Life and Death Consequences

The need to remember my parents and their sacrifices as members of the military and the Greatest Generation comes during the holidays and especially in the current political climate.  I know a lot has changed due to technology and our modes of communication, but I think several new generations are now removed from the memory of what it took to unify and sacrifice in order to win World War II while still reeling from the effects of the Great Depression.  I know my parents’ generation eventually benefited from changes in our society when education and pay was more evenly distributed and they could improve their life.  But what disturbs me is that some of the members of my family as well as others say they only care about results.  They say they do not care how a leader behaves or demonstrates values.  I have to say it often comes from those who have never been in the position of leadership and therefore have had no experience with “skin in the game.” 

Our leaders have always been imperfect, but our attitudes about how a leader should behave is essential to the survival of the country and the world.  This is because I believe values flow from a God that is loving and righteous.  One nation under God who is love and who has granted us our freedom, but with the responsibility for our attitudes and actions. Actions that model integrity, respect, compassion, humility, sacrifice, and discipline are the foundation of our country modeled by the military and others like my parents and are the true reflection of a loving God. 

As civilians we may not understand and respect the one percent of the population who serve in the military.  Why? Because someone hugging the American flag at the same time accusing others of their lack of patriotism  because they kneel during the national anthem in protest of injustice, but then fail to model the values of a loving God is the one actually disrespectful of our nation’s flag and military. 

In a recent opinion piece in the Washington Post, former Secretary of the Navy Spencer stated the facts and said that the intervention by the President in the Navy’s process for self-discipline based on the Seal member advocating his case with Fox News was unprecedented.  He believes it is important that members of the Navy and Seal Force evaluate their behaviors and hold their own teams accountable because they understand the conditions and conduct necessary to be the best military in the world. He states what makes our military the most effective in the world is their actions are consistent with the values of our nation.   Secretary Spencer says the President does not understand the discipline and process required.  I suspect this is because he has observed the emotional, divisive, self-promotional, unethical and inconsistent  behavior of the President.  

I believe in the power of God, who is love, has granted us the freedom to make decisions for ourselves, but those decisions have consequences.   The mark of a great leader is they admit their mistakes and show humility to others while working to unify the population to create a vision and future for our country and the world.  How can you unify a country without actions consistent with those values?  How can you build trust with others if you do not model these behaviors?  I do not believe we can.  We are in an important crossroads in our country.  We must remember that we are one nation under God who is love and act according to the values our country is founded on or we will fail as a nation and a world.   There are unimaginable life and death consequences if we do not.

Dreams and the Power of Forgiveness

"Forgiveness is the final form of love."

I have a print of a mother and little girl outside a house in Monet’s Garden in Givenchy that I have owned almost thirty years and is my favorite piece of art. When I first saw it, I thought it was beautiful, but I didn’t know why except that I was drawn to the shades of blue, yellow, red and green of the garden and house.  As the years have passed, I have let go of other favorite art pieces purchased later, their relevance and meaning fading with the changes in my life, but not this print.  

Our lives are tied up in lost or unrealized dreams and they speak to us in many ways even when we are unaware.   The night before I turned 59 as I thought about the Monet print, my life unfolded before me in a reel within my mind as I remembered my choices and the consequences, I cried. I had dreams of being a mother, but the dream came too late in my life to have children.  In reviewing the events in my life, I knew I chose unwisely who I married in my twenties. I was also caught up in circumstances outside of my control that consumed my late twenties and thirties.  But I wondered if I had chosen a different path in college and my early twenties and followed my heart which is the love of the humanities, perhaps God would have opened the door for my soulmate and children?   If God had been my focus in my early adulthood would I have known the person within myself who is creative and loving instead of the perfectionist with a need for control and achievement?  

In growing closer to God, I have learned to separate my behavior that I am responsible for from judgments and imposed consequences on my life by others that are unfair and have put my life and health at risk.  I have become proficient at looking at a situation from multiple perspectives so that I understand the possible motivations of others and to try to find peace with my own thoughts and actions.  I have also learned I am responsible for my own lack of wellbeing when I chose not to walk away and let go of a vision and outcome so that God can  send new dreams for my life and open doors.  But sometimes I have let go and I am moving forward, something happens to remind me of my original vision.  I am never sure what  is behind the reminder and I wonder if someone is behind it with a purpose, whether it is a message from God  of joy or if the message is just random and I need to ignore it and remember the vision is behind a closed door.

I have been thinking a lot about God’s forgiveness recently.  In my life people intentionally have tried to break my spirit, make me question my sanity, or hurt me through others.  I know I am not alone in this feeling.  I believe actions taken by others with a vicious intent who now seek forgiveness, first need to ask forgiveness from God.  Only God for whom nothing can be hidden including what is present in our hearts can free us.   Until we take responsibility for our own sins and choices before God knowing only, he has the real power to show mercy and grace, no real reconciliation and forgiveness can occur from others especially those close to us.  Although many would not agree with me because they don’t believe in God or his righteousness, I know this to be true.  I believe only with the love and grace of God working with us and within us, can we move past our human imperfection and right our behavior.  

When we ask forgiveness, let go of the outcome, and acknowledge closed doors, God can transform our past mistakes and dreams into a reality as beautiful as Monet’s home and garden in Givenchy.  That is the power of God’s forgiveness and grace.

