JOYFUL WANDERING -- 72

+ Photo is of Delta Lake, September 2020.

+ Where have I been? Where am I going? It's a mystery, isn't it?

+ We are all entitled to abundance. Or, to put it another way, all the glories of the heavenly realms are our birthright and our eternal destiny. There is no need to wait for abundance. It is here now, always has been, always will be. There is no adequate explanation for this truth. It simply is the way it is and the way it is is simply wonderful. 

The glories of the heavenly realms are miraculous, mysterious and marvelous. We begin participating in this abundance whenever we simply accept the gift gratefully in the here and now. Every breath we take is a new opportunity to receive abundance, to be in heaven. 

So, breathe in this abundance right now. Begin again. And again. And again. Smile. Sing. Dance. Laugh. Listen. Rest. Relax. Wonder. Imagine. Love. Cry. Pray. Receive. Give. Appreciate. Share. Care. Stand. Sit. Walk. Swim. Fly. You are in heaven. Nothing is impossible. Everything is within reach.

+ Your Turn

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 414

+ Four pages of The Amazing Journey are now posted on The Abundancetrek Blog. 

There will be 46 or 47 more pages.  I wrote these pages last year with pen and paper and I am slowly putting them into the computer with my keyboard word for word. 

Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 

It's the first draft of a book I hope to publish but it would be so much better if YOU contributed. It is the result of years of prayer, contemplation, meditation and study. I  got a lot of help from the Heavenly Council so it is already a joint project. I would like it to be the joint project of many fellow adventurers journeying in the Inner Frontier.  

Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 

COFFEE BREAK 412

+ Peter Russell is amazing.  He has a great series posts on Letting Go and how difficult it is.  His The Church of I AM has been a favorite of mine for a long time.

+ I am slowly but surely posting the first draft of The Amazing Journey on The Abundancetrek Blog.  Today I posted page 4.  I have 50 hand written pages of the 12 heavenly practices and the 9 attributes of heaven.  I have put the first 11 in to the computer.  

Here is what I posted on my Facebook page: WE are on an Amazing Journey. We are intimately, intricately, infinitely connected by a matrix of unconditional, unlimited, uniting LOVE which is miraculous, mysterious and marvelous. #Stillness is the key. Getting in touch with your inner Burning Bush is the gift. Join me. I have written a first draft of about 50 hand written pages. With YOUR help I can make big improvements and make our journey together even more amazing.  Comments welcome here or on Facebook where you will find me as Abundancetrek.

COFFEE BREAK 352

+ I never thought I would hear "Namaste" at a Presidential Inaugeration. What a fabulous poem Richard Blanco wrote and delivered on Monday: ONE TODAY. Excerpt: 

One sky: since the Appalachians and Sierras claimed
their majesty, and the Mississippi and Colorado worked
their way to the sea. Thank the work of our hands:
weaving steel into bridges, finishing one more report
for the boss on time, stitching another wound
or uniform, the first brush stroke on a portrait,
or the last floor on the Freedom Tower
jutting into a sky that yields to our resilience.

Read it all | Watch the video

COFFEE BREAK 348

+ updated at 4:51pm EST on Wednesday, January 16, 2013

+ My friend John Preston is among the authors of "Glimpses of Environmental Justice" offered by Unbound.

+ This is interesting: http://truth-out.org/news/item/13890-the-second-amendment-was-ratified-to-preserve-slavery

+ This is a fantastic course, the videos of Brother David and the study suggestions that go with them are simply divine. You can still catch up with the practice circle but that is not even necessary. Once you sign up, the course is yours forever.

Spirituality & Practice: E-Courses: Choosing to Love with Br. David Steindl-Rast

www.spiritualityandpractice.com

An Online Retreat on one of three Divine Virtues: love, which Br. David Steindl-Rast defines as the choice to say yes to what life brings us. Subscribers are able to view film footage from Br. David Steindl-Rast's talks during an Alaska cruise

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 338

+ updated at 12:52pm ESDT on Wednesday, June 20, 2012

+The Theological Wanderings of a Street Pastor offers "Religious Liberalism 101: A Book Review of Paul Rasor’s ‘Faith Without Certainty’"

+ I am taking a Spirituality and Practice ecourse on Practicing the Presence of God.  Here is what I shared today in the Practice forum:

2 Corinthians 12 is one of the great peaks of the Bible. Read it all when you get a chance. I was required to preach a sermon to my Presbytery before ordination in 1975. This was my text and it has always been close to my heart.

I think it's all about TRUST ... trusting the process ... trusting the here and now at all times, at this time, all the time ... trusting everything to work out beautifully, wondrously, miraculously, naturally. The Heavenly Council is working for us night and day. Now is the time to surrender, to rest in the "peace which passes all understanding," the sufficient grace which is offered so freely "not as the world gives" but in the mysterious and marvelous way heaven gives ... unconditional Love ... unlimited Love... uniting Love ... amazing Grace.

Breathe deeply. Breathe fully. Be still. Be silent. Be centered. Be grounded. Lighten up. Loosen up. Let go. Let God. Celebrate. Enjoy. Be glad all over!

+ Not yet 90 BUT the high humidity makes it feel like its 96 already (12:12pm). You could see how high it goes today at http://www.wunderground.com/US/NY/Whitesboro.html?bannertypeclick=bigwx

+ Almost 90 out now at noon.

+ As I just said (below), Shuck and Jive is always fascinating and provocative.  Read today's post.

+ I have to go inside now (11:44am ESDT).  It has been nice to be outside but the heat is starting to get unbearable for a Norwegian-American like me!

+ A lot has been happening (of course) since I last blogged here. Among other things ...

• Family and friends gathered in Durham, Cary and Chapel Hill, North Carolina in late May for a memorial service for my dad who died in on March 27, 7 weeks before he would have turned 100.  He was born on May 21, 1912.
• Mary, my wife, suffered a concussion during a short bus ride taking the University of Rochester Nursing School faculty to graduation at Eastman Hall on May 19.  Recovery has been slow and frustrating.  The symptoms seem to be lessening but she still has some bad days. 

+ The Theological Wanderings of a Street Pastor offers "The Garden of Your Mind" by J. Barrett Lee. Barrett likes being a posthumous colleague of Mr. Rogers.  I have always liked being in that company too, the company of fellow Presbyterian pastors.  I particularly like those who "think outside the box" as Fred Rogers did and Barrett does.  And, oh yes, John Shuck comes to mind, too.  Shuck and Jive is always fascinating and provocative.

+ Spirituality and Practice offers "Are We Living in Sensory Overload or Sensory Poverty?" by Mary Ann and Frederic Brussat.

COFFEE BREAK 321

+ “Too often we believe that if we had "a little more of this" or "a little more of that," our lives would be better. But would they really? Real abundance comes not from without, but from deep within. Recognizing that we are already rich—rich in spirit—is where genuine abundance dwells.” – Laura V. Hyde < http://getmotivation.com/prosperity/abundance-lhyde.htm

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.

APOLOGY TO MY FOLLOWERS

I haven't posted much lately on my 3 blogs.  I apologize to anybody who has come to read my blog posts with some regularity.  You deserve better.  I guess I have been distracted when I get in front of the screen by my Twitter and Facebook activities which I do find useful but I don't want my blogs to suffer.

So, I do intend to make a new effort to restore my blogging as a priority in my life.  I would love to see my number of followers increase.  That will depend on some consistency on my part in both quality and quantity. 

I do think I have something unique to offer as we trek together toward more compassion, peace, justice and sustainable abundance on this planet. 

Here goes!