Mystical Musings (2)
#45
Holidays and Teabag Tags
Interesting tidbits: The timing of Easter, Lent, and Valentine’s Day.
- I have no idea how the early church chose the process, but Easter falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after March 21st. The possible dates for Easter bounce around within the range from March 22nd to April 25th. This year Easter Sunday is March 31st, next year it falls on April 20th.
- Lent always starts 40 days before Easter, except for Sundays which aren’t counted. The first day of Lent always occurs on Wednesday because Easter is always on a Sunday. This year the first day of Lent (Ash Wednesday) was February 14th.
- (Saint) Valentine’s Day began to honor a 3rd-century Christian martyr named Valentine. Over the centuries its cultural meaning shifted to become the celebration of love we know today. Valentine’s Day is always on February 14th.
- So, this year Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s Day shared the same date. Did you give something up or throw a party? Or both? What a marvelous dilemma!
For this blog post, let’s give ourselves the opportunity for some whimsical mind playtime. For several years one of my most consistent sources of joyful wisdom has been Yogi teabag tags. I’m glad the tiny tags keep the sayings short and sweet. Here are a dozen that I especially enjoyed. My suggestion is to choose one to play with every 2-3 days over the Lenten period and see what insights show up. I hope you have fun with them. You have many ideas & possible choices to find real solid meaning in your senior years.
“Love is the ultimate law of life.”
“Uncage your heart, free your heart, let it be wild.”
“The heart sees deeper than the eye.”
“Travel in grace knowing you are protected by love.”
…..
“Know that you are a child of the universe.”
“Be guided. Listen to the whispers of the universe.”
…..
“The unknown is where all outcomes are possible: enter it with grace.”
“Personal growth lies within the unknown; courage permits you to enter this place.”
…..
“Without gratitude, there is no prosperity.
“Gratitude is not about what is received; it’s about how you receive what is there.”
“Give thanks for unknown blessings that are already on their way.”
“Gratitude leads to love.”
Love, joy, and gratitude to everyone,
Foster Harding
Soli Deo Gloria.
Mystical Musings (2)
#44
On Aging: Who Will We Be?
“We’re still living with the old paradigm of age as an arch. That’s the old metaphor:
You’re born, you peak at midlife. And decline into decrepitude. …
A more appropriate metaphor for aging is a staircase, The upward ascension
of the human spirit, bringing us into wisdom, wholeness, and authenticity.”
— Jane Fonda
Looking back from the vantage point of eight decades on the planet, it’s clear that my entire life until retirement was in lock-step with the old metaphor in the above quote. Everyone seemed to be living a similar pattern because we all held the same paradigm. Then at age 57, a sudden early retirement option jolted me with the strong desire to say yes. I knew that something beyond life as usual needed to be my life focus. With no clue what it would bring, I committed to reinvent myself and rediscover why I had chosen this life. It took years for the shift to unfold, with clarity coming only in small steps. I gradually grew into the love-centered being I am today. I have been gifted with a whole new life, entirely by the grace of God; being willing allowed all the doors to open. That reinvention shifted me to the staircase of ascension described above. But even that hasn’t made me immune to aging. Life has brought the wisdom to accept that old bodies move and react slower and require more maintenance, rest, and patience.
I’m now 81 with a beloved wife in her mid-70s. Despite Covid isolation and financial impacts from inflation, we are blessed with creative curiosity and enthusiasm for life — writing, genealogy, new generations of family (we’re now great-grandparents), and nature’s vast beauty. Surprisingly, accepting death as part of life has come with a sense of calm and freedom to enjoy being here all the way to the end. The inner peace is beyond words.
A tarot reading by friend and psychic, Rick Finbow recently reminded us that meaning and joy are always available. A summary of his comments:
· You have many ideas & possible choices to find real solid meaning in your senior years.
- You have integrity.
- Focus on what you love. Be clear about that.
- Decide what you really want to do.
- You will keep growing as long as you’re here. It will lock in and be clear – be patient.
- Choose, focus. It will continue to flow.
- Be love is all you have to do.
Rick’s reading reinforced my intuitive perceptions about life and clarified the wisdom of facing forward in life rather than longing for the past. It feels great to realize that I’m still climbing the staircase of ascension! And, it’s okay to invest time and money in our growth! Thank you, Rick!
Shortly after New Year’s day, Marilyn and I decided to draw an angel card* to over-light our new year. Independently, we each drew the Peace Angel card. Of course, this retired scientist immediately wondered how such an unlikely coincidence happened. But my heart already knew it wasn’t a coincidence. It was a confirmation of our oneness, and the path forward into a peaceful and uplifting new year. [*The angel card deck was from the Transformation Game that emerged into the world at Findhorn years ago. The game carries great potential to be a transformation catalyst, not just a parlor game. It is available online.]
Aging reveals some new questions: “What will dying be like?”, “Is there a way to buffer the sadness for our family and those who love us?”, and “Who and where will we be when this earthly life is over?” We are called to trust the aging process and live our way into the answers. Some early insights:
- I think those who say we are not our body, may be falling into a rabbit hole to avoid earthly life’s pain, suffering, and fear. Yet, it seems equally unreal to deny the reality of my soul and say I am only my body. During earthly life we are a seamless blend of both body and soul!
- There is no question that shortly after death, my body will be cremated and buried; it’s already arranged and paid for. The person that people (and I) have known as Foster will indeed be celebrated, buried, and gone.
- At the same time my heart knows that death is a ‘yes, and…’ scenario. Just beyond one’s physical end at the far edge of the last step on the staircase of ascension lies … continued ascension! Science would likely say it can’t be proven and dismiss the possibility. But despite my education and career, I believe that just after Foster’s last breath, the soul essence known so deeply inside will continue into the next chapter of its journey.
