wisdom of our elders
Halloween, All Saints Day, Día de los Muertos followed closely by “the big” holidays here in America : Thanksgiving and the Winter Holidays. The economy worldwide is shifting and values are resurfacing that were, only a few years ago, all but obsolete. These things are sending me down paths of traditional teaching and ancient ways of living. Ways which honor our Ancestors and value the wisdom of our Elders. According to recent statistics, our children are and will continue to be less affluent than their parents. Unemployment is higher than it has been since the Great Depression. Folks are generally way more stressed and considerably more depressed. The numbers of us on antidepressant medication is truly alarming. The remedies are so simple and so...
making change easier
There are times when the importance of relationships become crystal clear. My parents just moved across the country and my youngest son is finishing High School and he bought his first car. All of a “sudden”, I am (in a way) no longer the ‘first’ daughter of my parents. (This will be my sister’s job now that my parents will be moving just a few miles from her home.) I am not “needed” as a mother on a daily basis by my children. As a minister, I am called upon to recognize these kinds of passages with ceremonies. Most often and most recognized are naming/christening ceremonies, memorial services and weddings. There are other equally important transitions in one’s life…. others we would do well to...
remembrance
It is one of the “great” moments in our recent history. Most of us have asked and can so clearly recall “Where were you on 9/11?” Everything comes rushing back. The morning, the people you talked to, cried with, the news you watched, the children and loved ones you hugged or called frantically. The way in which the world, as a single, loving, organism bowed heads in horror and disbelief and grief and then, knelt down praying for the families, for the country, for each other and for forgiveness. I cannot to this day “remember” without shedding tears. While there were a few who celebrated this event…. consider again how few there were. Remember that virtually everyone denounced this cruel and misguided act and that...
the present
My days are filled not only with the demands of today but with the pressure off all the things I have not done as well. My mind filled to overflowing with daily tasks, past remembrances and future concerns, dreams and…. well, you get the idea. Many are the mornings when I wake, my first thoughts anxious and I already feel “behind”. There is a building pressure: what I “need/want to accomplish” vs. my resistance to doing any of it. Are you familiar with this absurd situation? What is it that is so unattainable about simply being present in the present moment? It is, after all, all that we “have”. We cannot actually live in any other moment and even when we are remembering or “forecasting” we can only do that from/in the present...
aah summer!
June. Father’s Day. The Beginning of Summer. Summer Solstice (the longest Day of the Year). The height of “Masculine” (in Chinese medicine, Yang) Energy. What does that mean? Great Question. Masculine energy is associated with being Forceful and Direct. It is the problem solving, TAKE ACTION energy of the Universe. The traditional strength of the Oak, might of the arm… oh yes…. and all of the rising sensual, sexual energy of spring is in full force now. Clothes come off and “serious” play ensues! Children conceived in the summer are born in the spring of the following year and that’s a good time for babies to be born. And while this doesn’t mean that you have to strip off all your clothes and get yourself (or someone...
spring has arrived
~traditional Native American prayer~ May you walk with Beauty before you May you walk with Beauty behind you May you walk with Beauty beside you May you walk with Beauty above you May you walk with Beauty beneath you May you be forever surrounded in the Ways of Beauty Spring! Everything around me shouts, “Spring!” The renewal of Life is Bursting forth from every bush, tree and weed. Buds abound. Birds sing with full-throated enthusiasm to announce the day and crickets and frogs take up the chorus throughout the warm nights. I find that Spring and the resurgence of the fullness of life also brings a kind of ‘divine discontent’… a restlessness that is often a bit uncomfortable. Perhaps it is the desire for change and renewal that lacks direction....
Newsletter
25Score on FaceBook
have you 25Score’d lately?
Try Carl's Jr Teriyaki Chicken Sandwich!
Receive 10% off your entire order with your 25Score Card
Must show your 25Score for savings
Our Sponsors
Designed by Elegant Themes