News Flash from Nazareth!

The Associated Press reported this week that archaeologists have found the remains of a home in Nazareth, Israel that can be dated back to the era when the New Testament says that Jesus lived. This is a discovery that could provide tremendous insight into the lifestyle of the people who lived in the city at the time that Jesus is believed to have been a child.

Here’s what we know so far: Nazareth sat on only four acres of land and comprised only 50 homes. According to the Gospels, the Messiah grew up in one of them. For that reason, the timing of this discovery is especially meaningful to Christians. According to Father Jack Karam of the nearby Basilica of the Annunciation—where Christian tradition says an angel told Mary that she would give birth—finding this ancient home during the Christmas season is “a great gift.”

For centuries, theologians have debated whether the man known today as Jesus actually existed. Not only does the Bible contain no firsthand accounts of him or his miraculous acts, they say that his virgin birth, execution and resurrection suspiciously mirror the life narratives of ancient mythical gods. Some say that Jesus might actually have been a metaphor for the Christ spirit within all of us. Others speculate that a traveling rabbi did exist who understood the divinity of man, embraced it, and uplifted others by spreading the word.

Since none of the gospels was written by men who actually knew Jesus or lived during his time, any of these possibilities exist. If someone who was half-human, half-Divine Spirit did walk on the planet, ancient history does teach us that he wasn’t born in December. The Bible doesn’t make that claim and it doesn’t declare that Jesus came to start a new religion.

According to some religious historians, the real reason for the season is that Christian converts, who were accustomed to participating in Jewish or pagan celebrations during the winter solstice, wanted their own holiday during that time of the year. Mythologists also note that December 25 was traditionally the birthday of mythological heroes said to have been the offspring of virgin mothers and pagan gods.

Certain stories and facts are often repeated in the Bible, highlighting the fact that scribes and storytellers liberally borrowed from each other. Remember, this was long before plagiarism laws. Matthew and Luke, for example, copied most of Mark’s book verbatim, but they thought the story was incomplete. Mark hadn’t established Jesus as the Messiah, the only begotten son of God. Matthew and Luke “fixed” that problem by adding birth narratives to Mark’s text. These narratives, written decades after Jesus’ death by men who didn’t know him, intentionally matched Jewish prophesy. Among other things, it was prophesied that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, so both set Jesus’ birth in that city. But that’s where the similarity ended.

The Gospel of Luke claimed that Jesus was born in a Bethlehem barn because there was no room in the inn for his Galilee-bound parents. Matthew’s gospel claimed that Mary and Joseph actually lived in Bethlehem, and Jesus was born at home. As theologians have reminded us throughout the centuries, it really doesn’t matter that Matthew and Luke set Jesus’ birth in two different places. After all, when Constantine the Great gathered religious leaders in Nicea to decide which of the hundreds of known manuscripts should be included in the book they would call the Holy Bible, few of those books—and none of the 27 selected for the New Testament were written as or perceived to be historical documents. But once the Council declared this collection to be the “gospel,” perceptions of their veracity began to shift. Complicate that with the fact that none of the original manuscripts existed when the Council met in 325 A.D., and thousands more copies were re-created by hand and translated (never flawlessly) for another thousand years.

So does it matter whether you believe everything in the Bible is the “word of God”? Not really. Over time, Thinkers have figured out that Jesus couldn’t have been born in two places at once. History has revealed that tax time in that region did not occur during December and that Joseph wouldn’t have been required to travel from Nazareth to Galilee to pay taxes at any time.

Now we learn that Jesus of Nazareth  grew up in a city that was a mere four acres in size, leading us to conclude that if the Messiah went missing, it would not have gone unnoticed and there would have been no 18-year gap in the record of Jesus’ life. There probably would have been a town-wide search party; residents in neighboring towns might have joined in, and the mushrooming posse would have been so unprecedented that one of the few literate citizens would have written about it.

What does it all mean? Many have leaped into the numerous credibility gaps in the Old Testament to declare that there is no God. But what if it only reveals that the ancient storytellers were recording their limited idea of what God is and what God does, and their stories don’t capture the essence of the real God?

Many have leaped into the numerous credibility gaps in the New Testament to declare that there was no Jesus. But what if ancient storytellers were merely creating an allegory about what humans would be able to do if they loved each other unconditionally, treated others the way they’d want to be treated, were aware that their souls were perfect, healthy and complete, and that the spirit of God was within them?

Maybe a man named Yeshua did exist who had this awareness, and lived it daily. Maybe he spent three years of his life teaching others what he knew. Maybe his empowering message enraged the Romans and they murdered him in a most humiliating way, and maybe decades later, writers edified this profound man’s teachings by encasing them within the framework of Jewish prophecy and pagan god myth.

At this point, we know more about what didn’t happen than what did. But do any of those facts mean that we have nothing to celebrate on this Christmas Day? Absolutely not.

Whether we believe Jesus was God, man or myth, we can celebrate the Christ Consciousness that has lived since The Beginning and resides within each of us right now. We can celebrate the birth of a period when Christians were defined by how they behaved rather than by the stories they believed.

Today we can celebrate the opportunity to totally transform our lives by patterning our behavior after that of the indisputably legendary Jesus: We can love unconditionally, bring a healing presence to every room and every relationship that we’re in, judge and condemn nothing, forgive everything, and do nothing to anyone that we wouldn’t want done to us.

It’s called non-religious Christianity, a transformative and powerful way to change our lives and save our souls from the consequences of errant choices and hurtful actions. It makes this day and every day a…

Very Merry Christmas!

The Bible vs. President Obama?

Several times within the past few days, I’ve received emails admonishing me not to buy a bright yellow T-shirt that says: “Pray for Obama, Psalms 109:8.” If you haven’t read that verse, it says: “Let his years be few, and let another take his office.” (KJV)

In the game of politics and political parties, some variant of this prayer is whispered, shouted, and muttered through clenched teeth—without Biblical reference—throughout the four-year term of any President. When a Republican is in office, Democrats pray for another to take his office, and vice versa.

 

It’s tradition, and it’s no big deal—except in this case, many have decided that the verse on these shirts and bumper stickers is intended to include subsequent verses in that chapter, namely Psalms 109:9-13. These five additional verses, which are referenced nowhere on the shirt, infer that we should pray for God to hurt or kill our enemies—yes, God’s other children. For weeks now, folks have been whipping themselves into a frenzy, concerned that everyone who wears the shirt poses a threat to our President’s safety.

 

I could be wrong, but it seems that the only real threat here is that there are people who actually believe that God responds affirmatively to mean-spirited vengeful prayer requests. But what else are they to believe, if the Holy Bible is the inerrant and inspired Word of God? That means that every word is true, even if those words characterize God as behaving more like Satan and less like The Divine.

 

Over the years, I’ve had a number of circuitous discussions with those who believe in the rage-filled, relentlessly unforgiving, kick your kids out, kill-every-living-thing God portrayed in the Old Testament. Typically, they discount these rants by asserting that God changed in the New Testament.

 

No, it wasn’t that the Jewish rabbi named Yeshua (colloquially known as Jesus) perceived God as more benevolent than the scribes portrayed Him in the Hebrew scriptures. They insist that God actually committed genocide, crammed predators and their prey in the cargo hold of a boat with one window for weeks while bloated human bodies floated all around it, contaminating the water, killing the fish, all the fruit-bearing trees and other vegetation. God did those diabolical inhumane things. But He changed after that, and the New Testament proves it: God decided to forgive all of His children’s sins, on one condition: The Prince of Peace had to be subjected to three days of horrific sadistic torture.

 

Really? Why did Jesus teach that God was unconditionally forgiving before he was heinously tortured, if it didn’t happen until after his death? And why did God want the Romans to savagely stop the good rabbi from teaching that God was a loving Father? His important message and ministry had lasted only three years. If you have the answers, please free me from my confusion.

 

What does this confusion have to do with President Obama, a t-shirt and Psalms 109, you ask? Simply, I think it’s helpful to understand the meaning and implications of scripture before deciding whether or not it has the power to harm our President. As any Bible scholar will tell you, we can’t intelligently discuss or react to specific passages in the Bible if we haven’t read the entire book, have no historical context for the writings, the writers or the politics of the time, and have read none of the large body of theological research regarding the collection of works that comprise the Bible.

 

This reminds me of a link that my friend Rev. Gaylon McDowell shared yesterday on Facebook. The link led me to the YouTube videos from an insightful lecture by New Testament scholar Bart D. Ehrman. It’s divided into 10 segments because of the time limits on YouTube, but I’d highly recommend watching all of them. Treat yourself to some jaw-dropping “I didn’t know that!” moments.

 

Dr. Ehrman is the chairman of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which he calls the “buckle” of the Bible Belt. He has written 20 books about the Bible, including New York Times bestsellers Misquoting Jesus: The Story behind Who Changed the Bible and Why and JESUS, INTERRUPTED: Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible. Dr. Ehrman teaches historical approaches to early Christianity and the New Testament.

