Did you ever think of God as a Bandit

   I don’t think most people do

But what if we did

   What image would come to our spiritual eyes

   The Robin Hood of Love

If so what would God take

   Our need to be in control

   Our desire to prove our worthiness

   Our belief in our badness

   Our wish to be right

We are so rich in those areas

   Our ego reminds of this most of the time

But Robin Hood also gave to the poor

   The parts of us that are lacking would receive

      Grace

      Peace

      Love

      Kindness

      Gentleness

But God is not a bandit who steals

   God is a bandit who shows us what we can give up

      All the richness listed above

   So God can restore our poverty

      With the abundance of grace

It is a gift

   Offered eternally or until we accept

Dear Friends,

Have you ever had those times in your life where you had more than you could handle?  If you are human, of course you have.  Well recently I had one of those times myself.  I had written something on my computer and saved it to a file.  As wonderful as computers are they can be very trying.  As much time as they can save, they can add countless hours and many frustrations.  This is fine when we have plenty of time, as if that is the case very often, but when we don’t it is enough to push us over the edge.  Well later when I wrote something else and thought I was creating a new file to save my work I was actually over riding a present one that had a deadline attached to it.  One that I needed to have right away.  There was a sickness in the pit of my stomach when I realized what I had done.  Now what?

I thought about shaking my computer until the file fell out.  That wouldn’t work.  I thought of saying God where are You, but God really doesn’t have much to do with computers.  A very smart God.  What could I do?  Not write the piece over again because I was too busy.  But my compulsiveness wouldn’t allow me to do that, so somehow I had to fit it in.  Well as my oldest daughter Sara said. “Why don’t you make lemonade out of the lemons?”  I decided to use this opportunity to improve on that which I had originally written.  In addition I am writing this because I thought it might speak to your life too.  Where is God in the midst of our busy lives?  Where God always is – right in the middle of what we might consider a mess.  Does this remind you of the Post Resurrection Time when Christ was with His disciples?  Their lives had fallen apart and God was still there!  Not in the way they expected, but God was there bringing new life out of the lemons of their experience of Jesus’ death.

Does this not speak to those times in our lives when things simply are not going the way we would like?  In fact, when we are rushed or hurried or possibly looking for more things to fall apart,  God is still there in spite of us and our thoughts and actions.  As I was rushing back to my office today before I had to get onto the next big responsibility, I became frustrated with the traffic and the slow drivers.  In the midst of one of  the stops in traffice God spoke to my heart and said, “Look at my beauty.”  I started to look around and you know what I saw? – flowers and they were gorgeous.  As I reflected on their beauty I remembered something.  Even though I have had a lot to do other times in my life it always got done somehow.  What a great reminder of God’s Presence for who really helps us do everything?  God!  God helped the first disciples to spread the Good News of Christ’s Resurrection in spite of the despair they had felt with Jesus’ death.

I would like to say I am totally calm and collected now, but I am not.  Because I am not God knows I still have some spiritual work to get to that point.  At least I have gained some insight for the next time my world seems to be falling apart.  I have also discovered when I have lost something that seems important God maybe using that experience to help me to laugh as my world falls apart.  That is when I learn again, a bit more deeply, God is still in charge helping me to live life abundantly.  How about you?

Peace,

Gary

Dear Friends,

Here I sit at my computer a few days before Valentine’s Day.  In the spirit of the Day I want to write each of you a love letter.  The kind of love I am sending you is the same kind of love God first sent to us – Unconditional Love with no strings attached.  I do not love you because of all that you do or how much you care about the various aspects of your life, although I appreciate your devotion to life. So why do I love you? – because you are who you are in God.  What a joy it is to watch as God unfolds in your life!

Remember the quote, “Which comes first the chicken or the egg?”  It fits with what I am writing to you, but with one major change.  I know which came first between your actions or who you are in God.  It is found in who you are in God.  By doing your spiritual work of growing closer to God one sees the gift of who they are in God.  As that happens for a person they begin to think all things are possible.  They believe in themselves.  They tap into the Source of all that they do – God.  One can begin to see why it is so important for an individual to make sure one’s spiritual life comes first.  The last ingredient in this process is for a person to come to know God’s Voice and God’s Faithfulness.  So many voices in today’s world call us to do this or that.  So many voices tell us we could never do what our heart desires.  So we listen and stop ourselves before we begin.  But those who have been open to God, they know the sky is the limit.  I send you my love in celebration of your awareness of God in your life.  

Have you seen God’s Love and felt It in your life?  How about the spirit which is growing in our world?  Have you noticed how more and more people are getting on board with this idea of being one in God?  Have you seen the joy in people’s faces who believe in unconditional love?  Have you seen the laughter and willingness to respond to needs of those around us who see God as there reason of being?  God continues to fill us with ideas of how we can not only grow in our spirit, but also help others to become aware of God’s Spirit growing in them.  Such insight of the way life is becomes like a snowball building and building as it rolls down the hill of life.

