JOY MAKES EVERYTHING EASY

You name it. Joy makes it easy. 

We can call this joy an attitude or emotion, our disposition, an outlook or perspective. Doesn’t matter. Whatever we call it, joy is incredibly powerful! Utilizing its power can make whatever we consider “difficult” in our lives easy. And not just that. Reaching for our wildest dreams and highest aspirations becomes immeasurably easier and more inspiring. It’s amazing!  Such a tiny shift can shape this moment, this day--to say nothing of our lives--so profoundly.

If joy makes everything equally easy then “degree of difficulty” is off the table as a criterion in our decision making. This is as freeing as it is stress-reducing. Approaching our day--and every part of it--with this “joy” simplifies life instantly by focusing our mind, sending our immediate thoughts in much healthier, happier, and creative directions. We and the world both benefit.  

We can easily prove joy’s efficacy. Notice how much effort (time, energy, resources) we happily expend on the play/pleasure factor in our lives. And we hardly bat an eye! Now consider expending the same time, energy, resources, on whatever we consider to be “work.” (If you have trouble identifying these just ask someone who knows--and loves--you what things you usually complain about.) Big difference? BIG difference! Because we naturally approach our play/pleasure factor with positive thoughts and feelings. In short, joy.

 What’s the key to having this joy-makes-everything-easy perspective on life? Consciousness...choosing to be intentionally aware of our outlook at any given moment--putting our primary focus not on the task to be accomplished but on the spirit with which we approach it. 

Is this all just fluffy thinking? You’ll only think so if you don’t actually try it and experience its deep truth. You may think you can’t do this. Try it. If it’s a new idea you may think, “Well, maybe it’ll work some of the time, but nothing works all the time.” Please, try it. Even if it doesn’t always work for you, is 50% worth it? 25%? 10%?  

Make a short don’t-want-to-do list. Then ask yourself, “What if these things are actually easy but I’m just thinking they’re hard?” Then take one item and practice this joy approach on it. 

It’s so fun when we surprise ourselves. 

TODAY.

LET’S GIVE THE WORLD & OURSELVES A GIFT.

LET’S TAKE TIME TO THINK ABOUT HOW WE THINK.

A MOST UNUSUAL THANKSGIVING

For this most unusual opportunity 

to take a rarified glimpse at what and how much

I have to be thankful for,

I give thanks.

For this most unusual moment in my history 

to stop and take stock of all I’ve received in the past, 

and all I’m being given now through the goodness of others,

I give thanks.

For this most unusual holy day in which to thank

all those nearest and dearest to me, 

who so often--without my offer of appreciation

or even notice of their gift--make my life good,

I give thanks.

For this most unusual chance to see and give thanks for things 

that under “usual” circumstances I take for granted,

I give thanks.

For this most unusual time of global struggle

that reveals to me how much we are all alike 

and how much we need each other's love and compassion,

I give thanks.

For this most unusual gift of grace or good fortune,

of not having lost a loved one to the pandemic’s horror

even as I mourn for and with those who have,

I give thanks.

For this most unusual Native American Heritage Day

which reminds me of the sanctity of sea, sky and earth,

and all that is in them,

I give thanks.

For this most unusual occasion to consider

all those around me whom I’ll never even meet, 

who are blessing my life in this moment because, 

on this very day and so many others,

they are choosing to give more than they will receive,

I give thanks.

For this most unusual lesson that is teaching me

to be live thankfully in any and all circumstances,

I give thanks.

I thank you, God, for this most unusual Thanksgiving.

WORTHY

WORTHY

It’s the hardest thing in the world to do! To love ourselves. 

So many reasons not to, right?

So many faults and fissures,

so many shortcomings, so much shame. 

We’ve solicited so many what-were-you-thinkings?

We’ve made so many bad decisions,

We’ve caused so many crash and burns.

We’ve even scorched the earth of our own loved ones.

How ‘bout our addictions that just won’t be addled?

And then there’s our guilt. 

And what would others think if we did?

If we loved ourselves so much that it showed.

They’d say, “You’re just ego with skin on it.” 

“You’re full of yourself! Don’t be so arrogant!”

And, of course, there is mother’s,

“Don’t think too highly of yourself.”

No, it’s so much safer to just stay the way we are, 

the way we’ve always been, will always be,

rather than risk raising our own ratings. 

But wait.

It’s the easiest thing in the world to do! To love ourselves.

No matter where we are, what we’re doing,

or who we’re with, we can love who we are.”

The choice is ours to make. No one else’s.

We can decide, “Yes, I am worthy of love.”

And more, “I’m worthy of loving--even me!”

And who knows our “me” better than we? 

Who knows better what can become of us

once we choose to deeply, audaciously love? Ourselves!

Oddly, it seems we have to give the OK. The permission.