 

On the first day of class a few years ago, he looked out at the 360 students in his lecture hall and asked three questions:

 

1. How many of you would agree with the proposition that the Bible is the inspired word of God? (Voom! The entire roomful of students raised their hands.)
2. How many of you have read The DaVinci Code? (Voom! The entire roomful of students raised their hands.) 
3. How many of you have read the entire Bible? (There was a hand raised, here and there throughout the lecture hall.)

Ehrman looked at them and said, “I’m not telling you that I think that God wrote the Bible. You’re telling me that you think God wrote the Bible. I can see why you might want to read a book by Dan Brown; but if God wrote a book, wouldn’t you want to see what He had to say?” he laughed.

 

And that brings us back to Psalms 109:9-13. Did God say or even inspire those destructive words? Do these verses really pose a threat to our President or his family?

 

I can’t think of a better time to have a discerning heart than when reading or repeating the Bible. If we put our thinking caps on, we would realize that God wouldn’t give us conflicting directives or portray Himself as bi-polar. For example, an Old Testament scripture about discernment totally contradicts the spirit of Psalms 109: “So God said to him, ‘Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart…’” (1 Kings 3:11-12, NIV)

 

When we are discerning, we can objectively look at a situation, person or written word and determine whether it aligns with what we believe to be true. When we are discerning, we can more appropriately interpret and react to Bible verses.

 

For example, does God brutally punish humans, as is indicated in so many Bible passages, or is 1 John 4:8 and 4:16 accurate when it states that God is love? It’s impossible for the answer to be “all of the above” unless we believe that God is bi-polar and not absolute. We must make a choice.

 

Why? Well, according to 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” (NIV)

 

If God is love, is God angry and vindictive? If God is love, does God brutally punish? If God is love, does God harshly judge? Would love destroy every living thing on the planet? Can we believe the Flood story and believe that God is love? Can we believe the Garden of Eden story and believe that God is love? Which do you believe?

 

Have you tried the “Would Love do that?” challenge when you read the Bible? It’s my litmus test. When I applied it to the vengeful lyrics in Psalms 109, my answer was a resounding, “No, Love would not do that!” That influenced my response to both the t-shirt and the e-mail.

 

Between you and me: If we believe that God is Love, we really don’t care whether people buy “Pray for Barack, Psalm 109:8” t-shirts and bumper stickers. We don’t even care if they pray the entire mean-spirited chapter. Why? Because they’re spitting in the wind. We know that Love would never respond affirmatively to prayers asking Him to brutalize any of His children.

 

Needless to say, I didn’t respond to the urgent call to forward those Psalms 109 t-shirt e-mails. In fact, they immediately went in the trash, right behind the e-mails asking me to pray for President Obama’s protection.

 

Don’t be alarmed. I have a rationale for that, too: Appeals of this nature presume two things: 1) God is not Love and 2) God has such careless disregard for His child Barack Obama that He will only protect him if we submit a formal request.

 

I am not going to denigrate God by believing that either of these presumptions is true.

Oh, NO! Not the seven iron!

What to Do When Someone Does You Wrong, Part II

Perfect timing! A couple of stellar volunteers crept out of the woods this week to give us a real world example of what to do when someone does you wrong. Let's bow our heads in sincere thanksgiving to a wandering Tiger who repeatedly lost his way, and publicly sacrificed his honorable reputation to demonstrate how it ultimately ruins your golden game.

While we’re at it, let's observe a moment of silence for his angry mate, shall we? Her soul certainly could benefit from tightening her grip on a response to wanderlust that’s infinitely more evolutionary than a seven iron.

I won’t recap the nuts and bolts of the Tiger and Elin Woods story or the jokes that erupted in its wake. I won’t even address their insult to our intelligence. Did they really think we’d buy the implausible story that she had to rescue him by breaking the rear window of his SUV when any door—including the undamaged one in the rear—probably would have done the trick?

The real value of this sad little drama is the gift it offers our own lives. It is a story about how to act and react with integrity and character, how to honor ourselves by remembering that we are not Lone Rangers. Whatever we call the eternal spirit that gives us life—“The Traveler,” “The Observer,” “The Divine,” the “I Am,” "Allah," "God,"—It is always with us, within us.

Wherever we go, the omnipresent God goes with us; whatever we do, the omnipresent God experiences it. When we do anything that we would not want done to us, we fail to honor the Divine within us. We temporarily disturb the order that the Divine has established.

Divine Order seeks balance. The Universe depends upon it. Without it, the very planets would spin out of control. When we create imbalance in our lives, we set the wheels in motion for that imbalance to be automatically corrected and for Divine Order to be reestablished. It happens through the spiritual Law of Attraction or, as some call it, the Law of Reciprocity. Plainly stated: Whatever you do will be done to you.

Avoiding unpleasant or painful situations (and people) requires pure selfishness, but not as traditionally defined. In a reap-what-you-sow world, selfishness is defined as actions that focus driven entirely by what’s in our best interest. Temporary gain is not in our best interest. What best serves our interest is doing whatever we can to assure that the Law of Reciprocity does not deliver unpleasant or painful situations into our experience.

The most selfish thing we can do is to treat others well. Selfish people ask: “How would I want to be treated? Is the action I’m contemplating something that I’d want done to me?” The response is instantaneous, and can be trusted to provide the best guidance. Deciding how to act—and react—doesn’t get any simpler than that.

For example, a selfish Tiger would have asked, “Would I want Elin to sneak around and be intimate with other men while I’m away?” The assorted felines (six, at last count) would have asked, “If I were married, would I want my husband to sneak around and be intimate with other women?” Elin would have asked, “Would I want to be physically accosted if I did something that angered Tiger?” If anyone in this cast of characters was selfish, none of us would even know that there was a fire hydrant near the Woods’ driveway.

We have no control over other people’s actions and are not held accountable for how they treated us, only how we treat them, no matter what they did to us. Consequently, it’s in our selfish best interest to focus our attention solely on our actions and reactions. All we should care about is that when the Great Balancer comes to call, He is swinging Sweetness and Light, not seven irons.

Ever since the late Anglo-Saxon period (c. 900-1100) when the concept of individual penance spread to England from Ireland, humans have believed that it is our job to design and price others’ sins. We must make them pay! A thousand years later, we’re still driving into God’s lane, determined to do a job that God is quite capable of doing.

Just last week, Elin Woods plowed a golf cart-sized hole in her original prenuptial agreement, as penance for Tiger’s infidelity. The prenup reportedly awarded her a lump sum of $20 million if she and Tiger remained married for ten years. Instead, she allegedly demanded that Tiger immediately pay her $20 mil. In exchange, she will remain in the marriage another two years. And she gets an even bigger payday if they later split. As one person commented on the Chicago Sun-Times website:

“Getting paid to stay in a relationship? Where I come from, that's called "prostitution". If it's no longer for love, then it's not a real marriage, is it? Very sad.”

Yes, this is very sad, but it’s also very instructive. How we respond to situations says more about us than it says about the person we’re judging or punishing.

I’m sure that it was not Elin’s intent to stick a gaudy price tag on her body. But she did, and wherever she goes, people will see her and instantly see it dangling from her golden locks. Another dramatic demonstration that you can’t hurt someone else without hurting yourself. Dignity is priceless--and losing it is something that Elin Woods obviously feels that she can now afford, along with millions of other disposables.

Elin and Tiger are reportedly in intense marriage counseling, with thrice-daily in-home sessions. Frankly, one good chat with Jenny Sanford might have helped Elin respond to infidelity in a more dignified and less karmic manner.

Mrs. Sanford, betrayed wife of South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, was highly instrumental in building and sustaining her husband’s political career. Despite all that sweat equity and the forfeiture of her own very successful career, she didn’t lunge for her husband’s golf clubs or his bank account after he abandoned her, their four sons, and the entire state of South Carolina to make passionate love to his “soul mate” in Argentina.

First and foremost, Jenny Sanford wanted her errant husband to be a role model for their four sons. By example, she wanted him to teach them what integrity looks like, what being a strong man looks like, and what valuing family looks like.

While Mark Sanford’s behavior was “inexcusable,” she told the New York Daily News, it was not unforgivable:

“Forgiveness opens the door for Mark to begin to work privately, humbly and respectfully toward reconciliation,” she wrote. “However, to achieve true reconciliation will take time, involve repentance, and will not be easy.”

“Mark has stated that his intent and determination is to save our marriage, and to make amends to the people of South Carolina,” she added. “I hope he can make good on those intentions, and for the sake of our boys I leave the door open to it.”

Jenny Sanford is a Thinker. She comprehends that in a reap-and-sow world, we are punished by our sins, not for them. Ultimately, the price we make others pay will cost us in the future—something the soul currently known as Elin Woods will eventually learn.

