JOYFUL WANDERING -- 62

+ Updated at 11:05am on Monday, May 16, 2016.

+ This post includes entries from Tuesday, March 15, 2016 until Monday, May 16, 2016. Latest entries are at the top. If you would like to contribute, write JW in your subject line and send it to John@abundancetrek.com or put a comment on my Facebook page.

+ Check out an impressive Munson Williams Proctor Art Institute special exhibit of Terry Slade's unique art now happening. The artist is very much focused on the damage we are doing to our environment. However, he offers art as tools for meditation and contemplation making it possible to change our ways.

+ Inner Frontier offers "Sustaining Presence" by Joseph Naft. Excerpt: "If we want to be present, not just momentarily, but to stay present a little longer, the key is to relax into being here. We relax our body, sense it, and relax into the sensation. We notice our thoughts and relax into the cognizant space behind them. We relax into the equanimity behind our more superficial and fleeting emotions."

+ The Guardian offers "Let Donald Trump Be Our Unifier" by Eve Ensler.  Excerpt: "He is the outcome of an insidious exceptionalism – the bedrock belief that American lives are more precious and valuable than any Others, those that we stigmatize, bomb, torture, murder, control, invade and whose economies we trash, whose resources we devour, whose futures we steal."

I do believe that we can be transformed by our better angels as we deal creatively and energetically with this long shadow over the planet. This is a powerful, far-reaching and all too revealing article about what the problem is.

+ Inner Frontier offers Modes of Presence by Joseph Naft.  Excerpt: "In the coming weeks, we will experiment with each of these twelve modes of presence. For this week, please look at your own work of presence and its various flavors and aspects. How do you come into presence? Does it descend on you unbidden? Do you rise into presence? Do you choose to be present? Do you choose to stay present? Who is the you that is present?"

+ Common Dreams offers "The New Truth About Free Trade" by Robert Reich. It begins: "I used to believe in trade agreements. That was before the wages of most Americans stagnated and a relative few at the top captured just about all the economic gains."

+ Joyful Wandering posts 1 to 58 are found on The Abundancetrek Blog. You can find them all here.

COFFEE BREAK 419

+ updated at 4:14pm ESDT on Friday, March 28, 2014

+ Page 5 of The Amazing Journey is now posted on The Abundancetrek Blog.

+ Here is an excerpt from this week's Inner Work at Inner Frontier > Rising Above Our Plateaus > As our inner work deepens, joy, love, conscience, and equanimity suffuse our life. This is wonderful and, for many who come to it, good enough. So after reaching that grand plateau, one can practice just enough to maintain the necessary inner tone. If that meets a person’s goals and aspirations with regard to their inner life, then he or she has attained what they sought. This is completely honorable. The world certainly is a better place because of people who live in such a state. This is a groove, not a rut.

For others, however, the spiritual path has no upper bound. Their aspirations reach all the way to the Divine. For them, any spiritual plateau, no matter how sublime, is a rut, a temptation to be overcome.

COFFEE BREAK 396

+ updated at 12:39pm EST on Saturday, January 4, 2014

+ On Facebook, Robert Reich shared: "Several of you thought yesterday's post arguing that Congess's first priority when it convenes next week should be to restore unemployment benefits for the record number of long-term unemployed was a weak palliative for what's really needed. "We don't need unemployment benefits," wrote Burr Hubbell, for example, "We need real jobs." Mr. Hubbell and others raise an important issue. In fighting for measures that alleviate symptoms of a failing system -- whether chronic joblessness, increasing poverty, widening inequality, or ever greater economic insecurity -- are we staving off more fundamental reform? Or are we taking the only humane approach available until such time as fundamental reform is politically feasible?"

+ On Facebook, J. Barrett Lee shared: (DISCLAIMER: This is in response to an anonymous commenter on my blog, not anyone I know in real-life or Facebook)
 
I think I'm going to start responding to the phrase
"Don't be so open-minded that your brains fall out."
 
with:
 
"Don't be so close-minded that you blow other peoples' brains out."
History has many more concrete examples of the latter, I'm afraid.

+ Eleventh Day of Christmas
A verse from the Daily Lectionary:

May God grant your heart’s desire
and fulfill all your plans.”

Psalm 20:4 < http://www.presbyterianmission.org/devotion/daily/2014/1/4/

At http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_Days_of_Christmas we are informed that today is the feast day of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first American saint according to the Roman Catholic Church. In medieval times this was The feast of Saint Simon Stylites.

Here is the Spirituality and Practice Christmas quote for today by the great Sufi poet, Hafiz:

A Suspended Blue Ocean

There is only one rule
On this Wild Playground,

For every sign Hafiz has ever seen
Reads the same.

They all say,

"Have fun, my dear; my dear, have fun,
In the Beloved's Divine
Game,

"O, in the Beloved's
Wonderful
Game."

