coo coo meditations

remember

2010-08-18T10:01:00.001-07:00

this is just a matter of personal opinion... whenever i see elephants manipulated by persons who use elephants for their own entertainment, as opposed to letting them be free in the 'wild,' it breaks my heart a bit. that's just me, with all due respect to anyone who disagrees.

i get to wondering how such a powerful and strong elephant is so easily controlled. i suspect it comes as a result of the elephant never learning its own strength and power and abilities due to a kind of training, perhaps from birth, or since a little one.

if i may, we so often get talked or trained out of our power, strength, creativity and ability. and so often are limited by our thoughts and beliefs.

with love and a re-connection with our abilities, our thoughts can change and empowerment may be a welcome result...

"weakness is habitual, because negative thoughts about yourself are habitual. you've formed a habit of thinking in a very self-limiting way-of entertaining a very self-limiting self-image. and, you have tended to identify yourself with this. so, there is a continuation of this consciousness, and this thought, in the habitual way in which you've thought about yourself. what we call "inherent weakness" is simply a subconscious pattern, which has become a habit. there is no such thing as an "inherently weak person." you can only have thoughts (habitual negative thoughts) that are weak, which tend to frustrate the releasement of your inherent strength. so, here's where change must take place. not willful forcing of restraints, but the addition of faith and belief." ~eric butterworth

watch me

2010-07-16T21:08:00.000-07:00

community

2010-06-26T06:52:00.000-07:00

“perhaps you have heard the story about a nigerian woman who became somber when she was told that most north american women had water piped into their homes. “how do the women speak to one another?” she asked. “if I didn't talk with the women at the village well, I wouldn't know about their lives.”

gratitude

2010-06-08T16:31:00.000-07:00

"gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. it turns what we have into enough, and more. it turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. it can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow." ~melody beattie

2010-06-08T16:25:00.001-07:00

grow my darling friend, bring forth your authentic beauty. delight us with your charms, beguile us one petal at a time. ~sarah ban breathnach

just joking

2010-05-22T23:14:00.000-07:00

i listened to the comedian danny bhoy last night on comedy central. funny! he said a few lines about the 'tense atmosphere' at the last supper. i wish i could remember what he said. he had some funny lines about Jesus in general. i especially liked when he commented on the story of Jesus feeding the masses with bread and fish...

...then there is the turning water into red wine... it should have been white wine to compliment the fish... according to danny bhoy.

funny!

imagine peace

2010-05-22T10:07:00.000-07:00

i think of all the ways that i worry. i think of the fears i've had over the past 20 years. i think it was vonnegut who said the things we fear, mostly never come to pass. that which we have to worry about, we never thought to imagine. so why be afraid? that which we fear mostly doesn't come to pass, and that which deserves our concern we can't even imagine...

while reading something from emmett fox, he wrote that we should not search our minds for something to worry about. should something arise, then we can lend our attention. i know i do that, i'll search my mind... 'what was it that i was thinking/worrying about?' the things i worry about are mostly imagined...

these days i have been wanting to be present. to see and experience what is. see what that looks like, what that feels like. be present in my own life, my own days, my own moments. and not to worry or think up my imagined concerns... what a waste of time. doesn't Jesus say something about the lilies of the field...

... consider the lilies of the field,
how they grow;
they toil not, neither do they spin:
and yet I say unto you,
that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field,
which to day is , and to morrow is cast into the oven,
shall she not much more clothe you...

the passage then asks the questions 'o ye of little faith?'

i am sometimes comforted by thinking of the lilies of the field, they are quite cute and free swaying in the breeze. and, i have been disturbed when asked about my faith. i get to thinking that my fear says to me that i have no faith, this disturbs me, no faith and i am afraid. is there any hope for me?

fox says even to pray shows enough faith. the thought to bother to pray shows there is some faith, somewhere. so even if i have a little faith, that is enough...

some people believe in God and some don't. thing is, we all worry. it's in our interest to find comfort and belief that we are well, in spite of our concerns... finding a way to be well in the midst of our concerns is worth the effort. scripture comforts some, a good novel comforts another, a nice cool dip in the pool helps more than a wee bit. ...just saying.

my yoke is easy...

