Love Life Now!

waiting...........

2011-11-06T19:13:00.000-08:00

...........it's been a while...........and time has seemed to fly....now it stands still! Am at San Diego Airport!
Having spent 7 days on retreat in the Point Reyes National Seashore area, I feel deeply blessed, grateful peaceful and FULL. It does not take much for me....actually it takes less and less. It used to be that I needed a lot of time to get to a place of rest and stillness, but now it happens fast. Sometimes it just takes ONE breath. I think the idea is to find this place of JUST being, inside oneself. No matter what, no matter when.
So take a breath, connect with your self, your Self, your heart and take one deep cleansing breath.
Life is as simple and as lovely and as drama free as YOU MAKE IT!
Make it so!

We Are The Ones........

2011-04-22T06:11:00.000-07:00

Much is happening in the world. Only a few minutes watching the news can cause a great disturbance in the mind and heart of a human being, not to mention to one who is awake and aware. Being awake and aware does not make us immune to the suffering in the world. It often can make us more sensitive.

Being alive at this time in history is quite interesting. It requires much of us. I believe, that we are the ones that are called to be deeply participating in the shift that is taking place on our planet. I, for one, feel honored.

So, what then is required?

What is required, I believe, is to hold steadfast to the Truth and a deep commitment to not be seduced by the world news.

The Truth that God is ALL there is: in everyone and everything, everywhere, all the time is our inner compass.

Having this as an inner compass shows us how we become seduced by that which appears not to be the Truth and that is exactly the work of healing that is before us. When we experience pain and suffering outside of us, we know it is a reflection of the pain and suffering that is already within. It may have been asleep or dormant, but here it is ready to be healed by us and in us.

When we work with this gently and deliberately, we discover what our participation in world healing is.

This is where our spiritual practices come in. They are vital in cultivating a deeper consciousness of awareness and healing participation. Keep the practices simple and consistent: meditation, prayer, visualization, affirmation, visioning can all be deeply practiced to facilitate staying connected to the Truth already within.

We are the ones........

Be a Bringer of Light!

2010-12-22T20:47:00.000-08:00

The Holiday Season has been upon most of us.
No matter what spirituality or religion we practice, the common theme is LIGHT!
A time of reflection, a time of celebration and a time of healing!
Healing? Yes, healing.
At Holiday time, we become most aware of what healing wants to happen, because we become most aware of what stresses us...
Is it the shopping, the food, the family, the gifts (giving and/or receiving)? Something else? Do you know?
Where does your heart falter.....what are you feeling.......?
Are you filled with joy? Or dread? Or something in between?
Honor all of it and use it as an opportunity to look deeper inside yourself and take ownership.
This will help you get clear on what you REALLY want to do!

A friend of mine was totally stressed about the Holidays and the shopping for gifts.
I invited her to only buy gifts that are infused with her love and joy, for otherwise the gifts are poisoned. Sound harsh?
Well, just take a moment and think about it.....

What do you want your gifts to be about? What do YOU want to be about this season?
Let yourself choose to bring the sacred in and to everything!
Forgetting it harms not only YOU, but everyone and everything around you.
Be a bringer of LIGHT!
Do whatever you need to do to be that LIGHT!

The answers for this is already within you!
That is my prayer treatment for myself and all those I love and serve this Holiday Season.
And if you are reading this, this is TRUE for YOU!

Have a Sacred One! Know you are loved!

DWELLING IN GRATITUDE........

2010-11-15T05:22:00.000-08:00

Today I dwell in gratitude. I walk my life path giving thanks every opportunity I have.
I am privileged to live this life, it is a gift from God within.
Being thankful for this gift, becomes my silent prayer.
Knowing that God is at the Source of everything, God must be before me, behind me and beside me.
I am never alone.
So walking my path with gratitude, my path then is paved with gratitude and this makes my path more filled with ease, grace and joy.
Practicing gratitude sets the Creative Process in motion.
As within, so without means that the Creative Process manifest for me where my attention is.
Because my attention is in gratitude, what is created for me is MORE to be grateful for.
Welcoming all the blessings, I release this word of gratitude, opening myself to all the good the Universe has in store for me. And I LOVE surprises!
And So It Is!

Having to Surrender.......

2010-07-08T05:09:00.000-07:00

Once a month, I spend time with a group of men in prison and we meditate together.
It's an amazing experience for me.
They are incarcerated for many different reasons I don't really know of and it matters not to me!
I see their beautiful souls and create a space for them to see their own.

Some know of meditation, some have practiced it and some have never heard of it.
They mostly come to have something to do, to pass the time and some really want to feel more peaceful inside.
I share different ways to meditate, sometimes we watch a video, we talk and we practice.
They seem very grateful and are willing to bring this new way of being into their day to day life.
I can see the resistance sometimes, but that is true of most beginners of meditation.

This experience reminds me again of my own beginning practice that felt like torment. Sitting still, quieting my mind seemed impossible to me many years ago, now I hunger for it.

One of the men made a very powerful statement the other day.
I brought a provocative idea into their midst. We are all imprisoned somehow! True freedom is found within!
They seemed interested.
At the end of our time together one of the men spoke up very clearly.
He told us that he knows he is in jail, but he also knows that there is a part of him that isn't and he wants to get to that part!
There was a silence, something happened. I think the others really heard it.

So, all that's next then is to surrender.
Maybe in prison it is easier, there is nothing else to do...............

A Hunger for Silence.........

2010-05-29T18:46:00.000-07:00

All of a sudden I thought: MY BLOG! It's been over 2 months I have posted anything new. OMG!
There is so much to do, see, feel, read, etc. etc. etc.....
Time seems to fly (and maybe it does!)
And what do I have to say? What do I have to say that anyone wants to read among infinite blogdom? Why bother?
Well, if what I have to say touches one person, then I have served.....
So here it goes!

Live more simply! Life is too sweet to miss any of the joys! And true sorrows!

I have had some amazing experiences in the last two months (it actually feels more like 2 years in some ways) and I have learned so much!
The greatest gift in my learning has been to cherish the moment. Yes, that one: the cliché!
AND............ not really a cliché!
No one I know has truly mastered living in the moment completely!

