. But love is happening every single moment and deserves to be recognized!

The love I’m thinking about today is more celestial. It’s the love that’s being expressed throughout our day in the form of the air we breathe, the energy in our bodies and the sun on our shoulders. It’s very personal – what would we do without the love that’s expressed in that way?

God’s love is forever and always and that love is with us every minute. I’m sure we have no idea how many interventions are made during any given day that bring us protection and safety, guidance and wisdom, ideas and breakthroughs and much-much more; and we think we’ve done all that on our own!

The most amazing act of love, however, is how our lives got configured initially. The timing of our coming to earth, the people in all the roles that touch our lives, the interactions throughout life and the lessons – the many lessons. We don’t get through life without them!

Caroline Myss (author, speaker, intuitive) calls these relationships our “sacred contracts.” Sacred they are. The easiest and most comfortable ones to understand include the nurturing mother or grandmother, the doting father or grandfather. Those are such gifts and provide such golden moments of memory for our lives. The more difficult and harder ones to understand are the relationships of conflict – the people who know how to push our buttons, the people who treat us not so nicely. As hard as it may be to believe, each of these beautiful souls agreed to make that sacred contract with us – to be present so we could make that “hero’s journey” that Joseph Campbell so beautifully expressed – in order to go within, to find faith and trust, to surrender the ego, to find our inner self – to realize the Divine has been in charge all along…purposefully, beautifully, with loving intent and out of the purest form of personal regard for each one of us. Thank God!

Be blessed on this Valentine’s Day – find love in positively everything. Below are some quotes about love from some of my favorite authors – you’ll see many relate to self-love, which is often the toughest one. Open your heart – allow your beauty to flow. Be amazed and in awe!

************

Love is what we are born with. Fear is what we learn. The spiritual journey is the unlearning of fear and prejudices and the acceptance of love back in our hearts. Love is the essential reality and our purpose on earth. To be consciously aware of it, to experience love in ourselves and others, is the meaning of life. Meaning does not lie in things. Meaning lies in us. (Marianne Williamson)

When you’re at peace with yourself and love yourself, it is virtually impossible to do things to yourself that are destructive. (Wayne W. Dyer)

Self-love means caring for ourselves enough to forgive people in our past so that the wounds can no longer damage us – for our wounds do not hurt the people who hurt us, they hurt only us. (Caroline Myss)

Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it. (Jalalaludin Rumi)

As a doctor, let me tell you what self-love does: It improves your hearing, your eyesight, lowers your blood pressure, increases pulmonary function, cardiac output, and helps wiring the musculature. So, if we had a rampant epidemic of self-love then our healthcare costs would go down dramatically. So, this isn’t just some little frou-frou new age notion, oh love yourself honey. This is hardcore science. (Christiane Northrup, M.D.)

If you knew your potential to feel good, you would ask no one to be different so that you can feel good. You would free yourself of all of that cumbersome impossibility of needing to control the world, or control your mate, or control your child. You are the only one who creates your reality. For no one else can think for you, no one else can do it. It is only you, every bit of it, you. (Abraham-Hicks)

Love is not selective, just as the light of the sun is not selective. It does not make one person special. It is not exclusive. Exclusivity is not the love of God but the “love” of ego. However, the intensity with which true love is felt can vary. There may be one person who reflects your love back to you more clearly and more intensely than others; and if that person feels the same toward you, it can be said that you are in a love relationship with him or her. The bond that connects you with that person is the same bond that connects you with the person sitting next to you on a bus, or with a bird, a tree, a flower. Only the degree of intensity with which it is felt differs. (Eckhart Tolle)

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you simply, without problems or pride: I love you in this way because I do not know any other way of loving but this, in which there is no I or you, so intimate that your hand upon my chest is my hand, so intimate that when I fall asleep, your eyes close. (Pablo Neruda)

Because I always have a choice, I choose love. (Deepak Chopra)

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength; loving someone deeply gives you courage. (Lao Tzu)

One who has been touched by grace will no longer look on those who stray as “those evil people” or “those poor people who need our help.” Nor must we search for signs of “love-worthiness.” Grace teaches us that God loves because of who God is, not because of who we are. (Philip Yancy)

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. (1 Corinthians 13:4)

The Grace of Surrendering

The New Year is always exciting because it gives us a chance to start the year off with a clean slate. So, possibly, a great way to start this New Year would be to find the willingness (that’s all it takes), to surrender. I know it may not sound like fun but it will be the very best thing you could do for yourself, ever. Here’s an example:

Scene 1: You go to work and learn there’s a new budget that’s been created for the new fiscal year and your department’s been eliminated. You’re in shock. You find out you have two weeks until you’re out of work. You go home, thrash your anger on everyone and place blame on some third party for why this happened to you. You feel horrible, you’re miserable, you’re scared – this is suffering.

Scene 2: The same thing happens except you do not take anything personally because you know this is all outside yourself. Even though there may be some initial shock, you determine you will look at this differently from the start and see this as a gift; and now you’re excited to find out how this is all going to play out. You know everything always goes toward the good, so you lead with trust and allow that to burn off any concerns that might arise. You surrender your control. You’re not miserable – you’re not suffering. In this scene, you don’t take your mind to the negative, you trust and find positive thoughts that relate to your circumstances. You find gratitude – for positively everything.

This concept carries over to much larger situations, as well. If we’ve been suppressing pain for many years over something that happened long ago, it restricts us and creates blockages in our energy – we resist going near that pain, which only makes things worse and eventually causes illness. It’s a hot burner that we don’t want to touch but it doesn’t actually exist – it’s only in our belief. What we may not realize is that pain is holding us back. So, we miss out on a lot of opportunities in life. Once again, if we find acceptance for exactly where we’re at, we can transmute that pain and fear into love. This is surrendering to the situation.

