Death Before Resurrection

Resurrection awaits those willing to die.  We must die to all attachments, identities, and limitations that our ego has built up for us, to protect us from the world in which we live.  We must forget all we think we know.  Our "truth" is only true in our minds and holds no weight in the universe.  The laws of the universe will continue to function and we will remain right where we are if we don't let go.
We want to feel safe in what we know, so we convince ourselves that our truth is our reality.  We may believe that if we work hard enough to be perfect, we will finally earn the love and affection of those who withhold it.  We may believe that we will never have the love or life we want.
Our reality changes with our perceptions.  We don't have to be the way we've always been.  We don't have to believe what we've always believed about ourselves and others and the way things work.  As long as we hold on tight to our ego fabrications, things won't change for us.  Our course will continue in the same way it always has.
When we open ourselves up to the infinite possibilities, letting go of all attachment to our old truth, things begin to change.  The truth can be turned upside down.  We can imagine a life filled with love.  Our hearts and our minds shift, making room for new beliefs, new feelings, and new actions.   The resurrection can take place.  A new self can be born, a new and purer creation. 

To Dwell or Not to Dwell

Anger is real.
Emotions are like water and need to move.  It must go somewhere.  Where it goes is up to us:  it goes out or it stays in.  When allowed to stay in, anger will fester, causing chaos in our physical body and on our emotional state.  The space left when anger is released will be filled with joy and peace if that is what we want.
When you feel anger, it's because it's there, in you.  "Dwelling" means to sit and ponder, revisiting each incident that incited anger.  This may actually cause anger to grow more toxic.  What distinguishes dwelling from moving the anger out, is the intention.  You don't have to know what to do or how to do it.  Just "intend".  Acknowledge it's existence and courageously intend that it go away.  The loving universal energy will then swoop down to help.  Your free will has just requested assistance.  Now observe and answer the call to confront, feel, release.  Observe the anger moving out.

A Time for Transition

Tides roll in and back out, change the only certainty.
Ride the wave; fighting to change it, you will drown.

Emotions flow like water, always changing.
Float safely on love, for self and those held most dear.

Gratitude and humor provide a smoother ride.
Peace will inhabit where love resides.

A time for action, strong and sure.
A wave crashes back again, struggle to feel serenity.

A time for waiting, quietly observing, healing, resting.
Uncertain, unsettled, unknown.

A time for ripening, passion rests while the heart heals.
Rests and ripens, preparing to shine again.

A time to blossom. 
Let go, and let it shine.

Moving Forward

Moving forward, stopping only to rest,
Taking care not to wallow in the muck.

Shedding layers along the way,
Making room for joy.

Always more to come,
Feeling peace on my path.

Love Them Anyway

By Mother Teresa

People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Be good anyway.

Honesty and frankness will make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.

People need help, but may attack you if you try to help them.
Help them anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God.
It was never between you and them anyway.

Faith or Fear?

I waver between faith and fear, like I'm sure most people do.  Even the most faith-filled among us have to fend off fear sometimes.  It's all part of the plan.  When we use our free will to recognize that we are fearful and that we cannot at the same time have absolute faith, we remember that God is in control.  This is both scary and comforting to me.  I would like to think I am in control.  It provides me with the illusion that everything will be fine because I am so powerful and I can make things happen.  That may be true, until I try to control other people, my circumstances or anything other than my own thoughts and actions.
I know God has a plan and I trust that it will be much more rewarding than my own, self-imposed version.  I am not able to see the bigger picture of the universe the way God does.  When I humble myself enough to truly surrender to the miraculous power and knowing of the universe, I feel serenity. 

A Seasonal Perspective

A warm spring day, a gentle breeze.
Sun in the clear blue sky, tiny new green leaves.

Lawnmowers running again.
The scent of fresh-cut grass and sunscreen.

Kids at the park, bare feet on the ground.
Laughing and running in the sunshine.

Pleasantly forgetting what I've forgotten.
Birds singing and working, preparing for another beginning.