Spiritual Guidance Blog

One unusually-cold morning in mid-March I woke before sunrise and decided to go for a walk. I would normally have gone swimming on this particular morning, but I decided to go for a nice, long walk instead. I could tell from the still-star-sparkled-sky that we were in store for a brilliant sunrise. So I got dressed in my parka, warm hats, gloves and clothes, and off I went.

By the time I got out the door, the horizon was just starting to lighten up, with shades of pink and orange. The fresh air, although frosty cold, was refreshing and invigorating. I walked along a waterway where I had ventured many times before but have never lost my appreciation for this lifeforce and what it gives every moment of its existence.

I had not been walking for long and I became aware that I was lost in my thoughts of what was to unfold later in the day; or more to the point, what I thought would unfold later in the day. I was aware that I was worried about a particular interaction that I anticipated would take place; specifically, how that interaction would take place. How is it I was aware I was lost in my thoughts, if I was actually lost in my thoughts?

As I kept walking I reminded myself to let my thoughts of yesterday, and later that day, go. I invited myself to enjoy my walk. But my thoughts would occasionally slip back to worry or some other mind games that distracted me from the unfolding joy right in front of me.

What truly allowed me to be grateful for the moment and the unfolding joy right in front of me was the magnificent sound, song, of a bird that shattered my intellectual table tennis match. At first, I thought… “What is a bird doing out in this cold!?” I laughed at my thought, and kept walking.

I kept hearing the bird sing, however. And by this point I noticed the horizon getting brighter. A beautiful sunrise was unfolding. The bird kept singing…

I was not familiar with this bird’s song. I started looking up into the trees and noticed, first, just how beautiful the trees were. I stopped, in search of the bird, but could not locate him or her. I stopped for a few minutes, but I could not locate the winged-source of the beautifully unfolding melody. I listened attentively for the sound and sensed it was coming from up ahead. So I kept walking…

The bird’s song was getting louder so I figured I was getting closer to the source. The sound felt like it was coming from directly in front of me but I still could not locate its winged-source. I was starring into a large, dense thicket. Then I saw it!!! It was a magnificent, beautiful Chickadee!

I was no more than 6 feet from this adorable creature and again it let out its song. I was full of joy and awe! I was pleasantly surprised to hear this particular song from the chickadee because I had not heard this song before. I was accustomed to the usual, short, high-pitched chirp of these beautiful birds.

I rejoiced in the moment, the beauty of the bird, and the magnificence of its song. I stood there for about a minute, soaking in the beauty of the moment. And then I walked on…

As I walked on I considered, in part, what I was just taught. I had been lost in worry about something that I predicted would unfold later in the day. My worry was preventing me from enjoying the moment. It took a small, precious little bird to catch my attention and bring me back to ‘now’—the only place and time there really is. In that ‘now’ was my joy and peace.

For the remainder of my walk I remained mesmerized by the Chickadee’s song, however. And when I got home I looked up the song on the internet. With gratitude and reverence, I found it. Apparently, the song this Chickadee was singing was titled “Hey Sweetie!”. I smiled. How delightful! I was lost in my negative thought and a little bird called out to me with “Hey Sweetie!” …and I was brought to joy and peace.

I think more morning walks are in store for me… ??

If you are interested in listening to the Chickadee’s song of “Hey Sweetie!,” click on the YouTube video link below. “Hey Sweetie!” starts 7 seconds into the video. Enjoy!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfMsUuU9KtQ

During January and February I had a blessed experience that allowed me to practice the art of ‘letting go.’ I was having an experience with another person that was not looking like or feeling collaborative. My perception of the situation caused me some irritation, sometimes minor, sometimes major. For the most part I was confused. I could not understand why the other person was reacting, behaving, and communicating with me in the manner they were.