I love you.  I love this awareness.  Most of all I love God.  What more needs to be said?  What more needs to be done?  Living in love opens up life to us in the fullest.  We can now celebrate the good times and hold each other in the bad.  We can encounter new life and let go of what needs to die.  As an old Beatles song once said, “Love is all there is.”  Even more powerfully the Apostle Paul said, ” All things will fall away one day, but love will remain.”

My love to you,

Gary

Dear Friends,

I am writing this letter at the beginning of January.  After living up North for the first 50 years of my life there are some things which are not hard to get over.  Winter is one of them.  The beginning of January up there meant the Holidays were over and now there wasn’t anything to break the long days of Winter until Easter, which sometimes coincided with Spring and sometimes didn’t.  The first few months of the new year could truly drag on.  Unlike here in the South, where the sun shines for a lot of the time and you can get out whenever you like, up north I knew I would be trapped in the house or the office.  I am a nature person and love to be outside, so this was hard on my spirit.  Well as I write these words there is a part of me which still thinks winter will be like it was for the first 50 years of my life.  God reminds me this is not true!

No matter where we live the month of February has the wonderful Day of Valentine.  It is a day to reflect on the gift of love.  Some of us have grown up in homes, churches and jobs where we felt love.  Others of us have not and would have a hard time relating to a gift like that.  Yet even for those of us who have known love it is never perfect, for Perfect Love is found only in God.  The point of my thoughts is to encourage each of us to reflect on that which blocks us from love or a life well lived.  Could it be the ideas we hang onto - like my thoughts about Winter even though now I am blessed with a Southern Winter?  Could it be things or ideas we were taught which said we didn’t deserve love?  Could it even be the idea of a God who is NOT an Unconditional Lover?  On those days when it is cloudy or cool, on those days when we are stuck inside, on those days when we are not blessed with a Southern Winter why not give yourself a Valentine present?  Spend some time reflecting on what stops us from feeling the ongoing gift of God’s Love.

I have found there are so many thoughts and ideas which are on our minds which we don’t pay attention to in any way.  I have also discovered there are patterns of thoughts  of which we also are unaware.  Lastly, I know we often treat ourselves in ways we wouldn’t dare treat others.  We wouldn’t say you are so stupid, or when I look at you in the mirror I get sick, or won’t you ever get it right, or they must have thought you were an idiot when you said that and on and on.  Why don’t we see we don’t want those thoughts to continue.   I keep learning the importance of paying attention to what is happening in my mind.  So much of what happens in my everyday life begins and ends with my thoughts.  I am like others – human- and face what most others face.  so I invite you to join me in loving ourselves by giving our heart the Valentine gift of getting to know who we are – Very Good.  As we do we may find a God already there who says, “At last!  Now I can love you.”

Winter is the season where we lie fallow so God can plant the seeds of self love.  By getting to know ourselves as God does those seeds will be planted in the kind of envionment which will transform our lives.

Happy Valentine’s Day,

Gary

Dear Spiritual Companions,

I read something recently that startled my spirit.  It was this quote from Rabbi Irwin Kula, “You can never get enough of what you really don’t need!”  I added the exclamation point because it jumped off the page at me.  I want to address what this means to me.

You can never get enough.  I will stop right there because to me this is where the malaise of our time lies, at least for a lot of us living in the Western World.  No matter how much we have it never sems to be enough.  Once we obtain, in any manner shape or form, what we want we begin to grow uneasy.  What seemed to be something we couldn’t live without suddenly becomes boring.  There is another issue of our time - boredom.  To me this is all about stimulation.  Is it possible to be over stimulated?  Could we have too much to do, think about or have?  Not if you pay attention to what the world or our ego’s profess.  They sell us the notion of scarcity.  You can never have enough!

But enough of what?  We long to have or grasp what?  Fulfillment?  Piece of mind?  A sense of direction?  A worthwhile identity?  The world and our ego tells us we need more of whatever to finally achieve all of the above.  The problem is there is never enough to fill the hole in our Soul.  Even if there were, as the old expression goes, “You can’t take it with you.”  So why are we rushing around searching for what we don’t need?  I believe it is because we have been listening to the wrong guides.  They are the ones who assure us they have the answers for our lives.  Interestingly those individuals or philosophies, religions, psychologies or whatever are the ones who are after what we are – outer validation.  As long as I have lots of folks who buy into what I am selling I must be worthwhile.  This goes for individuals as well as institutions.  The ones who don’t call attention to themselves are the ones who have what they need – their inner world.  If they offer anything it is to join them in finding what lies in our heart.

I am fascinated by words.  Take the word question for example.  If you take it apart you will find it begins with quest.  To me this life is a quest for the truth.  My truth, which may not be your truth by the way.  It is discovering what is right for me as I live this time on earth.  My journey interacts with yours simply to help us become more grounded in what works for us.  You may like sky diving and have your most mystical moments falling to earth.  If I tried that I would be so lost in fear that I would lose the moment, except for reminding myself how strong fear can be.  Glad you find fulfillment in hang gliding.  I delight in what brings life in abundance to others I meet.  The only problem I have is when someone else tells me I need to think, feel or experience what they do.  Even if I did have a similar experience I still would not be able to validate theirs.  We can only do that for ourselves.  Now we are free to be happy being who we are even if there isn’t one other human being on this planet who feels the same.  The quest for the meaning of life is inside of us.  Outer experiences or individuals may enhance or shed light on our inner path, but they can never validate what is right for us.  We hold the key to that quest.

