Welcome to LifeCentering!
Thanks for stopping by.
I hope you will find something of interest that will encourage you to live consciously in the awareness that your life is in your hands.
But you are not alone. Many support you in your journey.
Together we have the power to change our lives.
You have the power within you to BE!
Have you also noticed how many candidates running for office this time around are NOT identifying whether they are Republican or Democrat in their TV ads?
I’d be ashamed to say I was identified with either party too if I wanted to be elected. I think many citizens have figured out the ploy, but in case you haven’t, PLEASE research beyond the ads for who these people really are and who is paying their political bills.
Congress has the lowest approval rating in history—because they DO NOTHING if they can possibly avoid it. After all, committing to something may upset some of the fat cats who send them money. Yes, I know, some good acts have been passed, but the bottom line is that elected members of Congress have only one goal—getting re-elected—and if it takes lying to you and me to do it, by all means lie they will.
I am still trying to decide whether I will even vote for dogcatcher this time around. I am totally frustrated by the mess in Washington that we call Congress, the White House and most of all, the Supreme Court. I have voted in every election since I first became eligible. That’s a LOT of years! I have considered it a privilege to be able to voice my opinion by the marks I put on the ballot. And, like many, I mostly feel the representatives in my own state know what they are doing and truly represent MY interests. It’s those other guys/gals in other states who are fouling things up! Now I’m not even sure that is true. Maybe it IS time to throw them ALL out!
Whatever YOU decide, do it intelligently, which means STAY AWAY FROM THE FOX NEWS NUTBALLS! There! I’ve said it. Now you can do as you please.
I suddenly realized that
all of my mentors were gone!
I am not sure what prompted the
realization. It may have been out of
some shadow in a dream I had just as I awakened from a nap. In any case I found myself thinking of the
major mentors I have had in my life, all of them physically gone now. At the same moment I felt the loss and the
deep value their lives and example had on me.
I do not remember whether as a
young child I had mentors. I know I had
“heroes.” Heroes are somehow different
from mentors. Heroes come in uniforms,
like Superman and Batman, the Green Hornet—icons like that. Mentors, on the other hand, are often the
ordinary humans who stand out in our experiences, people we look up to. They may seem like everyday people when
viewed by others, but to me, they are special.
It was while in seminary that I
discovered my first mentor. Ed Rabel
was a fellow student, several years ahead of me. He was already an extraordinary and insightful person who had
grasped a unique understanding of the secret doctrines tucked away
within the covers of the Bible. His
ability to take well-known allegories, parables and characterizations and weave
them into everyday life experiences brought a guiding light to my heart and mind. His path to understanding the Bible led to
his becoming a singular authority on metaphysical Bible interpretation at Unity
School. He took the Bible out of the
past and into today using the stories as templates for how the interactions of
our thinking and feeling created both our challenges and the means to overcome
them. He was a great friend and teacher
who also shared his love of music with me.
I thank him in large part for my appreciation of the classics.
My second mentor, James Dillet
Freeman, was the Director of Ministerial Training at Unity School. I had the privilege of serving as his
secretary for two years while preparing for my student years. He personally tutored me in philosophy,
comparative religion and public speaking.
As Poet Laureate of Unity he was the author of numerous books and poems
that brought inspiration and hope to millions of readers. He and his wife, Billie, were the God
Parents of my son, David. Astronaut
James Irwin on Apollo Flight 15 took his poem, I Am There, to the
moon. Earlier, on Apollo Flight 11, his
Prayer for Protection was on the first moon landing. Here is that prayer:
The Light of
God surrounds me;
The Love of
God enfolds me;
The Power of
God protects me;
The Presence
of God watches over me;
Wherever I
am God is!
From Mr. Freeman I learned to
view different possibilities when considering decisions. Sometimes we would spend what seemed like
hours debating some subject. He would
lead me on in the debate until I almost reached a point of agreement with
him. Then, he would switch sides and
force me to support the opposite. This
invaluable exercise provided me with practical understanding of and
appreciation for the views other people might hold on any given matter.
As I viewed these important
people in my life I realized I still have mentors. They guide me in different ways than when I was embarking upon my
education and career in the ministry.