- Despite the finality of physical death, it’s interesting to note that none of the ~ eight quintillion (8 x 1027) atoms that now comprise my body will be destroyed by death, cremation, and burial. Those atoms first arose via nuclear fusion in ancient stars, were later distributed throughout the universe by supernovas, and have ever since been recycled so many times that ‘my’atoms have been part of millions, probably billions, of identifiable objects and life forms from stars, stellar debris, and gaseous planets, to roses, radishes, Neanderthals, and anything else we might imagine. Eons, after my body remains, have been cremated and buried, those atoms will continue to cycle throughout creation.
- Both atoms and life are as eternal as creation itself. And they are so intermingled they seem inseparable. Life, and the creation that holds it, are designed to be unbounded. Everything is Divinity expressing itself, and love is the glue that holds it all together. This final insight feels like a gift of wisdom and love! Thank you, Beloved Peace Angels.
Love and blessings to all,
Foster Harding
Soli Deo Gloria.
Mystical Musings (2)
#43A
Insight From The Movies
I had a heck of a time writing this essay. Yesterday, I was so caught up in the negative energy of world events that the flow of love and wisdom I hoped to convey was simply blocked. This morning I first centered myself in who I am, and now I’m happy to share it.
Watching Killers of the Flower Moon was both mesmerizing and emotionally upsetting. It was very well done, with particularly strong acting in the lead female role by Lily Gladstone (Blackfeet Nation). Lily’s light is shown in ways that nicely balance the skills and powerful presence of both Robert De Niro and Leonardo De Caprio. She is a talented actress, but what made her performance remarkable for me was her poignant portrayal of pain and suffering. Like all American Indians, Lily’s context for life includes living with the horrific ongoing story of colonization (including acts of genocide), along with enduring the pain of racial bias and disrespect by many Euro-Americans every day of their lives. Similar experiences are all too common for First Nations people across the Americas and the rest of the world. I believe that’s why Lily Gladstone was so convincing in her role. The pain she portrayed is real.
It was particularly satisfying that Lily first spoke her thanks in her Blackfeet language for recognition as the best actress at the Golden Globe awards. That was a show of gratitude and an expression of how her life, and American Indian life in general, is now in a state of emergence into freedom from the shadows of a dismal past imposed by their Euro-American conquerors.
Despite the persistence of our ego-based belief that we know best, there may yet be time to temper the worst outcomes from our grievous errors. Our original neighbors still hold the wisdom and love required to heal Mother Earth from the most dire outcomes. I’ll say it a different way: The railroad crossing signs have carried the message we need for over a century. We’ve got to STOP, LOOK and LISTEN, or life on Planet Earth is headed for a ‘trainwreck’.
We are truly blessed that our American Indian neighbors already embody in their very nature what is required of us. But I can’t speak for them, so I alone am responsible for the following:
- All of us together must co-create, and embrace living within, societies across the planet that are committed to the well-being of Mother Earth and all aspects of creation found here. Our embrace must include all those fellow humans that make us most uncomfortable, AND all the other species with whom we share this sacred, miraculous planet. No one can be left out! This is the only way to ensure the future of human beings on Earth. We find ourselves traveling together on a planetary ark floating in an unbounded sea of galaxies. It’s time to let go of our old Euro-centric illusions of superiority and dominion over creation and welcome the humility to see that we are all simply held within a creative process more vast and interwoven than we’ve ever had the capacity to imagine.
- It’s perfectly natural that all species eventually end up in the abyss of extinction. Ninety-nine percent of all the species that ever existed on Earth are already gone. Backing ourselves away from the abyss is an impossible task unless we place LOVE at the center of our hearts, beliefs, and actions. Without that, Homo sapiens, along with countless other species, will disappear long before the natural flow of life would have required.
Please note: I’m not implying that we’re all going to die tomorrow. The life support systems of Earth are so huge that changes and consequences naturally unfold slowly. Until my generation (dob: 1940s), changes in climate patterns have been slow enough that they went unnoticed by most people over their whole life. But over my lifetime things have sped up. It’s already clear that the new climate normal will feature not only hotter weather, but also winds, floods, temperatures, and storms that are less predictable and more severe than our past history on Earth. So I feel urgent because if we don’t act quickly, far worse is yet to come. The longer we hesitate, the worse it will be, and it will last and last. The past few years have already demonstrated that the ‘new’ normal won’t be nearly as benign as the old normal that is moving further out of reach every day. How will we respond? Each of us is living our answer.
STOP, LOOK, LISTEN, and ACT.
“Accept the challenge you are facing.
It may become your greatest gift.”
— Yogi teabag wisdom
“You are the master of your judgments,
your decisions, and your actions.
— ibid
Love and blessings to each of you … and all life.
Foster Harding
Soli Deo Gloria.
Mystical Musings (2)
#43
Welcoming 2024
“And now we welcome the new year.
Full of things that have never been before.”
— Rainer Maria Rilke
For me, 2023 was filled with too many unhappy thoughts, too much of the time. The world’s ongoing news of wars, environmental disregard, and suffering across the Earth offered little hope that New Year resolutions would help. Clearly, I needed to upshift my approach to effectively welcome the promise of 2024. As Jan. 15th approached, I recalled Martin Luther King Jr.’s peace-filled response to equally challenging times. His example was a stark contrast to my experience of 2023. So, I’m grateful that his life example retains deep meaning today. Have a blessed Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
For many years, reading and writing have been key tools when contemplating the flow of life. Six weeks ago I purchased Letters from the Desert. On the opening page of chapter six, I encountered this quote:
“Prayer is the sum of our relationship with God.
We are what we pray." (my underline)
— Carlo Carretto, Letters from the Desert – Orbis Books
As I pondered the quote, my mind finally resonated with “My life is my prayer.” That feels profoundly true. Looking at my frustrated reactions during 2023, no wonder I was miserable half the time! The basic fact is we are creating our own life experiences, even when we don’t realize it! So it was me who invited a frustrating 2023 to show up. Armed with that realization, let’s consider welcoming 2024.