If she’s really fortunate, she also will learn the difference between power and force. And she will understand, as the powerful Jenny Sanford understands, that when we ask that our trespasses be forgiven in the same way that we forgive those who trespass against us, God and the Law of Attraction/Reciprocity answer our prayer with exact precision.

What to Do When Someone "Does You Wrong"

Is it the season, the recession, the stars, or something in the water? The number of “Somebody did me wrong” stories I've heard from colleagues, friends, even strangers in line at the supermarket is multiplying like the fabled fish and loaves.

There is an abundance of emotional immaturity wafting through the ether. Folks are dehumanizing others from one inexplicable extreme to the other: screaming at the top of their lungs or giving them the silent treatment. There are so many adult actors starring in elementary school dramas that it must be a new trend, a frightening one at that.

Almost everywhere we turn, people are treating us in ways that they wouldn’t want to be treated. These larger than life Anti-Christ visitations create imbalance; they make us feel out of control. (Double the wobble when these bad actors can clearly see the spirit of the Anti-Christ in others, but can’t see it in themselves.) Fascinating stuff.

Life really is simple, despite our beliefs to the contrary. We consistently make it complicated and painful by delaying, detouring or completely derailing our Souls' journeys to their desired destinations. Why? Our egos have made us forgetful and short-sighted, the same combination that transforms gullible people into suicide bombers. Sorry about the imagery, but it’s true.

This is self-inflicted pain that hurts a lot of people unnecessarily. And all of these distressing dramas follow the same pitiful script template:

Somebody Has Done Me Wrong. Again.

by

Woe S. Me

Cast

You: A Soul in a human body struggling to remember that It was created in God's divine image.

Villain: An ego-driven Soul who has lost contact with the God presence within.

Ego: The personality in every human that focuses the body's attention on fears, insecurities and threats.

Scene: Anywhere on the planet that the ego can destroy our inner peace

Time: Day or night, in all time zones

Act One: Ego Deceives, We Believe

Scene One: Ego tells us that Life is unfair; only tangibles exist—and oh, by the way, we’re only human.

Scene Two: Ego tells us that there are villains who will make us their victims. These people will break our hearts, hurt our bodies, and (gasp!) they will steal or destroy our stuff.

Scene Three: Ego tells us that we should respond to all villains with wrath, righteous indignation and verbal or physical force.

Act Two: We Forget Core Spiritual Truths

Scene One: Believing Ego, we forget the core spiritual truth that God is within us and we are powerful and divine.

Scene Two: We forget that we should see the divinity in all humans, even if they can’t see it within in themselves—a disability that causes them to act as villains.

Scene Three: We focus our attention on what the villain did, which makes us feel victimized, forgetting that:

1. We are not held accountable for what others do to us, only what we do to them.
2. No one can hurt us without hurting themselves. Ultimately, they’re the victims, not us.
3. We should compassionate about their disability, which causes them to be unkind.

Act Three: We Become Defensive

Scene One: We retaliate against the disabled Soul's errant behavior with anger, righteous indignation, and verbal or physical force—so blind with rage that we can no longer see God dwelling inside our target, the so-called villain.

Scene Two: We reap what we sow. Our retaliation attracts others into our lives who will be as unforgiving as we were.

Scene Three: We can’t figure out why life is so difficult, and why long-term happiness always seems to elude us.

How often has this teeth-gnashing drama encored on our life’s stages? More accurately, how many times have we chosen to act in this play? When will it dawn upon us that these dramas will replay ad nauseum, until we see the divinity in all things and all people—and consistently treat each situation and person as if God dwells within them.

We’re not going to change our experience or our luck until we learn to respond more divinely to other people’s behavior, no matter how many new brushstrokes they're painting on the portrait of crazy. (Thanks, Margo, I LOVE that phrase!)

Truth be told, at some point in our eternal lives, we behaved the same way. It’s part of our evolutionary process. Just because we’ve figured out that it’s not in our best interest to treat others like pond scum doesn’t mean that we don’t still have the potential to drag our Boogie Man costumes from the back of the closet. So let’s not get holier than thou by being judgmental.

Darkness gives us the impetus to turn on our Light. These errant behaving Souls—as crazy as they’re acting—play an invaluable role. Quite possibly, we attract these hurtful people into our lives to give us practice in looking for the Christ Light that is in every Soul.

These people are our coaches. They help us practice forgiveness. How could we become good at it if there was no one or nothing to forgive? The reward for our diligence and proficiency is that we will attract more forgiving people and other Beings of Light and fewer Princes(ses) of Darkness. I'd say it's worth the effort.

Wouldn’t we rather surround ourselves with loving people who respect and treasure us? That requires us to be loving and respectful. It means that we have to treasure every divine Soul, regardless of their outward appearances or bad acting. That doesn't mean we have to invite them for dinner, hang out or fall in love with them. We can love their Souls...from over here, where Light and Peace and Joy prevail.

This is important stuff: Attracting people who will not disturb your peace requires you to invite the God within you to direct all of your dramas. God is not a screamer. You must listen very closely for the "Still Small Voice" that delivers your divine instructions. You’ll be surprised by the clarity and simplicity of those directions.

Sometimes there is nothing more to learn from a situation, and the “Still Small Voice” might say, “Let go, move on.” Trust what you hear. Do what you’re told. Know that something or someone more respectful, more honorable, more supportive, more joyful, and more deserving awaits the divine you.

Other times, the “Still Small Voice” might tell you to do something to neutralize a situation that someone’s else's ego has imbalanced. It means that your Soul has agreed to be the channel through which the matter will be resolved for the Highest Good of all concerned. Don't let your ego get in the way. Allow God, and God alone, to work through you. You’ll know that it’s the Divine talking to you if what you are directed to do is not vindictive, involves no anger, requires no force, and no one is physically or emotionally harmed.

Whatever and whomever you need to complete your Divine Assignment will mysteriously appear. Sometimes they provide resources and information that you didn’t know existed. You didn’t need to know before that moment.

No doubt, the egos of the so-called villains probably want to maintain the status quo. But their Souls and the Divine Spirit within their Souls want their errant behavior to cease—for their own good. Egos only have control over bodies. They have absolutely no power over Divine Spirit. Game over.

What are the implications for you? Understand who you are; be curious about why you’re here. Instead of fixating on the darkness dancing in others’ errant behavior, look for their Light. And by all means, keep your Light on. Since Light and darkness cannot occupy the same space at the same time, your Light will be critical to the healing of that Soul or situation.

Who knows? Perhaps they called you onto their path to help them find their Light. Do a little over-acting: Magnify their Light. Uplift them. Bless them. Or maybe the need was yours: Maybe your Soul blessed you with the dilemma so that you could gain more “been there done that” credibility and “I know exactly how you feel” empathy for others who might reach out to you.

As Iyanla Vanzant wrote, "There Is Value in the Valley." When someone does you wrong, thank them. They’ve stopped their own evolutionary growth to give you this opportunity to reconnect with the Divine within you, to practice acting as if you are divine, to practice non-judgment and forgiveness.

These so-called villains are not party crashers. Your Soul invited them onto your stage because they were the perfect characters to teach the lessons you needed to learn. Everyone and every situation that arises in your life serves the purpose of your Infinite Soul and Divine Spirit—the real you, the part that was made in the image of God.

You have options. You can choose to focus your attention on creating comfort and abundance for your finite physical body. You can even believe that God sent you here to wallow in paper money and luxurious material items. (Haven’t you heard? “God wants you to be rich.”) But consider the possibility that focusing on temporary possessions on the physical plane is as ego-driven and self-destructive as going into a crowded marketplace with explosives strapped to your body.

Even if you choose that route, your infinite Soul will survive. And it will grow, despite your ego’s antics. Stretching beyond the physical plane is uncomfortable. Growing pains are real. But the Soul can handle it, and it has all eternity to patiently teach you the value of being more visionary, making more divine choices.

The next time someone does you wrong, think before you react. Remember the Law of Attraction/Reciprocity: Whatever you do will be done to you. You will attract souls who mirror your beliefs and behaviors. They will treat you the way that you treat those whom you refuse to forgive.

Take advantage of every painful experience that arises. If you don’t learn and grow from that experience, if you don't seize the opportunity to rely more heavily on the Divine within you, the one who “did you wrong” won’t be someone else.

The God of Michael Jackson, Nidal Hasan, and a black man named Ricky

I know you’re wondering: Is the balcony so high in the stratosphere that the Loud Mouth has become light-headed? How on Earth did she connect God to the King of Pop, an Army psychiatrist accused of killing fellow soldiers, and a random black guy named Ricky?

There’s a logical explanation: For starters, all three souls were made in the image of God (as immortal spirits, not mortal bodies), and all three are associated with some kind of extremism: Major Nidal Hasan for his religious beliefs, Michael for his uh, lifestyle—and let’s face it, black guys named Ricky (or anything else) have been known to evoke extreme behavior in some people.

