retired literature and writing professor; I write spiritual, meditative, and prayerful blogs. My life is devoted to prayer and healing prayer for all I meet.
I find myself arguing with myself most of the time I am alone. I’m sure you do the same at times. But when I think about it. Who am I arguing with? I think I’m trying to negotiate. What’s good? Should I, or shouldn’t I? Is this the right thing to do to do? How will this affect a relationship? I made this promise and now I’m going back on it. How will I feel if I change my mind? I then turn to what I think the purpose God has for me. What is my mission in life? Is this right for my life? It is, yes. It isn’t, no. So, I say yes to life. I say yes to God.
Our lives are made of natural beauty. That’s a fact we all know; I see you as you check the mirror that last time in the morning before setting off to work; You are a beautiful person. The world is ready for you to share the beauty that God gave you. Each time you run into something that is a little bit more difficult, a little stressful, remember what you saw and in the mirror. The satisfaction of the beauty and calmness comes with you. The love that you saw in the mirror should be a dominance over that minor bump in the road you met in your work. To smooth over that rough patch and solve that problem, who knows? You may find that problem is minor, and the people around you, have helped to solve it. Because they too are beautiful. And you see their beauty.
Sometimes I wonder if we are too molded in our lives to really appreciate how much we have been given on the day we were born. Our lives are so full of what is demanded of us. We are afraid to break the mold. I think back to that musical of the 1960s, Hair. Where the young people bounded through Central Park, happy. carefree, open. Is it time to take off your shoes and run barefoot through the grass? Are we too strait-laced to do that? Try taking off your shoes and walking barefoot through your well-carpeted floors first. Practice being humble. That’s the first step outside of our practiced lives, our first step to being grateful – for the lives that we’ve been given.
We are the wealthiest country in the history of mankind. Never before has mankind seen the riches that man has been able to accumulate in such a short time, Nor has mankind been able to witness the ability to explore the unknown from the depths of the oceans to the outer space of our solar system. Our riches enable our billionaires to go to space and space walk, make international news, spending millions of dollars on a weekend’s travel. We are blessed with our ability to use our wealth for frivolous games and perhaps for the future benefit of mankind. Or are we?
We are also the most selfish, the cheapest, and the greediest country mankind has ever seen in its history. The most important expense our congress has is our military budget. It grows exponentially every year and is added to each month between budget years. Other issues such as health care, elder care, and education have budgets that can be cut to support the growing military budget.
We also must cut the taxes for the billionaires and the millionaires so they can afford to spacewalk on their weekends. This means that to balance the budget, the federal government must borrow the money to be paid back in the far distant future.
Nowhere in our working government is there concern for people; We need a visit from Jesus walking the earth, condemning all the Pharisees in the high offices in Washington and upturning the money tables of corruption that are corrupting the society that was meant to be. The founding fathers created a government for the people, not for the military, not for war, but for peace.
We need the hand of God in our world, not the hand of peace. We need Love spoken from our daises, not hate, not threats, but compassion. I have tried to serve this country in many ways, but early in my thirties, I discovered that the best way was through kindness, generosity and love. My riches are not material, they need not be.
Being mortal, we do not truly comprehend the concept of being faithful. We try but fall far short. There are those who cloister themselves for a lifetime and pretend that they know, but their studies of what others say confuse their understanding.
Being faithful is a difficult concept to accomplish; we must start by returning to the words of Jesus. He forever invites us to join each other into permanent life-changing relationships that create wholeness together in community and a more important wholeness in ourselves. We lack thankfulness, mercy, and love in all our relationships regardless of their closeness or distance.
It is better to have joy and a hint of delight in every action we perform every minute of every day. It is so much better to walk through the day with a smile than a frown. This would change our lives to be so much better, would bring us to a companionship with all whom we meet, a companionship of equals.
Our overwhelming, misguided need to preserve all things we do is probably wrong. We are too tied to habits and traditions that may or may not be valid in our present circumstances. We need to put the old aside for the new to grow into maturity. I know this to be true.