To begin, I accept that world events will continue to be shaped by humanity’s consciousness. It’s how life works on Earth, as natural as our next breath. So, our experience of earthly life will improve in 2024 only as our thoughts improve (i.e., as our consciousness increases). So, creating a better new year is straightforward. The catch is that controlling our thoughts requires constant attention. Why is that? Because our minds are natural wanderers.
In the December 2023 Guide for Spiritual Living - Science of Mind magazine, the last week of their Daily Guides revealed Rev. Dr. John Waterhouse’s process to prepare for a new year. He challenged the value of New Year resolutions because when we fall short, it feels like failure– surely not uplifting. Instead, his process has three steps culminating in a list of Outcomes. He prefers that term because, at the very least, we always get an outcome to learn from. Here is a summary of my results from applying his process.
1. STEP ONE: State your Life Purpose: For years I’ve known I am here to BE LOVE. Over time that had begun to feel incomplete for lack of commitment to growth. My updated Life Purpose:
EXPAND and SHARE the LOVE that I am.
2. STEP TWO: Establish my Core Values: Seek inner guidance to clarify those aspects of your character that you value. This list must be strengths already present within you, not future goals. Core Values change as we grow and encounter new circumstances. So, let them be open-ended.
My Core Values:
- · Equality – Live my life purpose consistently (no exceptions or boundaries).
- · Integrity – Always be honest and trustworthy.
- · Peacefulness – Stay centered in my Inner Source.
- · Clarity – Listen to and accept inner guidance.
- · Kindness – Embrace lovingkindness consistently.
- · Acceptance – Be aware of and respect the flow of life. Respond as guided.
- · Inner Growth – Contemplation and relationship with Spirit.
3. STEP THREE: Now we’re ready for Outcomes for 2024: [Details emerge as the year unfolds.]
- · Trust Life – More is going on than surface appearances. Look deeper.
- · Awareness – Be here NOW! Be present in this moment more of the time.
- · Pray more – Giving thanks is a powerful service to the world.
- · Love myself unconditionally. Caring for my spiritual journey and my body is one thing.
- · Transcend physical & spiritual limitations in my relationship with Nature & Life.
- · Improve nutrition – Minimize over-processed foods & additives. Eat more whole foods.
- · Declutter – Refresh my mind: release stagnant ideas. Refresh our home: release excess material things from computer & phone files, paper files, garage, basement, landscaping, etc. Gift, recycle, or trash as a last resort.
- · Release finding fault with our location. [We’ve already lived in too many houses.]
- · Shift living habits to lower our carbon footprint [for Mother Earth and humanity].
- · Embrace and share prosperity across the whole spectrum of life. Be in the flow.
Some very good news: LOVE is remarkably more powerful than hopelessness and despair. That’s how we know the universe is biased in our favor. Right now the majority of people on Earth are suffering because they believe themselves to be stuck in a dysfunctional world, not of their own making. As a result, they lose hope that life can get better. In truth, the only reason life on Earth hasn’t completely collapsed is the modest minority of people whose consciousness is anchored in higher energies. So let’s choose to be powerful and lift people up by centering ourselves in love and gratitude. Mechanisms and results often lie beyond the world’s awareness or acknowledgment. But recognition isn’t our motive. 2024 will be a lot more joyful when our life prayer is anchored in love. That’s my plan to welcome the new year.
Love and Blessings to all,
Foster Harding
Soli Deo Gloria.
Mystical Musings (2)
#42
Beauty and Joy
“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”
— Antoine de Saint-Exupery
“I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought
and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.”
— G. K. Chesterton
Happy New Year to each of you, my friends. Here is some good news for 2024: Beauty and Joy are freely available on Earth at this very moment; just as they have always been. But living in today’s broken world seems to make it even harder to see and feel joy and beauty. Over the years, it has become clear to me that our experiences of life are shaped by where we place our attention. The universe reflects back into our life that which we focus on. As the Buddha said,
“With our thoughts we make our world.”
If we want 2024 to feel different in positive ways, we must embrace the Buddha’s wisdom. We are responsible for sustaining the flow of beauty and joy into our own lives because the universe reflects back to us that which we focus our attention on. That’s just how life is designed to operate on Planet Earth. It is a teaching tool to assist us as we learn to trust life and be love. The more we fuss and worry about avoiding negative events (i.e., the less we trust life), the more likely negative experiences will show up in our lives. The more we welcome positive possibilities (i.e., the more we trust life), the more likely that positive experiences will show up. It’s not complex, but often challenging to honor in daily practice. We must choose our thoughts and use language carefully or habits will develop that can easily become our masters … until we recognize them and choose to release them. For example, does referring to our world as ‘broken’ (third line, first paragraph), help sustain its brokenness, or merely recognize what’s real? Our discernment about such matters is a function of consciousness, so our last two blog essays were right on target. Humanity must allow our personal and collective consciousness to rise.
The two quotes above offer solid clues to help us choose our thoughts and actions. Saint-Exupery tells exactly how to calibrate our vision and thoughts. When seeing through the heart, we are viewing life and events through our love filter. That always provides a higher and more positive view of what’s going on than our ego mind can manage. The ego mind sees life through its logic filter, which is anchored in us controlling and steering life. It is naturally an error-prone way of living because humans are always making errors in thought. Errors are part of being human, so please remember not to beat yourself up when they happen. Our job is to notice, remember, and use the lesson to do better moving forward. That’s how experiential learning (trial and error) works in The Great University of [Earthly] Life. These repetitive experiences are designed to help us learn to trust life. When we do, life naturally flows to best serve our soul’s evolution.
That is, when we learn to allow our life to flow, we find that it always flows in harmony with our soul’s purposes (reasons it chose to incarnate as you). Life then becomes about who you are being, which shapes why you are engaged in what you’re doing. The degree to which we are comfortable trusting life determines our capacity to allow life to freely flow. Trusting life is exactly the same as trusting its Source, the god we often name (insert your favorite word for that Holy Presence). My experience is that when we embrace trust in this way, it changes everything for the better. A Haiku poem that seems appropriate:
“Peace and calm remain
Whether life brings joy or pain
When we trust love’s reign.”