If you have, share it with me, please! I love the blessedness of it!
Living in the moment is not something that is ever complete and can always be experienced more deeply, more intimately.
I, for one, hunger for it. And I hunger for stillness and silence more and more. I can tell when I am not getting enough of it. Like water.....
I get a bit cranky, tired......
Sometimes an hour fills that hunger and sometimes a day or more.
Surrendering to it and allowing myself to not only have that hunger but let it be filled and stilled is the greatest gift I can give myself (and therefore others).

So, during this Holiday weekend, take time to remember that we all need time for silence and stillness!
So, sit still & get quiet and just BE! Fill up on what is given (Spirit in and as you knows what that is!!)
We need it more now than ever with so much stimulation, so much going on, so much to experience.......

May your roots grow deeper...........

2010-03-21T18:32:00.000-07:00

Recently, we had a ferocious three-day rainstorm in our area with very high winds. It kind of came as a surprise to me, since I am not one who watches the news a whole lot. Right next door to our Center (Center for Spiritual Living Morristown) three to four big trees came down, falling across the street. I learned after the storm that due to the soft ground and the 8+inches of rain the trees were just plucked out of the ground. Power outages were common all over the tri-state area and flooding was rampant. It was quite something to witness. Mother Nature's fury at the cusp of Spring.

Watching the fallen trees everywhere reminded me of how important it is for us to be firmly and deeply rooted in the ground of our essential beingness. The deeper our roots, the more solid we are standing in the ground of our Being.
So our spiritual practice invites us to go deeper and to be in constant communion with Spirit within.
Then when any "storm" comes, we are not so easily shaken or uprooted.

I invite you to set your intention TODAY to have your spiritual practice be around becoming more deeply rooted in Grace, in Love, in Truth and in Compassion.
Then notice how "high" you stand and how solid your are planted in Truth and how far your "branches" reach..........notice how the fragrance of your being infuses the world around you with love and light.

YOU ARE MAGNIFICENT!

Into the nothingness.........

2010-02-24T05:15:00.000-08:00

At times, I feel nothing........ nothingness....I am empty....I am no one....I am not!
This is something that used to scare me, now I welcome it.
It feels free, it feels most open, it feels expansive.
It is like standing before a blank canvas.
It requires being fully present in the moment.
It requires an allowing.

So I welcome this experience and I let Spirit in me fill it.
It is a pregnant pause, that calls to me to surrender.
It invites going deeper, being still so something new can come.
An insight, a new idea, a new & more expansive sense of Self.

I know now that when it used to scare me, I was just afraid of the unknown.....
.......afraid of the vast mystery of it all.
Now I welcome it, for life IS a mystery.

What do we know?
What do we really know?

Nothing, for everything changes all the time.
The only "thing" that remains is our essence.
Our essence is so vast, it can never be fully known.
We can only experience more and more and more of it.

And in the nothingness, in the silence it becomes known, felt & seen.
And it is beyond magnificent.

I invite myself and YOU to step away from the surface of life,
Let go of any judging or qualifying and step into the mystery of nothingness, of allowing.
Open to something new being shown to you.
Something new that WANTS to be seen by you!

Savor it, take it all in, let it transform you...........

An Invitation: For Every Hour On The Hour.............

2010-01-18T05:55:00.001-08:00

My heart opens wide and deep as I am steeped in the Truth of God being all there is.
God in everyone, everything, everywhere, all the time!
I am called to know this more powerfully today that ever before and I accept the call.
Blessings infuse me as I embody this Truth more and more each moment & each day.
I extend this Truth to all my brothers and sisters in the world that are suffering right now,
today especially to ALL the people of Haiti: those who have transitioned and those who are still with us.
And to those who are serving the recovery process in whatever way!
I step back from the world of appearance, the world of effect and I turn to the world of Cause -that which is changeless, that which is all-powerful, all-knowing, all-healing- and I remember that with God EVERYTHING & ANYTHING is possible.
Today I am a channel for this Truth and I am guided in my contribution to the transformation at hand, trusting that whatever the guidance is, I am able to fulfill (no matter what it is!)
Gratefully, I stand in and as this Truth and I am at peace with who I am and what I have to give.
AND SO IT IS!!

Angels Unexpected.......

2009-12-23T05:29:00.000-08:00

Let me first say that I am not into angels..........never have been!
I just don't get the angel 'thang'! I know I know, in our Science of Mind teaching we say they are positive thoughts, but even that feels too syrupy sweet to me.

So, here we are, it is the Holiday Season and the materialistic, stressful frenzy, duty & expectation filled energy is in the air and I am so so grateful I don't live there anymore. I have come to a place in my life where especially during the Holidays I do only what I really want to do, only what feeds my heart and soul. It has become such a gift.
Now, let me say one more thing (I promise the "good" stuff is coming - hang in there with me).
I do not think of myself as a Christian, so Christmas is not something I celebrate. I have, however, returned to its roots & the roots of all religious Holidays all over the world right now (and there are MANY) which is all about the returning of the light: its roots being in the Winter Solstice, which came before any and all religions.

So, Angels Unexpected.......

The sweet, sweet people who clean my house bring me an 'interesting' gift each Holiday Season. Almost every year at first look all sorts of judgements go through my mind, but then I sink deeper and tears come to my eyes.
Tears of gratitude, tears of joy, tears of the grace that is within me and around me.
It's all about how blessed I am, how blessed my life is and THEN the angels unexpected come.....
They smile at me, unexpectedly! They share their heart! They give a gift I JUST love! These angels are not just in people, they are in the form of animals, music, color, a great book, SILENCE (my favorite) a movie or tv show or even a commercial! A really good night sleep, good food, good health, and I could go on and on and on and on.
Could you?
Look for YOUR angels unexpected today and all through the Holiday Season.
For when you look for them, they multiply!!!

Infinite love and blessings for the Holiday Season and the New Year!!

P.S. The picture is of the angel my dear cleaning people Sylvia & Alfredo gave me.
She lights up, fading from color to color : purple, white, yellow, red, green blue.........
They are dear angels in my life!!!

The new "B" Word...........