2010-04-19T17:15:00.000-07:00

loosen up. to be tense is the surest way to fail in any undertaking great or small.

to desire success is a splendid thing but to pursue success too tensely is to make certain of missing it. the carefree approach in any endeavor is a shortcut to success. in music, in sport, in study, in business life, many people fail, or advance very slowly, because they make hard work of it.

treat your work as fun. regard the difficulties as part of the game, laugh off the annoyances. this, of course, is the real difference between work and play.

take it easy! loosen up!
for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light (matthew 11:30)

by emmet fox

a few good people...

2010-04-19T14:51:00.000-07:00

i had been thinking about the big bad things in life, and i wondered how is it that they are. why don't the whole bunch of us storm out and simply not allow it to happen. and we would need the whole bunch of us! then i thought, people mostly take care of themselves and the people they love. that in itself is lovely. and all else, we mostly don't bother ourselves. and it is in this not bothering ourselves with what happens to another outside of our circle, it is in this space that much of the big bad stuff happens. it has been said that a few good people simply need not do anything, for that which is harmful to exist...

from the negative to zero on to the positive sweetie!

2010-04-12T13:49:00.000-07:00

here's a beautiful and powerful post by the lovely belette rouge... fascinating how it comes at a time when i had just posted a few words about looking back...

http://labeletterouge.blogspot.com/2010/04/my-lot-in-life-please-take-this-post.html

2010-04-12T12:18:00.000-07:00

we visited churches in uppsala. this was one of our constant views, sans snow... i was there in the springtime, it was beautiful, yet still cold.

something real nice about getting away. it was a kind of retreat. i often pray and ask for God's guidance as i am looking to live more each day my vocation. these past few days i can see more clearly what i want to do. and my time away in sweden where much is quiet, silent, and there is an element of peace, even more, i am capturing in my heart and mind my God given talents and abilities and i want to bring them into fruition...

travel is a blessing and a privilege that i am happy and grateful for...

on experiences and remembering...

2010-04-12T12:10:00.000-07:00

it's said we are to look into the past in order to see best how to move in the future...
i just heard it said that we forget what we learned in the past...
must we continue to visit the past until we remember?

love

2010-02-19T21:00:00.000-08:00

i've been trying to say my prayers and meditate each morning. i find not only is it good for my heart... it seems to clear my mind. perhaps i can move through my days with a clearer mind...

(some lyrics from sixpence none the richer)

i need love it is rain after the dryness
i need love sister wisdom help me see

it's the one thing i need

it's the only thing i need

karen armstrong

2009-12-28T12:34:00.000-08:00

karen armstrong is a religious scholar. i don't mind her, she makes sense almost always. she's quite heady. i suppose i want to feel more when i'm thinking about God. but there's nothing wront at all about being brainy about God and i find that she is...

she has started the incredibly interesting charter for compassion, the website is the 2nd listed. and the first link is a short interview with her on her thoughts on God.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EC9D8bq0VA

http://twitter.com/TheCharter

there once was a monk

2009-12-02T23:51:00.000-08:00

once upon a time there was a monk who took a vow of silence. he was to be silent almost always, except he is allowed to speak 2 words every 10 years. after his first 10 years of silence he met with the father who said to him 'what would you like to say?' the monk said

food terrible

he went back into silence. after another ten years he met with the father. the father said 'hello, what would you like to share?' the normally silent monk said

bed lumpy

and after another ten years he shared with the father these two words

i quit

the father said, i'm not surprised, i thought you might be unhappy, you've done nothing but complain for the past thirty years...

Goddess

2009-11-26T10:59:00.001-08:00

there is a God and she hook my ass up! ~kathy griffin

faith in writing

2009-11-10T15:14:00.000-08:00

some words of wisdom from elizabeth gilbert...

if you decide to write, then you must do it, as Balzac said, 'like a miner buried under a fallen roof.' become a knight, a force of diligence and faith.

as the great poet Jack Gilbert said once to a young writer, when asked for advice about her poems, 'do you have the courage to bring forth this work? the treasures that are hidden inside you are hoping you will say yes.'