— FLH
Chesterton’s quote emphasizes the power of gratitude. I’ve found that trust and gratitude are powerfully interwoven. In fact, as Chesterton implied, gratitude powerfully enhances our daily happiness. I think of gratitude as trust on steroids. It’s absolutely true that gratitude for beauty multiplies the joy one feels in life. My experience is that once you see beauty in flowers and trees, you more easily see it everywhere. Creation and nature are always sharing beauty that can bring joy beyond words. The main thing required to receive these gifts is our attention.
Flowers, trees, landscapes: Nature is a multimedia master. Colors, textures, shapes, sounds, smells, and a sense of presence accompany each facet of the natural world. Our feelings and intuition tell us how deep the nature of creation is. Every piece of it is both physical and spiritual at the same time, just as we are. If you want to feel a buzz of awe tickle your spine, just ponder that truth while spending time in communion with your garden, or in the presence of wild nature. Nature is infinite, and we’re part of it, along with everything else!
Family and friends: Since mid-July, Marilyn and I have been trying to wrap our minds and hearts around being great-grandparents. Its meaning can’t be held by words, but when Jett Ryan Gilbert came to visit over Thanksgiving weekend, we felt its magnificence. Dear God, how can anything be as precious as that baby boy?! I expressed my love with cuddles and words I don’t remember, while he wiggled all over, uttering every sound he could, from squeaks and giggles to a newly discovered little coughing sound. Each of us, including Jett, were beside ourselves with more joy than we could speak, while our hearts felt everything love could possibly mean! Love is more than a feeling shared amongst lovers, families, and friends. It is the power that holds the universe and everything in it together! Beauty and Joy; what wondrous blessings!
Love to all.
Soli Deo Gloria.
Mystical Musings (2)
#41
Increasing Your Consciousness
Our last blog post, Being Responsible Ancestors, recommended that the best first step toward healing our troubled world is to focus on raising our own consciousness. Actually, consciousness naturally rises when we allow it to happen rather than thinking we can make it happen. Trying to make things happen invites ego participation while allowing implies trusting divine assistance. The rest of this essay amplifies why higher collective consciousness is vitally important, along with suggestions on how to allow our consciousness to float upward. I have used several quotes to emphasize that sharing our collective wisdom and commitment is important for reinventing our relationships with each other, Mother Earth, and all her life forms. Trust is key at all levels, but it naturally accompanies us when we trust Life (Divinity, God, …) first.
Rev. Cameron Trimble is an author, pastor, and leader in the United Church of Christ. She is also a pilot. During flight training, her flying instructor shared some advice about flying in turbulent conditions that she saw as a perfect metaphor for navigating through our turbulent world. [Her wisdom was shared in Richard Rohr’s Daily Meditation, May 5, 2023.]
“We are going to hit some turbulence ahead,” [my flying instructor] went on, “and you will learn something about your airplane…. If you tighten your grip on the yoke, you reduce the aerodynamics of your aircraft. You, as the pilot, actually make the flight less safe, steady, and stable. So, remember:
When the going gets rough, fly loose....” [my underline]
Of course, that advice is exactly the opposite of our natural human response to stressful situations.
Trimble continues, “Our world today is nothing, if not swirling, turbulent, and tossing us around. We have experienced economic meltdown, climate countdown, racial throwdown, political breakdown, technology showdown, and religious letdown. We are living through the breakdown and breaking open of much that has defined modern life.
In the face of such extraordinary transition, it’s natural to look for solutions to our problems... We tightly grip the yoke of our families, businesses, government, and communities, trying to regain control of people and systems that feel broken and dangerous to our safety and survival. Of course, no amount of control will create the conditions needed to traverse these rough winds of change.”
Rev. Trimble has eloquently captured exactly where we are, and how humanity can transcend the problems that are violently shaking up life as we have known it. Indeed, we must stop striving to stabilize our world by clinging to concepts and systems from the past. Now is the time to reinvent our collective future, even though letting go of the past can be scary as hell! The past carries a suite of obsolete, human-centric methods that are failing. We must let them go! Only then can we focus on co-creating the future we seek, a world where respect and cooperation are the norm, a world that works for everyone and everything, including Planet Earth and all its life forms. That last sentence points directly to the need to increase our consciousness.
But things may not be as bleak and out of focus as Trimble, and I have made it sound. I believe the Holy Energy that continually births all creation, loves and holds all of it closer and dearer than we realize. This is beautifully illustrated by a more encouraging perspective received decades ago (1960 or 70s) by Eileen Caddy, one of the co-founders of the Findhorn community in Northern Scotland, during one of her daily evening listening for guidance sessions.
"I was shown the earth like a draft board painted in big black and white squares. As the rain
came down, the black paint ran into the white, and the whole became a dirty gray.
Then even heavier rain came, and the whole was transformed into the purest white. I heard the words:
Have faith. Hold fast and know that the whole world and all in it are going through a
tremendous cleansing process. All is very, very well, for all is going according to My plan.
Be at perfect peace.”
– Eileen Caddy, opening page for November, Opening Doors Within
At that point, I paused my writing to take a lunch break, which included a cup of tea. The Yogi teabag tag message was in perfect harmony with Eileen Caddy’s experience.
“Be fearless; know that all will be provided at the right time.”
Summary: The message Eileen Caddy received was not that we are to let God take care of the mess we have made. It is clear that we are here to participate in the transformation of life on Earth. I see allowing our consciousness to rise as a key part of the cleansing process she referred to. God is much more inclined to work through us than to do it for us. Our consciousness expands when we allow it to happen. That consciousness increase allows us, together with Divinity, to co-create the world we hope to share with our grandchildren and beyond. Serving the future generations of incarnating souls here on Earth is holy work, and we are responsible for this piece of the future for life on Earth.
