taking responsibility for stepping forward

OK so my next lesson in the Lectio Divina starts, with the goal ORATIO is an honest, heartfelt conversation with God over the subject matter discovered in LECTIO, and reflected upon in the MEDITATIO . . . This is the time to pour out our thoughts in response to what God has said in his Word, as we noted that there is often an ebb and flow in prayer. This back-and-forth includes Oratio.

Wow, this is really powerful for me now.  I had this experience of going to an Art Show at USF and meeting a physics professor. I mean, all the years I came and went there, hungry and anxious to meet and understand some basic physics. Suddenly, there was this small boy walking his dad right up to me. 

I always wanted to ask a physics professor this question: 

And more remarkable than anything was the space was filled with these beautiful big old Oak Trees, all just begging me to visit them. Of course, I walked over to the awesome Oak with the big branches laying in the grass and climbed up onto it.

What could I possible say or share with this tree that could be anything significant of suitable to follow such an awesome experience. . .

Wow was I in for a surprise. I got home and everything lined up for me. I was preparing for a meeting and started to read through a list of articles I found on a new leader at USF. Then I noticed she arrived just after my birthday. HUM? I wondered what I had written about on the day she arrived. Wow, it was back in the same place again. Always about accepting who I am and taking responsibility for stepping into the changes we are all seeking and desiring.

experience with God

Monday August 28th 6:07pm and I’m writing these words into my iPad with a pen, but it didn’t work, past the date. So now I’m using a keyboard instead since i have no patience for technology, sorry Steve. I still love your auto spellers, but not the pens yet. There is always a desert to cross in the spiritual world. The dark night of the soul always must be passed first. These trials and desolations are written over and over in the experiences shared in the Bible. Remembering something written in an experience with God is a strong vibrational experience, which helps us to remember God’s Love. 

Recording events, anniversaries, birthday, events with pictures and memorials is an ongoing tradition to help us to remember the love of a moment shared. Contemplation in prayer with God is important to know and experience HIS love and recognizing this focus and power. Even though we are unworthy, we have God’s Love by Grace, even the prodigal’s son.

Like the Samaritan women at the well who Jesus sought out to meet and love. Seeking the face of God, where we seek to act and do good works to bring love to God. Love all those impacted and available.

Psalm 27:8 New International Version
My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, Lord, I will seek.

These methods are effective to choose a key word, or a key image, and reflect on it. Select a word, like a grape and hold it dear. Meditate on this word and squeeze all the juice out of it. And as we read and study this key image and allow it to ferment inside of us through meditation on it. “Be still and Know God” gets us into contemplation to taste and see the goodness of the Lord by getting deeper into this image and word. To love the Lord. 

This is my reading and studying the Lectio , where I need to now commit to a resolution to DO something in Love for God. Hearing, listening, meditating, contemplating and now resolve to do something. Be sure to step into this. A real practical resolution to act and step into something new as we are inspired. A very practical sensible act that is simple and easily to express something specific. I will give to the poor, is not enough. . . I will give an apple or a dollar to each homeless person I see.. . Is a simple practical act that Loves god.

Verbum Domini 87, Prayer is about knowing and loving God! What do we do with our love, who do we love, who do we help. Who are we sharing with. What are our resolutions to step into more love and joy with others. Mark 12:30-31 ==> 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’[a] 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b] There is no commandment greater than these.” 

ready to do something new

This is wicked cool. As i read this next section in the Contemplative Retreat I remembered my experience with my children and Reiki. Yea, Reiki is the energy healing methods using your hands. Of course, it has some funny name and tradition where someone tried to create a new religion or sect with it. But energy healing, reiki or whatever is all the same things. If you love and focus you can do anything as we area all in the image of God.

With a little exercise and patient listening we gradually become aware of them. But it takes time. And it isn't the same for every person. Some feel the movements spontaneously and at once; others take longer. To become aware of these energy movements, it's very helpful to direct attention to the outgoing breath. The center of the palms is also a privileged place where they can be especially felt. As soon as you sense an indication of awareness, add Yes to intensify the transmission of power.

