Thursday, April 29, 2010

"Be quiet in your faith in Him who loves you, and would lead you out of insanity. Madness may be your choice, but NOT your REALITY.




Never forget the love of God, Who had remembered you. For it is quite impossible that He ever let his son drop from the loving mind wherein he was created, and where his abode was fixed in perfect Peace forever.



Say to the Holy Spirit only: "Decide for me" and it is done!



For His decisions are reflections of what God knows about you, and in this light, error of any kind becomes impossible.



Why would you struggle so frantically to anticipate all you cannot know, when all knowledge lies behind every decision the Holy Spirit makes for you?



Learn His wisdom and His love, and teach His answer to everyone who struggles in the dark. for you decide for them and yourself.



In everything be led by the Holy Spirit, and do not reconsider. TRUST HIM to answer quickly, surely, and with Love for everyone who will be touched in any way by the decision. and everyone will be.



Would you take unto yourself the sole responsibility for deciding what can bring only good to everyone? Would you know this?



Whenever you are in doubt what you should do, think of His presence in you, and tell yourself this, and ONLY this:



He leadeth me and knows the way, which I know not.

Yet He will never keep from me what He would have me learn.

And so I TRUST Him to communicate to me all that He knows for me.



Then let Him teach you quietly how to perceive your guiltlessness, which is already there.



Ask not to be Forgiven, for this has already been accomplished.



Ask, rather, to learn how to forgive and to restore what always was to your unforgiving mind.



Atonement becomes real and visible to those who use it. On earth this is your ONLY function, and you must learn that THIS is all you want to learn.



Before you make any decisions for yourself here, remember that you have already decided against your function in Heaven, and then consider carefully whether you want to make decisions here.



Your true function here in only to decide against deciding what you want, in recognition that you do not know!



How, then, can you decide what you should do?



Leave ALL DECISIONS to the One Who speaks for God, and for your function as He knows it. So will He teach you to remove the awful burden you have laid upon yourself by not loving your brothers.



Give up this frantic and insane attempt that cheats you of the joy of living with your God and Father, and of waking gladly to His love and Holiness that join together as the truth in you, making you one with Him.



When you have learned how to decide with God, ALL decisions become as easy and as right as breathing. There is no effort, and you will led as gently as if you were being carried down a quiet path in summer.



Only your own volition seems to make deciding hard.



The Holy Spirit will not delay in answering your every question what to do. He knows. And He will tell you, and then do it for you.



You who are tired will find this is more restful than sleep.



Your task is not to make reality. It is here without your making, but not without you.



You cannot understand how much your Father loves you, for there is no parallel in your experience of the world to help you understand it.



There is nothing on earth with which it can compare."

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Lessons from the Tiger Woods Scandal

Unless you have been living in a cave the last month, you must have heard the gossip-laden news about golf great Tiger Woods' escapades and so-called scandal.

If you have not heard about it and are curious, just Google "Tiger Woods" news and you will have the next 8 months of reading material covering this public debacle at your fingertips!

Tiger messed up big time - no doubt. And he is suffering the pain as a result. But as I am following this train-wreck coverage the past 3 weeks, I cannot help but think about the true overall lesson inherent in this media circus involving the once squeaky-clean, teflon golfer.

Besides the obvious "lessons" learned involving infidelity and discussed ad nauseum in the media, I cannot get past the greatest baffler of them all:

How could this happen?

Let's face it - as youngsters we ALL want to be Tiger Woods in some aspects of our lives!

Where do you begin? Tiger is materially wealthy beyond belief (estimated net worth of $1BB (pre-scandal), $100MM plus in corporate endorsements alone (anchored by his choir boy, clean, honest image), married to a beautiful ex-model and 2 wonderful children, living in a mansion in Florida, a private jet, young, attractive, marketable, exciting, a legend in the making, and he plays golf - FOR A LIVING!!

Helloooo.... Not too shabby when you lay it out there like that! It is a materialistic climber's Nirvana!

What sticks out to me - and has with many other experiences and observations in my life so far - is that if THIS GUY cannot be happy and at peace with all he has been given, granted, blessed with in this world - who can actually be Happy??