When I was young, I knew I wanted to teach. But God said no. I had to put that dream aside for other adventures for dreams that were not necessarily mine but were for the good of others. I love And I learned how to work with all types of people. And… I loved my work. Then tragedy struck. . . and I was forced to change directions.
I was lost! Then God told me to open the door I was standing in front of. I did. I found myself sitting in a college class preparing for a job as a teacher in a local high school. I was 50 years old. For the next 25 years I taught, I learned, I was lucky to get a master’s degree in history, and Doctorate Degree in Literature, I learned from my students both in high school and college until I was 75 years old.
God prepared me to be teacher from the customers I served. I had to listen to my customers and learn from them to serve them properly. In a word, I had to learn from my customers. And to be a good teacher, I had to listen to my students and learn from them, and I did, for 25 years.
I stand alone in a field of smokestacks and high-rise apartments. I walk along, looking to the ground, finding the pennies and nickels dropped by those in a hurry. I stand on the corner with my sigh in my hand begging for assistance because I cannot find a job, disabled as I am. I am the modern high prophet of order and disorder, so I ask that you listen to me.
Take a look around you and see how the world is changing; for better or worse, things are shifting out of control. All around us is turmoil; call it evil or call it war; I call it fear and pain. Fear because we do not know where or when it will affect us directly; pain because we do not know if it will harm a friend or family member. In our defense, we pray will intervene.
However, God is a neutral observer and takes no part in our mortal concerns. But we had a wonderful messenger two thousand years ago who spoke in parables. These stories are gifts of value that are just as worthy today as they were when first given. We just have to unpack them and apply them to our fears and evils. In a word, we must pay attention to what Jesus said.
There are other strategies that we must also practice. We must open doors for others to enter or leave of their free will. This will avoid any and all potential conflicts. But. . . if given the chance, we must be prepared to share our stories and to listen to others’ stories. This will allow us to learn; this will allow us to love. This will also allow us to hear God. And perhaps to understand Jesus’ parables better.
Take the time to find the genuine side of yourself. Find who you are! Hear the voice, the sound of who you truly are. As the ads say, you are the only you that has ever lived; make the most of it. The poets will say that your idiom is the most unique idiom of all time. You. . . are unique!
Have you listened for the sound of you in the darkness of your idiom? Do you know who you are, or where you are going? Are you lost? What do you want? You need to take the time to cultivate the internal sound of the true you so that you know who you are.
You are that pristine patch of white snow on the ground that refuses to leave in early spring because you are unique; you are meant to be. Take the time to meditate on God’s Love. It matters that we are God’s children. His deep Love seems like a dream, but it is the only solid thing that we can rely on in our lives.
When we awaken to God’s Love, we can no longer complain. . .
I’ve known so many people who have experienced personal losses of so many issues that are too difficult to describe without a panel of medical and psychological specialists to interpret for us. Most of these friends have just raised themselves up, brushed themselves off, and tried to live a normal life. Most have done this with the help of a very compassionate friend, who just happens to be a man or woman of the church. This person may not necessarily be the minister; but she will carry with her Love that only God has for Her; the children, for it is only God’s Love that can heal all wounds.
We can never forget the pain of the loss; there will always be a void in our hearts. However, the Love of God, brought back into our consciousness by the beloved angel of the church, or friend, kindles the light of love in our heart that does not replace the void, but builds the heart for future kindness and sharing; sharing that grows; Love that grows; the Love that only God can share through mankind, a strong and healthy mankind that has known and overcome that pain of loss, remembers that loss, and turns that loss into a strong platform for the growth of abundant compassion. John 10:10 assures us that this restorative blessing comes from God and gives us the strength to build back from the pain of loss to spread God’s hope and Love through the world.
We are destined through love to crush the pain and loss life throws at us and restore human dignity through the spiritual path taught to us by all of the great spiritual leaders who have come before us.
Meditating to Heal 
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