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2011-10-15T22:46:00.000-05:00

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Eywa: Someone you should know

2010-03-07T20:49:00.001-06:00

Part Two of a three-part series
Sitting here in the balcony, playing with the “Real 3D” glasses I received when I entered the movie theater to see “Avatar,” I am reminded again that each of us looks at Life through different lenses. Some lenses help us see things more brilliantly; others completely block the light.

My first reminder came earlier this week, when I discussed the movie with two friends. What did they think about it? I wondered.

One purred that “Avatar” was a beautiful love story: a man was willing to live the rest of his life on a distant moon, light years away from Earth, wearing a tail and no clothes, so that he could be with the woman he loved. The other friend ranted that the movie glorified the Messiah complex: a brave white man heroically swooped in and saved the black people underneath those blue striped costumes. OMG, was he agitated!

Of course, everyone’s entitled to his or her opinion. The Loud Mouth is no exception: From where I sat, “Avatar” was all about me. OK, ok! It was about you, too—a story about how we treat each other, our planet, and every living thing on it. To me, “Avatar” was about our relationship with the Allness that is God, or as the Na’vi, the blue striped black folk on the distant moon Pandora called it: Eywa.

The Na’vi people were taught that they could tap directly into Eywa and into all life forms because there was only One Source of all life, and everything and everyone was connected—from the most beautiful flower to the most ferocious beast. Of course, the Na’vi had a distinct advantage over us: Eywa was unmistakably present. They could literally see the Divine Source of all Life.

But what if Eywa, their Divine Source, was not visible to the naked eye? What if It vibrated at such a high frequency that It appeared to be invisible, like the individual blades on a fan rotating at high speed? Would they be as reverent and as certain that Eywa existed and that It was a benevolent power that served all, equally?

If the Na’vi couldn’t see Eywa’s full glory, feel Its peace and love, smell Its fragrance, hear Its song, or taste Its nectar, they might easily be convinced that Eywa was, well, anything someone told them It was.

Spinning tall tales has always been a favorite pastime of intelligent beings. Millennia before the advent of the entertainment industry, folks amused themselves by creating and spreading tales. Among the most popular: fantastic stories about gods that no one could see. Typically, these gods lived on top of mountains or beyond the clouds.

These tales fanned wild speculation about what each god looked like and what each of them did. Some reputedly worked for good, others for evil. Feeding on the imaginations of the illiterate naïve masses, these stories took on a life of their own. To this day, many believe them to be true.

Think about it: What if, for generations, the Omaticaya clan of Na’vis had been told that Eywa was a gigantic man who lived on a distant planet called Earth, and knew their every thought and deed? According the legend, Eywa spent all of His time recording the good and bad deeds of each Na’vi humanoid, rewarding good behavior with stuff such as sports victories and wealth, and punishing bad behavior with stuff such natural disasters, poor health and poverty.

What if the Na’vi believed that a wrath-filled Eywa would come to Pandora one day, guns blazing, accompanied by an army of fire-spitting angels? In an instant, He’d annihilate everyone who wasn’t perfect, totally obedient, or hadn’t professed aloud that Eywa was a barbaric bad-ass that should be feared.

You can imagine what would have happened when the gigantic metallic aircraft, bulging with guerilla warriors, noisily descended on the Omaticaya clan of Na’vis that fateful day. Most would have believed that it was Eywa, arriving in fulfillment of the legend. Petrified by His promise of destruction, mesmerized by the sheer size of the space ship, the robot-like “AMP” suits, and armed mercenaries, the Omaticayas would have fled their sacred land and the demonic missionaries from the American military-industrial complex would have carted off all Pandora’s rare and priceless unobtanium minerals.

What saved Pandora from that preemptive attack? Was it really the white guy, Jake Sully, as my friend insists? I don’t think so. Maybe it was Eywa, you say?

Actually, an insightful scene disputes that possibility. More important, it exposed humans’ naïveté about what the Divine is—and what it does. To me, that scene delivered one of the most life altering messages I’ve ever heard. It totally reframed the Divine—and definitively explained why prayers don’t seem to be answered 100% of the time for 100% of the people.

Remember the scene? Jake physically plugged directly into Eywa—into the Divine Itself—and asked for two things: 1) Save the life of Dr. Grace Augustine, who treasured the Omaticaya clan and had been seriously injured by gunfire, and 2) help in defeating the money-grubbing emissaries from the American military-industrial complex were intent upon forcing the Omaticaya clan off of Pandora’s sacred land.

Surely this intercessory prayer would be answered. Jake was asking Eywa to help the good people. The Na’vi had lived harmoniously with each other and with nature for centuries, and Grace Augustine had fought tenaciously to keep the Americans from disturbing that harmony, destroying the balance of nature on Pandora. Besides, Eywa had a vested interest in the preservation of this most sacred land, right? This should have been a slam dunk prayer.

Only humans who believe in God could relate to this scene—humans who, like Jake, believe that the Divine is a being (complete with gender) who can be convinced to do what we want. We act as if God is a wish-granting genie: If we ask “Him” a certain way, perform certain rituals, pay a certain amount of money, and believe with all our hearts that our prayers will be answered affirmatively, we will be blessed. God will grant our wishes.

It doesn’t work that way—on Earth or on Pandora. In this case, Grace the good, died. On Earth, despite our prayers, our loved ones die. We die. Millions of good people die. With every disappointment, we discover that God is not a genie and prayer is not a magic bullet; but we continue to do the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result. And we encourage others to do the same.

Is there something we should know about God and about prayer that will help us understand them better? Perhaps, in that same scene, Jake’s beloved Neytiri revealed it, as she tried to manage his expectations of the outcome of his request: “Eywa does not take sides,” she explained. “Eywa only balances.”

On this side of the Universe, balance is called reaping and sowing. One rabbi phrased it, “Judge not, lest ye be judged, condemn not, lest ye be condemned…” In Loud Mouth vernacular: “Whatever you do will be done to you”—no more, no less. Balance.

Part one of Jake’s prayer request was not granted. What about the other half? The Na’vi did win the battle. Does that mean that Eywa blessed him or them? No, but it might look that way to those who think that God is a wish granting genie.

I think the Na’vi’s salvation was their awareness and belief that they were connected to every living thing. I think it was their respect for the role that every living thing plays in their eco-system and their ability to literally “hook up” with all the other life forms.

Understanding that they were one, everything—plants, trees, animals, Na’vi humanoids, flying beasts, you name it—worked collectively to ward off the enemy and restore peace, harmony and balance to their corner of the Universe. After their victory, did you notice that the Na’vi didn’t establish prison camps? They didn’t torture the invaders or turn them into prisoners of war.

The Na’vi understood harmony. They understood balance. They understood that the only way to avoid punishment and condemnation is not to punish and condemn. Most important, they understood Eywa—what It is and what It does.

That’s something we all should understand if we are to maintain peace and balance in our own lives. When we ask, in prayer, for everything to be resolved and balanced for the Highest Good of All concerned, we will get precisely what we asked for--EVERY time.

Are YOU an avatar?

2010-03-03T22:40:00.002-06:00

By now, practically everyone has seen the blockbuster movie “Avatar.” The special effects, the lush rainforest foliage, the terrifying wildlife and the 3D experience were absolutely spectacular; if you saw the movie in an IMAX theater, even more awesome. But with all that visual stimulation, you might have overlooked the real beauty of this movie: You might not have recognized your own reality, cloaked as cinematic fantasy.

If you’re among those who believe that we are spirits having a physical experience, the symbolism in “Avatar” didn’t escape you. Just as the consciousness of characters Jake Sully and Dr. Grace Augustine shifted out of their human bodies into their avatars when their bodies slept, spiritual masters believe that our consciousness also leaves our physical bodies and enters other dimensions when we sleep. We perceive those other-worldly experiences as “dreams.”

Have you ever vividly remembered the sights and sounds of a dream experience, particularly a frightening, mysterious, exciting or joyful one? What if our dream experiences are just as “real” as our waking experiences?

What if we are avatars? By day, we “live” on planet Earth and by night, in a dimension where we can instantly transport ourselves through time and space by merely thinking? (You have noticed that you have that magical ability in your dreams, right?)

What if the only difference between us and the three avatar drivers on Pandora is that they were fully conscious of who they were, what they were doing and why they were doing it—and we are not? What if, like Jake Sully, our souls entered a tiny human avatar on this planet? Each soul had a specific and distinct mission—rarely as daunting as protecting a people and their way of life from ruthless invaders, but a mission that was significant to that soul’s evolutionary growth?

Unlike Sully, however, because we are not consciously aware of our true identity, we haven’t a clue why we’re here and what we came to accomplish in a finite period of time. That makes the Earth experience tremendously more challenging. Those who volunteer for its Avatar Program are nothing short of remarkable.

Heck, practically any trained warrior—even Jake Sully, who wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer—can use his ground combat training to outsmart bad guys and ferocious beasts. But what if Sully had no memory that he had been one of the few, the proud, the Marines?

Picture this: What if Sully’s genetically engineered avatar also came equipped with an ego and five senses that operated on a totally different frequency than his authentic Self, and it had free will to think and do anything it pleased? What if he didn’t have full control of his avatar’s thoughts or movements? With a scenario such as this, could he have survived that first night alone on Pandora?

If you aren’t seeing any parallels yet, let me ask you this: What if, instead of being open to the Na’vi people’s belief that every living thing is spiritually connected and supported, Sully adopted the beliefs and attitudes of his forceful ego and five senses? His ego insists that he is a separate and more superior life form—and that he has dominion over the other life forms. Could an ego-driven Jake Sully have saved Pandora’s indigenous Na’vi civilization and their sacred ground?

This isn't a test. There is no right or wrong answer to these questions. The important thing is that you look behind the curtain of what we call real life, and examine all the possibilities and unborn potential in the props and characters lurking there.

Be creative! Tell your own story. Envision your physical body as a human avatar. Within it is an eternal life form that is part of and directly connected to the Source of all Life. It holds the answers to all your questions, is fully accessible to you 24/7, is infinitely patient, unconditionally loving, and totally forgiving.

Would your life be different if you initiated and nurtured a relationship with the all-knowing, eternal part of your being? What if you trusted it enough to surrender control of your avatar? Could you do that?

Close your eyes; take in the entire picture. Experience the vivid sights and sounds in "Real" 3D. What did your life look like when you relinquished control to the Source that we call God? How did your body feel? Were you breathing more deeply and feeling more peaceful because you trusted that God would always work out every situation in your best interest? Or were you tense and fearful? Was there a knot in your stomach because you (your ego-self ) was not in control of your body and your life?

Play with it. Have fun discovering more about yourself. I hope you'll share your discoveries below. (If you want to remain anonymous, simply use initials—yours or someone else's!)

News Flash from Nazareth!

2009-12-26T19:24:00.000-06:00

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?

2009-12-14T23:42:00.000-06:00

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:

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.)
How many of you have read The DaVinci Code? (Voom! The entire roomful of students raised their hands.)
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!

2009-12-07T13:17:00.000-06:00

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"

2009-12-02T04:28:00.001-06:00

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.

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:

We are not held accountable for what others do to us, only what we do to them.
No one can hurt us without hurting themselves. Ultimately, they’re the victims, not us.
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

2009-11-15T23:18:00.000-06:00

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?

2009-11-02T09:52:00.001-06:00

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?

2009-10-28T17:20:00.003-05:00

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?

2009-10-05T20:58:00.000-05:00

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:

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?

2009-10-05T20:43:00.000-05:00

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

2009-09-08T11:25:00.004-05:00

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

2009-08-30T20:39:00.004-05:00

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!

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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

2009-08-23T23:43:00.005-05:00

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.

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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.

Is God incomplete without you?

2009-08-17T22:58:00.004-05:00

In my living room are a variety of sentimental artifacts, including card decks from some of my favorite books, among them, Disappearance of the Universe by Gary Renard and A Course in Miracles. I was always intimidated by the Course until I read Renard’s wonderfully insightful book. Bless him! Most of the missing pieces from years of spiritual sleuthing finally fell into place. All the fuzzy stuff suddenly became clear. I had an even better understanding of God, Life and the purpose of the Earth experience.

When I discovered that digestible morsels from the book had been captured on a deck of cards, I had to own one and share it. Invariably, soon after guests sit on the sofa, they reach over, grab a card or an entire handful, and discover one, then another and another that speaks to them.

Frequently, they ask if they can keep a particular card. My response is always the same: “If it resonated with you, it surely will resonate with someone else, so let’s make sure it’s there so that they can enjoy it, too.”

The card that hit the sweet spot for two guests last week was one of my favorites from my A Course in Miracles deck. When she read it aloud, I was surprised that it resonated with me as deeply as it did the first time I saw it:

“God Himself is incomplete without me,” Josie said.

My heart skipped a beat. Again. I was reminded that if a spark of the omnipresent God is within each of us—whether or not we choose to acknowledge or behave as if we are the Spiritual Light of the physical world—we are an integral part of the Whole, the only thing that eternally exists in the Universe: God.

Of course, we don’t have to believe everything we read. However, I found that the idea of being part of the greatness that is God not only empowering; it challenged me to step it up, do better and be better. Moreover, it not only made me feel closer and truly loved; I felt that I was actually part of that unconditional love. I was challenged to reflect that love in my interactions with other souls.

"God is incomplete without me." I tried it on for size. It looked good and it felt good. In fact, it made me feel that I was good. From childhood, I had been taught that God was way, way over there and I was, well, way over here. For years, I had recited in church that I was “not worthy.” What child really believes that her parents love her if they make her feel that she’s unworthy and encourages others to tell her that she’s unworthy? What child loves herself if she believes that she is unworthy? How does that impact her self esteem, not to mention her behavior? Is it destructive or constructive?

I had a colleague who used to wear a t-shirt that said, “Act Godly.” For me, it was a wonderful reminder to be unconditionally loving, patient and forgiving; allow others the free will to meet the natural consequences of their actions. Others might receive a different message from it, depending upon their perception of God. To them, “acting godly” might mean being dictatorial, intervening, angry, condescending, spiteful, punitive, filicidal and/or genocidal.

It’s a slippery slope that should make us watch our steps. At minimum, it encourages us to be aware of our beliefs and the impact those beliefs have on our behavior.

I don’t doubt that some are appalled by the idea that we are close to God, not to mention part of God. Many might consider such an idea preposterous, if not sacrilegious. They may even feel that God would be offended by the idea that mere humans would consider themselves divine. In fact, within the first hour of posting this, three people unsubscribed. So we must acknowledge and respect that viewpoint.

What do you think: Are you part of the Whole, which makes God incomplete without you–or is God separate and complete despite you?

Why We Consistently Create Disappointment

2009-08-10T19:45:00.003-05:00

Last week we discussed the phenomenon that prompted millions of us to buy into the claim that the Law of Attraction was a “secret.” After spending our hard-earned money, we discovered that we’d known the “secret” since childhood: You reap what you sow.

The Law of Attraction/Reciprocity has now been reincarnated, reinterpreted, repackaged and monetized as a means by which we can we sow positive thoughts and reap desired possessions, conditions and people into our lives. Thinkers: What do we know about laws? Physical or spiritual, they produce the same outcome 100% of the time for 100% of the people.

Positive thoughts, affirmations and visualizations have no impact on a law. Visualize yourself releasing a brick from your hand. Meditate on it floating into the sky. Feel the excitement of defying gravity. Now, let the brick go. Did it fall up?

How does the Law of Attraction work in its 21st Century incarnation, exactly? Does it enable us to attract our every desire 100% of the time? Shouldn't it, if it's called a law? What if we all want to have lots of money without working? Can we leverage the Law for that? Shouldn't we be able to?

I read a story today about a guy in Kansas who won the lottery for the second time in a year. Last September, he won $75,000. Now he’s won nearly $900,000. Did he leverage the Law of Attraction the first time and become more proficient the second? Maybe…

“When I hit $75,000, I figured lighting struck once, it won't ever hit again,” he said. “This one knocked me flat!”

OK, so the Law didn’t have anything to do with it. He had consciously rejected the idea of beating the odds again; but it happened anyway. I'm confused. That's not the way it's supposed to work. Is it? Generally, when the Law doesn't work as predicted, the explanation usually includes some tactical error: didn't do enough this or did too much of that. I am not convinced, for any number of reasons. Let me just cite a few:

Years ago, budding actor Dustin Hoffman wanted only to enjoy practicing his craft; he didn’t want to be famous. But it happened anyway. Years later, Oprah Winfrey was scared to death when our general manager decided to move her time slot to compete directly with Phil Donahue. She was sure that Donahue would annihilate her in the ratings; her dominant thought was fear. But she became the world’s most successful talk show host anyway.

What does this say about the power of thought and the Law of Attraction? Perhaps it’s this: You're experiencing your soul’s life, not your body’s. Your physical brain and the desires of your body cannot reroute your eternal soul’s path. If your body and soul are not in agreement, your body will not get what it wants, when it wants it, no matter what metaphysical principles you practice.

Consider the possibility that each eternal soul’s finite experience on Earth has a purpose. That purpose is sometimes lofty, sometimes not. On occasion, a soul wants to experiment, push the envelope, and explore the possibilities on Planet Earth. Other times, a soul paves a distinct path, and everyone that it is destined to meet and all of the experiences that it has designed for its pleasure or growth are awaiting its arrival. In other words, as I like to say, the script is already written. Then someone tells your body that it can write a new script. Let's climb into the balcony and see what that looks like:

INTERIOR: GOD’S FAMILY ROOM, FLOODED WITH LIGHT AND FILLED WITH FROLICKING KIDS

God is relaxing, watching them play, when a very serious looking child who has been staring out of the window suddenly beams himself next to his Father’s side. God leans over and kisses the child’s forehead.

GOD
(smiling)
Well, hello there, my little cherub. You’re looking awfully unhappy. What’s on your mind?

BLISS
Joy needs you over there on Earth. You’ve got to go help! I know that you can hear her. Why are you ignoring her?

GOD
Ignoring Joy? I don’t think that’s possible. Are you sure?

BLISS
(impatiently)
Yes, I’m sure.

BLISS points to the window where he had been intently watching the flurry of activity on Earth.

BLISS
See? Joy’s just talking, talking, talking to you over there, and you’re over here, not paying attention!

GOD
(A twinkle in his eyes)
Bliss, listen to me carefully. You know how much I love Joy, right?

BLISS
(nodding)
Yes.

GOD lifts BLISS and places him on His knee.

GOD
I love Joy unconditionally—the same way I love all of my children. No matter what she does or what she says, she’s mine and I love her. True?

BLISS nods

GOD
(Holding Bliss’s little face in His hands)
Now here’s what I want you to do: Close your eyes and bring Joy into your mind.
(He pauses)
Can you see her?

BLISS
Yes. She’s still talking to you, but she keeps looking at the sky.
(He frowns, puzzled)
Why is she doing that?

GOD
She thinks I'm in the sky. But never mind that.
Now. What else do you see?

BLISS’s eyes pop open. He’s surprised—and delighted.

BLISS
I see YOU, Daddy! You’re right there with her. I see her Light. Joy still has her Light!

GOD
(smiling)
That’s right, son. There is no spot where I am not.
Now close your eyes again. What else do you see?

BLISS
You’re whispering to her. You’re telling her that what she wants right now will stop her from fulfilling the mission she created before she left home.
But Daddy--she’s won't stop talking so that she can’t hear you. She’s really, really upset that you’re not giving her what she wants.

Tears begin to stream down BLISS'S face. GOD tries to comfort him with a big hug.

BLISS
Why doesn’t she just shut up and listen to what you're trying to tell her? Why, Daddy?

GOD
Joy has simply forgot that I am there. She’s lost touch. She's been told so many times that I am far away, in the sky. Now she believes it, too.

BLISS
(sighing)
She doesn’t know that you’re right there? Can’t she see her Light? How is she going to keep from making a mess if she’s not listening?

GOD
(nodding sympathetically)
That’s the challenge all my children face when they pass through the Veil of Forgetfulness to the domain of the ego.
You know, the ego can only survive in the physical world.

BLISS
Really? It can’t beam itself anywhere else in the Universe like us souls?

GOD
No, so you can understand its frustration. Being bound to the physical world is a huge limitation. The ego would be all alone if no souls visited Earth. He makes them want to stay longer by keeping some kind of conflict going, whether it's in their heads or with each other.

Ego makes them believe that Earth is the real world, and they believe it. He promises them that they can have anything they want—and he's right. But because they think that Earth is all there is, they only want physical things.

BLISS
That's all? Just physical things? But that stuff's not forever. It's not real.

GOD
I know. Ego doesn't want them to know that. If they knew that they had as much power as they do, and they knew that the Source of that power was within them, they wouldn’t want to spend as much time over there entertaining Ego.
That’s why they’re weighed down with bodies the moment they arrive over there. It doesn't take long for them to believe that they are bodies, not souls.

BLISS
(incredulous)
No!

GOD
Yes. They’ve forgotten who they are. They’ve forgotten that they all came from the same family. They’ve forgotten their Source. They look for answers outside of themselves, when everything they need is within.

Ego encourages them to fight with each other, yearn for money and possessions, and feed the drama of Earth. They act as if Earth is the center of the Universe.

BLISS
(bursting into a giggle)
You’re telling a story, Daddy! That’s too stupid to be true.

GOD
(smiling)
We don’t judge over here, remember?
No, it’s true, son. Let me explain it to you this way: The ego has a vested interest in focusing your brothers’ and sisters’ attention on the Earth’s stage, instead of on Home.
Ego drives a wedge between us by telling them that they were born evil, and that I’m really mad at them and think they’re unworthy. It even tells them that I plan to torture most of them forever because they’re so bad. They hear it so much that they believe it.

BLISS
(alarmed)
That’s crazy! They know that you are Love, Daddy!

GOD
They knew it before they left home. But they don’t stop to ask, “Would Love do that?” Instead, they believe that I hurt people.

BLISS
But if they really believe that, why would they ask you to help them when they’re in trouble? Why would they expect anyone so mean to really help them?

GOD
Because Ego also told them that even though I’m a tyrant who demands worship, I also am a loving Father. So if they beg just the right way and do just the right things, I’ll grant their requests.

BLISS
And they believe THAT? Are tyrants loving? Does a loving Father torture? That’s stu— I mean, that doesn’t make any sense!
So how do they get what they want? And what if the thing they want isn’t the right thing for them? They expect you to just say yes? That must be the tyrant part, not the loving Father part, right?