What I really liked was when my kids were Attuned in Rieki they could really feel it. My son came home one day and said how he was healing his mom’s skin cancer. He knew it and could feel it, but his mom didn’t believe him. Here he was telling me about the heat in his hands and how powerful he could get, but his mom. . . . Wow as I remember this, I start to cry. Thanks you Kimberly Finn for teaching me to cry again! Now to think and remember my son. He’s 10 years old and his own mother doesn’t believe him. I mean, she’s calling him a liar!?!?! Holy shit! I guess my dad and siblings always called me a liar, but never my mom. Course I never would have survived at all without my mom. It still makes me cry when I think of my awesome son who was such a powerful loving child. 

My other church lessons are Lectio divina, which begins by giving God the first word and listening to his voice speaking to us as we read Scripture. This is followed by meditation, our reception of the Word through our thoughts, and the application of what we’re reading to our lives. We then move to our own prayer: our response to God based on our meditation, sharing with him what is on our minds and hearts. Finally, we are drawn into the gift of a silent encounter with God in contemplation, a meeting and embrace of God in love.

This must be our model for prayer. When you ask the Lord for help, you must remain persistent in your pleading, and you must not waver in your faith. At times, you will not hear God’s response to your prayer. Men may dismiss you and attempt to dissuade you. God may even say that your favor should not be granted at this time or he may have something else in mind that is even better. But whenever you pray, you must follow the example of the woman in today’s Gospel and be persistent in your intercession and constant in your faith.

You are Jesus…. Thank You Dear Lord Jesus Christ, I Love You Dear Lord Jesus Christ,Thank You Dear Lord Jesus Christ, I Love You Dear Lord Jesus Christ, Thank You Dear Lord Jesus Christ, I Love You Dear Lord Jesus Christ, Thank You Dear Lord Jesus Christ, I Love You Dear Lord Jesus Christ, again I see how faithful God is for me. Opening and sharing as best as I can. You are the god who fights for me hallelujah hallelujah. . I can talk again.

OK, so now I’m ready to do something new. OK now I’m ready to do something now. OK I am ready.

The Next Exodus 90 Book Lessons

contemplative prayer

Pay attention to the nostrils through which the air enters and try to feel the movement of the air along the inside passages of the nose. Don't breathe more heavily in order to feel more; instead, cause your inner ears to perceive what is happening in the nose. Remain for half a minute with this awareness. 

Now you can move on. Ask or remind yourself:  

• How do I feel the inside surfaces in this lower part of the nose? 
• Move a little higher: how do I feel them in the middle section?  
• The air that comes in is cooler, the air that goes out is warmer: am I aware of this difference in temperature?  
• How do I feel the movement of the air in the upper part of the nose?  
• Follow the breathing tract. First it goes up, and then almost between the eyes the path turns to the back. Can I feel this?

This is the same work that DawnXena taught to her students. 

This was wicked cool for me as I read this section. I suddenly FLASHED to the little oxygen molecules getting absorbed into my body. It was like seeing the happy blood picking up oxygen to carry away.  And my presence in there, was almost like God had showed up to inspect the operations of my body. Yes, I was seeing and checking in on myself and knowing and seeing how everything worked and they were all excited to see my inquiry and know that they were all healthy and happy moving forward as they were all designed and set into motion. 

It is remarkable as I recognize the spirals of consciousness moving and evolving inside of me. Than these blood cells filled with oxygen and joy at my own experience seeing and sharing this moment with them, brings them to my heart, where this higher joy and bliss brings more health and youth to my heart.

And it all happens instantly, as I feel these vibrations inside of me. Then I realize how writing these words and sharing these ideas is so important for everyone now, because so many of us have been listening and believing the lies of the machine. So again, now I step in to this Power, where I realize I can speak to this blog to share these Words and Insights Before you. It’s an incredible experience to realize how important it is to share these Words, knowing that Jesus is with me, guiding me through everything. 

In the contemplative phase our sole endeavor is directed to our relationship with God. Everything else happens by itself, occurs, is given. We no longer worry about the course of things on earth.

It’s all about forgetting the mortgage again!

I’m spinning around my own selfishness again, of course I’m concerned about it, John left, no new renters and no regular payments. And again now I hear about calling the prayer line 877-800-7729

Since, “Humility is nothing other than the truth,” take twenty minutes in silence today to ponder with God the “truth” about yourself.

Now place yourself before God, and converse with him.

It’s the first time in months that I did my exercises. I always make my bed, but cutting my hand is the latest excuse to avoid the weights. Getting pulled out of my house, and through everything else where i commit to helping people. And I’m still spinning. Helped Judy out of Unity now too. Yesterday was her last day there. And my truck is still filled to the top right now. I guess, I was hoping to get help emptying it. But again it’s weird how I feel I’m just collecting more crap. I talked to Judy and Leslie about restaurants and businesses but really can do it all by myself. 

Oh, sing to the lord . . . hello I guess I need to be writing again, as I woke up at 3:33am, of course!  I realize that I can go biking. Got to go do my Sun Yoga, and then go to church. I might even swim in between. But I know I have to do this with Judy. I never knew I’d run a restaurant, but it seems like the only alternative!

8/6/23 4:44am I called the Prayerline about my mortgage, and they prayed for my wisdom in finances.

I guess the voice from businesses always is about making money …. never seemed like anything else was necessary. It’s like my default move, like talking to this computer. Now it’s learning who I am, feeling more and more selfish as i could have taken my load yesterday to Leslie’s garage instead of mine. I guess this is where it was going in the first place.

There is only the Ways of God, in meekness and kindness, in humility and patience. . . As how I present myself. . . Or how I see myself. Again feeling almost exploited, hiding in the woods collecting everything I can find to make myself safe or secure. But I need to let God BE through me, expressing more fully. Stop hiding and express, allowing the Word of God to dwell inside.

To sing songs of joy!

kicking ass, and everyone is holding

 7/23/23 6:20am Again my reading today is about loving God first!

This always brings me back to my own dad and my children. My father who loved himself first and then his children only to make himself look better. Then my own children also fell into the lies of my father and brothers who emulated his narcissism. 

The readings of sloth and the sin of selfishness and arrogance clearly shows so much of my challenges, as still today I wonder what could be next for me.  Why do I have so much free time to sit and write?  How will I be able to pay my bills?  Why do these things seem so meaningless when daily I simply step beyond them all.

 

Yes 10:08:57 and I know again here and now all creation is as my finger tips. . . Fools are everywhere. The snake is kicking ass, and everyone is holding their own version. “See me, I know. My snake is bigger, better, and faster than all the others. Come follow me, listen to my words. I know better…”

Wow, so many snakes coming through everywhere. Watch out there, there can only be ONE TRUE GOD! Only in the Word of Jesus the Christ, as guideline by Mother Mary, the Mother Earth who brings us all forward.

vulnerability is real value

I’m really loving this next Exodus 90 section about King David, and what it really means to get everything you want from God. What is more bizarre than ever, is how easy it is for me to copy and paste this passage  below with my iPad. Then I flip the screen to landscape, standing it up with the keyboard to read and write more easily.  Oh, and of course I can also just snap a picture and show you. 

What is more astonishing than everything is that when i look at this picture, I realize that “I AM” king david, having everything I could imagine given to me by the Grace of God. The beautiful Salt Lamp filling my space and the little salt and pepper grinders offering me organic pink Himalayan salt or black Hawaiian salt to go with the perfect egg frittata and sausage.  AND so am I here to share and honor God, or just collect more crap, that distracts me from my responsibilities of sharing this truth. I speak of all this beauty around me, knowing it’s all been a gift to allow me, to share more of this truth that God has given. And now I realize that I can also speak to this iPad, with the words appearing before me for me to edit and correct. How much more can I share in new testimony to the love of Jesus. 