Reflections on Brittany Runs a Marathon and God Friended Me

“Happiness is not by chance, but by choice.”  Jim Rohn

Last Saturday I watched a wonderful movie titled “Brittany Runs a Marathon.” The movie brought home an important lesson to remember.  Brittany was overweight and lethargic, drinking and eating herself into emotional oblivion in New York City.  When she went to her doctor looking for a prescription to increase her energy, her doctor told her no and prescribed exercise.  After considering a gym membership she couldn’t afford, she slowly started running.  In the process she made friends, the weight started to come off and she decided to run in the New York City Marathon.  When an injury prevented her from running and she lost her housing, she moved in with her sister and brother-in-law in Philadelphia to recover.  She lost self-control and began binge drinking and eating again which led to an angry confrontation with a woman who was very overweight but was happy with an attractive husband.  When apologizing later on and receiving a response from the woman, Brittany discovered that focusing on the number on her scale or finishing the marathon is not the same as taking responsibility for her happiness.  She put away the scale, resumed working out, rebuilt her life and the next year completed the New York City Marathon.  The transformation of her life and outlook was amazing.

I was discussing the movie with a young man who is the manager at the Smoothie King in my town.  I remarked at the end, that the key was that Brittany took responsibility for her actions and happiness.  He smiled and said “of course, we can never control the outcome, but we can take responsibility for our attitude and actions.”  I was amazed at his wisdom at his young age, but then again, he always serves me with a smile.  I think that is what faith in God is.  We dream, we act, we count our blessings, and let God unfold the rest.  However, most of what we think about is how to achieve the envisioned outcome in the process missing the journey and how God can surprise us in the end.

This leads me to another show I watched this week – God Friended Me.  On Sunday, Miles who is directed by the God account on Facebook to help others in trouble (we don’t know who is behind the God account) is faced with a dilemma of going against his girlfriend Kara’s wishes. Kara is trying to protect her stepfather who is involved in a misguided insider trading scheme.  Miles discloses the scheme to a reporter and in the end Kara’s stepfather is arrested and sentenced to two years in prison. Although by reporting the scheme, Miles prevents a harsher sentence because Kara’s stepfather was getting in deeper further risking himself, his investors and his family, Kara is caught in-between not wanting to act and hurt her family.   In the end Kara, her stepfather, her mother and sister are financially and emotionally hurt but intact as a family.  Miles does not know the final outcome for Kara’s family, if Kara will ever forgive him, and whether he has lost her forever.  The show ends with those unanswered questions.  Based on Miles experience with the God account, it is never wrong. But for most of us direction from God on how to act is not clear and we know we are fallible. Our assumptions and resulting actions could have consequences for others not intended by God.  

My sister-in-law says in heaven, God will reveal all to us.  I don’t know if I am ready for that revelation because I would see the results of all my actions, intentional and unintentional, good and bad and it could be painful.  But I have faith that as I continue on my journey, I will become wiser in taking my direction from God and focus on the journey and my attitude, not the outcome.   The final outcome I leave to God.  

Faith Through Trial

 "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."  Hebrews 11:1

In my life I have a relative who is close to Jesus and the word in the Bible.  I love how when we talk, she can quote scripture that captures my feelings and thoughts.  As I talked with her recently, I had to  revisit one of my own lessons. 

She has a brother who has been very ill for ten years for whom she has been present through every surgery and hospital visit.  As she has aged, her own health has deteriorated and her ability to be the patient, loving sister is strained.  Her brother is again in need of surgery requiring a long trip to a hospital in another state lasting a week. She feels this trip will be too difficult for her physically, emotionally and financially.    Each time her brother becomes ill, she spends hours at the hospital and when he is finally released, she is drained and stressed and becomes sick.  Instead of deferring to her nieces to make the trip, she has been agonizing over the decision and her anxiety is increasing at the thought of her failing him.  This pattern is repeated with others in her life, including me.  She feels that she cannot set boundaries because she feels she must suffer as Jesus did so that others do not suffer.   This usually ends up with her losing patience or becoming ill.   Her brother has never completely turned to God through all his illnesses.   I asked her the question, "Are you hindering your own brother's spiritual journey with your need to be present for him in the place of Jesus?"

I live alone with my two cats and have no family nearby.  My parents and spiritual mother who were present for me during my early adulthood when I struggled, are long gone.  I am blessed to have friends who love me, but I try not to impose on them because they have their own families and lives.  As someone who has been alone and vulnerable, I know that ultimately, I have to have faith that God is always present with me, sustaining me, loving me in life and death.  I have learned through experience only God can be my constant because others with their human limitations and mortality  cannot be.  Faith has come to me as God has constantly answered my trials and pain with grace even when I have not deserved it.

My final questions for my relative were "Do you have faith that God can be with your brother when you cannot?"  "Can your brother also learn to have faith in God when you let go?"  I asked these questions knowing that I too need to let go and to have faith in the presence of God. 

Judgment and Vengence

6 They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. 7 They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” 8 Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust. John 8:6-11

"Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord."  Romans 12:19 King James Version (KJV)

Last night during our neighborhood Raise the Bar group, the topic for discussion was judgment with a focus on God and the Bible.  When we discuss topics, the group leader passes around a list of questions to guide us.   One of the key questions was how could the God in the Old Testament who was wrathful be reconciled with a God that loves unconditionally?  Does God sit outside of creation or is God a loving force guiding us within ourselves and in creation?  Do we bring consequences upon ourselves because we are not living within the laws of nature and scripture?   Or are these consequences coming down from a power separate from us which is rendering judgment on everything we do? Is the ultimate judgment rendered upon our death? How do we as individuals hold others accountable without judgment?  As we moved into the discussion it became apparent that this was a complex subject that was influenced by our image of God and the judgment of ourselves and others both as individuals and as a society.  

