I’m on vacation this week – away from home AND away from all my electronic gadgets! I hope this week you’ll enjoy a revised version of a popular article I wrote in 2012. See you next week with something brand new and fresh! Terry I am Diagonally Parked in a Parallel Universe Have you ever had one of those days when everyone looks at you like you have green antennae growing out of your head? It’s sort of that... Read more
It’s summer, and if there is one thing we know about summer it’s that beauty seems to be everywhere. Summer is nature’s ode to the energy that has been put in through the rains of spring. Everything in life blooms with possibilities. We are able to relax and take hold for a period of time and allow nature to do its work until everything is ready for the harvest. But not everyone sees beauty in a flower. Beauty has a... Read more
“So, how are you?” you are asked, to which you answer, “Good! I’m good!” Then it happens. The person raises an eyebrow, perhaps smirks ever so slightly and asks, “Then why don’t you look/sound like it?” I hate to be busted. I’d like to think I can keep my emotions to myself, but the truth is I’m not nearly as good at hiding my feelings when I’m upset or angry about something. I was serving on a board one time... Read more
In this teaching, one of our greatest values is the truth that our thoughts and feelings create our reality, and not the other way around. This mindset helps us pay attention to what we are thinking, so that we can take an active role in creating what we choose to have in our experience rather than passively going about life without a thought for what we may actually want. But what are we doing when we take action based on... Read more
How many times have you been afraid? And when you have been afraid, what action did you take? My hope is that you’ve been afraid more times than you can think, and while you may not be able to say this of every occasion more often than not you took action to overcome the fear rather than avoid it. Fear is something that is simply part of our human experience. If we’re living life, fear is a familiar friend. If... Read more
Do you ever feel like getting someone to help you with a project, or seeking counsel when you’re stuck in some way, is a sign of weakness? To some people, if they can’t figure out a problem by themselves they think they have failed. This type of person seems to believe that they should be able to handle anything. If you feel this way from time-to-time you know the kind of emotionally and physically stress it can put on you.... Read more
My favorite name for Divinity is “The Thing Itself.” The phrase reminds me that I don’t know exactly what it is, other than that it is a great and wonderful mystery I attempt to point to with words such as wisdom, love, power, energy, omnipresence, beauty, allness, creative intelligence, or mind, among other terms. Or, for short, God, which I refer to with the gender neutral pronoun, It. Projecting Human Character On To It When exploring how It works in... Read more
The conversation is turning. Only a decade ago religious ministers across North America who chose to speak about gay rights did so largely from a place of opposition. Now the tide is turning. This week, the Methodist church chose to reinstate one of its ministers who only six months earlier was defrocked for officiating at his gay son’s wedding. It was a jury of Methodist pastors who decided Rev. Frank Schaefer had violated their laws, and originally suspended him, and... Read more
Did you do any screaming last week? (If you don’t understand why I’d ask that question, go back and read last week’s blog first!) I hope you understood last week that I wasn’t suggesting we run around like a bunch of raving maniacs, screaming our heads off at the world. However, we can sometimes experience frustrations that need a release. That can be a private scream or a good cry. I suggested last week that if we can get beyond... Read more
“How will you serve the world? What do they need that you can provide? The effect you have on others is the most valuable currency there is.” ~Jim Carrey I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately when it appears that we, in the USA, stand on the brink of going back into war. When I was younger I stood in picket lines with signs, attended peace gatherings, wrote letters and tried to keep up on all the current events. ... Read more
The Principles of Spiritual Living
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