A closing point: The physical and non-physical parts of the universe have never been as separate as science has so far believed and taught. Seeing creation as separated can be bridged by the act of co-creating the world’s future together. All can indeed be well, but we must honor our role to secure the Earth’s future. Allowing our consciousness to expand is why we chose to be here now!
Love and Blessings to all...
Soli Deo Gloria.
Mystical Musings (2)
#40
Responsible Ancestors
I was born into a loving family, as were many of you. Mother began my early education about nature by teaching me names and what she knew about the birds that visited her feeder in winter. The rest of the year, she included many other animals, insects, flowers, and plants in our small-town neighborhood in Western New York State. My favorite memories as a curious young boy are walks with my Mother in our yard or nearby fields, while she shared what she knew about plants and animals, and answering my many questions. Thanks to her, I have deeply loved nature from an early age. As Dad understood things, loving his family centered on being a good provider. He worked hard, long hours as an auto mechanic to keep us warm, well-fed, and secure. His example taught me the value of commitment to ensure my own education and career success.
Both Mom and Dad were dedicated to being good parents, but I doubt that responsibility beyond their family, or generations beyond their grandchildren, ever occurred to them. Feeling responsible for Planet Earth wasn’t on anybody’s radar screen in the 1940s and 50s. Expanded responsibility didn’t occur to me either for much of my life. Yet today the question, “Are we being responsible ancestors?” often pesters my mind and heart. What’s different now? Awareness! That’s the silver lining of global climate change and society’s other endemic problems. With awareness comes compassion for those suffering the brunt of our social ills, including the many species that have fallen into the great abyss of extinction. My real concern is the threat of planet-wide instability of Earth’s natural life-supporting systems. In my mind, the significance and priority of other societal dysfunctions fade when compared to the ongoing disruption of life on Earth.
In truth, I am deeply grateful for Mother Earth. As author and teacher Robin Wall Kimmerer has pointed out, our damaged world still feeds us, clothes us, shelters us and sustains our every breath. Over her distinguished career, Dr. Kimmerer has eloquently written so much about the elaborate interwoven systems and astonishing beauty of nature! Her Native American gifts of respect, wisdom, and love for Mother Earth bring me inspiration and hope for the future.
As a retired scientist, it’s obvious that human-caused acceleration in global warming is already disrupting life on Earth, and that it will get worse. As of 2022, the average global temperature was 1.17 degrees C (2.1 degrees F) above preindustrial temperatures. And 2023 is trending toward being the warmest year in recorded history. Weather is already significantly more variable, with more severe events occurring more frequently year by year. If humanity manages to hold the world’s temperature increase to the target 1.5 degrees C (2.7 degrees F) adopted by the Paris Agreement in 2015, Mother Earth will still have a fever of nearly 3 degrees F. Lest you think that’s too small a difference to worry about, remember how miserable you or your children feel with a 3-degree F fever. In medical terms, Mother Earth is sick, and we are the disease! The disruption to natural systems is already enough that it will likely take generations for Earth’s natural systems to recover and function normally.
Adding to the alarm, current trends say the 1.5 degrees C target is very unlikely to be met. The latest (Feb. 2023) update to the 1988 report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (acting under the auspices of the United Nations, involving scientists from 195 countries) says that to barely meet the 1.5 C target “requires a quantum shift in priority, funding, and action NOW. To meet the 1.5 degrees C target, the world has seven years (2030) to reduce current greenhouse emissions by half, and must eliminate greenhouse gas emissions entirely in twenty-seven years (2050)”. Friends, these are startling, daunting numbers. Like it or not, it’s already unavoidable that the world inherited by our grandchildren will hold circumstances significantly more variable and difficult than the world into which we were born. How much worse depends on us. Planet Earth needs our help and NOW is already dangerously Late.
Politics and funding systems operate within a world so fraught by division, contention, and competing demands and priorities that expecting our leaders to lead us to timely and effective action is next to impossible (my intuition) — especially given the enormity and urgency of our situation. Besides that, as Einstein pointed out, our problems can’t be solved using the thought processes that created them. It’s very challenging for technology scale-up and implementation to
bail us out soon enough, even with adequate funding! We don’t have time to wait for political
or business leaders. The response to the unfolding climate disaster and other societal maladies require input and inspiration from beyond conventional (linear) thinking. Somewhere in the realms of Spirit, out beyond logical thinking, is where the people of all faiths are called to unite
and act.
The first work that must be done is not what many people think:
“If we want to remake the world,
We must remake ourselves.
— Mahatma Gandhi
I deeply believe that humanity’s best hope lies in an upward shift in collective human consciousness. Because one’s consciousness typically grows in small steps over many lifetimes, this relatively abrupt collective shift must combine modest shifts across large numbers of people. Therefore, expanding your own consciousness (strengthening your inner connection with Divinity) is the most effective first step you can take toward assuring a bright future for Mother Earth and our grandchildren. As that evolves into place, we will grow into much more effective life habits and wisdom to effectively respond to the mess we have made of Mother Earth. We must pray and trust that the collective outcome will accomplish what is required. When we trust (allow) our soul to guide us, the shift need not be complex or overwhelming. And it’s not a new idea:
“I see a time in seven generations
when all the colors of mankind will gather
under the sacred Tree of Life
and the whole Earth will become one circle again.
— Crazy Horse, shared by Mile Hi Church Daily Pearl, 10/18/2023
Crazy Horse describes the results of what I mean by being responsible. Now is the time for us to be responsible ancestors and embrace our part to expand collective consciousness. Our next blog essay will further discuss allowing ourselves to transcend that which now seems so threatening.
Soli Deo Gloria.
Mystical Musings (2)
#39
Bright and Beautiful
“The universe is within you.
Bright and beautiful.”
— Yogi teabag tag
Quite often my morning teabag tag carries a message that is deeper than might be expected. This one really caught my eye. Bright and beautiful surely describe the universe revealed by modern telescopes. The images show a universe of beauty beyond words, size that boggles the imagination, and genius that never stops creating. I often find myself uttering a whispered Wow! But what does the teabag quote mean by “The universe is within you.”?
