From The Passion Narrative - Don't Even Go There...

I was speaking with a friend of mine recently about something that we discovered was a very sensitive and touchy subject for each of us.  There was even a point in our conversation that she said to me, “Girl, don’t even go there…” It was in that moment that I realized the truth of the truth, we were already there; past the point of no return.  We realized the perceived finality of the moment because our connection to each other was forever changed because we moved forward rather than remaining frozen in some sort of suspended animation of being our lesser selves.  Rather we chose to run boldly with an almost reckless abandon into the arms of the reality of our greatest selves.  From this new and uncharted space, we begged the question of what is our friendship and relationship based on, when we believe that we cannot talk about the hard, messy, ugly, sticky and unbelievable things in life with love and still love each other in the midst of it all?   “We have gone past the edge” she said, and I thought what a novel and yet noble concept for two people who think themselves to be edgy, hip, real, grounded, deep and so on.

In going there, it seems as if our great realization is that we do not become edgy until we not only come to the edge, but ensue to live and love past the edges of cultural, geo-political and spiritual normalcy.  We have to know from the most intimate recesses of our being that that that which has already been defined is destined to be refined over and over again.  Noting is really ever as it was, it is only as it is in the now moment; just long enough for us to notice how everything around us must change.  This is where our insurmountable individual and collective truths become nothing but the whole truth! 

We do not become hip until we allow ourselves to be transported, transmuted and transformed not just by the known essence of the highs, lows and trends of pop culture, but by the mysterious unknowingness of the very present moment. 

We do not become real people until we become willing and able to step beyond the boundaries of our own contextual lenses and exist in the land lost amidst the authenticity of the story of another living being.  As whole and complete beings, this is our response to the call of being totally alive and connected to creation.  We do this by telling and living our stories out loud in living color with stereophonic sound only in the presence of those who deserve and are alacritous to receive us as our truth desires.  In order to find ourselves in the company of love, we do not have to be brand spanking new; we only have to be willing to be known as who we really are, rather than be sampled by the material value of what we have and own.  I want the world to lean in and draw up from the well of my joy and gratitude rather than taste momentarily from the decadence of my success. 

We do not become grounded until we know for ourselves the disappointing impact of an ungraceful fall from grace and the spot-on healing touch that real reconciliation can have on the soul of humanity. 

We do not become deep until we have waded into the uncharted depths of the tides of unrequited love and find ourselves transported to the fresh shores of a not so distant hope, only to emerge drenched in the reality that we are indeed eternally evolutional beings who are impacting the surface of life for one another over and over again. 

The real truth of my thoughts in this moment is that we do not become forgiven until we see ourselves beyond the forbidden boundaries that have marginalized our very being and living and that at last allows us invoke the miracle of first forgiving the unfathomable without so much as a second thought.  It is my belief that the foundation of the profoundness of our living comes to us from the quiet stillness of the provocative lyrics, rhythms and iambic pentameter of our common narrative.  This, my friends is what sets us in motion and allows us to truly catch fire for own sake and ultimately the sake of the world that poises itself for the renewal of warmth in seeing and knowing us all. 

If you take nothing else from these words, know this; our presence is not small, accidental or inconsequential; we are here in this moment for the sake of the world over, to love fully, to see beyond the invisible, to hear the depth of the silent, to reach out far beyond that which we think doable or possible.  My heart knows that it is just beyond the borders of impossibility that the realm of true and total possibility in concert with our own level of receptivity changes the course of our lives forever.  So if you ever think to yourself or out loud about not going there, I invite you to do anything but be still; I implore and beseech you to take up from the place where you are and go boldly into that good night and find the marrow of the joy of your soul and rejoice and be glad in it!  I leave you with one of my most beloved Jack Kerouac quotes:  “The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars.”

Home For The Holidays...

“There is no place like home.” Dorothy

Year after year, I have had the chance to engage the idea of home for the holidays in signs and messages of the holiday season. Hear my heart when I say that there is nothing untoward about that Idea as it is the foundation and support of my thoughts in this moment. Now, I know that you are thinking that perhaps I am a bit early or late in regards to wh...at we know and celebrate as the holidays. Yet my soul gives me every indication that I am right where I should be and as I am to be in this moment and on this thought.