Hafiz in The Subject Tonight Is Love by Daniel Ladinsky

COFFEE BREAK 392

+ Seventh Day of Christmas > S & P Christmas Quote > Gift, Sharing, Joy > I think we need a new word — "comjoyment" — as a companion to "compassion" to remind us that our greatest gift to the world may be in sharing what gives us the greatest joy. -- Sam Keen in Learning to Fly

 < http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/quotes/quotes.php?id=20440 | More Advent & Christmas Quotes are at http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/blogs/maps.php?id=20474

+ Seventh Day of Christmas >“I think this is how we are supposed to be in the world--present and in awe.” -- Anne Lamott

+ Seventh Day of Christmas > Day 7, 31 December: Pope St. Sylvester. In Scotland this day is known as Hogmanay. In Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland, Slovakia, Switzerland and Slovenia, New Years Eve is still referred to as Silvester. < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_Days_of_Christmas

COFFEE BREAK 340

+ updated at 1:00pm ESDT on Tuesday, July 10, 2012

+ I am reading an amazing book about an amazing NDE connected with an amazing healing.  I highly recommend DYING TO BE ME by Anita Moorjani and her website.  The insights and ideas and experiences she shares resonate with me a lot.  For example, I believe:

We are
intimately,
intricately,
infinitely
connected
by a matrix of
unconditional,
unlimited,
uniting
LOVE
which is
miraculous,
mysterious and
marvelous.

I found many, many thoughts which resonate with that belief. She calls the greater reality that we can access THE MAGNIFICENCE.  I like it!

+ The Abundancetrek Blog offers Joyful Wandering -- 38 with a magnificent Desmond Tutu quote which I found in "God's Dream," Barrett Lee's July 8 sermon.

COFFEE BREAK 339

+ The S&P e-course I am taking is really good: Practicing the Presence of God. The sharing in the Practice Circle has been inspiring and illuminating.  The lesson published today deals with celebrating "the sacrament of the present moment" even in the difficult times of life. Here is what I just posted:

All is Well

I think there is some synchronicity going on here!

Donned in felt,
I commune secretly with the blooming bush,
With feelings peculiarly my own.
Just this day, my hairs have begun to turn white:
Last year, the flowers looked redder than these.
Their tender beauty is going the way
Of the morning dew,
Their fragrant breath is evaporating
Into the evening breeze.
Why must we wait for their wilting
And falling before we can realize
The evanescence of life?

- Fa-yen

http://www.dailyzen.com/

I am slowly re-framing some of the worries and frustrations and doubts and pains of my life as I move through this fantastic course, one of the best ever.

"Divine action" in everything, even in the worst of humanity. That puts things in some perspective, doesn't it? So, then, God is working through the Fox News Channel! I am going to email News Corporation and let them know they are loved and I am praying for them ... even for the CEO, Rupert Murdoch, who influences so much of our current political and economic sphere.

What can I learn from all this? Maybe the response to the negativity and greed and ignorance and insensitivity in our current political and economic system will be so amazing that the pain will be worth it. But that's future thinking.

Here, in the present moment, I find grace upon grace upon grace everywhere and that's good. Sin abounds but grace super abounds. So, sin boldly my friends. All is well. It's a beautiful Life. Right now, right here.

The heat wave is gone. The cold front has arrived. Pleasant breeze. Birds chirping. Last sip of coffee. Neighbor's lawn mower buzzing. All is well.

love, john + www.abundancetrek.com + We are intimately, intricately and infinitely connected by a matrix of unconditional, unlimited and uniting love which is miraculous, mysterious and marvelous.

COFFEE BREAK 323

+ C'mon. Get up and dance!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXADx5ZosNc&feature=youtube_gdata_player

COFFEE BREAK 316

+ updated at 9:57am EST on Monday, January 23, 2012.

+ Spiritual Literacy Blog offers "Just One Thing: Tune Into Others" by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat. Excerpt:

Empathy can be defined as the capacity to understand and respond to the unique experience of another. It is a skill that can be developed at an early age and applied to mend relationships and conflicts. We can sharpen our empathy by asking the right questions, avoiding snap judgments, learning from the past, and setting limits.

+ Inner Frontier offers another weekly installment in the Inner Work series on Sacred Impulses by Joseph Naft.  This week's offering is on Joy. Here's an excerpt:

At the level of being conscious and fully aware, we rise into a natural, un-caused joy. We are suffused with joy in our awareness itself. Our very presence is joy. Sharing moments with friends and loved ones brings us joy. Taking actions that serve others brings us joy. Being useful, creative, or spontaneous brings us joy. Doing something well brings us joy. Dropping the burdens of egoism, dropping the defense of our pretenses, dropping our clinging, we are released into joy. We even feel empathetic joy in others’ joys. Our joy is no longer limited or in any way dependent. We live in joy.