Pride is trying to “carry too much,” pride comes before a fall.  While: vulnerability is the real value, where humility is about self-less giving, sharing, BEing the Love of Jesus. And thinking of others now, and the actions of BEing for others more. This Preaching today on TheJoyFM.com comes inline with everything I shared and read today. Even my pre-wake-up notices to John . . . Who was debating the Bible with me last night. It even was my very first note that I saw on FaceBook to remind me where my priorities belong: Yes as every Bible verse matters. That’s why BEing the Church can start here,,, Matthew 18:20 “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

Alive now with us . . . NOW!  Here is the morning Reflections from Exodus 90: 

Rapacious Desire

2 Samuel 8:7-13

This is a prevalent problem in our era. In his book on acedia, R. J. Snell says we live in an “empire of desire” (Acedia and Its Discontents, Angelico, 2015). Desire is our dictator, and we believe deeply that happiness is just the satisfaction of our every want. While our needs are met quickly, cheaply, and conveniently, we do not feel secure, but dominated by innumerable wants. We are overwhelmed with desires for all sorts of pleasure, entertainment, and accumulation of possessions. On social media, we see someone enjoying a vacation that we now want. We drive down the road and see a billboard for a store we now want to browse. We watch YouTube, only to see an advertisement for a product we now “need.” How many conversations with co-workers or friends are just little advertisements for a product they just purchased?

In our economic life, we have moved past self-interest to the encouragement of self-indulgence. Sadly, this mentality even has influenced our parenting. We don’t think our children should be denied any experience or request. We sign them up for all sorts of sports and activities and spend our time running them around from place to place. One of the major differences between previous parenting styles and ours today is that in times past, kids would serve the parents, while today parents serve their children, answering every interruption or request and giving in to a mountain of toys.

The slothful person is at the mercy of his or her wants and whims. We all know what this is like, in our helplessness before the “add to cart” button or the ice cream tub. We find our weakness repulsive, as we can’t pull ourselves away from scrolling through social media posts. We procrastinate by flitting from website to website, looking for something interesting or scandalous. We feel incapable of denying ourselves a movie series binge or an outburst of anger at the spouse or child who interrupts our schedule, etc. We are acutely aware that we have almost no power over our will and act under a compulsion to satisfy our urges as they arise. We can feel more like an addict than a man.

The intemperance of our times reveals that we lack a sense of purpose, meaning, and value, going in search of some new “thing” by which to anchor our restless souls. We are restless because we are not resting in the Lord. And we use things and experiences as a substitute for the peace that he alone can give.

Consider the way you are living. What controls you? Is it your desires? Do you tremble and bow before them? Or are you controlled by the Spirit of God? What products are you leaving in your online shopping cart, just waiting for a moment of weakness to buy? What websites do you browse in order to arouse your desires? How have you let the desire for “things” replace or subdue your passion for the Lord?

Now place yourself before God, and converse with him.

Sun sneaking through the clouds

 Mark 12:28–34

  
One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him, “Which is the first of all the commandments?” Jesus replied, “The first is this: Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.” The scribe said to him, “Well said, teacher. You are right in saying, He is One and there is no other than he. And to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding, he said to him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” And no one dared to ask him any more questions.

I’ve repeated this to people on the Prayerline over and over again. It seems a very common and regular statement that I make to people, along with my comments about "Day 6" in Genesis where God came into the garden with Adam and Eve, where all things were good, and we only needed to love god and love our neighbors.

 Wow, how simple and easy for us to step into our own place of love and glory, and to accept our place to love Our god and Our neighbor, nothing else was needed. All was provided and ready for us to step into. I wonder about my lot today, where all is ready and all provided already for me to step into and share and love as only God could. Is this my place and my challenge now, just to place and love my space and gardens of gifts before me in this place of God.

6/17/23. 6:07:38am 

I heard on the radio: Love me Like I AM, “Happy Father’s Day from the JoyFM.” Please, Dearest Mary Mama Guide me to Live Jesus for You, all for the Glory of Father, Sons and Holy Ghosts.

6/18/23.  8:36:01am

I had hoped to get out on my bike for Ritual and Mass, but too much rain and storms outside today. Yesterday, was cloudy and threatening too, but I did do Ritual with the Sun sneaking through the clouds for me. I also planted some, cleaned some, and swam some too. It really was a beautiful morning and I had a family of baby ducks come out to join me, which was really delightful.