Meeting the moment as the moment needs to be met
and doing there what needs to be done there,
is not as simple as it sounds,
because self-interest gets in the way.

Do we live for self
or do we live for the moment?
Adam and Eve answer for us all.

Theirs is such a wonderful expression
of the human condition!
What a story!
The writer, or writers,
nailed us as well as any writer, or writers
since have nailed us--
and a lot have done really well.

Seeing ourselves exposed so clearly
in Adam and Eve
provides us with a life time 
of meditative reflection
on the self-serving nature of human nature,
and should have by now awakened us
to the need for standing up to ourselves,
saying, "Enough is enough!"

But, no.
On and on we go.
Needing awareness, awareness, awareness
and practice, practice, practice
to meet the moment as it needs to be met,
and do there what needs to be done.

The work of being human
carries over into 2024
with best wishes and hope for the best!

Yes and No are poles between which we live.
We can tell which we prefer
by how often we use them.

Do we say "Yes" more than "No,"
or "No" more than "Yes"?

We are what we say "Yes" to
and what we say "No" to.

"Yes, I can!""
"No, I can't!"

"Yes, I will!"
"No, I" won't!

And more important than 
how often we say yes or no,
is what we say yes to
and what we say no to.

Yes and no spoken wisely and well
lead to a certain outcome.

Yes and no spoken hastily/impulsively
without reflection
lead to a different outcome.

What determines/influences
our yes and our no?

What are the types of things
we are most likely to say yes to?

What are the types of things
we are most likely to say no to?

Live to become aware of your yes's and your no's,
understanding that our patterns
easily become molds,
rigid and unbending,
shaping our life
in ways we do not intend
and do not lend themselves
to the kind of life 
we would be proud and happy
to have lived.

–0–

What are we doing?
What do we think we are doing?
What keeps us going?
Where do we think we are going?
What does it matter?
To whom does it matter?

Native American spirituality,
Celtic spirituality
and Taoism
all recognize the significance 
of seven terms:

Balance and harmony,
integrity, sincerity, spontaneity,
original nature, 
innate virtues/attributes--
and the importance of living in ways
which integrate them into our life.

I am interested in 
these three spiritual expressions
having these seven terms at their core,
and I find there the possibility
that all three originate 
from the same 5 to 10,000 year old source.

Shamanism has been around for at least that long,
and serves as a grounding influence
upon religion world-wide.

Spirituality has been with us 
from the start,
along with the need
to explain/control
the circumstances and events of our lives.

We need a hedge,
a buffer,
between us and the bitter realities
of existence--
help in dealing with what 
we have to deal with
from birth to death,
with death being the biggie.

We have to tell ourselves something
to make it all manageable.
And so, religion.

And so, balance and harmony,
integrity, sincerity, spontaneity,
original nature,
innate virtues/attributes.
The grounding, orienting aspects
of life against all odds.

How do they express themselves 
in your life?
How do you honor/serve them 
with your life?

Where would we be without them?

–0–

We enlarge our perceptions,
expand our perspectives,
by avoiding the trap
of the same old same old
and doing things 
we have never done before.

What is the newest thing
in your life?
How often does new drop in for a visit?

Change for the sake of change
will change things you never
would have thought about changing.

Shake up your life every six months.
Just to see things differently.
And to change your mind
about how things are.

–0–

I invite you to take up 
the study of silence
by way of experience
and inquiry/exploration/
interviews/investigation/
experimentation...

Find out everything there is to know.

Become an expert on silence.

Let me know what comes of it.

My hunch is that it is as close
to the Numen/Numinous/Transcendent/Ineffable
as it is possible to be,
and the ground of being.

But, research is necessary
before we declare it to be so.

–0–

We can relax in ourselves,
trusting ourselves to know
what needs to be done
in response to whatever happens.

Clarity and direction are
of the moment
when we thrust ourselves 
into the silence/stillness/emptiness
from which we come
and into which we are going
and in which we live.

All good things are found there
by those who know and trust 
it to be so.

–0–

To be free from doubt
is to be free to doubt.
To be free to doubt
is to trust our ability
to deal appropriately 
with anything that arises.

The gift of the Elder Wand
is to free the wizard
from the need of having the Elder Wand.

To stand alone as one thus come
in any situation as it arises
is to have what we need
to find what we need
to do what needs to be done.

We come with that from the womb.