2009-12-03T06:10:00.000-08:00

About five years ago I deleted a word from my vocabulary, for I started feeling that it was the most boring word in the English language. Someone I love used it so much, it seemed like she felt that she was the only one in the world who was BUSY!
BUSY seems to be the new B word.
Oh, and it is not that I am not busy, it is just that I found it a very boring word and I LOVE words.
I also know that the words I say are VERY powerful and the more I used it, the BUSIER I became. Thinking about the word allowed me to be more conscious and it allowed me to be more impeccable with my words.
It allowed me to be CREATIVE with my life, making choices about HOW I live my life. I chose to no longer be lived by my circumstances, by others and mostly by the clock. Time is MY servant!

We all have 24 hours in a day and we all get to choose how we use those hours. We are responsible for our own lives and must take good care of ourselves, so that we can live in balance and harmony.

It is amazing to me & it saddens me to see people running around like chickens with their heads cut off, way too stressed out and no room to just be and breathe. But what is even sadder is that they seem to feel powerless. The environment we live in now appears to dictate this kind of behavior and it seems to be getting worse.
It is time to stop and look. Look at what our needs are, look at how we need to create more balance and harmony in our lives and look at what really matters. Listen...listen to your heart, it will tell you!

I have created a life for myself, where it is important to get 8 hours sleep (preferably minimum) and where I need time to do my spiritual practices, time to have a 15 minute rest in the middle of the day- to rest my body and my mind (especially when I work through the evenings). It is important for me to exercise and to eat healthy, so that my body is fit and fueled. It is important to have fun and to play. All that makes for a happier person. And I don't know about you, but I LOVE to be a happy, healthy and balanced person and I love to be around happy, healthy, balanced people.

So, this Holiday Season, check in with YOURSELF and give yourself the gift of balance and harmony. Find out what that means for you and act on it.

AND KNOW YOU ARE LOVED!

Time After Time................

2009-11-16T10:25:00.000-08:00

The Holiday Season is upon us again......winter has returned (almost!!)
How did that happen? How did it get to be November already?
TIME!
It's an interesting 'thing', isn't it?
The best gift I have ever received on the spiritual path is the idea that 'TIME IS MY SERVANT'!

Most of us grow up believing that we are the servant of time.
How can you tell the difference?
You can tell when anything having to do with TIME frustrates you. Notice how you speak about time.....do you use the B word a lot? BUSY! Do you feel you are always running? Do you never have enough time to do 'everything'? Do you give up your spiritual pratice or your R&R time to have more time for the doing in your life?
Could it be that these are all excuses? Excuses to not just be? Just be with you? Just be you?
What would be left of you if you did that?
Who would you be?

During Holiday time we seem to make ourselves even busier, we stress ourselves out more than during non holiday time.. A wise teacher once said that a breath without the remembrance of Spirit is a wasted breath.

Give yourself the gift of TIME as YOUR servant, instead of the other way around.
For in Spirit, Time is Infinite. This Truth exists in you as well, for you are Spirit in form.

Take a breath, let it fill your heart & mind with the idea that there is ALWAYS ENOUGH TIME!

Timeless blessings!!!

Invite the mystery.........

2009-10-18T17:19:00.000-07:00

Life has become more and more of a mystery to me and the sweetest thing now is,
that I WELCOME IT!

What do we know? What do we really, really know?
NOTHING!

Life is too much of a mystery!
When we surrender to life as a mystery, everything becomes a delicious surprise.
When we step away from our history (hystery i.e. hysteria) and surrender to the mystery we open to Spirit's Surprises. We look through the eyes of love, rather than fear and everything becomes an opportunity to see Spirit made manifest inside and outside of us.
YUM!
I welcome these surprises.

Autumn invites us seeing the mystery. I mean, look at the change of colors on the leaves, amazing.

Really look deeply at the purple and green that nature created in the picture!
Does that not invite you deeper into the mystery of life?
Let the autumn take you deeper into the mystery called YOU!
YOU are a multidimensional being.....you have more facets to you than the biggest diamonds......see them all! Celebrate them all. Welcome them all.
AND......know you are loved!!!!

....it only takes a moment.......

2009-10-03T17:11:00.000-07:00

This morning, my beloved and I were doing spiritual mind treatment/prayer together. I am a Religious Scientist, he is a Presbyterian and we often do prayer together....it is such a sweet thing.....
This morning it was a prayer for strength, courage and willingness to deepen our faith.....it felt intimate and deep as we prayed in an embrace with our eyes closed.
When we opened our eyes, my beloved was the first to notice......
A praying mantis had landed on his window right before our eyes. Coincidence? I don't think so.
An message from God? We think so!
To me it is reminder that life is filled with mystery and magic, as long as we are willing to see, know and feel that it is so.

Some may think that it is superstitious, but it matters not. If we find inspiration in life and it is seemingly small and takes only a moment, just suck it into your being and let it take up space in you. Give it the attention, so it grows in you and let it become honey for bees, so that it guides you back into the mystery of life. Back into the richness of life and back into faith so strong, that it becomes the solid ground you stand on.

PEACE!

Fresh, new, colorful, cool...............

2009-09-18T07:51:00.000-07:00

The other day, I woke up and I was so cold.......my mind was not awake yet and I could not figure out why I was so cold.
Then I opened my eyes and saw my window wide open, curtain flowing and realized FALL was upon us. From one day to the next, it seemed, it went from warm to cold........from summer to autumn..........and from green to reds and browns.
There is one tree in my neighborhood that is always the first to turn red and it turned red overnight.
Does it seem to you like time is flying, that time is going faster?
It does to me sometimes and I KNOW that when it does, it is just an opportunity to be MORE present in the moment.
And I love when I feel that awareness, for it makes me take a deep breath. It moves my attention to my heart and it makes my experience timeless. That's when I know I am most connected with Spirit.

Remember to savor each moment for it can never be experienced again!
And know you are loved!!!!

"mystics"

2009-08-16T17:16:00.000-07:00

I LOVE THE EARLY MYSTICS.......ALL OF THEM...put a pile of books before me of any of the early mystics and I drown....
Meister Eckhart, Francis of Assisi, Jellaludin Rumi, Hafiz, Julian of Norwich, Hildegard of Bingen, John of the Cross, Theresa of Avila, Brother Lawrence, Mechtild of Magdeburg,...........YUM!