GOD
I know it’s confusing. But that’s what happens when souls rely on human brains for understanding, instead of seeking Divine Guidance. It’s a challenge. In fact, Joy and I talked about this before she left.

BLISS
(concerned)
But, Daddy, she forgot! Wha-what’s going to happen to her now? Look at her; she’s working so hard to make things go her way. She’s so sure that this is the right thing.

GOD
(nodding)
I know.

BLISS
It’s not right for her, is it?

GOD
No, son, it’s not. But she has free will. She controls her outcomes, not me. There’s a natural consequence for every decision she makes. If she keeps doing what she’s doing and keeps meeting disappointment and heartache, she may decide to be still and listen to the still small voice within her.

I am not going anywhere. I’ll be there whenever she wants to talk to me, and I will give her guidance whenever she wants to listen.

BLISS
(gently leaning his head on God’s chest)
Thanks, Daddy. What would we do without you?

GOD
(leaning over to kiss BLISS forehead)
You’ll never have to find out, son. You’ll never have to find out.

LIGHT FADES, CURTAIN FALLS

Why the rule is golden

2009-08-03T22:38:00.004-05:00

What if, at the end of the day, you will not be held accountable for what others did to you, only what you did to them—no matter what they did to you?

I don’t know about you; but frankly, this kind of accountability is scarier than the claim that God will burn my soul in a fiery hell. (By the way, if there are any physicists out there, please leave a comment or a link explaining how a physical element such as fire actually burns a non-physical soul. Or is that complication why it takes all eternity to accomplish this task?)

I admit that I probably spend more time thinking about this stuff than most folks, but I am absolutely fascinated by the way humans behave, because it's such an accurate reflection of what they believe about Life and about God. Anoint my little pointed head with oil if you feel I’m off-base here; but if God is Love, “He” would not use torture as a tactic or a threat to correct errant behavior. And let’s face it: It hasn’t been very effective. That’s proof enough for me that the real God, the one and only God, does not solve problems this way.

What seems more a godly and powerful way to address sin/error, and what makes better sense to me, is the Law of Reciprocity. What is that, exactly? It must be important because all of the major religions of the world warn us to respect it. Perhaps these words are familiar to you:

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, for this is the law and
the prophets.” Christianity

“What is hurtful to yourself do not do to your fellow man. That is the
whole of the Torah and the remainder is but commentary.” Judaism

“Do unto all men as you would wish to have done unto you; and reject for
others what you would reject for yourselves.” Islam

“Hurt not others with that which pains yourself.” Buddhism

Tzu-Kung asked: “Is there one principle upon which one’s who life may
proceed?” The Master replied, “Is not Reciprocity such a principle?—what you do
not yourself desire do not put before others.” Confucianism

“This is the sum of all true righteousness—Treat others as thou
wouldst thyself be treated. Do nothing to thy neighbor that hereafter Thou
wouldst not have thy neighbor do to thee.” Hinduism
Oneness: Great Principles Shared by All Religions

Most of us don't take these words seriously. By the way we treat our friends, co-workers, employees, lovers and even strangers, it's clear we haven't noticed that we hurt ourselves significantly when we ignore the potential pain that the Law of Reciprocity can usher into our lives.

“Do unto others only what you’d want done to you” is the clearest and
simplest way to avoid the flip side of reciprocity. In Loud Mouth-speak, it
boils down to: “Whatever you do will be done to you.” But I'll let the
scriptures speak:

“It’s nature’s rule that as we sow, we shall reap.” Buddhism

“Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” Christianity

“A liberal man will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be
watered.” Judaism

“What proceeds from you will return to you.” Confucianism

“Thou canst not gather what thou dost not sow; as thou dost plant the tree
so it will grow.” Hinduism

“Whatever man soweth, that shall he reap. If he soweth trouble, trouble
shall be his harvest. If a man sow poison, he cannot expect ambrosia.” Sikhism

Oneness: Great Principles Shared by
All Religions

It’s difficult to ignore the simplicity and universality of the Law of Reciprocity when you see that so many religions teach the same message. And did I mention how divinely fair this law is: An eye for an eye, not eternal damnation for several decades of sin.

Besides being fair, the Law of Reciprocity, also known as the Law of Attraction, sets God free from a theater of endless tragedies. It lets God be godly, and maintain “His” focus on the Divine rather than the depraved. The Law requires no mind-numbing recordkeeping for numerous millennia, and it involves no demonic child abuse or other torturous tasks that do not befit a Spirit as divine as God.

If God can implant a steady stream of ideas into the minds of mere mortals to make our Internet speed faster, telephones and cameras smaller, and overall quality of life easier, it's possible that “He” could also implant a self-correcting system of accountability in our souls that would make “His” life a lot easier. That system: The Law of Reciprocity/Attraction.

We can embrace the stories that depict God as an angry, vindictive, conditionally forgiving brute who helps some of "His" kids pass their cosmetology exams and win football games and lets pedophiles prey on "His" other kids, or we can write a different script—like this one, which has greater potential for attracting more joyful reciprocal circumstances than the script we currently have adopted:

INTERIOR: GOD’S LIVING ROOM, FLOODED WITH LIGHT

God is relaxing when one of His kids runs into the room breathlessly. He looks up, smiles and lovingly strokes the child’s head.)

GOD

Well, hello there, my little angel. Why are you so excited?

JOY

Jimmy and Paul said they’re going to spend the afternoon on Earth. I wanna go, too! Can I go? Can I go?

GOD

Of course, you may go, Precious. There’s plenty of drama over there to keep you busy for several hours.

JOY

(Jumping up and down with glee)

OK. What do I need to take with me?

GOD

Sweetheart, you have everything you need right inside you. Can you see your Christ Light?

JOY

(Looking halfway down her ethereal body, and pointing toward the glowing ball of light)

Yep. It's right there!

GOD

Well, all you need to do is keep an eye on It. It will remind you that I am with you always.

JOY

(Grabbing God around the neck.)

Thanks, Daddy!

JOY runs toward the door, then pauses and turns around.

JOY

Are you going to miss me?

GOD(Laughing)

How can I miss you if I’m going with you, Sweetheart? You haven’t even crossed the Veil of Forgetfulness at the entrance to Earth, and you've forgotten that already?

JOY

(Looking sheepish)

I’m sorry, Daddy.

GOD

It’s OK, Dear. You know that all is forgiven. I just want you to enjoy yourself this afternoon. Now remember, in human time, that translates to about 75 or 80 Earth years, but when it's time to come home, you'll know. And don't forget that you still have free will. You can do anything you want to do over there, but the play rules are the same as over here.

JOY

I know: Don't do anything to anyone else that I don't want done to me, because I will reap what I sow.

GOD

That’s right, Love. Try not to forget that.And please remember to pause frequently this afternoon and look toward your Light. Just be still and think about my Unconditional Love for you. You'll feel my presence, and you'll remember that you are not alone. There is no spot where I am not.

Oh, and one more thing: There is a little troublemaker who lives on Earth. His name is Ego. He'll be talking in your head so much that you'll think that his thoughts are your thoughts. He doesn't talk as gently as Daddy. One of his tricks is to distract you so that you can't hear me when I talk to you, so quiet time will be important.

Ego wants to control you. He wants you to think that you are merely the body costume that you'll be wearing over there, and that you are mortal like your body.

JOY

(giggling)

That's so silly, Daddy. Who would believe that?

GOD

You'd be surprised. Ego is pretty clever. He takes advantage of the Veil of Forgetfulness. And he's a liar.He's going to try to convince you to lean on him instead of me,and he'll try to make you do things to others that you wouldn't want anyone to do to you.
You're strong and powerful. You'll be able to overcome him if you remember that you're mine, and he has no power over you. Just don't let him trick you into giving him your power, OK?

JOY waves and reaches for the door knob.

JOY
I won't, Daddy, I promise. I love you!

GOD

I love you more, Sweetheart. Have fun, and remember that:

Life is always fair, so don’t do anything to anyone over there that you wouldn’t want done to you!
God is never far. I am the Light and the Love within you.
Don't believe anyone who tells you that death on planet Earth is “the end.”
And this is very important, Baby Girl: Remember that absolutely nothing is unforgivable. No matter what anyone does to you, forgive them as quickly as you’d want to be forgiven if you’d made the mistake, OK?

JOY
I will, Daddy. See you shortly!

GOD
Absolutely. You’ll be back here before you know it. Now scoot, so that you will be home before dark.Have a wonderful time today. When you get back, we'll talk about all the things you did over there. OK?

LIGHT FADES, CURTAIN FALLS

Who's gonna nab the real burglar in Cambridge?

2009-07-27T04:54:00.005-05:00

The furor over the arrest of renowned Harvard University Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. has been painful to watch, even from the balcony of Life’s dramas: Scenes littered with suspicion, mistrust and accusations of racial profiling morphed into outrage, defensiveness, retaliation and, alas, some unfortunate mug shots. None of it—not the incident, the race-based commentary or what was really happening behind the scenes—was spiritually enlightening or positively evolutionary.

If you resisted the urge to jump onto this stage and fuel the flames of racial bigotry, if you maintained some distance and climbed into the balcony of the mayhem, then you had the benefit of being detached enough to see the character stealing each scene. You could almost hear him chortling. Uh huh, it was our devious friend Ego, the Anti-Christ, gleefully yanking everybody’s chain. Yes, I said it: Your, my, our ego is the Anti-Christ.

I didn’t think that I was the first to link the two; but just to make sure, I Googled “Ego Anti-Christ.” The numerous results included books such as Real Jesus, the psychology of anti-christ, and articles. One, “How to Recognize the Anti-Christ Within” leaped from the page. There was even an Oprah.com Community post, “The anti-Christ is NOT a person.”

Millions are waiting for the Anti-Christ to arrive, but it’s been here all along. It sits where we sit, stands where we stand, walks where we walk. And all too often, it speaks when we speak. It prods us to do and say things to others that we would not want done or said to us. It picks fights, fuels dissension, and causes us to choose angry force over peaceful power. It justifies righteous indignation over effective conflict resolution. It’s like a magnet, spinning our moral compass out of control.

Ego is the antithesis of the Christ spirit. It upstages maturity and intelligence. It stirs up mess, and through mass and social media, engages millions in divisive bickering that keeps us mired in the drama of Earth, distracting us from the greater reality of who we are and what Life is. Heaven forbid that we should choose peace, bliss out, and discover that we are more powerful than our egos led us to believe!

Ego is winning its battle for our souls, though not on merit. We’re forfeiting without even showing up.

Ego has a vested interest in highlighting our differences rather than our unifying divinity. It tells us that others are less human, less intelligent, less prosperous or not as beautiful as we are, and we should treat them offensively. We obey. It tells us that someone thinks they’re better than we are, and we should be offended. On cue, we shake our fists in rage, hearts pounding, glands sweating, blood pressure rising, literally making ourselves sick.

Ego doesn’t care whom it hurts. After all, hurt people hurt people. Hurt people also create more drama, so the ego's manipulative mission has been accomplished. Ego will act a fool and make a fool wherever humans allow: in the opulent offices of global government and business leaders, in the squalor of tent cities, refugee camps and urban ghettos, and in quiet upscale neighborhoods such as Cambridge, Massachusetts.

In every case, the human mind makes a conscious decision to relinquish control to the devilish ego. We are not as conscious of the corresponding consequences, but that can change. At any moment, we can choose to act in our own best interests.

“I can be changed by what happens to me.
I refuse to be reduced by it.”
Maya Angelou

Whenever we let the ego force us to focus on the superficial, we volunteer to be reduced—sometimes in front of huge gawking audiences. Whenever we handcuff and book someone for screaming at us, we reduce ourselves to mere ego. Whenever we ask, “Is it because I’m Black?” or retort, “I’ll talk to your mama on the porch,” we’ve let the ego win. Whenever we label ourselves as anything other than children made in the image of the Love that is God, we’ve bought into the ego’s false claims that we are only humans, defined by our differences.

Situations often arise to help us remember who and whose we are. These teachable moments allow us to practice calling on the Light of God within to anchor us to our seats so that we won’t leap onto the stage of someone else’s ego-driven drama. These are times when we can work on perfecting the art of seeing the omnipresent God Light in everyone, no matter how they’re acting.

Truth has its rewards. Without these challenging or confrontational situations, when would we have an opportunity to demonstrate our values, stand firm in the truth of our own divinity, and refuse to be diminished by anything said or done?

Whatever your reaction to the lamentable drama in Cambridge, did you observe your own values on display when you spoke or wrote about it? Others certainly noticed. While responding to my comment about the incident on Denrique Preudhomme’s blog earlier this week, a woman declared that she didn't believe that we should turn the other cheek and let God handle our problems. Furthermore, she said, God would not want us to back down from a fight with our tails tucked between our legs.

If she had not written that, the rest of us would not have known that she, like George W. Bush, perceived God as pugnacious rather than the Prince of Peace. I didn’t argue. We must give loving allowance for folks to believe what they believe. However, I did acknowledge my awareness that there are many who, like her, do not believe in the teachings of Jesus. (OK, so I also added that this is why we create, nurture and repeat these hurtful dramas. I admit that it might have been a bit judgmental. I’m working on that—mean it. Hey, if my soul was fully evolved, it wouldn't be wearing this body.)

That brief online exchange was just another of my many self-awareness tests. Sometimes I pass, sometimes I fail. The most difficult part for me is maintaining conscious awareness that many times each day I will encounter these opportunities to speak and act from my empowering Divine-Self or my destructive Ego-Self. Each decision has its corresponding consequences, which should be incentive enough. And it is, when I remember instead of getting caught up in the drama.

It’s infinitely easier to detect these growth opportunities when I watch other folks’ dramas from the balcony of their lives. Recently, several friends have approached me for support after encountering dehumanizing individuals who hadn't simply hidden their God Light under a bushel; they had buried it in a different zip code.

One friend wondered if the vile nature of her client’s in-your-face communication warranted an equally caustic and profane response “to show him who he was dealing with.” After all, she was no chump!

Because she was no chump, I suggested, wouldn’t it be a greater demonstration of her strength if she refused to allow him to blow out her Christ Light with his belittling rants? Any chump can throw verbal garbage or physical blows. Any small person can try to feel bigger by diminishing the worth of others. Only the strong can turn the other cheek, knowing that the power of the Almighty is within them. She liked that idea and accepted the challenge to flex that muscle.

A few days ago, another dear friend and mentor, a phenomenal manager in the business world, demonstrated that he is also an awesome leader in the real world. His boss, frustrated that he did not have the authority to fire my friend, spewed venomous, demeaning language in his face.

My friend didn't react, no matter how disrespectfully the man behaved in this professional setting. He refused to relinquish his power. He refused to allow the out-of-control being on the other side of the desk to force him to abandon the refuge of his Christ-Self.

He calmly observed his boss's tantrum. In fact, he said, he felt sorry for the man—and with good reason: Despite his considerable education, this man did not know what he was doing to himself physically or spiritually. He did not know that his fury was creating a chemical time bomb in his body. He did not know that this is a reap-what-you-sow world: Whatever you do will be done to you. He also did not know that your anger cannot control others’ bodies, minds or behavior unless they allow.

Luckily, most of us can exist an entire lifetime without being subjected to scenarios with this level of toxicity. I can’t say with certainty that I would have responded appropriately if I had encountered this situation before my mentor modeled—with a capital “M”—how to exude sheer power. If he can do it, we can do it.

He didn’t simply accept the opportunity to be Christ-like, he owned it. He was like the proverbial tree that’s planted in the water: He would not be moved. Despite his boss’s numerous attempts to drown him in darkness and goad him into responding insubordinately, my friend stood strong and tall in the Light, knowing that Darkness and Light cannot occupy the same space at the same time. By making this choice, he and the Light actually became One.

The irony here is that one man was a Christian minister. The other wasn’t. Guess which.

It was Ego who walked off that stage with his tail tucked between his legs—a defeat that did little to spoil its high batting average in many other places in the world, including Cambridge.

Perhaps we can further diminish its influence and impact if we simply shed light on other instances in which we held the Anti-Christ at bay. (Now wouldn’t that be a Revelation?)

What challenges have you faced that you've overcome in a powerful way? Or if you missed an opportunity, with hindsight, how would you have handled it more effectively?

Is Truth more important than facts?

2009-07-19T00:29:00.002-05:00

In the coin section of my wallet, I carry the tag from an old teabag. It’s a quote from French Enlightenment philosopher Voltaire: “A witty saying proves nothing.” Amen.

We love clever sayings—even if they don’t make sense, even if our own life experiences have demonstrated something to the contrary, and even if we don’t fully understand the implications of the claim that is being made. We just pass these sayings to others on without thinking, especially if it threatens us.

In the e-mail world, this is done by clicking "forward." I've repeatedly received a Bible verse claiming that Jesus said something judgmental and threatening. Each time I've received it, I ask the sender if she (it's always a woman) really believes that Jesus would say something so unChristlike. Those who respond always say that they hadn't thought about it. That's the part I don't understand. It's the thinking faculty that separates us from the rest of the animal kingdom.

Some of the other oft-repeated sayings that fill me with wonder are those surrounding the spiritual Law of Attraction. These witticisms preach that you can have anything you want: Think it, believe it, visualize it, hold it as a dominant thought, and it will manifest out of thin air. That is the message of these sayings.

Some not only believe that this is true, they believe that repeating these witticisms actually gives others some hope that they can turn things around. Is it hope or a headache that they're giving them?

According to the Law of Attraction prophets (many of whom are focused solely on profits), you can have anything you want—even if it’s not yours. You can have anything you want—even if it is not for your Highest Good to have it. You can have anything you want—even though your soul desires something totally different. You can have what you want—even if there's only one of it, and more than one person wants it. Then that leads to the "blessed and highly favored" sayings that imply that Our Father plays favorites.

Witty sayings prove something if they are true 100% of the time for 100% of the people. If it happens for some, but not for everyone, it’s a possibility, not a truth. And they should be regarded as possibilities and nothing more.

How about this saying from the Loud Mouth: "What's yours, you will get—at the right time and in the most perfect way—and no one can keep you from it." While I have no proof that this happens 100% of the time for 100% of the people, there is some empirical evidence that reveals that it's more probable than "you can have anything you want."

Anyone who’s ever had a disappointment had to have anticipated a specific outcome: They visualized it, made it their dominant thought, and they believed that it was going to happen. But it didn’t—or it happened for someone else.

Two weeks ago, hardly anyone knew who Kesha Ni’Cole Nichols was. In her world, in her mind, and according to her plans, she was going to be honeymooning with NBA star Richard Jefferson right now.

This young woman had planned a $2 million wedding day. (The thought of a woman spending that kind of money for a ceremony and celebration that were going to last a few hours might have made any young man choke: Would he have enough money to sustain her for the rest of the year?) But I digress:

How many times do you think Ms. Nichols visualized herself proudly walking down the aisle with a church full of high-profile folks looking adoringly at her ridiculously expensive wedding gown? In this scene, the love of her life was always waiting at the end of aisle, eagerly waiting to say, “I take this woman.” Not once did it cross her mind that Jefferson would dump her the night before. In order to spend that kind of money, you could not have spent time thinking about anything but that wedding day. It was certifiably her dominant thought. And look what happened.

Ms. Nichols is not an exception. These things happen all the time. Heck, they’ve happened to you. It would be crass and untrue to say, "If you want to make God laugh, just make plans." But you have to admit that it's witty--and o are clever motivational sayings and formulas touting dominant thoughts, visualizations and other predictors of success, prosperity, and wellness that cannot be proved.

In fact, experience has proved otherwise. With the misperception that we are merely mortal creatures, and that acquiring stuff while we're in these bodies will make us happy, these witty sayings steer us in the direction of material joy.

In actuality, peace of mind is what truly brings joy. Few things disturb our peace of mind more than getting, having stuff and keeping stuff. What we need are some sayings that give us peace of mind when we can't pay our bills or when we face health challenges--sayings that have nothing to do with changing the circumstances, but understanding why we created them in the first place. Hmmm, how about: "Trust that whatever you are experiencing is designed by your soul for its Highest Good. Allow it to fulfill its purpose."

I admit, it might not be very inspirational, but if I know that I am eternal and that the problem I'm facing is not, I am more likely to relax and trust that the soul and the God Spirit within me know what they're doing.

Maybe it's the Virgo in me, but I like to understand and analyze my experiences. Based on my belief that things don't happen to me, they happen for me, I always ask the God Within: "Why did I create this situation, and how does it serve me?" Invariably--usually within 24 hours because I've practiced this so long--it is revealed why I am having that experience, and how it is benefitting me. As a consequence, I am rarely disturbed when things happen. I accept that it is happening for my growth and Highest Good. That doesn't mean that I am delighted that I'm having the discomfort. For added measure, I frequently say something like, "I am open to experience something more pleasant, at the earliest and most perfect time."

Challenges build muscle, teach lessons and stimulate growth. The last person you want to be around if things go wrong is someone who has not faced a challenge or a disappointment before. Problems are good. Disappointments are good. Not getting everything you want is good. Learning from every experience--and seizing the growth or practice opportunities they present--is even better.

What advice have you been given, based on a motivational saying, that was fact but not truth? How did you respond? Share so that we can all grow?

Can you make it through the "tough parts?"

2009-07-12T19:07:00.006-05:00

It happened Thursday. I was taking my daughter to the airport after a blissful weeklong Independence Day vacation from everything. I even played hooky from the home-church:

“Uh oh, here comes the tough part.”

I looked at Maiysha and instantly felt a little knot in my stomach. I had forgotten how much she dreaded goodbyes. As I pulled up to curb outside the American Airlines terminal at O’Hare, my mind instantly flashed back to the TV Guide documentary about her journey to the Grammy Awards as a neophyte nominee.

That video gave me the first glimpse into what happens every time my little girl and I leave each other and head to another city: I watched her close her hotel room door as I left to go to the L.A. airport. Then she sobbed. She revealed to the producer that it has happened ever since she was four.
Separation is a heartbreaking ritual familiar to all children of divorce, particularly if their parents live in different cities. While excited to see one beloved parent, they dread leaving the other.

At this point, this heartbreak seems to have lodged itself in Maiysha’s memory because, even though she’s grown, and we’ve lived in different cities since her freshman year in high school, she still cries the moment I leave her sight. Now that the TV Guide cameras have shown me what that looks like, I cry, too.

Letting go. It’s one of the toughest things we do, and it can be painful if we don’t understand that there is always a time for departure. We cannot go to the next level without leaving the last. We forget that we’re on a path, and only a fraction of a millimeter of that path is here on planet Earth. Some of us exhaust a lot of energy, much of it negative, trying to control that blink of an eyelash moment in Universal Time.

