Archive for the ‘God’ Category

What if water is the Earth’s cerebral-spinal fluid and oil is her blood?

What if the starving child in Africa or Tennessee is your belly aching?

What if breath is a gift given anew every second and you haven’t said “thank you” lately or ever.

What if thinking is not the same as being Conscious?

What if forgiving yourself and others neutralizes every bad choice ever made and you get to choose again?

What if living on the edge is a good thing if the edge is where Spirit and matter intersect?

What if miracles only happen to people who believe they exist?

What if laughter heals and you’ve lost your joy for life?

What if God is a verb and Its you in action?

What if messianic isn’t an adjective but an awareness?

What if every one of these is true?

What if there is only One of Us?

Then Who wrote this and Who’s reading it?

Many think Whitney Houston died too young but I think she died right on schedule. I am not intending to be callous or glib when I say that.  Decades ago I wrote that “when someone loves you it’s possible that the time comes when the only thing they have left to give you is their absence.” I think Whitney Houston has left us with a timely and priceless gift. I only hope we are enlightened enough to know how to use it.

Her blessings were many…her beauty, her voice, her faith.  She lived a life rich in the fullness of them all.  She also struggled with the disease of the 21^st century: addiction.  In her case, it was to drugs and alcohol. But addiction comes in as many forms as there are desires and presently, those of us living in this Nation of abundance are addicted to many. Whether its cocaine, sex, alcohol, wealth, chocolate, government welfare or youth…whatever…we are a Nation enslaved to our wants and desires. Our affluence allows us to indulge them all. Even welfare, one might argue, is the result of affluence. How many people of the world suffer hunger, die daily from hunger, because they live in countries too poor to provide government welfare. Even the poorest of us in this great Nation are not above losing sight of perspective and gratitude.

So why tie all of this to Whitney Houston’s death? In watching her funeral on Saturday, I noted that with a worldwide viewership, she managed to bring God center stage for a variety of religions and peoples across the globe.  Her legacy isn’t song or fashion. It’s the power of faith and the Light that shines from one who has it. It was her faith that was supporting her on the way back from addiction.

By example of the lives she touched, and the sheer power of her faith, she has bequeathed us a goldmine in tough economic times. She has pointed the way toward true wealth that enriches the Soul.  The wealth that flows from Love and Faith.

I only hope we are awake enough to not squander our windfall.

 

I’ve been where Whitney Houston was. No, not the fame, drugs or alcohol but the need to seek validation and safety in something or someone outside of myself. That’s what drove her. That was her inner demon. So when she was interviewed  by Diane Sawyer and asked, “So what’s your biggest demon?” she replied “Me.”

It doesn’t matter whether its resistance to accepting responsibility for our personal lives or for our lives as citizens in a free society. In the end, it’s all the same. The individual who looks for safety in government welfare or subsidies loses the same precious gift that Whitney Houston lost when she turned to Bobby Brown: personal power and confidence in one’s ability to achieve.  Much will be made of the alcohol binges and drug dependency but Brown was perhaps the most dangerous of all her choices… and the most telling.

When a woman (or a man) chooses a partner based upon neediness, there is always a tradeoff and the tradeoff is always the same.  What is exchanged, although not consciously, is personal responsibility. Along with it we relinquish personal power as well. It may take awhile and be a slow process over time, but as the saying goes “you can’t have the benefit without the burden.”

In discussing Whitney Houston’s downward slide, I heard someone say, “She could have gotten herself off that train anytime she wanted.” It’s not that easy. As I said before I’ve been there and dependency, whether upon a substance, a system or a human being is insidious. It does you in a little at a time. It inevitably takes not only the awareness that your existence is at risk, but also the courage to do something about it.

Many have awareness. Not so many have the courage.

It takes courage because the way out of dependency is counter-intuitive. One would think that retaining control, at all cost, to whatever sense of self remains is key. Yet the solution is surrender. Only by surrendering and withdrawing from all that is not working in your life are you able to make room for the Source of True Power to emerge from within. The resistance comes from an illusion that if we give up what we’ve been doing, even if it’s harmful, nothing will take its place…or something worse will. This false belief is a trick of the mind, or the ego, or evil…whatever you choose to call it. But it’s a trick none-the-less. In reality, true surrender brings forgiveness of self and others, a renewed sense of the ability to achieve, and a deep knowing that we are not alone. In surrender, we meet what we were in search of all along… Love.