A few days ago I read a quote that was new to me.
“We believe that for every visible object
there is a divine pattern for that object in the invisible,
to which that object is related.”
— Ernest Holmes, founder of Science of Mind
(aka Centers for Spiritual Living)
So far as I know, the first hands-on demonstration, at least in modern times, of such a divine pattern evolved in the 1960s at the Findhorn Community in Northern Scotland. Findhorn co-founder Dorothy Maclean received a revelation that each type of tree and flower was anchored in a specific pattern held by spiritual energies. She thought of those pattern-holding energies as angels and chose to call them devas, an old Sanskrit word meaning bright shining being. She learned to communicate with various individual devas about the needs of the different plants in their gardens, and each deva’s instructions were meticulously followed. The Findhorn gardens had very poor sandy soil, but the plants soon thrived with impossibly vigorous growth. In their far-north location, it seemed especially miraculous. That there was no scientific explanation for the astounding growth was certified by Britain’s leading soil experts.
In the past two decades, a few gardeners around the world have found encouraging results by using applied kinesiology when learning to communicate with the devas. I’m in the kindergarten group of this embryonic movement, but I am convinced that a dynamic relationship of love can flow between gardeners and the spiritual essence of their plants. As seems true with all aspects of Spirit, working with plant devas is an act of faith. The Holmes’ quote above expands the concept to claim that a divine pattern in the realm of Spirit is associated with every physical expression in all creation, including you and me. I believe him.
The same telescopes that provide stunning views also create tons of data about the universe. Scientists have learned that the physical universe that can be seen and measured accounts for just four percent of the universe’s total energy. That leaves ninety-six percent of the universe that is non-physical and can’t be measured. My heart wisdom persistently affirms that the non-physical energy of the universe is the heavenly realms of Spirit. This understanding implies a deep harmony between science and Spirit. In fact, science and spirituality (or theology) have much in common; they are very different approaches to study and describe the same Great Mystery.
The physical universe is enormous beyond our comprehension. It consists of an infinite array of distinct and separate pieces, from grains of sand to galaxies, and beyond in both microscopic and infinite directions. That I am distinct from you seems unassailable in the physical plane here on our small planet. In this realm, nature’s laws are clear. No two objects can exist in the same place at the same time. [Note: That’s what makes the NFL possible! Without the law of separation, the offensive and defensive opponents would merge, and the game would disappear, along with the NFL, and life as we know it!]
But there is a bigger perspective. The 4% of physical energy in the universe that emerged at the Big Bang is still 100% pure energy. That energy has been changing ever since, gradually cooling and coalescing into all that lies before the eyes of modern telescopes. As noted above, the energy that is our ever-restless universe also arrived with vastly more non-physical aspects than physical. The universe also came with a complete set of natural laws that have been followed without exception for 13.8 billion Earth years. Nature’s laws are a key component of the patterns held by the non-physical realms. Human imagination and language are totally inadequate to comprehend or describe our universe, its Source, or its behavior. Today’s universe and everything therein are the ever-evolving result of its own intelligent, intentional evolution. The patterns described by Holmes and demonstrated at Findhorn are part of the process by which creation reliably flows from the non-physical into myriad physical forms.
We live within the universe and exist only within the framework of the natural laws that govern all of it. We are each a universe in miniature. So is each member of all the rest of creation! There is ONE energy field expressing itself as ALL creation. We are it; it is us. “The universe is within you” is not a yes or no question. It is simply the truth.
Over the past dozens of millennia, we humans developed the capacity to wonder how, why, and where about everything under the sun, including ourselves. We have come up with so many deeply divergent ideas, descriptions, names, and strongly held beliefs about our Source that disagreements, strife, and even wars amongst us have been with us longer than anyone can remember. It turns out that there is only ONE infinite God/energy field, so your God and my God are limited human perceptions anchored in the same infinite and only Source. My friends, it’s time to accept the truth held by the teabag tag quote. The universe is not God, it is the ongoing creativity of God via which matter, and life are continuously unfolding. Our response to this unbounded grace is meant to be deep gratitude and unconditional love that draw us together. Love is shared with all of us. Our job is to accept it and pass it on. God is Love no matter what we think, or how we relate to one another. It’s time to accept our divine heritage, relax into the love that gifted us with life, and enjoy sharing our time here. We can do this!
Love and blessings to all.
Soli Deo Gloria.
Mystical Musings (2)
#38
Accepting Our Past
Since moving to Colorado, my lifelong connection with the natural world has expanded to include its spiritual essence. That awakening carries deep resonance with American Indian views of the natural world. Lately, I’ve noticed how wide the gulf is between us and our American Indian neighbors. When we solved our Indian problem by forcing them onto reservations (1870s), we simply forgot about them. The exception was the government’s assimilation policy. While providing reservations with minimal survival rations over the ensuing seven or eight decades, our government forced reservation children to attend far-away boarding schools. The children were removed from their homes and families, forbidden to speak their own language, not allowed to wear traditional clothing, and forced to work while attending school. The intention was to erase their culture. Kill the Indian, but save the man was the program’s slogan. Numerous deaths of Indian children under the harsh conditions were hidden from public view. Current estimates of the pre-Columbian population of the U.S. and Canada is about 3.8 million, with significant uncertainty. The 1880 U.S. census reported 306,543 American Indians, a mere fragment of many hundreds of Indian nations. With the caveat that their numbers are difficult to track, the U.S. Census Bureau says 6.79 million American Indians live in the US today, representing 574 nations recognized by the government. What a remarkable rebound! We stole their land, turned a blind eye on acts of genocide, and did our best to destroy them and their cultures. For many reasons, we are fortunate that our ancestors’ efforts to obliterate American Indians failed.