About mid-way through January my disbelief in what was unfolding gave way to the acceptance that not only did I not understand why the other person was reacting, behaving, and communicating with me in the manner they were, but that I could not understand. Oh sure, I could easily hypothesize what was going on. And I could speak to the person and ask what was ‘really’ going on. But my acceptance was due, in part, to a realization that it was arrogant of me to think I could understand what was happening. I realized that it simply was not possible to fully understand all that was transpiring in the other person’s life to have them behave the way they were behaving. It was likely the other person was not aware either.

What this acceptance allowed me to do was to not get caught up in the building emotional aspect to the unfolding. I simply ‘let it all go.’ All of it! My perceptions. My judgements. My belief in what was right or wrong. I simply decided I was not going to allow myself to get drawn into any continued unrest, dis-ease, or conflict.

As I stepped back and simply observed what was transpiring, I was given the precious exercise and practice of not responding in anger to what were sometimes loud and blasphemous outbursts from the other person. My choice to not respond back with anger met with further invitations from the other person to engage in the unfolding battle. The emotional energy kept rising.

I realized, however, that the minor and major irritations I had felt early in the unfolding were veiled attempts to mask and suppress my own anger. You see…irritation, whether minor or major, is merely a flavor of anger. It’s all anger. Very simply, if we are not in a state of love, we are in a state of fear that most commonly manifests and expresses itself as anger, or less blatant flavors of anger, like irritation. But make no mistake about it—irritation is as much anger as all-out rage!

So I took my minor and major irritations into my meditation each day and allowed my forgiveness mantras and prayers to cleanse and heal my irritations and anger. This daily cleansing was such an important step in allowing myself to forgive both the other and myself. It was only through this forgiveness process that I could finally arrive at the place where there was no other person that I was experiencing. There was only a mirror showing me my own irritation and anger. This ultimate awareness was only possible by first acknowledging my dis-ease, but then to choose to let it go. The choice to let it all go gave me the little willingness I needed to heal through forgiveness.

I had a rather blissful time during the ‘Holiday Season’ that recently passed. And the bliss just kept flowing into and throughout January. Oh sure...there were plenty of minor and major disturbances that were calling out to me, but I found they did not ‘stick’ around for any extended period.

I was aware of my heightened peace and serenity. I was aware of my joy. I was aware of the simplicity that life can offer us. I was aware how my thoughts affected my perceptions and how they manifested in the outside world.

Something else was also conscious to me. I was laughing a lot. I was laughing at most everything. When I would make mistakes, or drop things, or interact with people…I would find something to laugh about. Most times it would be just a giggle. But often I would have a good old fashioned, belly-aching laugh.

Over the preceding year I have noticed that my frequency of laughter has increased substantially. But the period during the Holiday Season just passed was particularly covered in laughter, like glitter on a birthday cake!

Normal upsets would be met with giggling or outright laughter. Dropping things was met with laughter. Stubbing my toe, for example, was met with laughter. Hitting my head was met with laughter. Spilling something on the floor was met with laughter. Bumping into things was met with laughter. Walking out into a beautiful sunshiny day was met with laughter. Doing my weekly chores around the house was met with laughter. Greeting my friends was accompanied with laughter. Surprising someone with a kind gesture was accompanied by laughter. More things than usual were being met with laughter. I recall one exchange I had with someone whereby they were expressing upset with/at me; even that was met with laughter on my part (I might say, to the chagrin of the other person; but then that made me laugh too!).

The laughter would not always come right away. Sometimes the disturbance would take hold, initially. But often the cycle of negative or fearful thoughts would be interrupted with a smile. The smile would grow to a giggle, then laughter. I noticed that the laughter was a sign that I was accepting whatever ‘it’ was and letting it go. And in letting ‘it’ go, I was able to see the folly in my previous judgements that resulted in my negative or fearful thoughts.

The laughter became a ‘practice’ in acceptance and letting go. I recognized that my laughter was an outward expression of my inner acceptance of life and letting go of any disturbance that would rob me of my peace.