And then there is Ernest Holmes, the founder of our Science of Mind teaching.........he is a contemporary mystic.....just read his early writings like 'Your Invisible Power' or 'The Voice Celestial' that he wrote with his brother Fenwick. Even the early 1926 version of the Science of Mind textbook is so much more mystical than the current version, which is much more mental....much more of a TEXT book.

The early mystics were all about having a DIRECT experience of God (Spirit, Love, Nature, the Universe.....call it what you will!).
It seems that today's spirituality is more about doing, about 'acting' spiritual and talking about spirituality.
I hear it when people use the word 'spiritual'. Like:"he is so spiritual" or "she's not very spiritual".
To me that is very very judgmental. The Truth is that we are ALL equally spiritual! All of us!
God in us, as us, is us!!
NOW, we may not all be aware of it, we not be conscious of our spirituality, but WE ALL ARE!!!

So, what do we do with all THIS?
We remember we are all created by the One Spirit, all infused with all that this Spirit is and all discover what that means.
Deepening our own experience of God, Love, Truth and LIVING THAT!
The early, brilliant mystics remind us......they knew! They know!
No need to reinvent the wheel here....
I LOVE YOU!

A mystic is someone who has a direct experience of God

Laughing out loud!

2009-08-06T18:12:00.000-07:00

Have you had a good laugh lately?
The kind where your belly just aches, tears run down your face and you practically pee your pants?
Doesn't that feel great? It is sort of orgasmic, I think. Like it wakes up every cell in your body.
Something in the body moves in such a way that it feels like you shed all toxins.
It's a beautiful thing and I think we could all be doing more of it.
Once you have a good belly laugh, life looks completely different.
It's like seeing the world in a whole new hue, all of a sudden seriousness has left and everything feels lighter.
That which was a problem before has become infused with something that cannot even be named and the problem is just not the same, it may have even dissolved.
The language of laughter is universal and it is so contagious. Check it out! Give it a try........
Take the time to laugh today...with a friend, a loved one, your child, a funny movie or TV show or go on line to a great joke website....laugh yourself silly and look again .....look again at yourself, at your life, at your heart!

KNOW YOU ARE LOVED!!

God Bless the Child......

2009-07-09T16:50:00.000-07:00

There is a new member in my family.
Here name is Fleur. French for flower.....
Her mom had a challenging pregnancy and delivery, she arrived over 1 month early.

There are some transitions around me lately....some close to me, some further away.
Some in my personal life.... some in ministry.
It's all one!
All matters of the heart!

Seeing souls slipping in and out of bodies.......

What do we do with all that? All the feelings that accompany THAT?

I told an elderly woman, who is at the end of her life, : "All you need to do is be in THIS moment! All you need to do is breathe THIS breath." She sighed a big sigh........

How sacred, how precious, how sweet to be a witness to that!!!!

I am so so grateful!!

Life is a gift. All that is asked of us is that we live THAT gift.
We can only live it in this moment, this breath.

And that is because Spirit guides us here!

Know you are blessed,
rev. frankie

In The Silence.........

2009-06-20T13:58:00.000-07:00

There is this beautiful song, I so love......I hear it in my head and heart often when I hunger for silence and it is not at hand right away. It goes 'In the silence, there is a sacred place, a sacred meeting place, love is there........'. When I hear that song, I can taste the gift of silence. I was in such a space the other day, walking home from a massage. I felt very silent inside and walked home in gratitude, cherishing the soft spring rain, noticing this beautiful rose bush I pass by often. This bush always makes me stop and be in awe of Spirit's Grace in nature. I could NOT resist and picked a rose and brought it home. I put it in a tiny vase and placed it on my altar before I went into meditation. I communed with the rose and thanked it for being there, for reminding me of my own inner beauty. It still had raindrops on it and I fell deeply into the silence I call GOD.
Every time, I look at that rose, it brings me back to this sweet simple awareness of how blessed we are when we really look, really feel, really commune with ALL that is. Now I am preparing for a 5 day meditation retreat. Some of the preparing is active.....being prepared for a week away from home and ministry. Packing my suitcase and all that. And then there is the quiet inner preparation for 5 days of mostly silence. I sigh at the thought and feeling of that. I am so grateful for this privilege.

SILENCE feeds the soul more than anything else, I believe. For it is in silence that we hear/feel the "voice" of Spirit. The voice that only we can hear for ourselves as individualized expressions of the One. It seems that most human beings are doing everything possible to avoid that silence.........

I invite you to welcome more and more silence into your life and see what 'happens'.
I invite you to be less seduced by noise, activity and outer stimulation and notice how full it makes you!

Know you are loved!!!

SUMMERTIME..........

2009-05-27T18:36:00.000-07:00

AND THE LIVING IS EASY.......
In our space on earth, official summer is still about three weeks away, but the Memorial Day Holiday brought us to the unofficial beginning of summer and it sure feels and looks like it!
Because of our rainy spring, everything looks greener than green and nature shows off her perennial predictability.
As you find yourself outdoors doing your daily routines, whether is being in traffic, running errands or taking a walk or bike ride, STOP and take a moment to take a most delicious breath. Whether you have allergies or not, whether you think you are too busy or are not busy enough, whether you are sad or happy.....STOP..........and be grateful for your next breath.
Then take another grateful one, another delicious one......and another one....take FIVE minutes, at least, and make your breathing a spiritual practice!
It has been said that a breath without the name of God on it, is a wasted breath.
Let your breath, for at least a few minutes a day outside, have the name of God on it...........
Surely, you will long to make those few minutes longer, for it feeds your spirit like nothing will!
BLESSED BE THE BREATH!!!

YOU ARE PROFOUNDLY BEAUTIFUL: INSIDE AND OUT!!!

2009-05-14T04:41:00.000-07:00

Just recently I found myself sitting with this picture. I was at the age of 1 1/2 and the I of today could not help but smile.
It's an old picture so it is a bit fuzzy and I wished it was digital so I could zoom in and see my own face a little closer.
I wanted to see her better...I wanted to look into her eyes deeper. I truly do remember her innocence, her joy and her light!
I wanted to embrace that me, 'cause I found her so embraceable.

Do you have pictures of yourself as a baby?
Do you sit with them? Really sit with them?