When Columbus arrived, the Western Hemisphere’s incumbent residents were far more than the primitive hunter-gatherers Europeans assumed them to be. Their management of local biomes throughout the continent optimized healthy landscapes across a vast American Eden. Wild animals flourished for millennia amid clear waters and myriad plants. Food, shelter, tools, weapons, and medicines were generally abundant, all this in sustainable balance.
History is clear that migrating Europeans’ attitude toward American Indians was anchored in contempt, arrogance, and greed. In our eagerness to move west to possess their lands and precious minerals, we simply failed to notice any value in their primitive ways of living, despite their persistence over twenty millennia. Settler and soldier violence triggered retribution echoing back and forth on both sides for decades. But the most devastating impact of European explorers was introduction of diseases new to the Americas. Over the 150 years since Columbus arrived, lethal microbes traveled much farther and faster than early explorers’ direct intrusions, so this Eden was long gone by 1620, when the Pilgrims landed in present-day Massachusetts. The new diseases had collapsed native populations, and the parallel collapse in land upkeep resulted in the empty, wild forests the Pilgrims encountered.
I have often pondered how the First Nations of the Western Hemisphere might have fared had they remained undiscovered until now. I suspect civilized nation’s insatiable appetite for resources and wealth would still be similar five centuries after the conquistadors, but with the whole world watching, we might expect their methods of acquiring them to be more subtle. In any case, Columbus realized the Earth is round, so he unexpectedly stumbled into the Americas while looking for an easier route to the East Indies. They were thus opened for colonization, exploitation, and slavery. The results of that world-shaking discovery are summarized in two excellent books by Charles C. Mann, entitled 1491 and 1493. (1492 marked Columbus’ first visit.)
We know little about intertribal relations prior to 1492. Colonists’ describing American Indians as savages stems from their skirmishes with the native populations, not inter-tribal relations. By the time our pioneer ancestors encountered the Plains Indians, those tribes had already been pushed west by neighboring tribes to their east, who had moved west in response to the European invasion. That cascading process had created many territorial intrusions amongst Indian nations before our European ancestors ever encountered them. Resulting tensions strained relations amongst the tribes, some of which remain to this day. The truth is, as we won our War for Independence, they were already losing theirs. When our ancestors arrived on North America’s East Coast and began to move west, we created the so-called Indian problem by our own actions. It’s important to remember that our nation’s history was written by the winners. The loser’s story is very different and often remains untold.
Blessings can have unexpected origins. The North America horse was absent for untold centuries, one of many species that went extinct over the past 20 millennia. Hunting and global warming after the Ice Ages both contributed. Some of the horses conquistadors brought to Mexico were soon acquired by American Indians, bringing them dramatic new freedom and mobility. As horses dispersed across the West, the Spanish actually enabled the glory years of the Plains Indian horse culture. Without horses, the famed battles between the Plains Indians and the US Army would likely not have happened. The revered Oglala warrior, Crazy Horse would have had a different name and a very different story. Crazy Horse without a horse is like Columbus without a ship. In truth, Crazy Horse had a horse because Columbus had a ship!
Of course we can’t change the past, but we can try to learn from it. Our ancestors’ eagerness for a better life, along with fear of savages they didn’t know, left little room for wisdom or compassion. But if we were living in the context of those days, I wonder whether we would have behaved much differently. Today, our best choice is to accept our history. Then we can focus on interacting with respectful consideration now, in today’s world. Current events tell us that America’s future desperately needs to be reinvented, but that requires deeply listening to each other to facilitate trust amongst us. A 21st century shift toward seeing and accepting the Creator’s innate love for all races and species on Earth would bless everyone! The opportunity for peace is ours to embrace. Bias is an error, love never is, so why hesitate. Love now!
Soli Deo Gloria.
Mystical Musings (2)
#37
Peace and Joy in a Troubled World
Our discussion of this title won’t be a how-to…commentary! Yet, I am convinced it’s possible to experience peace, joy, and meaning in life – right here, right now – even with societal dysfunctions in every outward direction we look. Fortunately, the loving guidance and inspiration needed to inform our actions to heal our mess, are found in the still, small voice within, not in the external world. Before we begin, let me explain how the chaotic and messy world is a direct result of our contentious human nature. Thought patterns locked in during our earliest ancestors’ life experiences still powerfully influence Homo sapiens’ behaviors today. Their life as hunter-gatherers was dangerous beyond our present-day imagination. Alertness and caution were essential all day and all night – every day! Those whose attention took a momentary break were more likely to be eaten by some larger, more powerful predator. Our ancient ancestors learned to be alert and suspicious of everything and everyone outside their family clan. Every new encounter might be a potential threat, so the choices amongst freeze, fight, or flight were always in play. Suspicion of things new, alertness for danger, and freeze, fight, or flight instincts remain part of human nature to this day. It’s sad to say and harder to accept, but our innate human nature has resulted in every major problem on 21st-century Earth.
Until Homo sapiens emerged on Planet Earth, it had never hosted a species so successful its numbers and behavioral programming would combine to cause an array of challenges that threaten Mother Earth and all life. But that’s where we now find ourselves. The two extremes of response are to do nothing (business as usual) versus embrace a major shift to become the Earth’s caregivers. So far, we have chosen a middle pathway and struggled as conditions move further into our self-created disaster. Time is short — we are already deep into the breakdown of Earth’s natural operating systems, and our rampant societal dysfunctions are disrupting a timely and effective response. It seems unfair that millions of species face the abyss of extinction, but only one species, Homo sapiens, holds the power to avoid disaster. What will we choose?
It’s absolutely true that trying to manipulate and exploit nature for our benefit is creating a life-threatening collapse of Earth’s natural stability! People are finally recognizing that our activities have already pushed many thousands of species into the bottomless abyss of extinction, with many more approaching its edge. The entire web of life is in deep trouble. As the momentum continues, we’re desperately searching for answers. It remains to be seen how far our errors will push Homo sapiens and many other species toward extinction.