How can he not be?? How can he implode with all he has in his life? The very treasures many of us seek, dream about, covet, and desire he actually possessed and he throws them all away in search of...... What????!!!!

Peace, Joy, love, acceptance, happiness???

I am no psychologist, but I do know that there is a pattern here!

Maybe, just maybe those things we seek - the material treasures and rewards that we use to judge our value, self-worth and measure our accomplishments - are not the right things to pursue if we aim to be truly HAPPY??!!!

Could it be??

Obviously for Tiger Woods they were not enough to provide him peace and happiness and joy.

Would it be the same for us in the same circumstances??

I am willing to bet the answer is YES!! Now granted, hand me a billion dollars in order to try it out and I am darn sure I can stay happy! Lol!

History is filled with examples of wealthy and powerful individuals who, when examined closely, were miserable in their lives despite the very things most of us as humans seek and long to have!

So what can we learn from Tiger here?

Be careful what you seek and wish for - as the achievement of those material goals may not be enough to satisfy what we all need and crave - love, peace, joy and happiness.

Those four treasures above - love, peace, joy and happiness - cannot be won, or bought, or achieved through material means. They come from an understanding in our hearts and our minds of our connections with each other and our pursuit here on earth is simple in my mind:

Love, love, love - and help each other to love!

There is nothing at all wrong with achievements that bring you wealth and fame - I am all for it if that is your goal!!

Just do not expect those accomplishments and all the trappings that follow to bring you to the goal of Happiness!

For it is a long way down from that reality once you get to that pinnacle and realize it is not there waiting for you!!

The amazing fact is that without needing to sink a 50 foot putt or hit a golf ball 500 yards, we ALREADY have that Happiness, Peace and Joy available to us - We just need to recognize it and recalibrate our measurements!!

Stay Strong and learn from Tiger!


Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Bonfire of the Vanities


It has been an ancient custom in many parts of the world that those who are blessed with good fortune show gratitude and humility to the gods they felt made it possible.

They would take the items indicating the trappings of their wealth, like money, jewels, or favorite items and burn them to symbolize how good fortune could turn on them in the blink of an eye.

Anything that made them feel more important than other and fine things they coveted would be burned in this Bonfire of the Vanities in an effort to, if only temporarily, remind themselves of the pain of losing the things they hold so dear.

As is has been for thousands of years, there will be times in our own lives when a bonfire of our own vanities will humble us and remind us WHY WE ARE ACTUALLY HERE.

The souls understand how valuable it is, not only in our own journey here, but the souls' continuing journey there, to help us pick up the pieces of our lives and find HOPE again.

Sometimes it takes longer than they hoped, but no matter when it comes, they stand at the ready to show us that everything in our lives is a CHALLENGE WE WILL LEARN FROM.

Loss is not only confined to the bereaved. We will all suffer losses, of varying kinds and in varying degrees, in the course of our lifetime here.

Although we will never know where our spiritual road will take us, one thing is certain - if we are on the road here, there WILL be a challenge to face. It is the only way we can learn from our experiences here.

No matter what way the circumstances of being humbled appears in our lifetime, it is the only way for God to refocus the way we see our journey here, and to set us again to the GREATER PURPOSE for which we are here.

God has a plan for each and every one of us, and although we will mourn our losses, we must also understand that the experiences are part of the plan!

The souls promise that the struggles we endure here will be worth every second of the pain we feel, because the reward for our accomplishments is an ETERNITY of JOY!

We never know where our lives will take us, so it is impossible to curse our fate when things change suddenly for what we perceive to be the worst.

ONLY God knows the why and how of any life plan, and if we have some FAITH that EVERYTHING is a stone that will build the path of our spiritual purpose here, these bonfires of the vanities will become easier for us, and far less destructive in the course of our lives here."

- George Anderson, "Walking in the Garden of the Souls"
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Friday, November 20, 2009

Next Stop - The Land of Hope and Dreams

"Grab your ticket and your suitcase,
Thunder's rolling down this track,

Well, you don't know where you're going now but you know you won't be back.