The definition of holiday is “A Holy day; a period of exemption or relief and a day of festivity or recreation when no work is done.” Now, I don’t know about you, but I can certainly fit my life into and around this notion as I am becoming increasingly aware of the sacredness of time and movement throughout the day. The word holy always had such a narrow scale for me as it seemed limited to the few days, people, spaces and places; but today I experience this thought in a both - and sort of way as it this and so much more. What if we could suspend our disbelief and expand our belief just for a moment? What if every moment of every day would be held and celebrated for its goodness and we could all experience a moment of relief from that which distracts over and over again? I believe that then and only then could we truly experience and know the true vastness of moments of celebration that emerge from our very being and pour them freely up and out of our own story and way of being into all of creation that surrounds and supports us.

Until today, this idea of home for the holidays was about a return a to place or the place of which I draw my origin. I have always had such a transient spirit as wherever I know myself to be I begin to view as home, based on my connection to the very earth on which I stand. With that, I contend that wherever I am in the moment, holds the very quintessence of home as I find, know and experience the God of my being therein. For me home is so much more than place, it is rooted in a feeling of familiarity, remembrance, connection and truth. Today it is this and a state of being that comes to life in and for me. The whole festive occasion is not really about the physical transportation back, but the spiritual transformation into or towards that which is familiar to our soul. It is a return to the beginning of our beginning, the knowing of knowledge, the love of loving, the faithing of faith and the joyousness of joy. When we return home, it is not just to a place of our birth, it is to the way of being from which we were called into this life to be. It is not just limited to a few days each year when the cost of transportations sky rockets or we have extra time off work; the very essence of a holiday is found in the stillness of the early morning or the fleeting beauty of the evening and yes in the vibrant radiance of the midday; I believe that this marrow of truth is alive and well within each of us. So today, I invite you to return to the truth of your truth, the peace of your peace and the grace of your grace and find yourself at home or connected to that which is at the core of your being. I know that when we do this individually and collectively, in that moment there will be a great celebration of the highest kind that can be found in our laughter, heard in our rhetoric, experienced as our love and known as our story of being. With that I bid you good journey and many happy returns to your very self as you return to the soul of your soul and find yourself home for the holidays in every moment of your lives. Happy, Merry, Joyous You - Today and Everyday!

Now Showing!

When people and or circumstances make a cameo or walk on appearance in the productions of our lives; they are not without purpose or divine intent. Although I am still a believer in magic and have the full uninhibited use of my imagination, I know that stuff does not just show up because it can. It shows up because we call it forth into being, we invite it either consciously or subconsciously to manifest, sit down and take a load off or to hang out with us for a while. Nonetheless, there it is and here we are in the presence of yet another lesson on the principles of truth. In these moments, we have choice to either learn the lesson of the day or to not; and risk repeating the lesson, the grade, the episode, the opportunity and the like until we just simply get it. Until today, this grand repetition was ok with and for me…Today, I officially declare the sweeps season in my life complete and done. No more reruns, if I need a quick review; the lessons of my life are available on demand, easy download, online ordering (with free shipping), and etched in the pages and chapters of my story. Today, with all the love I know I invite you into a new production of the story of you, where the part of you is played by the real you, produced and directed by the whole and blessed you. My prayer for you in this moment is that every day of your life becomes an elegant and classic premiere rather than an aging and irrelevant rerun. Now, go forward from this place and live – quiet on the set; action!

Where Do Blessings Come From?

Blessed to be a blessing: Where do the blessings in our lives come from? Are they born? Are they delivered and left alone outside of our doorways? Do they spring up from the earth like a tree planted by the still water? Do they simply appear out of everything and nothingness? After pondering this thought individually and in community, we assert that we believe that blessings are many things and everything: we see them born of, forged from within and brought forth into being from blessing itself. In other words, healing comes from the both the brokenhearted and wholehearted. Love comes from the act of loving and the gifts of being loved. Peace is called out of the chaos and from the peace filled. The subtle truth that came to light as we examined this was that we had to look deeply at ourselves first. So as we sat and looked inwardly at our being; what showed up mightily was grace, mercy, hope, prosperity, determination, courage, loss, curiosity, strength, fear, brokenness, shadow, void, glory, loneliness, tears, laughter, worth, lack, disappointment, pain, joy, healing, conscious awareness, acceptance, flow and openness. All this and so much more was reflected back to us soul level. The blessing that we were in search was not simply to know and name the blessing, but to know and be one with its source. This was a blessing indeed, as we know that there is no good thing withheld from any of us at any moment and is revealed in us according to our very own level of receptivity. So we share this with you in the hope that you too will take a risk and look in and around your lives to see and take hold of what is reflected back to you and know its blessing. Know that there is both deep truth and great power in the question and the answer and that the answer is never very far from the question and all too often is contained therein. Blessed be…

Real or Make Believe?

On Real or Make Believe:  We are not now nor will we ever be the sum total of our experiences, the manifestation of the perceptions of others, nor are we the Aristotelian essence of what some might call a hot mess.  These are all ideas that may have been projected upon us like images upon a screen.  Even in that scenario, the screen remains intact as the screen (its identity is unchanging and unimpacted by these external projections) and it never becomes nor identifies with the image shown upon it.  So beloved, I said all this to simply say that we never become what is thought about us, perceived of our actions, or projected upon us, unless we choose to do so.  What others think of us is really none of our business; even in the moments that we are told that they are telling us for our own edification, growth or to help us become better or more.  So with that, I invite you today to remain intact or hold it all together as the blessed being that you are right now and have always been.  What is projected upon you this or any day is neither true nor is it your truth.  Be well my friends and know that you are loved!

Big Question: What are you living for?

On This or That:  The question that weighs on my mind, body and soul today is, “What are you living for?”  This question has been with me for quite some time and really came to light as I listened to an acquaintance describe how they see the world.  For some of us, there is always this undertow of for or against, in support of or in opposition to and one has to declare a position in one of these camps.  Huh, I guess this works for many and even for me at a point in my life, until today.  This day, I declare first within myself that it is high time for new reckoning of spirit that makes room for both sides of an issue, argument, position or picture without relegating some to a lesser majority and others to a superior minority.  Back to the question, if I am living for something; does that also mean that I am living against something else?  Perhaps what I am trying to say is that I would rather not have my living be a dividing point, but more of a point of convergence of the soul.   I can wear myself out by living against grain, trying to fly against the wind, rising up against my brother or sister or even just wanting to always be right instead of wrong.  I live for the beauty and support of those fleeting “both and” opportunities that allow us to discover value and honor in unexpected faces, to notice the extraordinary hidden amidst the mundane tasks and to hear the magnificence that is tucked lovingly at the center of the silence and acknowledge the courage that may be momentarily clothed in fear.  You see beloved I do not for one moment believe that we called to be “either or” people; I know that we are souls that move to a rhythm that is comprised of the many tunes and tones.  Yet with that, I declare that we are “both and” people living for good.  So I invite you to look at how you are choosing to spend your energy for or against and if only just for today; choose to make room inwardly and outwardly for all that serves and supports your journey.  In this moment, this is how I’m living and hope that you will join me in heart space where there is always plenty of good room just for you.  I am committed to always keeping life, love and laughter real; because they are indeed the main thing among many things.  Happy Friday!

Oh Shift!!

Oh shift! Even the slightest of movement is a sign of life. I believe that phenomenal and global shifts in consciousness, economics, life and the like are comprised of everyday shifts. Those everyday shifts are found in the brief moments when something during the day does not go according to our plan, to do list or pattern. Those momentary shifts are life slightly changing direction. 
 
For years of my life, everything was all about me… What I wanted, needed, had to get done and I could go on. Then I heard my soul say, “Oh shift!” This was a warning to me that something was happening and all I needed to do was be ready to Move. I wish that I could tell you that I heeded that warning, but I didn’t. I should have kept listening, because the shift that I experienced, was my life becoming more about others than myself. All of a sudden, I was the last thing on my mind. There was a shift in my soul’s paradigm and the key that was tucked away is that my life became MORE… the moment, I learned the value of the Law of Circulation. By giving I created physical, emotional, financial, professional, personal, artistic and prophetic room to receive. The reality was that everything in my life had to go in order for everything in my life now to manifest. At the time that list of evacuees included my relationship, my home, my job, my dream, my stuff and my very self. There was no level of my life untouched and unshaken by this shifting. 
 
Eventually, I woke up and saw what was happening and heard the cry of my soul not in response to what was happening, but as a gentle soundtrack for the slightest of movements in my life. Today, I know the truth, our value is not found among what we have or struggle to hold onto; it is nurtured, blessed and becomes more by a very simple act; giving. The lesson I learned is that giving is much more gentle process than to be surprised by the grand exodus of all that we hold dear.

Reflections

What are you looking for?  I sat talking with a friend of mine this morning as she was considering giving away all of her worldly possessions to find and grow closer to God.  As I listened, I momentarily found myself looking around and making a list of things that I wanted.  After all, she was giving it all away.  What I got during those moments is that the divine seemed distant or rather we seemed distant from a divine perspective.  I started to smile and as she leaned forward to bring back to the moment, I felt that the searching was over, complete, done and finished.  Because this was not a conversation about material things, this was a much deeper conversation/revelation than about us.  This conversation was about wanting and needing more truth, peace, joy and hope in that God shaped space within.  The more we talked, laughed and cried; we both realized that until we are willing to give away the greatest gift that we have; our love.  That nothing in our lives or our world would change.  You see change is not a cause; it is an outcome or a response to something in our lives.  In that room, I heard call of a different sort; it was a call to return to truth, to love, to me and when I find me; give that away and then I will have found that for which I have been searching a lifetime.  In other words, there is no real distance between me and my divine self – we are one.  The very reason that there is a God shaped space in my life is because in and out of that space is from where my goodness and worth flows and I am not that different than any of you.  Beginning today, I invite you to be willing to look no further than your own reflection for what you need.  As you find it, release it and make room for its abundant return to you.  Make that connection and you will see what God sees in and as you. 

Into the Light…

Here I go.  Here I come.  Here I am. Here is where I have always belonged.  Believe it!

Here I sit nearing the threshold of my 47^th year in this body.  When I think of the things I have learned I am overwhelmed with gratitude and yet when I think of the amount of things that I may have forgotten, I am saddened by their departure and ultimate absence.  For these were memories of moments once treasured as dear, deep connections to people I once knew as friends, vivid images of beautiful places that I once stood victorious as I trace the faded impressions of my pencil that once recorded the words and thoughts that illumined my mind.  All of that is no more…  Some would say, gone and forgotten, I say simply given.  Gone, Lifted, Shed, Released, Shared and Forgiven!  For the glory of their presence with me and as a part of me I was once fulfilled, today I am free.  Not just free of them; freed by them and thus the reciprocal is also true; they are freed by me.  This thought, brings me great joy.  I know freedom as opposed to knowing only of it.  I know myself as free.  Free of all of the expectations that I once held as facts that shaped my very being and directed my path.  Free to taste things that I have been programmed to dislike.  Free to walk paths that once paralyzed me with fear.  The greatest freedom is to know my own healing; not as an act or a way, but as the reflection of my being in the world.  I am healed, I am free, I am… more of me here and now, and with each passing breath. 

I realize that I was just like Carol Anne in the 1982 film, Poltergeist.  I was told “Stay away from the light. The light is dangerous. Don't go near it. Don't even look at the light.”  Furthermore, I believed it and I did as I was told.  Today I hear a new message that comes not from my family, my mentors, advisors or instructors or others; it comes from my soul.  I hear from the deepest places of my higher self, “You are the light; the light is safe and welcoming.  Run!  Run with all your might and fling yourself with reckless abandon into her arms!  She will catch you; the light that we are will always reach out beyond our belief and catch us.  Look for it and see it in others!  Look at its resonance in the world!  Look into it and see yourself as yourself; for yourself!  So, into the light I go.  Into the light I come.  Into the light, I am forgiven.

In Light & Love,

Kathy

This Is My Story - To Be Continued...

Recently, I was reviewing the requirements to apply for CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) and one of them is to attach a copy of my spiritual autobiography. Over the last few years since entering the ordination process, I have had to write multiple iterations of this story, so I pulled up the last copy and I read through it. By the time that I got to the end, I was in tears… My heart was open and my soul was stirred. Not because of the events of the story, but because all of the events that I described are a part of the past tense version of the story, and I have not just survived; I have moved through them and there is so much more of the story that has unfolded since I last hit print and attached a copy to an application. I have become more of the person that I was always becoming and still there is more of the journey and more of the story ahead of me.

I realized that the stories of our lives are not a finite description of our life experiences, it is a continuum. I am a soul in evolution. We are souls on the move. This morning as I write this, I am different from the person I was when I fell asleep last night. I move forward through and beyond my circumstance. I grow, I change, I evolve, I live, I learn, I AM. Truth is; I am more than my story. This has always been the case; I just did not see it that way. There is more to all of us than what can be captured between once upon a time and happily ever after. There is so much more. My story used to confine me and I thought that I could not break free. That is no longer the case, today I am freer than ever because the story of what was is too small of a box to live and minister from. I stand shaped by the blessings of the past, embraced by the power of the now moment and with the heart of a dreamer and the soul of a visionary; I look toward the future.

Today, I turn the page and pick up a new pen and tell a new story that does not dismiss overcoming the things that people said I could not do, today my life is filled with people who support the journey of what I can do and who I was born to be. Today, I live in the land of Yes I can, because that is what’s in me to do. This is a part of my soul’s purpose in this life.

My life is more than just a story that is captured in words on a page; today my life is set to a different beat that comprises a new song and a new way of being more of me.

For today, this is my story and with each passing moment; it is to be continued…

The List of All Lists

Lately I have noticed the myriad of lists that I have to make in order to keep up with all the things that I need to get done. Sometimes I feel like I need a list that contains all of the names of the other lists, so I will know where to find what comes next.

This morning I found myself making out what I hope to be the list of all lists; my last minute shopping list that contains all of things that I have somehow forgotten to pick up over the last few days. When somewhere among the eggs, sugar, potatoes and nutmeg, I realized all of the time, energy and preparation that I pour into a holiday meals and gatherings. So for a few moments I managed to just still my thoughts, notice my breath and become more aware of my body; just long enough to meditate and hear the voice of my soul assuring me that everything is just as it should be - so let it be... I chose to let the holiday be for me a blessing filled with fun, joy, good food, good deeds and good times. What will you let it be?

My spiritual download for the day is: the perfection that we are striving for already exists right here, right now in each of us. The warmth that we want to create in our hearts and homes will arrive with the presence of each soul. The meals that we are preparing are being prepared on an even deeper level - a soul level. I believe that when we remember to feed the soul all other needs are met.

Jesus said, "I am the Bread of Life". For us today, I know that this is still true and in the midst of all of our holiday preparations, know that the Bread has already been prepared by love and is available to nourish, celebrate, strengthen and renew each of us.

So, my list of all lists is more than just what I need to do, what I need to remember or where I need to go, it is:

A Holiday Vision List

I hold for each of you the blessings of:

A shortened to do list!

An extensive gratitude list!

Laugher that rocks the world!

The creation of memories that feed the soul...

The fullness of joy that turns friends into family

and family into loved ones...

Peace & Blessings,
Kathy

In A Different Light

I was working in my home office yesterday morning and I needed a little break from the pace of things. So, I got up and opened the blinds and raised the window to allow more sunlight in. On my way back to my desk, I noticed that the light was telling me something, directing me to a different area of my space. Being enveloped by the light was warm and it felt so special that I closed my eyes and breathed it in. When I returned to the moment, I noticed how the light was pouring through the window and falling gently upon the bookcase. So, I followed the path of the light and my attention was drawn towards a book that was reaching out from among the others. That book was Jon Kabat-Zinn's "Wherever You Go There You Are". I read this book some many years ago and again earlier this year. As I was remembering my time with this book, it fell open to one of the pages that I had folded down. I sometimes fold the pages to mark the things that really reach out and touch my soul. As I read the passage that was marked, I found it to be just what I needed.

I reflected on how we are all on a spiritual path whether we know it or not called life. In the moments that it feels like we have absolutely no direction at all, the truth is we do. We have all the direction that we need for that brief moment in time. That direction unfolds for each of us one breath, one moment and one heartbeat at a time. The true beauty of this thought is that everything is influenced by and connected to everything else. We are so intricately connected by divine design that we are one.

My prayer for you this week is that life will reveal something special to you in the path of the light. I hold for you the newness, the rediscovery and the joy of the light that calls out to you, flows through you and as you.

Today is Day 3 of 100 Things That Changed My Life

Today’s journey into that which has shaped, molded, influenced and guided me is another phrase from western pop culture, “All that and a bag of chips".

My experience of this has been as a compliment that describes the very fullness of something or someone. As I think of this phrase from a spiritual point of view, I see deeper into it’s meaning and today it emerges as the essence of who we were created to be. I believe that we are born originally blessed and that in this incarnation (life) we are meant to be whole, blessed, complete creations. The trick to this, I think is that I have to believe this, no; I have to be willing to know this about myself and everything that is around me. I have to shift my very awareness to know that I am all that I am created to be.

Being all that seems like hard work; what life has taught me is that is true when I choose to be all that others need, want and expect me to be. When this is the case, I find myself trying to accomplish things with my own steam, reaching beyond who I am to become something for another. Think into this with me; if just for a moment, a day, a week… we could experience the wherewithal to just be who we are in the present moment with no regard to whether we are doing it right or wrong or trying to balance the voice of our soul and society and landing somewhere in between. If we could be all that we are, the world would change and I would have to introduce myself to you all over again and vice versa because I think that we may not recognize each other.

So today my friends where ever you are, I choose to begin to see the “allness” (new word) of who you are before me. Today, I step with you into a new consciousness that allows us to see all that there is with new eyes, create a new world from the blessing of our very being. Today I see you as all that and a bag of chips – I see you as the light, love, hope, peace and grace that you were created to be. I see this world, myself and all that is around me as all that it was created to be. I invite you to speak your own words of new life and know that what you create is good…because you are all that and a bag of chips, you are everything that is needed right where you are – be that!

Peace and Infinite Possibilities,
Kathy

Day Two of 100 Days - The Story of Everything that has Influenced & Changed My Life...

Today, I left my home in Central Florida and drove over towards the west coast of Florida for a meeting. The morning was quite serene and the sunrise was delicate and inviting. I watched the fog lift as I approached and the birds floating on the distant horizon and in the middle of all of this beauty taking its place just before the raising of the curtain of this new day; I realized what direction we would take today.

Of the 100 things that have changed my life, today’s musing come from a western pop culture phrase, “Bring it!”

Sometimes I wonder aloud, if I am living my true purpose… I wonder if I am doing and being all that is needed of me or all that I need from me. I know that writing this thought today will help someone, find the” it” that they seek to do, be and live. I realize even in the typing of this thought that “it” is not elusive, “it” is not far from me and I do not live in pursuit of “it”. I live in the midst of “it” and on my very best days, as “it”.

What is IT? Well, I think that there is a little something or other, a running thread, a ray of light, a blessing that present in each of us. For some of us it is to do a particular thing, for others it may become this or that, for others it is to create something and the list goes on. My point is that we all have something that is ours to do. I believe that we all have a Divine purpose and that we are expressions of Divine ideas in the world. I know that there is a vision for each of our lives that is so much greater than anything we could ever imagine and that very vision that is held for us is ours to do, ours to live and this life is ours the journey to take. God, Buddha, Spirit, Jesus, The Oneness, Bahaullah, The Silence – has already done what we would think of as the hard part and imagined for us and now all that we have to do is to be, teach, speak, lift up, hold space, understand, listen and live.

“It” is the always present to us, through us and as us. Really, we are what we seek… It is easy to think that everything exists beyond our being and lately, I have been really resting in the thought and realization that God is not distant, doing things to me and hanging out in a place that I may never see. I see God everywhere present (here and now); in the movement of the air, in the current of the flowing river, in the grace of the rising sun and in the spirit of each person that I encounter. When I look at everything through this lens, it changes… everything becomes so much more. The sky is bluer, the grass is greener, sound of children laughing in the distance becomes more real and distinct, the sound of the falling rain is more rhythmic and if I stop what I am doing in the moment, I can even feel myself becoming much more. This more that I speak of is not quantitative, but qualitative. In short, “it” gets better and better.

So today my friends our task is to bring it, to bring the more that we already are into being in our lives and in the world. Bring the song in your soul, bring the writings and drawings that no one has ever seen, bring the stories that spin from your lips, bring the skill of your hearts and hands, bring the art that is alive within you, bring the laughter, bring the joy, bring the peace, bring the abundance that is YOU. What if we were willing to have a new thought about the scripture (Malachi 3:10) from the Bible that speaks of bringing the whole tithe into the storehouse… as being more than what we have or more than what we earn and consider who we are? What if we brought all of who we are (right here, right now) into the storehouse? What if…? I’m willing, are you?

My prayer today is that together we bring it and bring all of it! Make today your best day!

Namaste,
Kathy

New Posting Series - 100 Days, The Story of Everything that has Influenced My Life...

100 Days of things that have changed my life.

Lately I have had the opportunity to really delve into some deep spiritual work. The results of this work have been profound to say the least. I have really taken the time to step into and out of my life’s experiences and view them from all sides and vantage points. What I realize is that all the success, prosperity, abundance, education, opportunities, and faith that I have experienced in my life have truly been steps in consciousness and without each of these steps my life and I would be very different. For every step, I am grateful…

For the past few days, I have been coming to a place of clarity in working with 100 days of … (something or other). (You know how a thought just won’t leave you alone…) I sat with this idea wondering if this was mine to do, or was my task to just be ready to support this work for someone else. Last evening during my meditation time, the vision rushed in so clearly and Spirit spoke so lovingly – “This one’s for you and through you”. Since I trust the voice and move of Spirit, for the next 100 days, I will write about all the things that have influenced, guided, and shaped my life – my being. Of all the things that I have done in my life, I trust that this journey from people to places, from sayings to songs, from literature to laughter and beyond will take us all to places and moments that we remember and others that we will experience together for the first time. We travel without a map, umbrella, train fare or vision of the destination; this one is all about the journey! I hope that you are up for walking with me and somewhere along the way I know that you will find a path that takes you and your life into the newness that awaits.

With that being said – Here we go!!

Day 1 – From the music that has influenced my life…One of the things that I love about life itself is watching how music can take a room full of people from different places, who speak different languages and may even have different views and turn them from a crowd of many into the voice of one. I believe that music is one of the many threads in the fabric of our being that chisels away the threats of difference and brings into sharp focus our sameness. One of the songs that has really influenced my life and it just keeps on showing up in new and unexpected ways is from the R&B Disco genre (Yes, of the 70’s) – Sister Sledge’s 1979 Album and single – We Are Family.
I have watched this very song take a room full of people from ages 1-80 and bring them into a time a space of pure connectedness! This song spans generations, cultures, and genres as it allows us to know on a soul level that we are one and as I gaze out into their smiling faces, watching their heads bob to the funky rhythm of the groove, and their eyes light up when they get to the chorus and they begin to sing with a great sense of knowing that we are family and I’ve got everybody with me. In that moment of realization we are so very powerful because we let nothing separate from love and we see how together we can do, be and bring about anything. In that moment, the walls come down, the chasm between us closes, the battles we fight seem so unimportant and we see the truth in one another – we are family, (we are kinfolk) we are in this now moment together. I am because you are; and you are because I am.

Today is day 1 and we have miles to go before we rest and I invite you to examine your own life for songs that have influenced your being and to take the opportunity wherever you are right now reading this to look up and around and see the faces of your new family as they surround you. See them blessed and beloved, love them anyway, know them as God sees them and let each one do the same for you. If you can, lay down your weapons, your differences, your views and perspectives and do one of the simplest things ever - just be. Life is both long and short, and we really can live it, love it, and groove right in the midst of it together. We can do this only because we are family!

Because we are family, please know I love you, bless you, celebrate with you and most of all, I behold the Christ in you.
Peace & Infinite Possibilities,
Kathy

Be Willing to Follow the Signs,,,

Recently, I was on my way to one of my favorite restaurants, when I realized that the street that I typically take was closed for construction. I followed the detour signs and eventually arrived at my destination. What I noticed is that journey was so very different for me. I saw things that I had never seen or noticed before. I realized that in life and even on our spiritual journeys, there is always a choice to make; be frustrated that the normal route is not available or be willing to take the new journey. Today I am willing to take the new journey… Every step and breath that I have taken in life has brought me to this present moment. So, taking a little detour every now and then is an opportunity to create a whole new experience.

I must say that by the time that I arrived for dinner, I was in a much different frame of mind. I was even more complete. Hey life, thanks for the little detours that show me the vivid sunrise or the gentle assent of a hot air balloon. You just never know what God has in store for you. Be willing… Be grateful…

Take the journey, take a chance and follow the signs and remember to just trust love. You will get to where you are going or you may even find a new way and place to be. Who knows? So, my friends I bid you good journey and I see your every step divinely ordered and your path full of infinite possibilities.
This is my truth… and so it is.

Inclusive Living!

Every now and then I run heart first into the sharp edges of what some would call inclusive language. Personally, I have never been able to make sense of a conversation about inclusion that begins and ends with what and why we ought to exclude, reduce, leave out, shift and reword. For me of these conversations about language ultimately translate from what and why into who is not one thing or another. I figure, if one can get to what’s in and what’s out so easily, then if any of us show up as all of who we are created to be; we can easily be relegated to the whose out portion of the conversation just because of who we are or who we are not. And that will not do for me and for the many among us who need our message hope. I figure, that if I am truly living “my call” that I am focused on ensuring that this message of hope that I carry in my bones can be easily accessed and lived into by as many people as possible. So it is more than what I say and the simple words that I choose on any occasion, it is uplifting it with music, art and dance. It is communicating it sometimes with no words at all. It is bringing it to life in the global language of peace. It is being willing to shout it from the mountain high and the valley low. It is being it by showing up. It is infusing it into our living. It is personifying it to and through the body politic. It is relaying in concert with others. It is building it with the work of our hands and our hearts. It is formulating it with our soul. It is making it available it in every language and means imaginable…

Recently, I was reminded just how finite we really are and how every moment of our lives is a precious gift. Thus, I have decided to move to a way of being present with people that allows me to live an inclusive life that looks for and sees the divinity of all people, to hear the presence of the sacred in their words and to be the reminder for the world that God is all there is… When I feel the brush of the breeze across my face; God is all there is. When I encounter crowded shopping centers; God is all there is. When someone cuts me off in traffic; God is all there is. When I feel overwhelmed by life; God is all there is. When I stand face to face with hatred; send them my love and the knowing that God is all there is! When someone holds the door for me; God is all there is. When hear the laughter of children; God is all there is. In the eyes of the stranger; God is all there is. In the grand scheme of things, it really does not matter to me which name you choose for God. What matters to me is that each person is able to connect to an aspect of God that speaks to the very soul of their being. If does not profit me to uphold a specific image of God and say no to another. What matters to me is that each person can access the image of God in their own reflection.

I have no more time to spend trying to balance the biases of our languages. It is far better use of my heart space to allow many things to be true and truth at the same time by welcoming your language as meaningful as it is to you in the same moment as my language as meaningful to me and so on… In short, I think inclusive really means all and that’s all that all means. So I invite you to just make room for all that you are, all that God is to you and all the same for all of the people you meet and all of the wonderful experiences that await you.

So, today the language of life rings true for me and through me and it is my hope for all of us as citizens, tribes, villages, friends, family and kinfolk of the world that we will find ways that restore honor and value to “the other” among us. Because to each one of us; each one of us is “the other”.

In closing, I forgive myself for not taking this step sooner and for carrying this around in my heart for so long. I set this free from my spirit with this posting.
This is my truth and so it is!

Conjugating Verbs and Finding the God Within…

This is my first post in quite some time… For those who are not aware, I am in the midst of my congregational internship in concert with the realities of school, work, family, church, life and health. In realizing that all of these realities are really the texture of my being and giving up things that I love like blogging didn’t buy me any more time or energy. So given all of the givens and at the urging of a dear friend, I rise and blog again!

My thoughts today are drawn from an Isaac Asimov quote: “The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries is not ‘Eureka!’ but ‘That’s funny…’

Over the past few months, my soul has screamed eureka and that’s funny countless times and often at the same time. This year, I have found myself on this spiritual journey that has taught me to be more open to things that are not like me. I have found the means to breakthrough my own perspectives, especially the ones that would have held me back from the moments that needed me the most and to appreciate every question, insight, thought, breath and aha moment.

I am so much better for this journey that has given me the wherewithal to see first the light in others and to allow the light that I have always been to shine through. So from the depths of my soul’s journey, the experience that most clearly comes to my mind in this moment is my own discovering of God, the Sacred, the Divine, the Holy, and the Oneness… within me. For years I have sang these lyrics; “God prepare me to be a sanctuary, pure and holy; tried and true. With thanksgiving I’ll be a living sanctuary, for you.” What is different for me today about these words is the verb tense; I have sang and lived this song in future tense. What does that mean? It means that I have been holding my relationship with God in time that is not yet present. I have been on a journey that had not brought me to the destination of the present moment. My eureka and that’s funny moment allowed me to discover the present moments with God, the very essence of the Divine in the now and that manifested for me in the conjugation of the verb – to be. One of the voices of the present tense (indicative)of the verb to be is “I am” – the very name of God. I am finding or noticing the presence of God in all sorts of places and people in the world. It is amazing what you see when you take the time to look. As I the encounter the Sacred in others, I encounter and acknowledge the same in myself… I Am that I am. I am that which I seek – love, grace, peace, hope, acceptance, connection and prosperity. I am the love of God that is very present in this moment and in the world around us. This for me is a love worth finding. My prayer for you in the coming days is that you will discover and rediscover the power of the present tense and in the use of your own I AM statements - Who are you right NOW? My hope is that we will all take time to experience the Divine presence in ourselves and in others in the present. Be Blessed!

For now, this is my truth and I am living it!

Perscription or Perspective

Years ago, I would hang on to my old prescription eyeglasses in case I would lose and damage my new pair. What I found over time is that either my eyes or the way that I looked at things had changed. Things that had once been very clear to me were now fuzzy and vice versa. The somewhat amusing thing is life can be the same way; as our experiences unfold before us, and time and chance happens to us all, we somehow learn to see things differently. Take time this week to look past the things we think we know and understand and view life through a different lens, point of view or perspective. Maybe, just maybe we will find the clarity and simplicity that we seek right in the middle of the fuzziness. As for those old glasses, I donate them now so that someone else has a chance to see life clearly.

Set Sail!

Living here in Florida, we experience our fair share of storms and the chaos they cause and the path of destruction that remain. This reminds me of the story where Jesus calmed the stormy seas and how even in the midst of the storms of our lives, there is still a very real opportunity for peace in the midst of it all. It may require us to undock our lives from the pier or push off from the shore that gives us safety and shelter and set sail for hope and peace. This week, I pray that there will be countless opportunities for all us to set sail and witness the miracles of living through a lens of faith that lets us find peace in the midst of storm. May these experiences flow into all areas of our lives and influence all that we touch and are becoming.
Shalom-Salaam-Peace