Eli Jaxon-Bear, a spiritual teacher, speaks of “opening your heart and welcoming the fear.” Fear is created by our beliefs – think of how many beliefs you’ve had in life that never actually existed, never came to fruition, carried no weight or no longer served you. We are much more than our outer circumstances. So, instead of resisting, accept the situation – open your heart and welcome the fear – surrender to the situation. Find gratitude for the fact that the fear or pain served its purpose at one time but it’s no longer serving us now. In fact, it’s become toxic.

Surrendering requires willingness and trust. I remember, as a little girl, a group of kids in our neighborhood tied a thick rope to a large tree branch – we climbed the tree, hung onto the rope and swung over to an open lot next to the tree. It took me a while to gain the nerve to try it; but once I did, it was exhilarating! This is a similar situation, when we take away our belief that it’s going to hurt or be painful to surrender, we step into trust so we can surrender, which is a special kind of Grace and Enlightenment, too.

Reach deeply inside, find what’s holding you back, be willing to face the pain or fear and make this the year you transmute any pain or fear into love. Remember to recognize and release the negative thoughts, find even the slightest positive thoughts to reframe the situation, welcome any fear and move into trust. Surrender to the situation. Relinquishing what’s holding us back is life changing. Find Gratitude. Know you are fully loved and loveable and fully worthy. Find the courage – you can do this!

The Grace of Joy

I’m not sure how we’ve reached the Christmas Season already but it’s definitely upon us! And, as we all know, sometimes the Christmas Season brings out the best in us and sometimes – well, not so much! There is so much beauty that Christmas offers; yet Christmas also seems to stir the resistance in us, possibly spurred on by our expectations. But, I think Christmas is meant to be about Joy!

As generations come and go, we often enjoy recapturing our childhood memories of Christmas. Once we grow into adulthood, however, a lot of changes take place as the next generation brings in new faces to the family gatherings. What a stir that creates! This means we put up our defenses or we decide we’re not going to like that person or we’re frustrated that the status quo has been changed! Meanwhile, we all gather together with our own secret wishes intact; yet, we sit smiling while a slow burn is activated inside. Oh, what Joy!

So, maybe Christmas, with all its twinkling lights is really here to shine a bright spotlight on the not-so-nice moments of being human. Maybe it’s a time for us to seek the peace and serenity of the season and maybe it’s a time to do something about it, too. After all, we can really only control our thoughts, our actions and our beliefs, so we might as well start there. Trying to control someone else or manipulate them into a different way of being will only create friction and separate us. Possibly, this Christmas, take the time to really get in touch with your feelings, watch what comes up, how much you feel left out or feel frustrated or feel out of control or disappointed. Then do something about it! Paying attention to your feelings brings you to the present and offers an opportunity to let go of all those negative thoughts. Just recognizing those thoughts means you’re accepting exactly where you’re at! It doesn’t mean you have to like this experience; but now that you’ve accepted where you’re at, you can decide to change your thoughts. It’s the season to go deeper – somewhere down deep, there is love and joy. Every moment we spend separated from those gifts of grace are wasted moments.

Let go of the resistance to what is – instead, find the lightness, find the depth, find the peace and serenity within – make it a plan for this Christmas to “not go there” when it comes to trivial grievances within family gatherings. Reach deeply to see that person you don’t like so well from your soul to his/her soul. Instead, go where we are all one. Find that connection. Find God’s Presence – find Joy!

The Grace of Grit and Gratitude

When we decide to find gratitude for all that has taken place in our life, we come to realize just how interconnected we are. In her book, Harnessing Courage: Overcoming Adversity with Grit and Gratitude (2016), Laura Bratton expresses very personally the gratitude she feels for the many hearts, minds and hands who guided, assisted or prayed for her along a very difficult path from childhood to adulthood and the grit she attained along the way in order to muster through each day.

I met Laura when she was a Freshman at Arizona State University. My first impression of her was that she was an intelligent, independent and vibrant young woman. Laura and her Mom met with me to establish her needs for the semester – Laura was blind and I oversaw the Braille Lab. Later, Laura became a student worker in the Braille Lab where she proof-read Braille documents. For the duration of my experience with Laura, my first impression never wavered but I soon observed that this intelligent, independent and vibrant young woman was also tremendously courageous. What I didn’t know until I recently read her beautiful and endearing account of her life, was all the many, difficult steps she had taken to get to that day when we met.

Laura’s life changed drastically at the age of eight when it was determined she had an eye disease that would slowly carry her to blindness. From the very first pages of her book and throughout, Laura expresses her gratitude for her parents, grandparents, her brother, extended family members, friends, church members, etc., for the countless gifts of grace they provided for her. She certainly had and still has a wonderful support network. That’s where her gratitude comes in – the grit part of her experience is what she had to find within, but how?

Sometimes, until we can find the grit within, a member of our support network has to “hold the hope” for us when we are so overwhelmed or feeling hopeless. In Laura’s case, one person who provided that was her brother, Rob, who utilized his high school football analogies in order to support her as he told her: “We are going to drop back and punt.” Even as a young man, her brother was not going to allow her to quit! Additionally, Laura’s parents became loving advocates for her – they pressed on so that she could receive the same schooling as other students – in fact, their tremendous effort made an impactful ripple effect for students who came after Laura, who were also mainstreamed. But, Laura also found the grit within, which is an ongoing process as challenges arise. Her statement below is a testament to this:

“The energy it takes to resist and hold back from moving forward is much more exhausting and fear-inducing than actually choosing to embrace a situation. The paralyzing, fearful questions of doubt hold us back and prevent us from using our strengths and gifts. Incredible grit is required to move forward in new situations.”