Well Darling if you're weary lay your head upon my chest,
We'll take what we can carry and we'll leave the rest,


Big wheels roll thru fields where sunlight streams,
Meet me in a Land of Hope and Dreams,


Well I will provide for you and I'll stand by your side, you'll need a good companion now, for this part of the ride..


Now Leave behind your sorrows, let this day be the last,
Tomorrow there'll be sunshine and all this darkness passed,


Big wheels roll thru fields where sunlight streams,
Meet me in a Land of Hope and Dreams,


Well, This train carries Saints and Sinners,
This train carries losers and winners,
This train carries whores and gamblers,
This train carries lost souls,

This train carries broken-hearted,
This train carries thieves and sweet souls departed,
This train carries fools, carries kings,
All aboard..

On This train - dreams will not be thwarted
On this train - FAITH will be rewarded
On This train - hear the steel wheels singing,
On This train - bells of freedom ring...

---- B. Springsteen... Land of Hope and Dreams...

Stay Strong!!!

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Sunrise


I was running very late this morning and as I rushed out the door to attempt to catch the next train, I was struck like a punch in the stomach by something so beautiful, so powerful, so very overwhelming that I was literally stopped in my tracks!!



The sun was peeking it's head ever so slightly over the Long Island Sound, and just the mere sliver of it radiated such a massive and encompassing orange glow that I could not take another step toward my car!



I was struck motionless by the light and energy that I saw rising steadily over the water!



I literally dropped my bag and grabbed my camera phone, stuck motionless as the sliver quickly became a semi-circle of fire, in a feeble attempt to somehow catch and document this absolute thing of Beauty and spectacular Splendor!



I stood in the driveway staring and felt so moved by this sunrise I cannot begin to explain the emotion of it.



I stood there for at least 10 minutes - awestruck and not wanting to leave!



Now granted, I have seen many a sunrise in my lifetime fortunately and this was certainly not the first one to have moved me with it's beauty and massive strength.



However, for some reason today's sunrise felt different. It felt more meaningful, more beautiful, more of a message to me and now to you --- Every Day belongs to us and we MUST seize it - appreciate it - utilize it and realize that we have a Mission here on earth!



We have a duty to each other to help, assist, encourage, and strengthen every single person you encounter!!



There is NOTHING more important that that - I repeat: THERE IS NOTHING MORE IMPORTANT THAN OUR DUTY TO EACH OTHER!



The picture I managed to muster does not come even close to capturing what that amazing ball of Love, Fire, Hope and Strength conveyed to me this morning, but I hope you can at least gleem just a little inspiration from the photo to help you move through your day with Joy and Happiness and Peace!



Stay Strong!

Monday, November 16, 2009

Two MUST READS - and I mean TODAY!

I just gobbled up 2 books on my Kindle and I have to urge all of you to do the same!!! TODAY!!

The first is George Anderson's "Walking in the Garden of the Souls" http://www.amazon.com/Walking-Garden-Souls-George-Anderson/dp/0425186113/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1258466287&sr=1-1 and the second is "Lessons from the Light" by Kenneth Ring, PhD. http://www.amazon.com/Lessons-Light-Learn-Near-death-Experience/dp/1930491115/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1258466364&sr=1-2.

Both of these books, albeit differently in approach and specifics, deal with the prospect of what happens after we die and more importantly - give us inspiration as to how to find Joy in this life as a result of these lessons!!

Both are fascinating, inspirational, powerful and life-altering in their messages and lessons!

Bring only an open mind and your strong Faith and what you read in these two works will transform your outlook on life INSTANTLY! For the Better of course!!

George Anderson's book is an amazing work on lessons he has learned in his vocation as a spiritual medium. He has joked that he is more like a "small" than a medium.

His lessons are derived from the multitude of Souls he hears from beyond this earth as he connects them with their loved ones still here on Earth. I know it sounds bizarre but I witnessed first hand his ability and amazing gift with our own loss and healing (http://www.fallon.freewebsitehosting.com/) after losing our precious niece and Goddaughter Fallon. His work saved lives!!

Dr. Ring's book is a study on NDE survivors, or Near Death Experiences. His clinical yet riveting studies on the accounts of numerous NDE survivors is couched as such to share the amazing lessons these people learned in their brief time away from this earth - and to stress that you do not need your own NDE to grasp and learn these lessons and benefit from their POWER to change our lives and outlooks in this lifetime!