Perhaps you’re displeased with your current circumstances. What led you to this moment and these circumstances? Sure, you can trace your physical path to this spot—your decisions, educational preparation and the skill sets, the places you went and organizations you joined, the previous jobs you held, the network of people who influenced your personal or professional lives—but that doesn’t always answer the “How’d I get here from there” question, does it?

You did all the right things for all the right reasons. You gave your relationship or your job all you had to give, and more; but it didn’t last. In the immortal tearful words of Nancy Kerrigan: “Why? Why? Why?”

I get this question from many who seek my counsel. For each, the response is specific to their situation, but the core of it my answer is always this: If you were supposed to have a different experience, you would be. What you’re experiencing now is the result of all of the choices you’ve made throughout your eternal life, times that you cannot even remember.

That’s the “tough part,” the “letting go” part: releasing old ideas of how things are “supposed to be,” based on the choices we’ve made in these bodies. As far back as we can remember, we’ve treated people well, worked hard, and followed the Golden Rule. Well, mostly. Still, the few times that we veered from the straight and narrow don’t explain why our lives look like this. Or maybe it’s the other way around: I know, as I sit here perched high, high above the crossroads of the Chicago River and Lake Michigan, with a horizon so rich with possibilities that I can barely sit still, I wonder: What in the Universe did I do to deserve this fabulous life?

That would be a clue: There’s something happening that we cannot see and cannot remember. The tough part is accepting that whatever we’re going through right now is either the unfolding of our souls’ plan or our bodies’ decisions to throw a monkey wrench in that plan; everything we do right now impacts us at some point on our journey. If you don’t believe, just do something that you don’t want done to you. Go ‘head. We’re watching.

We forget that Life is invisible and infinite; bodies are not. To help us remember, we’re granted ample opportunities to learn to get out of our soul’s way, go with the flow, and accomplish the goals that the soul intended when it showed up on this drama-filled planet wearing a body costume or, as it’s called in Genesis 2:7, a “tunic of skin.”

That’s another tough part: We think we’re only visible and we focus all of our attention on the visible. This is your soul’s life. Your body and all the physical trappings that you’re fixated on are merely trappings, and you can get sucked into a gooey vortex by allowing those trappings—the job titles, the car, the house, the endless quest for financial prosperity—that distract you from why you’re really here. Prosper that.

At the end of the day, all of us will leave behind all the stuff we fought so hard to own and far too many of us will be just another carcass that got tricked by the devious ego, who stuck his leg out and made us trip over the props. While they put our worthless physical remains in a box and plant it, we’ll schlep our vacuous souls over to a corner and mourn the growth opportunities that we blew.

Everyone is here for a unique reason. What’s yours? Are you fulfilling your mission? How close are you? This is urgent, so let me “go Loud Mouth” for a minute: Are you walking around with a big ball on your head, deluded into thinking that only what you can see, touch, smell, hear and taste is all that exists, and everything you ever wanted resides inside that ball? You can let your ego keep “punking” you—or you can become more intimate with Life’s unlimited reality.

I was counseling a distraught young woman the other day. She graduated with a high GPA from a very good university a year ago, and despite her strong work ethic and high acumen, she has been unable to find a job. Many of her friends are similarly situated, but just as many friends are enjoying what she perceives to be successful careers in the corporate world.

Unhappy that she was not enjoying the same success, she told me that she has repeatedly prayed to God, “What am I doing wrong? What am I not doing? Please give me some direction.” After asking, what did she do? She actively looked for ways to follow the same direction as her “successful” friends. She was so busy that she probably wasn’t even able to hear the direction she was being given from the spark of God within her. She expected the direction to take her where she thought she should be going.

Like most of us, she wanted God to do her will. We’ve been taught to do this. It’s what we think prayer is: “Ask and it shall be given.”
What if it’s not yours? What if it’s not the right path for you? What if your body’s desires aren’t in alignment with your soul’s? What if you tried to release your human understanding of the situation? You might see things differently.

My young friend, for example, had been mightily blessed; but she appeared to be unaware. After graduation, a relative reached out to her and, acknowledging how hard she had worked to complete her education, made her an offer that her friends probably would envy: She was invited into the relative’s comfortable home and told not to worry about paying a thing. Yep, I’m talking free room and board. Blessing, or no?

This young woman could hardly wait to move out on her own. She was desperate to be like her friends who have income, independence, and are now accumulating rent receipts, credit card debt, car notes and all of the bills associated with owning a late model car, suitable business attire, furniture and appliances.

I asked her several questions: First, why are you here on this planet, in this country, in that place at this time? Like most of us, she wasn’t sure. Exploring some possibilities provided tremendous insight for her. You might find this exercise helpful, as well. Try to look at your situation from a different perspective, higher than the ego-level.

I wondered if this talented, ambitious young woman had considered the possibility that living in her relative’s home might actually have been a blessing for her relative. She paused, a bit confused. I tried to clarify: I asked her to tell me what it feels like when she presents someone a gift—an unexpected, generous, selfless gift. She could feel it instantly—and it felt GREAT. I asked her to imagine that she had blessed her relative with this incomparable feeling. Her spirit began to brighten at the empowering thought that she might actually be delivering the gift in this situation.

Then I asked her to look deeper, look at the scenario spiritually, beyond the physical appearance and consider the possibility that the eternal soul who currently is wearing the body of her relative is one that her soul has known for a long time. I didn’t ask her to accept it as a fact; I just wanted her to write a script with this scene.

Next question: What if, at some point in your eternal life, you did something selfless for this soul or another and the Universe was returning your generosity? What if you refused to allow this soul to repay its debt?

She then began to stop resisting her situation, but actually embrace it.

Like most of us, this young woman had focused her attention on the drama on her life’s physical stage, where the ego-self is only capable of rearranging the props on the stage or trying to direct the actors to do what it wants. Those who are heavily controlled by their egos even try to manipulate situations and people in a forceful rather than powerful way.

When something goes awry and things aren’t going as our egos desire, those who believe there’s a God cry out for help. They look up rather than within because they’ve been told that God is a being that looks like a man, which is a limiting portrayal of Spirit or Love. They say that “He” is far away in the heavens, and will come down here and intervene, or will favor us over “His” other kids. They confuse us and confound our search for a close relationship with God and complicate our search for divine answers to our most troubling questions.

We pray and pray and pray for God to do our will, and we feel rejected, abandoned or even angry when “He” doesn’t comply. At that point, we’re ripe for the pickin’. Our egos convince us that we have to take control. WE have to make it happen, since we can’t count on God.

We don’t give a thought to the possibility that things are the way they are because it is for the Highest Good of our souls to have this experience. Through it, there is a wonderful growth lesson for the only Life that really exists: the eternal life of the soul.

Maybe, if we made uncharitable choices during a period that we can’t remember, this is an opportunity to settle that debt. If given the option of paying off a debt or carrying the burden throughout all eternity, which would you choose if you know that physical life is not real life?

We don’t know what our soul’s plan is, and we haven’t done the spiritual homework to figure out how to neutralize those debts painlessly. If you’re interested, I provide those tips very simply in “Crossing an Unseen Bridge: The Law of Attraction Secrets No One Wants to Talk About.”

Taking full responsibility for our life’s circumstances is tough. Letting go of our limited vision of a God who is off in the heavens, instead of within us, is even tougher. We have to leave behind that ancient caricature borrowed from Greek mythology, if we’re going to get to the next level in our spiritual development. At that level, we revere each individual as a spark of the living God and we treat each individual with the divine respect that we would accord God if “He” was wearing a tunic of skin. As a consequence, what returns to us in this “reap what you sow” world is always divine.

Our every thought, belief and action has a corresponding consequence, and the only thing that you really can control are the consequences of your thoughts, beliefs and actions. Be still, seek peace, and you will hear the directions rising from the Divine within you.That’s what happened to my young friend:

Because she had left her iPod at a friend’s earlier in the week, she found herself jogging in silence, the realm of the Divine. As a consequence, she was better able to hear the Divine speak to her.

She wasn’t sure why, but as she ran that day, Spirit moved her to call me. After we gained some clarity on her situation, it occurred to me that I knew someone who needs an energetic, hardworking entry-level public relations person with events management experience. The position would require frequent travel, which she loves.

Because she and I had not spoken in a while and she lives out of town, she had not crossed my mind. Apparently, she was supposed to. I hold a lot of influence in determining who gets that position.

This was just one of many reminders that there are no accidents; there is a Divine Plan. It was written before our souls entered these bodies; in fact, our souls co-authored it.

If we could pull our contributing chapters from a shelf and find the pages that explained how our current circumstances serve our souls’ growth, if we could remember that we are not finite bodies and that this is just a momentary experience in this tunic of skin, we could relax and go with the flow. We wouldn’t be upset when things change, no matter how abrupt or seemingly unfair the change is.

If we could trust God enough to know that everything serves our Highest Good, we wouldn’t be angry when un-Christlike Christians or other ego-driven souls try to harm us. We called them onto our stages to push us onto another one because it was time to go. Our ego-selves don’t like change that they don't orchestrate; we needed these souls' help. As mean-spirited as they seem, they are fulfilling our missions in meaningful ways. If we could remember that, we would know peace beyond all understanding. We would be joyful when things change.

Nobody on this planet has achieved Enlightenment. If they had, they wouldn’t be here. No matter what our level of spiritual understanding, new, sometimes greater challenges await us down the path. Stretching can be uncomfortable. But if we trust the divinity of the God within us, we will never again perceive them as “tough parts.”

R.I.P.--A Post Mortem on Death

2009-06-28T21:18:00.004-05:00

Nobody--I mean, no body--is leaving this planet alive. By contrast, every soul will be very much alive and kicking when it pulls out of here.

A part of us grasps this Truth: We know indisputably that no one has ever come to Planet Earth and stayed. We know that this is not home. We know that we have bodies and souls--and we know that the two are not synonymous. We know that one is finite; the other is infinite. And we know which is which.

On occasion, we even verbalize our understanding of this difference: When souls leave human bodies, we often say that they "passed" or they "passed on." We use an active verb that indicates that these souls went somewhere. We know that lifeless bodies aren't going anywhere that they aren't physically carried.

More frequently, however, we act as if the physical body and the immortal soul are the same thing. "Michael died," we say. Did Michael's body die, or his soul? Which was the real Michael, the mortal body or the immortal soul?

We do something else that's quite confusing: We say or write, "Rest in peace" (R.I.P.). Are we talking to the soul? The body certainly doesn't need a directive to rest or rot; it will do both naturally. It seems to me that if an immortal soul had the option of departing a lifeless body or resting peacefully within it, that soul would get out of Dodge-immediately. Of course, I could be wrong.

How did we get so confused? If we believe that every soul has a purpose for being here, do we know when that purpose was established? Was it done prior to its arrival-or years later, after reading A Purpose-Driven Life? Who has the greater vision to establish the purpose of a lifetime on Earth: the infinite soul or the ego that is inextricably attached to the finite physical body?

If the soul is on a mission, do we believe that it will subordinate its plan to the ego? In other words, can a body or ego's desires trump a soul's mission? If not, could that explain why bodies don't always get what they ask in prayer: the job, the house, the car, the mate, the baby?

Did millions and millions of Michael Jackson fans worldwide want the undisputed King of Pop to entertain us forever? Absolutely. Did our collective desire trump his soul's divine plan? Absolutely not. That's difficult for us to grasp because our egos want what they want, when they want it--and they're egotistical enough to think that they can run roughshod over the soul's desires.

Our egos' battles with our all-knowing souls is what makes us "double-minded." We cling to two diametrically opposed belief systems. "Double-minded" is a phrase we learned from James, in his book that became part of the best-selling anthology we know as the Bible. In the 18th verse of his first chapter, James noted that you can predict that a man who is double-minded in one area of his life is unstable in others. The inconsistency becomes a common thread woven through his thoughts and actions.

James' theory has held up for nearly 20 centuries: Humans believe that God is angry and vindictive. Worship is mandatory and free will is granted; but if we exercise that freedom in ways that God does not desire, He will torture us throughout eternity.

Conversely, we also believe that God is Love--and we don't believe that Love is angry, vindictive or that it mandates worship and obedience from loved ones or it will exact a painful long-lasting punishment. That's double-mindedness in action.

But that's the tip of the iceberg. We also believe that we should drop bombs on our enemies; but don't believe our enemies should drop bombs on us, their enemies. We believe that we can be unfaithful to our spouses, kill a gang member's child, infect millions of computers with a disabling virus, and steal quarters from a jar or billions in a Ponzi scheme; but it's an indignity if others do these things to us. We believe there should be harsh penalties--even capital punishment--for some crimes; but we want mercy if we or a loved one committed the illegal act. We also believe that our loved ones are dead when only their bodies and egos have died. Yes, we are double-minded; but we don't have to stay that way, unless we choose.

Several high profile souls left the planet this past week: TV's most famous talk show sidekick, Ed McMahon; model, actress and pop icon Farrah Fawcett; Oxi Clean's screaming hawkman, Billy Mays; and the Thriller of them all, musical genius Michael Jackson. There were also countless mothers, fathers, children, relatives and friends whose souls completed their missions here. We can also look at these transitions as our egos' loss or their souls' victory: Consider the possibility that their souls had a schedule for this visit (remember, this is not home)--and they left according to that schedule.

In one of my favorite books, a simple little allegory about life and death, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Author Richard Bach offers a gull proverb: "The gull sees farthest who flies highest." When we're able to see beyond the physical props and the costumes to that invisible realm called reality, the realm of spirit, soul and God, it's amazing what is revealed to us. Bach writes:

"As the days went past, Jonathan found himself thinking time and again of the Earth from which he had come. If he had known there just a tenth, just a hundredth, of what he knew here, how much more life would have meant! He stood on the sand and fell to wondering if there was a gull back there who might be struggling to break out of his limits, to see the meaning of flight beyond a way to get a breadcrumb from a rowboat."

That was the birth of a new mission for the soul known as Jonathan, prior to his return to Earth. When we understand the meaning and the multiple dimensions of Life, we understand that "loss" is a thought, not a reality.

When our loved ones pass, they are not lost. Because of our limitations, not theirs, we simply cannot see them. In reality, they are more accessible to us, in spirit, than they were in body. Yes, we miss their physical presence. Let's not deny that. But it doesn't mean that they are dead. It means that their bodies are no longer animated by the infinite life of their invisible, invincible souls.

Maybe it's time for the rest of us to R.I.P.: Rethink the Idea of Passing.

Is God Your Father or Your Daddy?

2009-06-21T22:12:00.006-05:00

I visited a friend in the hospital yesterday. As I approached the reception area, I noticed a beautiful little boy accompanied by a couple that might have been his grandparents. This cherub couldn’t have been more than four years old. Round-faced with pinchable cheeks, big brown eyes and a fresh haircut, boyfriend couldn’t stand still, as the receptionist prepared the badges permitting them in the patient rooms. He was busy, busy, busy.

Suddenly he looked up and screamed, “Daddy!” Seconds later, he leaped into the open arms of his spittin’ image: a gorgeous brother that this child obviously adored. The little boy grasped his Dad’s cheeks and kissed him squarely in the mouth. His little fingers surveyed his Dad’s face, then rubbed his head and hugged his neck. The child was so breathless, so delighted to be with his Dad; I wondered if his parents were separated or divorced, and he hadn’t seen his father in a while.

“Are you ready to meet your little sister?” his father asked.

Ahhh, now the picture was in focus: Dad had been at the hospital with Mom through labor and childbirth, and Little Bit had stayed with his grandparents. But while their separation was a brief one, it had been much too long for this child.

It reminded me of Sasha and Malia at the Democratic Convention, when they saw their Dad on the huge monitor on stage. Remember that? You could almost feel their urge to go up to the screen and hug him. They had missed him so much.

Daddy love. More than that, it’s Daddy like—a much greater compliment to a father, in my humble opinion. Fathers can be anyone whose sperm fertilized an egg. Only fathers who treat their children well—and do it consistently, consciously and unconditionally—earn the name “Daddy.”

I’m not saying that abusive, caustic, negligent, absent and unsupportive fathers can’t be loved; they can. But rarely are they liked: Their children don’t feel an overwhelming urge to kiss their faces, rub their heads or hug their necks. These children don’t squeal with delight when they see their fathers—or jump up and down while squealing and clapping, as my daughter, Maiysha, used to do. Lordie, Lordie, that child would make so much noise when her Dad came home from work.

Most children have a deep affinity for their fathers. When they grow older, many notice that they resemble their earthly fathers, or maybe they were frequently told, “You look just like your Daddy!”

On the other hand, no one has told them that they looked like their heavenly father, God. When they look in their mirrors, they can’t see a resemblance, either. Why is that? What are we looking for? That fascinates me, so I often ask Drama Queen Workshop participants, “What does God look like?” Their responses are always insightful.

Once, with great pride, a woman said, “When I look in the mirror, I see God. God looks like me.” Others nodded in agreement, though I noticed that none of them was a man. Perhaps it was the idea of God looking like a woman that they couldn’t accept—or maybe they had a more expansive view of what God is. Men can be great thinkers. Mean it.

In another workshop, for example, a man asked me, “Do you think God looks like something or nothing?”

My response: “I think God looks like everything. If it’s true that God is omnipresent, then there is nothing in which the spirit of God is not present.” He had no comeback. He just smiled, although I could tell that he initially intended to bait me into saying something stupid or shallow.

I’d only be in danger of that if someone had offered evidence that God has a physical body that resembles ours. Humans assumed that if we were made in God’s image, God looked like us. I can understand how ancient illiterate people concluded that. I’m not sure what our excuse is.

We believe that God resides outside of Earth’s atmosphere, yet we know indisputably that human bodies really can’t function outside of this atmosphere without special equipment such as space suits. So the likelihood that God is wearing a human body beyond Earth’s atmosphere is probably slim to none.

The ancient scribes didn’t know that, so they wrote stories claiming that the profound Jewish rabbi named Yeshua, ascended into the heavens in a body that had been brutally tortured and rendered lifeless after Roman soldiers crucified him. What, pray tell, was he going to do with that carcass, if he went where they said he went?

There’s also no evidence, aside from the conflicting texts of these scribes, that God—portrayed as both omnipresent and physically light years away, as in all ancient myths—would be so satanic as to orchestrate such an inhumane death. But many mythical gods were diabolical, so there’s a logical explanation for why they told the story this way. There’s no logic at all to why we still believe it.

You have to read books about ancient history and mythology before the light turns on and you realize what formed our beliefs—and how innocently those beliefs were formed. Everyone knew these ancient myths, so the scribes probably assumed that the rank and file would not regard their updated versions as news reporting. They were wrong. Once the religious giants at the Council of Nicea declared these books as the “Word of God,” myth mushroomed into fact. Allowing only a chosen few to read or interpret these words for more than 1,200 years cemented them into the human belief system.

Eighteen centuries after the confab at Nicea, we still believe these tales are true—and we vigorously defend the words, even though they desecrate God’s image as an unconditionally loving Father.

While discussing my first book, one woman argued, “God is sovereign! He can do anything he wants.”

I concurred. My question to her was, “But would God want to do anything inhumane or satanic?” She admitted that she hadn’t thought about that.
Perhaps, on this Father’s Day, we should think about that. Perhaps we should look at why we hold human males to a higher standard of conduct than we hold our Divine Father:

If an earthly father raped his virgin daughter, he would be labeled a degenerate sex offender and could spend years in prison for incest.
If an earthly father solved problems by committing acts of violence against his children, we’d label him an abusive parent and throw him in jail.
If an earthly father plotted with others to brutally kill his only child by allowing others to nail him to a cross and subject him to three days of excruciating pain, we’d call him hateful and satanic, and our outcry for justice would be deafening.
If an earthly father had a multitude of children who repeatedly committed crimes and hurt others, and he decided to stop them by killing his only good child, we’d label him criminally insane and send him away forever.
If an earthly father kicked his naughty kids out of the only home they’d ever known, and banished them to the wilderness without any survival skills or visible means of support, we’d think he was demented, demonic—or both—and we’d press to convict him for child abuse (after we garnished his wages for lack of child support).
If an earthly father told his kids to forgive others’ sins 70 times seven, but threatened to punish his kids’ sins with unending torture, we’d call him a hypocrite.
If that same father told his kids not to kill others, but he was guilty of genocide, we’d lock up the hypocrite and throw away the key.
If an earthly father,who had a huge mansion and lots of children, gave a known demon total control of those children’s thoughts and behavior, we’d move heaven and earth to free those kids from the gip of the demon and deprogram them so that they could function normally and harmlessly in society.
If that same father declared that only the kids who outsmarted the demonic caretaker’s tricks could return to the mansion, we’d imprison both of the conspirators for child endangerment, sadism and more.

Oddly enough, when someone tells us that God—our Father—has done all of these things and more, our reactions are totally different. We respond with praise and worship. We look to the heavens and sing love songs. Yet we demonize earthly fathers who have done far less. It’s amazing how the human mind works.

A couple of years ago, a devout young man asked me a question I’ll never forget. He was planning a praise and worship festival, and needed public relations counsel. Sensing my discomfort with some of his dogma, he pointed toward the door and said, “If God walked in here right now, wouldn’t you drop to your knees and start praising Him?”

I took a deep breath. “That presumes that I believe that God isn’t here already—and that if He came from someplace else, He would scare or harm me. Is that what Love would do?” The young man hadn’t thought about that. All of his life, he only believed what others told him to believe.

I never saw him again. Hallelujah! I keep telling you: God is good.

On this Father’s Day, let us give our Heavenly Father a well-deserved break from centuries of bad publicity. Let’s give God the benefit of the doubt by challenging every allegation of inhumane behavior with the question, “Would Love do that?”

On Father’s Day 2009, let’s declare that while the word of God is inerrant, the word of some of the ancient scribes is verifiably inaccurate. Let’s dare to believe that God does nothing demonic, and does not solve problems by hurting people.

As a Father’s Day gift to God, let’s read more than one book—or vow to read the one we have more carefully. All the evidence that it’s time to stop blindly accepting other people’s answers and start asking our own questions is right there.

On this day, instead of simply declaring that we love God, let’s begin to like God as a Father who treats all of us well—and does it consistently, consciously and unconditionally. Today, let’s allow God to become our Daddy. Who knows: When we feel that Divine presence washing over us, we might begin to squeal with delight, rather than tremble with fear.