In my mind, I believe God is not only the creator but the loving force that propels the Universe forward in greater wholeness and understanding.  One of the purposes pf Jesus' ministry was to demonstrate how  the love of God should be lived as a human.   To transform our world in the Spirit of the Gospels, we must believe the Bible passages that creation is good, God is loving, and that with God all things are possible.  For me, each person as a child of God with a unique soul and should be treated with that respect.   I am part of a greater consciousness and society that binds us all.  I am also responsible for my own actions and I have to be accountable as do others.   But when I hold others accountable, I know it should be without revenge or hate.  Why?   Because evil is insidious and works to dominate our consciousness so that we are consumed with hate incapable of loving others and revealing the Kingdom of God on Earth.  The forgiveness of the parishioners at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal in Charleston who lost loved ones in the shooting during a prayer group demonstrated their love.  Through their actions their community healed and was able to move forward with love while holding the shooter accountable.

As the Raise the Group continued, we discussed authoritarian countries and terrorists and whether the United States is a righteous country that God uses to exercise vengeance?   We concluded that our  long history of enslaving a whole group of people for economic gain and other sins it was obvious that the nation lacked the moral authority to be righteous.  Humility as a nation is necessary because if we hold a mirror to ourselves, we are have committed crimes against humanity.  We are credible with other nations when we aspire to higher values while holding ourselves accountable for our actions that do not reflect our values.

As an individual I know that I cannot judge my own sins and see my true reflection, only God can.   But I know my own actions and I have learned humility because of God's and others grace in the face of my own sinfulness.   God's healing grace and love makes it possible to move forward in my life and know his goodness always prevails even when I need to be held accountable.  

Unfinished Dreams and Visions

Three years ago I built a dream home inspired by a family I love.  At the time,  I believed the father and children  were going through a difficult time.  The completion of the house was an artistic expression of how I wanted them to feel.  I wanted it to be peaceful, joyful and a place of refuge. But as I completed the first floor and all the furniture and art was in place, I knew that this house, although beautiful was not what the children needed.  They needed the love and attention of their father surrounded by a home familiar to them.  Although I placed furniture in the three extra bedrooms on the second floor, I left the artwork unhung, the rooms unfinished.  

Last week I listed my house for sale with a contingent contract on a much smaller house on my street.  This smaller house has a beautiful garden and a wine cellar in the basement and I felt God was answering my prayer to a closed door by opening a new one.  It is a house in my favorite neighborhood that will serve me well as I age.

This morning I went to my first small Magis group of the year.  The group comprises writers inspired by God.  As we completed our free writing exercise based on a story of a king and a prophet that showed the king a closed door asking the king first before he opened it, "How far do you want to go?"  As I moved through the exercise I thought about how far I wanted to go, the unfinished rooms in my home and the unhung artwork.  I carefully chose the art in my home over many years with special meaning for me and the thought of parting with it hurts deeply.  My favorite art piece which I have owned twenty-five years is of a little girl and her mother outside of Monet's home in his garden in Givenchy.    Another  painting is of dinner party from the 1800s titled the conversation, the woman listening intently across the table to the speaker who is left unseen.  Another favorite of mine is a pastel painting of an arbor set in a garden on a hill in the country.  Not all the artwork will fit the personality and space of the new home and I contemplated what I would let go, what I would store in the basement and what I would hang on the walls. 

I had dreams of living on a mountain with beautiful views in God's garden with a family I loved.   But like our prayers we have to trust that God will answer our dreams in his own time and way.  My prayer is that I have the wisdom to let go of some of my art so I can let in new pictures  and visions for my life.

The Deeper Order within Eternity

"Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."  Albert Einstein

"I believe in intuitions and inspirations. I sometimes feel that I am right. I do not know that I am."  Albert Einstein

Deep within us we possess knowledge of all things eternal. This deeper order, the unus mundus, is  our collective spiritual consciousness within eternity.   In eternity, or Kairos time,  all the past and future is contained within the present. Humanity reflects this deeper order although we are unconscious of it until God reveals it to us.   God, the loving movement within all of creation, is propelling the entire Universe and collective consciousness forward lifting the veil separating the eternal from our humanity.   All that is contained within our imagination exists because our consciousness is part of the unus mundus.  Our soul is a focus of energy existing within a field of consciousness that is eternal.  This is why even when we are not aware of it, our soul is operating in the unconscious  influencing our choices.   In my early thirties I was compelled to collect gardening books drawn to the covers and the titles, not realizing the deep symbolism until later.

What we imagine and then focus on becomes our collective reality both consciously and physically. This runs counter to the western scientific method which often defines reality as static based on what we can measure.   But what we learn from science as it progresses, is that many past theories are limited, requiring us to shift paradigms and construct new theories.   Well controlled Psi experiments  have shown humans can be unconsciously aware of events before they happen and can influence outcomes through thought.  Quantum physics plays by different rules than Newtonian physics.  We do not begin to know how quantum energy affects our human body, consciousness and the earth.

It is incredibly beautiful and powerful that the unus mundus and our souls are so intertwined with our humanity.