In recent weeks, I have been blessed to observe in-your-face performances by these three fascinating characters: Michael, in his documentary, “This Is It,” Rick Stone in the newest production at the Black Ensemble Theater, “The Message Is in the Music: God Is a Black Man Named Ricky,” and Major Hasan, in the alleged murderous rampage at Ft. Hood, Texas. (A hyperlink to this violence was intentionally excluded.)

Behind the scenes of two highly entertaining musicals and one absolute horror, I could clearly see God—three perceptions of God, anyway. I sat in awe as Michael Jackson extracted absolute lock-step perfection from each member of his performance team, without drama queen antics such as condescending rants or other displays of anger. He demanded nothing of his production team—more accurately, his family—that he did not demand of himself.

When he showed up for work, he was ready to perform at peak levels, and ready to inspire greatness in others. He was as precise in his movements as he was in his directions, clearly explaining what he wanted and why he wanted it. Mostly, he wanted to give audiences “awareness, awakening and hope”—an unusual mission for performers, but apparently typical of Michael.

He held each member of his performance family in high regard, edifying their excellence and affirming their ability to meet his extraordinarily high standards. From that basic premise, he consistently and lovingly elevated them to an even higher level of perfection.

I sat watching much more than another stellar performance by Michael Jackson the entertainer. I was eavesdropping on a powerful Master Teacher. No matter who we are and what we’re doing, we are constantly revealing what we believe about God through our treatment of others–particularly those over whom we have some control or influence.

Beyond the quest for dazzling choreography, perfect rhythms and pitches, Michael showed us his God. He led with Light, respect and unconditional love, rather than fear and intimidation. For that, he will continue to be loved and admired beyond death’s door.

On a different stage, genius playwright/director/producer Jackie Taylor has crafted the starring role in her latest feel-good hit, “The Message Is in the Music,” from a similar model of God. In this uproarious musical, chock-full of expertly executed tunes from  The Beatles, The Drifters, Gladys Knight, Curtis Mayfield (for whom God seemed to have a particular fondness), Paul Simon, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder and other old-school faves, Lucifer goes to God’s house, raising absolute hell and predictably threatening to destroy the Universe.

Unpredictably, he’s greeted by a God (a black man named Ricky) who is unflappable, making it utterly impossible to goad him into fury or a fight. God—and Thinkers—know that the devil only has as much power as others give him. In this play, God gave him absolutely none.

Taylor’s script dramatized what psychiatrist and spiritual teacher David R. Hawkins, M.D., Ph.D. revealed in his enlightening book, Power vs. Force. Power and force are often thought to be synonymous. They are not.
Power, as Dr. Hawkins so eloquently explained, does not involve force. In fact, it is its antithesis, which means that “May the Force be with you” might actually be a curse rather than a blessing.

So how are we to respond to force? Well, if Taylor’s characterization of God offered any clues, the most appropriate response to taunting rants is to retire for a refreshing nap. I was tickled that on the Black Ensemble Theater stage, as on Earth’s stage, God was the only one who seemed to know that force never wins. As He rested, His angels finally figured it out, and saved the world by showering the devil’s marauders with unconditional love, acceptance and forgiveness. I guess that’s why it’s called “overpowering” the enemy rather than “overforcing.”

After the former demons surrendered themselves to the Light, they groveled at God’s feet, as they had been required to do for the devil, bemoaning their unworthiness to be in His presence. God not only deflected their praise, He declared that their innately divine nature was the only truth He knew about them.

The moral: True Power uplifts. Force, on the other hand, can only destroy.

We see it every day. When the God of Force took center stage at Fort Hood, non-Muslims started pointing fingers, judging, disparaging and condemning. But the truth is that most, not all, of the followers of the world’s religions, including Christianity, believe that God is forceful. Their behavior often reflects it. They are angry, disrespectful,  judgmental and condescending. Righteous indignation is their schtick. Power is not part of their act. They’re showing us the God whom they worship, and we show them ours.

Just this morning, a Facebook friend angrily attacked a Palestinian who had posted something disagreeable on his “wall.” His tirade triggered a torrent of “shame on you” responses from FB friends who seemed to know him; I don’t. Defensively, this man, who apparently considers himself a Christian, posted Bible passages that supported his wrath-filled response–scriptures that portrayed God as angry, vindictive, destructive and unforgiving.

Since his premise seemed to be that the Bible is the Word of God, the Loud Mouth was compelled to ask: Where do Matthew 7:1-3 (The famed “Judge not…condemn not…How can you see the speck in your brother’s eye but can’t see the log in your own eye?” scriptures) fit into his scenario? At this late hour, his silence must mean that he’s still crafting a very thoughtful response to that question.

Fascinating stuff. We can find a verse in the Bible to justify everything from genocide to generosity, so we pluck a scripture that’s appropriate for the situation at hand, and declare ourselves vindicated. The Bible Tells Me So: Uses and Abuses of Holy Scripture provides some memorable examples of this, punctuating my belief that those who read only one religious book rob themselves of deeper insights into God, themselves, and the world of the scribes who created the collection of texts.

Maybe, if we read more, and exercised our thinking muscle more frequently, we might discover that our angry, attack responses are peculiar to humans, are historically barbaric and emotionally immature. There is no Light. There is no Love. There is no forgiveness. That can only mean that this is not divine behavior.

I was standing near a table at the food court in Water Tower Place yesterday when a boy who appeared to be around seven years old dropped his toy car onto the floor directly in front of me. I stepped back so that he could retrieve it. Seconds later, his brother’s car crashed onto the floor. There was no harm done; but the older boy leaped from his chair and pounded his brother in the back so hard that the guy standing in line ahead of me gasped in horror, and so did I. There was no adult at the children’s table.

The older boy, about nine or ten years old, stormed away, leaving his little brother whimpering in pain. When he returned, his victim’s eyes followed him closely. When he turned his back, the younger boy attacked him from behind, viciously pummeling his brother with the front end one of the cars until he howled in pain.

Both attacks were barbarically human and emotionally immature. Similar acts are mirrored throughout the planet every minute. The fact that scriptures in most world religions justify this behavior should be cause for alarm; but it isn’t. We don’t become alarmed until someone kills innocent people at Columbine, an Amish school, Virginia Tech, a South Side Chicago high school or Fort Hood.

We have nurtured a violent society and we see no relationship between that brutality and our beliefs. It’s always amazed me that we can’t look at Bible scriptures, which were physically written by humans, and classify them into one of two categories: Divinely Inspired and Definitely Inhumane. It’s even more amazing that we don’t realize that every scripture that we freely accept as the Word of God directly impacts our behavior and our children’s behavior.

We pass along our beliefs; we teach our kids that God responds with anger, force and sometimes inhumane brutality. Then we tell them that it’s wrong for them to respond that way. Jesus, we tell them, told us to turn the other cheek. But we also tell them that Jesus is God. What are they to think: God is bi-polar--or worse, a hypocrite?

After headlines scream of another unconscionably brutal act, we cry in anguish and disgust, “Why are our kids so violent? What’s wrong with them?” We march in the streets and attend prayer vigils; then we return to our computers and play Mafia Wars, lured like six million others by an ad that proclaims, “Surround yourself with thugs, thieves, crooks and bad guys. And that’s just your family. Trust me, you’ll love it!”

Almost daily, we update our status to brag that we’ve graduated to a higher level in the Mafia because we’ve committed a more heinous act of inhumanity. Often we solicit our Facebook friends to help us brutalize some prospective Mafia Wars victim.

We don’t understand that our thoughts reflect our consciousness. We play violent games, engage in virtually violent acts, watch violent TV and movies, read ancient stories of brutality against humans, sometimes committed by an angry unloving God, and we wonder why we don’t feel safe any more.

We’re merely witnessing what our beliefs about God look like when they’re acted out on our world’s stage. If we insist on believing in an angry vindictive God that solves problems by killing people, we must share responsibility for the fiendish acts of those who also hold those beliefs. We co-created those scenes.

Or, we can follow the God of Michael: Start with the Man in the Mirror.

Is there only one answer to these questions?

Have you seen the video “10 questions that every intelligent Christian must answer“? Do you reach the same conclusion that the atheist narrator does? Are there other answers?
This is a good one for thinkers.
Please share your comments. (Don’t try to answer all ten questions. Pick  one or two and see how you do.)

What is the most important word in your vocabulary?

Did you read that intriguing Chicago Tribune story about six young black male students who were visiting our beautiful city from prestigious Washington University in St. Louis? Two of the young men were officers of the University’s senior class council. One of them, class treasurer Regis Murayi, had arranged in advance for nearly 175 of his classmates to party at Original Mother’s, the Chicago watering hole immortalized in one of my favorite movies, “About Last Night.” (Don’t barf; I have a romantic drama/comedy fetish.)

When Murayi and five of his black classmates darkened Original Mother’s door, they were denied admission. The reason, according to Murayi: They were wearing baggy pants; two donned backwards baseball caps.