2009-11-03T07:30:00.000-08:00

a change of view means a change in the outer expression of life. ~eric butterworth

longing

2009-11-03T06:37:00.000-08:00

longing

i am not sorry for my soul

that it must go unsatisfied,

for it can live a thousand times,

eternity is deep and wide.

i am not sorry for my soul,

but oh, my body that must go

back to a little drift of dust...

by Sara Teasdale

when shall we celebrate life?

2009-07-16T07:06:00.000-07:00

i can't quite remember which faith tradition says 'we cry when you are born, and we dance and celebrate when you have passed.' the pain and work in this life begins when we are born, for there is much room for learning and growing. and then... peace and rest when the deal is done. some say until the next go round.

then, some say when the deal is done, you won't be comin' 'round no more. so live and celebrate... now.

who knows for sure?

i'm feeling good

2009-07-13T10:59:00.000-07:00

i said to peter that i feel good. all is not perfect, but i am excited because i am hopeful and optimistic. as god has brought about immense healing in my heart and in my life, i'm excited and looking forward to what god will continue to do in my life. ...my aunt says 'sip the nectar from all the flowers...'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYe6tmrFxbw

saying grace

2009-07-08T11:54:00.000-07:00

sometimes, well most times, i say grace, a prayer of thank you to god when the first morsal is going into my mouth. i wonder if it is more proper to be still and give thanks before chowing down. does god care? ... i am grateful for delicious food. i love it!

sabbath

2009-05-26T09:18:00.000-07:00

on the sabbath try and make no noise that

goes beyond your

house.

cries of passion between lovers

are exempt.

by st. thomas aquinas

sheroes quest

2009-05-07T17:31:00.001-07:00

what gets the (s)hero going on the quest? what sustains her in her seeking? the beautiful and the sublime, call us to the Quest and nourish us along the way. to the sensitive heart, beauty, the radiance of the veiled grail, calls one out of the world of convention. stop and think of it. what are the world's great scriptures, poetry, mythology, music, paintings, etc? Beauty! Beauty is, as Plato said, 'the splendor of truth,' not truth itself, only its reflection. Beauty is the transcendent made transparent in the world of form and time...

2009-05-06T09:38:00.000-07:00

a scene from the soloist goes something like this when robert downey jr. asks...

'atheists? so you have non-gatherings and non-meetings.' and the atheist responds, we try not to.'

i saw this film with u. and j. we were in seminary together. i love them.

i think it was from another film where one character says, 'you may not believe in God, but God believes in you.'

let's be respectful of all persons chosen path in life.

image de justin martin

maya

2009-04-29T08:41:00.000-07:00

maya: cosmic delusion; literally, 'the measurer.' maya is the magical power in creation by which limitations and divisions are apparently present in the Immeasurable and Inseparable.

~Sri Yogananda

image by askveer

intuition

2009-04-29T07:55:00.000-07:00

~intuition... the 'sixth sense'; apprehension of knowledge derived immediately and spontaneously from the soul, not from the fallible agency of the senses or of reason.

hidden treasures

2009-04-01T15:17:00.000-07:00

where there is fear there is buried treasure. Something important lies hidden __ something that matters __ like the angel waiting in the stone that Michelangelo began to carve.’ ~pat schneider

delicate transitions

2009-02-25T21:09:00.001-08:00

the sages always talk about our dreams and the blessings and guidance within our dreams. i must admit that i have beautiful dreams, i always have. yesterday i read a little meditation by the writer madisyn taylor, there she writes about those beautiful moments we can experience between dreaming and awakening from sleep. these moments can be quite lovely. it often surprises me just how lovely they are. and come to think of it, i’m surprised as well that we don’t talk about this time…

and this morning i was thinking about, well to tell the truth ‘it came to me’ how gentle and sweet nature can be when considering transitions. while i was drifting between dreaming and awakening, i could feel the sun coming up as the soft light and warmth began to enter my room.

nature is very much like this. the change in mommy’s body can be slow and gentle as the babies are coming more and more into being. the seeds sprouting and pushing their way up through the soil takes time, and a gentle push as they find their way up and out into a flowers lovely bloom.

the changes in seasons too! as a gradual coolness begins to enter at the end of summer’s days, cooler and cooler until summer gives way to autumn. and very much the same occurs only the other way around, as winter gives way to springtime … the cold cool days begin their transition into the warmer breezes of springtime…

change is inevitable. everything must change as the gentle song goes. may your transitions be light. if for some reason they are not, i pray that your heart and thoughts are light and fluid to ease you through…

sophia: feminine wisdom

2009-01-28T16:25:00.000-08:00

a great yogi

in my travels i spent time with a great yogi.

once he said to me,

'become so still you hear the blood flowing

through your veins.'

one night as i sat in quiet,

i seemed on the verge of entering a world inside so vast

i know it is the source of

all of

us.

mirabai

try again tomorrow...