What a difference an "R" makes

2009-06-15T11:28:00.003-05:00

I received an email the other day with the most intriguing subject line: “Are you revolving or evolving?” It occurred to me that many of us don’t know the huge difference that an “r” can make:

The concept of evolving is a bit “woo-woo” to most of us. It’s that spirituality thing. We tend to shy away from it because it is distinctly different from religion: the rules, regulations, rituals, readings, and restrictions that grow from a peoples’ belief of what God is and what God does. Many religions discourage thoughtful consideration or questions about the mandated beliefs and issue deadly and diabolical threats to those who don’t share those beliefs.

By contrast, spirituality invites questions. It makes us think much bigger thoughts about a much bigger God. Its very nature is evolutionary; it’s about growing in awareness of the ever-present nature of God, rather than trying to establish a relationship with a judgmental, angry, hard-to-please God who is far away. Spirituality teaches us how to be consciously aware of God’s immediate presence so that we can leverage it to guide our steps, and it teaches us to trust God’s presence so that we are not shaken by economic downturns, relationship upheaval or even the death of physical bodies. Spirituality gives us a greater understanding of ourselves as human and spiritual beings and provides context for everything that happens in our experience.

Are we evolving or revolving? The question reminds me of the time I went to Northern California with my “wasband.” (It rhymes with husband; I borrowed that term from the Rev. Vici Derrick. Don’t you love it?)

My ex is a car fanatic–one of the reasons we had four fine automobiles. As a kid, I had a fascination with cars, too. Detroit didn’t produce a vehicle that I couldn’t identify by make and model year; but that’s about as much as I wanted or needed to know. By contrast, when my spouse was a kid, he read encyclopedia volumes, cover-to-cover. (Yeah, I thought that was weird, too.) Even as an adult, this guy loved books. If we were in a mall and somehow got separated, my daughter, Maiysha, and I knew to look in the nearest bookstore. He was always there, reading some car magazine.

One fine day my car fanatic wasband decided that we should experience the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, up close and personal. Whoo hoo–until he said that he also wanted to attend a drag race in a nearby town. Strolling through the lovely shops in Carmel and gawking at the array of fine vintage automobiles amid the heart-stopping beauty of Pebble Beach golf course was right up my alley. Watching some guys going nowhere at death-defying speeds, making more noise than my earplugs could silence–not so much.

Finally, the moment I’d dreaded for weeks was almost upon us. That morning’s brunch felt like the Last Supper. After I’d played with my meal as long as I could, I had to face the inevitable.
As we walked out of the restaurant, I asked that annoying girl-question: “Do you know where we’re going?” Tsk, tsk was the essence of his annoying-boy response. After all, EVERYONE in town must be going to the race. We’ll just follow someone.

And so we did. The guy in the 700-series BMW, who was exiting the restaurant parking lot ahead of us became our designated leader. Of course, this guy was totally qualified to show us where to go: He had a luxury car, which meant he was smart and successful like my wasband; his car also had California license plates (but so did our rental car), which meant he knew how to get there quickly.

So, off we went, away from Monterey’s traffic lights and street scenes, heading directly into the Northern California countryside. And I mean countryside. Every 15 minutes, my wasband declared that we must be close because it was almost race time. Pretty soon I noticed that nobody was behind us. Where were all the other race car fanatics? I wondered. Mr. BMW must have been wondering what was going on, too. There was a car tailing him–with two black people in it. No matter what he did, he couldn’t shake us.

Nearly two hours passed, and we were halfway up a mountain, nowhere near our desired course. I was too relieved to be disgusted. When our lead car turned onto a very long winding trail and sped toward a farmhouse, the guffaw that I’d been squelching for hours finally burst free.

Mr. BMW probably darted down that path to get away from us, and I wouldn’t blame him. But now what? How would we get ourselves off of this mountain? I wondered. We passed a gas station, but my wasband refused to stop. When we passed it again, he was finally ready to ask for directions. Too late. It had closed.

Finally, we ambled down the mountain toward civilization, heads bowed, tailpipe tucked between our legs–and we actually made it to the track. But the traffic was going the opposite direction. The race had just ended. God is good!

It occurs to me now that we had been presented a wonderful lesson about evolving and revolving. Everyone’s lessons aren’t so in-your-face definitive; consequently, we must be more attentive and inquisitive, no matter how smart we are.

That could be a problem. Most of us have an aversion to asking the right questions to the right people get the right directions. We choose the folks we’ll listen to, even accept their answers and beliefs, even if they are inconsistent, implausible and illogical. We make judgments about what others can do for us, based on their superficial trappings.

Is it any wonder that we keep revolving around the track, making the same mistakes, repeating the same lessons, and meeting, dating, even working with the same type of people? Every situation, every person has value, but we don’t look for it. We complain, but we don’t ask why we attracted them into our lives or what they came to teach us.

When we live like this, we revolve unconsciously. By contrast, it’s absolutely impossible to evolve unconsciously. We are always fully aware when we’re growing and living with spiritual guidance. We know that we are evolving–heading to a higher plane on purpose (and not playing follow the smart guy in the BMW)–when we begin to take responsibility for the people that we attract into our lives and for the situations that we create or encore ad nauseum. We know that we are evolving when we actively seek directions from within.

Taking responsibility for our lives and our outcomes is as simple as asking: “Why did I create this? Why did I attract this person? What is the lesson my soul wants me to learn from this situation, this person, this bank account balance, this job loss, this mortgage foreclosure? What growth opportunities lie within this?” Evolving is like traversing a spiral staircase: No matter what the speed, we are constantly ascending and never encountering the same challenge twice.

This economic climate is gifting us with some awesome opportunities to evolve or revolve. Are we ready to ask the questions that can lift us to the next level? Or will we be satisfied with someone else’s answers, even if they don’t take us where we want to go?

Your path is not the same as mine or your parents, siblings, friends, neighbors or coworkers. There are no cookie cutter answers, affirmations, denials or treatments for your life challenges. Your path is unique and so is your mission and your lessons. Those who claim that they can tell you how to live a better life in five, eight or ten easy steps might mean well, but they are not equipped to guide you the way that your Higher Self can. They don’t hold your answers. Only the God within you knows why you are here and what path you need to take and what decisions you need to make.

You have free will, and every decision has its natural consequence. Will yours be evolutionary?
Shout back at the Loud Mouth.

Solving problems by killing people: A Divine idea?

2009-05-31T21:44:00.004-05:00

Weren’t we just talking about abortion—and judgment and condemnation—last week? How ironic is it that today a judgmental, condemning human pranced himself into a church and executed a physician who performed abortions. Where’d this guy get the idea to solve problems by killing people? And why did he choose the church to stage this drama?

What’s the appropriate way to respond to behavior that’s disagreeable to us? Anybody know what the Bible says we should do in these instances?

1. Kids giving you mouth?

a. Give them good counsel
b. Forgive them
c. Kill them

Hint: Ex. 21:17, Deut. 21:18-21

2. Cold-blooded. Murderers on the loose?

a. Arrest them
b. Forgive them
c. Kill them

Hint: Ex. 21:12, 21:15

3. Cheating spouse?

a. Divorce them
b. Forgive them
c. Kill them

Hint: Lev. 19:20, 20:10

4. Kidnappers, body snatchers?

a. Make them sleep with wolves
b. Forgive them
c. Kill them

Hint: Ex 21:16

5. Bad-mouth blasphemers?

a. Publicly humiliate them
b. Forgive them
c. Stone them to death

Hint: Lev. 24:16

6. ”Me and Mrs. Jones?” Men who have sex with their father’s or son’s wife:

a. Castrate them
b. Forgive them
c. Kill them

Hint: Lev. 20:11, 20:12

7. Sexy Mama? Men who have sex with their mothers-in-law:

a. Castrate them
b. Forgive them
c. Burn them to death

Hint: Lev. 20:14

8. What to do with ungodly atheists and agnostics?

a. Cripple them
b. Forgive them
c. Kill them

Hint: Josh. 1:18, 2 Chr. 15:13

9. No “Welcome to Walmart?” Those who work on Saturdays (includes cooking, looking for food, leaving home and making a fire):

a. Arrest them
b. Forgive them
c. Stone them to death

Hint: Ex 31:15, 16:25, 16:26, 16:29, 35:3, 31:14, 35:2, Num 15:32-36

10. Lost forever: Virginity

a. Slap on a chastity belt immediately
b. Forgive her
c. Stone her to death

Hint: Deut 22:21-24

I gave you the chapter and verse for every answer, so if you answered anything but “C” for every question, I’m utterly speechless. Now you know why killing people has been such a popular way to solve problems for lo these many centuries—even after man-made law ruled these solutions inhumane and illegal.

Who’s right? Is killing people is a divine or satanic method for solving problems?

In Memoriam: Life as we once knew it

2009-05-24T21:07:00.003-05:00

I watched in wonder as the debate over Notre Dame’s invitation for the President of these United States to speak at this year’s commencement hit a fever pitch of judgmental rhetoric—led by those who call themselves Christians. Fascinating stuff.

Maybe I’ve been watching the drama on Earth from too far away. I’ve obviously lost the ability to zoom in on the important stuff. I certainly missed the moment that “judge not and you will not be judged, condemn not and you will not be condemned” ceased to be central to the teachings of the radically non-religious Jewish rabbi named Yeshua. People on both sides of the issue claim to be his followers; but they clearly don’t walk his walk.

The Loud Mouth is brash enough to call out non-Christlike Christians; but the President, who consistently confronts hot topics directly, without being confrontational, delivered a speech that appealed for both sides to disagree if they must; but do it with Christ-like civility:

“I do not suggest that the debate surrounding abortion can or should go away. No matter how much we may want to fudge it—indeed, while we know that the views of most Americans on the subject are complex and even contradictory—the fact is that at some level, the views of the two camps are irreconcilable. Each side will continue to make its case to the public with passion and conviction. But surely we can do so without reducing those with differing views to caricature.

“Open hearts. Open minds. Fair-minded words.”

As the resident bull in the china shop, let me take this debate to a place where our President couldn’t: To “The Beginning.” At the heart of the abortion issue is this: When does Life begin—and does a woman have a right to choose to give birth to an infant body?

Much of the debate rages around whether Life begins at conception or at some stage in the development of an embryo or fetus. The presumption here is that Life is physical—and that a human can give It, take It, save It, or even make It miserable. Perhaps we have forgotten what Life is—Life with a capital “L,” that is.

Have you ever seen Life with your physical eyes? Where was It? What was It doing? What did It look like? What was it wearing? Can you draw a picture of Life? Have you ever photographed It? How old was It?

What does Life look like at birth? At death? Can you describe it? Have you ever thought about it? Have you considered the possibility that we have made the words “life” and “body” synonymous?

When Life leaves a body, the body dies. Does that mean that Life is dead, too? Unless you send me evidence to the contrary, Life—like Spirit, like Soul and like God—is invisible to those in the physical world. And, unlike those in the physical world, Spirit, Soul, God, and Life have no beginning and have no end.

We have forgotten. That’s why this Memorial Day weekend, I honor the Divinity that we once knew as Life: The powerful, invincible, God-like essence that we temporarily abandoned to slip into costumes called human bodies and solve problems by disrespecting, maligning, berating, battling and killing those who disagree with us, or belong to a different army, tribe, gang, race, gender, sexual orientation, political party or religion.

I mourn the loss of our memories. We have forgotten that at “the end of the day,” our souls will not be held accountable for how others treated us—only how we treated them. If we remembered that—even if we forgot what Life really is—Memorial Day would be just another day on the tiny planet called Earth.

"We have met the enemy, and he is us"

2009-05-17T22:55:00.003-05:00

Many of you think that the Loud Mouth sits in the balcony alone. Actually, I have plenty of company. Your souls are here, watching all your dramas with me. In fact, some of them are putting on quite a show themselves: They are screaming frantically, arms flailing, trying to grab your attention and warn you to make better choices. But they’re invisible, so you can’t see them. Their voices—even at top volume—are barely above a whisper, so you can’t hear. And you rarely leave the stage to hang out with them a bit and simply enjoy their presence. Poor dears.

We don’t have a clue how frustrating it is for our Higher Selves to watch our egos amass years of karmic debts that they will have to repay in full—an eye for an eye, as they say. Myopically, we buzz around the stage, focusing on stockpiling earthly profits, no matter what the ultimate cost: We treat others in ways that we would not want to be treated; engage in disrespectful, dehumanizing behavior and crabs-in-a-barrel antics; bear false witness against others and covet others’ position or property. On occasion, we outright abscond with it. Ouch!

This win-the-battle, lose-the-war drama is not very entertaining, inspiring or evolutionary to those who share your stage or watch from the audience. I’m sure that Pogo and the other philosophical animals in the fabled Okefenokee Swamp would probably say, “You’re stinking up the place, Dude.”

Those old enough to remember the Pogo cartoon strip might recall the lead character’s most famous line: “We have met the enemy and he is us.” Thousands of years earlier, the Jew who later became known as Jesus, said something similar: “Whatever you do to the least of my brothers, you also do to me.”

What were they talking about? There is only one Life in the Universe and we are it. We can’t help others without helping ourselves. We can’t hurt others without hurting ourselves. We are One.

I know it’s difficult to remember that, especially when we’re pointing fingers at someone else. Add all the tempting gotta-have-it-now props, the material stuff littering our stages that distracts us from achieving our soul’s higher mission and you have a formula for missed growth opportunities.

Preventing ourselves from sinking to the lower levels of consciousness requires the fortitude of Job. According to the ancient scribes, God diabolically made a bet with Satan, inhumanely killed Job’s children, servants and animals; heinously tortured Job; refused to explain why He was so cruel; then gave Job new children and more money.

While those of us who believe that God is Love can’t quite wrap our heads around this story as illustrative of divine behavior or literal truth, the premise is unequivocally inspiring: No matter what happened to him on the physical plane, Job maintained his belief and trust in almighty God.

Over the centuries, we seem to have lost sight of the meaning of almighty. Somewhere along the way, it was diluted from All-mighty to “Some-mighty,” meaning that God has some of the power and Satan has some. Basic math dictates that if God has ALL the power, that leaves zip, nada, zilch for Satan or anyone else. But I’m open to the possibility that I might have made an error in that complex calculation.

I also could be wrong about my take-away from Job’s story. For me, it’s not about suffering. It’s about trusting—trusting that everything is in Divine Order always, no matter what it looks like on the surface.

Throughout the ages there have been many souls who have maintained Job-like belief and trust in an Almighty God, and they have been willing to teach us so that we can speed along our evolutionary path without succumbing to our egos, which like to detour frequently and wrestle with the Darkness.

Thanks to social networking in the Beliefnet community, I was blessed to meet one of these teachers. I’ve mentioned him before: Melvin Forrester is an American who has lived in Germany since World War II. Melvin had an out-of-body experience while serving in the war that not only gave him a balcony view of Life on Planet Earth; it fortified his trust in God. He knows what it feels like to be consciously aware that we are eternal spirit, not bodies.

On May 9, Melvin and his wife, Gabrielle, celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary. There was no champagne or hoopla. It was a quiet celebration with a glass of mineral water. The reason: Last year, Melvin was diagnosed with a debilitating illness that is slowly rendering him motionless.

Melvin has a very strong relationship with God. Under normal circumstances, he might be expected to pray or petition for total healing or a different diagnosis. He didn’t. Instead, he trusted that God knows what God is doing, and furthermore, could do it without Melvin’s guidance.

Since God is not cruel, no matter where it is written, if this illness had appeared, Melvin concluded that it must be there to benefit him (and consequently, others) in some way. If his mortal body was going to slowly shut down, he decided that he was going to teach others how to fearlessly let go of things that are not eternal.

Periodically Melvin emails an update, which always provides insight on how real faith works. True to his evolutionary soul mission, he is allowing me to share his story so that it might bless you, too. Here is an excerpt from his latest update:

“I sometimes think that this philosophical stuff is getting too much for me. I want to give up sometimes and end this experiment. Also I recently have severe problems with swallowing and side effects from the medicine, therefore I have begun reducing the doses of medicine, especially when I cannot breath and have pain.

“I always thought that I could master a two-minute struggle for air, but recently it went on for hours. But that’s the “Exit Plan” of my spirit. I will bow to his better judgment. When it seems too much to bear, I go into a mental state that I learned through meditation, which allows me to see and communicate with my spirit. I ask him if he really wants to have this experience, and ask him how I am doing with my part in this little drama.

“You know that about 40 years ago I had a special experience, and I know what awaits me on the other side. I am going joyfully and without regrets and fear.”

What would you do if this happened to you or a loved one? Could you be so focused on the divine, so undistracted by the physical circumstances that you could unwaveringly trust and unflinchingly embrace God’s will? Are you willing to lose to win?

Remembering how you got here--and why you came

2009-05-10T22:10:00.002-05:00

Does this ever happen to you: You’re confidently traveling down some path–maybe one you’ve envisioned or planned for days or years–and you suddenly discover that the destination is not what you expected? I get that wake-up call almost every Sunday. All I know, for sure, is that I’m going to write a blog post; but I rarely know the topic when I sit at the computer. Most times, I write hundreds of words before Spirit directs me to go in a completely different direction. It’s as if the movement of my fingers on the keyboard stimulate my muses.

Today was going to be different. I’ve known my topic since mid-week, when I received a powerful message from my friend Melvin in Germany. I could hardly wait to share it. Then yesterday, everything changed: I read a story in N’Digo, Chicago’s “magapaper for the urbane,” by award-winning author, journalist, attorney and University of Illinois Associate Professor Christopher Benson. It began:

Just about two years ago, my mother died.

Just about two weeks ago, she called to let me know that she was going jogging.

Huh? How’d she do that?

Benson quickly explained in his story that his mother had a back-from-death experience two years ago, after a serious fall. He reflected on how precious each additional moment is now, and how much his mother impacted his many successful professional careers. Benson traced those successes back to his mother’s response to what he, at age nine, considered to be an impossible class assignment. He had to write an essay on why his dad should be named “Father of the Year.”

“I didn’t have a father. He wasn’t there,” Benson wrote. “I had never known him.” What was he going to do?

His mother’s response reshaped Benson’s self-image and his view of life. She challenged him to write about his mother–the greatest father any child could ever have:

“She also wanted me to know deep down inside that, yes, I was different. But my difference was not something to be ashamed of. My difference was not something to be shunned. Indeed, my difference was something to be proud of, to celebrate in ways that would cause others to celebrate with me.

“In my difference, there was value. There was something I could use to help other people come to understand things they never really had considered before. I was different. Yes. But I was just as good, just as talented, just as worthy as anybody else.”

In the process of meeting his mother’s challenge, Benson and his teachers made a life-altering discovery: This child had a gift; he was a talented writer. From that point on, he decided, the circumstances of his birth would not define or limit him.

Conventional wisdom says that we do not choose our families, just our friends. Spiritual wisdom, which is not rooted in or bound by the limitations of earthly thought, espouses something different and more evolutionary:

Spiritually, we existed before the mortal body was created and will continue to exist after it decomposes.
We chose to be here at this time and in this place.
We had a purpose for coming–a purpose that is revealed to us when we ask, Spirit to Spirit; a purpose that will be supported, Spirit to Spirit.
Each actor on our stage, even those we choose (and who agree) to be our parents, are perfect for our purpose-filled script of this physical experience. If someone is missing from the script, it’s because we intentionally didn’t include him or her. A father or a mother, siblings, spouses, children would have been perfect for another story, but not for this one.
Even murder mysteries and horror stories have some entertainment value.

Everyone’s experience with their mothers doesn’t end up in a glowing tribute on the pages of a newspaper, like Benson’s. Every character who gives birth is not a nurturer. Some provide horrific stories of abandonment, neglect, abuse, torture, unloving and unsupportive behavior. And, while every stepmother isn’t a wicked witch, some are.

The childhood of recently retired Chicago broadcasting legend Merri Dee comes to mind. Merri was a toddler when her mother left this life. Her father then married a woman who was a storybook-cruel stepmother. Within a few years, he became ill and was unable to reign in this woman who was terrorizing his baby girl. Soon, he also left his body behind, leaving Merri in her care.

Merri recalls the stepmother severely punishing her for minor infractions. She stripped Merri of the family name, forbade contact with her siblings and other relatives, and forced her to fend for herself at the age of 14. Merri was not the least bit intimidated. No matter how much the woman beat her, Merri said that she refused to cry.

Her stepmother’s fury over her fearlessness, stubbornness and strength translated into even more cruelty. One day, the woman hung Merri out of their apartment window, head-first, until a neighbor spotted her and threatened to call police.

Years later, the plot for Merri’s life story revealed that her childhood was a dress rehearsal for the most critical act of her life: After working, continuing her education, marrying, giving birth to a daughter, and divorcing, Merri landed a job in sales for a multinational corporation. At the urging of a friend, she enrolled in broadcasting school, and became one of the great voices on Chicago radio. Because she had good looks to go with that voice, she soon became a local television talk show host.

One night, Merri and her talk show guest were kidnapped after the show, blindfolded, taken into the woods, shot in the head and abandoned. Her guest died; Merri didn’t. Mustering every ounce of strength in her body, just as she had as a child, she crawled through the thicket to a highway and summoned help.

Merri’s broadcasting career continued for three more decades, until she decided to pursue other interests last fall. Throughout that career, she raised more than $31 million for children’s causes through a variety of organizations, including the McCormick Tribune Foundation and the United Negro College Fund. She has raised even more spirits with her wise and gentle counseling and role modeling. Though she’s not nearly old enough to be my mother, she often watches over me and so many others, as if she was our Mom. (Thanks for sharing her, Toya.)

Once, while watching her bravely overcome yet another hurdle, and knowing that she didn’t have the benefit of a nurturing childhood as so many of us did, I asked her, “Where does all that strength and all that wisdom come from, given the upbringing you had?”

“From within,” she said, flashing that trademark Merri Dee smile.

Her lesson: Our source of self-worth or truth, financial supply or encouragement is not outside of us; the Invisible Spirit that is God is within. Everything we need is within.

If we could only remember that when stuff is hitting the fan and we have to respond quickly and instinctively. That’s the challenge, especially when we’re distracted–no, mesmerized–by all the drama on the world’s stage. If we look at our childhoods and adulthoods from that vantage point, the props and the actors seem real. We are more apt to react and judge people and their behavior as “good” or “bad.” When we judge them as “bad,” we close our eyes to the benefits that we asked them to deliver to us. That certainly includes our mothers and those who have played the mother role in our lives.

