Aligning with Grace

Walking is a practice. Who knew? It can be a spiritual practice as well as a sacred time for the soul. Going for a walk can be a time to replenish your spirit, soothe your mind, and allow for your creative juices to flow. I often get so many amazing insights on my walks I can hardly wait to write them down! This beautiful spring morning, as I went on my walk, I admired the lushness all around me: green lawns, flowering dogwoods and redbuds - fresh on the heels of the majestic cherries in bloom recently. The birds were chirping all around me - having a party - cardinals, robins and a pair of blue jays, joyfully flying from tree to tree.   Why do I say that walking is a practice, and perhaps a sacred one at that? Because taking a walk is an invitation to dwell in the present moment. And that, is simply, the only time there is, and the only time we have. It is an invitation to experience mindfulness. Rather than rush through our day, we might find ourselves slowing down, and stopping ...

Advent - A Season for Peace (A Repost) I did not set out to write a series of Advent reflections. I write only when I am inspired to do so - and when I get a clear message that somehow something in my heart must be conveyed... And while I know that not everyone that reads this blog comes from the same spiritual or philosophical background - or even the same interests or convictions - I try to convey messages and values that are both timeless and universal, and accessible to all. And so today, I write of peace, because in the last few days, so many messages received have reminded me of its importance... As I mentioned a few days ago, I have been reading the daily reflections on a a site called "Following the Star," and this weeks entries focus on peace. Forty-two years ago today, Thomas Merton, perhaps the most prolific spiritual writer of all time - and most certainly of the 20th century - died accidentally, while attending a monastic conference in Thailand. ...

Reminders of the power of offering peace and blessings to others, sometimes arrives unexpectedly in our lives.  Like at Costco. Seriously! I was on my way out of Costco this morning, having run in just to get batteries for my new flameless candles which were destined for my fireplace. All I meant to do was to zip in - and just as quickly zip out. Being the introvert that I am, my favorite time to hit the stores is when they open or fairly early during the day, when they are still not relatively crowded or busy.  I was just on my way out, when the elderly Middle Eastern man who has worked there more than a quarter of a century greeted me. I had not seen him lately and had been wondering about him. He is always cheerful, mindful, and I often overhear him dispensing blessings to all he encounters as he checks our receipts and purchases. I stood there for a moment - it wasn't busy, mind you. I looked him in the eye, thanked him, and wished him a good day. He s...

Nearly twelve years ago I started this blog after a visit to the Potomac River, which is about a mile from my home. I had not planned on writing, I just came home and did so, following an inner prompting. For years I came down to the river regularly. One year, it was almost a daily occurrence, and I sat on a bench during all seasons to do some meditative practices which evolved over time and transformed me in the process.  Recently, I received a message which I perceived intuitively. "Go back to the river. And take up these three practices once again. You need them!" And so, I listened. Over the course of the next few entries, I will share these easy practices with you. They are simple practices, but powerful ones. As I mentioned in my last entry, the purpose of spiritual practices and prayers is to transform ourselves, not others. Although others may change as a result of our own evolution as a spiritual being, that is not the focus here. It is about...

Happiness is, more often than not, elusive. But it really depends on how we define it - or what we think makes us happy. This morning, I read an interview with Oprah Winfrey. The interviewer had to wait for her to finish a photo shoot with the esteemed Annie Liebovitz, who was very apologetic for keeping Oprah longer than expected. Oprah's response caught me my surprise. She told Liebovitz not to worry. While she was with her, she was fully present to those moments and those experiences. Later she would be with the interviewer, and then she would be fully present in that moment with him, no longer thinking or concerned with the photo shoot.  This is the first key to happiness I thought, being fully in the moment. Not in the past - and not in the future. That is not to say that this is an easy task! Earlier this week, I listened to a webinar where the presenter said something very similar. She noted the past does not exist - it is only a memory we insist on bringing back t...

"I am at PEACE with ALL that IS!" This mantra arises in my heart, barely just a week ago, after a magical weekend of seasonal and holiday music and a warm visit with a very dear soul friend of the heart... I drive through the countryside, on a magnificent and brilliant afternoon, after stepping out of place and time, inhabiting a place in-between here and the Other Side, for barely 24 hours... I AM at Peace, with ALL that IS! Truly... I am peace with my life, my relationships, my home, my family, my friends - with my limitations, what I did not accomplish - and where I am in my life... I am at peace with whatever the future brings, with what I cannot undo, with what is yet to come... I am at peace with the joys, with the sorrows - and with all that I have gained and lost... I am at peace with everything - for it has made me the woman I am today - and have yet to become... In the twilight of my life, as I journey towards the darkest deep of...

The Blood Moon awakens me with a start... It is a moon evoking and heralding transformations, and endless possibilities - and inviting the manifestations of our most deeply held dreams... I go out but do not see it - it remains hidden, but I am drenched in its energy nonetheless.... It is a time of so much tumultuous change, and inner shifting, and I have certainly experienced my share... I am barely back a week from walking the beaches on the gulf side of Florida - grounding my feet in fine white sand and aimlessly treading through the warm water in the company of dear ones... I even manage to nestle up really close to a rare yellow crowned night heron that allows me to take his picture without even flinching... I listen - listen deeply and process messages received and decide to speak my truth in a way that is needed... I don't know where it has landed - or even if it has - but I know that I have released what held my heart deeply captive while at the same time i...

It's been a quiet week of deep interior cleansing - on emotional, spiritual and physical fronts... I prepare for my first and long overdue colonoscopy later this morning. But I have also cleansed myself of possessions - as I engage in the process of divesting myself of long held things which I now choose to give away - weeding out half of my closet and drawers, and even selling a substantial percentage of my gold jewelry. Some of these pieces were passed down to me by my grandmother, but somehow, I sense her urging me, that it is time to let them go. I realize later, that I chose to sell these items on the very day that was the 16th anniversary of her passing from this life into eternity. Somehow, this incredible woman of faith reminded me, that we cannot take anything along with us on our ultimate journey. I wish to do nothing more and nothing less - than to simply, lighten my load... And my reduce my footprint as well... I have said to many, that my surgery has ha...

I did not set out to write a series of Advent reflections. I write only when I am inspired to do so - and when I get a clear message that somehow something in my heart must be conveyed... And while I know that not everyone that reads this blog comes from the same spiritual or philosophical background - or even the same interests or convictions - I try to convey messages and values that are both timeless and universal, and accessible to all. And so today, I write of peace, because in the last few days, so many messages received have reminded me of its importance... As I mentioned a few days ago, I have been reading the daily reflections on a a site called "Following the Star," and this weeks entries focus on peace. Forty-two years ago today, Thomas Merton , perhaps the most prolific spiritual writer of all time - and most certainly of the 20th century - died accidentally, while attending a monastic conference in Thailand. Merton was a Trappist Monk, an activist, a poet, a theo...