   

Eternity and Open Doors

"‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.”  Revelations 3:8

Recently I came across an academic paper on the internet titled "Psychosis or Spiritual Emergence."  This paper is based on a school of thought within psychology called Transpersonal Psychology.  Within that school, psychologists postulate that states of mind considered abnormal and pathological are actually normal and reflect spiritual states  within a field of consciousness that can be managed without medication.    

Dr. Nicki Crowley writes in 'Psychosis or Spiritual Emergence?,  "Medicine, psychiatry and traditional psychotherapies hold the assumption that consciousness is a by-product (or epiphenomenon) of the brain and cannot persist independently of it (the productive theory of consciousness).  The transmissive theory of consciousness holds that consciousness is inherent in the cosmos and is independent of our physical senses, although is mediated by them in everyday life. So the brain and the psyche can be thought of acting as a lens through which consciousness is experienced in the body."   This viewpoint in psychology supports my personal experience and  how quantum physics explains the nature of the universe.

My states of mind although varied, are often spiritual breakthroughs where I am deeply connected to a deeper order of truth and reality.  These breakthroughs have fundamentally changed my thought processes.  Because of these breakthroughs, I know that I am an eternal being that transcends my mortal human existence.  In kronos time (sequential time) what exists today is only what we are aware of looking through a window.  When we are connected within kairos time or eternity, we know that kronos time is the illusion, not the reality, and we experience endless views.   

Although our human physicality is a great gift where we see, feel, and hear a physical environment, it is not an end.  In kairos time I experience great joy because I am connected to God.  I realize I don't have to hurry, I can take my time and enjoy the fruits of my earthly existence because the good and true things in my life will always be with me.  This is the nature of eternity.

The Bible is full of quotes of a spiritual consciousness that reflects the true eternal nature of humanity, but it requires we read the Bible through a spiritual lens, not a literal lens.  In this quote above, I understand that although I by myself have little power, God or the consciousness that has no limits does.  The door to the eternal consciousness cannot be shut and God is always true and loving. 

  

City of Vision and Doors

“The only limits are, as always, those of vision.” James Broughton

In 2007 I lost my spiritual mother, Ethel to cancer.   Ethel had shown me unconditional love and support for my visions born of a spiritual awakening within me during the early 1990s.   Her death left me devastated and when an email advertising a Creativity Workshop in Florence Italy arrived in my inbox, I registered and booked a flight.   I was in a crisis of despair and I needed direction in my life.  I was just finishing my humanities degree at Saint Louis University and it was the perfect capstone course to my studies.

I was in Florence Italy for ten days in the middle of July.  It was hot and humid with temperatures in the 100s but I learned to navigate the streets walking by myself - drinking water, exploring the shops, museums, and restaurants.  I especially loved the gelato shops with their cold coffee gelato.  I purchased art supplies and a hand painted ceramic cat and water pitcher as my mementos and inspiration.    Unlike my business background, most of the participants in the workshop were teachers or artists.  Together we participated in creative exercises including drawing doors and windows we found in the city,  performing interactive communication, writing plays and poems,  drawing childhood memories and a legend of our hand.  During the workshop one participant remarked that I was pushing everyone to “go higher” in our thoughts.   One artist smiled at me at the end of the workshop.  She had been sitting silently beside me drawing stars.  She then told me I would be a great artist one day.   She pointed to her eye and said there are stars in our eyes and she then transformed the stars she had been drawing throughout the workshop into eyes.

When I returned from Florence, I immediately put together a memory album and titled it the City of Vision filling it with my art, writing, and photographs.   While most of the participants were renewed and energized from the workshop, I was exhausted from processing messages at higher levels (abstract and symbolic).  I didn't want to return to my job as Audit Director at Saint Louis University.   I visited the Career Counseling Center at the University to discuss my options.  The counselor, listening to my story asked if I had seen a door opening and I said no.  She smiled and said that maybe my job at Saint Louis University was not complete.  I stayed another seven years and I did grow and mature in my skills of auditing and communication including creating a vision board for the Jesuit’s titled Sharpened Sword.  I lost my job in February 2014 when the department was outsourced to save money and it was a welcome relief after fourteen and half years working as the Audit Director.   I have a natural organizational and process ability, but my real gifts and my love is in the humanities.

After my job was outsourced, my friend Lisa from my department suggested I go to a Catholic women's retreat to help provide direction.  I went, and at the end of the retreat, one of the participants told me I was a Christian voice for the 21st Century and that I needed to write.  So I went home and began this blog SacredSouls.  My blog was also inspired by a friend who asked me the year before to plan a garden.  My friend and I used to talk a lot about my ideas from my spiritual awakening in the early 2000s  and what we were going to do together, but I don't remember what I said to him. When I started SacredSouls I instinctively knew our garden was about God, higher consciousness, and communication.  I had dreams of communicating at higher levels based upon symbols and metaphors that offered deep thoughts that were more profound at an intuitive level, than those offered  in a verbal or written sentence.  In my City of Vision album I had written in the legend of my hand thoughts of God, love, family, metaphors, symbols, endless views and possibilities.  I also included the lyrics to "When You Wish Upon a Star" and had drawn the Star of Bethlehem.  This July, that song sung by Idina Menzel randomly came on my iPhone music library while I was driving. It played after I asked God for a vision during a metaphysical  battle I had been fighting.  My entire consciousness was filled with  the joy and knowing of Christmas expressed in the legend of my hand.