Whitney Houston could not break through her resistance to surrender and, in the end, that resistance consumed her.

Each of us has to wage this struggle within ourselves. No one is exempt. If we are to learn anything from the loss of a gifted soul and a beautiful voice, let the takeaway be that when dis-empowering one aspect of ourselves we always  empower another or, as mythology tries to remind us, the Phoenix always rises from the ashes.

 

In the Art of War, ancient Chinese military general, strategist and philosopher Sun Tzu sets forth the best strategies for vanquishing an opposing force. One of the foremost principles is to turn the opposition’s strength into a weakness…thereby converting it into your strength. This principle presents us with the key to resolving the personal and global challenges we are currently facing.

Much of what is wrong in our personal lives, and the world in general, has been caused by deceit. The misuse of political, financial and personal power always requires reliance upon deception. Deception can only thrive when obscured. When exposed, deception loses its power. The very deceit that formerly empowered a few becomes an unraveling thread that ends in their annihilation as well as exposure of what was false.

Deception necessitates secrecy. Secrecy requires obscurity. Obscurity is darkness. In order for those who would use deceit to manipulate others they need to operate in darkness, far from the “light of day.”

So there’s the answer.

The death blow for the world’s current immersion into darkness is light. But not just any light: the Light of Creator which has as it two fundamental characteristics Love and Truth.

When we look beyond the circumstances of our personal life, we often think there is nothing a single individual can do to significantly affect the direction of society. In fact, it seems we can barely affect the direction of our own lives.

Neither thought is true.

Whether personal or global, the correction that needs to be applied to the current situation is for each of us to live in Love and Truth.  By so doing, by being the manifestation of the Light of Creator, we join together in consciousness and in deed to unmask the false premise that one individual cannot make a difference. In the process, we simultaneously eliminate deceit.

We are at war. It’s a spiritual war between The Light and Darkness. Allow Sun Tzu to guide you in the way of war. Just make certain you know who you are and on which side you stand.

Once that is accomplished, you’ll find the destination becomes clear and the path illuminated.

Glenn Beck was responding to a caller on his morning radio show who asked Mr. Beck’s take on Ron Paul’s superior ability over Rick Santorum to handle the fiscal crisis.  Mr. Beck responded with an analogy to Thomas Paine and George Washington. He elaborated that while Paine was vital to the success of the American Revolution vis-a-vis his courageous and inspired writing, the colonists’ efforts could not have ended in liberty without the faith, integrity and ethical certainty that Washington exemplified.

The exchange got me to thinking. Washington had Martha, who was known to support her husband even so far as to come to the battlefield to be with him and tend to the troops. Who did Paine have?

It turns out that Paine was married twice. His first wife died in childbirth a year into the marriage. He then married a second time several years later only to become legally separated shortly thereafter due to a disappointing and disharmonious relationship.

While it is not necessarily true that “behind ever great man there is a great woman,” I would argue that the vital role women have played throughout human history has been all but ignored. The Divine Feminine is within us all as is the Divine Masculine. We are created in the image of God…male and female alike. To revere one while dismissing or denigrating the contributions of the other is to not only deny one half of who we are but also to deny us full access to the total energies and potential for co-creation that is our birthright.

Each aspect of Divinity has its own unique power. Those powers are meant to co-exist in co-creation for the purpose of the highest good for all concerned. Together they are able to accomplish what neither could accomplish on its own.

So, if I could have joined in the conversation Mr. Beck had with his caller, I would have added that while the Nation needed Washington as it needs the integrity, faith and certainty of Rick Santorum… George needed Martha as Rick needs Karen.

As for the larger picture, each of us needs to resurrect the Divine Feminine within ourselves and balance it with the Divine Masculine. Once that is done, we can attract others who are equally balanced and, together, co-create the world of peace we so desperately seek.

When was the last time you calculated percentage ratios in your head?  Try this math problem:

Question: If there are 1426 people named in the Bible, and 111 of them are women, what percentage of those named are women?* (Answer below)

Okay, so it isn’t about them math. But I got your attention… so bear with me a little longer.

Who among us doesn’t know we are in a global mess that is on the brink of some rather potentially disastrous outcomes? Why do you think that is? Generally speaking, it’s a balance issue. When things are out of balance, whether its Nature or humanity, bad things happen. So how is humanity out of balance?