There is something quite amazing about looking back.
The most amazing aspect is the eyes we look back WITH.
And no matter how far we look back.....no matter if it is 1 day, 1 year, 1 decade or more, it's the eyes we look back with that makes it meaningful or not.

We can look back with horror, fear, pain, loss, lack OR with love, appreciation, mystery, healing, interest, fascination!!

We have arrived! Arrived to THIS day. And yes, some of us have more scars then others, but scars are kind of interesting.
They are stronger than non scars, I have noticed.

We have arrived and are filled with experience, wisdom, awareness........
Life has become so rich and I find all of it delicious (even though not necessarily in every moment), I welcome it all with open arms.

So, open YOUR arms to all that you are, all that you have been and all you are yet to be........
Delight in it all.
Embrace yourself, for you are MOST embraceable!
Re-discover your original innocence and joy. For what I know for sure is that THAT cannot be destroyed by life.....by anyone....or anything! It is yours and cannot be taken away. EVER!!
Look deep enough and long enough until you find it.......and delight in it!!
YOU ARE PROFOUNDLY BEAUTIFUL....IN ALL WAYS!!! INSIDE AND OUT!!

YOU ARE SPRING ITSELF!

2009-04-30T11:08:00.000-07:00

You are a most delicious, juicy creative expression in Spirit.
THAT'S WHAT YOU ARE!!
YES, YOU!! ALWAYS WERE, ALWAYS WILL BE, ALWAYS ARE!!
No matter what anyone says! No matter what you say (or think). IT'S THE TRUTH!!

We are God in expression, so how can we be anything less than deliciously juicy?
We can only appear less than that, when we forget who and what we REALLY are.
And FORGET we do, don't we?
Forgetting is incredibly painful! It's agonizing, it's depressing, it's saddening, it's scary.....

Scared and sacred have the same letters in each word, so when we go from forgetting to remembering we just shift from scared to sacred. And that we must do within ourselves!
In spiritual practice we actually experience the shift from scared to sacred, for there we remember that God is ALL there is, God is all we are and the scared literally tranforms into the sacred.

That's what makes life so deliciously juicy, for every time we remember, we feel energized.
Take the energy of Spring and rebirth into your heart, let it touch your ability to be reborn over and over and find yourself as the sacred made manifest. See the sacred in all that is!

BLESSED BE, rev. frankie

YOU ARE EXQUISITE!!!!

2009-03-27T10:03:00.000-07:00

What a beautiful life we get to live......when we are open and receptive to the exquisite beauty of Spirit expressing as Life, it can be overwhelming. And the best part is, that it is so all the time....everywhere. The question is whether we are tuned in or tuned out!

I am spending the last day in the Monterey Bay Peninsula area in California. Two days of board meetings and then 5+ days at the Asilomar grounds for the International Centers for Spiritual Living Leadership Conference. We are blazing a new trail, this was a whole new conference for leadership at a sort of new location for us. We have met here every year for 60 years, but it was always the conference for everyone in July. This conference was the leadership conference that previously traveled around the country and besides spiritual leaders there were other people in leadership positions at our centers. It was a great success.

Asilomar means 'refuge by the sea' and THAT IT IS!! (just look at the photo and that's only one scene captured by my iPhone)

So, back to my first paragraph......being tuned in or tuned out to Spirit's exquisite creation......
When we look deep enough and long enough and with an open enough heart we get to see what is REAL and since LOVE has created what is REAL we are shown a beauty beyond description. Once we see what is REAL, we want to live THAT. And the sweetest part of THAT is, that everything is given already within.....free for us to access it whenever we are ready!

What if......we saw ourselves that way more?
What if we saw each other that way more?
What if we saw all of life that way more??

You are exquisitely beautiful.....it is inherent by right of consciousness!
BLESSED BE!!!

2009-03-01T16:15:00.000-08:00

Ohhhh, goodness....it has been TOO long!
I have missed YOU!!

Dear friend, I bow my head in humility for not keeping a promise to myself for doing a new blog every month....
I have skipped 2....I "owe" you :-)

Since the last blog much has happened, surely for all of us!
It is a new year and now on March 1st, a new month.
The month that brings us Spring: new life.

So much room for newness, new life.
Often in order for something new to be born, we have to let go of the old.
Ask yourself:"What in my life is no longer serving me?"

If you really do not know, it is for 2 reasons:
Everything is working fabulously for you and you serve and are served beautifully!
Or you think you don't know.
If you think you do not know, all you need to do is look at your life and turn within following your feelings.
Where do you feel 'less than', where do you feel you are not fully expressing yourself, not fully authentic?
THAT is what no longer serves you and you feel the way you feel for something within you is ready to let go of it.
It is "old" and something new wants to be born in and through you.

Let yourself fall, be willing to trust, turn within to Spirit and let Spirit lead the way...
Listen to that deeper voice of continuing new life within you and celebrate.
Celebrate, celebrate, celebrate YOU!!
I DO!!!
Love always!

GIVE YOURSELF THE GIFT OF PEACE..........

2008-12-23T17:08:00.000-08:00

A Morristown Winter Day..

I LOVE WINTER! There is something pure and silent and sacred about first snow, it is so magical....
There is nothing like walking in fresh snow, knowing it has never been walked upon.
It makes me walk more consciously and more mindfully, then my mind slows down and my heart sings.......
It becomes an infusion to my spiritual practice, the kind that reminds me of animals hibernating in winter.

Most people do the opposite at this time of year.
They run around shopping, wrapping, giving or going to parties, eating and drinking more than they usually do and often not the stuff that gives them energy but weakens their energy.........and then the Holy Days are over and a new year has begun.

After many years of not really enjoying the Holidays, I have made a commitment to have them be what I want them to be.
I know this may be easier for me, for I have no family in the U.S. and I have no children.
I do however have friends and my beloved, Norman who has a small family and 2 sons: one is a young son of 12!

Still, the Holiday Season for me (since I do not consider myself a Christian) is about rest, silence, additional spiritual practice and reading non spiritual books: i.e. good fiction that brings me peace, inspiration, relaxation and joy! And KNITTING!!

I listen to my heart and follow what feels right. If that means shopping for gifts: I do that. If it means sending cards: I do that.
If it means NOT: I don't. My days seem longer and I refuel for the year to come.......