Is it implausible that we are Invisible Spirit, and we asked a soul wearing a specific body if she would be the vessel through which we, too, could experience physical life on planet Earth?

Is it implausible that the circumstances and challenges that surrounded our birth, adolescence and adulthood followed the script we wrote to help us practice, practice, practice bringing Light into the darkness, and respond in a more Christlike way to those who hide their Light under a bushel, a barrel or a big head?

Are you open to the possibility that there’s a greater plan for your life than your brain is aware of? Can you even imagine that you helped to create that plan–or does it make more sense that you are not here by choice, but by biology?

In the balcony of the Home-Church, there are no right or wrong answers. This is safe space. No one’s telling you what to think, what to say or what to believe. Here, we share our thoughts and exchange ideas. I certainly hope you’ll share yours.

Your entire life in only six words

2009-05-03T22:01:00.002-05:00

Prolific thinker and author Ernest Hemingway once said that his six-word story was one of the best pieces of writing he had ever penned: Ever read it? For Sale: Baby shoes, never worn. Brilliant: Opening act. Climax. Denouement. Curtain. In six words. And nobody left the theater wondering what happened.

Many have issues challenges to write a story in only six words–fiction, non-fiction, sci-fi, romance, even autobiographies. The cutest one I’ve seen was the life story of an elderly dog: “Lost then found. Worked out great!”

As humans, we tend to complicate our lives, then we say that life is complicated. But we’re the ones unnecessarily creating challenges, and often making an even bigger mess when we try to resolve those challenges. Consider this: Life is not difficult; only a sadistic God would have made it so. Most things in life can be handled as simply as a six-word story, if we follow a few simple guidelines:

• Love yourself. Once you know who you are, you can't help but love every bit of you. And when you understand that you are part of the One Presence in the Universe, everything changes.

• There is no spot where God is not. Consider the possibility that God is bigger and greater than a mythical male being who lives millions of miles away. If a spark of God is in every soul, everyone encountered is a Holy One. Is that how we treat them?

• We reap what we sow. If we reflected on everything we did or said to someone during this past week alone, would we be eager for our harvest–or regretful?

• Judge nothing, condemn no one, forgive everyone. It is reported that a loving Jew, who centuries later came to be known as Jesus, said: “Judge not, and ye shall not be judged; condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned; forgive, and ye shall be forgiven.” (Luke 6:37) At the end of the day, we will not have to account for what others did to us–only for what we did to them.

We frequently excuse or justify our unChrist-like retaliatory behavior by pointing fingers at the other person, and repeating what he or she did–as if it’s our job to determine harvest time. All we’re really saying is that we don’t trust God to do God’s job. We use it as an excuse for not doing ours: Our job is to be the Light of the World. Our job is to remember that Light and Darkness cannot occupy the same space at the same time. Our job is to see Invisible Omnipresent, Omnipotent and Omniscient Spirit that is God in everyone.

Let’s also remember that God must balance each situation on Earth through a physical channel. That channel might be you; but the only way you’ll know is if you ask for guidance, and remain open for direction, so that you can take the proper action.

There will be times when Spirit says, “Sit down, I got this.” Sit, trusting that the matter will be resolved in a most divine way, for the Highest Good of all concerned.

Other times, Spirit might say, “Listen, this is what I need you to do…” Do you know Spirit’s voice when you hear it? Don’t fool yourself or try to fool anyone else by saying that Spirit directed you to do something mean-spirited or self-righteous. If the solution is not simple or loving, it’s not God. You’re listening to your ego. You’re serving a false god. Be careful: It will compel you to make a withdrawal from your soul’s karmic bank account, and you might not have enough deposits to cover it.

Trust that everyone will get exactly what’s they deserve, in the manner and intensity that their behavior warrants. That’s the immutable law of the Universe. Unfortunately, our egos are so shortsighted that they want justice to show up a certain way, at a certain time. They don’t have enough insight to distinguish the mortal body from the immortal soul.

Egos have no idea that everything we do becomes part of our soul’s record. Some of the consequences meet us right way. Others don’t revisit until after our bodies fall away, throwing us off-guard, making us think that we’re victims.

If egos were eternal, they’d care more about that; but personalities die with bodies, and we’re left cleaning up the mess at some other juncture in our eternal lives. How do we get the upper hand?
Personally, I try to be very mindful of the consequences of every action. I ask frequently ask myself, “How would I want someone to treat me, if the situation was reversed?” I also pay close attention to the kinds of situations in which I find myself, always asking: “Why did I attract this situation or person? What lesson do I, as a soul, want to learn that this scenario or person came to teach me?”

I’ve discovered that certain dramas encore at a mind-numbing rate. The reason: I didn’t learn the lesson the previous times. I didn’t respond with love, rather than anger or revenge. I wasn’t patient with myself and others. I didn’t forgive. I didn’t let the Light lead. I didn’t choose peace. I didn’t trust God. If, as a soul, I have made a commitment to learn these lessons, I will voluntarily repeat these classes and call in tougher teachers until I pay attention and capitalize on these opportunities to practice responding to all situations in a more Christlike manner.

Life is not complicated when you seek higher consciousness. Actually, it’s so simple that you can write your memoir or epitaph in six words: “Asleep, then enlightened. Life became fun!” And nobody will leave your theater wondering what happened.

Your greatest stressor: expectations

2009-04-19T23:21:00.004-05:00

While in a meeting the other day, a high level executive mentioned that he has been chronicling some of the extremes that he’s experienced since moving to Chicago last year. Among them was this gem: Every day, a well-dressed woman arrives at his stately home, and for about a half-hour or 45-minutes, she stands on the sidewalk, gazing at the home.

Apparently, this woman didn’t restrict her visits to daylight hours. One morning around three o’clock, the executive and his wife were awakened by repeated flashes of light hitting their bedroom wall. The flashes were coming from a car parked across the street. The couple was understandably unnerved.

One Saturday the executive spotted the woman outside and ventured down the long driveway to greet her. When they were face-to-face, he asked if there was anything he could do to assist her. Most of us don’t value civility as much as this man, and probably would have greeted her quite differently.

Pointing to the house, the visitor explained that it was the home of her dreams. That’s why she felt compelled to spend time visually embracing it every day. The man found her response quite odd. I didn’t.

This woman was exhibiting all the predictable symptoms of someone who has a small library of books and tapes proclaiming that she can have anything she wants. Typically, this material outlines several steps for manifesting one’s desires.

Without serious thought or question, this woman had followed step one: We must make our desires our most dominant thought, and we must expect our desires to manifest. Her daily visits and the pleasure she derived from them demonstrated the next steps: We must visualize our desired object in great detail–soffit, fascia and slant of roof–and experience the same emotion we’d feel if we’d already received it.

That is, after all, “The Secret” that brought millions of dollars to those who produced and sold the book, CD, DVD, audiobook, soundtrack, “secret scrolls” email messages and even daily text messages promoting this extreme and implausible interpretation of the spiritual law of attraction. It didn’t bring nearly that much cash or comfort to those who bought it, which is precisely why I was compelled to write Crossing an Unseen Bridge: The Law of Attraction Secrets No One Wants to Talk About.

Let’s get real: Everyone who has experienced a disappointment–including those who spent their hard-earned money buying secrets–knows that life doesn’t work like that. It would be impossible for us to have been disappointed if we hadn’t been focused on our desire, expected to receive it. Just the thought of having it made us giddy. There, we did all the steps. Where’s our stuff?

Conversely, if we accept this as the secret to the human creative process, then we are forced to believe that everyone who was ever diagnosed with a disease they couldn’t pronounce and had never heard of manifested that disease because they’d held it in their minds as a dominant thought.

Give me a break! Didn’t we go through all those steps the last time we applied for a job? Didn’t we obsess about getting that offer letter? Didn’t we envision the details of our lives and lifestyles, if we had a bigger office or a larger paycheck–or in this recession, a paycheck, period? We might have even pondered the best route to work to avoid the traffic. Do we land every job for which we apply?

Starting tomorrow, if five people stand in front of their dream homes for an hour every day for a year; if they embed every detail of the houses’ architecture into their minds; if they visualize themselves bringing in groceries, washing clothes, making beds and watching TV in those homes; and if they replicate the excitement they’d feel if the homes had become their residences, will all of them eventually live in those homes? I rest my case.

Remember: If it doesn’t happen the same way, 100% of the time, for 100% of the people, it’s not a law. Maybe the real secret is that we should stop believing things that our own experience tells us are not true. Maybe we should stop trying to be in control–and stop listening to people who tell us to place demands on the Universe/God because It/He responds to our commands/prayers.

After years of inconsistent results from applying this so-called law, we conclude that either we aren’t really in control or we’re not smart enough, persistent enough, consistent enough, faithful enough or ”favored” enough to get what we want, when we want it, in exactly the right size, shape and color, without fail.

When we mention that we didn’t get the results we desired or expected, we’re often told that we must have let a fleeting negative thought creep into our minds, and it negated weeks or months of positive thoughts. A fleeting negative thought is more powerful than a hundreds of positive ones. Not only is that bad messaging, it’s just downright scary.

Luckily, it only works for a limited time. Eventually, thinking people see the gaping holes in that theory and they stop coming to hear it. We have been fed unrealistic expectations by well-meaning people who thought that they were inspiring, motivating and empowering us to do great things.

How do we achieve great things? What should we believe? It depends upon whether you’re open to the possibility that your physical life and your path were created to serve your soul, not your body. Whatever you have right now, whatever you’re experiencing right now–if you haven’t gotten in your own way by imposing your will–is precisely what you’re supposed to have and experience at this moment.

It’s possible that every one of your experiences is a teachable one, a growth opportunity. Embrace that experience; focus on finding the lesson and the blessing in it. If you can’t detect or even fathom a blessing in what you’re going through right now, ask for it to be revealed to you. Then act as if you really want to know: listen. When the answer appears and you don’t know what to do with it, ask for direction. Then listen.

Earth Is the Mother of All Drama Queens readers know that I have gained tremendous insights from the turmoil that I have experienced in my lifetime. Soon, I’ll share with you my latest drama, and how applying the lessons I’ve learned–especially the ones about imposing my will–brought it to an astoundingly better conclusion than I could ever have designed, desired or expected.

To those who are waiting for a big breakthrough, a great relationship, a new job or a miracle: You are more than a physical being with physical needs and desires. You don’t alway have what your bodys wants; but you always have what your souls need. Seeing and being the Light within you could shift some static energy or attract some complementary light to you.

When you fixate on your physicality and your physical needs, you can’t see the big picture and you limit your possibilities. Sometimes situations such as the one you’re experiencing appear and recur to provide you an opportunity to question your expectations and beliefs, or to practice trusting that everything is going to resolve itself for your highest good–and the highest good of everyone involved in a situation.

Seize the opportunity your soul has created. Work with it, not against it. Learn, practice and master the lesson so that you no longer need to have this undesired physical experience.

I predict that the lesson the daily visitor on Longwood Drive will learn is that fixating on someone else’s home can make you miss the one that’s really yours.

Is Your Consciousness Ascending?

2009-04-12T07:43:00.001-05:00

As I watched the sunrise this Easter morning, a question popped into my mind. Perhaps you have asked yourself the same thing, but were afraid to ask it of anyone else. It’s not a simple question, and maybe you’re not ready for it; but the Loud Mouth is here to help if you get stuck. Read it slowly and repeatedly, if necessary:

Can we accurately call ourselves Christians if we believe in and try to practice the powerful teachings of Jesus, but it doesn’t make sense to us that God allowed Jesus to be brutally tortured and murdered three short years into his ministry, in lieu of satanically brutalizing the rest of us throughout all eternity?

Is prayer a "law?"

2009-04-05T23:28:00.005-05:00

Most of us are quite confused when we try to understand how--or if--prayer works, especially when we're told that whatever we ask, in prayer, we will receive. Our experience tells us that this is not always true.

For example, many of us received (and continue to receive) emails urging us to pray for the protection of then-candidate, now President Obama. What I find so interesting about this type of message is that it presumes that God will not protect our president from malicious people unless millions of us pray. I'm guessing that's the number since hundreds of thousands prayed for Rev. Rick Warren's wife to be healed. Many feel that their prayers failed.

Whether we realize it or not, this concept of so-called "failed" prayer really portrays God not only as capricious, but diabolically so. If we're honest, that's what we've been taught. Some people's prayers are answered--others, well, maybe next time.

This diabolical behavior sounds suspiciously like that of mythological gods who were rumored to live on mountains on the other side of the clouds. These megalomaniacs commanded, conspired, brutally killed, raped virgins and terrorized the poor humans below, forcing them to supplicate, worship and sacrifice for the gods’ mercy–or face their wrath.

Even after monotheism banished this storied band of bad boys from the celestial mountain range, the belief in capricious and misanthropic behavior lurked behind–and was transferred to One God. By the time the storytellers finished, this god was unmistakably bipolar. Even in the 21st century, we still believe in a loving God who solves problems by killing and torturing his children. Today’s headlines scream of parents who mimic this filicide. I strongly believe that there is a connection.

Because we still cling to the mythical portrayal of God as tyrannical judge and executioner, we often pray to appease His anger and violence. We pray for mercy and forgiveness. In Crossing an Unseen Bridge: The Law of Attraction Secrets No One Wants to Talk about, you met a former client who was a victim of this stinkin’ thinkin’. After he was charged with a federal crime, this mini-mogul sought strategic PR counsel. By that time, he had been stricken with religion, or more accurately, religiosity. Most sentences included, “My Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.” He attended three church services on Sundays.

Honoring the ancient belief that God rewards sacrifices of money or freshly slaughtered meat, he donated generously to his church. He lavished gifts on his pastor. His Bible was always at his fingertips. Every time I spoke with this man, he mentioned that he had begun the day at 5 a.m., on his knees.

The update: He wakes in the federal pokey every morning now. I doubt that he ever falls on his knees. Like so many of us, he did all the things that religiosity dictates, and it didn’t work. How many more centuries will it take for us to evolve beyond Greek mythology?

We’re not always sure that our prayers will be answered, and we get mad when they aren’t. We do it again and again, hoping to improve our average. At some point, we have all prayed from the depths of our hearts that a loved one would fully recuperate from a serious illness, and it didn’t happen. We have all prayed to win something, own something, keep something or someone, cure or be cured, and it didn’t happen.

We have seen others pray and get precisely what they wanted. Do they always win? No. Experience has repeatedly taught us that there is a chance our prayers will be “answered,” and a chance that they will not. Knowing that, why are we so bewildered, brokenhearted or even angry when we go to the mountaintop and are sent home empty-handed? Why do we treat prayer as if it’s not only a slam dunk, it’s a spiritual law?

In Crossing an Unseen Bridge, I define a law as something that works the same way for 100% of the people, 100% of the time. If you and I release a handful of pencils, will yours float to the ceiling and mine fall to the floor? No. They are governed by the law of gravity, which doesn’t respond unpredictably. There’s no 50 percent or 99 percent chance that my pencils will fall. All of those jokers are going to hit the ground. Period.

Is the same true with prayer? No matter what someone tells us or tries to shame us into thinking, the outcome of prayer, as we understand it and as we have experienced it, is uncertain.

Have we believed so long in a capricious God, who highly favors some and curses others, that it is too late to think a new thought about prayer, too late to realign our expectations, too late to trust that everything will work out just fine--no matter what it looks like on the surface? Have we believed so long that the outcome our personalities' desire is our souls' desired outcome that we are convinced that our prayers weren't answered?

Those of you who have read my books know that I have had my share of drama. While none of it felt good while I was going through it, in retrospect, you were able to see how every bit of it benefited me, how my path was clearly paved to lead me to a powerful destination. You also know that it wasn't until I chose to use my prayer time to receive direction, rather than to direct God, that the miracles began to show up.

That's the beauty of these experiences. That's how I discovered what prayer is and isn't. Redefined, it now has become a law for me. I only have one prayer, one miraculous prayer that releases all anxiety and repels all worry about outcome. It is this: "I pray that everything is resolved for the Highest Good of all concerned--in the most perfect way, at the most perfect time. And so it is. Amen."

You can trust God like that. In return, I guarantee that you will get what you want 100% of the time.

Meanwhile, down there on the stage...

2009-04-02T21:16:00.002-05:00

TV Guide documented Maiysha's week of activities at the Grammys. (Minus the part where she was roped into singing back-up for Bobby Brown. Some moments in our lives should simply be left on the cutting room floor.)

Anyway, you only get to be a first-time Grammy nominee (or Mom and Dad) once. I hope you enjoy watching the experience from your balcony as much as I did from mine. http://www.hulu.com/watch/65834/mvids-maiysha-road-to-the-grammys

Homage to Stevie and Melvin

2009-03-29T22:40:00.002-05:00

"When you believe in things that you don't understand, you suffer."

I received an email a few days ago--the third or fourth time I've received it in the past year. It was the transcript of Rick Warren's interview with Jim Dailey of Billy Graham Evangelistic Association's Decision magazine. This time, I printed it because I thought it might stimulate a thought-provoking discussion during my Drama Queen Workshops.

Of particular interest was this part of his interview, in which he addressed his wife's experience with cancer--and prayer:

"We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her."

My first thought was: What impact does a testimonial such as this have on millions who believe in the power of prayer--particularly the power of "two or more gathered in His name?" If a renowned man of faith has declared that God did not respond affirmatively when hundreds of thousands prayed together, what hope do they have when they pray alone?

When I asked this question this weekend at a phenomenal retreat for women, someone passionately responded, "[Rick Warren] doesn't understand the awesome healing power of God!"

I was somewhat prepared for that because last spring, I wrote a post about a Chicago Tribune story featuring a Mexican immigrant who fervently prayed for her safety before leaving for work every day. For added protection, Artemia Torres, a devout Catholic, carried rosary beads and pictures of two saints with her. One day, she was wounded by a potential robber who shot her at close range.

When I asked spirituality authors on a social networking site what this said about the power of prayer, one replied, "Her heart belonged to God but not her walk. Now she's placed in a position to rest, to be still. She can now hear God's plan for her life. In that quiet still place we can hear God clearly."

Fascinating stuff. In both cases, the respondents believed that the person petitioning to God was at fault when things didn't go as they hoped. The assumption, of course, is that if we do certain things, say certain words in a certain way, we can convince God to do our will. That's what prayer is supposed to do.

What if that's not what prayer is all about? What if the purpose of prayer is to receive direction from God rather than give it? My dear friend Melvin, a man I've never seen but whom I've grown to love dearly, can teach us a thing or two about this.

Melvin's journal, posted on the Beliefnet community website, caught my eye in December 2007, just as I was wrapping up the final chapters of Crossing an Unseen Bridge. A native Californian, Melvin and his adoring wife, Gabriele, live in Germany. He decided to remain after being stationed there in the military.

Melvin is an author, father and grandfather who is experiencing a tremendous challenge with the fearlessness and unshakable faith of one who truly understands what God is and what God and prayer does (and doesn't do).

I've read numerous accounts of those who had near death experiences, of children who had stunned their parents by vividly recalling past life experiences--even guiding them to their previous homes and introducing their current parents to previous (read: freaked out) relatives who corroborated their stories. I've read about souls who had out-of-body experiences. But I'd read nothing like Melvin's journal post recounting a memory of a dream he'd had years ago while in the military.

In that dream, Melvin left his body and felt himself traveling into the starry sky (His book is entitled A Trip to the Stars). Through his prose, I shared his surprise when he looked down and saw that he had no legs, feet, hands or body; he was a ball of pure Light! I also shared Melvin's disappointment when another intelligent being of Light insisted that he return to the uniformed body on the beach. Go back? Now? There was so much more he (and I) wanted to learn about life outside of a body!

Decades later, Melvin's body is now slowly shutting down, and he is fearlessly--in fact, joyfully--chronicling his journey back to pure Light. I am honored to be among the close friends with whom he shares his updates. Through his experience, he wants others to understand themselves as souls, not bodies, so I am sure he will not mind me sharing an excerpt from one of his messages:

"I can accept this as God's will or [I can focus on] the biological facts and natural way of we mortals. Whatever, I am happy that my mind is clear and it is not painful. Eventually, if the present course continues, all muscle control will cease; only the automatic muscle activity will remain, such as breathing,
heartbeat and swallowing. Then these will be slowed down. I am happy and enjoying each day in ways for which I have studied and prepared a life long."

I have not read one case of a person who has experienced "life after death," who does not look forward to leaving the body again--for good, eager to return to the living loving Light, ready to BE the Light once again. Melvin is no exception.

What does that tell the rest of us? As I told the young lady at the workshop this weekend, each of us had a plan and a purpose when we squeezed ourselves into these human bodies. We will fulfill our purposes if we don't get distracted by things that focus our attention on our humanness or our bank accounts, instead of our divinity and our karmic accounts. It would be a shame to have a prosperous body and a bankrupt soul that has come here and achieved no spiritual growth.

As souls, not only did we know what we wanted to accomplish when we arrived, we gave ourselves a time limit and an exit strategy. Sometimes our exit strategies provide us a final opportunity to hold fast to our truth or to accomplish a spiritual goal.

What if, as souls, we wanted to learn to say, "Thy will be done"--and mean it? What if we wanted to remember that we are not bodies, and created dis-ease in our bodies to make sure that the lesson was really learned? What if we wanted to remember that there is only one thing in the universe--God--and created the illusion of loneliness and adversity for our classroom?

How can we learn to honor another soul's timetable for leaving a body if no one ever leaves? How can we learn to trust God unless we understand what God is? How can we overcome adversity like Stevie and Melvin?

It's only when we believe in things that we don't understand that we suffer.

The world that lives happily on your face

2009-03-22T23:05:00.001-05:00

The humongous photograph in the Museum of Science and Industry stopped me in my tracks long enough to read the caption. I gasped, pivoted and fled the room, completely grossed out. For a split second, I even forgot where I had been headed before the frightening encounter. The gigantic face had to have been 20 feet tall--no exaggeration. A high-powered microscope revealed thousands of bugs scurrying across a man's forehead, eyelids, cheeks and mouth. Ewww!

You know, I hadn't thought about that frightening photo in about 25 years. But yesterday, while thinking about how many invisible life forms live among us, the photo suddenly popped into my head, reminding me that many of those life forms actually live on us. While trying to verify my recollection, I found a BBC news article claiming that human skin is a "virtual zoo" of microscopic life forms.

