Aligning with Grace

This time of year is often referred to as the High Holy Days by my Jewish sisters and brothers. Though I am not Jewish, I love many of the traditions and rituals of this season, especially those dealing with atonement, reconciliation, and forgiveness. It reminds me of the Sacrament of Reconciliation which I grew up with in my own tradition. Recently, I was reminded in a reading, that the Talmud calls for the expression and offering of no less than 100 blessings a day! So many traditional Jewish prayers are in fact blessings of one sort or another. To offer 100 prayers in a day may seem daunting. But if we considered blessing everything that we laid our eyes on during the course of our day, it might become easier than we thought possible... Bless every person you come across in a day. Take it one step further, and bless every sentient creature and being. Bless the bees for their function and how they contribute to the pollination of our food. Ble...

I wipe, and wipe, and try to clean mirrors and glass doors, to no avail. I remember a friend told me to use a razor blade to get the soap scum off of shower doors. Feeling overwhelmed from being pulled in many directions for a while, I decide I need a task that will provide an outlet for all my frustrations. So I go to Home Depot to buy a really big razor blade designed to scrape tiles and glass doors. I come home, and settle down to my designated task. and remember a yoga teacher that once taught his students that holding up a mirror will always show us where it is we need to do our work. So I work at cleaning the very big contractor mirror in my bathroom, that twenty-seven years ago seemed like a good idea. And then I get down on my hands and knees and commence scraping years of build up that I neglected to really see and which has occluded my vision. Ironically, I have an eye doctor appointment scheduled for tomorrow. It seems my eyesight has dramatically changed for the w...

Accept what is. As it is. In this moment. Now! This is what comes to me on my drive back from my weekly meditation group. it is an "aha!" moment! It is an unexpected Eureka experience. And all of it seems so crystal clear to me - and easy! Except that it isn't. But in the moment I held that thought - which came to me uninvited, it did seem so easy.  I saw myself sitting contently - watching thoughts go by like clouds on a sunny day - thoughts coming and going. I simply observed them for a while, and then thought to myself:  "All pain, and sadness comes to us  because we do not accept what is.  And really, that is all we have to do,   is simply accept what is.  AS IT IS.  In this moment.  And that moment.  And EVERY moment.  Now!" Could it really be that simple? Well, there is only one way to find out! I will just have to try it!  I will have to commit to letting ...