The accounts of what occurred to these people - all completely unrelated - are amazing in their consistencies, similarities, and shared lessons learned despite all of them being totally separate and different situations, people, lifestyles, circumstances, beliefs, backgrounds, and religions!

You must pick these books up and read them ASAP! For your own happiness and joy!!

These lessons are too valuable to leave unknown any longer!!! For any of us!!

Stay Strong!!!

Thursday, November 5, 2009

The Relativity of "Happiness"

Who doesn't want to "BE HAPPY"?

I mean really - isn't that the ultimate goal we all seek in this life?

Every book we see on Amazon.com has some "secret" to happiness, the "125 ways to GET HAPPY", "Get Happy Now", "Your Way to Happiness", etc...or some variation.

With such an overwhelming emphasis on this seemingly elusive state of being and emotion, and with so many people, experts, pundits and ordinary folk (yours truly) spouting off about "Happiness" and ways to achieve it, wouldn't you think that EVERYONE - or at least the majority of people with access to all this genius, secrets, tips and know how would actually... Be.... Happy!

No?

Think about it - how many people can you name and count who are truly HAPPY? I mean 100%, unadulterated, genuine and all-encompassingly HAPPY?

Not many - if any at all... That I can cite off the top of my head!

Now, I understand there are many, many people that are NOT UNHAPPY - but that is an entirely different thing altogether is it not?

Why is that? Even if you named 2 people that you feel are really, truly happy in their current state, that does not really amount to that many people on this grand world on a strict percentage basis does it?

Again - why is that? Why is happiness so darn elusive and rare in these lives we are leading??

I think I have a theory!

I believe, in my Faith, that we are all Souls. Beautiful, amazing, loving, caring Souls.

Hear me out for a second!

Have you ever been somewhere amazing and beautiful and fun and peaceful in your life? Have you ever spent time somewhere special and spectacular and had to return to wherever it was you came from before you were in that amazing place. Or even more so, had to leave that amazing place for a lesser place?

How did that feel? Crummy, no doubt.

It gets so that you can only really remember that beautiful and amazing place while you are in the lesser venue and dream of how happy you were back in the beautiful place.

How difficult is it to duplicate that feeling of joy and happiness you experienced in the great place in the new place? How happy can you be in the new place having experienced the splendor of the beautiful spot??

It is challenging indeed.

Well, I believe that part of our struggle and difficulty in being happy in this current life is due to the fact that we had once experienced something so peaceful and beautiful and joyous, prior to our existence here on Earth, that although we cannot consciously remember it - we can sense it and feel it and just know that it was an amazingly special place compared to where we are now!

Subconsciously we long to be back in that place of Joy and Happiness and nothing material, earth-made, ego driven or in existence physically can bring us that total and complete sense of peace and love and joy that we have already tasted once before.

How does someone like Elvis Presley kill himself with drugs - when he seemingly has everything we all strive to achieve--- fame, fortune, adoration, wealth and celebrity? The obituaries are filled with unhappy, miserable people who have passed unhappy and incomplete.

Why???

I truly believe that our purpose on the earth is to serve each other - assist and help each other - to learn and grow and develop as beautiful Souls!

And I also believe we will end up back in that beautiful spot we know deep in our subconscious, surrounded by loved ones, experiencing only Joy and peace and love - and finally the true happiness that we seek will be ours!

But not so fast!!

We have work to do here first, people! There is a purpose and reason we are here and we must do our best to grow and develop and love one another until we can get to the greatest Happiness we could ever imagine!

Forget the material trappings and the measures of success we use on this earth!!

The measure of true success is the kindness and love we bring to others, the support and help we offer those who are struggling more than we may be - the growth we seek and achieve in service to one abother and to our God!

That is what we should use as a tape measure!! Because that is all that truly matters after this life is over here on this planet!!

Think about it - when are you closest to true joy??? True happiness?? What brings you closest to that feeling we so desire??

You know the answer!! ;)

Stay Strong and keep your eye on the Goal!!!

Happiness will be ours without doubt!!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry