Some Thoughts on the nature of "Truth"

We should be ever mindful, that while we are here in human form and under the spell of this experience, that we can only know, what we know and what resonates with us at any given time as Truth...

That which we call Truth however, may have many different facets, and we may be at any given time privy to just one or two aspects of it...

We should always keep in mind, that we in this present incarnation and Human form do NOT have all the answers and are NOT privy to all the aspects of the Great Truth's, if we had, we

would have already "ascended" and no doubt, be off in some far distant part of the Universe saving another civilization from their own unique brand of misconceptions...

Let us always be aware, as Ernest Holmes said that, "This is Truth, and it is My Truth today, but it may not be My Truth tomorrow..."

I do not profess to have all the answers, and even that what I have come to understand as Truth, really is...

We must always, remain humble in this regard, and remain open to whatever wisdom Truth may deem us worthy to bestow upon....

We must always keep our guard up against this form of Spiritual Arrogance, to think that we and we alone are privy to All Truth, lest our words come back to eat us...

As Wayne Dyer reminds us..."Be open to everything...and attached to nothing"

 

 

Famous Writers Thoughts on Freedom

“The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.” ~ Gloria Steinem

“Lock up your libraries if you like, but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind.” ~ Virginia Woolf, "A Room Of One's Own"

“The most important kind of freedom is to be what you really are. You trade in your reality for a role. You trade in your sense for an act. You give up your ability to feel, and in exchange, put on a mask. There can't be any large-scale revolution until there's a personal revolution, on an individual level. It's got to happen inside first.”...“Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and when the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free.” ~ Jim Morrison

"I am no bird; and no net ensnares me; I am a free human being, with an independent will; which I now exert to leave you.” ~ Charlotte Brontë, "Jane Eyre"

“Freedom lies in being bold.” ~ Robert Frost

“Now that she had nothing to lose, she was free.” ~ Paulo Coelho, "Eleven Minutes"

“I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do.” ~ Robert A. Heinlein

“Some birds are not meant to be caged, that's all. Their feathers are too bright, their songs too sweet and wild. So you let them go, or when you open the cage to feed them they somehow fly out past you. And the part of you that knows it was wrong to imprison them in the first place rejoices, but still, the place where you live is that much more drab and empty for their departure.”
~ Stephen King, "Shawshank Redemption: A Story from Different Seasons"

“Who is more to be pitied, a writer bound and gagged by policemen or one living in perfect freedom who has nothing more to say?” ~ Kurt Vonnegut

“For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.” ~ Nelson Mandela

“The things you own end up owning you. It's only after you lose everything that you're free to do anything.” ~ Chuck Palahniuk, "Fight Club"

“Yes, my consuming desire is to mingle with road crews, sailors and soldiers, barroom regulars—to be a part of a scene, anonymous, listening, recording—all this is spoiled by the fact that I am a girl, a female always supposedly in danger of assault and battery. My consuming interest in men and their lives is often misconstrued as a desire to seduce them, or as an invitation to intimacy. Yes, God, I want to talk to everybody as deeply as I can. I want to be able to sleep in an open field, to travel west, to walk freely at night...” ~ Sylvia Plath

“Happy. Just in my swim shorts, barefooted, wild-haired, in the red fire dark, singing, swigging wine, spitting, jumping, running—that's the way to live. All alone and free in the soft sands of the beach by the sigh of the sea out there, with the Ma-Wink fallopian virgin warm stars reflecting on the outer channel fluid belly waters..” ~ Jack Kerouac, "The Dharma Bums"

“I tell my students, 'When you get these jobs that you have been so brilliantly trained for, just remember that your real job is that if you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else. This is not just a grab-bag candy game.” ~ Toni Morrison

“Freeing yourself was one thing, claiming ownership of that freed self was another.” ~ Toni Morrison, "Beloved"

“You wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down.”
~Toni Morrison, "Song of Solomon"

TODAY'S QUOTES ~ SELF RELIANCE

“I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself.”...“I'll walk where my own nature would be leading. It vexes me to choose another guide.” ~ Charlotte Bronte', "Jane Eyre"

“It was one thing to make a mistake; it was another thing to keep making it. I knew what happened when you let yourself get close to someone, when you started to believe they loved you; you'd be disappointed.

Depend on someone, and you might as well admit you're going to be crushed, because when you really needed them, they wouldn't be there. Either that, or you'd confide in them and you added to their problems. All you ever really had was yourself.” ~ Jodi Picoult, "Handle With Care "

“Not I, nor anyone else can travel that road for you.
You must travel it by yourself.
It is not far. It is within reach.
Perhaps you have been on it since you were born, and did not know.
Perhaps it is everywhere - on water and land.”
~ Walt Whitman, "Leaves of Grass"

“Cherish your solitude. Take trains by yourself to places you have never been. Sleep out alone under the stars. Learn how to drive a stick shift. Go so far away that you stop being afraid of not coming back. Say no when you don’t want to do something. Say yes if your instincts are strong, even if everyone around you disagrees. Decide whether you want to be liked or admired. Decide if fitting in is more important than finding out what you’re doing here. Believe in kissing.” ~ Eve Ensler

“Don't compromise yourself. You're all you've got.” ~ Janis Joplin

“I have not lived as a woman. I have lived as a man. I've just done what I damn well wanted to, and I've made enough money to support myself, and ain't afraid of being alone.” ~ Katharine Hepburn

“You can't trust other people. If it's important, you have to do it yourself.” ~ Neil Gaiman, "The Graveyard Book"

“The greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to oneself.” ~ Michel de Montaigne

“I don't need anyone to hold me, I can hold my own.” ~ Ani DiFranco

“If you want a thing done well, do it yourself.” ~Napoleon Bonaparte

“I think the girl who is able to earn her own living and pay her own way should be as happy as anybody on earth. The sense of independence and security is very sweet.” ~ Susan B. Anthony

“Sure, it sucked to be lost, but I'd long ago realized I preferred it to depending on anyone else to get me where I needed to go. That was the thing about being alone, in theory or in principle. Whatever happened- good, bad, or anywhere in between- it was always, if nothing else, all your own.” ~ Sarah Dessen, Lock and Key

“Associate with noblest people you can find; read the best books; live with the mighty. But learn to be happy alone. Rely upon your own energies, and so not wait for, or depend on other people.” ~ Thomas Davidson

“Remember, this is important: Never trust that you will be saved by anyone.” ~ Amanda Boyden, "Pretty Little Dirty"

“In yourself right now is all the place you've got.” ~ Flannery O'Connor, "Wise Blood "

“Maybe your country is only a place you make up in your own mind. Something you dream about and sing about. Maybe it's not a place on the map at all, but just a story full of people you meet and places you visit, full of books and films you've been to. I'm not afraid of being homesick and having no language to live in. I don't have to be like anyone else. I'm walking on the wall and nobody can stop me.” ~ Hugo Hamilton, "The Speckled People: A Memoir of a Half-Irish Childhood "

“Solitary trees, if they grow at all, grow strong..” ~ Winston Churchill

"Take my advice: Don't think you will find it in another person. You won't. It's not there. You must find it in yourself.”" ~ Iain Pears, "The Dream of Scipio"

“Every path but your own is the path of fate. Keep on your own track, then.” ~ Henry David Thoreau, "Walden"

“Love unconditionally, but rely only on yourself.” ~ Marty Rubin

“Insist on yourself; never imitate. Your own gift you can present every moment with the cumulative force of a whole life's cultivation; but of the adopted talent of another you have only an extemporaneous half possession. That which each can do best, none but his Maker can teach him.”...“Truly speaking, it is not instruction, but provocation, that I can receive from another soul. What he announces, I must find true in me, or reject; and on his word, or as his second, be he who he may, I can accept nothing.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Here must thou be, O man,
Strength to thyself — no helper hast thou here —
Here keepest thou thy individual state:
No other can divide with thee this work,
No secondary hand can intervene
To fashion this ability. 'Tis thine,
The prime and vital principle is thine
In the recesses of thy nature, far
From any reach of outward fellowship,
Else 'tis not thine at all.”
~ William Wordsworth

"Some tough battles have to be fought alone. Some paths have to be crossed alone. So never be emotionally attached to anyone. You never know when you will have to walk alone." ~ Halona Leonora

 

 

"The Right to Bear Arms" (LLJL)

The "Right to Bear Arms" is a perceived right, wraught by the mind of man, born from a consciousness of fear and separation...

The "Right to live in Peace, Love and Harmony at One with Each Other and Mother Earth" is a God Given right, bestowed upon us, through Grace, by our Creator...

"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one despise the other" ~ Jesus the Christ

 "At the center of non-violence stands the principle of love." ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

My religion is based on truth and non-violence. Truth is my God. Non-violence is the means of realising Him"..."Non-violence is not a garment to be put on and off at will. Its seat is in the heart, and it must be an inseparable part of our being."..."Non-violence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man."
~ Mahatma Gandhi

I choose to exercise "MY GOD GIVEN RIGHT" to serve the ways of Peace, Love and Compassion...

"Giver of Gifts..."

"Giver of gifts, thank you.
When I was young and knew nothing,
I asked for the sun.
You gave me a candle
which I put in my pocket,

and now... a lifetime later,
I found the match."
~ John Squadra

 

 

Great Morning!

GREAT MORNING, BELOVED ONES! May You Become One with the Beauty that Surrounds You in Every Perfect Moment, This Glorious Day!

"Each morning is the open door to a new world - new vistas, new aims, new plans, new things... and whether one is twenty, forty, sixty or eighty; whether one has succeeded, failed or just muddled along - life begins each morning." ~ L. M. Hodges

"I Will Greet This Day..."

"I will greet this day with love in my heart.
And how will I do this?
Henceforth will I look on all things with love and be born again.
I will love the sun for it warms my bones;
yet I will love the rain for it cleanses my spirit.
I will love the light for it shows me the way;
yet I will love the darkness for it shows me the stars.
I will welcome happiness as it enlarges my heart;
yet I will endure sadness for it opens my soul.
I will acknowledge rewards for they are my due;
yet I will welcome obstacles for they are my challenge."
- Og Mandino

Today

"We shall do much in the years to come,
but what have we done today?

We shall give our gold in a princely sum,
but what did we give today?
We shall lift the heart and dry the tear,
We shall plant a hope in the place of fear,
We shall speak the words of love and cheer
but what did we speak today?

We shall be so kind in the afterwhile,
but what have we been today?
We shall bring each lonely life a smile,
but what have we brought today?
We shall give to truth a grander birth,
And to steadfast faith a deeper worth,
We shall feed the hungering souls of earth,
but whom have we fed today?

We shall reap such joys in the by and by,
but what have we sown today?
We shall build us mansions in the sky,
but what have we built today?
'Tis sweet in idle dreams to bask,
but here and now do we do our task?
Yes, this is the thing our souls must ask,
"What have we done today?"

 

Unknown

 

 

YOU ARE THE LIGHT!!!! (LLJL)

YOU ARE ALREADY ENLIGHTENED!!!
YOU ALREADY HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS YOU SEEK WITHIN!!!
YOU ARE ALREADY ABUNDANTLY PROVIDED FOR!!!
YOU ARE ALREADY HEALED!!!
YOU ARE ALREADY PERFECT!!!

YOU ALREADY HAVE ENOUGH!!!
YOU ARE ALREADY ENOUGH!!!
YOU ARE ALREADY STANDING ON SACRED GROUND!!!
YOU ARE ALREADY LIVING ON PURPOSE!!!
YOU ARE THE LIGHT!!!!

You don't have to come up with hundreds and thousands of dollars to attend that latest workshop, that promises it will "Change your life"..."Give you the keys and the "steps" to enlightenment"..."Bring you prosperity and the ability to realize your dreams"..."Activate your twelve strand DNA"..."Get in touch with your guides"..."Grow Your Metaphysical Business" and my all time favorite, "Find Your Life Purpose"... or take that "Spiritual Cruise", or trip half way around the world to the latest "sacred spot"...

You do not need to seek the mysteries of life through someonelse's "method", wisdom", "gift" or "truth"...the Spiritual Path should not be the means by which you pad another's pockets with ridiculous amounts of money...And you do not need to "Heal" anything to be complete...

Go Within My Friends! Start Everyday with the Intention that You will Be Guided in the Direction that is Right for You, Provided For, Be Put Where You can Serve, Find your Spiritual "Tribe", Get the Answers you Seek...

And those answers can and will come from anywhere and everywhere...
Spirit will always find a way to get through; That perfect book you need will literally fall right into your hands, that conversation you overhear at Starbuck's or on the Bus, or in the Break room, will provide the guidance needed, those common daily rounds and activities will be resplendently abundant with hundreds of opportunities for you to serve, teach and Be the Light!

I wish you could see, what I see when I look at the energies that are emanating from within you!

I wish you could understand once and for all, that all you need to do is to acknowledge and step into the Light that is YOU!!!

The time for attending workshops and assimilation of Spiritual processes is over...There are no answers that anyone else can give you that you do not already possess...There is no one who is above or below you on some ridiculous scale of consciousness, there is no one who is any more gifted or enlightened than you...

Yes, some may be at different places in our acceptance and practice of those gifts and Universal Truths...
And Yes, we can be a compass, guide, support, teacher, avenue of mutual growth and the means by which Spirit works to reach out and help each other...

As Ram Dass says, "We are all just walking each other home"

But NO ONE possesses anything more than anyone else...
And Spirit does not place conditions, require that we say the "right" words, eat the "right" foods, feel the "right" emotions, think the "right" thoughts, take the "right" class, follow the "right" steps, practice the "right" method or be anything other than what we were and are created to be...WHOLE, PERFECT AND FREE...RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW!!!

"You empower yourself by dealing with your history. Purify your energy by venting your emotions, determining what honors you,releasing what doesn't, and then moving on...When you live from the heart and consistently come from a place of love & honor for yourself & others, it simply won't matter what words you use...As part of its Divine expression, there's a personal path that's more attractive to your soul than any other in this earthly experience: love & service.Your Spirit is inextricably connected to the joys & plights of every other soul on the planet; and what happens to others can't be separated from what happens to you. As a result your soul will repeatedly make this its highest intention.." ~ Sandra Anne Taylor

IT IS TIME MY FRIENDS TO STOP LOOKING FOR THOSE GIFTS, SECRETS, MYSTERIES AND THE WAY TO GOD OUTSIDE OF OURSELVES!!!!

STOP LISTENING TO THE LIES OF SUPERIORITY AND FEAR BASED PROPHECIES!!!...
STOP LISTENING TO ALL THE OTHER "SOMEONE ELSES' TRUTHS"!!!...
STOP LISTENING TO THAT LITTLE VOICE, THAT TELLS YOU CONSTANTLY, THAT YOU NEED MORE WORK, THAT YOU ARE NOT READY YET, THAT YOU ARE NOT PERFECT OR GOOD ENOUGH!!!...

INSTEAD...LISTEN TO WHAT RESONATES WITHIN YOUR OWN HEART OF HEARTS AND SOUL OF SOULS...LEARN TO TRUST WHAT YOUR OWN INTERNAL TRUTH IS TELLING YOU, AND PRAY FIRST AND FOREMOST FOR CLARITY AND DISCERNMENT!!!

IT IS TIME MY FRIENDS, TO STEP INTO YOUR OWN SELF CONTAINED LIGHT AND DO THE WORK THAT IS YOUR UNIQUE MISSION...WE ALL HAVE A PART TO PLAY, AND NO ONE PART IS ANY LESS IMPORTANT OR ENLIGHTENED THAN ANOTHER'S!!!!
AND THERE IS NOTHING THAN ANYONE ELSE CAN TEACH YOU THAT YOU DON'T ALREADY KNOW!!!

IF ONE PERSON IS A CHANNEL...WE ARE ALL CHANNELS...
IF ONE PERSON IS ENLIGHTENED...WE ARE ALL ENLIGHTENED...
IF ONE PERSON IS A LIGHT...WE ARE ALL LIGHTS...
IF THERE IS ONE SACRED SPOT...ALL THE EARTH IS SACRED...
WE ARE ALL ONE...AND ALL IS IN ALL!!!

THERE IS NOTHING MORE YOU NEED TO DO OR BE...
OR ANYWHERE ELSE YOU NEED TO GO...
ALL THAT IS REQUIRED IS THAT YOU ACKNOWLEDGE, ACCEPT AND STEP FULLY INTO THE LIGHT THAT IS ALREADY WITHIN...
THE LIGHT THAT IS UNIQUELY, PERPETUALLY, AND ETERNALLY YOU!!!

REMEMBER!!!!
REMEMBER WHO YOU ALREADY ARE!!!

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

 

 

Call Me By My True Names ~Thich Nhat Hanh

Please call me by my true names...
Don't say that I will depart tomorrow--even today I am still arriving.

Look deeply: every second I am arriving to be a bud on a Spring branch,
To be a tiny bird, with still-fragile wings, learning to sing in my new nest,
To to be a caterpillar in the heart of a flower,
To be a jewel hiding itself in a stone.

I still arrive,
In order to laugh and to cry,
To fear and to hope.
The rhythm of my heart is the birth and death of all that is alive.

I am a mayfly metamorphosing on the surface of the river.
And I am the bird that swoops down to swallow the mayfly.

I am a frog swimming happily in the clear water of a pond.
And I am the grass-snake that silently feeds itself on the frog.

I am the child in Uganda, all skin and bones, my legs as thin as bamboo sticks...
And I am the arms merchant, selling deadly weapons to Uganda.

I am the twelve-year-old girl, refugee on a small boat,...
Who throws herself into the ocean after being raped by a sea pirate.
And I am the pirate, my heart not yet capable of seeing and loving.

I am a member of the politburo, with plenty of power in my hands.
And I am the man who has to pay his "debt of blood" to my people dying slowly in a forced-labor camp.

My joy is like Spring, so warm it makes flowers bloom all over the Earth.
My pain is like a river of tears, so vast it fills the four oceans.

Please call me by my true names...
So I can hear all my cries and laughter at once...
So I can see that my joy and pain are one.

Please call me by my true names...
So I can wake up and the door of my heart could be left open...
The door of compassion.

 

 

Dedicated In Loving Memory, William Robert Lorenzo (2/28/1942 - 9/8/1964)

On the 48th Anniversary of my Beloved Brother's crossing into the world of Spirit... In honor and in remembrance of the sacred gift of his all too brief Life here on this Earthly Realm...

To My Beautiful Brother Bill...

You were my Best Friend, Confidante, Mentor, Soulmate, Touchstone.
Gone too soon...
But Your Spirit lives on every day in my Heart of Hearts...
You are, in fact, My Heart...
And Truly, the Wind beneath my Wings...
I will continue your legacy of Love every day of my Life...

These words from the song "Vincent" written to honor another tortured artist, whose life also ended all to soon, by his own hand, always reminds of your beautiful soul...

"...Now I understand, what you tried to say to me...
How you suffered for your sanity...
And when no hope was left in sight...
On that starry, starry night, you took your life as lovers often do...
And I could have told you (William) this world was never meant for one as Beautiful as You..."

"All things change, moving motionlessly but Love" ~ (L.Lorenzo, 1971)

"Do not stand at my grave and weep
I Am not there...I do not sleep.
I Am a thousand winds that blow
I Am the diamond glints on snow.
I Am the sunlight on ripened grain,
I Am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning, Hush.
I Am the swift uplifting rush,
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I Am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry...
I Am not there...I did not die."
~ Unknown

May you always rest safely in the Arms of the Angels...

 

 

To See As God Sees by Meister Eckhart

It is your destiny to see as God sees,
To know as God knows,
To feel as God feels.

How is this possible?
How?
Because Divine Love cannot defy its very Self.

Divine Love will be eternally True to its own Being,
And its Being is giving all it can,
At the Perfect Moment.

And the Greatest Gift God can give is His own experience.

Every object, every creature, every man, woman and child
has a soul and it is the destiny of all...
To see as God sees,
To know as God knows,
To feel as God feels,
To Be as God Is."

 

 

Feeding Your Spirit

Feeding your Spirit...

(An adaptation from "A Daily Dose of Sanity" by Alan Cohen)

"Sometime back, a newspaper article reported that Cuba's unusually high number of centenarians say their longevity is a result of going easy on alcohol, but indulging in coffee, cigars and sex. Of Cuba's population of 11 million, about 3,000 have lived for more than a century. Most of them are mentally alert, di

d manual labor in rural areas, and had parents who were also long lived.

These findings fly in the face of much of what we have been told about how to live long and well. You might not think that coffee, cigars, and sex are on the approved list for breaking the triple digit glass ceiling for age. But there is one factor that many proponents of health foods or austere, medically prescribed diets do not take into consideration: the JOY FACTOR." ~ Alan Cohen

In reading about this I remembered something a wonderful mentor of mine, Sonia Chocquette once said..."Sometimes you just gotta feed your Spirit!" And I remembered something else, about George Burns, who also lived to be a hundred, saying that first he set the intention that he was going to live to be 100 and also smoked a cigar, and indulged liquor and coffee, on a daily basis.
And the Buddha, after becoming enlightened in the flesh, had stated that once you have reached this state, you can take anything into your body and do anything to it, and it will have no effect upon it...

Because we are spiritual at the core of our being, it is the spirit in which we live that determines the quality of our lives. That is why the tenor of our spirit generally supersedes what we do physically. When you do what brings you joy, you release into your body life-giving hormones and chemicals. When you do what bores or annoys you, you generate toxic hormones and chemicals that hamper your life force and diminish your longevity.

A man went to his doctor for a checkup and asked him, "What do you think my chances are to live to be 100?"
The doctor asked the patient, "Do you smoke?"
"No," the fellow answered.
"Do you drink?"
"Never."
"Do you run around with women?"
"No, sir," the patient replied.
The doctor shook his head and asked the patient, "Then why would you want to live be 100?"

Now as a holistic practitioner, I am not suggesting that you continue with clearly unhealthy habits, or take up smoking and drinking heavily...like my mother used to always say, "All things in moderation."
But I am suggesting that it would behoove us to probably listen less to externally prescribed regimens, and listen more to our unique inner wisdom...

FEED YOUR SPIRIT AND DO THAT WHICH BRINGS YOU JOY!

The secret of living a long and happy life is to be IN it.

"When it comes to staying young, a mind-lift beats a face-lift any day." ~ Marty Bucella

 

 

In Ceremony ~ The Joining of Two Hearts

There is a little known concept that for any couple (or at least it was little known to me until just very recently:), who for personal reasons choose not to "legally" marry or otherwise define the relationship in traditional terms, may decide to enter into a ceremony of commitment to one another. The Native Americans have a similar ritual called a "Join

ing Ceremony"

Commitment ceremonies can be simply a ritual to bless your relationship in the presence of family and friends, or an intimate exchange between you and your partner to celebrate your love.

These ceremonies can allow you to state the reasons why you decided to make the commitment, allow you to share what you love most of all about one another, give you the opportunity to share your hopes and desires of your future together and help to prepare you for the next chapter in your lives.

Some things that make commitment ceremonies special....

~ Giving a lot of thought to writing and personalizing your commitment vows.

~ Consider the addition of a traditional cultural ritual to acknowledge and honor your family ancestry. Adding a ritual can make your ceremony richer and more unique.

~ Choose a venue that has special significance for you both, the place of your first kiss or meeting.

Here is a beautiful example of one such ceremony...

A very simple ceremony is outside and near water, at sunset, on or around the time when the moon is full. Blessing or Wishing stones and seashells are gathered at the site not just for the couple themselves but for all that have gathered to pay witness to the exchange of vows...They are held throughout the entire ceremony filling them with good wishes, prayers, thoughts and intentions.

The couple then exchange their declaration of love...One to the other...

The woman (or first party) ~
"You are and have always been my best friend, with you in my life, I will always know home. I promise to care for your dreams as though they were my own and will give you the space and encouragement you need to follow those dreams and passions. I will always try to love you for what you are, not what you have been or might become. I will hold your heart gently through all of our lives together. I will laugh with you. I will be responsible for my life and my person. With you I will dance to an equal music. I will feed you when you are hungry, give you rest when you are tired, Listen when you are grumpy, tell you when I am afraid, Hold you in your sadness and laugh with you in your joy.
I promise to always be there for you. I couldn’t ask for a more perfect soul mate, and will always honor you just as you are. I promise to share with you my innermost fears, feelings and dreams, and when cloudy, wintry, sad days come I hope I can bring some sunshine into your life just as you have brought sunshine into mine. I promise to listen to you, to trust you and to nurture our shared goals of self-awareness and living life with our eyes wide open. I promise to love you both in good times and bad with all that I have to give, and all that I feel inside, in the only way I know, completely and forever."

The man (or second party) ~
"I stand here today to start the next journey of our life looking forward to our endless days together. I give my all to you. My support for your achievements, my counsel for your problems, my remedies for your ills, my prosperity for yours, my shoulder for your tears, my ear for your voice, my hand for companionship and my embrace for our shared love. I promise to be there to help when you need me, and to stand beside you, give you support and space when you don't. I will grow along with you and be willing to change to keep our relationship alive and exciting. I want you to know that I pledge to remember the harmfulness of ignorance, anger and clinging attachment, to recall the kindness of others and our connection to them. I vow to keep close to my heart those first tender steps we took towards each other with open arms and laughing eyes. I promise that our world together will be fulfilling, full of the seasons, walks, talks and many moments of perfect oneness. I promise to always be there for you. I vow to honor you, protect you, cherish you, and to love you now and till the end of time."

After the ceremony all follow the couple's procession to the water, each person makes a wish or blessing for them and casts their stone into the water. The ripples that are made represent the love and good wishes, not only for the couple, but for all the world... as our ripples cross and re-cross one another's, so do our love and good wishes touch and retouch all around us and those with whom we come into contact.

WHAT COULD BE MORE PERFECT!!!!

 

 

Rejoice in This Day!

August 7, 2012

OMG...What an incredibly beautiful and perfectly glorious day it is out there in Rochester, NY!!!

Not sitting inside (on this thing) for much longer, going to head out into this "Perfect" Day, and enjoy it, and every "perfect" moment together, while we may!

I am so happy, grateful and joyous, from within and without, about my Life and ALL that is a part of it, that I am afraid I may just sponta

neously combust! (But in a good way:)

“Listen to the Exhortation of the Dawn!
Look to this Day!
For it is Life, the very Life of Life.
In its brief course lie all the
Verities and Realities of your Existence.
The Bliss of Growth,
The Glory of Action,
The Splendor of Beauty;
For Yesterday is but a Dream,
And To-morrow is only a Vision;
But To-day well lived makes
Every Yesterday a Dream of Happiness,
And every Tomorrow a Vision of Hope.
Look well therefore to this Day!
Such is the Salutation of the Dawn!”
~ Kalidasa

 

 

A Time for Letting Go...

“Friendship, like the immortality of the soul, is too good to be believed. When friendships are real, they are not glass threads or frost work but the solidest things we know.”...

“Don't waste yourself in rejection, nor bark against the bad, but chant the beauty of the good.”...

“The only reward of virtue is virtue; the only way to have a friend is to be one.”...

"Learn how to carry a friendship greatly, whether or not it is returned. Why should one regret if the receiver is not equally generous? It never troubles the sun that some of his rays fall wide and vain into ungrateful space, and only a small part on the reflecting planet. Let your greatness educate the crude and cold companion. If he is unequal, he will presently pass away; but thou art enlarged by thy own shining."

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

There comes a time, when it becomes necessary to understand that people enter and exit your life, and sometimes exits are for the best. These endings should not be marked as failures...but as time well spent, and now as the point of departure rapidly approaches...all that can be left to say must simply be...

Its been good...Have a good life...Walk in Love and Light...Be Happy...Be Well...Godspeed.

"Don't be dismayed at good-byes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are truly friends." ~ Richard Bach

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?

Fairy Tale Misnomers ~ Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf?
by Kris Faso

"Up and out this morning...before I leave, I must say. My writing companion ~ Spirit ~ has me to say these things, or rather inspires me.

What's with this fear in the statement of ; Who's afraid of the big bad Wolf?
Wolves are not big and bad! They are wild, untamed, you just don't walk up to a wild animal. And you teach the youngers that, that's all.

And Humpty Dumpty!
Who the heck...is Humpty Dumpty anyway? Everything can be repaired, changed or otherwise replaced.
Couldn't put him back together again?
Why this is the day and age of technology and supreme discovery!

And how many of you are afraid to roll down a hill for fear of breaking your crown.
Come on! Jack and Jill!!
How about a John and Joan went up the hill to fetch a pale of water.
John picks a flower and presents it to Joan and they live happily ever after. How about that?

How about dropping the fear out of what is for joy, fun loving and, for all intensive purpose of this message, conditioning.
And please, let your child climb.
Dont tell them they will fall.
My goodness, they are your child.
Stop what you are doing and join them.
Encourage the challenge.
You can be there to catch them ~ IF they even fall.
And if they do, you can cushion the fall and then tell them about gravity or something, something that instills wonder and investigation of the real reality ~ which of course is limitless.
Peace."

Kris is a Seer and Stone Reader and resides near Rochester, NY
www.krisfaso.com

The Cracked Pot

"The grass is not, in fact, always greener on the other side of the fence. No, not at all. Fences have nothing to do with it. The grass is greenest where it is watered. When crossing over fences, carry water with you and tend the grass where ever you may be." ~
Robert Fulghum

The Parable of the Cracked Pot
Author Unknown

A water bearer in India had two large pots, each hung on the end of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots was perfectly made and never leaked. The other pot had a crack in it and by the time the water bearer reached his master's house it had leaked much of it's water and was only half full.

For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water to his master's house. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.

After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you." "Why?" asked the bearer. "What are you ashamed of?" "I have been able, for these past two years, to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your master's house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don't get full value from your efforts," the pot said.

The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in his compassion he said, "As we return to the master's house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path."

Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it some. But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again the pot apologized to the bearer for its failure.

The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of your path, but not on the other pot's side? That's because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you've watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my master's table. Without you being just the way you are, he would not have this beauty to grace his house."

Each of us has our own unique flaws. We're all cracked pots. But if we will allow it, God will use our flaws to grace his table. In God's great economy, nothing goes to waste. Don't be afraid of your flaws. Acknowledge them, and you too can be the cause of beauty. Know that in our weakness we find our strength.

Healing and the Mind of God...

Health is my natural state. I accept it Now!.

"Who is the physician? Only the mind of the patient himself. The outcome is what he decides that it is. Special agents seem to be ministering to him, yet they but give form to his own choice...They are not actually needed at all. The patient could merely rise up without their aid and say, "I have no use for this."

There is no form of sickness that would not be cured at once..." ~ A Course in Miracles

While doctors, medicine and natural modalities can facilitate the healing process, the only true healer is God. Even the mending of a small cut is a miracle! What human being has the power to recreate it? To be healed, we do not need to add anything to who we are or what we have. We simply need to become still, align ourselves with the Spirit of God and allow nature to reinstate us to our rightful condition of well-being.

My mother always used to say that our bodies are miraculous machines, and if left in the hands of the natural process, they can be self adjusting and healing mechanisms. And if we are made in the image and likeness of God and are Co-creators of Spirit, what then is impossible to us?

Jesus has said, "Your Faith has Healed You"...and "Know Ye Not that Ye are gods?"...

If God is Perfection...and we are the offsprings of that Perfection, what then is there to even heal? Simply align, affirm, allow and accept your natural birthright as Children of the Most High Creator...

The Mind of God, can not see what it is not...And it is only Perfection...Therefore it sees only perfection...

This day Affirm to see yourself as God sees you...Perfect, Whole and Free!

Time by the Sea (A Compilation)

 

How does one articulate accurately enough what time by the ocean means, and all the emotions and inspiration that it stirs up in the heart and soul...

At the beach, life is different. Time doesn't move hour to hour but mood to moment. We live by the currents, plan by the tides, and follow the sun...

At the beach all we need is the truth in our hand. Someone to call a friend. Never fear the dar

kness. All we need is just the sun in the sky. And the hope of a summer to come with the meaning of love...

At the beach all girls, timeless and ageless, go barefoot and their hearts are just as free as their toes...

Amy Dykens wrote, “It’s hard for me to put into words why I like the beach so much. Everything about it is renewing for me, almost like therapy...Beach Therapy.”...and through the honest musings of her 5 year old daughter, Amy, “Play in the sand; splash in the water; get dirty; get wet. The beach is the only place my mom doesn’t get mad about me doing that stuff. Of course I love the beach!”

Here are some timeless thoughts by those who also understood the incredible place of Divinity and Oneness that only summer and time by water can afford...

"When anxious, uneasy and bad thoughts come, I go to the sea, and the sea drowns them out with its great wide sounds, cleanses me with its noise, and imposes a rhythm upon everything in me that is bewildered and confused." - Rainer Maria Rilke

"For whatever we lose (like a you or a me)
it's always ourselves we find in the sea."
- e.e. cummings

"The sea does not reward those who are too anxious, too greedy, or too impatient. One should lie empty, open, choiceless as a beach--waiting for a gift from the sea." - Anne Morrow Lindbergh

"My soul is full of longing. For the secret of the sea,
And the heart of the great ocean, Sends a thrilling pulse through me." - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

"The voice of the sea speaks to the soul. The touch of the sea is sensuous, enfolding the body in its soft, close embrace." - Kate Chopin

“The three great elemental sounds in nature are the sound of rain, the sound of wind in a primeval wood, and the sound of outer ocean on a beach” - Henry Beston

"I could never stay long enough on the shore; the tang of the untainted, fresh, and free sea air was like a cool, quieting thought." - Helen Keller

“Roll on, deep and dark blue ocean, roll. Ten thousand fleets sweep over thee in vain. Man marks the earth with ruin, but his control stops with the shore.” -Lord Byron

"It is an interesting biological fact that all of us have in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea--whether it is to sail or to watch it--we are going back from whence we came." - John F. Kennedy

 

"In summer, the song sings itself." - William Carlos

"On the beach, you can live in bliss." - Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys

And so, my Beautiful, Bright and Sunny Beloved Ones...Its back to the beach for me, and a day of meditating on the Beauty of the Ocean and all the Majesty of an Awesome Summer's Day with those souls who I am blessed to share my Heart and Life...