I know. It’s all a bit bizarre, but here’s the good news of it:

We can choose to shut off the fire hose of self-criticism.

We can say, “Thus far and no further!” 

to our obstreperous mental scripts.

We don’t need anyone else’s sayso

to say, “I love you!” to ourselves.

Besides, if it’s the real thing, 

then when I choose to love me,

I’m also choosing to love you. 

In one fell swoop I free both of us.

Our hearts will bubble with passion and compassion, 

every cell in our bodies, our brains-our beings--will celebrate,

and our spirits will reclaim our skies.

“....and love your neighbor as yourself.” (Jesus/Matthew 22:39)

WIRED

We are wired to be wary--which is why we worry. 

This we know. Either external impetus or internal thoughts that trigger our innate survival instincts in the face of real or perceived danger fire off considerably more synaptic reactions in the brain than do non-worrisome thoughts. (One might speculate, then, that more than a few of our would-be ancestors were thinking pleasant thoughts when they should have been more wary about the proverbial sabre-toothed tiger sneaking up behind them.)  What does this ancient ability translate into in real time? Worry, usually...but without the tiger.

No wonder it feels impossible not to worry. It is! But that’s a good thing, right? Well, sort of. While it may at times keep us alive, today we seldom need the same degree of our limbic brain’s “0-60 in a nanosecond” capacity for sensing danger. Nor do we need what subsequent evolution (i.e. consciousness) now permits: the capacity to worry about the fact that we worry!

What can we do to stop worrying so much? We can continue to use our brain’s magnificent capacity to alert us to potential danger but then, instead of letting this awareness transmute into worry, we can let it be a catalyst which triggers a different, more calming and life-affirming response.  

First, we can thank our primordial brain’s quick warriness for alerting us to something we value (or we wouldn’t be worrying about it). Second, at the moment we begin to worry--and before that worry takes on a life of its own--we can determine which of our values is being is threatened. Third, we can then choose to turn that worrisome thought or feeling into a positive, value-affirming vision. Finally, we can undergird that vision with feelings of hope, anticipation and resolve. Back in the day we couldn't do that. Now we can. 

Our brains aren’t going to evolve beyond their proclivity for worry anytime soon. But we can use our antiquated hardware and combine it with our latest and greatest new software called “consciousness”--which includes the capacity to think about how we think--to respond in ways that benefit who and where we are in real time.  

We are wired to be wary, not to worry. These two are not the same thing. When we remember this everybody benefits. Life becomes a whole lot easier to live with. And so do we.

TODAY.

LET’S GIVE THE WORLD & OURSELVES A GIFT.

LET’S TAKE TIME TO THINK ABOUT HOW WE THINK.

REFLECTING

The water need share only its glassiest sheen,

Something, when stilled, it can’t help but do.

The wind need only whisper to the waters below,

to spirit Adam’s ale into a million silent shards.

The sun need but beam through the scintillant blue,

its gay presence undaunted by cloud.

Such as it is, they engage the whole day.

And what is the triumph of this triumvirate play?

Hour upon hour setting water's surface aflare,

each brilliance borne on its own liquid yacht,

careening and cavorting till day becomes dusk,

the sun sashaying away in golden aray,

the wind now winded, calling it a day,

and waters glaze over,

leaden lids stilling once more.

If we could but slow life’s shutter speed

from a million down to one, what would an audit unveil?

Like water, wind and sun, we need do very little;

just sit with our souls, letting our words and their ways

shimmer unfettered before our inner scope

till we see what had earlier passed as mere flash.

Such is the role of reflecting upon our day, our days;

freeing each shapeshifting shard of its wisdom,

re-bestowing upon us luxury lost in an earlier moment;

now returned in the gleaning of meaning.

DEEP KNOWING

Create in me a cleansed heart. 

O God, You know how I get.

And renew a right spirit,

your Spirit of Wellbeing, within me.

I live, knowing you’ll never cast me 

away from your life-loving essence.

I love, knowing you’d never think of taking

your holy and healing spirit from me.

I rest, knowing you recreate in me joy, 

the joy borne of your most intimate presence.

I rise up, knowing that you embolden me 

with your free and freeing spirit.

(Based on Psalm 51:10-12)

FALLING IN LOVE

How do you define the word, “God?” We all, it seems, have especially meaningful moments--moments when we feel a closeness to or consciousness of what many call “God,”...feelings of oneness with the universe when we sense a connection with some presence or power beyond ourselves. 

Finding the best words to articulate clearly and adequately what’s happening in these deeply personal yet universal experiences--and where they are coming from--is profoundly challenging.   

This difficulty is the reason why, for some time now, I’ve moved away from calling “God” God. No disrespect intended here--to “God” or anyone who cherishes the term. Actually, my intention is precisely the opposite: To broaden and deepen my understanding, respect and reverence for our individual experiences of the holy, the mystical, spiritual, the non-physical, and the non-sensory experiences we all have--while recognizing that no single term (or belief system) can or will suffice. 