As in 2007,  I am now at another critical point in my life facing a closed door.  In my heart I wanted a partner who could see my City of Vision, garden, and celebrate love and family in a Christmas house, but that door has not opened.  I will be 59 in October and it has been six years since my friend asked me to plan a garden.  I am praying to God that a door will now open that gives me new purpose and direction.

Eyes See (My Creativity Workshop Poem)
An empty canvas
What would he see?
She approached him.
She sat.
What would he see?
He drew
Then pointed.
He said, eyes see.
I looked.
Eyes of blue
I see.
- E.A. Wakefield

Thoughts on Eternity

Everyone who should be here is here.
Every door opens another possibility.
All is as it should be.
Faith Hope and Love.  The greatest of these is love.

The Voyage of the New Dawn Treader

Definition of CS Lewis' Book title the Voyage of the New Dawn Treader

Voyage - a long journey involving travel by sea or in space often spiritual.
New - already existing, but seen, experienced, or acquired recently or now for the first time

Dawn - the beginning or rise of anything advent. 

Treader - to trample or crush underfoot or to stay in place without forward movement in water or to place one foot in front of the other. 

The Grapes of Wrath

"Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them, The LORD shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread [the grapes], against all the inhabitants of the earth."  Jeremiah 25:30

"Mine eyes hath seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;   He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored. (God's anger that destroys evil)."  The Battle Hymn of the Republic by Julia Ward Howe.

According to the mythology of many ancient cultures, the grape, and the grapevine is regarded as sacred. The symbolic meaning of grapes relates to abundance, transformation and fertility.  Wine from grapes symbolizes faith.  Jesus first miracle at the wedding where he transformed water into wine is the miracle of transformation of faith in God to our eternal life.  

The destruction of the vineyards due to Prohibition and the excesses of the roaring twenties is spiritually related to the dust bowl, Great Depression and the subsequent wars.   We want to separate nature and human activity from God but we cannot.  The title of John Steinbeck's book the Grapes of Wrath describes how the rejection of God and lack of love for one another destroyed the abundance of the Earth and the prosperity of our nation. .  

We are faced again with the consequences of our behavior. We have put greed and fear before our love of God and each other and it is destroying our Earth home.   We believe technology has the ability to save us when we cannot save ourselves without the love of God and each other.  I am praying that God loves us enough to save us from ourselves. 

  

The Secret Garden of Eden

"Secret - Not known or seen or not meant to be known or seen by others." (dictionary)

Gardening in the most powerful symbol in the Bible because we are a garden - diverse, thriving in different conditions and all beautiful in our own way with a unique purpose.   When we ate from the tree of knowledge, the Garden of Eden was cloaked.  We became blind to seeing each other as spirits.  Instead we saw our nakedness or humanity and became ashamed.   The Garden of Eden and our eternal nature was hidden from us.   Our Earth is in peril because the garden is not only physical, but a spiritual state of being that transforms our surroundings.    The Garden of Eden has always been our home and within us the power to see it.

We Must Love as Jesus Loves

"Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins."  1 Peter 4:8

Part of my thinking of spiritual warfare is to summarize it at a high level where there is a battle for our consciousness, one based on love and the other on fear.  I believe we need to acknowledge that this battle underlies our existence and that this battle has very real human consequences.   Our behaviors are influenced by the spiritual as well as our environment, biology and chemistry.   In my opinion, you can't heal a human being without acknowledging the spiritual warfare within and surrounding us.  In a society where we dismiss the old notions of a demonic influence or loving spirit guiding us, as well as the physiological impact of the energy surrounding us, we are reduced to our biology, chemicals, and environment.   We are relegated to nothing more than animals walking an earth in a universe with no meaning past our mortal existence.  

Psychiatrists place behaviors in a category within a psychological framework ignoring  the spiritual influences on our minds and our behaviors.   In a society which looks to judge and punish behavior, how do we come through it with spirits whole and loved and not utterly destroyed?  In this battle the enemy wants as many destroyed spirits as possible and we need to acknowledge this reality.  I've seen people serving God through love, destroyed by the enemy who preyed on their weaknesses and their sense of helplessness in the face of evil.  They don't feel deserving of the love of others and God and therefore cannot resist.   And when this happens, we need to acknowledge this underlying dynamic while treating their very human conditions.  We must love as Jesus loves.

There are No Limits

I wrote this years ago....

"Emotion and hope are as essential to life as the air we breathe.  Without mental, emotional and spiritual growth as individuals or as the human race we are suicidal.  I believe God has blessed us with love and therefore, the ability to grow.  The discipline over choosing positive paths despite evil is necessary to our survival and because of the love instilled within us, we chose our path of growth.

Our paradox is - innocence or pure love must be with complete knowledge and to know is infinite.  Our evolution is limited by what we think we know.  Our limited knowledge is reflected in our behavior.  Therefore, studying our behavior or systems based on current knowledge imposes limits.  How can we evolve when God's limits are infinite and we are confined by our mental and emotional limits?

There are no limits.

There is love."

Elizabeth Winchester

The Time is Now - An Expansion of the Mind and Spirit

"A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions." 
     Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr

"Great spirits meet violent opposition from mediocre minds."  
      Albert Einstein

Based upon my experience I know the following to be true  I do not have a mental illness.    I have a gift that needs to be released, not a spirit to be broken.  My experiences are an expansion of my mind and spirit.

