THE BEST YOU CAN DO IS FORGIVE

"Well it's alright riding around in the breeze, and it's alright if you live the life you please."
"Well it's alright, remember to live and let live, and it's alright the best you can do is forgive."

Those words from a song by The Traveling Wilburys contain  so much wisdom. In this world of so much violence and mayhem, we sure need for everyone to realize that it is time to stop fighting and to once and for all forgive others of past deeds and just start over. Can you imagine how this world would be if everyone just stopped and took time to truly forgive everyone who has hurt them in any way? If that was to happen we could then start building a world where we all treated others in a much nicer and kinder way. Do I think this is ever going to happen? Probably not in my lifetime but as long as I am here I will just keep on dreaming of that day and try and do my best to forgive everyone who has caused me pain either real or imagined. The funny thing about forgiveness---it helps us much more than the one we are forgiving. That Divine law of Karma always comes full circle in due time. So as we forgive we then are forgiven. Here's hoping that right now you will take a moment and see if you are still holding on to any unforgiveness toward others. And if you are just forgive, let it all be washed away and see how much lighter and freer you then feel. May this new week ahead be one that is filled with love, peace, and joy for you and yours. The best you can do is forgive. Before signing off I would like to share with you a couple of quotes. The first comes from the Science of Mind textbook where it states: A man(woman) may have many shortcomings, but if he loves greatly, much will be forgiven him. And finally from the writer Hafiz comes this statement--Your wounds of love can only heal when you can forgive this dream. Peace and love to all.

SO THIS IS CHRISTMAS

In wishing all of you good folks a very merry Christmas and a happy new year, I share the words of a song by my favorite artist of all time---John Lennon


So this is Christmas, and what have you done
Another year over, and a new one just begun

So this is Christmas, I hope you have fun
The near ones and the dear ones
To the old and the young
A very merry Christmas and a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one, without any fear

So this is Christmas, for the weak and the strong
For the rich ones and the poor ones
The world is so wrong

And happy, happy Christmas for the black and the white
For the red one and the yellow one
Let's stop all the fight

So merry, merry Christmas, and a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one, without any fear.

So my friends, no matter how you celebrate the season, or no matter if you don't celebrate any traditions, my wish for you is that you and yours will be blessed with much love, much joy, and much peace. May we all stop fighting and instead start sharing our love with everyone! May this holiday season be the beginning of a brand new world we call "ONENESS".

THE DAY I DIE

I suppose most of us think about the day we will leave this human body and cease to be a human being. Some don't like to think about it because of their unfounded fear of "dying". Well, I don't claim to know exactly what happens to us at the moment of "death" but here is the one thing I am pretty sure about. And that is that it would be a downright shame for anyone of us if when we are at the point of death that we then realize we haven't really lived at all. And by that I mean that we realize too late all the opportunities to do good as a human being that we left undone. Or even just the moments we could have taken to be still and just give thanks for all the beauty around  us. And instead we took all those opportunities and squandered them for whatever reason. That could be a subject that deserves greater debate, but for today I wanted us to think about what we would do if we did indeed know for sure that this was going to be our final day on earth. What would you do if you knew you were destined to die in 24 hours? If this was the case, take a moment to think about what you would do. We can think about it, but still can't be sure. For in that final moment all our plans could change in a heartbeat.  As for myself, I like to think that I would take the first bit of my last day and just take a long walk somewhere out in Mother Nature. A walk out in the woods maybe, or a walk along a beach? Or maybe just a walk around the neighborhood or out in the city park? Some time just spent soaking in all the natural beauty that surrounds us everyday. After that, maybe I'd take some time to call my old friends and my family members. Maybe I would call on that one person who had helped to inspire me to do good in this world. I would also want to contact anyone with whom I felt I needed to make an apology to for something I had ever said or done to hurt their feelings or cause them any grief. I would definitely want to mend any bridges with those I had ever had disagreements with. I would also tell all my family and friends just how much I loved them. I also hope I would enter that one last blog to say goodbye to all my "online" friends. And to leave all with a reminder to enjoy each moment and to show gratitude for all the good in their lives. But as I think about these things I would want to do,it occurs to me that 24 hours probably just wouldn't be enough time. So instead of spending to much time thinking about it I suppose I should just start living each day as if it was my last one on earth. So to all the world I say--I love you. I say I am sorry to all that I may have offended in any way--I say how about doing something nice for someone right now while you have the chance. I say enjoy each moment and finally I say--Give love, accept love, be love, for that is truly all any of us are. I leave you now with thoughts of perfect love, perfect peace, perfect kindness, and perfect joy. May all of your days be good ones and when that final day does arrive may you go in peace unto that Greater Consciousness of Spirit where all is One. And some day I will see you there!

