Peace Paradigm
Thursday, 07 October 2004
Step 10: Stay in a state of gratitude.
But I finally passed that curriculum ~! There's rarely a night that passes when I don't go over all the things I have to be grateful for right before falling asleep -- even simple things, like having ten fingers at my control -- or two legs that ferry me about upon command -- or sleeping warm and dry with a full belly -- there are an awful LOT of people who cannot count these on their "gratitude list".
We can even be grateful for our failures -- they stand to teach us a lot more than our successes. To paraphrase Gandhi, who said "Divine guidance often comes when the horizon is the blackest", we often have the help we need arrive when the situation appears the bleakest. And I am NO pollyanna ~! I've just messed up enough, and survived to tell the tale (at: http://www.booklocker.com/books/1493.html) that my belief today is stronger than my doubt.
Wednesday, 06 October 2004
Step 9: Keep your thoughts and feelings in harmony with your actions.
KNOWING that you are in sync with the Creator's will is the highest state of purpose you can attain. Set your intention to do and be the best you can with the resources available and leave the rest to that power that truly is greater, wiser and more loving than any human being.
Tuesday, 05 October 2004
Step 8: Meditate to stay on purpose.
Regardless of the format, the discipline and peace to be gained from a few minutes of daily devotion to stilling the mind will bring great rewards and keep one on purpose.
Monday, 04 October 2004
Step 7: Act as if you're living the live you were intended to live, even if you feel confused about this thing called purpose.
I view my day with a sense of JOY and often wonder. Events that could well be viewed as obstacles, I know are perfect opportunities to test my resolve and move closer to my purpose -- and they are also major learning opportunities for me to grow spiritually and in wisdom and patience and trust in something larger than myself. It's become "good medicine" to view "hurdles" as friendly reminders to trust and know all really is well with my soul.
Sunday, 03 October 2004
There's "love" thy neighbor, and then there's LOVE your neighbor...
DVAR TORAH: based on Love Your Neighbor by Rabbi Zelig Pliskin
The Torah states, "And G-d created man in His own image; in the image of G-d He created him" (Genesis 1:27). Rabbi Akiva said, "The verse, 'Love your fellow man as yourself' (Leviticus 19:18) is a great principle of the Torah." Ben Azai responded, "The verse, 'When G-d created man He created him in His image' (Genesis 5:1) is an even greater principle."
Love of one's fellow man which is not motivated and nourished by the realization that man was created in G-d image, is doomed to failure. Without this realization, why should a person feel obligated to love his fellow man? Man in the universe is so minuscule, he can be considered of minor importance. What, after all, is man, but one of several billion inhabitants on a planet which is only a speck of matter in a vastness of space that extends for billions of light-years. The individual is lost in
an immensity beyond imagination. And man himself is merely a mass of bones, nerves, muscles, and blood that happens to function in an orderly fashion. Is he worthy of more consideration than an animal or insect?
When we realize that man alone is fashioned in the image of the Creator of heaven and earth, he is suddenly transformed from an inconsequential and insignificant being into one that is without parallel. Although seemingly infinitesimal, he is the pinnacle of creation.
This is what Ben Azai meant when he said that man's being created in the image of G-d is an even greater principle than "love your fellow man." Man was created in G-d image and must be respected accordingly.
Saturday, 02 October 2004
Step 6: Study and replicate the lives of people who have known -- and lived -- their positive purpose.
Almost without exception, the people who have truly done the most, especially to help others, have had the most to overcome. We can find inspiration all around us -- and we can BE an inspiration to all those around us -- in our simple, mundane, everyday lives, just by being the best (ie most loving) person we can be.
There is a serious shortage of POSITIVE role models, imho, in America -- supposedly the grandest country on Earth -- all too much of what the media provides us is negative (altho I enjoy CSI, for the medical sleuthing and crime-solving, I can't watch more than one a week and still prefer Hercule Peroit or Sherlock Holmes ~!). Political rhetoric, even when positive, is less than honest and counter-balanced with trashing the opposition.
Be kind and loving, or at least positive and you'll confuse your enemies and delight your friends ~!
Friday, 01 October 2004
Ooops... got my http://oldhippiechic.motime.com blog updated first thing this a.m., then got 'distracted' and never got back here til late afternoon ~! My 'bad'.
Step 5: Remember that the all-creating field of intention will work on your behalf. Albert Einstein is credited with saying that the most important decision we ever make is whether we believe we live in a friendly universe or a hostile one. Despite the evening nooze and current events, we benefit from choosing to believe that the Universe loves and supports us.
I was orphaned at age six -- so rearing myself, virtually alone, it's been a hard nut for me to crack to believe that ANYONE ever cared anything about me -- other than a piano teacher in my youth, whose mother had committed suicide. Mrs. Simpson was reared by an evil grandmother, worse than my "evil stepmother". Still, it has taken decades to overcome "abandonment" issues.
But the evidence all around us is that we live in a friendly Universe, recent hurricanes in Florida notwithstanding. The Universe supports LIFE. It flows freely and abundancely to all. Most, if not ALL the problems we face are created by our (false) belief that we're separate from the Creator and from each other, leading us to be in a (constant) state of conflict.