• I am aware of other realities in the deeper order of things.
• I can intuit the intent of others by the presence of positive or negative energy.
• I experience shared thoughts and energy which I call knowing.
• My brain is capable of rapid analysis of pathways and outcomes.
• I am a conduit of energy both positive and negative.  
• I have the ability to absorb and process negative energy into positive energy which drains my ability to emit positive energy. 
• When I feel deeply loved, I can radiate immense positive energy into the Noosphere.
• I am extraordinarily creative.
• I have experienced spiritual singularity.

Realty can be transformed by not only our thoughts resulting in actions, but also solely by our thoughts and emotions.  Einstein said the reality (thoughts) we focus on, is the reality we create.   When we view mental experiences outside a set of prescribed norms as pathological, we fail to see that these experiences are actually breakthroughs of the mind and spirit.   My dream is to open doors for those  spirits who are locked within their minds.  We are in an inflection point in humanity.  We must go universal in spirit or humanity will not survive this century.  The time is NOW.   

The Four Movements of the Eucharist - To Be Broken

Definition of broken The Free Dictionary

1. Forcibly separated into two or more pieces; fractured: a broken arm; broken glass.
2. Sundered by divorce, separation, or desertion of a parent or parents: children from broken homes; a broken marriage.
3. Having been violated: a broken promise.
4. Subdued totally; humbled: a broken spirit.
5. Weakened and infirm: broken health.
6. Crushed by grief: died of a broken heart.

Dr. Hsin hsin Huang, a spiritual advisor and counselor, gave a wonderful presentation of the four movements of the Eucharist. Her symbolism and analogies were beautiful especially in her descriptions of the process of becoming bread and wine.   I had never heard of communion described this way.  Her website can be found at www.Hsinhsinhuang.com. 

She said the four movements of the Eucharist are:

1. The taking of the bread (hospitality and sharing with others).
2. The blessing of the bread (receiving the bread as a gift).
3. Breaking the bread (to become open out of brokenness).
4. To eat and drink (the process of taking it in).

In our small group discussion during Magis, we discussed brokenness.  To be truly open to God, we must experience brokenness.  Why?  Because we owe our life to God.  This life on Earth as humans is a gift to feel, hear, see and experience the wonders of creation.  Until we recognize our vulnerability and our dependence on God for our life, we will never experience the full joy of the gift he has given us.  In the process of breaking, we are emptying ourselves out so that God can enter in and we can become whole.

However, sometimes others are completely broken because they have been so evilly violated, the process of fully healing that can restore joy and hope cannot occur.  The best we can do is to walk with that individual in love as they pass through into the next life to be fully healed by God and work to see it never happens to another. 

The Six Levels of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

In a wonderful presentation by Dr. Hsin Hsin Huang at the Ignatian Magis Program on Saturday, she discussed Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.  Maslow's theory taught in psychology is that humans have five levels of needs starting with physiological needs.
1. Physiological needs
2. Safety needs
3. Social belonging
4. Self-esteem
5. Self-actualization

In later years, Maslow added a sixth level - transcendence which is the need for surrender to God.  "Transcendence refers to the very highest and most inclusive or holistic levels of human consciousness, behaving and relating, as ends rather than means, to oneself, to significant others, to human beings in general, to other species, to nature, and to the cosmos" (Farther Reaches of Human Nature, New York 1971, p. 269).

I believe we are both human and spirit possessing not only our human gifts from God, but a soul which resides within us in this temporal space and time, but is eternal.  To be eternal is to be neither in past or future, but always with God in the present.   When we reach the sixth level, we recognize we are spirits first and humans second.  We transcend our humanity to become one with each other and God in spirit.

Ignatian Prayer

"Prayer is simply a two-way conversation between you and God."  Billy Graham

I participate in a small group called Raise the Bar that meets twice a month to discuss topics related to spirituality and community.  It was started by a group of parishioners at Trinity UCC in Belleville.  At each meeting, a group member leads us through a discussion of prepared questions.   Last night's topic was prayer.   The questions posed included what is prayer, how to pray, and what to pray.   As the discussion evolved, the group defined prayer as any conversation with God and that if we consider God, who is love, in our actions, our actions become a prayer.   The group also felt that even if we are not praying, God is listening to our hearts.

In my prayer journal I no longer ask for specific outcomes.  Instead I ask for strength, wisdom, love, and peace for myself and others.  The Ignatian prayer life has taught me that each one of us has been granted unique gifts (talents) by God and that within us is placed a dream.  When we work hard to strengthen our skills consistent with our gifts, make choices out of love for God and others, be open to other paths, work towards our dream, and then release the outcome to God, we can reveal the Kingdom of God on Earth. In this way we find peace knowing God is at work in this life and the life to come.   This is what Jesus meant when he said the Kingdom of Earth is near.  