Now we can discover what we need.  Are you ready?  Unlike what the world or our ego sells – MORE - we need less.  Like God in whatever Name You call God, we already have everything.  To spend time in silence is to have less world and more spirit.  The unimportant attachments of life of this life are released so we can see how we are attached to the eternal Nothing.  God is No Thing!  When we enter that state we discover what we have – Everything – just like God.  In this realization our quest now discovers where peace and harmony reign supreme.  Notice it is HERE in this moment.  We don’t have to do anything to obtain this for we have it already.  See why what the world offers is so weak  in relationship to what we are discussing here?  It seems as though there never is enough of what we don’t need!0

By the way, if this raised some questions for you I have done my job. 

Peace,

Gary

Dear Spiritual Companions,

My oldest daughter and I were out taking a walk on the levee this morning.  It was around 5:30 A. M. so the first light was just coming up.  We passed a barge with some huge contianers for the nearby oil refinery.  I pointed them out to her.  On our way back it was much brighter and she asked me what the big containers were in the distance.  She was surprised because she had not noticed them the first time and wondered how she missed them the first time.  Maybe it was because she wasn’t awake.  I said I think it is because it was dark.  Darkness does have an effect on our perspective.  Whenever we bring what is in darkness into God’s Light we might be surprised by the way it looks.

Darkness to me is the unknown.  Maybe it is something in the future, possibly the fear of how others may react or even those hidden thoughts and feelings we carry inside.  The unknown is so often the things that are beyond our control.  We can’t do anything about them either because they haven’t happened, or we have no power to do anything.  The funniest part of this realization is what it teaches us.  When we can’t fix things or eliminate our inner turmoil that only leaves it up to others.  When we ask for help they may be able to add some insight or direction, but it still comes back to us.  The only Other left who can do anything is God.  By discovering this we now have someone to be with us.  This doesn’t mean God will fix things or change things, it means God is with us.  Lots of times that is frustrating for us because we are looking for more.  What that more generally is no more pain, no more loose ends or uncertainty.  If this were possible, and I haven’t found it to be true, this life would be sucked out of us.  There is no more adventure, no more growth and no more change.  The darkness, on the other hand, tells us to leave things alone because it will only make it worse.  It is the Lie darkness wants us to believe.

If we can be brave enough to venture into the darkness and let God be God, then we have new hope.  We have this gift because we are reminded that nothing can utterly defeat us.  Not the future, the past, illness, war , economic woes, bad deeds or thoughts, or anything else.  God is Love and Love is greater than anything we can imagine.  If we believe that, even a little bit, we can face     whatever is before us or behind us or even within us.  We now have a new perspective, a Godly one.  We don’t have to be afraid any more.  The light cannot be put out by the darkness.  It actually heals the darkness itself.  Isn’t that incredible?  By letting the darkness be what it is we can see it healed.  It doesn’t have to continue to be tormented by a God who would abandon it because it is darkness.  God forgave it on the cross and died so it could move into the light.  Our willingness to embrace our darknss brings a little more light into the world.  By facing the most challenging part of our life we may become an example or encouragement for others on how to step into God’s Light.

As my daughter learned this morning it is becoming awake to a change in perspective.  Whatever happens to us or our loved ones happens for our good.  We have trouble with this because some things in life are painful so how could they be good?  Well as we embrace the pain and bring it into the light we meet God.  When this happens what God does is change our perspective.  Instead of looking outside of us we now look inside.  We see things as they are, not as others say they are.  We no longer are driven by the ups and downs of our physical lives.  Everything will end in that realm, but not in God’s Inner Realm.  Now we can see how weakness is really strength.  We are no longer caught up in not being able to change the outer, which is a reminder of our weakness.  We now are centered in God’s Love which doesn’t have to change the outer limits found in our physical realities.  Our perspective is now one where we see ourselves as endless eternal beings who are embracing a layover in this human realm.

What do you think?

God calling

   Who

God

   How can I be sure

Because I said so

   How do I know it isn’t someone impersonating You

Because I am who I am

   That is different

      Most others define themselves by what they do

Well I am too busy Being

   Again that is different

      Could You be encouraging me to do the same

Only if you believe you are created in my Image

   After all Being always trumps doing

You are out of this world

   Now you are getting it

      I am not of this world

         This world ends while Mine is forever

Most holy people don’t proclaim that message

   No they are too busy doing

      Encouraging you to define yourself by your doing

I like your message

   How do I find out more

Stop all your doing

   And sit with Me for awhile

That’s all

   Yes

      In My World that is all there is