Laura’s life changed continually as her sight diminished. Each time, she considered the change a “new normal.” She discussed how one can make the choice to “live into the new normal or remain in a constant place of depression and anxiety.” One helpful recommendation from her counselor that she utilized was to turn toward her emotions and acknowledge what she was feeling.

An important life lesson I learned from Laura in her account of her life was that she found it was better not to waste time on painful experiences as she moved forward into her new normal. Not that this was an easy task, even for her today, but one that provides energy for the new normal experiences – one of the many “tools of life” she shared in her amazing story.

With Gratitude for Faith

Last month we discussed finding and building trust in God; this month, I’d like to discuss Faith – I believe they go hand in hand. In fact, I think faith is what helps us attain trust in God and keeps us aligned with that trust along the way. Yet, I also think faith is a by-product of trust – it not only leads us to trust and sustains that trust, the trust we’ve attained and sustained then enriches our faith even more deeply.

Faith is one of those nebulous words, yet it carries such depth. It’s hard to put a finger on it because it’s not something objective – it’s more ethereal. The person who taught me about faith initially was my Dad. I can literally remember feeling his faith emanate from him. He didn’t have to say anything. That was a very fortunate experience, one that I’ve never forgotten. Once again, however, even that experience was nebulous and hard to explain.

Faith basically means if you realize how much trust God has placed in you, as discussed in the previous post, you would then find trust in Him to be easy. But, in order to get there, I believe we have to go beyond our mind’s thoughts. It’s much deeper than thoughts.

In our earthly world, we show up with our “labels,” as discussed in the post from May 2016 – this is also our personality, our ego – what we put out there for all to see. Sometimes, we actually display different personalities, depending upon the situation. But now go more deeply. Faith is the knowing deep inside that it doesn’t matter what happens on this earth, God is ever present and we can trust His Plan.

So, instead of worrying or being fearful, we can have faith that God created a specific plan for each of us; and when we feel that deeply and feel His love, faith becomes like a little child holding his/her Dad’s hand crossing a street. We walk together in trust. It is not a mindset, however, it is within us, deeply within our heart and soul.

Patience with others is love.

Patience with self is hope.

Patience with God is faith.

(Adel Bestavros)

With Gratitude for Trust

In our earthly life, the topic of trust typically comes about early on, possibly when our parents first speak to us about trust. Today, I’d like to speak of an even larger trust – the trust we have in God.

It takes time to build trust with someone; yet, strangely, it seems it takes even more time to build trust in God. I think that’s because we don’t truly believe in ourselves enough in order to believe that God could love us so much that we could totally put our trust in Him. This is not unlike a recent post where we discussed the difference between our earthly self and our real Self, our Soul (May 2016).

What makes life on this earthly plane a lot easier is to realize how much trust God has placed in us. He creates us, specifically, individually and on purpose, then He places us on this earth and gives us an opportunity to create whatever it is we wish to create. I believe we know what our “plan” is prior to arriving here; however, it’s often easy to get lost in our own free will in the process of creating. So, sometimes we get a little off our spiritual plan.

But, now, think about how much trust you have in God. After He’s done all that on our behalf and so personally, think about how hard it is to trust in Him. Thinking back to my own Father, I know I had full trust in him. I knew I could trust him at every turn. I was very, very fortunate to have had that experience. But, even with the grace of that experience, it's still taken me a longer time to trust God. Why? I know it’s because I couldn’t imagine that He cared for me – who was I in His eyes? In fact, I remember praying to Him as a child saying things like: “I know you’re really busy and you have more important things to take care of than me, but if and when you have a minute, could you please….”

Fortunately, there came a day, not all that long ago, when I realized – I truly realized, that God made me specifically and on purpose. I also realized how much self-loathing I had done to myself for years. I literally got down on my knees and asked for forgiveness for ever thinking for a moment that I was not of value or not worthy.

Realize that positively every breath you take, every decision you make, every step you take is given to you with God’s Love - He even hangs in with us when we are making poor choices. Even when we get diverted from our spiritual path and our lessons, He patiently guides us as we slowly get back to our original plan. Patience – I can’t even imagine the patience He has. So, know that at every moment, you are being cared for, you are being loved fully, you are being guided and you are being blessed. Know that there are many times when you have been saved from tragedy, when you have been protected from harm.

When we find that trust in God, even on days when things go wrong (or what appears to be wrong in our eyes), you can know that He is the One in charge and that He has only our best interests at heart. Trust that what is happening has a purpose - He always leads us toward the good. Let go of the need to control and trust that God is always in charge and look forward to His Plan because it is always much better than we could ever imagine. Think of His Plan as something to be excited about, as if it was a gift coming to you with each waking day. That is Grace! Enjoy the anticipation, the journey and the knowing!

With Gratitude for our Path

If any of your recent thoughts have been of mistakes, failures, disappointments, loss of relationships, financial pressures, etc., maybe today’s the day to find gratitude for the path you’re really on, because those thoughts relate to superficial happenings.

Instead, delve a little deeper, then deeper, then even deeper. Perhaps you can go way back to a teacher who believed in you, someone who took you under his/her wing and gave you a nugget for life. This may have actually changed your course or created an opportunity to accept yourself. Or maybe you can think of a time when you skinned your knee, literally or figuratively, and now realize the strength it took to get back up and get going. Even if people laughed as you took that fall, think about how it impacted your life in a positive way. Another thought might be of something you did that was not something of integrity, maybe you even “sold your soul” for a moment. Remember that that experience possibly gave you the opportunity to rethink your ways – remember, too, when temptations in life turn into attachments, you can always “un-attach” yourself.