Let’s return to the math problem.

For thousands of years, as many as 5000 years, we have been writing and repeating history that alternatively excludes or marginalizes the Divine Feminine. Now if you hear the word feminine and your brain says feminist you’re way off track. This isn’t about force. It’s about power. True power.

The same book that disproportionately excludes the contribution by women begins with the statement that we were created “male and female alike.” It’s difficult, if not impossible, for any thinking person to reconcile much of what is alleged to have occurred from that point forward vis-à-vis the sexes. For having created us alike, we are told to believe that from that point forward we were to be treated and judged differently. It begs the question,

Why? Because woman (Eve) and the snake entered into an unholy alliance? I think not.

It’s much more likely, not to mention plausible, that the symbol of woman’s (Sophia’s) wisdom, which was represented symbolically by the snake long before monotheism and the rise of patriarchy, was deliberately targeted as the enemy and root of evil by a male dominated society and male recorders of history.

So, from that we have evolved, or devolved, to where we presently find ourselves…out of balance and sorely lacking in the necessary contributions that draw their origin from the Divine Feminine. The one half of Creator energy that is vital to the balanced and harmonious functioning of the whole.

What to do?

Each of us, male and female alike, must awaken to the Divine Feminine within us. We must awaken to the creative, compassionate, non-combative and allowing energies that rightfully flow from the Divine Feminine aspect of Creator.

Only when we bring ourselves into balance can we hope to create a world in balance. I hope we figure this one out very soon.

Have you checked the scale lately? It’s about to tip over.

 

*Answer: 7.7%

There are two types of anger… ego based anger and righteous anger.  As frustrations and demonstrations mount here at home and around the globe, it’s vital that we distinguish between the two. Without such discernment, we will become victims of our own misguided behavior.

Ego based anger is about control and lack of forgiveness.  When we have an expectation or plan that does not result in the outcome we desire, feeling out of control results in anger. The thought process is as follows: “If I were in control I could have made happen what I wanted to happen.”  Likewise when we (or someone else) do something to negatively affect the outcome we seek, resentment and blame for the interference causes the resulting anger. Lack of forgiveness is the culprit.

Righteous anger, on the other hand, is not personal. It originates from an awareness that I, or another, am not acting in a way that causes growth and spiritual advancement. Perhaps the most recognizable example is Jesus striking down the tables in the Temple. Yes, he was angry. But it was not self-destructive anger, nor was it destructive of others.  It was anger born of knowing that the behavior was inconsistent with the highest good.

Why is it so important that we understand the distinction? The answer lies in the effect each has on ourselves and others.

Ego based anger feeds itself and builds accordingly. It has no purpose or end other than destruction. Righteous anger is a wake-up call. It is meant to bring one present and stimulate honest inquiry into intention, behavior and direction.

Spring and summer are coming. So is a national election. The Occupy movement, and those with less than altruistic motives who seek to capitalize on the discontent, are already talking about and planning for “Days of Rage.”  Unless we are fully conscious and aware of the distinction between egocentric anger and righteous indignation then rage, when stoked, will thrust the Nation and the world toward the annihilation of personal freedom and the implementation of rule by force… of the many by the few.

It is up to each of us to make certain we identify the source and quality of our anger and be certain it is righteous in origin and not motivated by personal feelings of inadequacy or control.

This is the most assured path toward overcoming the planned destruction of ego looming on the horizon.

 

In a recent conversation with a friend, she told me that the reason she has never been interested in politics is because it’s all a lie.  However, recently she delved in for a brief visit and came away with her beliefs reinforced.  After watching the Republican Presidential debates, she called me and said “Obama has lied to us for three years. I watched those Republican contenders and it’s so obvious they will say anything to get the nomination. They are all alike. Politics is professional lying.”

I didn’t have much in my bag of responses to dissuade my friend, mostly because my heart wouldn’t have been in refuting her conclusion. The lying and pandering has definitely played itself out.

So, just maybe it’s not a political leader we should be seeking as much as a spiritual one. By spiritual, I don’t mean religious. The bureaucracies, corruption and politics inherent within organized religion are as much the cause of our current state of things as is secular politics.

By spiritual, I mean the likes of Moses, Buddha, Jesus and Gandhi.  These were not people marketing religion. They were people who each had a deeply personal and profound spiritual experience and then lived the truth of that experience.