Reportedly, management was afraid of gang violence, and these young men looked like trouble. Even though they explained that they were part of the student group (not to mention that all the folks whooping it up inside trusted one of these young black men with the class treasury), management would not relent. To test whether their attire was the issue, one of the six detainees exchanged pants with a Caucasian classmate. To their outrage, that young man, baggy pants and all, strolled through Original Mother’s door without incident.

For souls who have been judged by the color of the bodies they are wearing, rather than their divine nature, the alleged incident at Original Mother’s comes as no surprise. We have witnessed it happening every day—somewhere in this country we love.

This incident reminded me of a lively telephone conversation I’d had the previous night with my sister-friend Janet. We were bemoaning the complexity of romantic relationships. Janet, formerly a math teacher, now teaches Chinese language and culture.

In the middle of our Venus-Mars discussion, she blurted, “Do you know what I always ask my students on the first day of class: ‘What is the most important word in your vocabulary?’”

Our chat had suddenly whiplashed from male behavior to something much simpler to understand: the Chinese language. Maybe confusion is the common denominator, I thought.

“They shout out everything under the sun: Love, God, peace, faith, forgiveness, joy, charity,” she ranted. “But no one ever gives me the right answer.”

Most of those would have been my guesses. But before I could ask what in the world the word was, Janet shouted with exasperation, “It’s I! I is really the most important word in our vocabulary!

“Why don’t we understand that? How can we value another person if we don’t value ourselves?” she wondered. “Everything starts with I. How we see ourselves and see others ultimately determines what happens to us in life.”

True, that—something the folks at Original Mother’s haven’t yet figured out. Have you noticed that people who don’t value others appear to be singularly focused on the word I: I do not have to respect you, your rights, values, wardrobe, emotions, abilities, intelligence, opinion, job, possessions or your physical body. I am important; you are nothing. What I want is the only thing that matters. I am not bound by the law of reaping and sowing.

These lost souls view this world through what I call the “Visible I,” the most deceptive and myopic eye in the Universe. The directional system of the “Visible I” is extremely limited and highly ineffective. It leads its disciples down a crooked but well-worn path to short term physical, financial or psychological gains before hitting a dead end.

Even when fully functioning, the “Visible I” can’t find its way to the Light. It makes us deny the presence of the “Invisible I am that I am” within us. It dupes us into acting without asking, “How would I want to be treated under the same circumstances?"

You can spot these people in a crowd because they radiate no light; they have no “soular source.” They are solely powered by that fear-mongering mental midget, Ego. And it shows: Their interactions with others are forceful rather than powerful. They intimidate because they don’t have the spiritual strength to inspire or embrace. They lack the spiritual discernment to see others’ value—and honor it.

Original Mother’s management saw black guys, and the “Visible I” instantly painted a sketchy picture in their heads of potential violence. They panicked—not the optimum mode when sound judgment is required.

Actually, the folks at Original Mother’s had every right to be afraid. Regis Murayi is a bona fide gang member, and he was packing. He simply wasn’t packing the weapon that Mother’s management thought. His was more damaging.

Murayi is part of the new generation of Word Warriors. Armed with nothing more than intelligence, truth and an Internet-connected computer, Word Warrior gang members can bring an icon to its knees with their bare hands. Some even do it with two fingers at blazing speeds. And they work in concert with others. Before a misguided bully can audibly whimper, Word Warriors from major media outlets are on the scene, turning their embarrassing short-sightedness into a public spectacle.

And there, spread out like boiled lasagna noodles, are the latest victims, deluded into thinking that they were Word Warrior road kill. They were not. They simply underestimated a Word Warrior’s intelligence, resources and ability to wrestle injustice to the ground and pin illegal or unethical behavior to the mat. Ultimately, they were laid waste by their “Visible I.”

This day, every card carrying member of the Word Warrior gang is bursting with pride and admiration for young Regis Murayi, who fearlessly scribed his divine right to be judged by the content of his character, not the color of his skin. In a brilliantly written essay on the Chicago Tribune website, he nimbly mangled Original Mother’s public image, exposing the bar’s management as racist—a blight on the reputation of any business that caters to non-racist consumers.

He’s received additional aid from the Worldwide Word Warrior Web. Thanks to the social media and the blogosphere, Original Mother’s short-lived encounter with six African American men from Washington University will live in infamy for years. Imagine Word Warriors blogging about the incident, mentioning Original Mother’s so many times that stories about alleged racism at the bar on Rush and Division will rise to the top of the online search results. Already, many of these posts have hit the first page of results. Yessss!

Who knows? Original Mother’s latest story might even take on a life of its own—heaven forbid, in another cool movie.

The moral of this story: Always question your motivations and listen to the tone of your inner voice. Is it loving and respectful? Does it encourage you to look beneath the surface appearance before judging others? Does it direct you to only do what you would want done to you? Are you viewing the world and its inhabitants through the eyes of the ego-driven “Visible I” or the eternal “Invisible I am that I am?”

Allowing the “Visible I” to guide you is an option you can choose through free will; but the "Visible I" lacks the peripheral vision and depth perception required to successfully navigate your path, long term. Just when you become smug because you've managed to avoid the minefield of consequences from your actions—you step on the wrong one.

Are you fantasizing failure?

This morning a facebook friend, frustrated by his results from an obviously important endeavor, wondered how many times he should keep trying before he writes off the effort as a failure. The overwhelming response from his fb family was that whatever he was trying to do wasn’t working because it wasn’t supposed to: We concluded that he must be attempting to accomplish something that was not in his best interest or for his highest good.

If he was exerting his best effort, conducting himself with integrity and good intention, and he wasn’t achieving the desired outcome, perhaps that route he'd chosen was not the best for him, and he was being guided in a different, more beneficial direction. He'd also chosen to label his outcome as failure--and he could choose to perceive it differently.

Some of us learn the hard way, like me: I’m a do-it-yourselfer, been one for years. I have several tool boxes and a couple of drills—cordless and corded. About the only thing I won’t mess with is plumbing. I always get this vision of a geyser pummeling me into a wall if a make a mistake. Not cute, and mopping is not one of my favorite DIY tasks.

Years ago, I rarely read the step-by-step assembly or installation instructions before starting projects. If it looked like a no-brainer, I dug right in. Often I made a mess that took twice as long to undo or clean up.
Too often, we handle our lives like DIY projects. We just charge ahead, making our plans—sometimes a Plan A and Plan B—without asking for divine direction. As a result, we end up with results that we didn’t expect from either plan. We get in our way. We block the good that’s coming our way; we make life more difficult and disappointing.

 Sometimes we suck it up and correct our error. Other times, we lack the skill, experience or the guts to admit that we blew it, so instead of salvaging what we can, we throw it all away as if it never happened. Sometimes, as was the case with my dear facebook friend, we keep doing the same thing—just from different angles or with different people. You don’t have to be Einstein to figure out that doing the same thing and expecting different results is, well, simply insane.

Thinking can prevent that. It’s prudent to think before we act, and prudent to think before we react. If we show up and exhibit our best effort and our highest-selves, and things don’t turn out the way we desired, it doesn’t mean we failed. It only means that the outcome we expected or desired wasn’t the best one for us—at least not at that moment.

 The concept of failure exists exclusively in the physical world. It is merely a figment of our imaginations, created in our physical brains. Failure is a misperception, a misinterpretation of the truth about you and that situation. Thomas Edison understood it well: “I have not failed,” he said. “I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

 It’s natural that an inventor without an instruction manual, who’s experimenting with outcomes, would draw that conclusion. Why don't we? After all, we're winging it, too: trying this, trying that without seeking any guidance. Of course we don’t have to figure it out ourselves. We've chosen to lean on the understanding of our physical brains. Consequently, we are more likely to find 10,000 ways that won’t work than ten ways that will.

We can choose differently and respond differently to our outcomes by looking at, working through and responding to situations from the perspective of our unlimited eternal (soul) level rather than our limited physical (ego) level. You can determine how well you are doing that now by answering five simple questions:

1. Who am I? 

              a.  Do I have a soul?
              b.  Am I a soul?
      2.    Who’s leading me?
              a.  Do I believe: If it is to be, it’s up to me?
               b.  Do I wait on God for guidance?
      3.     When unpleasant things occur that I didn’t expect…
                a.  Am I disappointed?
                b.  Do I ask how the situation serves me, what growth opportunities does it present?
        4.     How do I attract things and people into my life experience?
                 a.   Do I pray for specific things, visualize everything in great detail, and focus on accomplishing my goal?
                 b.  Do I gratefully accept all outcomes, knowing that they serve me in some way?
       5.      What I most desire right now is __________________________________.

Did you answer “a” to questions 1-4? That means that you perceive yourself, make decisions, respond to situations and manifest things into your life from a limited physical perspective and you’re receiving the corresponding results. If you answered “b” to questions 1-4, you perceive yourself as an eternal soul temporarily experiencing life in a temporary world, and you are less likely to rely on your brain and more likely to rely on the Divine to help you out of a jam. If your answer to number five was something tangible, that reflects an ego-level desire. If it was intangible, it reflects a soul-level desire.

