Charles Fillmore, cofounder of Unity, said that prayer is “communion between God and man ... it is the language of spirituality.” Just as our physical senses give us language and experience for our human world, prayer awakens our “spiritual senses,” giving us language for the ever-deepening felt presence and expression of the living Christ energy. [...]
We seem to be deluged with never-ending newspaper and TV coverage about the Syrian/Iraqi refugee crisis and the threat of extremist violence. Each time it shows up in my newsfeed on Facebook, cuts into a TV show I am enjoying, or I hear people in a coffee shop talking about it frantically, I am bombarded [...]
So what exactly do I mean when I say you be peace and then you be peace? Well depending on who you ask, if you want peace in the world, you must “BE peace,” meaning you must first find peace in your heart through meditation, or other contemplative practices. You must look within and heal your [...]
Rarely do I think about the spiritual journey as something fast. And yet, how often do I hear the phrase “a quickening of Spirit?” Just saying the word quickening, I can sense the energy ramping up inside me. Sometimes this energy feels frenetic, while at other times it feels lighthearted – like the easygoing innocence [...]
Two things I love about the wisdom of the Muppets, First, their philosophy is eternal. It was here long before Jim Henson, and will be here long after the Muppets retire. The second reason I think the Muppets are necessary for life’s learning, is because it reminds me there is hope. Hope for the spiritual realities we yearn for in life, regardless of one’s faith philosophy or tradition.
Everywhere I look there are TV shows, articles, pictures, poems, reflections and pithy aphorisms about love, oneness and seeing or knowing God. If I didn’t know better I would think we were hungry, or even starving, to see Spirit! In our spiritual journey we seek to define God, to manifest Spirit, to know our faith and to live it. I sometimes find myself drifting in and out of knowing the Divine, and what it means to fully “see” God, or even to have faith in what I am doing.
One of the treasures in my life is the ability to lose myself in a song. Closing my eyes and allowing the words and music to play through me – to stop listening with my ears and listen with my heart. As the music washes over me, my mind relaxes, my breathing slows and I quietly drift into unexpected places of creation. This is the sacred discipline of deep listening, of being spiritually attentive through our hearing sense.
Take a strawberry into your hand. Notice the brilliant color, the sweet aroma, the texture of its seeds. Consider these as you sink your thumbnail into the skin of the strawberry… the membrane that so carefully holds the precious juice inside. Notice the burst of aroma and the spray of juice. Feel the sweet, sticky coolness [...]
In the previous blog I talked about the spiritual sense of smell, as akin to our physical sense of smell, which can be a powerful attraction to something. The spiritual sense of smell is a symbol, a metaphor for that attraction to being attentive to Spirit that is hidden all around us, as well as [...]
“We lost a great soul yesterday.” How often have I heard that? How many times each and every day do you think these words are spoken around the world? As I ponder this question a smile spreads across my face because I imagine the millions who have spoken these words have had the great joy [...]