A Symbol Changes Meaning (Revelation) - A Pathway to Spiritual Singularity

1. A symbol changes meaning based on the creator, the viewer, and a point in time.
2. Symbols allow us to process multiple pathways (meanings) simultaneously.
3. Symbols have ancient meanings.  The symbol itself does not hold the energy, but rather the pathways created while focusing on the symbol.  Therefore, some ancient symbols such as the circle and the cross create powerful energy pathways.
4. Changing symbols can disrupt the energy pathways positively or negatively.
5. Everything is both energy and matter.
6. When matter changes, energy changes. When energy changes, matter changes.
7. God is in matter but is not matter.  Matter is in God but is not God.
8. God is the loving movement which remains unseen except by faith.
9. When a human is physically, emotionally or mentally violated (assaulted), their field of energy is diminished.
10. When a human is loved physically and emotionally their field of energy expands.
11. A field of energy is not isolated to our physical body.  Our energy is integrated with our surroundings.
12. Energy is made known through consciousness.
13. As in physics, our consciousness is aware of changes in the energy field caused by another’s consciousness, even if there is no direct cause (way) of knowing.
14. Attacks or acts of love can manifest physically (creation of symbols and synchronicity) even if there is no visible connection.
15. Our shared consciousness is what Einstein believed is the collective reality we focus on.
16. Using symbols, multiple realities can be created (storylines or themes) that we are connected while staying rooted to a sensory based reality based on reason (scientific method) to align our consciousness to our environment consciously and unconsciously.
17. The “Unus Mundus” is the deeper order of things that resides in the unconscious that we become conscious of by the hand of God.
18. Spiritual warfare is the battle for a shared reality – one based on love of God and others and the other based on fear and power over others.
19. By aligning our thoughts, symbols and actions based on love we take our movement from God.
20. Ignatius of Loyola taught the Spiritual Exercises, so we would know how to take direction from God while detecting false direction from the enemy.
21. What we focus our energy or our consciousness towards becomes our reality.
22. As we move toward higher consciousness, we will be able to consciously share each other’s energy and thoughts.  Many empaths already have the ability although the scientific community does not recognize it because it is experiential not observable.   We know how an atom behaves, but we don’t know what an atom can experience.
23. Pierre Teilhard De Chardin theorized that a growing consciousness of human energy consisting of our conscious thoughts and emotions called the Noosphere is enveloping Earth.  As humans reach a higher consciousness based on love, spiritual singularity will be reached.
24. When spiritual singularity is reached (transcendence of the mind), all that is not of God (love) or is sin will be wiped from consciousness shared by the body of Christ.
25. This will result in the ability to transform matter into energy and back again escaping the reality of our mortal existence in this temporal plain.

The Divine Milieu and The Noosphere

"The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold"  Psalm 18:12

"The prospect of the righteous is joy, but the hopes of the wicked come to nothing."  Proverbs 10:28

"God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day."  Genesis 31

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin wrote both of the Divine Milieu and the Noosphere.  The Divine Milieu is an energy field that encompasses all intangible (thoughts and emotions) and tangible (matter) in the Cosmos.  The Noosphere is a growing field of consciousness that is enveloping the Earth that Louis Savary refers to the "collective mind and spirit" of Earth.   The Noosphere contains all information, thought and emotions generated by humans. The noosphere is also the supernatural body of Christ as our hands are physical body of Christ.  Teilhard envisioned this consciousness as evolving to a loving energy shared by all humans.

What Louis Savary does not write about in the New Spiritual Exercises is that the consciousness known as the Noosphere we are forming has both negative energy and positive energy generated from our thoughts, information, and emotions.  Love and fear not only manifest in physical acts, but contribute to the Noosphere.  Both the positive and negative energy in the Noosphere can affect an individual consciousness as well as the collective.  As in the energy focused in prayer can heal others, negative energy can also be consciously directed at others.  Positive energy generated through love and joy expands the Noosphere.  Hate and fear contract the Noosphere and target those who generate love.

However, what the enemy that generates hate and fear does not want you to know, is that the love of God and each other cannot be overcome and there is nothing to fear because Jesus' love is your joy and protection.  As Teilhard wrote we are on an upward path that sometimes cycles downward before resuming upward. The truth is that the Divine Milieu, consists mostly of the unconscious which is God filled with love and positive energy.  The enemy seeks to dominate our conscious thoughts in an attempt to convince us creation is not good and that we will fail.  But this is not reflective of the true nature of creation.  Jesus with his death on the cross unleashed a powerful force of love into the Noosphere symbolized by the tearing of the curtain in the temple   Jesus is the way (love), the truth (knowing), and the life (eternal).

The Seventeen Basic Teilhardian Principles

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
1 John (KJV)

(Excerpt from the New Spiritual Exercises by Louis M. Savary

"Principle 1:  The discoveries of modern science must form an important foundation to any contemporary spirituality if it is to be true, relevant, and inspiring.
Principle 2:  Evolution is happening continually on every level of being and has a direction.
Principle 3:  The Law of Attraction-Connection-Complexity-Consciousness is the law that is giving evolution its direction.
Principle 4:  Evolution is based primarily on spirit, not on matter.
Principle 5:  We all live and move and have our being in the divine milieu.
Principle 6:  Everything has a "within" as well as a "without."
Principle 7: The principle of self convergence is now operating.
Principle 8:  At present, evolution is focused in the "noosphere."
Principle 9:  The success of God's plan for creation depends on your conscious and creative activity to keep the divine plan evolving and developing in the direction God wants for creation.
Principle 10:  Any true spirituality today must be a collective spirituality.
Principle 11:  Today even an individual spirituality, is a private exclusive redemptive relationship between God and me, must include all other human beings and the rest of creation.
Principle 12:  To know, love, and serve the universe with a passion.
Principle 13:  To love the "invisible."
Principle 14:  To love the "not yet."
Principle 15:  An evolutionary spirituality is focused primarily on grace, not on sin.
Principle 16:  To recognize that union differentiates.
Principle 17: To synthesize all things in the Universal Christ."

What is in a Name - Mont Road

"The mountain is thought to contain divine inspiration, and it is the focus of pilgrimages of transcendence and spiritual elevation. It is a universal symbol of the nearness of God, as it surpasses ordinary humanity and extends toward the SKY and the heavens. It symbolizes constancy, permanence, motionlessness, and its peak spiritually signifies the state of absolute consciousness. In dreams, a mountain signifies danger, but climbing a mountain depicts inner elevation."