When I began writing passages for this monthly newsletter almost 10 years ago, I would sometimes get anxious and nervous about what to write about. If something to write about came easy, great! But if I could not think about what to write about, I would get worried. I felt a pressure, a self-imposed expectation, to write about something meaningful and worthwhile.

With each passing year I became more and more relaxed about what to write about. This relaxation often allowed me to stop worrying about what there was to write about. If anything, the relaxation paved the way for ‘allowing’ the message and words to come through me. There were many times when the passages flowed effortlessly from my mind, through my hands, onto to keyboard. But I would often wonder what would happen, if on any given month, I had nothing to write about.

Last month presented me with such a gift—the gift of having nothing to write about. Granted, all around me there were certainly newsworthy items and experiences being reported by media. The Holiday Season blessed us with its annual presence. I experienced a wonderful month full of joy and spirit-led unfolding. But nothing really inspired me to write about a certain event or experience.

I then realized that I really had nothing I wanted to write about. There was a momentary pang of anxiety. “Oh my God! Nothing to write about???!!! How can that happen???!!! How can I allow that to happen???!!!” But those fleeting thoughts passed quickly and I snuggled in to this ‘nothingness’ like a serene afternoon nap, under a big fluffy duvet, on a cold winter’s afternoon.

I became quite content in the nothingness. I relaxed into it. I allowed it to simply be. It was in the nothingness, as shared with me through nothing to write about, that I welcomed the beauty of ‘nothing.’

No-thing truly is beautiful. When there is no expectations, no pressure, no guilt, no emotional attachment to what is, simply ‘being’ and ‘allowing’ to be what is. It was truly freeing. It was peace.

It may come as a surprise, or no surprise at all, that I spend a lot of time at my computer. When I am not using it for work / ministry purposes, I may use it to communicate with friends and family, conduct online banking, or do some personal research on any myriad of subjects. So when my computer becomes inoperable, for any reason, I can feel like I am stranded on a tropical, deserted island with no food and water. It can feel rather nice to be on the island, but I quickly become hungry and thirsty!

Last month I was stranded on the beautiful, tropical island called “NO computer!” for almost two days. It was a mixture of elation (Oh Boy!...a day off!!!) and unrest (uh oh!...what was that next appointment!???). The longer I sat on the pearly white, sandy beach of “NO computer!”, the more hungry and thirsty I got. I found some empty bottles (clearly someone had been here before) and a notepad and pen…so I wrote some notes, stuck them in the bottle, and threw them out to sea, trusting the currents would whisk my HELP!!! messages to someone who could save me!

Guess what!? It worked! Sort of…

The first person who arrived was very pleasant, and they expressed their joy in getting my message and how happy they were to help me. We hugged and greeted each other and after a short chat we got set to leave the tropical paradise of “NO computer!”. Oops… Houston, we have a problem. The small boat the rescuer brought had sprung a leak and sank while we were reveling in our joy of being rescued from the tropical paradise of “NO computer!”. Wait a minute!...the rescuer had a cell phone and was able to place a call to headquarters to ask for another boat to come pick us up. No problem…except we had to wait until the next day.

The next day!!! You have got to be kidding me, I thought! It’s a nice island and all but I have no food or water here! What the #$%^& am I supposed to do???!!! Well…

I did the only thing I could. I began my forgiveness process. For the rest of the day, overnight, and in the morning leading up to the imminent arrival of the new boat to rescue me, I recounted my learnings about forgiveness. I sat on the beach in the hours preceding the arrival of the new boat and meditated. With each passing moment, the tension in my body began to dissipate. I became more relaxed and felt my chest open. I could feel the forgiveness working. I no longer held any ill will toward myself, the first rescuer, or the team enroute to the tropical island of “NO computer!”.

The rescue team arrived and helped me board the beautiful boat to take me back home. I looked back at the beautiful tropical paradise of “No computer!” and waved goodbye. The crew of the boat pampered me and doubted on me. They even made a brand new computer available to me for the ride back home…so I could catch up on my work. And guess what???!!! The computer worked great! (Wink! Wink!)