Do you ever think about the world of organisms that lives happily on your face, in the air you breathe, the food you eat and the bed in which you sleep--or is the Loud Mouth the only one who is oblivious? Sure, we are aware that dust mites, germs and bacteria are rampant in our reality; but because they are invisible to the naked eye, we disregard their presence in our living space and totally ignore the fact that they have a life parallel to our own. In fact, our skin might be their world!

The same is true in the world we visited last week, the world of the tennis ball, fourth largest in a special system of spheres. Tennis is big brother to the marble, golf ball and powerball, kid brother to the hard ball, soft ball, fireball and volleyball. (Recently, the tiniest sphere, the BB, was cast aside after being treated like a member of the family for many, many years. Sad. The good news is that it's still quite a distance from the goof ball, which lives in a world of its own. Even sadder.) Each of the other balls, however, still play a significant role in this unique universe.

As you'll recall, every soul in the tennis-sphere is transient. That's the way the souls designed it. Also by design, something miraculous happens whenever one of them clothes itself in a body: All memory of the soul's reality--its likeness to and oneness with its immortal Creator--is erased. As a practical matter, the memory loss enables each soul to begin the game of "So, You Think This Is Life?" with the same handicap on a level playing field.

Since the object of the game is for the souls' bodies to reflect the divinity of their Creator in their behavior, they must first remember that they are divine and leverage their relationships in the invisible world to get the support they need to overcome anything they might hear on the tennis-sphere. Problem is, they're oblivious; their memories have been wiped clean. They are convinced that they are merely mortal bodies, and they trust only what they can detect with their physical senses. To complicate matters, they also believe that the tennis-sphere not only is their real home, it is the only place in the universe that can sustain life.

This is quite perplexing to anyone observing the tennis-sphere from a distance, because everyone in the tennis-sphere knows that nobody has ever come and stayed forever. They've also observed that everything on the sphere is constantly changing, deteriorating and disappearing--from bodies to buildings--evidence that the sphere is the permanent home of no one and nothing. It probably was never intended to be.

The vast majority of these forgetful souls also believes that the tennis-sphere is eternal and they are not. Consequently, whenever souls withdraw from their bodies and move on, according to the itineraries they established prior to arriving, the others believe that these departed souls are no longer alive, which makes them very unhappy. In truth, only the body the soul was wearing has died; the invisible soul within them, their breath of life, has not ceased to exist.

The tennis-souls' confusion over their identity and reality is best reflected in poems such as this one found on plaques, stones and paper and embroidered on cloth (author unknown):

"If tears could build a stairway and memories a lane,

I would walk right up to heaven and bring you home again."

During the next few weeks, we'll look at the inception and perpetuation of this belief, and the effect that it's had on the joy and fulfillment of all souls who visit the tennis-sphere. Throughout this process, I'd like you to give some serious thought to the genesis of your own beliefs and, if you choose, update them. You already have empirical evidence that invalidates some of your beliefs, yet you are unwilling to release them. When you pay attention, you'll discover that your beliefs directly impact your behavior and subsequently reflect in your life experiences.

The fact that you're paying any attention at all to the Loud Mouth indicates that your soul is ready to stretch, even if your body and brain are resisting. But this is not your body's life, its your invisible invincible soul's. Until it's departure date, it will endeavor to accomplish its goal: To master the game of "So, You Think This Is Life?"

Every shift in your thoughts and beliefs will create a shift in your physical experience. Your soul knows that it has all eternity to win this game, and it will win, no matter how long it takes, how difficult you make the lessons or how painful you make your physical experience.

Please don't feel pressured to do anything. You don't have to know yourself right now. You don't have to learn or grow. You can stand still and repeat your current mistakes as many times as you like--or you can create a more enlightened experience.

If you want to free yourself from the quicksand sooner rather than later, put on your thinking cap and return to the beginning--not of the tennis-sphere but of our own planet:

How many souls were the first visitors?
How did they multiply into billions?
How did you reach that conclusion?

Please share your thoughts by clicking "Comments" next to the date at the top of the page instead of emailing, as many seem to prefer. We all know that Together Each Accomplishes More. Together, let's create a more joyful and fulfilling life experience.

A reminder: Today is the last day to register for the dynamic Women's Leadership Conference (March 26-28) at the Hilton/Indian Lakes Resort in Bloomingdale, Illinois. Thursday is spa day! To find out if there are any rooms and workshop seats still available, contact the Rev. Jacqueline Atkins, J.D. at revjatkins[at]ameritech.net.

Your blessing might be wrapped in adversity

2009-03-16T19:30:00.001-05:00

I had the most delightful telephone chat yesterday with a dear friend who, after asking what day it was, gleefully declared, “It’s been 14 days!”

She explained: It had been 14 days since she smoked a cigarette. Hallelu!

Jeanne had smoked for 39 of the last 41 years, taking a break during pregnancy and again, following acupuncture treatments targeting her nicotine addiction. A bright woman with an advanced degree from an Ivy League school, Jeanne was always aware that cigarettes were ruining her health, but—

“I wanted to be a smoker,” she conceded. “I enjoyed it!”

Jeanne also had a hefty incentive to smoke: The last time she stopped she mushroomed from 110 pounds to 170. Hands down, cigarettes seemed a cuter alternative—until they weren’t.

Jeanne’s undergraduate major was math; but she didn’t need a degree to calculate that, at $9.21 a pack (with Illinois, Cook County and Chicago taxes), cigarettes were burning an irreparable hole in her monthly budget—more than $200 in cold hard cash that she could have saved or spent on something more beneficial, like food or a health club membership or fun, like designer pumps or books.

Jeanne had the option of clutching her habit, even though it didn’t serve her well, and complaining incessantly about the high cost of cigarettes and the bitter Chicago winter, as her teeth chattered between puffs. That’s what most of us do when adversity strikes: We get stuck in what we think is a comfort zone. It’s not.

Longing for what was (in this case, cheaper smokes) prevents us from experiencing the blessing of what is (a healthier body). Most new situations demand change, and change removes us from the familiar; that’s why we are so hell-bent against it. It’s like the old adage, “Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die.” We don’t want to be stagnant, but we don’t want to change, either. Can’t have both: We can’t grow unless we move from our current level—and take the lessons we’ve learned with us.

As Albert Einstein once said, “The significant problems we have cannot be solved at the same level of thinking with which we created them.” Makes sense, but whether it’s a problem in our workplaces, our relationships or our checkbooks, we still look for answers by maintaining the same thoughts and beliefs, and consequently we take the same shortsighted and often counter-productive actions.

What if, instead of rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, we approached challenges from a higher level of thinking? Aloft, we might be able to see our problems differently. If nothing else, they would look smaller and have less power over us, and absolutely no power over our emotional state.

Thinking about our problems (or obsessing about how to solve them) every waking hour not only holds the problems in the mass between our ears, it slows the natural cycle of their departure. Quite possibly, acquiring answers requires less thought and more creativity.

If you can accept that possibility, maybe you can imagine this: You are more powerful than you think—and you have access to more powerful answers than you know: Just for fun, close your eyes and imagine Earth as a sphere the size of a tennis ball. Hold it in your hand.

Imagine that this ball is inhabited by millions of intelligent, invincible and invisible beings—each made in the image of their Creator. Let’s call them souls, for lack of a better term. You can’t see them and they can’t see each other unless they’re wearing some kind of physical gear. Let’s call that gear a “body.”

Are you still with me? OK. Now let’s suppose that none of these intelligent beings is native to the tennis ball planet; everyone is a visitor. They come for only one purpose: to play a fascinating and clever game called “So, You Think This Is Life?” The rules of the game are simple and redundant, by design:

Do nothing to others that you wouldn’t want others to do to you.

Love others as you love yourself.

Forgive others’ mistakes the same way you’d want yours forgiven.

All acts that violate these simple rules are self-punishing: As one of the books available on the tennis ball admonishes: “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment that you pronounce, you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get.” (Matthew 7.1-2)

Long story short: Violating these simple rules absolutely sucks the fun out of the game. But even that misery doesn’t last forever because every invisible soul enters the game (and the planet) with an exit strategy. Every soul gets out alive. After all, they were made in their Creator’s image, so they are just as invincible and eternal. By contrast, no body has ever left the game alive. Many are so focused on what happens when the game clock runs out that they fail to accomplish the goals of the experience.

The real object of this game, which is very popular among the invisible intelligent beings, is to remember how creative and powerful they are—no matter what distracts them or scares them into believing that they’re mortal. Mortals are naturally afraid. Fear naturally leads to failure because fearful souls have impaired cognitive ability. In fact, they’re too afraid to trust anyone to successfully navigate them through the challenges of the game. And what an extremely challenging game it is, which is why billions of souls are so attracted to the little sphere.

If given the opportunity to spend a brief period, let’s say an average of 75 tennis ball years (a bat of an eyelash in the infinite scheme of life), navigating through a variety of dramatic scenarios designed to make you forget that you are eternal, would you try it? What if you could bolster your chances of success by playing the game as a team sport? Like you, some of your team members are inside physical bodies and have egos. They can be helpful, but not consistently, because their physical trappings are also handicapping them.

Luckily, some of your teammates are not visible. They are sparks of Divine Light. They have not forgotten who you are, and they have agreed to remind you and guide you back on track whenever you wander out of bounds.

Despite their accessibility, chances are, you only consult with them unconsciously, when your ego/personality and body are asleep. Rarely do you recall what happened or the guidance that you were given. You can’t understand why you’re not making progress.

Perhaps you’ve noticed that others are able to overcome more challenges in a shorter period of time, and rarely are they fearful, stressed over overwhelmed when a challenge arises. Just a guess, but these souls are probably consulting with the Divine more frequently, through prayer or meditation, and they have managed to maintain some perspective. They remember who they are and why they are here, despite the fear-peddling and other chaos that run rampant on this small sphere.

What if you, as an infinite and powerful Soul, were aware that whatever you are experiencing right now is precisely what you need to go through to grow to the next level? Perhaps this difficulty might have been created to get your attention so that you could get back on course. Perhaps it’s merely balancing out one of the rules you might have broken. No matter what the reason, until you learn the lesson inherent in the experience, you are bound to repeat it until you do.

What do we create when we believe that life is difficult and that we serve a hurtful, vindictive, complicated and capricious God who solves problems by satanically killing and torturing people? Confusion, fear and pain. Maybe we stand a better chance of winning this game if we consider that everything we experience is designed for our benefit—even if it’s an astronomical price tag on a pack of worthless cigarettes.

More trust = more peace

2009-03-08T21:01:00.006-05:00

I had a different topic in mind for this week's homily. Then I was abruptly awakened and given a new one. It was almost 3 o'clock this morning. That's when my phone rang.

It was my daughter, Maiysha. She was in the Amsterdam airport, en route to South Africa, and she was in tears.

"It appears that my wallet is missing," she said calmly, but I could hear the tears in her voice.

There have been many moments during her young life that Maiysha has made me immensely proud. The moment she spoke those words ranked among my favorites: Why? She'd told me that it appeared that her wallet, debit card and all her cash were missing.

Whoo hoo! Maiysha not only had heard the Loud Mouth's rants, she'd internalized them. How many times had I told her that what happens on planet Earth is a physical appearance--only a shadow of what's really happening in the world of Spirit, the Source of all Life? How many times had I said that when we believe that the physical plane is real and the spiritual plane is not, we're more likely to live in fear, a state that prevents us from thinking clearly and responding appropriately when challenges arise?

Those concepts are tough to embrace because, like most of us, Maiysha spends practically every waking moment with people who believe that physical life is Life Itself.

"Remember to breathe," I said, reminding her of the email message from "Loving Each Day" that I'd forwarded hours earlier. (If you're ready to think rather than blindly accept others' beliefs, treat yourself to a free subscription of these daily thought-provoking emails.) Yesterday's message was:

"When you find yourself in a tense situation, for example, you may notice that you are holding your breath. Putting your attention on your breathing can help you relax and immediately be in the here and now. This practice, found in many spiritual traditions, is often referred to as mindfulness, being present, or living in the now.

"You may ask, since we're breathing all the time, why do we need to practice it? What we're practicing is conscious awareness of the breath. Then breathing becomes a concentration exercise that not only focuses the mind but brings many healing benefits as well."

- John-Roger with Paul Kaye
(From: Momentum, Letting Love Lead - Simple Practices for Spiritual Living, p. 61)

"I am trying to breathe, Mom," Maiysha said. "Actually, it's helping me stay calm."

True, she wasn't flipping out, despite the disappointment of retracing her steps, speaking with empathetic but unhelpful airport personnel, and coming up empty. Plus, her flight to Capetown left in less than an hour. Luckily, she had her passport and boarding pass. A limousine was picking her up at the airport, and her hotel was paid. But she had no money--and no access to any. As much as she hated to wake me, she needed her Mom by her side at that moment.

As I "stood" in line with her at the customer service counter, a more helpful airline employee took one look at my child's tear-filled eyes and offered to check the cabin of the plane, just in case she'd left it onboard. It was a long-shot, but the wallet hadn't turned up anywhere else. What if she'd been pick-pocketed?

I started to get dressed so that I could dash around the corner to her bank, and withdraw her daily cash limit with the duplicate debit card that had her bank had issued me. Afterward, we'd cancel both cards and I'd wire the cash to a location near her Capetown hotel.

That resolved her problem on the physical plane; but we knew there was more. We began to look deeper, pondering the questions I always ask in situations such as this: "Why did I create this predicament? How does it serve me: What learning opportunities does it present? How does it help me grow spiritually?"

When we see exclusively with our physical eyes, we miss the information, answers and blessings from Spirit that are so close to us. Seeking the opportunities for growth in every situation brings us closer to the "I am always with you" Christ Spirit that lives within us. It allows us breathe peacefully, not panic.

Sure, it was possible that thieves might have made a hefty withdrawal from their karmic accounts by trying to steal money from Maiysha's bank account; but we trusted that God would bring perfect balance to both sides. Trusting that, we also realized what a divine blessing it was that she was compelled to buy a gift for her Dad at an airport shop; otherwise, she would have been in Capetown before discovering that her wallet was missing. Finally, we trusted that the situation would resolve itself for everyone's Highest Good.

It certainly was good for me to witness Maiysha moving through this dilemma fearlessly and peacefully. She was prepared to accept the outcome of the search of the plane, no matter what. She merely hoped that she'd discover the outcome before time to board her next flight.

Finally, she spotted the agent approaching her. Before I could ask, I heard her say, "They found it!"

We breathed more deeply. What an opportunity had been presented to us. We could mouth the words, "I trust God," and we can say we trust in a perfect outcome. But until we demonstrate that trust to ourselves, they are empty words.

What was the "perfect" outcome here: having Maiysha's wallet returned intact? No, although it was. Remember "thy will be done?" That's what it means: trusting and acquiescing to the will of your Higher Self. "Perfect" was whatever her soul wanted the outcome to be, even if it meant that the body surrounding the soul went to Capetown penniless. Physical life is just a shadow.

Wow, you're not going to believe this: The phone just rang again. It was the doorman. It appears that I left my wallet in a chair downstairs a couple of hours ago. I hadn't even missed it. As I rode the elevator down to the lobby, I couldn't help but laugh at the irony. It's as if it happened so that the story angle I'd been given came full circle.

Yes, every card and every penny in the wallet were there. But I would have been as peaceful, even if they hadn't been.

Trust me: You can do this. You can enjoy the peace that comes from trusting the divine God within you, no matter what appears to go awry on planet Earth.

Will you be in the Chicago area March 26-28? The Loud Mouth in the Balcony is conducting a workshop at the Women's Leadership Conference. For more information on this event and the other dynamic presenters, visit my website: http://www.dramaqueenworkshop.com/events.html.

Is life more fun for those who think?

2009-03-01T23:26:00.000-06:00

Truth shows up in the most unlikely places. I recently stumbled upon one of the most profound bits of truth printed on the tag of my tea bag:

"The world is a tragedy to those who feel, but a comedy to those who think."

The writer was Horace Walpole. I'd never heard of this English nobleman; but he instantly felt like kin because, like the Loud Mouth, he subscribed to his predecessor William Shakespeare's theory that "all the world's a stage." What intrigued me, however, was that Walpole seemed to be declaring that life is actually more fun for those who think--and more tragic for those who respond to life's dramas emotionally.

Let's think about that: What if you were born in the kingdom of a monarch whom no one had actually ever seen? He lived on a mountain that no one had ever visited and returned to tell firsthand stories, but you had it on good authority from well-respected leaders in the community that the king could be violently angry and vindictive. They said that he sometimes used excessive force to punish disobedience, but most of the time he simply ignored it. There was no predictability to his actions.

You never understood, and never questioned why the king behaved this way. You weren't sure what would happen if you asked why he commanded his subjects to be forgiving and nonviolent, since he didn't value or emulate this behavior. And why did he demand love, worship, and money?
Can you really love this volatile hypocrite? Could you truly entrust your life to him--or would you continue to live in fear, stress out, like everyone else around you?

Have you noticed that fearful people are typically reactionary and rarely rational? Take the leaders in this kingdom, for instance: To save themselves and others from a horrible and painful fate, they might create rules, regulations, restrictions, rituals, readings and regimens designed to appease the tyrannical king. Their aim was to control behaviors in the kingdom so that they could control outcomes from the king, especially since good people got hurt when he summoned the forces of nature against the entire kingdom.

Fearful people are more likely to create stories or dramas that support their fears and rally support from others. After all, who wants to be in a frightening situation alone? Since the beginning of recorded time, the most effective tool used to control human behaviors and outcomes is...Fear. It launches a never-ending cycle of drama of the most tragic kind.

Is the ruler of your kingdom a vindictive hypocritical tyrant? How can your life become less tragic?

Is God Evolving at the Speed of Man?

2009-02-24T20:50:00.002-06:00

This week’s homily was motivated by an particularly insightful response to last week’s essay, “God as Valentine:”

“I am of the mind that the practice of the time should not be mingled with the theology/belief that we in today’s world have or should have for who God is.”

What’s so exciting about this response is that it addresses, with laser focus, the reason so many of us are hurting right now: We have accepted ancient scribes’ vision of what God is, what God wants, what God does and through what practices God should be served.

Is it possible that the ancient scribes’ view of God might not be real? Their view of God is based on their limited knowledge of everything from genetics and geography to astronomy and physics. Most of those who heard their stories were illiterate, not intellectuals.

Our understanding of life on this planet has evolved; yet we place our faith in ancient scribes who believed that the earth not only was flat; it was the center of the Universe. The ancients believed that God demanded live sacrifices. Today, we call such sacrifices satanic.

What changed: Us or God?

If we had a better understanding of what God is and what God does, we wouldn’t feel so abandoned or punished when Life flips us on our heads. Is our faith in the words or in our God? As Stevie says, “When you believe in things that you don’t understand, you suffer.”

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to understand this: In the ancients’ version of human history, God planned a mass murder; he declared that he would ”wipe out” every plant and tree, and all but a few living creatures. He then waited patiently for decades for Noah to build an ark so that God could stow away a few survivors.

Then, the scribes tell us, after that long wait, God turned on the spigot and forgot about the ark. On the 40th day, they wrote, God “remembered” (Gen. 8:1). Are we to believe that God is not omniscient or that the ancients weren’t sophisticated storytellers?

Not sure? Try this: As their story continues, the rain suddenly stopped; but the waters didn’t recede for another 110 days. That seems to have confused poor Noah–and we certainly can understand that. He had to have been delirious by then.

Let’s face it: 150 days on a luxury cruise ship would drive anyone batty! What would be the mental condition of someone confined to a vessel with one window and one door–and filled with fecal matter and carcasses of animals (and perhaps humans) who didn’t survive the life-threatening and unsanitary conditions? Without a 150-day supply of food and potable water, how did any of them survive?

The ancient scribes didn’t think that through. They could only write what they knew.

An omniscient God, however, certainly knew what would happen under such inhumane conditions. So what does that say for this version of history being from God’s mouth to the scribes’ ears? What do you say when a 21st Century construction contractor in the Netherlands devotes nearly four years of his life replicating the vessel to the exact dimensions that the scribes provided?

As the ancient story goes, Noah trusted a dove, who didn’t escape the horrific conditions on the ark by flying out of the open window, to be smart enough to bring him proof that the water had receded. The fact that the bird returned wasn’t a miracle. But returning with a freshly plucked olive leaf? (Gen. 8:11) Every plant, tree and bush on earth was root-rotted. The ancient scribes weren’t aware, but we know that dead bodies contaminate water; so how on earth did an olive tree grow?

And how on earth did they devise this ending to this story? After leaving the ark, a grateful Noah built an altar to God, took some of the surviving animals and birds and inhumanely killed them, as a sacrifice (Gen. 8:20). Help me out here: They had miraculously managed to survive the grotesque conditions with little food and water, among carnivorous predators–to end up on a butcher’s slab? Raise your hand if you believe this.

Keep it raised if you believe the next sentence in this saga: “The LORD smelled the soothing aroma; and the LORD said to Himself, “I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done.” (Gen. 8:21).

Yes, we are to believe that:

God found the smell of the dead meat soothing. (Did the aroma waft up to Heaven?)
God decided that killing everything and everybody wasn’t such a great idea after all–and said that He would never do it again (God makes mistakes?)
God came to the conclusion that humans are simply evil. (Wouldn’t an omniscient God would know that before the genocide?)

I know someone is going to object: We shouldn’t question what God does.
Of course, that presumes that God is so impotent that He is threatened or angered by our desire to understand Him. More important, it presumes that God is not fully evolved and that man is not evolving toward Godliness.

Are you open to the possibility that God has been waiting patiently for centuries for us to evolve enough to ask these common sense questions? Is it possible that God has been waiting for someone–maybe you–to disassociate him from these barbaric, inhumane acts and clear His good name?

God as Valentine

2009-02-16T19:58:00.002-06:00

Raise your hand if you expect your significant other to “show you some love” on Valentine’s Day. After all, there’s only one day in the year that celebrates Love. Maybe that’s why we have such great expectations. Admit it, Girls: We want something a lot more romantic and thoughtful than chocolates and flowers. If only our men were as romantic and thoughtful as our First Lady’s. (Sigh)

Chances are, it was chocolates and/or flowers again this year. Right? We held back the tears, fawned over the flowers, and munched every chocolate, hoping that that there was something gold, platinum or even diamond hidden inside one of those tiny cups. It was not to be.

Look on the bright side. It could have been worse.

John Hinckley, Jr. comes to mind. Remember Hinckley? He attempted to assassinate then-President Ronald Reagan. It was a rather, er, dramatic way of expressing his love for actress Jodie Foster, whom he’d never met. Ms. Foster didn’t feel the love—and neither did anyone else, as far as I know.
I could be wrong. Does anybody out there believe that the blasts from Hinckley’s .22 pistol were appropriate expressions of love?

