Speaking of Grace

When I am old, old, old…

Maybe 90
I will draw from within me
Deep stories,
Images of my life
My Truth
Those essentials
Hard hewn from the tender
Pith of long-lived experience

Buds of visceral emotion
I dared not utter
Or burst to bloom
Along the way,
Lest they be judged
Or worse yet,
Dissolve into
The ether of history.

I would hate to lose those stories
Those feelings
Those life bites
Each with unique flavor
Those saps of life, sweet and
Bitter, mine alone to Savor.

I’ll lay them out before me on the bed
Like family photos from a treasure box
And I’ll remember each one,
And sink low into the memory rings
Of their concentric

Embrace

Until they hold me
There in orbit once again
Circling round their gifts
Once disguised by
Naïveté, now
Revealed through an age of
Reflection.

Though some with no less
The Passion.

I will know them each again.
For they are the worn
And wonderful
Fabric
Of my tapestry.
Pulp in the paper of
my memoir

Love
Disappointment
Adoration
and Abandonment
Betrayal
Delight
Grief.
Serenity
Loyalty
Comfort
Surprise!!
Wonder

All my old friends will be there
Reverence not the least among them.

And Grace will be our conversation.

© Peggy Beatty May 2011
First published in July 2011 Membership Moments, Spiritual Directors International

May My Heart Always Be Open To Little

may my heart always be open to littlebirds who are the secrets of living
whatever they sing is better than to know
and if men should not hear them men are old

may my mind stroll about hungry
and fearless and thirsty and supple
and even if it's sunday may i be wrong
for whenever men are right they are not young

and may myself do nothing usefully
and love yourself so more than truly
there's never been quite such a fool who could fail
pulling all the sky over him with one smile

Author: e. e. cummings
Artwork: Thiru178, mylot.com

May your heart always be open to the wonder and beauty that surrounds you. May your mind always enjoy a new voyage of exploration into something yet unknown to you. May you find yourself continually realizing your identity as God's beloved child, born of  the deep, loamy Earth and  and filled with Spirit breath.

Peace, Peggy

Longtime Sun

May the longtime sun shine upon you
All love surround you
And the pure light within you
Guide your way on...



One of my favorite meditations
by Snatam Kaur


Blessings to you today...Peggy

Miracle Maker

Jesus was the last gentle soul
His perception of people
His wisdom of being,
Allowed his responses to be quiet
Compassionate

Fixed on the deep
Inner space

The hunger, not the action.
To feed another’s deep need,

Jesus’ attention was good at that.

And all he did was quietly,
Confidently
Reflect the image of the
Beggar back to himself

With a halo.
©Peggy Beatty July 2009

Miracles are acts of empowerment. When Jesus performed miracles, what he really did was empower the person. "Your faith has healed you.." he would say. "Just believe..." These words of Jesus affirmed healing; assured a proceative (positive) outcome. We share the [restorative] energy and power of this universe. When Jesus "healed" he gave people permission/awareness of their ability to summon a greater energy than they could muster themselves by thinking that they were wounded. "Your faith has made you strong...your faith has healed you..." Faith is complete confidence or trust without "proof."  Whether Jesus imparted the healing power, or gave the person permission to realize it within themself, the end result was a change in how the person percieved their reality (as wounded or healed). The end result  - the faith to heal - came from within the person. Some scriptural examples are listed below.

Points to Consider:
1. The way you think will determine the way you live.
2. People share energy/power in relationship. And this happens as a result of self reflection. When goodness and love are given and recieved, a continuous circle of affirmation and assurance is created between people.
3. Christ is discovered in relationship. What does this statement mean to you?

Blind Bartomaeus Mark 10:51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him. The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.” 52 “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road

The Centurion's Servant Matt 8:13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment.

The Bleeding Woman Mark 10:48 Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”

Jarius' Daughter Mark 10:49 While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” he said. “Don’t bother the teacher anymore.” 50 Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed.”

May today you believe* (believe comes from the word - to LOVE) in the power of Christ that we share in the universe. May you have faith as small as a mustard seed that give you the power to move mountians.  May you experience the love and goodness of Christ in all of your relationships.

©Peggy Beatty 2011
*Proto-Indo-European (5,500 years ago) base *leubh- "to like, desire" ; from Proto-Germanic. *ga-laubjan "hold dear, love"
Photo: commonmansbiblejourney.com

Abwoon D'Bashmaya - Lord's Prayer in Aramaic

O, Birther of the Cosmos,
focus your light within us — make it useful
Create your reign of unity now
Your one desire then acts with ours,
As in all light,
So in all forms,
Grant us what we need each day in bread and insight:
Loose the cords of mistakes binding us,
As we release the strands we hold of other’s guilt.
Don’t let surface things delude us,
But free us from what holds us back.
From you is born all ruling will,
The power and the life to do,
The song that beautifies all,
From age to age it renews.
I affirm this with my whole being.


Music: Sacred Ragas, by IndiaJiva


O most elusive beauty of life, fill my heart today. Flow freely through me into your creation that we may be one in Your Glory.
Have a glorious day! Peggy

The Possibility of This Moment

"The universe is an endless string of possible new beginnings; only the mind can block them. Every
moment offers evidence of miracles, if our eyes are open to see them and ours hearts are open to experience them".
A Course in Miracles

When considering a moment in time, it is important to remember that there are at least two dimensions to that moment; the historical dimension and the transcendent (or spiritual) dimension. At any given moment in historical time, we have the opportunity to be intentional about the way we move forward to the next moment, and our thought intention is informed by the transcendent dimension. It is thought which translates to action through the body. AND until thought defines the moment of action, that moment is pregnant with infinite possibility.

Thought emanates from memory, intellect, and will, the latter being informed by the spirit. It is in the moment of thought acquisition that we formulate the behavior (the [bodily] action) that next takes place in historical time. Intellect is a function of the mind and is concerned with rational truth, it is essentially, value-free, and data driven. In the same way, will is oriented toward value and wisdom, whatever is good (loving Self) or whatever serves “me” (ego Self), and memory holds past experience of both intellect and will. The spirit informs will, the power that emanates from the soul, in which generative love is the default, but will can also be influenced by ego, whose primary goal is the protection of the vulnerable loving self from the polarized paradox of physical reality. The task of becoming resolved images of God (love), therefore, falls in great part to maintaining a greater balance of will-power toward love-informed action (which is inherently vulnerable) and away from ego-protective action. Ultimately, the will, intellect, and memory work as an integrated psyche to formulate “right-thought” resulting in “right-action.”

This is why the present moment is so very important and why cultivating positive intention in the moment is paramount to becoming loving images of God. (Or the best human being we can be; or finding union with God; or enlightenment – all are the same phenomenon). And that is the elevation of human consciousness or perception to that of the Spirit of Divine Holiness.   

May you dwell in your moments of now long enough to make each action an extension of your Holy Loving Self!

Grace and Peace, Peggy

 © Peggy Beatty 2011




            

SAUM - Universal Sufi Prayer

Blessing to you, reflections of divine Beauty!