If your answers included “a” and “b,” chances are, you’re probably in a growth stage. And your outcomes appear to be  inconsistent. You have an awareness of yourself as more than a body, but because you’ve perceived yourself as only a body for so long, you often default to the limitations of physical actions, responses and outcomes. That’s only natural.

We have to discard the old information about who we are and replace it with new information. Until then, we’re going to have a “new wine in old skins” experience. There will be trial, and expect error. Just be patient with yourself--and love yourself unconditionally, no matter what mess your body has created. Forgive yourself for getting into the jam. Most important, resist the urge to declare defeat, no matter what your outcome looks like.

In reality, your soul has never experienced failure--only your ego.

Is Your Life Purpose-Driven or Purpose-Given?

I read an inspiring story in this Sunday’s Chicago Tribune about Derrius Quarles, a Chicago teen who leverages his inner power in an extraordinary way. Derrius’s father was murdered when he was four years old. His mother was addicted to drugs. He and his older brother were shuttled from one foster care home to another; eventually they were separated. By 17, Derrius was living alone, as an adult.

Under these circumstances, and without a nurturing family to encourage him to excel in school, you might guess that Derrius landed in the criminal justice system. He didn’t. Instead, he landed $1 million in college scholarship offers, some of which he is investing in a degree from prestigious Morehouse College in Atlanta.
With so much scholarship money, Derrius will be able to fund his other dreams: a medical degree and a doctorate. After that, it’s back to Chicago, where he wants to start a tutoring program for low-income students. His aspirations for improving the lives of others reach from the grassroots to higher levels. He wants to help shape the city's public health policy. Beyond that, he wants to become the U.S. surgeon general. Wow.

Where do those dreams and that drive come from? Derrius says that he is inspired by the song “Pure Imagination,” from the movie “Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.” Perhaps you remember the words: Anything you want to, do it. Want to change the world? There's nothing to it.

"It's so powerful," Derrius told a reporter. "It shows the power of imagination. If you imagine it, you can do it."

While his own life has demonstrated that imagination is powerful, Derrius’s experience also has taught him that Life is not a lyric or a catchy motivational maxim. We really cannot do anything we imagine. Thank God for that! Can you envision how chaotic our lives would be, if we could?

Admittedly, I have been told that I'm being negative when I make such a declaration; I'm stealing people's hope. Well arrest me. As far as the Loud Mouth is concerned, there's nothing more negative or predatory than a thought or witticism that misleads and disappoints.

If we're not willing to look at our own lives to determine if it's true that we can have or do anything we imagine, let's look at someone else's: Derrius's, for example. Derrius never imagined that his brother would leave him; but he did. On the other hand, Derrius did imagine that he would attend Harvard as an undergraduate; but he didn’t. If this was Derrius's life, instead of his soul's, if imagination makes it so, then he would have been interviewed in Cambridge rather than Atlanta. It obviously is not what the soul in the body of Derrius desired.

I can't emphasize enough that your finite body--the space suit required for this atmosphere--is enabling your infinite soul to experience life on planet Earth. Without it, you could not be visible here. The body, the spacesuit, is not who you are, any more than a Halloween costume is who you are. When the body dies, you will not be dead, just as you will not die when you discard or recycle that costume.

Focusing all of our attention on the temporary physical stage and its props distracts us from fulfilling our purpose for being here. The ego wants to monopolize your attention, fulfill its purpose--not yours. And it works day and night to focus your attention exclusively on the physical realm.

As powerful as your imagination is, the engine is not the images, the visualizations or the beliefs--all of which emanate from your physical brain. Without exception, everyone has been in situations and met people that we never imagined.  Each of us has imagined outcomes that simply didn’t happened. ]

So is imagination the magic? No. Imagination opens us up to possibilities, not probabilities or definite outcomes. We frustrate ourselves—even make ourselves miserable—when we imagine that things will go a certain way (usually our way) and they don’t.

We can believe that there is a prayer, a saint, a secret or a set of formulas or principles that force God to manifest physical things according to our will. But if we've even casually paid attention to our track record, we've noticed that sometimes things go our way, sometimes not.

If an action or technique doesn't yield the same results 100 percent of the time for 100 percent of the people, it means that we're not dealing with a law or a truth principle; we're playing with possibilities. Hooray for possibilities! Too often, we are in such a rush to envision a desired outcome--or "claim" that outcome--that we miss the beauty or the lesson that lives in that moment, and we miss the true value of that experience.

Can we give our lives purpose by using our imaginations to create specific outcomes--or did we already have a purpose when we arrived on the planet? Consider this:  A purpose-driven life isn’t one in which your brain decides your body’s reason for being on Earth, and then gets busy fulfilling that mission. It’s one in which you successfully discern your soul’s purpose, and align your physical thoughts and actions to fulfill that purpose. It's a difference in perception that makes a big difference in your results.

Where do you start? You begin the process by asking questions and being open to receive your answers. Question one is obvious: "Why am I here now as (your body's name)?" Next, "Is my current path leading to the fulfillment of my purpose for being here?"

You cannot discern your purpose by looking at or comparing your life circumstances with someone else’s. Perhaps they have a good job with lucrative pay, and you've been laid off. Was having a good job with lucrative pay the purpose for which you entered your body? What if fulfilling your purpose attracted more income than having a good job? What have you forfeited by failing to fulfill your purpose? These are the questions we fail to ask when we're fixated on acquiring cash and other props on the Earth stage.

Once we understand that purpose is woven into every strand of the fabric of our lives, anger, frustration and victimization seem inappropriate responses when unpleasant and unexpected circumstances appear. If life worked the way some motivational maxims teach us, we'd never have unexpected circumstances; no one would ever be disappointed or even pleasantly surprised. We'd be following a script, in total control of our entire experience. How many people do you know who have done that?

Stuff happens, and it happens purposefully. Situations and people appear on your path to help you fulfill your purpose. No matter how bitter the experience, do yourself a favor and ask, “How does this serve me? What did these Golden Rule-averse individuals come to teach me? How will I grow through this encounter?”
Wait for the response. It will be worth it.

Our quest to learn our life's purpose is fully supported by the circumstances in which we find ourselves. Whether we find our purpose depends upon our response to those circumstances.

Derrius Quarles powerfully demonstrated the value of adverse circumstances. He might not have been as compelled to serve others if he'd experienced a more comfortable childhood. We don't know. What we do know is that, as a soul, he attracted a caring biology teacher onto his path who inspired him to pursue a career in medicine, and that he took an extremely challenging childhood and converted into a million dollar payday that will be priceless for others: The purpose for which he arrived.

What's going on in your life that offers clues to your life's purpose? What kind of opportunities and people are you attracting?

You can't fulfill your purpose until you know what it is. If it's not obvious, based on your experiences and encounters, just ask for it to be revealed. Say it out loud. Right now. And take the first step on your path to your amazingly purposeful life.

How to Speed (Spiritually) in Neutral

>

A spirit of uncertainty has wafted into our personal space, our nation and our world. It has surprised even the most positive of thinkers, and has made the fearful even more apprehensive. Amid reports of foreclosures, plummeting housing values and unemployment figures, an article in Sunday’s New York Times claims that millions of jobless Americans don’t appear in the official labor statistics. They are the ones who have tried unsuccessfully for months or years to find work, and have given up hope. They’ve stopped saying, “What do I do now?”

Actually, there are a few things they can do that they probably haven’t even tried. The first thing I’d suggest is spending at least one day a week volunteering with an organization whose mission and values reflect their own. Make some little corner of the world better. Like everything we do, helping others cycles back to us through the Law of Attraction/Reciprocity. There is always a payday of fulfillment when we serve others. Fulfillment is a mighty antidote to repeated rejection, self-doubt and hopelessness.

There’s something else that all of us can do to speed us along the path to greater fulfillment: become neutral. I practice being in neutral, not judging circumstances and human beings as one thing or another. Being in neutral allows me to hear the “still small voice” that responds to, “What do I do now?” In neutral, I am open to more possibilities and much greater outcomes than my physical brain can fathom.

Friends frequently remark that no matter what happens, I always land on my feet: The greater the adversity, the more magnificent the rebound. Bring it on! I am so encouraged by the outcomes that I have consistently experienced that I’m trying to adopt neutrality as a lifestyle. My soul appears to be supporting me in this endeavor.