Recently, I read that all paths bring awareness. So, the lesson of each path is what gives it its value. That’s why it’s so important to remember that when we take away the experience from someone, we also take away the lesson. It’s easy to fall into judgment of those whom we feel have stepped off the path of integrity or honesty or human decency onto a path we consider to be immoral or self-destructive. However, every single moment of our life here on earth is giving us an opportunity to learn, to make another choice, to rethink, or to redeem ourselves. It is all Sacred.

Therefore, for anyone falling into judgment of another, remember that you may not fully know or understand that person’s path – the amazing inner path that God has consecrated. Perhaps they are on this earth for us to learn not to judge or to find compassion. Sometimes the most difficult earthly paths are the hardest ones to withstand but teach others the most compassion. Often the toughest or even meanest people in your life are the ones who were the catalysts to build you up in the final outcome. Or, the ones who were most critical were the ones who made you withdraw inside where you found your real value.

As they say, there are no accidents, so it’s important to recognize that everyone who crosses our path on this earthly mission is a messenger – one who is teaching us to lead with our soul, even if they may appear to be someone of darkness.

By taking the time to delve deeper into our life, we can find that everything offers a nugget, a gift of grace. Our life is never limited nor limiting – the possibilities are endless. If today, you are confused, find at least one thing that makes your eyes sparkle, that makes your heart sing. If today, you are disappointed in yourself, know that that is only a tiny speck in the whole spectrum of your life. Be humbled by God’s Goodness and by His Forgiveness. As I’ve mentioned previously, we are the only ones who often cannot forgive ourselves, who cannot love ourselves.

Be blessed in the knowing that we all go through dark times, difficult times, disappointing times and what we might consider unforgiveable times; but, these are only our earthly judgments. When we dig deeper to the soul level, there is no ugliness; instead, there is pure beauty, love, acceptance and Light.

With Gratitude for Peace

In recent posts, we’ve talked about finding peace in order to provide calm in our fast-paced lives. Yet, in today’s world, we might wonder exactly how and where to find peace – not only to provide calm but to provide safety in our environment. This is why it’s very important to create our own peace. But how do we do that? Today, for a moment, let’s set aside the many tragedies in our world that splinter our daily lives; for a moment, let’s talk about what we can do in our individual lives to create peace.

There has always been duality in life – humans have a tendency to create a we-they situation. That’s the human ego’s way of dealing with fear. So, let’s remember that. But, just as situations appear to be black or white, people are rich or poor, decisions are right or wrong, we have choices we can make that involve the biggest and most important duality – that of love and fear.

Fear has its place – it protects us from real and present danger. However, fear also arises from experiences of feeling left out or feeling not good enough that fester and grow over time. This type of fear stems from a feeling of separation, not being included, not being loved. Some say our greatest separation is the feeling that our physical body is separated from our soul and that’s where this whole separation issue began. We come upon this earth and forget who we truly are.

So, let’s remember who we actually are and what our capacity really is. Somewhere deep inside we are love and only love, the kind of love that we cannot even comprehend. In order to find peace, we must go there – we must find that gentle peace, warmth and love. The sooner we find that in our self, the sooner our outer world will change. It is up to us individually.

This may require us to do some house cleaning within to sweep away the darkness. That may mean we make a decision to put all past grievances in the past, we let go of what we’ve been hanging onto for years that is no longer serving us and we begin anew. Surrender and let go. This may sound like giving up control; in some ways it is; but in more ways it is taking control by deciding what’s really going to drive our lives.

Darkness is here – it is prevalent; however, the Light is more prevalent. I can say with certainty in my lifetime that I have seen the Light grow, so I know we’re going toward the good. Please do not dwell on the darkness that is present – it has always been there. Do not let it tempt you into fear. Go within, find the Light, find the peace, find the warmth and love that is ever present. I have a strong belief that as the Light grows it stirs the egos of those filled with darkness, which makes for knee-jerk reactions by them. Let it go – know that the Light has already outshone that darkness. This is a time for faith and trust. This is a time for strength. Find it within. It will provide a ripple effect – as each and every one of us brings more Light to the earth, the darkness will dissipate.

If you have any doubts about finding that place of peace within, know that you have already touched it many times, possibly when you’ve watched a movie that truly warmed your heart or inspired you or you were totally moved by a beautiful song and tears came to your eyes or you said a prayer and got so lost in it that you knew you touched the Divine – go there, again – it is always present and available to you.

With Gratitude for Grieving

"Loss of any kind, including the loss of physical abilities, heals with mourning, and the mourning process is not to be abbreviated in a pained haste to move from personality to soul consciousness. Far better to sit with the pain and cry, should one so choose. Mourning is a gradual process of the heart best lived softly and with grace, with kindness, gentleness, and compassion for self."

Robert Schwartz

Having experienced the recent loss of my Mother and my twin brother and more recently the loss of a close cousin, my family has certainly experienced the grieving process. The loss of family and friends can bring about so much suffering; however, I have found as I've gotten older, the pain of loss is not quite as hard to accept as it once was. For example, the deep pain of the loss of my Dad when I was a teenager lasted 40 years or so. I shared this quote above because it is so honest, beautiful, touching and so very healing. When loss brings about pain, it is so important to let it out, not to stuff it or salve it with alcohol or drugs or money or things, which are only a temporary fix.