In the midst of this urgent situation, it’s surprising that we’ve had conflicted priorities. Humanity’s leaders are reflecting our collective desire to preserve our species’ dominant position, security, comforts, and economic strength, while at the same time trying to contain the disaster. Bringing less than our full attention to our collective problems is a risky compromise! In my mind, the following list are facts that demand focused action:
· Our human-centric bias is out of harmony with the Creator’s love for all creation.
· Traditional analysis, plan, and control tools are often not innovative enough and too slow.
· Homo sapiens’ domination and control over solving problems is no longer adequate.
· Not doing enough opens ever wider the door for disruptions and mass extinctions.
· Putting perceived human interests ahead of the planet’s health is ego-centric stupidity!
Scientists say we’re close to reaching a runaway condition where climate warming and the associated instability of Earth’s systems can no longer be stopped. As a retired scientist, I’m convinced their evidence and projections are solid. So NOW is the time to accept that we are the problem!
· NOW is the time to realign our priorities to fit current reality and urgency.
· NOW is the time to reorient our thinking and create new tools and processes designed to
work in cooperation with nature.
· NOW is the time to transcend the ancient human patterns of fear and suspicion that have
resulted in this life-threatening predicament.
· NOW is the time to move forever beyond our ancient habit of violence and war against
each other and Planet Earth. Humanity needs to grow up!
· If we don’t or won’t change, the disaster will continue to get worse as sure as night follows day.
What’s really required of us?
· Life and Mother Earth were never intended to be our servants! We must turn our approach
upside down and place ourselves in service to Planet Earth and all life.
· We must transcend the ego-driven idea that we know what’s best for the Earth.
· We must listen to Mother Earth and trust that she knows how to heal herself. Our job is to
assist with all our might, not dominate and control!
The good news:
We are not required to be perfect in our response to the world’s challenges. Doing the very best we can is sufficient. Our intentions carry enormous power to attract the results that are needed. Remember, with God all things are possible, even things that feel overwhelming to us. Loving actions and prayers are always available to share with each other and Mother Earth. Blessings to all life. Love and blessings to all.
Soli Deo Gloria.
Mystical Musings (2)
#36
Is Your Life a Pilgrimage?
I like to think of pilgrimage as an intentional journey undertaken when voluntary or not, one finds themselves in the midst of a sacred growth opportunity. An authentic pilgrimage has both spiritual (inner) and physical (outer) aspects. It can cover a long distance and/or time, or not so much. It will always contain elements of uncertainty; we can’t know beforehand where we’ll end up, what will be encountered, nor how it will unfold. We may start out with a plan, but being in new territory means pilgrims will likely have to cope when they have no idea what to do or how to do it. Thus, our pilgrimage adventures usually require flexibility, creativity, and patience. That’s when people discover that listening to the Divine Presence within and moving forward in faith, are the most effective tools available. For one’s soul, your lifetime can be seen as a lifelong pilgrimage. Nested within your life journey are many interrelated pilgrimage experiences, whether or not we name them as such. Meister Eckhart wrote:
“There is a journey you must take. It is a journey without destination. There is no map.
Your soul will lead you. And you can take nothing with you.”
- Meister Eckhart, Richard Rohr’s Daily Meditation, (Feb. 23, 2023)
It’s interesting that most children are born with curiosity and a sense of adventure that might, if allowed to naturally develop, result in them seeing their life as a sacred journey. But our parents and theirs, back through the generations, have often seen such a self-guided approach as risky, unfocused, and perhaps threatening to their child; in short, irresponsible and impractical. As a result, many of our parents grew up isolated from the idea of pilgrimage and, with the tacit approval of a risk-averse society, steered their children away from awareness of their own inner voice. Because societal and educational norms channel a child’s curiosity and sense of adventure toward conformity and knowledge aimed toward material success, people are often out of touch with the resourcefulness, confidence, and resiliency to cope with the challenges of Earthly life. As a result, it’s easy to feel overmatched and afraid of life’s painful circumstances.
Fortunately, the nature of Earthly life assures that sooner or later during some incarnation, a soul will recognize their life journey as a pilgrimage. You will know when your time arrives. As Meister Eckhart noted above, when you say yes to life as a pilgrimage, your soul will lead you. From a spiritual perspective, the purpose of your pilgrimage is to experience being a child of God; that is, learn that you are love. I can’t imagine a greater blessing! Someone can tell you how to swim, but until you get in the water and experience swimming, it will remain a distant concept. So it is with knowing yourself as a child of God.
Once we know ourselves to be God’s children, our heart naturally feels and wants to express, compassion for the world. While coming to know yourself as a child of God is the inner focus of your soul’s pilgrimage; serving the world is its outer expression. Authentic service has nothing to do with your ego. Just listen to your heart and allow it to guide and inspire your pathway. Then, surrender outcomes to God and trust that your work will perfectly serve the common good. If it feels counter-intuitive to your ego’s sense of how to accomplish things, listen to the wisdom shared by Eileen Caddy from one of her times in meditation:
“… cease struggling and let go. All you have to do is be, and let everything unfold.”
- Eileen Caddy, Opening Doors Within, 365 Daily Meditations from Findhorn, Feb. 22
Closing Thoughts: In an earlier blog post I briefly noted my intention to reinvent Foster when I retired. It just now occurred to me that without being aware of it, I gave my soul permission to lead me on a sacred journey. Just as Meister Eckhart described, my soul has been leading a pilgrimage that has so far lasted almost twenty-four years! It has been breathtaking in its scope and impact. I am deeply grateful that life continues to unfold in harmony with my soul’s pace and sense of direction!
The good news: You don’t have to wait for retirement to welcome the life-shifting experiences of pilgrimage. You can surrender your life to your innermost friend, the Presence of God within you, anytime you choose. Then fasten your seat belt and get out of the way; opportunities will arise in ways you could never plan or foresee. Just say yes as often as you can. May grace and joy be your companions.
Love and blessings to all.
Soli Deo Gloria.