No? How about Susan Smith and Andrea Yates? Both women claim that their love for a man compelled them to drown their children. Do you think the men in question were freaked out or grateful that these living sacrifices were made on their behalf?

What did you think about these women committing filicide in the name of love: Was their behavior divine or satanic?

I ask this because it has been written and oft repeated that God sanctioned the unspeakably inhumane torture of one of his children–ironically, the only good one. We have been told that this murder demonstrated God’s deep love for those who are not so good.

Is that what you believe? If so, do you also believe that Hinckley, Smith and Yates’ behavior was an expression of divine love? (Please note: this is an apples to apples comparison of behavior.)

Most of us don’t think about what we believe. We believe what others tell us to believe–and, in many cases, we are discouraged or even threatened if we don’t blindly accept their beliefs. In this space, you are encouraged to think, analyze and ask yourself…

What Do I Believe–and Why Do I Believe It?

Do I believe that God is Love?

How do I expect God to express love?

Do I believe that Love would torture an innocent person to death, to benefit the guilty?

Do I believe that God would torture an innocent person to death, to benefit the guilty?

Do I believe that Love commits or sanctions inhumane behavior for any reason?

Do I believe that God commits or sanctions inhumane behavior for any reason?

Are live sacrifices satanic or loving acts?

There are no right or wrong answers here. The important thing is that you begin to think about your beliefs, and begin to understand what your beliefs mean and how they make you feel? For example, are you more likely to be fearful if you believe that God who solves problems by killing people? Does fear generate peace or stress?

I’ll be asking questions every week. You supply your own answers. As you explore your beliefs, in private, you’ll begin to discover a lot about yourself–perhaps even more about your perceptions of God.

What Should the "Loud Mouth" Wear to the Grammy Awards?

2008-12-07T14:24:00.004-06:00

Every parent knows how giddy we get when our kids do well. My over-achiever potty-trained herself, was "top of the class" smart in school, graduated from a prestigious college and became a successful Ford model. Now my singing/songwriting baby girl has captured a Grammy nod.

Maiysha's middle name, Kai, means "lovable" in Swahili. What I love most about her is that this wunderkind is as sweet an unaffected by her talent, looks and brains as the day is long: a beautiful person as well as a beautiful woman. (Thank you, God!)

Maiysha started singing when she was two. It stunned her Dad and me back then that she actually sang on-key. On my birthday this year, her debut album, "This Much Is True," was released. Earlier this week, her debut single from that album, "Wanna Be," was nominated for a Grammy.

This is not hip-hop; it's music that appeals to all demographic groups. I invite you to enjoy it absolutely free and with no obligation: Visit her website, http://www.maiysha.com/. And watch the performance videos. (Personally, I think the "Wanna Be" music video should have been nominated, too. You'll see.)

I hadn't thought about what I should wear to the awards show until so many of my friends asked. Frankly, I thought my indelible Cheshire cat grin would suffice.

No?

Head-to-Head with Einstein's Brain

2008-05-18T21:26:00.004-05:00

I wouldn't pit my brain against Albert Einstein's, and I certainly wouldn't bid against the guy who forked over $404,000 in an auction for one of Einstein's letters. Just a guess, but I think he has a higher credit limit on his cards than I do.

Is this undisclosed bidder a show-off, a physics buff, a spend-thrift, or are the contents of this letter really worth that much money? It depends upon how much you value the genius quantum physicist's thoughts about God--and religion (terms that, for some, are mutually exclusive). An article in today's New York Times gives us a peek into this unique missive, at a price that will fit our budgets.

The Answer to Prayer

2008-05-14T11:52:00.004-05:00

An article in today's Chicago Tribune has once again stirred my curiosity about the power of prayer. I'm wondering what you think about it.

According to the Trib's story, Artemia Torres, a single mother from Mexico, came to Chicago at the advice of relatives who assured her that she could earn more money to keep her two children in college. The relatives forgot to mention that they lived in a rough part of town. Oops.

When Ms. Torres discovered that she'd landed in a high street crime area, she did what any devout Catholic would do: Every morning before leaving home to sell corn-on-the-cob, mangoes and snow cones from her mobile cart, she prayed for God's protection. For good measure, she traveled on her daily rounds with a rosary and two pictures of Catholic saints.

One day, after going a full morning without a sale, it looked as if her luck was about to change. A customer finally appeared. He asked for corn; what he really wanted was her money. When she didn't have any, he did what any Chicago street thug worth his stripes would do: he shot her. He could have been more ruthless; he aimed for her thigh, not her heart.

Fascinating stuff. What does this incident say to you about the power of prayer?

Tour Begins, Freebies End

2008-03-27T12:16:00.005-05:00

Friday, March 28, marks an important milestone: The launch of the most joyful work of my lifetime: The Bringing in the Light Tour and the release of my new book, Crossing an Unseen Bridge.

Last summer, four authors and speakers, Gaile Dry-Burton, Patrice Gaines and Trevy McDonald, and myself founded HIPP Books, LLC, deriving our name from our dedication to promote Health, Inspirational, Peace and Prosperity. When we decided to take our act on the road, it was best-selling author Patrice Gaines who offered another name: "Bringing in the Light." It described our mission perfectly.

Since that fateful day, we have created an empowering series of workshops that are as insightful as they are fun. As the tour schedule develops, I will keep you posted. In most cases, the events are free. In each city, we're featuring a local author in our genre. In New York, it's best-selling author Terrie M. Williams. We're very excited about that.

There will be two "Come, Bring Your Light" panel discussions on each side of the main event. Both are in Harlem. Friday evening at 6 o'clock, we'll be at the National Black Theatre of Harlem and Sunday afternoon at 2 o'clock, we'll wrap up at Hue-Man Books and Cafe.

Publicity surrounding the main event on Saturday, March 29 at The New School University in Greenwich Village has created quite a buzz. (Maybe it was the news that New York's famed Dinosaur Bar-B-Q is catering the free lunch.) At any rate, it's the hottest ticket in town. To make sure that they don't have to turn you away, RSVP no later than today to: marciam@datewithabook.com. Warning: It might already be too late. Speaking of too late...

Free Downloads End Tonight!
The floodgates are about to close! If you're one of the few who hasn't read Crossing an Unseen Bridge (and hasn't discovered the Law of Attraction secrets that no one wants to talk about), downloads are free until midnight. I've enjoyed sharing it with you.

Have you seen any of the Crossing an Unseen Bridge reviews? Readers are sending back a lot of love from the other side. Not since "Drama Queens" have I cried such happy tears! The feedback has touched me as deeply as you tell me that this book has touched you. Read a few reviews.

We've noticed an uptick in downloads and sales of EARTH Is the MOTHER of All Drama Queens--especially by those who have read Crossing an Unseen Bridge. Maybe it's because the two are perfect companion books--or maybe it's because this is the first time that the 320-page book has been offered free. If it's the latter, here's a news flash: Drama Queen freebies also end tonight.

The Politician and His Pastor

2008-03-17T21:44:00.001-05:00

In my role as the spirituality editor of The Daily Voice online news source, I was asked to weigh in on the controversy surrounding Barack Obama's pastor's resignation from his presidential campaign from a spiritual rather than political point of view. If you're interested in what the Loud Mouth saw from the balcony of that drama, read it here.

Why Do We Believe It?

2008-02-26T00:02:00.003-06:00

I'm always in awe of people who can quote scripture. I'm equally intrigued when they insist that it is the Word of God. My latest book delves into our beliefs a bit. I am convinced that many of us haven't the slightest idea what we believe, what our beliefs really mean or why we believe them.

Is it important to understand what you believe? Well, since our beliefs motivate our actions, I think so--and so does retired Episcopalian Bishop John Shelby Spong*, renowned expert on the Bible, best-selling author and former fundamentalist from the Bible belt.

A minister at my church, who knows I am a big fan of Bishop Spong's, sent me this illuminating speech. I thought I'd share. When you have 83 minutes to spare, it will be time well-spent: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZM3FXlLMug

Enjoy the enlightenment!

*Disclaimer: Bishop Spong endorsed my first book.

In Violent Dramas, What's God's Role?

2008-02-09T23:19:00.000-06:00

A few days ago, I theorized in this space that violent behavior stems from our beliefs about what God is and what God does. If we believe ancient stories that tell us that God solves problems by killing people, we're more likely to view violence as a logical and acceptable way to solve our problems.

Within 24 hours of posting that essay, a Kirkwood, Missouri man left home saying, "To God be the glory!" Moments later, he shot six and killed five people that, he believed, were causing him a problem.

These horrific murders caused me to examine my theory more closely. What I found was scientific evidence that I might be on the right track. I posted those findings in today's edition of The Daily Voice, where I serve as the spirituality editor.

Time for a "Shift"?

2008-02-05T15:59:00.000-06:00

I stopped watching the evening news and switched to online newspapers. Not only was I was burned out, after 20 years in TV news, I typically felt emotionally drained at the end of the newscast, a bit overwhelmed by man's inhumanity to man.

Now that watching is no longer a job requirement, I choose not. If a headline is screaming bad news, I can instantly dash to another part of the page; I don't have to sit through the bloody details or watch the crime scene video.

I swear, if one more anchor reported a "senseless" murder, I was going to scream. Are there any murders that make sense? Let's see: Five women slain in a clothing store, man opens fire in a shopping mall, a Boy Scout kills his parents, women suicide bombers wreak havoc. Which of these made sense?

The acts are becoming more and more bizarre, more and more inhumane. I could be wrong, but I've theorized that the way we solve problems is directly related to our beliefs about God.

We can be as punitive and unforgiving as the God who kicked Adam and Eve to kingdom come. We can be as outraged and brutal as the God who commits filicide or genocide. We believe that Our Father solves problems by killing His own, torturing His own, threatening His own. He favors some over others. Human life is expendable.

We were taught this as children. It's deeply seeded in our psyches: this is the way to solve problems. This is the way we treat others.

In that context, murders make perfect sense, and they will continue until we shift our perceptions about what God is and what God does, until we decide to believe that God behaves more divinely.

It's an option. I'm not sure if we can do it; we are so attached to the sadistic model of God. In fact, we believe that God will torture us eternally, if we believe otherwise. Fascinating stuff.

At times, it seems hopeless to think that we can grasp how heinous we believe God is. Only a Pollyanna would believe that we can challenge these reports of Godly misconduct by asking, "Would LOVE do that?"

There is hope. Today, I am filled with it, after receiving an email today from the Rev. Shaheerah Stephens, a New Thought minister in Detroit. Maybe you'd like some hope, too: The Shift Movie

Honk if You're a Non-Believer!

2008-01-27T03:41:00.001-06:00

It happened again. I received a wonderfully inspiring e-mail--lengthy, but inspiring--and just as I neared the end, there it was: the threat, preceded by a command to say "The Lord's Prayer" for the person who sent the e-mail. I was OK with that, but the writer wanted more:

"Next, send this message to everyone you know. In a while, more people will have
prayed for you and you would have obtained a lot of people praying for others!"

In principle, it sounded reasonable and mathematically sound; but I have hundreds of friends in my address book, including many who do not say "The Lord's Prayer". Plus, I have no doubt that many who do wouldn't know what to say, in response to the writer's next command. I was a bit speechless myself:

"Next, stop and think and appreciate God's power in your life, for doing what
you know is pleasing to Him."

I stopped and thought. I'm still not sure whether this writer was saying that God would have power in my life if I pleased "Him", and no power if I didn't--i.e. a conditionally powerful quid pro quo God? Alrighty now!

And then came the Big Threat, the one that has found its way to the Loud Mouth's mailbox once too often:

"If you are not ashamed to do this, follow the instructions! Jesus said, 'If you are ashamed of me, I will be ashamed of you before My Father.'
"If you are not ashamed, send this message... only if you believe."

Believe what, exactly? Does this writer want us to believe that Jesus was a hypocrite? That's what we'd have to believe, to accept anyone's claim that he made such a manipulative, vindictive threat. This proclamation defies the spirit, intent and teachings of Jesus.

Believe what, exactly? Does this writer want us to believe that Jesus was a hypocrite? That's what we'd have to believe, to accept anyone's claim that he made such a manipulative, vindictive threat. This proclamation defies the spirit, intent and teachings of Jesus.

Bible scholars tell us that this alleged direct quote was written 70-85 years after Jesus' crucifixion--and not by one of his disciples. In fact, they say, none of the gospels was written by someone who personally knew Jesus. Why do we repeat second-hand information that maligns his character and makes him appear duplicitous?

What we know, for sure, is that Matthew wrote this quote--and he clearly couldn't have been paying attention to anything else Jesus reportedly said, or he would have written something that was more accurately aligned with his character and teachings.

Maybe Matthew was being overly zealous in his attempt to attract converts to Judaism's Christian sect. I don't know. And I don't know what motivates those who keep breathing life into such a damning characterization of Jesus by tacking this threat to the end of their e-mails, either.
This one stood out from the rest because, like Matthew, the scribe wasn't thinking clearly. In the same e-mail, the writer wrote every word of "The Lord's Prayer," but apparently didn't read them--and expected us to say them and not read them, either. Curious stuff.

The writer obviously believes that Jesus prayed, "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive others'," before the crowd gathered on the Mount, but would not be forgiving of others, when in his Father's presence.

Makes you wonder: Who's really the non-believer here?

Heard behind the Curtain

2008-01-06T23:10:00.001-06:00

By now, most of us are a bit weary of presidential politics--and the year is young. But, while most of us are turning a deaf ear, some are tuning in to hear the words more closely, as I discovered when reading June Michael's Spiritualdiva blog a minute ago.

She relates that she heard Barack Obama offer us three simple steps to lasting freedom! Did you?

What is Mid-Life?

2007-12-30T10:16:00.000-06:00

Upon returning to the lovely gateway of the Beliefnet Community today, I spotted a question asked by one of my neighbors: "Is it a mid-life crisis?" he wondered.

He made me wonder, too: When's mid-life? I mean, if we are spiritual creatures, made in the image of God, if there is no beginning or end to us, where is that point that we can designate as the "middle" of our lifetime?

Now that I've become aware of what a theater Earth is--and have become totally convinced of its departure from reality--the word "life" hits my eyes and ears differently. Words such as "life-saving" and "life-threatening", and yes, "mid-life" are curious to me. In fact, one of the questions in the Drama Queen Workshop “reality check” exercise is: It’s possible for medical professionals to save a life. True or False?

The answer, at least in that venue, is “false”. You can save a body, but you can’t save a life. We’ve confused the two, with obvious and frightening results.

We've been taught that reality is only what we can see: the slow moving molecules that constitute physical life. We've been taught that we have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Consequently, we tend to be fearful and defensive. We're spooked more easily. After all, there's so much to lose; no one is guaranteed tomorrow. Gotta get it now, gotta keep it, gotta keep others from trying to take it. Control whatever and whomever you can in this finite world.

What if Paul was correct when he told the Corinthians in his second letter: "What is seen is temporary, what is unseen is eternal?" Is reality temporary or eternal?

Wouldn't it be great in 2008, if we could more consistently "keep it real?" Who knows? Maybe the Loud Mouth wouldn't feel so compelled to rant!

Discover the Law of Attraction "Secrets" No One Wants to Talk About

2007-12-25T15:09:00.000-06:00

You might recall that this time last year, the ancient Law of Attraction was in the process of becoming a 21st century fad. That excitement soon faded, after millions did not get the results they desired. It's not that the bearers of this ancient Truth were wrong; they weren't. They simply didn't tell us the entire secret.

I promised in this space several months ago that I would fill in some of those blanks. At that time, I'd hoped to be able to deliver it to you around Thanksgiving. However, the Universe felt that this was a better time; winter solstice, New Year, it's a period of rebirth.

It's now time to understand why many of those Law of Attraction tactics didn't work the way you wanted or expected. It's finally time to discuss the secrets of this spiritual Law that no one seems to want to talk about. (They don't call me the "Loud Mouth in the Balcony" for nothin’! I'm tellin'.)

On New Year's Day, you can find out what those secrets are: the four simple principles that determine your outcomes. They're revealed in a free audio book that will help you enter 2008 with a new aptitude for why you attract certain experiences and people into your life. This is the full narration of my March 2008 hardcover release, Crossing an Unseen Bridge. The audio book will sell for $29.95 after the holidays. Right now, it is my gift to you with every pre-order of the printed edition ($15.95).

Crossing an Unseen Bridge promises to be as enlightening, empowering and entertaining as my whimsical spiritual memoir, EARTH Is the MOTHER of All Drama Queens. I hope this audio gift will be as much of a blessing to everyone as that book, and that it will provide a powerful start to your New Year.

This free audio book offer is open only to members
of my mailing list, as of December 31, 2007!
You can join that list by signing up in the

Drama Queen Workshops bookstore.

So many have commented that reading my work is like having me in the room talking to them. This time, I will really be there! I look forward to spending quality time with you.

Merry Christmas and a Happier New Year!

American Justice

2007-12-04T23:14:00.000-06:00

I just read a fascinating article in today's New York Times. They're examining commonplace aspects of the American justice system that are unique. This kind of justice happens nowhere else in the civilized world. This article, the second installment of a series, focuses on a young man who is serving life in prison without chance of parole. Why? Because he loaned his Chevy Metro to a friend.

Read the NYT article, and share your thoughts: Should anyone be severely punished for someone else's sin--under any circumstances. If you don't mind mentioning your religious affiliation (if any) in your response, I'd appreciate it.

Does Love Hate?

2007-09-21T23:24:00.000-05:00

A few months ago in this space, I suggested that we needed a prequel to the red hot best sellers touting the Law of Attraction. You know—something that lends credibility to claims that it’s really a law. After all, spiritual laws work for 100 percent of the people, 100 percent of the time. But 100% of the readers of these books didn’t get what they expected.

Maybe it’s because they needed a tad bit more than a magnet in their back packs before they could attract the life of their dreams, valuable and vital information that anyone must know before paying too much attention to ancient secrets. I waited for someone to put it in a nice handy book that's simple to read and understand. Then one day I said to myself, “Why wait? You're a journalist. Write it yourself.”

That’s what I’ve been doing in my spare time, instead of blogging. By the way, a special edition of that prequel will be available free at the DQW Bookstore around Thanksgiving, if I’m not sidetracked by too many distractions. This week, several have given me a wink and a nod, trying to coax me back into blogging mode.

But it was the teenager distributing religious tracts in front of the Wrigley Building and moments later, the guy screaming Divine threats through a bullhorn as the crowds walked by Water Tower Place that really prompted me to momentarily push the prequel aside.

I had the distinct pleasure of encountering the young girl and a few of her family members today on my way to a luncheon and again on my way back. From several hundred feet away, I could read the big bold white letters on their t-shirts: “JESUS HATES SIN.” I groaned in disbelief, but managed to maintain my composure as I neared them.

Apparently, I appeared to be an approachable soul (or at least a salvageable one). The girl extended a tract in my direction. Instead of reaching for it, I leaned over and said quietly, “Jesus doesn’t hate anything, Sweetheart.” I smiled and walked on.

“Judge not, judge not”, I kept repeating to myself, harkening Jesus’ loving wisdom. I'm not sure it worked. I was quite offended that someone would construct a sentence with “Jesus” as the subject and “hates” as the predicate. Fewer things are more oxymoronic. Oops, I forgot—judge not.

Pardon me, I’m still evolving. And, I have to remind myself, so are those who believe that Jesus hates anything. So, on my way back, when the young lady stepped toward me, I tried to say something more empowering: “Seventy times seven, dear. Remember ‘seventy times seven.’”

I figured that she could use a reminder, too—or at minimum, she could do the math. Surely someone who says to forgive a sin 490 times can’t really “hate” sin—unless of course, he’s a hypocrite.

And that brings me to the angry man down the street, who didn’t need a bullhorn to be heard above the noisy Michigan Avenue traffic. He had an important message that he was bellowing to pedestrians within earshot: God is going to torture us with endless doses of excruciating pain if we don’t clean up our acts.

Would that be the God of “God is Love”/“Prince of Peace” fame? I wondered.

A steady flow of passersby kept it moving, pretending to ignore the rant. However, one young man objected to being assaulted by someone's religious views as he was going about his day.

And that’s when it happened, much to the chagrin of those of us who believe that God is good all the time. The man went into a rage. “God’s going to throw you right in hell! You’re going straight to hell (and more venomous blah, blah, blah)!”

I shook my head and smiled at the couple standing nearby. “Now, isn’t that Christ-like?”

Have mercy! The mouth behind the bullhorn then started screaming at me. I mean he ripped me a new one. The Christ was undoubtedly missing from this card-carrying Christian.

Call me crazy, but I think it’s folks like him who are directly responsible for the skyrocketing membership in the Church Alumni Association, as Bishop John Shelby Spong lovingly dubbed it. Fewer folks are willing to accept portrayals of God as Boogie Man or terrorist, no matter where it’s written.

That leads to the third thing that caught my eye this week: a lawsuit filed by a Nebraska state law maker. The defendant in State Sen. Ernie Chambers’ lawsuit is none other than…God.

If I may invoke legal parlance, “based on information and belief”, Chambers’ suit accused God of inspiring fear and causing “fearsome floods ... horrendous hurricanes, terrifying tornadoes…widespread death, destruction and terrorization of millions upon millions of the Earth's inhabitants.” To make matters worse, the lawsuit claims, God has threatened Chambers and his constituents with bodily harm. In response, Chambers is seeking a permanent injunction against the Almighty.

The senator acknowledges that his lawsuit is frivolous by design. He's trying to make the point that anybody in Douglas County, Nebraska can file a lawsuit for any ridiculous reason. And he wants the practice to stop.

But Chambers—who is known to jab unChrist-like Christians now and again—appears to be making another point, too: The acts that God has been accused of intentionally committing against mankind are indisputably terroristic and inhumane. In some cases, they are petty, vengeful, unforgiving—and even hateful. Notably, God is said to have claimed responsibility, actually confessed, to acts that qualify for criminal prosecution.

Would Love do any of it? Could it be that the heinous accusations against God are as frivolous as Chambers’ lawsuit?

Are some of us boldly promoting God’s accusers rather than God's goodness?