Now my mentors are the friends I hold dear, those who support me, but
also who care enough to tell me when I fail to maintain my objectivity. Thank goodness for these new
mentors. As we age it is very easy to
become more entrenched in our attitudes, beliefs and actions. In and of itself this is not a bad thing. However, if we become more isolated and
disengaged from our relationships with others, we may lose sight of those who
care about us and who want to be a part of our lives.
So, I choose to not lose sight of
these new mentors in my life.
Over a year
ago I received an email that included a story with a message that impressed me
enough that I saved it in my writing file with the thought that at the right
time I would weave it into an article for my blog. As I recently reread the story and researched the author and the
book containing the story, I realized it could only be shared just as it was
written and not as an example used by me to illustrate some point of my
own. I hope you can connect with the
story as I did.
THE SECRETS OF
THE MONKS OF GLENSTAL ABBEY
A man is driving down the road and his car breaks down near a
monastery. He goes to the monastery, knocks on the door, and says,
"My car broke down. Do you think I could stay the night?"
The Monks graciously accept him, feed him dinner, and even fix his car.
As the man tries to fall asleep, he hears a strange sound . . . .
a sound not like anything he's ever heard before. The Sirens that
nearly seduced Odysseus into crashing his ship comes to his mind. He
doesn't sleep that night. He tosses and turns trying to figure out what
could possibly be making such a seductive sound.
The next morning, he asks the Monks what the sound was, but they say, "We
can't tell you. You're not a Monk."
Distraught, the man is forced to leave.
Years later, after never being able to forget that sound, the man goes back to
the monastery and pleads for the answer again. The Monks reply, "We
can't tell you. You're not a Monk."
The man says, "If the only way I can find out what is making that
beautiful sound is to become a Monk, then please, make me a Monk."
The Monks reply, "You must travel the earth and tell us how many blades of
grass there are and the exact number of grains of sand. When you find
these answers, you will have become a Monk."
The man sets about his task.
After years of searching, he returns as a grey-haired old man and knocks on the
door of the monastery. A Monk answers. He is taken before a
gathering of all the Monks.
"In my quest to find what makes that beautiful sound, I traveled
the earth and
have found what you asked for: By design, the world is in a state of
perpetual change. Only God knows what you ask. All a man can know
is himself, and only then if he is honest and reflective and willing to strip
away self deception."
The Monks reply, "Congratulations. You have become a Monk. We
shall now show you the way to the mystery of the sacred sound."
The Monks lead
the man to a wooden door, where the head monk says, "The sound is beyond
that door."
The Monks give him the key, and he opens the door. Behind the wooden door
is another door made of stone. The man is given the key to the stone door
and he opens it, only to find a door made of ruby. And so it went that he
needed keys to doors of emerald, pearl and diamond.
Finally, they come to a door made of solid gold. The sound has become
very clear and definite. The Monks say, "This is the last key to the
last door."
The man is apprehensive to no end. His life's wish is behind that door!
With trembling hands, he unlocks the door, turns the knob, and slowly pushes
the door open. Falling to his knees, he is utterly amazed to discover the
source of that haunting and seductive sound . . . . But I can't tell you what it is because you're not a Monk.
"The secret of seeing is,
then, the pearl of great price. If I thought he could teach me to find it
and keep it forever I would stagger barefoot across a hundred deserts after any
lunatic at all. But although the pearl may be found, it may not be
sought. The literature of illumination reveals this above all: although it
comes to those who wait for it, it is always, even to the most practiced and
adept, a gift and a total surprise. I return from one walk knowing where the
killdeer nests in the field by the creek and the hour the laurel blooms. I
return from the same walk a day later scarcely knowing my own name. Litanies
hum in my ears; my tongue flaps in my mouth Ailinon, alleluia! I cannot cause
light; the most I can do is try to put myself in the path of its beam. It is
possible, in deep space, to sail on solar wind. Light, be it particle or wave,
has force: you rig a giant sail and go. The secret of seeing is to sail on
solar wind. Hone and spread your spirit till you yourself are a sail, whetted,
translucent, broadside to the merest puff." ~
Grateful appreciation to the author, Annie
Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
Over the last several weeks I
have been taking time to read my own book, Moments. I started reading parts as a review. I imagined how a reader might experience
what I had written. I thought about
how they might come to a better understanding of some part of their lives,
perhaps finding a thought that became the key to free them from some
limitation. After several reading
sessions I decided to start at the beginning and read it through. I discovered that “speaking to myself”
through the pages strengthened my own resolve to focus on the positive elements
of my life.
