Living Consciously August 26, 2009

Dear friends,

Hafiz wrote “There is a beautiful creature hiding in a hole you have dug.”

He is referring to our essential self; that beautiful creature that is in love with being and in harmony with nature and quick to laugh and be creative and kind. That self we allow out of the hole for small moments, a quick revealing of a joyful and radiant us. We withdraw our light when we feel threatened or think we ought to be sad over something that is natural and inevitable. We pretend to be afraid when there is nothing to fear. We make up stories to scare ourselves about what might happen and which hardly ever does.

One of the great awakenings is the realization that there is nothing about us that needs protecting. We are immersed in intelligence and love. We are forever beings. Death cannot rob us of our essence. We are always fully intact and will always be present in one form or another.

But in this life, going about our daily business, can we remember the beautiful creature and give her or him a chance to experience this time, this moment, this life? St. Catherine said: “Live without thought of dying for dying is not a truth.” Perhaps easier to grasp is this: Make someone smile today. Sing out loud in your car. Eat your favourite food with gusto. Give away something you love. Make some art. In other words, come out of hiding and honor your inner light. Let the world see and know the real you.

Peace and Blessings,

Rev Carol Carnes

Living Consciously August 27, 2009

Dear friends,

Mira, the ecstatic Indian poet of centuries past, asked “Stuck with another day, how should we pass it? If anything worked for you before, I’d give that preference.”

How do we know if a choice, a behaviour has worked before? Simply by gauging if it generated more love into the world; more peace into the room; more joy in our heart; more wisdom in our mind; more vitality into our body. Does this that I am thinking, feeling or about to do, make where I am standing a better place?

When a child touches a hot stove they learn very quickly not to do that again. Yet when our anger clears the room, we mistakenly think we have used power effectively. Do we notice that we are not invited to the party as often? Our choice to lie or cheat may seem to facilitate our good, but like acid on glass, it will slowly etch away our self esteem.

If we would stop and deeply observe what happens in us and around us when we praise, appreciate, honor, respect, celebrate and love ourselves and others, we would never again choose to feel alive through the drama of artificial power. We would pass this day making it work for the good of all, beginning with our own use of the wisdom we have gained from assessing the results of our previous choices.

Peace and Blessings,

Rev Carol Carnes

Living Consciously August 28, 2009

Dear friends,

St Thomas Aquinas: “What does Light talk about? I asked a plant that once. It said, I am not sure but it makes me grow.”

What is Good? I do not know but it makes us happy. What is Love? I have no clue, but it makes us wild and free. What is Joy? Who can tell, but it makes us dance. What is Peace? We only know it when we feel it inside ourselves.

The best things in life cannot be easily defined but we are aware of how deeply they harmonize our bodies and minds and hearts. Love is a mystery at any age but it is the most sought after of life’s gifts. Peace is a special guest that we long to come live in our house but we are still fighting over who deserves it. Joy and passion are hidden within us like bubbles in the ocean but we go looking for them everywhere else.

It seems simple enough to claim these treasures of the Spirit but we really do not try all that hard. We get so used to the repetitious cycles of our lives, including war and poverty that they become more real to us than our natural attributes.

What if we spent some daily devotional time to Love, Joy, Peace and Good? What if we learned their language and spoke it to ourselves and then to the world. Would they make us grow? Would they make us dance and create, celebrate and sing? Would we feel the peace that attends the mind which knows what it is made of? Something is telling me to try.

Peace and Blessings,

Rev Carol Carnes