Shining Spirit

On this first day of the week, may you find hope to replace your sense of futility, peace in your mind and spirit instead of the undercurrent of fear,
awareness of the good and the positive around you, and an appreciation of beauty that is the sign of the Spirit’s residence within your heart.
May the trinity of Wisdom, Courage, and Serenity
guide your way to The Way.
May it be so.

Spread your wings today!

You are a beautiful work of Creation!

You can fly!

(If you try!)

Have you noticed the lovely flower crowns atop our Saguaro neighbors
all over town? Striking!
But when I see them my mind revisits the first words of the
Sursum Corda, the beginning statement of the
traditional communion rite in many Christian churches.
The priest calls out to the congregation:
“Lift up your hearts” and the
people reply: “We lift them up to the Lord.”
Our tall, stately cactus friends are lifting an offering of
beauty to the universe, a gift to creation, their way
of saying “above the confusion of life in this world,
there is beauty and we lift it high for all to see.”

Would that we might follow their lead.

It’s just an ordinary sandy path until the shadows come.

Shadows are often thought to be mysterious, even sinister,
but shadows painted onto a canvas or included in
a photograph add depth and dimension and
character.  In the hot Sonoran desert, shadows
are very welcome.
Could it be that the shadows that slip into our lives
might also offer a richness that would not be there
otherwise?
The shadow of doubt inspires honest questions.
The shadow of mistake reminds us to be more careful
or thoughtful or diligent.
Even the shadow that provides cool relaxation
reminds us to be thankful and appreciative.

Shadows are friends to those who recognize that
life is a mixture of many things, and who accept
the reality of life’s oneness.

This is not communion with nature,
this is communion with the Source of
all nature.

This is not looking at something beautiful,
this is looking through the objects and
seeing Inherent Beauty.

This is not taking a hike,
this is experiencing a mystical moment
that will never be repeated in
exactly the same way.

“How glorious is your dwelling place,
O Loving Creator of the universe.”

Memorial Day

Remember

Be Grateful

Make a difference

Do what is right and honorable

Sometimes looking back over my shoulder puts life in
perspective. Sometimes I need to stand above the moment
in order to make sense of things that happen in my life.
It’s called seeing the bigger picture.
Today, focus big!
Let your mind and your heart be panoramic.
Life is too much a string of individual moments tenuously
connected on a fragile thread.
Do you think you could have seen this perspective
standing on the corner of Broadway and Alvernon?
In prayer, in meditation, in spiritual reflection we can be caught up
in the arms of a benevolent, Loving Creation whose desire is
for each of us to stand for a moment in awe and exclaim:
“Oh, my Lord!”
May you find your mountaintop moment as this day unfolds.

Even a wall can offer a lesson about life.  No, not that wall…this wall.
The most obvious thing is the diversity in appearance.
The stones weigh different amounts, they point in dissimilar
directions, angles vary, etc.
But the thing they all share in common is the substance
that holds them together.  They are bound together
by the very same concrete.  It guarantees their
stability, strength, and defines them as a wall.
Pretty simple application.  All living things are defined,
described, and given a common purpose by the
flow of Spirit that holds life together.
Without the connectedness of Spirit,
creation falls apart.
Today, acknowledge your part in this great mural of life.
Give thanks.  Be glad in the adhesive of creation.

Seems like everybody carries a heavy load these days.
This little guy isn’t excluded, although I don’t see a
mask.  His load is many times his size, but
nothing stopped him as he crossed the sidewalk in
front of me.

What his tiny ant mind doesn’t know is that the design
of creation is so perfect that each living thing has
what it needs to survive…if it is smart enough to
use it wisely.  Not only survive, but prosper.

The life you will live today, all the hours ahead of you,
are not of our making.  The soft morning sun is shining
through huge white oleander flowers just outside my
magic window, not of my doing, not even at my
request.  It is gift.

Be grateful today.  Use the hours with a thankful heart.
Even if the load gets heavy.

I sat talking of things past, with old friends who knew me then,
and for just a moment, a flicker of time-light,
those memories lived again.

Blessed are we by friendships that never fade;
a never ending stream, water of life,
to nurture lives left living, in the
dry lands of a lonely mind.

God bless those who stand beside us, who accept us
as we are, who love us for no other cause
but that we share a common star.

Steven Charleston
Hope As Old As Fire
Red Moon Publications