DIVINE LOVE

I would like to share with you a piece of work that comes from the Science of Mind magazine back on Oct. of the year 2003. The message is a timeless one and if all of us would try our best to live by this motto I can see a world filled with only Divine Love. The following is from the magazine word for word. To me the term God includes all things no matter your personal view of what or who god is. With that in mind I share their work with you.

I believe that Divine Love indwells all the people whom I meet this day. I salute that love within them and expect good in some form from each one. No one dislikes me, and I dislike no one.. I seek until I find some good in everyone. I am loving, kind, and courteous to all. I show through the words of my mouth and the unseen thoughts of my mind that Love is in my heart and Joy is in my soul. To all who would irritate me I say, "The Love of God within me loves the Love of God in you." The world is alive with Divine Love and I abide in it as a loving and gracious expression of Spirit. I give beauty and peace to my world and, therefore, I can only receive beauty and peace from my world. I give thanks that God loves by means of me.

I leave all of you beautiful folks this blessing of pure unconditional love. May it quickly find a permanent place in the forefront of your mind at each moment. And when things do seem to go wrong and that love seems lost, just remember it still resides in the deepest part of your heart and you will find it again! Go in love and peace and take a moment to do something nice for someone today and become a part of this dream with me!

EVERYONE

Like it or not we are all a family. A human family, for better or worse, is what we have before us. That doesn't seem to mean very much to many of us. We even have trouble just getting along with our family members we live with at times! So how can we learn to love all of our family the world over? I sure can't give you  a simple answer for that one but I will say this. I hope all of us will right now take a moment and think about those we love. Are we still holding some kind of grudge against any of them? Do we find ourselves angry with an of them? When was the last time you just told all of them that you love them? For your sake as well as mine I hope you will take a moment to just realize that without the love of family we possess nothing of any importance. And as I see it, there are way too many human beings who still believe that hate, prejudice, and greed among other negatives, are the way we should be doing things. We are One. May we quickly realize and understand that before we totally ruin this wonderful world we find ourselves in.  Today I use a quote from the Bible from I Thessalonians 5:15, See that none render evil unto any man: but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.
 I might also add that this verse should include women and children and all life. Noted the bible was written long ago before man woke up and begin to treat women and children as an equal instead of underlings. But the message still remains one of great importance. We must begin to love everyone and stop all the senseless violence and greed that is running rampant today. May I remind you that you can help begin this turnaround just by doing something nice to someone today. Please remember to be good to yourself and even better to others. We can change the world one person at a time. I bless all of you and leave you with thoughts for perfect love, peace, and joy. Be well and enjoy each moment. Show love, give love be love for that is truly all you are.

