I am recommitting to this idea, paraphrased from the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, because, frankly, I keep forgetting that my lack of acceptance is the root of my "dis-ease." I read a passage from a related spiritual book this morning that ever so gently reminded me that when I am judging, thus not embracing the soul standing before me, I am caught in the clutches of separation which is the hallmark of my disease. Perhaps your disease too. My emotional health and spiritual well being demand that I embrace our Oneness. Embrace it within the only moment[...]
Category
What I Believe – You and Your Higher Power
0
Circle of Family and Friends - You and Your Personal Community, What I Believe - You and Your Higher Power
/
Being available to the needs of others as well as my own. . .
I spoke in my last post about my own recent struggle with remembering that my "work here" is to fulfill God's will, which is really quite simple: it's to show up lovingly in the lives of others, knowing without question that that is where we have been called to be. And secondly, that God will direct our efforts. He will also be in charge of the outcome. Letting go of the outcome is perhaps our biggest challenge some days. Because I am a frequent meeting-goer, I have the opportunity to serve in the capacity of sponsor for many women in both AA and Al-Anon.[...]
If you read my blogs consistently, you no doubt think this topic is often on my mind. And that would be true. I do blog about peace and its attainment on a regular basis. There's a very good reason for that. It's what eludes me often and I figure I am pretty much like many of you who have turned to this page. Letting some one else rob me of my peace of mind is all too common. It can become habitual in fact. The minister at my church, the Unity Church of Naples, talked about this topic today too. Peace and its importance to each one of us and the hum[...]
Circle of Family and Friends - You and Your Personal Community, Karen's Musings, What I Believe - You and Your Higher Power
/
Thanksgiving is just around the corner. . .
I am so glad we are approaching the holiday season. I know not everyone is. Many of my friends dread it because it brings up bad memories. I have a lot of lousy memories from my past too but none of them cling to the revelry my family enjoyed around the holidays. Perhaps we put aside our differences, our myriad reasons for arguing about every topic that normally triggered us, and just absorbed, for a few weeks, the magic that the holiday season promised. We didn't have a lot of extra money as a family but we did have rituals that I treasured and they bega[...]
Within the past few weeks, three friends have died. The first one was the elderly mother of my best friend. I had known her for many years, of course. And while it was true that she had many health challenges, and deserved to be quietly at peace; it was still with great sadness that I said my good byes. I would have to say that I felt even greater sadness for her family. Even though, they, like all of us, knew Audrey deserved to be free of her frail, restricted body, her tenderness and gentle spirit had remained very much alive until the very end. Many[...]
My husband and I received very sad news over the week end about the passing of another good friend. Tom was in long-term recovery. In fact, he had just celebrated 32 years of sobriety. I last saw him a few weeks ago at our party for Joe's 70th birthday. Joe had seen him just 2 days before he apparently died. No one really knows the details because Tom lived alone. He had not shown up at an AA meeting he regularly attended and a friend called to see if he was okay. Getting no answer, the friend did what we often do. He drove over to Tom's house. With[...]
I have quoted Mother Teresa on many occasions, here and elsewhere. She expressed so many wonderful hints for peaceful living. Using her words as guideposts for a life well lived would make sense, on the very personal level and certainly on the global level in these troubled times. And currently, I am relying on this suggestion because I have been "missing the joy" that is so commonly mine. What has interfered is the struggle I am having with chronic pain. My condition isn't life-threatening, so I tend to pass it off as unimportant. And when I look at[...]
This past Saturday, the Casey clan and their spouses gathered at the Credit River Cemetery in Prior Lake, MN, to honor my husband's parents on what would have been his father's 100th year. It was a truly special gathering with wonderful memories and much laughter being expressed by cousins, children, in-laws and friends from far and wide. Jim Casey had been a pillar in the Credit River Community. He built a housing edition especially designed for first time buyers in Credit River Township and then helped most of them get into those houses by allowing them t[...]
I wrote about the importance of listening in my last post but it really can't be stressed enough. It's through the attention we give to others that we both honor them and hear the messages God has for us. I'm convinced of this. When I first came into the recovery rooms, I found it hard to listen to the voices of some people. They were either saying the same thing week after week, it seemed, or they were talking about a topic that didn't interest me. And when they whined, I quickly turned them off. Then my sponsor got ahold of me! She convinced me that e[...]
The above statement is attributed to Gloria Steinem. The interviewer was pushing her to be upset about the bickering among the "players" in the political arena, and her response was that every one has a right to his or her opinion. She elaborated by saying, in regard to every one, that having compassion is a sign of mental health, compassion for wherever some one is on their path. Truth is simple and nonetheless strong. And her statement was both simple and strong. Allowing people "whatever truth" they choose to live by is both freeing and kind. And i[...]