Much of the book is drawn from
articles I have written through the years.
They were written as a way for me to work through some of my own
challenges, but with a thought that some insight may strike a resonant chord in
others as they read. I wanted to share
my own journey, dealing with disappointments and frustration, as well as the
successes and satisfaction of meeting some challenge. Sometimes all a person needs in order to begin to turn his/her
life around is an appropriate word, positive encouragement, and to know that
someone else facing similar challenges was able to work through them to a
successful conclusion.
I am still learning and still
growing. I find in my book reminders to
keep working on whatever challenges remain unresolved, and to rejoice in those
in which I have found success and satisfaction. I hope you, too, if you read the book, will also find a pathway
to your own sense of fulfillment.
Over the several years I have
written articles for this blog I have mentioned more than once how it seems we
often get to a point in our lives where we have finally resolved some
issue. Then it pops up again, perhaps
with a new face, or a new situation, but the same elements of stress,
discomfort and perhaps fear. What
brought this to my attention was the proverbial email from a friend that
included the following quote she had come across in a book she was reading.
"....even though you
get the monkey off your back, the circus never really leaves town."
I suppose finding these
“old issues” popping up now and again could be likened to an athletic coach
providing repeated situations to a team member so he/she could learn to react
in the most effective manner.
Certainly, there is much to be said for practicing in order to gain
better presentation of our efforts.
However, it is not simply practicing that “makes perfect.” So-called perfection requires practicing
properly, following certain steps designed to move you forward toward your best
results. For example, if you continue
to find yourself behind in payment of your bills, you may have practiced with
poor priorities in the use of your money.
If certain health conditions keep nagging at your sense of well-being,
you may not have changed your practice around your diet, exercise or proper
rest.
So even though we get “caught up”
on paying bills once in awhile, old habits of spending more than we earn shows
us the “circus never really leaves town.”
What this indicates is that we have not finished our work with whatever
the challenge may be that haunts us.
The temptation to fall back into unproductive thinking and behavior is
like visiting the circus again, with all its fakery and tricks for the gullible
spectators. To get the circus out of
town we need to consciously develop new ways of doing things. We need new ways of thinking. Most of all we need new habits geared toward
the practice of behaviors that replace unproductive ones.
Thomas M. Sterner, in the
introduction to his powerful book, The Practicing Mind,[1] states,
Of all the riches
available to us in life, self-discipline is surely one of, if not the
most valuable. All things worth
achieving can be accomplished with the power of self-discipline. With it we are masters of the energy we
expend in life. Without it we are
victims of our own unfocused and constantly changing efforts, desires and directions.
Mr. Sterner goes on in his book
to talk about the importance of practice. We all practice a variety of things every day. This is not just in regard to learning to
play an instrument, but touches everything we do. Each routine we develop in our day’s activities is a practice of
behavior. Soon the routine is done with
little or no thought. Our practice
builds habits and habits become the way we think, feel and act in response to
life. Changing from unproductive
practices requires discipline and patience.
A paradox of
life: The problem with patience and
discipline is that it requires both of them to develop each of them.[2]
How, then, do we build a
practicing mind in regard to correcting our actions, for example, in our
relationships? What can I do to get not
only the monkey off my back, but also send the circus packing? In making any change in our life, we have to
begin where we are. It is necessary to
recognize that how we interact with others is not producing the loving, joyful
connections we want to experience. When
we begin to notice how easily we criticize others, we have our first
recognition that we have developed a habit that is unproductive. Now, we can catch ourselves when such
criticism begins to well up in our thoughts.
The next step is to consciously speak well of others. If we are not at a point where we can speak
kindly about someone, at least we can be quiet and not hold in our thoughts the
negative criticism.
No matter what issues and
conditions continue to resurface in your life, change the way you think and
talk about them and you will change the kinds of experiences you have. Then you can finally wave happily as the
circus leaves town!