2009-01-09T15:34:00.000-08:00

sometimes, well most times when i wake up in the morning i talk with god (i try to listen too). oh we talk about many things... and lately i have been talking about some positive changes that i'd like to make in my life. the thing is, easy does it. if i can try, however slow and easy, ...easy gets it done too.

well today, i've wasted most of the day in a way... i've done much of meaningless stuff, and almost none of what i should. if i had it my way, i'd hope to be forgiven, and i'd have a really lovely glass of wine and a gorgeous meal.

i'd call it a day, and try again tomorrow...

let go...

2009-01-07T10:03:00.001-08:00

i believe it was the catholic monk thomas merton who said that as people we can collect things, very much like pidgeons, and in the end we have a pile of muddled junk...

since beginning my readings on eastern thought and simple living, over the years i've tried to keep it simple. not being attracted very much to 'things.' ...besides fashion i dare say. i do have to talk myself out of popping into shops and buying a pretty some thing. well, this past christmas i decided to purchase a few dvds that i like. films i've seen a few times that i adore and realised that i'd like to own them so i can pull them off the shelf when the feeling fancies me. this morning i thought i'd have with my tea and ginger cookies (for dipping of course:) a dose of the film 'pride and prejudice' with keira knightly. it is heavenly having nice warm tea this rainy morning, ginger cookies and a look at mr. darcy.

though i've, for the most part never really been attracted to things, i've got my books and a good outfit... but sitting here with tea, elizabeth and mr.darcy, i can see how one can get attached. let the buyer beware...

but then an embarrasment of riches, a joy of abundance is sweet too right? maybe the thing is, the trick is not to get attached, having expectations or entitlement issues, just to simply enjoy and let go...

inspired by...

2008-11-26T12:39:00.000-08:00

elizabeth gilbert, author of eat, pray, love, is a memoir of a woman who goes on a year long journey and that which she learns and experiences in the process. it really is a nice book, though it depends on what you like. perhaps i'll write about the topics of the book at another time. my purpose here is only to begin to establish for myself some of the names and faces of the women and men who's writing are an inspiration to me in terms of beauty, spirituality, and living a beautiful and peace filled life.

this is an ongoing post in the sense that i wish to share an image and a word of the person's whose writing inspire me. i'm not familiar at all with peggy noonan and i'll have a look more closely at her politics (i suspect i disagree (amicably). still it seems of the little bit that i know about her, i like her way with words. from the tiny bit i see, i sense that she is a talented writer, but mistaken in her philosophy, in my little opinion. but in all honesty i have to have a closer look...

girlfriends

2008-11-24T10:20:00.001-08:00

i've a good friend who has had a bit of a time trying to become pregnant. it has been a difficult year for her and her husband in that area. as we live in different countries that are incredibly far apart, we keep in touch by email. we try to reassure one another in that which concerns us. and very often it would be nice just to sit down with one another and spend some time together.

i had the idea to visit her. i was not sure why i had such a deep feeling to see her, to hold her hand and see her face, and clear away a tear if need be. we began talking about plans to visit. still i found it interesting to me this need, not only a desire to see her. i tend to hold my friendships very close to my heart. while reading last night i decided to have a look at romans. the apostle paul's writings are my favorite. and in the book of romans it is said that here, paul is well seasoned. he's been at his writing and teaching for a while and he's gotten really good at it. while reading romans 1, this passage reminded me so much of the feeling i had when i so wanted to visit with my friend when her heart was hurting...

one of the things i always pray for is the opportunity, God willing, to come at last to see you. for i long to visit you so i can bring you some spiritual gift that will help you grow strong in the Lord. when we get together i want to encourage you in faith, but i also what to be encouraged by yours.

romans 1:10-12, new living translation