I have a spiritual partner in the garden who lives on Mont Road.  Mont, translated from French, means mountain.   I've always thought of his home and landscape as a spiritual garden full of God's love yet to be revealed.

Why does it seem that a spiritual journey is like climbing a mountain?  Because when we reach the end of our climb which can be difficult and treacherous, the view is amazing!   I now live in Summit Springs which is a source of water and renewal for the mountain.  Although I dreamed of a life on top of the mountain, I now am beginning to long for a small home where I can plant gardens and can retreat into myself.

My name is Elizabeth Ann which translated into Greek and Latin means "oath to God and blessed with grace" and my surname Wakefield translated into Old English means "to awaken or to hold vigil in a field often for religious purposes."  My adopted surname Winchester is Old English for fortress.  My soulmate's first name in Old English means handsome at birth and last name in German means the buckle maker, which forms the symbol for eternity.

Finding God in Everything

“God freely created us so that we might know, love, and serve him in this life and be happy with him forever. God's purpose in creating us is to draw forth from us a response of love and service here on earth, so that we may attain our goal of everlasting happiness with him in heaven.
All the things in this world are gifts of God, created for us, to be the means by which we can come to know him better, love him more surely, and serve him more faithfully. 

As a result, we ought to appreciate and use these gifts of God insofar as they help us toward our goal of loving service and union with God. But insofar as any created things hinder our progress toward our goal, we ought to let them go.”
― St. Ignatius of Loyola

For the past few years I have been worshiping at a Methodist Church pastored by an Evangelical minister.  I have found remarkable, loving, spiritual members in my small group.  However, I have decided to separate from that church and find a centering prayer group and to stay connected with my Ignatian Spirituality group.   I think I need a small group who sees God as love who is in all things and practices traditions and rituals because those rituals bring us closer to God, not set us apart from others.  There is too much of "the other" in todays society and churches often participate in that division.

I believe Jesus saved, through grace, all of humankind and that our role is to spread his love through example.  I don't agree with the Evangelical pastor that you must declare Jesus Lord and Savior to be saved.  I think Jesus decides who is saved and we are not to judge others, but to lead by loving others and wishing our neighbors well.  The Bible is the living word inspired by God.  It is not meant to be interpreted literally to predict the end times, but to speak spiritual truths to strengthen our relationship with God to be as one.   I believe that Jesus has given us everything we need to succeed if we  believe in him who is love.

Open Doors and Dreams

"Trust in dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity."  Khalil Gibran

If by observing a sea of possibilities or probabilities, can we influence the outcome?  Are there some souls who can see on a quantum level how those possibilities or probabilities might play out?   What if those quantum possibilities and probabilities are expressed through multiple pathways contained within the field of energy?   What if we make errors in choosing pathways?  What if an omniscient God always knows the outcome?   What if omnipotent God interacts with creation by opening up infinite possibilities in response to our choices?  What if we learn to trust in God who is love and make decisions in the present based on that love having faith that God opens all the right doors when we need them?  What if we trust in our dreams and intuition as a door from God?  What if behind those doors is eternity?

Sea of Consciousness

Matthew 10:7 (KJV) - "And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand."
Hebrews 11:1 (KJV) - "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

What if the cosmos and everything in it is a sea of consciousness or energy?  What if humans actions are guided by this sea of consciousness most of which is not known to us, but believe we think and act based only upon what is conscious to us?  What if this sea of consciousness reflects eternity where Kronos (entropy) time does not exist?   Perhaps this kingdom of heaven is near to us, but we are unconscious of it except through faith and intuition,   This is the difference between knowing and knowledge.  Knowing requires faith and intuition.  Knowledge is obtained through sensory experience.  Knowing is eternal and infinite.  Knowledge is finite.  When we ate of the tree of knowledge, did we lose our connection to God and eternity through the gift of knowing and now rely on knowledge?  By focusing on an outcome, can we bring the unconscious to the conscious and bring about the Kingdom of God?

The Power of Observation

"What you believe in and focus on becomes your reality.  It can be no other way."  Albert Einstein

I wrote in the Sacred Souls post titled Spiritual Singularity:

"Sister Ilia Delio postulates the universe could not exist without an observer or consciousness existing first –  and that God is intimately intertwined in his creation. "Some scientists speculate that without consciousness, the universe would exist indeterminately as a sea of quantum potentiality."  Without consciousness there is no matter.   She further writes that creation is an expression of God's love and he is moving us forward to a greater consciousness to be shared by humans."

As I pondered this thought further I realized that not only is God intricately intertwined in his creation through observation, we are also intertwined in creation through our own observations.    Quantum mechanics postulates that the behavior of light particles changes through the act of observation by a consciousness.   So how much of our world is created because we are individual and collective consciousnesses observing creation versus physically interacting with creation?    If God's observation of the quantum sea of probabilities brought the cosmos into being, how much is influenced by human individual and collective consciousnesses?

Einstein said what we focus on, becomes our reality, it can be no other way.   We know we think and then act even even when our actions are based on our subconscious.   What if our individual and collective thoughts without actions can change our world?   If we focus our thoughts in prayer, can we change the outcome?  How powerful a force can our consciousnesses be if we collectively visualize a specific outcome?  By visualizing an outcome can we transform matter into energy and back again?