Enjoy this Day...this Weekend...this Summer...this Life, with all the enthusiasm and gratitude your Spirit can conjure up!

 

 

BROTHER BEAR...I AWAIT, ACCEPT AND JOYFULLY RECEIVE!

I am a Doer...a Teacher...

But as of late, I have been feeling like there is another major shift about to occur...

I have been feeling more of heading into a place of Being and Introspection...

More internal work, and less external...

More Being in a place of receptor and less in that as giver...

In beginning my sojourn into this New Year of 2012 it was from a most profound place of Peace, Sacred Reflection and Reverence.

December 31, 2011 was spent in quiet respite, repose and respectful awe upon the beauty of Nature and Our Beloved Mother...

As I set about the Holy, Blessed and most welcome task of putting to pen my Highest Intentions for the coming days and weeks of the next 12 months, an interesting pattern was emerging...

I noticed that the majority of my Intentions for this year were based on the realms of the internal, instead of manifestations of the external and physical world.

They began to flow almost automatically and seeming unconsciously as I placed my pen to paper, as if they had a life of their own...

As they continued to pour out, I began to experience a sense of overwhelming Peace, Joy and unbridled Ecstasy and Anticipation...

1. Live more mindfully from the heart and in a greater state of gratitude.

2. Cultivate unconditional self acceptance...and refuse to entertain or participate in the ego's drama of my own or others.

3. Keep dutifully a daily gratitude journal, morning pages and blogging.

4. MEDITATE DAILY!

5. Bless More...Curse and Complain Less.

6. Find and Connect with My Earthly Spiritual Posse.

7. For all answers sought...purposefully and immediately go within.

8. Turn off the TV...and incorporate more time for ritual, reading, inspiration, writing, creative pursuits, music, listening to the heart, communion with Creator and the Higher Realms, and time in nature and the Sacred Void.

9. Daily Define, Redefine & Affirm Focus, Passion & Clarity of Purpose & Vision.

10. Revisit, Assimilate and Finish "The Course in Miracles."

11. Live everyday from a place of  Service, both through Action and from the Light of Higher Consciousness.

12. Say "I Don't Think So" to Fear, Hopelessness, Separation and Animosity...And "Yes" to Kindness, Compassion and Love.

And then in Big Bold strokes the Message ended...

GO WITHOUT FROM WITHIN...LISTEN, ALLOW, ACT &

IN ALL THINGS GIVE THANKS!

As I began in earnest and excitement to incorporate and put into practice all that was given to me, I found my daily experiences just seemed to flow effortlessly and where much more joyful, rewarding and purposeful...and also,  answers or guidance have been coming to me easily, even before I am aware of the need, in abundant and serendipitous ways...

Last night, in the Dreamtime, I experienced a profound and most welcome visitation from Beloved Brother Bear,as loving messenger and further validation that I am indeed, beginning a period of "entering the cave"...of going within...of making myself ready for the next point of initiation and welcoming teacher or teachers, on this ongoing journey of my soul...

He came in all his massive, regal & beautiful glory...first greeting me upright on hind legs, and then retreating to his four legged state & gently placing his head in my lap as we sat together against the majesty and comfort of the Great Tree of Life...his message pouring through me like honey...

Now is the time to empty the cup, so that I may become filled with new wisdom, new inspiration, new guidance...

I am shown that all of my spiritual practices and nature must be stepped up...

More time in the silence...in meditation, prayer, retreat, ceremony, ritual, places of the heart, listening to the messages of Spirit, Mother Earth and receptivity...

More time spent in writing, journeying, nature and creative pursuits...

And of allowing the guidance to flow...

More conscious focus on internal peace, wisdom and growth...

I am ready to be emptied and refilled, refueled and reinvented...

I am making ready the student so that the next teacher may soon appear...

"The strength of Bear Medicine is the power of introspection. It lies in the West on the great medicine wheel of life. Bear seeks honey, or the sweetness of truth, within the hollow of an old tree. In the time of winter Bear enters the womb-cave to hibernate, to digest the year's experience. It is said that our goals reside in the West also. To accomplish and clarify our goals, dreams, mission and purpose, the art of introspection is necessary.

To become like Bear and enter the safety of the womb-cave, we must attune ourselves to the energies of the Eternal Mother, and receive nourishment from the placenta of the Great Void. The Great Void is the place where all solutions and answers live in harmony with the questions that fill our realities. If we choose to believe that there are many questions to life, we must also believe that the answers to these questions reside within us. Each and every being has the capacity to quiet the mind, enter the silence and know.

Many tribes have called this space of inner-knowing the Dream Lodge, where the death of the illusion of physical reality overlays the expansiveness of eternity. It is in the Dream Lodge that our ancestors sit in Council and advise us regarding alternative pathways that lead to our purpose and goals. This is the power of Bear." ~Jamie Sams/David Carson

Message received...The student awaits and accepts her next assignment with Joy and Thanksgiving!...

And May the Blessings of Spirit abound.

"Bear...Invite me into the cave, where silence surrounds the answers you gave."