Perhaps Gandhi, a former lawyer, is the best example for our current needs. Mainly because by his applying his spiritual awakening to his beliefs about national autonomy and individual dignity, he achieved politically what all the politicians and militarists were unable to do. One man, certain of his faith, his ethics, and his path changed the destiny of two nations and perhaps more.

So, as a former lawyer myself, I am rightfully an advocate of exercising our Constitutional right to vote. As such, I encourage all to stay alert and involved in the 2012 election process and make your voice heard. However, your greatest impact will be in emulating Gandhi and following his advice to “be the change you want to see in the world.”

You never know.

You could be the spiritual leader that turns it all around.

I’m certain that I’m not telling you anything you don’t know… but I am most likely reminding you of something you are trying to forget.

We are in a mess.

In some of us it’s manifesting as uncertainty and fear.  In others, it’s aggression and violence. For yet others…denial and escapism via alcohol, gambling or sex. Whatever the method of choice, each is a diversion from accepting personal responsibility for how we got here.

We’re here because we have been self-absorbed, greedy and lacking in compassion. We have denied our connection to one another and to all sentient beings. Our priorities have been wrong. Our values have been lacking. Our goals have been materially focused. We have ignored our spiritual Selves. We have been unconscious in our choices, believing that irresponsible choices bear no consequences.

I am astonished at how many people are still trying to avoid the reality of what is occurring. How many people are “continuing to dance in the ballroom” so to speak, as if the Titanic is not sinking? Too many.

We need to awaken now, on the eve of 2012, and accept that we are Consciousness Itself, experiencing Itself in physical form. And as such, Consciousness creates what it thinks about. We have spent much time and energy worshipping false idols…from politicians to movie stars to the Dow Jones Industrial Average at the expense of the down trodden, the children and the elderly.

We have been here before. This is a do-over. But only if we get it right this time. If not, I feel fairly certain that Consciousness will conclude that It’s experiment in trusting that humanity would awaken to Its Own Awareness of Who We Really Are was an error in thought and, in an effort to start again, will simply stop supporting the idea.

When Consciousness ceases to intend our existence any longer, humanity will cease to exist in that very instant.

Let’s us make a global New Year’s Resolution that we commit to keeping. Let us resolve to awaken to our Oneness, our Divinity and our commitment to use Free Will to choose, in every situation, the Highest Good for All Concerned.

Consciousness has been watching, and patiently awaiting, our arrival at Awareness. Time is a construct of Consciousness in matter. As Consciousness experiences us repeatedly choosing to remain unconscious…we are running out of time.

Quite literally.

There’s a famous story about the Roman Emperor Nero dancing and playing the fiddle as Rome burned. It’s just a story because, factually, its filled with contradiction and unsubstantiated facts. However, all references to “Nero fiddling” have come to mean “to occupy oneself with unimportant matters and neglect priorities during a crisis.”

Hence, the basis for the title of this post.

There are only three possibilities why President Obama would be taking a 17-day vacation to Hawaii as the world economies are in collapse, the Middle East is on fire, and everywhere you turn our nation is in a precarious state of unrest.

1. He is clueless;
2. He is arrogant to the point of indifferent;
3. He knows something we don’t.

Being a graduate of Harvard Law School, Editor of its Law Review,  and having out maneuvered the “smartest woman in the world” (a/k/a Hilary Clinton) during the 2008 Democratic primary, I doubt the President is clueless. And while I do think he has  given us numerous instances of his arrogance, I don’t think he is indifferent to the plight of others. Which leaves the only other possibility.

He knows something we don’t.

One of the reasons I became a lawyer (although not the primary one) is that I have always had an innate sense of “what’s wrong with this picture.” You know, the ability to look at a scene and see what is missing or doesn’t make sense. That innate sense is all over this Presidential vacation. The question is, “Exactly what does he know that we don’t?”

I may not have that answer yet but I suggest we all stay alert. Things are not what they seem. Trouble is coming for the uninformed (which means most of us). But for those with insider information, I suspect they are preparing in ways that escape the average citizen…for the moment, anyway.

What to do in the meantime?

Disregard the “official” word, look behind actions to motives, and hold fast to your values and your faith in a Source that has the power to intercept the ball and change the outcome of this game in a split second.