While practicing neutrality this past weekend, I’ve received a daily “Loving Each Day” email that urged neutrality as a means to accomplish much:

“[N]eutrality does not mean inaction. It is putting all of your energy in the proper direction. You can accomplish much in the state of neutrality because you won't be wasting time fighting yourself.” John-Roger

Hours later, I attended an elegant birthday luncheon for 85-year-young Floncia Sutton,the mother of four of my absolutely fabulous girlfriends. As the program progressed, Mrs. Sutton’s longtime friends and church members spoke about her grace and strength. Her pastor revealed that he had adopted her as his grandmother, occasionally seeking her wise counsel. Everyone marveled that Mrs. Sutton rarely speaks above a whisper; she commands the attention, respect and obedience of young and old with a look or even a clearing of the throat. They frequently attributed the source of her power to Isaiah 40:31, her favorite Bible verse:

“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary: and they shall walk, and not faint.”

And there it was again; Isaiah was talking about neutrality: The space where we can calmly and peacefully wait for every challenge to be resolved, every decision to be made, and every hurt to be healed in the most perfect way, at the most perfect time. Neutrality is a spa, a holy place where we enjoy the All-Knowing Benevolent Spirit within our very souls. We come here to melt away stress and anxiety; we find total peace, no matter what drama surrounds us in the physical world. In neutral, we ask for guidance from the God within and we hold only one expectation: The outcome will be divine and on time. In neutral, it’s impossible to be disappointed or rejected, even if the outcome is not what our physical bodies—Ego-Selves—desired. In neutral, we are aware that we are not merely finite bodies; we are infinite souls, invisible spirit, made in the image of our Creator. In neutral, our desire is to fulfill our soul’s mission, and we want to know more about that.

When I’m in neutral, I am sometimes we are guided to do something very specific: call someone, investigate something, or go somewhere. Other times, it appears as if I’m receiving no response at all. While it frustrated me at first, I’ve learned that the silence is an opportunity to practice patience. It simply means, “Be still—and know that I am God.” Over the years, I’ve observed that my challenge was being resolved in the most perfect way and at the most perfect time, with no help required from me. My job is merely to stay in neutral, stay open, ready to receive, and ready to shift into gear when prompted, not a moment earlier.

Surely you’ve noticed that when a car must be in neutral, even if the engine isn’t running, if it is to be pushed or towed to another, usually more suitable location. Neutrality is an active state of readiness. It doesn’t mean that we’ve shut down; we’re idling, not idle. Our arms are wide open, ready to lovingly embrace the guidance or inspiration that comes from within.

We can only receive the benefits of neutrality’s peaceful space when we completely trust God. Neutrality has simplified my prayer in all situations: “I lovingly allow this matter to be resolved for the Highest Good of all concerned, and I await divine direction for any next steps.”

Disappointment is only possible when we allow the Ego-Self to make the decisions and judge the outcomes. That’s when we find ourselves in the “If I woulda, coulda, shoulda” dramas. The Ego wants us to rely on our limited human understanding. It is entertained when we frustrate ourselves, trying to fit square pegs into round holes, trying to bring God into alignment with our physical desires. I’m sure that Soul is looking at our bodies and wondering, “What part of ‘This is not working’ don’t they understand?”

It works when we allow, when we gently sit our Ego Self down and allow ourselves to be divinely led instead of trying to lead the Divine. We experience one victory after another when we relinquish control of our outcomes to our Higher Selves, when we “wait on the Lord,” when we’re able to maintain our integrity when we say, “Thy will be done on Earth.” In neutral, we always get what we want—because we want what God wants. Funny how that works.

Life on Earth provides us plenty of opportunities to practice neutrality. No one on the planet experiences a life without challenges. I call them “growth opportunities” because each offers us the chance to respond differently than we have in the past, and get a different result. The next time you experience disappointment, you’ll know that you aren’t in neutral. When you become angry because something didn’t go the way you wanted, you aren’t in neutral; you’re not open to allowing your soul’s experience on Earth to unfold in the way that it desires.

I have a mantra: “If it’s mine, I’ll get it. If it’s not, I don’t want it.” That frees me to focus on other stuff instead of obsessing over a particular outcome. I totally trust God to resolve everything divinely. I can keep it moving.

Try neutrality next time and notice how utterly peaceful you are as you journey through your many “growth opportunities.” Do it consciously and consistently, and you’ll notice that no matter what happens, no one will be able to rob your peace—no matter how much they clown or how un-Christlike they behave. You’ll be able to climb into the balcony of their drama, and love them anyway. I often find myself feeling sorry for these bad actors “for they know not what they do” to themselves through the Law of Attraction/Reciprocity.

Notice how empowering this is. See its effects on the body. Take a look at a woman who's been “waiting on the Lord” longer than many of us have been in these bodies: Head high, shoulders back, standing tall, Mrs. Sutton is fearless, full of power, full of grace, full of joy and unshakably peaceful.

She wasn’t born to privilege, and she’s had her share of “growth experiences.” But she has not accumulated burdens, anger, resentment or regret; she is not broken or bowed. Mrs. Sutton carries herself with the dignity, grace and loving demeanor of someone who knows and trusts God so totally that she is content to wait. She has mastered the art of speeding in neutral.

What would you look like if you seized every opportunity to respond differently to your growth opportunities? How peaceful, how strong would you be if you asked for divine guidance, listened for and accepted the response and followed the directions? Try practicing today, and see if you can learn to speed in neutral from now on.

Why it's not as bad as you thought

Friends periodically share bits of wisdom from their e-mailboxes that they think will make me shout, “Amen!” One of my recent favorites came from my friend Jean Hill, who passed along a post from life balance expert Mary LoVerde’s “Words of Wisdom” newsletter. In it, Ms. LoVerde recounted the experience of meeting U.S. Airways pilot Chesley B. Sullenberger, III. It was Captain Sullenberger who skillfully executed that miraculous landing on the Hudson River last January, saving all 155 physical bodies on board.

Thinkers probably noted that I didn’t make the claim, as many news outlets did, that Captain Sullenberger saved 155 lives. That’s because he didn’t, not really. It’s impossible to save a life. Life is invisible, invincible and eternal. Physical bodies, on the other hand, are a different story. On occasion, there must be some intervention so that they can continue to be seen in the physical world. And that’s what Captain Sullenberger heroically did. But I digress…

During LoVerde’s brief chat with Captain Sullenberger, he described the death-defying crash landing. He recalled that, seconds after he brought the Airbus A320 aircraft to rest on the icy river, he and co-pilot Jeff Skiles turned to each other and said in unison, “Well, that wasn't as bad as I thought.”

Ah, yes. How often do we discover, after we’ve been through the fire, that the adrenaline-pumping journey wasn’t as bad as we thought? All we could see when the flames were nipping our heels and hind parts, were that we were catching sho-nuff hell.

For many years, that certainly was the case for me. As I have detailed in my books, many of my life dramas have had minimal entertainment value: divorces (no, the “s” was not a typo), evictions (ditto), negative cash flow and mounds of debt, un-Christlike co-workers and employers, non-paying clients, relationships with silly boys wearing men’s bodies, and the deaths of loved ones. None of it was the least bit pleasant until I decided to see those experiences differently—yes, even the deaths of those who are near and dear to my heart were no longer painful.

Changing your perception will change your response. I’ve taken you chapter-by-chapter through the epiphanies that rose to meet me during my “spiritual sleuthing” expeditions, my investigations of the behind-the-scenes causes of my unpleasant dramas. In every case, I concluded, “Well, that wasn’t as bad as I thought.” In fact, the drama was actually good because every situation delivered a blessing—most notably, a deeper understanding of myself, of Life, and of God.

When you understand the difference between life and Life, power and force, when you know who and what you are, God no longer works in “mysterious” ways. Nobody goes through life on Planet Earth without challenges. Nobody. Based on your understanding, you will respond to those challenges by:

• Concluding that you’re a victim;
• Fighting the current condition by leaning on your limited human understanding; or
• Patiently trusting that what you’re experiencing right now benefits you in some way, and asking for the guidance necessary to move on.
  

Each response reflects your understanding of who you are, what Life is and what God is. As the late Emmet Fox, a profound New Thought Christian minister, once said: “There’s no such thing as undemonstrated understanding.” In other words, what you understand is evident in the outer world.

What I understand is that every life experience has a purpose. Because I believe that God is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent Love, I understand that whatever happens, no matter how potentially painful, lovingly serves me in a powerful way. Nothing happens to me, it happens for me.

Recently, several persons have revealed a surprising lack of integrity. That’s good information to know. At an earlier time, I would have responded to them very differently—probably with anger and pain—because I had a different understanding of Life and God. I’m sure I would have judged them. I would have strung together a series of adjectives that described them as less honorable than I—as if I’d never done anything dishonorable. Please. They were just showing me what it looks and feels like from the other side. The appropriate response: Empathy and forgiveness because I’ve been there, and done it. How can I be unforgiving if I want to be forgiven?

I don’t have to understand the reason everything happens. My understanding tells me that there was one—and a good one at that. For all I know, the reason might have been to give me an opportunity to balance out my own errant behavior or practice reacting in a less judgmental, more Christ-like manner. After all, how do you reach enlightenment? Practice, practice, practice.