Give yourself the gift to do what fuels you during the Holiday Season, even if it is for a few hours.
Remember to do your spiritual practices and show up as LOVE, as LIGHT and/or as PEACE.
Letting that make the difference in the world.
Letting that be your gift to the world.
YOU ARE A GIFT! YOU ARE THE GIFT.
Know you are loved.
HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON.

When the heart weeps for what it has lost, the spirit laughs for what it has found. Sufi Proverb

2008-12-08T19:32:00.000-08:00

Dear ones.....I have had my share of grieving.....losing 2 siblings, both my parents, most uncles and aunts, and at least 6 really close friends. Grieving has truly become a spiritual practice!!

But listen up (don't pity me.....................like you would need too....)

There is something about grieving the loss of someone I love....something delicious......

It makes me feel so alive, so real, so naked, so raw.
I cannot hide, I cannot pretend, there is just no room for that.

So, all of a sudden life seems to become more real.
Suddenly, every moment becomes precious. Suddenly, I take nothing for granted. I check in with myself to be without regret, without forgetting to tell my loved ones I love them and without realizing how loved I am. Somehow, it is time to connect more deeply with my loved ones and to take MY OWN "inventory" rather then someone else's (which somehow always seems more easy to do. (DARN IT!) It truly is a time to forgive......to love..... to really see life for what it is!

So, my friend and colleague Jeffrey very suddenly and unexpectedly made his transition on Wednesday December 3rd, 2008.

This was my e-mail message to the e-field of my colleagues ( there were close to 100 beautiful heart filling e-mails being shared about how they felt for days............)

Our love unites us even more deeply because Jeffrey lived!

Thank you, beloved spiritual family, for your beautiful words. I am flip flopping between my heart (breaking) and my soul (laughing).........my heart aches...and then there are the words of Rumi who called the night of his passing 'Shebi-Arus', his wedding night, the occasion when he was finally united with his Beloved, God, in eternal life.

Jeffrey loved that.

Rumi said that night:
"Why should I be unhappy?
Each parcel of my being is in full bloom".

I can see Jeffrey's head tip slightly to the side and his sweet smile (ahhhhh) appear on his lips.
This picture (on top of this blog) was taken 6 weeks ago at our first ICSL Board meeting. It sucks, that it was our last.

2008-11-25T19:31:00.000-08:00

Give Thanks!

Gratitude is a verb.
Gratitude is a spiritual practice.
Gratitude is discovering that we are already FULL!
Full of love, full of Spirit, full of abundance.
See, ..........when we are ungrateful, whether we are conscious of it or not, we are simply saying SPIRIT IS NOT!
It immediately slips us into lack, for as within so without.

So, this Holiday Season, simply practice being grateful!
When you slip, love yourself 'out of it'.
Turn to Spirit, remember Love is all there is and allow yourself to open wide to that which already is.
That which already is available for you, always.

When we are aligned with Spirit, there is so, so much to be grateful for.
And it is so much fun! So much fun to give thanks for EVERYTHING!
EVERYTHING!!

Have a blessed holiday season!

Something Deep & Beautiful.......

2008-11-03T19:12:00.000-08:00

Something deep and beautiful is happening in the world of International Centers of Spiritual Living (formerly known as Religious Science International) and I feel honored to be a witness in an up close way. I recently was elected to its Board of Directors. What an auspicious time, what a historic event..............two organizations that teach Oneness came together and made a commitment to work together to be a greater force for good in the world. We welcome people from all walks of life, who seek a deeper experience of life, into a teaching that supports transformation through powerful spiritual tools. This allows for a world that works for everyone and makes it a better world to live it. We CAN BE a force for good: individually and collectively!

Strong solid ground is what we stand on as we move forward into a greater idea. Its time has come.
It is such an honor to serve on the Board of Directors with 12 other beloved souls who are deeply committed to a greater idea.
Look at those glorious feet in the picture! :-)
I am so moved by their generosity and their integrity and THIS is only the beginning.
Know you are part of something GREAT!

Whether you are reading this for the first time as someone new to this teaching and organization or if you are someone that has been 'around' for a long time, you are part of something really great, and really sacred....be open to the huge shift in consciousness that is taking place in the world!
When you watch the news, you know that the entire world is being shaken to its core.....when the pendulum swings way up, it has to come back. We have gone far in many ways and it is time to really look, really listen and become very clear about what matters most. I can promise you it is not our possesions, it is not money, it is more intangible and THAT is the invitation.
We get to dive deep and explore what's most important to us.

Listen, have faith and serve the deep.

Called to Something Greater.......

2008-09-20T18:51:00.000-07:00

Have you ever been asked to do something or be a part of something and your first reaction is something like "No Way, I can't do that"!? And then there was another voice that says:"I must do that"!? It's that experience of the human self coming from the lesser and the soul coming from the greater, all at the same time. It's the kind of experience where you MUST follow your soul's call.
I think there comes a time for all of us when the soul's call is louder, greater, more real and unavoidable!
Well, that's what happened to me this year when I was asked if I was willing to be on the Religious Science International's Board of Directors?

I truly knew that after 20 years as a minister of the now International Centers of Spiritual Living (formerly Religious Science International) my time had come to serve at that deeper level. I have held the vision in my heart all this time, for our organization as a vibrant, powerful, healthy spiritual teaching organization. There were two organizations teaching the Science of Mind, since there was a split in 1954 (even before I was born) and 54 years later we are not only coming together -alos my vision for 20 years-and integrating, but I get to be a significant part of it through leadership. These are exciting and historic times!! And now I have come to be chosen as a member of the Board of Directors by the organization. I know that being chosen was truly first an inner call and then the outer followed.”

Being part of the leadership at this level is a great honor and I am committed to sharing my talents and gifts to the best of my ability. I am also excited about learning and growing, for I know when we step into a new and higher place of being we cannot help but be transformed.