On the one hand, I feel the term “God” is just too restrictive. It vastly limits our definition of these empowering experiences. (Remember J.B. Phillip’s Your God Is Too Small?) Some “Christians” even use their definition of “God” as a litmus test for membership into their particular tribe. Yet in listening to people describe their holy moments, whether they consider themselves “believers” or not (again, I use quotes because “believer” is another word that is not only restrictive, but sometimes used intentionally so. Aargh!), I find that people whom “believers” label as a “non-believers” have identical experiences to their own but use completely different (and frankly, often more freeing) language to describe them. 

On the other hand, we sometimes use the term “God” so loosely that it loses all its distinctive flavor--like adding too much liquid to the gravy. We assume that everyone knows who or what we’re talking about! But, in this day of global networking and cross cultural bridge-building that simply won’t fly. Further, this is a good time to remember theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking’s, “It’s important to keep an open mind, but not so open that your brains fall out.”

My own experience of “God” is best characterized by the emotion of joy--which is why I often use this word in place of “God” when in prayer or meditation. This joy is deeply holy and highly inspiring, yet I, too, have difficulty articulating it...and I’m a pastor!  I’m supposed to know these things! The best analogy or metaphor I can think of is to say it’s like living in a constant state of falling in love--being in a relationship that is so intimate, dynamic and all-transforming that it shapes everything else in my life.

What about you? What is your working definition of the word “God?” What is your experience of this “God?” How are you letting your falling-in-love moments shape your day, your decisions, your thoughts, your feelings, and all your other relationships? In short, your everything?

TODAY.

LET’S GIVE THE WORLD & OURSELVES A GIFT.

LET’S TAKE TIME TO THINK ABOUT HOW WE THINK.

LET THE HEALING BEGIN. HERE.

Let the healing begin. Here.

In my menacing mind, my theatrical thoughts,

in my heat-seeking heart, my all-encompassing attitudes, 

in my fickle feelings and my knee-jerk reactions, 

in my isolating opinions and my jaded judgments,

let the healing begin. Here.

No matter who I am or where I’ve been,

no matter what color my strips or what’s at stake,

no matter how I got here, or where I hope to go,

let the healing begin. Here.

It can’t begin over there,

no matter where “over there” is,

no matter who, besides me, is to blame.

Yes, “they” have their part in all this,

but I have no control over them.

No matter who I think is responsible,

I only have sovereignty over me.

Let the healing begin. Here.

If it doesn’t happen here, 

there’s no guarantee it’ll happen at all.

And even if it does, no proof it’ll last.

If I’m focusing on someone else’s healing

I’m wasting my time and their wellbeing

If I’m waiting for them to take the first step,

I’m fooling myself and failing them.

Let the healing begin. Here.

How, exactly, should I begin? Where?

I think I’ll begin with thankfulness,

I’m going to name all the things 

for which I’m thankful,

even the things in that person 

or those people over there,

the ones that are so different from me

that my ego is telling me 

there is something wrong with them.

The ego. Now there’s another good place to start.

Not theirs. Mine. 

Let the healing begin. Here.

I BANISH YOU

I banish you, all my bad thoughts, 

and the life-depleting feelings you call your friends. 

I banish all you affirmation-sucking painful memories,

all you ruinous ruminations and malevolent intentions. 

I banish all you condescending critiques of myself and others,

all you cynicisms toward life and skepticisms toward love. 

I banish you, all my bad thoughts, from my being.

Whenever you come, 

whether into my head or my heart,

you bring me sadness and despair. 

You stain my spirit and taint my triumphs.

You breed my loathing of self and hatred of others.

You demand my attention and distract my joy’s agenda.

You prostitute my heart’s proposals and destroy its delights. 

You squelch my serenity and spread my jubilations paper thin. 

You wet-blanket my bliss and douse my wilding fires.

I banish you, all my bad thoughts, from my being.

So you have no home here. 

You will find neither shelter within my walls, 

nor sustenance at my table. 

I grant you no access to my basement of baggage 

or my attic of indiscreet antics.

Each time I discover you've crept in, 

be it through cracks in my thinking 

or crevices in my thoughtless solitude. . . .

each time you’ve boiled up to my surface 

from some vile cauldron simmering at my soul’s edge. . . .

each time you seep in beneath the door of my wellbeing,

I banish you, all my bad thoughts, from my being. 

Yes, it’s within my power, my purview, to do this. 

You have no harbor here within the vast sea of my spirit.

You have no planting in the deep lush soil of my dreams. 

You have no privilege to what is precious to me. Within me.

TODAY.

LET’S GIVE THE WORLD & OURSELVES A GIFT.

LET’S TAKE TIME TO THINK ABOUT HOW WE THINK.