By Michael Avery
Life will flow better once we understand how to extract every ounce of wisdom from those experiences we so readily label as “bad.” The trick is to “lean in.”
Giving an unpleasant experience our full attention sounds counterproductive and a little crazy, kind of like leaning into a roundhouse punch. Why not just ignore it and watch some old reruns of “Seinfeld?”
Because. dear friends, the unpleasant experience will follow us with the dogged determination of a “Terminator.”
Guest Post by Jim Jackson
In reviewing my personal journal of 2020, I found the following enlightening entry of April 16th, written during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
It has now become a great dislike to go to the grocery store, although I’m so grateful to have that opportunity: thankful for the food being there and being able to afford purchasing it. I’m also thankful for the producers, the factory workers, the field workers, the shippers, and the store workers for risking their health during their hard work so that we, the fortunate ones, might eat comfortably.
By Michael Avery
Recently, my computer failed to start up like normal when I did a restart. The wallpaper image that usually pops up early in the process wasn’t there. In its place was a bright yellow screen. After a good half hour, which didn’t feel all that good, the computer was back in operation.
Guest Post by Gloria Lionz
I attended a leadership conference in Vermont in June. It took me 29 hours to reach my final destination. Yes, I ‘flew’ there but the ‘schedule’ changed according to Spirit (not as advertised by the airline carrier). Chalk this TIRING EXPERIENCE up to Holy Spirit’s ‘way’ of arranging things for me to meet an entirely different group of people; sharing heart-to-heart stories as well as commiserating about mutual travel challenges.
Guest Post by Dennis Ernst
I recently made a visit to the Another Face of Mexico Mask Museum in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. It was a huge, private collection of over 500 masks, from the 35 historic cultures in Mexico and Central America. The masks were used in rituals, dances, cultural celebrations, and were part of the collective identity.
The concept of the masks haunted me. The need to become something other that what we are, and imbue them with special powers, to feel like they were something greater than their ordinary life. This is a story of creating an identity and wearing it like a mask.
Guest Post by Jim Jackson
On Friday afternoon I had a checkup appointment with Dr. Edward Chang, an oncologist and hematologist. I was seeing him for the latter purpose—not for cancer treatment.
Since my first appointment with my new PC physician and her concern with a slightly low reading in my platelet count, I’ve seen Dr. Chang on four separate occasions now, each time with a three-month extension from my recheck. Next time is a year from now.
By Michael Avery
I’m sure you’ve heard the question, “What is this painting saying to you?”
I always passed it off as merely a metaphor asked by a salesperson in an art gallery intent on making another sale. But recently I had a realization that revealed a deeper, hidden meaning of the question.
By Michael Avery
A footbridge near the source of the North Umpqua sent for an eagle. “Please carry this question to the bridge near the river’s mouth for me,” he requested.
“We have grown old together, yet our destinies have kept us apart. Please ask my friend what great lesson he has learned from life.”
Guest Post by Dennis Ernst
Remember, we are beings of light, fragments of the One Great Spirit in action.
Remember, we came to bring light into darkness.
Guest Post by Gloria Lionz
“When an insight lands in a dream, repeats itself even after waking from a dream, going back to sleep & hearing the same message, it’s evident Spirit wants me to do something with that ‘urgent’ message. With zero concern for ‘what time of day’ Spirit speaks, I now have a simple option that honors the ‘gift’ while helping me get the rest I need. I jot down any phrase and/or highlights and title in a notebook I keep bedside. Then, when I’m fully awake, I sit down at my computer and record the “rest of the message.”
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