Asilomar 2008

2008-08-09T18:27:00.001-07:00

Our organization, Religious Science International, JUST experienced a historic moment!
About 900 Science of Mind lovers get together every year at Asilomar for a week conference. It is at one of the most beautiful spots in the USA on the Monterey Bay Peninsula at Pacific Grove in Northern California. This year, just this July, was our last one in this way at this time. Now we start moving around the country, and next year we will all meet in San Diego.
The historic moment was two-fold. A decision was made for us to change our name, so that we may be more attractive to the masses. We are now called International Centers for Spiritual Living!! How exciting. Personally, for me it has always been about the teaching, not the name AND I understand that that is not so for everyone. Many times people say they are turned off by the name 'church' and 'Religious' & 'Science' in our name. So, our new name -more neutral- is a way to invite people who are looking for the more spiritual, transformative experience, life, spiritual community we offer. THAT IS EXCITING!!
The second part of our historic shift was that we decided to merge with our sister organization.....of that you shall read more in a future blog.

The week was deeply inspiring, transformative and FUN! Imagine being with hundreds and hundreds of people who think like you! No need to explain, defend, and feel weird about what you believe about Life, God, oneself......HOW FREEING!
And then being steeped like a tea bag in all that juicy stuff of lectures, workshops, group support, play, dance, sing and so on. And that for 6 days! AND in an area so beautiful that you simply cannot leave as the person you are when you arrive.

Being in a different environment does that.....even for a day, even in your own neighborhood....
Take time this summer, and the little that is left of it, to do something different, something new, something out of the ordinary and take it all in like the deepest breath. And let THAT transform you. Just be attentive to the shift and take it with you in your heart. Don't let your daily life snap you back to your old self, stay with the new even if it may be hardly noticeable and let it BREATHE YOU!!!
Blessed love!!!
P.S. the picture is taken in Davenport (just north of Monterey)

Summer time....and the living is easy......

2008-06-22T11:24:00.000-07:00

Fish are jumping....and the cotton is high......
SUMMER IS HERE! It's hot, it's steamy, there are intense storms and powerful downpours.... I LOVE IT ALL!
I am never one to complain about the weather, what use is that! I used to though, until I set an intention to flow with life and to TRUST LIFE!
Now I celebrate life....summer and everything about summer!
JOIN ME?
I am off to Omega, my annual pilgrimage to be with a wonderful teacher.
To meditate, to be with like-minded souls, to be, to surrender........
To be without tv, without a computer, without a phone....AHHHHHH, HEAVEN!
For me? Yes! For many people: AGONY!
We are so used to have all those gadgets at our fingertips that we feel lost without them.
Could it be just another way to be distracted from our real-est self? From what matters most?
Let's practice something.......if you are reading this, be willing.......and set an intention to be gadget free and do a media fast.
Start small, yet stretch!
Start with a few hours, half a day, a day, a week......set an intention.
Be with YOU! Be with nature! Listen.
And see......and feel......
Share with me what that is like for you....I would love to hear about the gifts you have received!
Dive deeper into the awe of you!
Blessed Love, rev. frankie
blissms@earthlink.net

A New Earth.......

2008-05-07T13:23:00.000-07:00

When I heard that Oprah & Eckhart Tolle were doing The New Earth book on webcam with Skype, the thing that awed me the most was that 11 million people from all over the world are participating. THAT excites me, what a GREAT idea.....I got so excited about the possibility that I visioned with Ted, our wonderful new web wizard. We expanded in consciousness on what is possible for our Religious Science Morristown website and he came up with things I have never even heard of. The beautiful part of Oprah & Eckhart Tolle's program is how people's hearts and minds are being opened in ways that are transforming the way people look at spirituality. People are literally being freed from religious dogma and past conditioning that no longer serves them. Then there are those who are deeply committed to their religion and are diving deeper into it, so it is becoming practice instead of just theory. Then there are those people who are newly exposed to New Thought and hear the message in a way that they may not hear at a Science of Mind center, and our teaching begins to make sense in a new way.
Something big is happening regarding our kind of teaching, it IS become the household word that I saw it become in my vision many years ago,
It is no longer weird to talk about spiritual matters, about the Law of Cause and Effect, about taking full responsibility for our lives and about having the freedom to create an awesome life for ourselves and others. JIPPPPEEEE.
THE WORLD IS WAKING UP TO WHAT WE HAVE KNOW FOR OH, SO LONG!
CAN YOU FEEL IT??
Use that lovely energy while it is hot......tssssssss.
Joyful blessings, rev. frankie

Spring is here!

2008-04-03T19:27:00.000-07:00

Can you feel it? Can you hear it?
There is a vibrancy in Mother Nature that is about to bust out. The daffodils are showing their yellow sunshiny faces. The forsythia is popping open. The many different pink hued blossoms are beginning to show. The sun is feeling warmer than it has in months and the air is alive with new life. I find myself wanting to shed all the many layers of clothes, but it is still a little too cold for that. I feel like skipping on the grass and taking deeper breaths.

I love this time of year, it says NEW BEGINNING! It inspires me to let go of the old and bring in the new. I invites being in the moment more, because it IS so vibrant and new and fresh.

So, take some time, slow down, see the new day each day since everything is changing so quickly!
Let nature be your guide! Let nature remind you that invisible does not mean non-existent and that nothing really dies.

Life longs to be lived by us and when we say yes nothing can stop it from finding expression.
We need not ever know the HOW, just the WHAT.

So, what is your deepest longing? Let nature show you, hold it close to your heart and Let Universal Law make it so!

Blessed love, rev. frankie

2008-02-20T16:33:00.000-08:00

To me the the third loveliest of all winter days is the kind where the sun shines brightly, the sky is a perfect blue, the wind makes the leafless tree branches wave side to side and the air is crisp and cold.
The second is when it snows and snows and snows, so that we want to stay cozely at home except maybe for a walk in the fresh new snow to make snow angels.
The first is a rare magical morning like the one in the picture. This picture was made by my brother-in-law Harrie on a recent morning in The Netherlands when he went out jogging with a friend. I could not believe the picture, I find it worthy of a photography prize, I couldn't believe it was real.....it made me weep with gratitude and awe. It turned out it had been very foggy the evening before, then it began to freeze during the night, when the sun came out in the morning the land looked like this until the sun burnt it off.

Have you had moments like these? Moments where you say to yourself:"There is a God"!!
They fill your heart and soul. They make you go quiet. They make you be grateful that you are alive to witness such awe & beauty. They make you feel alive.