Truth Takes Flight

2007-06-02T23:48:00.000-05:00

The last few weeks have been fascinating to watch from any seat in the balcony of Life. A veritable duel between contemporary and ancient thought played onstage:

Earth science students found really, really old fossils in Illinois. The Pope changed his mind about Original Sin. And Creationists opened a $27 million museum near Cincinnati with exhibits depicting the Bible's book of Genesis, which, among other things, claims that the Universe was created in six days, a mere 6,000 years ago--only 14 billion years short of geological estimates.

Speaking of geology, a University of Illinois at Chicago earth and environmental sciences professor and his students recently set out to explore a limestone cave in nearby Kendall County. Because northeastern Illinois is believed to have once been covered by a sea, the group expected to find 450 million-year-old fossils from marine life.

The fossils they found were quite a bit younger, only 310 million years old; and they weren't aquatic. But the group was hardly disappointed with their treasures. These fossils were of plant spores, scorpion parts and needles from a coniferous tree-maybe the oldest ever found in North America!

But perhaps the most astounding news came from Vatican City: Pope Benedict XVI uprooted a centuries-old Church belief, by approving a report claiming that there's reason to believe that children who die without being baptized are not excluded from heaven. Before now, it was believed that these children still carry the burden of original sin, and would go into a limbo state after death because they weren't acceptable to commune with God in heaven.

Of course, original sin hinges on the belief that God mercilessly blames every human for sins we didn't personally commit. Millions fervently believe this. I wonder how many of them believe that it is fair, reasonable or Godly to jail them for someone else's crime.

Either we believe in a just God or we don't. Wouldn't it be a novel idea if, when we read something that claims that God did something unjust, we questioned it instead of maligning God's character by perpetuating the tale for generations?

Actually, some folks will go to great heights to defend God's goodness. Case in point: the news conference for the Answers in Genesis organization's state-of-the-art Creationist museum opening.

Buzzzzzzz. A buzzing sound overhead shifted everyone's attention skyward. It was a small plane. From its tail flew a huge banner, commanding: "Thou Shalt Not Lie."

That promises to be the first of many protests at this Bible-affirming museum that features graphics in its lobby of children playing with dinosaurs. Bet you didn't know that dinosaurs were domesticated playmates, did you? In fact, one exhibit contends that dinosaurs were on Noah's Ark. How many cubits long and deep was that boat, again? Either the dinosaurs were runts or the ark made an ocean liner look like a tub toy.
It was that great punishing flood, the Creationist museum's founders insist, that carved out the Grand Canyon in a matter of weeks-a claim universally disputed by scientists, who insist that the canyon was formed over a period of 6 million years and its deep channels reveal two billion years of the planet's geological history.

Of course, the Great Flood story hinges on the belief that God is satanically genocidal and plays favorites.

Hey, will somebody please cue that plane?

"Secret" Audiences Deserve a Prequel

2007-04-28T11:09:00.000-05:00

After viewing The Secret, the consensus here in the balcony is that the producers must be planning to reveal the entire “secret” at a later date. While I’m sympathetic with the position that the masses probably can’t handle the full “secret” in one sitting, I’m not sure that the Law of Attraction is the most logical or effective opening scene. In fact, it’s closer to the denouement.

Trying to create or change the scenes in your life’s drama by using only one tool in the box is like playing nine holes of golf with only one club. Fewer things can be more harmful to the body, mind or spirit than learning the Law of Attraction without context, and practicing it in isolation and out of sequence.

As The Secret explained, wise souls have known this Law for many millennia. Since then, they and their messengers have faithfully spread the word. In the 20th century, Earl Nightingale became the first to record this wisdom on vinyl, crediting these not so New Age sages for his “We become what we think about” mantra.

Oprah, perhaps history’s most prolific messenger, knows and shares the Law of Attraction extremely well. Did she consciously practice it to transform her life from an unhappy, abused child with low self esteem into that of a highly respected, internationally known talk show host and billionaire? Frankly, I doubt it. I think she’ll admit that her lifestyle today was beyond the wildest imaginings of a woman who once told me that she couldn’t balance her checkbook.

Oprah and I worked at the same Chicago television station for years. When she arrived at our station, she didn’t envision that her enormous talent would redesign the TV talk show landscape forever. In fact, she was stunned when our station manager offered her the job as the AM Chicago host.

Oprah quickly stole the hearts of Chicago viewers, and advertisers stampeded for exposure to her huge audiences. Then the station manager proved that he was more than a great talent scout. He changed her air time, renamed the show and decreed that the new Oprah Winfrey Show would now challenge the venerable Phil Donahue, head-to-head.

Oprah told us that she was petrified. She feared that Donahue would obliterate her from the airwaves. Fear was her prevailing thought. But in no time flat, she reduced Donahue to Dona-who? Was Oprah working the Law of Attraction?

Few, if any, have focused our attention on developing a debilitating or deadly disease, being downsized, losing our homes and loved ones to an accident, wildfire, hurricane or tornado, or our pensions to unscrupulous corporate executives—but it happened, anyway. On the other hand, many have connected emotionally with vivid images of what their lifestyle would be like if they won a big lottery jackpot, married the mate of their dreams, landed a great job or received an admission letter to the college at the top of their list—yet it never materialized. How many have followed the directives in The Secret and received disappointing results?

I speak from experience. More than a decade ago, I followed these same steps, based on the teachings of the sages that inspired The Secret. I outlined that drama and its results in EARTH Is the MOTHER of All Drama Queens. I learned the hard way that a little bit of information can be a dangerous thing.

Is the Law of Attraction all we need to know? Is it even the first thing we need to know, if we want to take control of our lives? What’s the rest of the secret—the prerequisite lessons that support this Law? The ancients have passed on that information, too; and it’s just as accessible.

Let’s hope that the producers of The Secret unveil it in a desperately needed prequel—and soon. Otherwise, many who are now open to exercising the power of positive thought and invoking the Law of Attraction to control their outcomes will lose ground and lose faith when they don’t consistently create the results they desire, as The Secret has promised.

Are We Digesting Conflicted Fruit?

2007-04-08T23:16:00.000-05:00

Today we celebrate the greatest lesson demonstrated by perhaps the greatest teacher the world has ever known, a Jew named Yeshua. What he demonstrated more than 2,000 years ago was that there is no death.

He reportedly revealed that even though the physical bodies we wear are lifeless and entombed, we are not dead. We are immortal spirit, made in the likeness and image of our Father. We are not physical bodies. What we learned from his demonstration is dramatically different.

Yeshua, whose name was mistranslated as Jesus, was a powerful teacher who was committed to sharing the Truth as it had been revealed to him. Through parables and folksy stories, he spread the word about an unconditionally loving and eternally forgiving God. It was a soul-stirring, joyful message that resonated in hearts wherever he went. But as the Bible relates, some of the questions his followers asked reveal that they were also confused by his message.

Like Yeshua, his followers had been reared in the Jewish tradition. Many had committed Jewish law to memory and were expected to live by the letter of that law. So, despite their acceptance of Yeshua’s dramatically different perception of what God is and what God does, his followers didn’t completely replace their old beliefs. Instead, they planted Yeshua’s empowering and revolutionary teachings on top of the lessons they’d learned as children. We’ve been harvesting conflicted fruit ever since.

For example, Yeshua believed that God not only is absolute (unchanging), he believed that God loves us unwaveringly and forgives us unconditionally. In his Prodigal Son parable, he portrayed God as a Father who will welcome us Home with open arms, no matter what we’ve done.

By contrast, the religious tradition of Yeshua’s family portrayed God as a violent, angry Supreme Being who demanded us to slaughter an innocent creature to atone for our errors. Today, such live sacrifices are considered barbaric and acts that are frequently associated with satanic rituals.

It begs the question: Have we digested conflicted fruit? Or do we truly share Yeshua’s belief that:
1. God is always the same and has never changed;
2. God has always been unconditionally loving and forgiving;
3. God doesn't heinously punish an innocent for another’s wrongdoing?

I Wish Jesus Had Dropped Bread Crumbs

2007-02-04T12:28:00.001-06:00

Humans are a lovely and loving lot—except when we forget we are. And that memory lapse scripts all human drama.

From the missives in my e-mailbox, there’s many a beautiful soul out there who believes that it is his or her mission to save the rest of us from eternal damnation; and by golly, they’ll do it by force, in the name of Almighty God. They’ll shake us, insult us, slap us and zap us until we abandon our belief that God is infinitely bigger—and better—than the ancient scribes portrayed. If we really loved God—I mean really, really loved God—we’ll forward their guilt-tripping e-mails to everyone in our address book, and know that a blessing is on the way.

I have no doubt that these wonderful people really mean well. They truly believe that when God does things that are judgmental, inhumane, punitive and…er, ungodly, it’s for our own good. Hey, drastic times call for drastic measures. That’s why they practice Coercive Christianity. If they didn’t, the rest of us would go to hell in a hand basket.

I received an e-mail yesterday that pimp-slapped those who believe the claims in hoax e-mails, but don’t believe that the Bible is the inerrant word of God. (It didn’t address the group that believes neither.) This type of e-mail used to irritate me. I guess I’m mellowing. Now, I simply wonder how closely these beautiful people have read the Bible—or what’s left of it—before imposing such harsh judgment on others.

In his utterly fascinating book, Misquoting Jesus: The Story behind Who Changed the Bible and Why, renowned biblical scholar Bart D. Ehrman says, “[T]he vast majority of Christians for the entire history of the church have not had access to the originals, making [the scribes’] inspiration something of a moot point. Not only do we not have the originals, we don’t have the first copies of the originals. We don’t even have copies of the copies of the originals, or copies of the copies of the copies of the originals. What we have are copies made later—much later. In most instances, they are copies made many centuries later. And these copies all differ from one another, in many thousands of places.”

You don’t have to be an historian or biblical scholar to notice that there are several versions of the Noah and the Ark story clumsily squeezed into the book of Genesis. Close your eyes and let a child read it aloud. You’ll be surprised to hear things you haven’t noticed in all the years you’ve been reading the Bible or repeating that story. You’ll discover that the details and numbers conflict, from one verse to another—repeatedly.

The New Testament has its issues, too. There are four conflicting accounts of Jesus’ birth, life, ministry, and even his death. That’s because Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John had different perceptions of Jesus and his mission, were talking to different audiences, and trying to convince those audiences of different things.

Matthew was speaking to religious Jews, and made an effort to connect Jesus to Jewish scripture. He portrayed Jesus as fulfilling Jewish prophesy—royalty, the King of Kings. Mark addressed the Romans, presenting Jesus to them as servile, the bearer of man’s burdens. To Luke, the erudite Gentile (non-Jewish) physician, Jesus was the perfect and sinless son of man. Luke was believed to be a friend of Paul. His book targeted a non-Jewish Christian audience. By contrast, John’s message was for the common man, particularly the needy. John viewed Jesus as the perfect son of God. Needless to say, the four covered all the bases.

For many millennia, schools of theology have taught our ministers truths about the Bible that many have forgotten to pass on, including the fact that none of the gospel writers actually knew Jesus. Despite the similarities in their names, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were not the Apostles. In addition, few men were literate in Jesus’ day. Consequently, the New Testament never contained direct quotes, and neither do our current red letter editions.

Ehrman, who became a born again Christian as a teen, tells a humorous story about how his theological studies fine-tuned his beliefs. (At least, I thought it was funny.) At the urging of the young teacher responsible for his enlightenment, he decided to study Scripture full time. Following high school graduation, he entered Moody Bible Institute in Chicago.

Ehrman considered Moody’s curriculum as “hard core Christianity, for the fully committed.” It was there that he first learned that “none of the copies of original scripture is completely accurate, since the scribes who produced them inadvertently and/or intentionally changed them in places.” All the scribes did this, he was taught.

Despite this insight, Moody students and instructors were required to sign a statement declaring that the Bible was the inerrant word of God. No one else seemed to have a problem with viewing the inaccurate copies of copies as the inerrant word of God, so he accepted it, too.

Ehrman was fired up, following his three year Bible immersion at Moody. He wanted to evangelize to the secular world. He decided to earn degrees that would enable him to teach in secular settings. First step: a bachelor’s degree. He selected Wheaton College in suburban Chicago, alma mater of famed evangelist Billy Graham—ignoring warnings from Moody colleagues that he’d find no “real” Christians there.

His study of Greek at Wheaton highlighted his concerns about the biblical translations. As he approached graduation, he was compelled to devote himself to studying the New Testament. The world’s leading expert taught at Princeton Theological Seminary. Ehrman headed in that direction, ignoring warnings from friends at Wheaton that he’d have trouble finding any “real” Christians at Princeton.

He recalls that he reached a turning point during his second semester at Princeton, after writing a final term paper for a much revered and pious professor. In that paper, he examined a passage in Mark 2, in which the Pharisees catch Jesus and his disciples eating grain during the Sabbath. Jesus defended himself and his apostles by citing 1Samuel 21:1-6, which told the story of King David and his men. The scripture says that they went into the temple when Abiathar was the high priest, and they were so hungry that they ate bread that was exclusively for priests.

Scholars who have studied the Bible in conjunction with other historical texts say this scene actually happened when Abiathar’s father, Ahimelech, was the high priest—a factual error. Ehrman faced this challenge by writing a lengthy and admittedly convoluted argument that the names in 1Samuel and Mark 2 were indeed incorrect, but the Bible itself is inerrant.

His pious professor minced no words, writing on Ehrman’s term paper: “Maybe Mark just made a mistake.” (That’s when I laughed.)

Laypersons such as myself might not be able to spot the thousands of conflicts that scholars have found, but we can clearly see the obvious ones. For example, Matthew’s “inspired” story of Jesus’ birth, written 38 to 68 years after the crucifixion, says that Jesus was born at Mary and Joseph’s home in Bethlehem, and a brilliant star in the East led three wise men to the newborn and his mother. He writes: “Going into the house, they saw Mary and the baby, and fell down and worshipped him.” (Matthew 2:11)

Luke was inspired to relate a totally different birth narrative. In it, Mary and Joseph didn’t live in a house in Bethlehem. They traveled to the city (presumably from Nazareth) to pay taxes. The reason for the trip, Luke claims, is because Joseph belonged to the lineage of King David.

In Luke’s version, it was not the three magi, but shepherds who were led to newborn Jesus—and not by a star, but by an angel: “Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger”. (Luke 2:12)

Historians have been unable to find any evidence of such a mandate for taxpayers to travel to their ancestral home to pay taxes—ever. Tax time wasn’t recorded to be in December, either. Personally, I’m looking for the rationale for making a pregnant woman travel by foot and donkey to watch her husband pay taxes.

But Luke had to devise a way to get this family from Nazareth to Bethlehem, because Hebrew Scriptures portended that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. Jewish prophesy also said that the Messiah would be a descendant of David, so Luke claimed that Joseph was that descendant.

(Cue the screeching brakes) Does this mean that Christmas pageants and Nativity plays the world over are portraying Joseph, not God, as Jesus’ father?

So much for the biblical issues surrounding Jesus’ birth. Let’s look at the Gospels’ dueling versions of his death. Mark, who was the first to chronicle Jesus’ life, 35 to 45 years after his death, claims that Jesus was crucified the day after the Passover meal (Mark 14:12). By contrast, the Gospel of John, which scholars say was written 25 to 30 years after Mark’s version, claims that he was crucified the day before the meal (John 19:14). There are also conflicting reports of the series of events that followed his death. The contradictions are too numerous to mention here.

As the Reverend Dr. Evelyn Boyd-Castillo, one of my favorite teachers at Christ Universal Temple, says, “There’s a lot of truth in the Bible, but everything in the Bible isn’t true.”

For one thing, Jesus can’t be born in different places or die on different days. But more important, believing that the Bible is inerrant doesn’t make us “real” Christians. Reading it for guidance in practicing the teachings of the Jew named Yeshua, whose name was changed to Jesus in one of the many translations, is what makes us “real” Christians.

Yeshua brought good news that has long outlived his time on Earth: God is not the sun or an object, as believed by Roman pagans. And God is not the intervening, score-keeping Bogie Man who angrily smites, vengefully commits genocide, heinously demands the live sacrifice of animals, as described in the Old Testament.

Even though Yeshua’s actual words were never recorded verbatim, their essence was this: God is Love. God is Spirit. God is unconditional forgiveness. God is within everyone. God is good all the time; and all the time, God is good. That was his story; and he stuck to it, no matter what.

For three very challenging years, Yeshua dutifully served as God’s PR person. That’s an awfully short time to change centuries of firmly entrenched images and perceptions of what divinity looks like, especially if the religious establishment virulently opposes you. He knew that mere words wouldn’t do; so he put on a show and took it on the road. He demonstrated what it looks like to exude the real power of the Loving, Living God that is within us: a power that compels us to treat others the way we’d want to be treated, love and forgive unconditionally, and honor free will, forcing no one to do anything.

He issued no commands. Instead, he gently and lovingly extended an invitation for us to mimic his thoughts, beliefs and behavior beyond his space and time.

“Follow me,” he urged.

Sigh. If only he had dropped bread crumbs.

Dare to Think?

2007-01-15T15:07:00.000-06:00

“Mankind must evolve, for all human conflict, a method that rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is Love.” The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

My route to the office passes a large orange sign in a window of the McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum on the Mag Mile that screams: “WE DARE YOU TO THINK”. That sign always makes me giggle.

Thinking is often discouraged or forbidden in this Land of the Free, especially when it comes to religion. Typically, we are scared to think, rather than dared to think.

Suppose you have a friend who makes you feel lucky to have him in your world. In fact, everyone who knows this guy speaks of him with admiration. What a cool dude: kind, generous, trustworthy, always lending a helping hand to others. He’s a source of comfort and solace. You’ve never seen him angry or heard him utter a discouraging word.

Then one morning you pick up the newspaper and see his picture beneath a headline that screams “CHARGED!” He’s walking with his head bowed, dressed in an orange jumpsuit, hands behind his back and surrounded by a gaggle of police and TV cameras.

Your knees buckle as you read details of the crimes your dear friend is accused of committing: rape, murder and child abuse. Investigators say they also found evidence that he is involved in a terrorist plot to kill a great number of people.

Your head is spinning. Do you believe what you read—or trust what you know? That is our challenge when we read certain accounts about God: believe what we read or trust what we know.

If, as the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. suggests, mankind must evolve beyond a barbaric level of conflict resolution, surely God is light years ahead. And if we share Dr. King’s belief that we evolve to a higher level of conflict resolution through love, and we believe that God is Love, is it possible to believe that God resolves conflict with revenge, aggression and retaliation?

We are dared to think.

When I was nine or ten years old, I recall leaving Sunday school a bit dazed. I couldn’t quite wrap my child’s brain around what I’d just read in class. I comprehended the God is Love part; but the book lost me when it claimed that God had done cruel and unusual things that Love absolutely positively would not do, under any circumstances.

We are dared to think.

I've been told that God is everywhere, knows everything, and is all-powerful. If that's true, how are we also supposed to believe that God has a rival? A rival can only be taken seriously if it is an equal. God has no equal.

We are dared to think.

One thought always seems to lead to others: For example, if jealousy is such an undesirable human trait, how can we believe that God has claimed to be jealous? And pray tell, what exists in the Universe that would invoke jealousy from a God who is everywhere, knows everything, and is all-powerful?

We are dared to think.

It is claimed that Love had a fit of rage so intense that it killed everyone and everything in Creation, with a few exceptions. And they want us to believe that Love has threatened to do it again.

Anybody dare to reflect on that “revelationary” method of resolving conflict?

Leaping into the Procrustean Bed

2006-11-19T11:28:00.000-06:00

If it weren’t for the occasional leaps in logic, I swear, some of us wouldn’t get any exercise at all. OK, nobody knows my name at the nearby health club, either; but I do try to give my brain a workout several times a day. In fact, right now it’s running wild with speculation over how the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops will react this week to the "proposed guidelines for ministering to homosexuals."

According to a report in the Chicago Tribune, when America’s Roman Catholic bishops convene in Baltimore for their annual fall meeting, they will review new guidelines that absolve gay Catholics of any obligation to try to alter their sexual orientation. That’s a big step. But, while the bishops who drafted this proposal appear to acknowledge that homosexuality is an orientation, rather than a choice or a lifestyle, they’re simultaneously recommending that the Church continues to stress that same-sex relationships are immoral.

I really should rest my brain after that impressive workout. Leaping is one thing; bungee jumping is quite another. With the little strength that I have left, I absolutely positively must ask:

1. If same sex orientation is something that
one cannot change,
2. The Church will not obligate anyone to even try
to change,
3. Then, why is same sex orientation considered
immoral?

Is it because Leviticus said so? Are these upstanding Christians saying that Leviticus’ hate-filled laws trump Jesus’ good news? Judge not, lest ye be judged.

The answer cometh with rapid speed:

“We are trying to find a language that does not betray the teaching of the Church, but will perhaps express it in ways that are not so offensive,” the Tribune article quotes Chicago's Cardinal Francis George, vice president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, as saying.

Further muddying the waters, he reportedly added, “The conclusions are the same. The language will be less painful than sometimes the language has been in the past.”

Have mercy! I shouldn’t have scrimped on those stretches before I began this ecclesiastical workout. And for rest, they offer me the comfort of a Procrustean bed. In fact, Procrustes is probably gleefully flattered that they’ve imitated him so well.

Don't remember Procrustes? He was a rather sinister fellow in Greek mythology, a proverbial nightmare to weary travelers whose route took him near his place. Appearing to be a hospitable gent, Procrustes would invite them to lodge at his place. In exchange, they had to do nothing—except fit in his iron bed. I mean, literally fit in his iron bed: If they were shorter than the bed, he’d stretch them to its length. If they were taller, he’d chop off their head or legs. Of course, no one ever truly fit it, because once this diabolical charmer spotted them from a distance, he’d simply adjust the length of the bed. That gave birth to the term “procrustean bed”: an arbitrary standard to which exact conformity is forced [emphasis added].

When a church body believes that God is forceful, punitive and judgmental, rather than powerful, forgiving and the grantor of free will, it promotes policies that reflect their belief, as evidenced by two other proposals the bishops will consider this week: One forces gay couples to agree to raise their adopted children Catholic, otherwise their parish might not allow the children to be baptized. The second lays a foundation that would make it easier for clergy to deny holy sacraments to Catholics at odds with the church (baptism, confirmation, communion, confession, holy orders, marriage, and last rites), thus forcing parishioners to be in lock-step or be locked out. Among those targeted: politicians who call themselves Catholic.

The procrustean bed. A most fitting foundation on which the good bishops should begin this week’s meeting in Baltimore, and as painful on the 21st century stage as it was in ancient myth.