Aligning with Grace

  Blessing others, yourself, the world, events and situations - is a practice. You can bless just about anything that you think of. You can focus on someone you love or someone you are having difficulty with, or someone at work who is challenging. And it is powerful. It can change you slowly, from within and transform others as well. In the next few days we are going to explore the practice of blessing EVERYTHING. Because you can't bless and judge at the same time according to Pierre Pradervand. He should know. He has practiced blessing for decades and taught others how to do so as well. Are you ready to give it a try? Here is a short, 90 second meditation on the practice of blessing that I made just for you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6L2_hkr1kg&t=10s #inspirational #inspirationalquotes #spirituality #love #compassion #kindness #healing #wellness #yoga #meditation #transformational #blog #meditationsimple #mindfulness #spiritualpractice #blessing

  For years, actually for decades - a man has worked at my Costco checking the receipts of departing clients. Every time he checks a receipt he pauses. and looks into the eyes of the customer on his or her way out and simply says  "GOD BLESS YOU!" I don't know anything about him. I guess from his name tag, that he may hail from a Middle Eastern country. Over the years his accent has soften and blended more into its surroundings. It is always a treat to see him and be in his line because he is so present, and genuine, and I know he has spent a lifetime offering blessings. I often wonder how this simple and humble practice began in his life. Perhaps I will know in due. time. But probably not. It doesn't really matter. As I watched him bless the person in front of me, on this January 6th, which many celebrate as the Feast of Epiphany, when the Magi brought their gifts to a humble child they had been lead to seek, I decided I would give this man a gift. The same gift that...

In my last entry, I shared with you the aftermath of my cataract surgery, and how the results were not quite what I had expected and how it made me very fearful. As a result, I started doing this practice, which I am about to share with you,  to deal with my fears about the outcome of my first surgery, and other fears I was struggling with as well. Like many of you, I too, have struggled not only with fear, but with anxiety and depression as well over the years. In so many ways, they are all related. This "practice" literally came out of nowhere. Well, it always comes from somewhere. Sometimes we are simply inspired from the Other Side when we need some extra help. It always seems to come. If we are willing to be still. And just listen. The image that came to me was this... I saw myself as Gal Gadot in the movie "Wonder Woman" - complete with her spear and shield. I loved her in that movie. I visualized the object of my fear in front of me. I took ...

Like many of you, I began this new month, new year, and new decade, full of expectations. But so far, this year of 2020, is all the more significant because I had cataract surgery. What I came to realize is, that even though my sight seemed better the day after the first surgery, there have been many fluctuations, and that perhaps the idea of seeing 20/20 was more symbolic of seeing in a different way. Perhaps it was about seeing more deeply.  Not on the outside. But on the inside. Since reading is very difficult for me at the moment, I have had to make some adjustments in my daily schedule, such as in making time to listen to things more. Luckily, I have a vast arsenal of podcasts, recorded lectures, and so forth to keep me entertained. It also means I need to sit, or recline, and close my eyes and rest more often. It's all good. I never realized how sight dependent I am. Or how much reading I actually do on a daily basis. But here is the thing. For near...

Advent: Emmanuel - God is With Us (A Repost) This is a time of year when there are songs we only listen to once... I like to pull out old Advent and Christmas classics and new ones as well, and allow their rich melodies to fill all the corners of my heart and soul... A friend recently asked me what kind of music I had on my ipod. I proceeded to describe the wide variety of genres and playlists I had so carefully organized - spanning from folk rock, to classical, to jazz, and to mantras and liturgical music. My friend stopped right there - totally surprised - though in the seventies - when we were in our late teens and early twenties, she and I earned our spending money by playing liturgical music in several parishes... I love classic Advent songs of awaiting like "O Come, O Come Emmanuel," and my favorite rendition is by Mannheim Steamroller. I wait all year to hear this song and enter into the deep longing and stillness it calls me to. I also love an or...

Advent - a Time for Giving and Receiving Joy Joy is one of the greatest gifts that we can have and we can give - not only at this time of year that naturally invites it and elicits it - but in every other season as well! "Joy is prayer -  Joy is strength - Joy is love - Joy is a net of love by which you catch souls. She gives most who gives with joy." - Mother Teresa "Never miss a joy in this world of trouble... that's my theory! Happiness, like mercy, is twice blessed: it blesses those most intimately associated with it and it blesses all those who see it, hear it, touch it or breathe the same atmosphere." - Kate Douglas Wiggin Feel joy, and spread joy. And remember, that ancient Egyptians could only cross over to the next life if they could affirm that in that lifetime, they had indeed found and received joy.... (A Repost) www.meditationsimple.com

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. ...