SOMEONE ELSE'S TRUTH

How do we, as human beings ever learn anything? Of course there are many different ways for one to learn something new. But most of us learn from what another person tells us. As a child we are taught by our parents or other caretakers until we reach that point in maturity where we can learn from our own experiences. Here is what I consider a must for any of us who are truly seeking our own answers. And that must is that we need to become very aware that what others teach us is really only what they conceive as truth. And just because they say it is true doesn't necessarily make it true for us. Again, there are many truths that will stand the test of time. An example--Your parents teach you to not walk into the street while cars are coming toward you. You know what happens if you do, and that is a fact that will never change. But the truths I wish to talk about today are those truths that one accepts as their guideline to living a good life. Here is where it gets real tricky trying to decide if another's truth is going to be the same for you. An example--your parents belong to a religious sect that has it own set of guidelines to follow. The parents are convinced that this is the right way to live and the right way to go in finding your spiritual path to enlightenment. So naturally, wanting what they believe is the best for you, they teach you their truth and expect you to follow in their footsteps. This can and has worked for many people throughout the years. But there are many cases when one just doesn't feel that the path their parents have chosen for them is the right one. So they rebel against that particular teaching and go off in search for their own path. Some parents accept that and encourage their children to discover for themselves their own way of doing things. But oft times the parents are heartsick over the rebellion and just can't come to terms with it. So in too many cases the child and the parent go their separate ways and can never fully comprehend what went wrong. The one point I am trying to make today is that I feel one must be careful before accepting something as "true" just because someone else says it is. Any time one reads another's writings they should be very aware that the author is only sharing his truths. And this does not necessarily make it true for you or for anyone else. Everything you read, everything you hear is only that persons truth. It can be very hard for one to accept that all he has been taught by others is not what they should adhere to. And in trying to learn one's truth can definitely take many turns along the way. I believe we should  strive to learn to think for ourselves even if this means we have to first forget what we have been told. And that in itself can cause trouble for us in our relationships with family and others. I'm sure most parents have only good intentions in teaching their offspring to accept what they say. But I sure don't think they should think any less of their kids when they do explore other avenues in their personal search for answers to life's questions. But in a lot of cases the parent cannot accept that they may be wrong and then blame themselves for their kids not believing in the same way. One thing I have noticed in this life is how someone who depends on another's interpretation for finding truth is this. When they find a path they think is the right one for them they then surround themselves with like-minded folks as they continue to search. This is all well and good but I have oft times seen someone get so infatuated with their group of people they seem to quit thinking that they may still be not on the path that will lead them to enlightenment. An example, someone searching for spiritual growth finds a church or denomination that they feel is the right one. And at that moment they think they have found the answers and then they stop thinking for themselves and just listen to what the others say is true. That is also how some cults became the sham they were. What I am saying is I feel one should keep on with an open mind even after they have supposedly found the truth. And instead of looking down on the ones that don't agree with them they should accept that even though they feel secure in their beliefs, that there is a chance that what they now feel so good about could one day change. Personally, I don't think any of us will reach our full potential until the day or night we draw our last breath. Teaching and learning is something all  of us do every moment.  Here's hoping we will continue our search with an open mind. Be good to yourself and even better to others. And may we all become a little less judgmental and more accepting of others whose beliefs may be different. I leave all of you with thoughts of perfect love, perfect peace, and perfect oneness.

GRATITUDE

I truly believe that being grateful for all the blessings in our lives is one of the most important things we can learn to be. A person who is truly grateful for the "small" things in life will quickly discover that Life will then bestow many of the "larger" blessings to them because they have shown gratefulness to the "Source" which supplies all things to us. I have found that it is quite easy to be grateful for those things we label as good. But at the same time it can be very difficult to express gratitude for those things that we label as bad. It does seem to be a paradox in that the things we label as bad, can in reality, be the greatest blessing we could receive at the time. And vice versa in that the good things we receive can actually be one of the worst things that could have happened to us. An example of this from my own personal experience is an event that many of us have experienced at one time or another. Years ago I was deeply in love with a woman and thought that we would always be together. When she decided to leave me for reasons that were valid, even though I didn't quite understand at the time, I thought that was the most horrible thing that could have happened to me. But after a few years of healing I was then led to find my soul mate and we have now been married for almost 20 years. So what I labeled as bad actually turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me. And that is just one example of how oft times are amiss when we are too quick to label something as either good or bad. Going back to the time when I felt my life was ruined and I could not seem to get past the hurt I can now remember that I was anything but grateful for the event that had taken me by surprise. I am quite sure I felt every emotion except gratitude! But now of course as I look back at the entire episode, I see clearly that I should have been grateful from the start. That time period in my life was one were I was able to grow spiritually by leaps and bounds. I do admit that even now there are times when "bad" things happen and I quickly revert back to my "old ways" and feel everything except gratitude. But thankfully I now have learned to step back, take some time to really think, and can then realize that whatever is happening is something that I should immediately be thankful for. It is not always easy to do this but it is well worth it. At least that is the way I now feel about things. Show me someone who is thankful for all the small gifts of life and I will show you one who is destined for greater things. I truly believe that. So today my hope is that all of you find yourselves being grateful for everything in your life as it is. But if you are facing some difficult event or occurrence and cannot find a way to show gratitude yet, please be strong and have faith that your highest good is being worked out perfectly even though you may not yet be able to see it. May all of us quickly learn to not only be grateful for the good things that occur for us but also be grateful for the good things that happen to the entire human family. The paradox is a simple one yet oft times totally misunderstood. And that is this: All things are good, all things are bad, and all things will lead us to the path that leads back to ourselves. May your light shine brightly and may your days and nights be filled with wonder, with love, with joy, and with peace!