COFFEE BREAK 249

+ updated at 1:53pm EST on Wednesday, February 16, 2011

+ I have been gathering idea for what I am now calling THE NEW FAITH FOR THE NEW EARTH for many years.  I want to share these ideas as much as I possibly can and so I am now starting this new series of posts on THE NEW FAITH FOR THE NEW EARTH.  Your ideas are welcome.  Please share them in Blog Comments, on Facebook and Twitter, E-Mails, etc. I invite you to GO TO THE FIRST POST OF A SERIES ON THE NEW FAITH FOR THE NEW EARTH at The Abundancetrek Blog. 

+ EzineArticles offers "We Are Not Our Names, Our Titles, Roles, Religions, Bodies or Colors - We Are Spiritual Beings" by Maria Erving. Excerpt: To be enlightened is not reserved for only a few, it's for all of us; to connect with the light within and let it shine to the world.

I follow this wise woman on Twitter. Go to http://twitter.com/mariaerving

+ Inner Frontier offers Inner Work. This week's lesson is "Directed, Unitive Will: Love (Modes of Will: Part 6 of 11).

Excerpt 1: One form of actively directed will working with the unitive energy is compassion. We see another person or an animal suffering and we suffer with them, as if it were our own. We feel compassion. With the unitive energy, their suffering is our own. One natural response is the wish never to cause harm, because harming someone else feels like harming ourselves. That harmlessness radiates and elicits the same in others. When you meet someone whom you immediately sense as harmless, you more easily feel your natural kinship, your shared humanity. Harmlessness feeds back to compassion, because seeing another person’s suffering affronts your attitude of non-harming and invokes your compassionate response.

Excerpt 2: Self-acceptance opens the door to accepting others unreservedly. Aware of own inner challenges and struggles, we see the same in others. Aware of our own desires for meaning, fulfillment, service, peace, love, and fun, we see the same in others. We intuit that we are not as different as we appear. If I can accept my own challenges, limitations, and motivations, then I may be able to accept that in my neighbor. If I can accept who I am, then maybe I can accept my neighbors for who they are. Then acceptance can reach such a state that it disappears. The question of whether or not to accept vanishes. We just are, as we are: my humanity, your humanity, our humanity.

GO TO THE LESSON.

+ Spirituality and Practice offers THE 12s. So far, THE 12s features:

12 Spiritual Energy Boosters: When you have run out of energy and are feeling draggy and depleted, check out these spiritual practices. They are designed to boost your spirits and renew body, mind, and soul. GO TO THE 12s.

AND

12 Uplifting Quotes on Courage: Looking for some inspiration? Some encouragement in a challenging time? Here are 12 uplifting quotes about courage to help you step out into a fuller way of living. GO TO THE 12s.

COFFEE BREAK 104

+ Updated at 4:35pm EST.

+ 4:30pm: The snow continues to fall exceeding expectations of the forecasters. A narrow band of Lake-effect snow is hitting us directly right now. We may have several inches before it's over.

+ I'm working on a sermon for Christmas Eve. I came across
"Christmas: Andy Parks DOES Keep It All The Year!" at a blog called Joy of Christmas: “I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.” 

I have decided to emphasize joy tomorrow night. Spirituality and Practice offers all kinds of ways to develop the spiritual practice of Joy. There is a page devoted to joy at abundancetrek.com.

+ 1:45pm: For most of the past 3 hours, the band of Lake-effect snow has reached us and perhaps another inch has fallen.

+ Rick Steves, the wonderful Travel guide, offers a Norwegian Christmas page.  Like me, Rick has Norwegian grandparents on one side of his family.  My grandparents, Samuel & Ingeborg, grew up in Mandal, a beautiful coastal town and the southernmost town in Norway.  They immigrated here in 1901 and 1904.  My mother was born in New York City in 1906.

+ As Christmas approaches, The Witherspoon Society offers an insightful poem and a powerful prayer for peace.

+ At 10:25am, patches of blue appear in the sky and the snow comes to an end with most of the grass covered up with the white stuff.

+ The Abundancetrek Blog offers several posts on The Copenhagen Conference on Global Warming which concluded last week with some agreements but not nearly as much as many had hoped for.

+ Inner Frontier offers "Body Sensation: Wholeness" by Joseph Naft. Excerpt: "To come to whole body sensation, it helps to practice partial sensation first: an arm, a leg, both arms and both legs, and then the whole body. The practice of energy breathing, of drawing inner energies from the air around us, strengthens sensation throughout our body. That can be done intermittently throughout the day to refresh our sensation body. The end result: we experience ourselves to be more fully here." 

+ Spirituality and Practice offers "The Most Spiritually Literate Films of 2009" by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat.  How many have you seen?  Thanks to the DVD we will see many of those we haven't seen yet as I put these films on my Netflix queue.

+ Blades of grass can still be seen but an inch of snow overnight has made a difference.  We may get a little more today so we will definitely have a White Christmas here.