Mourning is actually very cleansing. My experience with my Dad’s death took very long because I didn’t know how to heal myself. Later, with the experience of more losses, I found the gentleness that Robert Schwartz mentions is so healing and so very cleansing. It takes time, yes, and it takes learning how to release all that emotion. Tears may sometimes seem out of control but are so soothing – they wash away the pain. I highly recommend letting it out through tears. Think of them as God’s healing way to allow pain to seep out.

They say every loss brings about an opportunity to continue to heal from previous losses, an opportunity to heal what never got healed. I have found this to be true. Losses in my 40s helped me to heal from losses in my earlier years. It helped me to reach a point of letting it all out to move forward without such heaviness.

For anyone suffering from loss, even the loss of a little pet, since those are often the hardest because we truly give and receive unconditional love from them, know that our loved ones are doing well and are actually helping us to heal. They are just in another aspect of life and can even be of more support to us here on earth.

When we are able to release the pain to see the beauty of all life, the amazing gift we are each given, we realize it is all a gift of grace. There is actually no real loss, just the loss of what we consider our earthly attachments. Some say they (our loved ones) are actually within a hair’s width of distance from us. They know our pain and actually help us through that pain. They have served their purpose on earth as we will, too. We will each move on to our next step to continue to become pure love, the love that is already within each of us. 

Be gentle, be kind and find patience with yourself. Allow yourself to be exactly where you’re at. No need to numb the pain; walk gently into that vulnerability. If you find you are ready to drop into tears, accept yourself at that very moment, find gratitude for those very intimate and loving feelings. Try not to resist – that will only cause more suffering. Gently release the pain to find peace and serenity. Trust that you will get through this experience.

With Gratitude for the Self

In the past months, we’ve talked about our story and how it fits into God’s Story, how redemption refines our story and how in today’s frenetic world, meditation provides calm to our story. Today, I’d like to talk about the self and how it sometimes gets in the way until the real self, our soul, comes through.

In our society, when we greet someone, we exchange our labels (mom, dad, carpenter, engineer, teacher, college student). In order to live in our world, feel comfortable and a part of society, we often create labels and even take steps not to lose them; in fact, we often try to multiply all the things we are. By doing so, we feel like we belong, we’re accepted and we have a purpose. These labels sometimes become attachments, something to hang onto. As we expand our life, we see changes; our family grows, our working experience expands. But, in reality, that is still a limited view of our self. You might say we only see a sliver of what’s really going on, what reality truly is.

In a recent post, we talked about meditation, where we can get in touch with a greater reality, our soul. Some are afraid to venture into this space; and yet, it offers more than we can ever imagine. We may think it fantastic to Google something; but, right within us, we have the ability to ask a question and receive the answer, specific to our needs. I think what stops us is our fear and our belief that we are not worthy. Who could really care that much about me? So, instead, the thought that we are not worthy gets buried deeply and eats away at us and we become stuck and further attached to worldly things for their make-believe comfort. I believe somewhere deep inside we actually know why we stay attached to worldly things but hesitate to venture into the spiritual realm.

Part of attachment on earth is actually to find ways to separate – to find blame, to point fingers or to make me right and you wrong. This keeps things nice and neat and compartmentalizes everything so we stay in control (or so we think). But all the finger pointing eventually leads to one person – our self. In the end, we are the only ones who do not love ourselves, who cannot forgive ourselves, who deceive ourselves, who betray ourselves and who judge ourselves. No one does that to us, no matter how much we seek to blame; we do it to ourselves; that is, until we accept God into our lives, relinquish control and come to learn that God has loved us all along. Gerald Sittser expresses this beautifully:

“Trappist monk and author Thomas Merton warned that sooner or later every one of us will have to descend into the abyss and enter the darkness. Schooled in the mystical tradition, he was especially attracted to the writings of John of the Cross, who taught that passing through the ‘dark night of the senses’ and the ‘dark night of the soul’ is both inevitable and necessary in the life of faith. It is the only way to be weaned from all earthly attachments, even religious, to mature in faith, and to surrender our cherished – and imagined – control. It is a simple and easy task to live by faith when light shines all around us and God provides ample evidence of his presence, goodness and power. Then again, faith always comes easily when it isn’t really needed, as love comes easily in romance. But such easy faith must come to an end in order to become true faith, as romantic love eventually must include the disciplined work of marital love. We must leave the mountain, where all seems clear, and descend into the terrifying darkness below. Faith is not faith when it sees, wills, and gets what it wants; it is not the same as self-confidence, natural optimism or positive thinking.”

What is required to let go of attachments is to have enough humility to surrender. Have faith, be calm and find courage; it is available to us all: “For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” All that’s required is we ask for help and God’s loving kindness will appear.

The Grace of Memory

I have always been fascinated by clouds. For many years, while driving to work I’d look up at the sky and thank God for the clouds – for the new and vast array He painted each morning. Of late, I’ve been intrigued by what Microsoft or Apple call the Cloud or the iCloud – you know, the thing that “empowers your business” or “makes sure all your photos, documents are up to date.” Wow, after all these years of noticing clouds, I had no idea they could do all that! So, that made me wonder – what happens when the clouds move away? And, how do you know which cloud your “stuff” is on? And, if you know me, you know I would ask: “Who’s organizing all this?” That leads me to another thought – once again, the computer world is trying to mimic a human! Here they are, putting items in storage on a cloud; so why didn’t they just call it a brain? And, that got me to thinking about our brain.

Did you know we typically process 100,000 thoughts per day? Think of the amazing filing system our brain entails! Did you also know the brain consists of around 150,000 miles of blood vessels, working perfectly even at high speed?

Relating technology’s “cloud” to our brain made me think of all the wonders of our brain. You hop onto a bike and instantly your brain goes to that file to determine how to ride or you get into your car and the same process happens and soon you’re moving along. The amazing part is the memory. Isn’t it awesome that you can think of someplace you’ve been and picture it instantaneously, with clarity, color and detail. What a gift. Our memory also helps us remember those who have passed – visualizing a person’s smile or a fun moment with that person. A sweet memory.

But then there are also moments that are not so pleasant to remember. Sad moments or argumentative moments or hurtful moments are not so nice to remember. Yet, sometimes we wallow in these moments even though it causes suffering. Eckhart Tolle says “Suffering usually relates to wanting things to be different from the way they are.” Tolle, known for his book A New Earth, also says “As long as you resist suffering, it is a slow process because the resistance creates more ego to burn up. When you accept suffering, however, there is an acceleration of that process which is brought about by the fact that you suffer consciously.” Thus, “The fire of suffering becomes the light of consciousness.”

I have heard that when we go to the past in our memory, we go to depression; and when we go to the future, we bring about anxiety. Isn’t it amazing that in a few seconds we can recall something negative from the past and instantly create a belief that something drastic could happen in the future, based on that thought? So, in one quick moment, we’ve handed our self a double whammy! It makes me wonder why we ever think negative thoughts!

So, here’s my thoughts on this whole memory thing – you can store whatever you want on a Cloud, if you choose; but try really hard when something from your own memory comes up to find the good in it – to find a redeeming factor to it – to realize you wouldn’t have grown if that had not happened to you, to remember that we’re all human; and if that memory is painful, know that the person who initiated the pain only ever experienced pain related to that issue. Time to find compassion.

If you had not suffered as you have,

there would be no depth to you as a human being,

no humility, no compassion.

Eckhart Tolle

With Gratitude for my Twin

With my twin brother’s passing over a year ago and with our 66^th birthday approaching, I thought it would be nice to do a post about his life.

Mike and I were born in a mid-western family – a good family unit with a loving home and the goodness of a beautiful childhood. We felt safe and secure and our needs were provided for and we had the support of family, friends, neighbors and our church. Mike loved people and he was constantly on the go. In fact, one day, he arrived at our Dad’s grocery store on his tricycle (yes, he was riding a tricycle, so you know how little he was). The grocery store was a few blocks away and it required crossing a pretty busy street. When my Dad saw him, he asked “Where’s Mom?” I don’t know how Mike responded but our Dad soon called our Mom and asked “Do you know where Mike is?” She responded: “He’s in the backyard!” “Oh no, he’s not,” he replied! That was most likely the start of Mike’s shenanigans!

Throughout our growing-up years, he was known for getting stitches. Mike had more stitches in him than anyone I’ve known! Sadly, when we were about five or six, he knelt on a sewing needle in our Mom’s sewing room. His instant reaction was to jump up onto the couch. When my Mom responded to his screams, all she saw was red thread coming out of his knee. Because Mike moved his leg when he jumped, the needle broke within his knee. This required immediate surgery. The doctors thought Mike would never walk again. Once he was out of the cast, our Dad bought a child’s tractor that pulled a small trailer, one that you operated with your legs. Our Dad felt that would make Mike move his legs. It did! However, when the surgery was done, the doctors were only able to get one piece of the needle out. They told my parents that one day, with Mike’s growth and movement, the needle would move and he would let out a shout, which happened on an Easter Sunday when we were all playing at my Aunt’s and Uncle’s home. So, once again, he was rushed to the hospital for further surgery. Because of the needle and the surgeries, Mike hated needles! I remember when we’d have to get our shots, Mike would talk incessantly to the nurse to create any kind of delay. But, Mike did walk again and really didn’t have trouble with his leg until he was beginning to age. That was not the end of the stitches, however! I don’t recall how many times he got stitches; but I do recall visiting our cousins one day and Mike riding a bike, racing back home with a large leaf covering a bleeding gash on his head!

Mike was one to try new things – he would put chains on that little tractor or on his bike in order to continue to ride during the winter months! He was very ambitious – he was out there, always, offering to shovel someone’s walk or to cut their grass or to rake their lawn. His interests were not related to schooling – he was more fascinated with people and making connections. His adult ambitions related to entrepreneurial work – he ran a Hallmark store in Clinton, IL and Scottsdale, AZ and later a wholesale seafood store and lastly a carpet/tile cleaning service. Throughout his life, he was on the go! He offered his services wherever he went, especially to his church and to the needs of those impoverished.

Since we’ve recently talked about “our story” in previous posts, his story was one of hard knocks, really hard knocks – he tried really hard. There was an underlying thread, however, of loss, devastating loss – the loss at a young age of our Dad, the loss of his marriage, the loss of a business – pounding losses. I honestly think he worked himself to death – but more recently, I think God called him home, knowing he had done what he came here to do. Because of his deep losses, he tried, in his own way, to love, to love deeply, but often he pushed people away, too – love too often involved a lot of pain for him. I trust, with all my heart, God’s plan for him and know that he is being healed where we all get healed, eventually.

Wherever you are, Mike, I feel your presence and wish you God’s peace, serenity and love.

With Gratitude for Healers

As we discussed last month, I was very fortunate to receive healing services from a Naturopath and her team, who also offered guidance on living in our fast-paced world. Since this time of year offers an opportunity to rethink, reframe and reboot our lives, I’d like to share some thoughts.

In Naturopathic medicine, a person is considered a human being and the whole presence is considered (mind, body, spirit and emotion), which is called Integrative Medicine. In today’s everyday chaos, however, as a society we are no longer going toward integration. With so many interjections to our day, we are, instead, experiencing scattered thinking and frustration, which causes our body to become off kilter and disjointed – we are always on. When our lives are so scattered, our brain waves are actually in what’s termed chaos, which means our left and right brain are not working together well. Being constantly on, trying to meet all the demands, impacts our health down to the cellular level and has caused people to no longer experience REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, so vital to our health and wellbeing. The good news is, studies done on people who meditate show their brain waves are coherent, the state of being synchronized on both sides.

Meditation can take us to a place within where there is a sense of wholeness with access to love, wisdom and inner strength. I consider this my soul – a place of peace and harmony. As humans, we have a deep, inner longing for wholeness. When we are pulled in so many directions, we become fractured and have to actively cultivate wholeness. Think of your soul as a circle of total pureness, with an outer circle containing the stuff we experience in life (frustrations, fears); tiny fissures break into the outer ring of our being, which causes us to experience confusion or the feeling of being lost or disconnected. In this state, it is very hard to hear or feel our intuition.

Meditation helps us to cultivate wholeness by creating an awareness of our self and our environment; it develops patience and opens us to all of life’s offerings instead of only those blaring at us through technology. Our body, at any given second, is responding to our every need; the more we live in a fractured environment, the more we waste needed energy. Meditation helps us to meet chaos with calm; it helps us to find clarity in situations, instead of responding with knee-jerk reactions. Meditation also brings acceptance of our self and others. This does not mean we have to agree with everyone, nor do we have to condone everything; acceptance allows us to just let it be.

Remember to honor the being in you; take really good care of you and find healing through meditation.

I wish to acknowledge Dr. Susan Godman, Dr. Cheryl Kasdorf and Ms. Paula Zuccarello of

Partners in Health Care, Naturally, Prescott, Arizona

"In Mind-Body Integrative Medicine, we listen to the symptoms and to the story behind them as our guide to treat the cell and the self. We work to cure the biology as we simultaneously heal the biography. Only when both the cell and the self are tended to, can we find authentic, deep healing." Dr. Paul Epstein

With Gratitude for Health

I am truly excited about 2016! This past year has been quite an experience for me. Early last year, I began to have bouts of lightheadedness, like my blood sugar was dropping. Just prior to that, as I’d go about town, I kept passing a Naturopath’s office – my gaze was always drawn to her signage: Partners in Health Care, Naturally. One day, as I saw the doctor entering her office, she turned, looked up at the sky and gave a really big smile – I knew that was a sign, so I made an appointment.

Dr. Godman was able to determine immediately that I was in severe adrenal fatigue. She explained that there were too many “big” life stressors that had occurred in my life without any respite in between (I moved and then lost my mother and my twin brother, all back to back). When I asked her how she knew so quickly, she told me “I see this all the time – it’s also due to the society we live in.”

The adrenal fatigue I experienced was so severe that I often felt like I was going to drop on the floor and that was going to be the end of me. I literally felt very close to death; after researching this, I realized I had been very near death. My body was literally depleted. What I needed was protein and lots of it, every hour or so. I hardly left my home for the first four months – a two-minute phone call swallowed up my energy, as did a 15-minute trip to the grocery store. In order to make the trip to the store, I had to eat 60 grams of protein; once in the store, I typically felt like I was going to drop on the floor. I always had almonds with me – that was what the doctor recommended – and I kept a bag of almonds next to my bed. It took everything in me to fix a breakfast of eggs and veggies, which was what was recommended, because eggs seem to be what our body processes most quickly to replenish us.

I’m writing this because adrenal fatigue is becoming very prevalent in our society.  We’ve all heard of the “fight or flight” mode of stress. If we have a near-miss accident or we have to run quickly to get out of the way of an oncoming vehicle, our fight or flight response kicks in. Our body was designed to give us an adrenaline rush in order to meet the demand of what used to be a fight-or-flight situation (an animal chasing us). Today, due to such a fast pace and the constancy of everything, so many things demand our attention that our body is always “on.” Believe it or not – one day, we just run out. I didn’t feel any advanced notice until I began to feel lightheaded. I had no idea it was related to stress. Our body is so amazing that it keeps putting out until it has no more to give. When Dr. Godman told me “Your body is trying to keep you alive,” I realized how serious this was.

Having to experience such limitations gave me an opportunity to reflect – I had always gone at warp speed all my life and expected a great deal from my body. Amazingly though, when my body was at such a low point, I was able to experience a moment with my twin brother and my mom, a closure. I’ve also felt strongly that God “reset my defaults!” My pace in life has been a survival pace, always worrying about how I was going to support myself. I truly feel God has given me this beautiful chance to rebuild myself and to start anew. This new life requires leaning on faith and trust as opposed to allowing the ego to worry all the time! Now it is time to seek joy and wonderment, to relax and play!

So, please remember to pace yourself, eat well, sleep well, exercise, create quiet time, pay attention to how you’re expending energy – let go of any worries or grudges – reach deeply inside to find your connection to Spirit where faith, trust and God’s deepest love exists.

I wish you a beautiful 2016 filled with vibrancy and good health, peace and tranquility!

The Grace of Redemption

We all have a story – a story that entails sweet and loving moments and possibly harsh or heart-breaking ones. Still, it is our story. In the last post, I spoke of Gerald Sittser and the extreme loss he experienced in his life. I mentioned that he included some other life stories in his book, as well. I’d like to share a portion of one story that was truly amazing:

There was a drug bust and a shooting and a young police officer was shot. For a short period, he lay brain-dead in a hospital, then his life supports were removed and he took his last breath. Several years passed, when his sister, Sunday, realized she had forgiven Fred, the accused murderer. She stated “While life was going on around me, God worked on my bruised and broken heart and made me aware of just how much He loves me.” One day, she received a very clear message from God saying He wanted her to go see Fred and He gave her this message: “Tell Fred that I love him. Tell him that I love him so much that I sent my only Son, Jesus, to die for his sins.” Then He said: “Tell Fred that it is not too late to become the man that I designed him to be.” Sunday went right to work on this, did research to locate Fred, wrote to him to ask permission to visit him and requested visitation rights, then met with him face to face. They spoke for quite a while; during that time she shared God’s message with Fred. Before her eyes, Fred committed his life to Jesus Christ; Sunday felt she witnessed a miracle. Sunday and Fred continue to communicate and have created a warm friendship. Amazing Grace.

Gerald Sittser speaks of how our story fits into God’s bigger story and talks of redemption being a paradox: “…we become who we already are in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is redemption; Jesus Christ is also the one who works redemption.” This brought to mind a couple passages from the Bible. In Isaiah 64:8 “But, now, O Lord, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You our potter; and all we are the work of Your hand.” And in Zechariah 13:9 “I will bring the one-third through the fire, will refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested.”

From an article called The Refiner’s Touch, I learned that while a few women were studying the Bible, they decided to research how a silversmith refines silver: “…one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest so as to burn away all the impurities,” said the silversmith. He further explained: “he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire; if the silver was left even a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.” The women asked how he knew when the silver was fully refined. His response: “Oh that’s the easy part – when I see my image reflected in it.” As it was further expressed in Isaiah 48:10 “Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.”

Gerald Sittser feels redemption has become “significant” in his life and for “very personal reasons;” however, he feels the term redemption can be “alien and even intimidating to us.” In his book, A Grace Revealed, he wants to “reclaim the word and make it understandable, useful, and meaningful for ordinary life.” He states: “Redemption is the work of Jesus Christ applied to the unfolding story of life, your life and my life.” And while “story” is the theme of his book, he stresses: “God has written and played the key role in the story of salvation, which promises to redeem our stories – mending what is broken, healing what is sick, making right what has gone so wrong…a gift of pure grace.”

Being tested in the “furnace of affliction” conjures up painful experiences of life; when we reframe the sadness and difficult times, we create space to know and trust we are being “tested” in the furnace of affliction in order to be honed until God’s image is finally reflected. This is the gift of grace revealed.

The Grace of Our Story

In the early 2000s when I began to research Grace, I came across a book called: A Grace Disguised: How the soul grows through loss (1996). I was so touched by the book, I wrote the author, Gerald L. Sittser (presently a professor of Theology at Whitworth College in Spokane, WA), to express my appreciation for sharing his story. Sittser’s story involved his wife and four small children and his mother, named Grace. As they set out on a weekend journey in the Cascade Mountains some 20-plus years ago now, they were hit by a drunken driver – at that moment, he lost three generations of women – “my mother, my wife, and my daughter.” He and his remaining three children also sustained multiple injuries.

What I remember most from his book was what he called the “existential darkness” that came upon him when he saw the three open coffins at the funeral home and how he found himself in a “waking dream” – running after the setting sun, becoming exhausted, realizing the sun was out of his grasp; looking back eastward, seeing only a “vast darkness closing in.” When he shared his dream with others, his sister told him: “the quickest way for anyone to reach the sun and the light of day is not to run west, chasing after the setting sun, but to head east, plunging into the darkness, until one comes to the sunrise.”

Ironically, while I was reading this book, I was also reading the Bible from cover to cover for the first time. After reading the Book of Job, I remember thinking to myself I don’t get it. Within a couple days, as I was reading Sittser’s book, he explained how two Biblical stories helped him through his ordeal, the story of Joseph and the story of Job. He fully explained the Book of Job! What a gift of grace.

Now, fast forward to the present when I learned Gerald Sittser has since written a number of books, one entitled: A Grace Revealed: How God redeems the story of your life (2012). In this book, he asks: “How can we trust God is involved in our story when our circumstances seem to say He isn’t?” He then explains how his family’s story is brought “full circle, revealing God’s redeeming work in the midst of circumstances that could easily have destroyed them.” He also shared other life stories in his book and showed how God redeemed those stories. He invites us to read this book with our own story in mind.

There are so many poignant moments in his book. Sittser and his children love the outdoors and he speaks of how they hike in the Canadian Rockies and note the many pine trees along the way and remark about the beauty of their stature: “not beautiful like a child’s innocent and delicate face, but beautiful like the carved and aged face of a lifelong fisherman or farmer…full of character.” He also spoke of how it was his tradition to find a new calendar each year with pictures of beauty and nature on them and how this calendar hung on the pantry door in their kitchen – a place of gathering and a place where all could keep their plans written together. One picture truly caught their attention, so they eventually set out to find it along the California coast – he expressed how the beauty of the actual site was “so much better” than the picture they so loved. Sittser has recently married, his children are now grown and married and he has a grandchild and two stepdaughters. His story is carved deeply with loss and grief, with beauty, love and grace, A Grace Revealed.

Sittser sees those trees he referred to as symbolizing what God wants for us. “He wants to use the harsh conditions of life to shape us – and eventually the whole world – into something extraordinarily beautiful. Once broken, we become whole again; once selfish and insecure, we become stately and serene and self-giving….”