Those of us who desire to grow spiritually (and what soul doesn’t) are bound to attract negative people and woeful drama. These bad acts and actors serve us in mighty, mighty ways. We bless them and we love them for working on our behalf. They’re not doing anything to us; they’re doing it all for us. Yippee!

And there’s an additional benefit: I have discovered that I am consciously aware of how peaceful I am, even as these situations are occurring. How empowering is that? It’s not an “I’m more enlightened than you are” moment. It’s a “Yes, I remember when I wasn't totally honest” moment.

C’mon now, we’ve all had crazy moments. Some of them might have been crazier than others; but all of them had one thing in common: They did not reflect the God in us. So who are we to get mad or judge somebody else’s crazy?

Empathizing with the other person—loving and forgiving them, even if I don’t like them or their behavior—doesn’t generate the negative energy in my soul or poisonous chemicals in my body that anger and resentment do. Aside from pitting out a perfectly good silk blouse, an angry response revisits me as an angry response when I err. Ultimately, my understanding serves me more powerfully, and reduces my cleaning bill.

Understanding Life and God gives us the confidence to trust that the Law of Reciprocity will balance all behavior perfectly—and it will direct our path so that we will respond appropriately and in a manner that does not put us on a collision course with the Law.

Whatever you're going through right now, what is your understanding of it? Does your understanding bring you peace or fear? Worry and fear constrict the body. What solutions can flow through to you if you are not chatting regularly with the God within you, and leaving yourself open to receive the guidance you need? I'm not talking about telling God what you want. I'm talking about listening, really listening. Then act on the guidance you're given.

Chesley Sullenberger demonstrated his understanding of the Law of Aerodynamics when he bravely landed that plane on the Hudson. Notice what understanding you demonstrate when confronted with a crisis, and see if you don’t more frequently conclude: “Well, that wasn’t as bad as I thought.”

Love you. Mean it!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Love the Loud Mouth LIVE at an Upcoming Event in Chicago!

If you missed the three-day Women’s Conference in June, I have good news: By popular demand, authors Shirley Lawson, Stephanie Wilson-Coleman and I will conduct sessions at “The Women’s Conference Follow-Up” on Saturday, September 19. This time, it’s in Chicago, at Power Circle Center, 9350-64 S. South Chicago Avenue.

This special event is presented by the Training, Development and Networking Team of the Alpha Omega Sisterhood, a ministry of the Power Circle Congregation, the Rev. Joseph E. Hill, founder and senior minister.

For more information and to register for only $40, visit Drama Queen Workshops.

Answered Prayer: When Heart and Soul Agree

There’s nothing more rewarding than being part of someone else’s blessing.

I recently received an emotional call from a friend (we’ll call her Laura) who was witnessing a revelation. Like many of my friends these days, Laura’s between jobs and her money has lost its elasticity. She can't seem to stretch it far enough to cover her expenses. In deference to that, several months ago her sister hosted a “wishing well” birthday party to provide some financial support. Friends were asked to contribute.

I was unable to attend, so I bought a birthday card and planned to insert a check. I was in the middle of a move and living in a temporary location. I couldn’t find my checkbook, so I set the card aside and obviously put something on top of it. After a while, out of sight was out of mind.

A couple of weeks ago, after I was settled into my new place, I ran across the bright orange and yellow card, but I had a different problem: Laura’s address wasn’t in my directory. I set the card on my not so uncluttered desk and lost sight of it again. A few days later, I spotted it. Determined to get it out of the apartment, I stopped what I was doing, wrote a check and tracked down her address; then I walked directly to the mailbox before any other goofiness ensued.

The next day, Laura left lengthy messages on my office and mobile phones. The excitement in her voice was a mixture of joy and tears. Here’s why:

She had a mortgage payment due in two days. That day, she was unexpectedly paid early for two small freelance projects and a friend had loaned her a little money; but when she returned home that evening, she was still $40 short of her mortgage. When she opened her mail, she discovered my $50 check. She was ecstatic!

Everything had come together in the most perfect way, at the most perfect time. If I had sent the check earlier, who knows, she might have already spent it on something else. My serial delays had served as an absent-minded savings account, belatedly delivering the money to Laura exactly when she needed it. Divine Order: I was almost as excited to witness it as she was.

Last week I heard from Laura again. This time, she was sending one of those lovely email chain letters. At least this one didn’t threaten that Jesus would deny me to his Father if I didn’t forward it. But it did urge me to make a wish and forward the email to a specified number of people (in this case, a dozen plus the sender). On a specified day (in this case, the fourth), the message claimed, something would happen.

Because I don’t believe that God or fairies bestow blessings based on the number of emails we shoot into Cyberspace, I did what I always do when I receive these messages: I asked Laura, “Did you ask the previous recipients what happened on their fourth day?” Then I heartlessly deleted it.

A couple of days ago, Laura sent me an update: “On the fifth day, I received an unexpected check for $800!” she exclaimed.

I’m not one to snub my nose at anyone's cash windfall, but I wasn’t impressed. I was, however, a bit curious about the details of Laura’s $800 surprise. So I pried my fingers from the computer keyboard, picked up the phone and had a human-to-human conversation.

I discovered that the check was actually a refund of the same mortgage payment that Laura had made the week before—a payment that left her only a few dollars to survive.

“I had just decided to let go of this house instead of letting it stress me out,” Laura laughed. “As soon as I released it, this happened.”

What happened was that Laura received word that her mortgage company had gone out of business. As a result, they couldn’t accept any loan payments, and all monies were being returned until the new lender could service the accounts.

Did Laura receive the $800 because she had mentally “let go” of her home? As we know, sometimes when we “let go and let God,” situations don’t always improve, in human terms. Sometimes the possession, loved one or relationship literally goes away—temporarily or permanently.

On the physical level, we typically perceive this as “loss.” Sometimes we respond by sinking into despair or struggling to hold onto what we believe we lost. As we grow to trust God completely, however, we are better able to understand that everything in the physical world is constantly undergoing change. The life span of all physical things is finite. As we evolve into an “egoless” state of mind, as philosopher Eckhart Tolle calls it, we are able to accept all departures as Divine Will. Instead of anxiety, fear, anger or desperation, we feel peaceful because we know that if he, she or it went away, it was divinely ordered and the Divine only works for our Highest Good.

That certainly appears to be Laura's attitude. She isn’t interpreting her $800 refund as a signal that she will keep her home. All she knows is that she can keep it right now. She also knows that the unexpected check did not result from her forwarding the nebulous email. It also didn’t arrive because she prayed a certain prayer, called a certain name or clicked her heels three times.

That money was destined to return to her that day because it was her soul’s desire. Maybe it wanted her body to have grocery money; I don’t know. I do know, however, that if the soul had not desired it, it would not be there.

The $800 didn't solve Laura's problems, long term. The mortgage bill will become due again soon. What’s important is that she continues to “let go” and faithfully awaits God’s direction, rather than tries to manipulate God to follow her directions.

“Letting go” is not a physical ploy disguised a spiritual tactic to get what we want. It is a divine way of allowing our hearts to agree with our souls. It takes great faith to stop praying for God to genuflect to our human will and start humbling ourselves to honor Divine Will. It takes great strength to still our thoughts and shut our mouths long enough to hear and observe the direction that the Divine is revealing to us.

Many of us believe that we can change the conditions in our physical lives solely by changing the thoughts that run through our physical brains, by saying a prescribed word or phrase, or by changing our actions. Our life experiences have taught us that it really doesn’t work that way. If our bodies, brains and emotions were in charge, we’d all be independently wealthy, staring adoringly into our soulmates' eyes and in tip-top physical shape—effortlessly, of course.

We spend a lot of time doing instead of being. We think that we have to “make things happen.” We think we are alone, that no one is looking out for our best interest. But we’re not alone. We’re in a serious, committed relationship. Our souls are married to our bodies—until physical death do we part.

Like all marriages, the peacefulness of the home requires harmonious communication between the partners. What happens when one partner makes important decisions without consulting the other? Chaos, tension and unhappiness--the same results you get whenever your heart and soul do not agree.

At prayer time, do you beg or bond with your partner? Do the desires of your heart conflict or collaborate with the desires of your soul? How do you know? When do you plan to find out? Whenever you do, you will start to experience real change, accelerated growth and consistently answered prayers.

--------------------

Love it LIVE—An Upcoming Event in Chicago!

If you missed the three-day Women’s Conference in June, I have good news: By popular demand, authors Shirley Lawson, Stephanie Wilson-Coleman and I will conduct sessions at “The Women’s Conference Follow-Up” on Saturday, September 19. This time, it’s in Chicago, at Power Circle Center, 9350-64 S. South Chicago Avenue.

This special event is presented by the Training, Development and Networking Team of the Alpha Omega Sisterhood, a ministry of the Power Circle Congregation, the Rev. Joseph E. Hill, founder and senior minister.

For more information and to register for only $40, visit Drama Queen Workshops.