Every baby is born
having what it needs
to find what it needs
to do what needs to be done.

Trusting ourselves to the moment
as one thus come
is trusting ourselves to ourselves
and to the emptiness,
stillness
and silence--
and to what emerges there
to lead the way.
Through any circumstance
that may arise.

–0–

I would like a sit-down talk with Jesus
to explore what he thought he was doing.

Continuing the work of John the Baptist is my guess.
Assuming the roll of a prophet
calling Israel back to it's covenant pledge 
to be the people of God in the Land of Promise.

Repentance was nothing more involved
than getting back to who they were called to be.

His "You have heard it said, 
but I say unto you..."
was a bold reinterpretation
of the old prophetic understanding
of the covenant.

And his "In as much as you have done it,
or failed to do it
to one of the least of my 
brothers and sisters,
you have done it or failed to do it
unto me,"
was an equally bold call to be who Jesus was
in his life's role as an exhibition
of how the people of God were to be.

Nothing about erasing the shame
of Adam and Eve,
or removing the burden of their actions.
Just the call to be the people 
who would be as God is
from the earliest Old Testament times
and it was clear that "the Father and I are one"
was to be apparent in the life of all people.

–0–

This is a link to Truman Capote reading his “Christmas Memory” and is not to be missed!

If we changed our mind 
about what's important,
the world would be transformed
immediately.

Perspective/perception 
are the Elder Wand.

And we are not in control
of how we see what we look at.
Or of what anything means to us.
We are slaves/victims of our own way
of assessing what we asses to be reality.

Propaganda and indoctrination
make fools of us all.

Our mind is not our own,
but is owned by the forces
in charge of what we see and hear,
with "in charge" being in quotes
because no one is in charge
of their own perspective/perception.

Everyone is driven by what they think
they want,
but they are not in charge of
what they think or want.

No one is.

Everything is as it is
because everything is as it is
and has been so forever.

Circumstances begetting circumstances
carry us all away
and create the forces determining
where we go and what we think/do
all along the way.

No one is in control.
Everyone is responding
to impulses generated by
their environment
triggering their emotions
producing their thoughts/actions
randomly creating low-level chaos
throughout the systems
governing life in the world.

No one gets to choose their choices.
No one knows what they are doing,
or what to do 
about the way things are.

It is like stopping a tsunami.
Or a glacier.
Or keeping a glacier from melting.

"This is the way things are,
and this is what you can do about it,
and that is the way things are."

I recommend observing what you think/feel/do
and exploring where the motive/impetus
to think/feel/do that
came from--
and see what you think/fee/do
in response to that
(And explore where the motive/impetus
to think/feel/do that
came from).

–0–

What do you live to do? 

What engages you?
Enthuses you?
Enlivens you?

What are your passions?
What is your bliss?
The source of your radiance?
Your joy?

What do you do with all your heart?

Live the remainder of your life
so that everything else
falls into place around these things.

Devoting yourself to these things
with filial devotion
and steadfast loyalty
will enable you to live in light of
what matters most,
and be clear about what needs to be done
in each situation as it arises,
no matter what.

And that is all you need.

–0–

We come to life
within the context
of our lived experience,
complicated by our wants and wishes,
fear and desire,
perceptions, perspectives, opinions
and expectations...

We are hardly a "blank slate,"
and need to erase much of what is there
to have a chance of waking up
and doing what needs to be done
without getting in the way.

Psychotherapy is about erasing 
what's there
and replacing it with what would be helpful
in the work to be who we are
here and now
in the time left for living.

Reducing (instead of increasing)
the noise and complexity
of living
by examining our options
and the choices we make
is a giant step toward
balance and harmony,
integrity and sincerity
oneness and peace
"upon the heaving waves
of the wine dark sea."

And that requires examination,
reflection, awareness of and attention to
what we are doing
and what happens when we do it
and what we might do instead
to restore the connections 
with heart and soul,
enabling us to live soulfully
with our heart in what we are doing.

Partying hardily
and letting the good times roll
is not the recipe for mindful living.

Walks in the woods
along streams,
by ponds
and the sea,
Baroque music 
and retreats into silence
help to offset the tenor of the times
and enable us to resonate
with the inner voice
of wisdom and grace,
putting us back in touch
with our original nature
and innate virtues/attributes,
making a new life possible
in relationship with ourselves.

–0–