We know from our teaching that no one and nothing MAKES us feel anything, a feeling is already there and something (or someone) taps it so we may become aware. That's a beautiful thing, even if it is about some of our uglier feelings. It is beautiful, for conscious awareness is a GIFT. It is a gift of power because it gets us in touch with the power of self-awareness and self-knowledge and that allows us a greater sense of freedom. In freedom we have infinite choices and our choices create our experience.
And then there is the lovely awareness that makes our days Perfect: Spirit in all, as all, everywhere, all the time...in case you forget, look....really look...at this amazingly magical picture. A snapshot of Spirit in Form.
Many blessings & much love!!

2008-01-30T08:27:00.000-08:00

For many years now, I have been writing poetry, Mostly I have kept it to myself.
My heart is now telling me to share and a poetry collection is in the "works".
My poetry is a way to experience life deeply.
I long more than anything for that, to live and love deeply.
Here I share one of my poems....
With love, rev. frankie

ALWAYS LOOKING

Always looking on beaches for the perfect shell, stone, driftwood or beach glass…

Always looking for that most magnificent, awesome music, that shall burst open my
heart….

Always looking for that wonder hair product that shall shape my silver curls in the way I
love it most…..

Always looking for that book, poem or piece of writing that just totally wakes up my
soul…..

Always looking for that magical taste or smell in food or fragrance – eating and sniffing
my way through quaint towns and special shops……

Always looking
Always looking
Always looking

Come to find
It ain’t out there
It cannot be found in a store, a story, a song or a hair gel……nor in a mouthful or a
whiff

It can only be found in my soul’s story
It can only be found within
In the silence and emptiness of the love in my heart
And THAT I have found

It’s right here, right now
In this quiet place of stillness
In my breathing
In the warm darkness behind my eyes
When I stop looking and just find

Just find it right where I am
In what I am and who I am
Touching my God Self
Hearing the sound of my heart beat
Smelling my own skin,
Listening to my own inner wisdom
Recognizing the beauty of my own authenticity
Which is complete.
Not looking, just finding. God.

(C)
frankie timmers
12/2003

THINK!

2008-01-17T03:35:00.000-08:00

A new year, a fresh new perspective, a wide open field of possibilities..........
Let go of resolutions you don't keep any way, let go of fears and worries triggered by bad news on TV and in newspapers and let go of the past....THINK! Think about who you REALLY are! Think about what you REALLY want. Think about what you REALLY need to let go of, so that what's possible may be born! In our teaching we talk about mind a lot and so it is important to use the mind that we have for good. I say that, for I think you would probably agree with me that most people use their mind in the same way every day, the think the way they have always thought: they rehash the past and/or worry about the future, they overthink things and/or shut the mind off with unhealthy behaviors.
So, an invitation.....THINK!!
THINK about where you are in your life, in a relaxed, objective way....as if you are on the outside looking in, without criticism! THINK about how you feel about where you are and THINK about where you want to be, then THINK about what you need to be/do/have to get there.....and start THINKING about THAT until you arrive there.
Support it with your spiritual practice(s) and watch it become manifest!
It is a very attentive way to be, it allows us to stay in the present while moving forward (or deeper inward). It makes space for us to be who we want to be, who we are meant to be.
Now, I say THINK, but it is not just a mental way of being. Thinking in our language is not without feeling, thinking and feeling are one. Sometimes we don't move for we don't allow our feeling nature to catch up with our thinking nature, or our thinking nature with our feeling nature. For some people there is a big gap between thinking and feeling. They may THINK one thing, but FEEL a completely different thing as in "I think I want........(fill out the blank) but I feel unworthy"!
So, we must THINK about that and bring our thinking and feeling into harmony. That may take some practice. It is quite valuable for it allows us to be aligned enough so that harmony can flow.
And all this can be so gentle, so sweet, so sacred. There needs to be no pressure. It is really a way to love and accept oneself and THAT dissolves the ways we are hard on ourselves.
It is the year, at Religious Science Morristown/Center for Practical Spirituality, to LET FREEDOM REIGN!
Come and join us as we all live that intention and celebrate our inner and outer FREEDOM!
Just THINK what can happen if you participate!!
Blessings and Love ALWAYS, Reverend Frankie

Let go of the old, welcome the new.....

2007-12-29T05:00:00.000-08:00

Many years ago I adopted and idea I had read about in a magazine. When you buy a new piece of clothing, you must get rid of an old piece! I started playing with that and it was very effective. Some of us can be such gatherers that it is hard to let go of anything. That was not totally my case, but I would have things in my closet that were just there year in year out, things I would not wear......and were hard to let go of. I began to use that sort of thing as a metaphor.........
Having grown in this area I am grateful that letting go has become easier and I feel much freer.
I have also learned that letting go FIRST creates space for something new to be welcomed. And it is more gentle, more grace filled, more effortless and has an element of the mystical. I think that is because then we are more willing to be open and to surrender to Spirit, then we are living in faith more. Since all is already given, we open ourselves to receive Spirit's Abundant Gifts.
So, this time of year, make yourself receptive.....allow for that already welcoming space in you to reveal your magnificence and listen for the deep wisdom already within you.
Let yourself be the glass surface of a lake welcoming everything...
Deep, rich blessings for the new year!
rev.frankie

Holidaze?

2007-12-12T19:50:00.000-08:00

As we step into the fullblow-ness of the Holidays, we are asked to deepen our spirtiual practices.
The other day I was at the mall to do a non-holiday errand and it was crazy.
It was really fun for me, for I wasn't shopping for the Holidays.
Finally after all these years I have given myself the gift of honoring myself, being true to myself and doing only what I can put my heart into totally.

This too is available for you!

If the Holidays are stressful ( or sad or lonely or.......) for you, take a deeper look and ask yourself 'WHAT IS MISSING FOR ME?'
Listen deeply and honor the answer(s)!
Let them be your guide this Holiday season!

Remember what you love at this time of year and cultivate it.
Bring your gifts to those around you and celebrate the Light!
The Light is the one common element among all the Holidays celebrated all over the world at this time.
YOU are the Light!
How do you share your Light?????
Blessed Love, rev. frankie