Thought to Start the New Year

I nearly put this on my MaXIMIze blog, and then realized perhaps this blog was a better placement for it.

As many of you know, I am not a fan of organized religion, however, I do subscribe most closely to the Science of Mind (now mainly known as Centers for Spiritual Living, aka Religious Science) teachings. I believe that we are all human beings first and everything else comes after that.

The post below is from 365 Science of Mind, a Year of Daily Wisdom from Ernest Holmes, a book of daily readings. It is the last entry in the book.

A Prayer for World Peace

The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof.

I know there is but One Mind, which is the mind of God, in which all people live and move and have their being.

     I know there is a divine pattern for humanity and within this pattern there is infinite harmony and peace, cooperation, unity, and mutual helpfulness.

     I know that the mind of humankind, being one with the mind of God, shall discover the method, the way, and the means best fitted to permit the flow of Divine Love between individuals and nations.

     Thus harmony, peace, cooperation, unity, and mutual helpfulness are experienced by all.

     I know there will be a free interchange of ideas, of cultures, of spiritual concepts, of ethics, of educational systems and scientific discoveries - for all good belongs to all alike.

     I know that, because Divine Mind created us all, we are bound together in one infinite and perfect unity.

     I know that all people and all nations will remain individual but unified for the common purpose of promoting peace, happiness, harmony, and prosperity.

     I know that deep within each person the Divine Pattern of perfect peace is already implanted.

     I now declare that in each person and in leaders of thought everywhere this Divine Pattern moves into action and form, to the end that all nations and all people with live together in peace, harmony, and prosperity forever.

     And so it is.

Warning - Contains the R Word

Yes, this post contains the "R" word - rape - and therefore, if that word so offends that you cannot read about it without becoming viscerally upset, please leave now. Otherwise, read on...

Rape - such an ugly, visceral word and an act of extreme violence. A hot-button topic to be sure. This is an act we most often picture as a very physical, dare I say sexual one in most cases, performed by a man upon a woman or by Man upon Nature. In this context, it is also an act that men perform on other men and yes, women perform on men as well - although the thought of that particular situation is usually met with laughter and/or sheer disbelief. However, this is one, and not the primary, definition of the word.

Rape by definition - according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary - is first a carrying away by force and then second unlawful sexual activity and usually sexual intercourse carried out forcibly or under threat of injury. So, through that lense, the instances I noted above have to do with the second definition of the word.

I would offer that we are also guilty of engaging mightily in the first definition of the word - the carrying away of something by force - in this country. I would offer that our ability for truly civil discourse has been raped by those who play on our emotions and push and/or bully their way through conversations and debates instead of discussing issues with logic and reason and truly listening and understanding the other side of the discourse.

And yes, I have been guilty of this as well. I have a tendency to get wrapped up in the emotion around a specific topic - most recently the comments on rape by the second definition by particular politicians this election season - and have thereby raped conversations on this topic, as well as others.

I would recommend that we all say NO to both definitions of rape, and work to bring humanity back together as one instead of continuing with our fractures and divisions. The conversations engaged in without the use of emotional or verbal rape are likely to be no less painful than the other for a while as they will be a change in how we as a people engage one another, however I offer this is a necessary growing pain we must go through in order to become a better, more united, more caring society.

Namaste.

Life and Letting Go

Those who know me know that this has been a very yin/yang year for me. New job, divorce, new digs, youngest child moving out - just a lot of life stuff in a short amount of time.

So this is for those who have the eyes to read, the ears to hear and the sense to understand...

Dealing with a relationship with incurable issues moving toward inevitable demise is much like dealing with a loved one with a terminal disease. Much of the grieving and letting go is done prior to the actual end of life. What remains to be dealt with are the final ripples of goodbye. When you actually leave the shore after the waters have calmed is up to you; and how long others expect you to stay there is up to them.

The 23rd Psalm

Those of you who know me know that I am not a religious person - can't stand organized religion for the most part actually, since I find it divisive rather than uniting. We are all human beings first and all else - ALL ELSE - comes after that. But I digress...

I was reading a selection from 365 Science of Mind by Ernest Holmes and was reminded of the 23rd Psalm, which has always been a comfort and a boon to me. So, I thought I'd share it here today.

Psalm 23

A Psalm of David

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me down the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; they rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Blessed Be and Namaste!

30 Poems in 30 Days

It's that time again - April is National Poetry Month, and I'm doing 30 poems in 30 days! Here is my poetry blog, which I started last year with the same challenge:

http://butterfliesofpossibility.blogspot.com/2012/04/1-apr-12-new-month-of-poetry.html

Also, remember to check out my MaXIMIze blog (link in previous post) as well!

Looking for MaXIMIze?

I have moved all the MaXIMIze posts to a new blog:

http://maximize-2012.blogspot.com/

MaXIMIze - Choice

Robert Frost's poem The Road Not Taken has been on my mind a lot lately, due to a myriad of life changes that have come and are still coming my way this year.

Since it is in the public domain, here is the poem in its entirety:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Standing at the crossroads can be a terrifying feeling at times, however, we all stand there at one point in time or another, and sometimes many times depending on where our lives take us.

What some of us never get to though is described in the third stanza of this poem, which is being able to truly continue on our journey instead of ending up in a repeating cycle. And this boils down to making choices - sometimes difficult ones - in order to truly move forward in life instead of spending it in the roundabout.

Instead of rushing willy nilly into what life throws our way, we need to stop, breathe, and listen to that small, still voice each of us has inside of us. We need to fully process what has gone on before rather than locking it in a box, throwing away the key, and hoping it never finds its way back home.

Putting what has gone before in a box temporarily, to take the time to stop, breathe, and listen, is one thing. However, you need to remember to open the box, take out what has gone before, and really examine it in the cold light of day in order to process it and move forward instead of repeating the same patterns over and over and over again.

I know this can be a scary thing - moving from the known to the unknown can be terrifying at times, even if the unknown you are moving toward is a good thing. However, this is how we grow as human beings - by moving forward. Some of us never grow, but instead remain like trees stunted by lack of water or lack of sun. Unlike those trees, who are rooted in place and cannot move to better conditions by their own volition, we do have the freedom to move on to better things.

So what is your choice today? Will you be a stunted tree, never reaching the sun, or will you take the time to stop, breathe, listen to the small, still voice inside of you and release the patterns of the past so you can move on to a bright and wonderful future?