Lately I have been reflecting a lot on a seemingly common conversation.
Many people LONG FOR the time & space just to be and to rest, but then they have that time and space and they feel restless. The desire then arrives to do things and go places and...and...and.....
"What IS THAT?", you may say with me.
I believe that what we desire often has a built in fear and so it behooves us to get clear and take some time to reflect.
It does not help that we live in a 24-hour world and that our smart devices are so much fun and maybe a bit seductive.....even addictive......
These devices do keep us connected all the time.
So, it becomes even more important to be still and silent.
Rest the body well. Quiet the mind often.
It allows us to sink into timelessness and spacelessness that contains ALL.
When we dwell in the Allness of Life, we remember more deeply what is important and this feeds us more than anything.

Oh my, sweet people, I have been quite neglectful of this blog....
And so, here I am again with a few things on my mind.....
Let me start with the idea of TIME!

I have banned a word from my vocabulary.
To me it is one of the most boring words in the English language.
Knowing words are powerful and that thoughts are like prayers, I realized that this word is like a virus.
It's a word we use with pride almost. A word we use to unconsciously praise ourselves OR abuse ourselves.....
YEP, that BIG is this word....

BUSY!

That's the word.
Everyone is busy.....with it comes overwhelm, anxiety, worry, stress and LOSS!
The loss of joy, pleasure, passion, enjoying the moment, being fully present.

Can you feel the difference?

So, decide to stop using that B word OR change it to a word that reflects conscious choice.
We all have 24 hours in a day. Approach them with thoughtfulness and see what happens.....

A few examples:

I choose to spend my time wisely.
I am making & taking time to relax and rest no matter how full my plate is.
Life is very full.

Do you have any ideas?
I'ld love to get a few more ideas.

Be in the joy of the moment and let TIME be YOUR servant.

rev. frankie

In A Matter of Days

It is finally spring in the northeastern U.S.A. where I live.
The picture shows how in a matter of days the daffodils show their sweet faces.
Every year, it's the same. With complete predictability.
I mean, surely none of us have every wondered if spring would come again after winter......
That's how FAITH works.  It's not that once I see the daffodils, I shall have faith that they come back.
I KNOW they come back, every spring.
And every spring I am/we are in awe. If we are alive, that is :-)

Now how come, it is not always that way with our inner lives?
Because we doubt and we fear and we forget our own True Nature!

So, that's also why we do our spiritual practices, inspirational readings and studies: to grow in and strengthen our faith.

This spring, set an intention to have the same faith in yourself and for yourself as you have regarding the return of spring's explosion of nature.
Take inspiration from the teachings of nature.

Be reborn in faith as you take in the miraculous predictability of the daffodils.

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

...........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........

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!

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........

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.......

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.........

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...........

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.........

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.............

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.......

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...........

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................

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.........

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.......

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...............

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"

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!

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!!