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Thoughts, spiritual experiences, happenings and insights
from the woman who discovered the Personal Connector Word to God
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Wednesday, October 28, 2009 "CHRISTIAN WOMAN NEEDS A SMALL LAWN MOWER- $50"This was the ad under "Wanted" on Craig's List in my local
area today. It got me to thinking. If I had a lawn mower to sell for $50 or less, would it matter to me that I would be selling
it to a Christian woman? If I had the choice to sell my small lawn mower to a Christian
woman as opposed to say, a Buddist man, would I choose the Christian woman? Better yet, what if the ad had
said, "Muslim woman needs a small refrigerator" or perhaps, "Atheist needs a small dehumidifier." Would I rush to sell my
small appliances to the Muslim woman or the Atheist--or would I, instead, hang on to them, hoping soon to see a similar ad
from a Christian woman?
The Christian woman's ad, of course, is absurd. What is scary, however,
is the fact that in her pursuit of a small lawn mower she actually thinks saying she is a "Christian" has
some kind of relevance to the matter. One can only shake one's head at a so-called "Christian" whose misdirected
sense of her own religious importance has caused her to announce on Craig's List that she is a Christian and in need of a
lawn mower. Perhaps she thinks that those of other religious beliefs do not have grass that grows. Or perhaps she thinks the
title bestows upon her some extra consideration or honor. Or perhaps she doesn't have a clue what it means to be a "Christian,"
and therefore panders it about like it's some kind of spiritual calling card for free goods and prizes. Perhaps she is hoping that someone, knowing that she is a "Christian," will sell her a $200
lawn mower for only $50. Who knows what her reasoning was.
No one has more respect and admiration for Jesus than I do. He was
a man who figured it all out and what's more important is that he applied it, he lived it. Notice that I said he was a man,
not a God. Christians, of course, would quickly disagree with me. They worship Jesus as a God, but few FOLLOW Jesus. Few can
do what Jesus did, despite his saying "that what I do, you can do, and more." I can't imagine that Jesus would have
ever placed an ad for a lawn mower, with a footnote saying, "Oh, by the way, some think I am the son of God. So, does
that entitle me to 50% off?" Jesus would have simply thought that the grass would be cut or believed that the grass
would not grow--and, lo and behold, it would have obeyed him. Jesus knew about creating his own reality. Apparently,
the Christian woman in search of a lawn mower doesn't--she can't pray her grass away.
Which leads me to the point of this blog--what does lawn mowers have
to do with Christianity? Nothing. Just as so many other things today have little to do with "being a Christian." Saying you
are a "Christian" really doesn't mean a damn thing. Saying it on a Craig's list ad for a small lawn mower actually makes a
mockery of what being a Christian really is.
Want to show the world you are a Christian? Then emulate Jesus. You
show the world that you have the Christ in your heart by trying to follow Jesus' teachings, Jesus' ways. If we all remembered
that, we'd all not only be better Christians, but we'd be better people.
Saturday, October 24, 2009 TOO MANY OF US ARE "ASLEEP AT THE CONTROLS"This morning's newspapers reported three stories with something
in common. Two pilots near Minneapolis flew right by the airport without landing. A couple in Sarasota, Florida, found
a 5-inch knife in their Subway foot-long. And a construction worker near Pittsburgh got killed when a concrete slab fell on
him after a crane hit the floor above him. What is the common thread between these three stories? In all three, someone
was "asleep at the controls." Not necessarily literally "asleep," but certainly distracted--non-observant--unfocused--not
paying attention to detail.
It is almost incomprehensible that two pilots, responsible for over
140 lives, could "get lost" and "out of touch" for over an hour in the sky. It is equally incomprehensible that a Subway worker
could be so "non-observant" that he would actually bake the measuring knife right into one of the foot-long buns. (You think
maybe he got an "important" text message at the time?) And one would hope that the operator of a heavy-duty crane, that can
demolish concrete pillars, would be 100% focused on where he was swinging that crane. One would hope. . . that's the problem.
It used to be a given that folks doing dangerous (piloting, crane-swinging) jobs and even not-so-dangerous (baking buns)
jobs paid strict attention to their tasks. After all, it was their job. It was not only a matter of pride, but it
was EXPECTED. Apparently, these days, that's no longer the case.
Who do we have to blame for this increasing "lack of focus"? Some might
point to the fact that we have glorified the individual to the point that it is "all about me," and no longer about the job.
Or about other people. Some might cite that we are in the age of information overload and excess sensory stimulation.
How can we keep focused on "boring tasks"--or even, why should we? Who wants to or can stare at boring airplane instruments
all day? Who wants to or can measure dough and put it into a baking oven all day? Who wants to or can keep focused
on crane controls all day?
This website is attempting to get people to notice God's signs. God
is placing markers in front of all of us each day to help guide us through life. Included is something called a "Personal
Connector Word to God." Yet, if we don't notice we've flown past an airport--if we don't notice we just baked a knife into
a bun--if we don't notice our crane is going to hit a cement pillar--how in the world will we ever notice signs from
our divine source?
It's time we awake. It's time we get back to watching the controls.
It's time we take our jobs seriously enough that we FOCUS on them. (Wake up, people; it's not all about being on American
Idol, being the next "balloon boy," or getting your e-mail read on Wolf Blitzer.) Perhaps when we start paying
attention to the DETAILS of life again--the BORING DETAILS of life--maybe we'll notice something even more miraculous. Something
even more fulfilling than getting on a reality TV show. Maybe we'll see God's signs. Maybe we'll re-connect with our divine
source. Maybe we'll experience real euphoria.
Sunday, October 18, 2009 WHAT'S WRONG WITH TODAY'S NEW AGE GURUS?What's wrong with today's new age gurus? It's pretty
simple, actually. GREED. And, unfortunately, it makes for bad publicity for the rest of the people who believe in and advocate for
"new thought" concepts.
The Sedona sweatlodge deaths of three people have put "new age spiritualism"
into the limelight and not in a good way. I have a feeling that James Arthur Ray (who headed this event) probably started
out as someone who believed in "new thought" spiritual concepts and only wanted to share those beliefs with folks looking
for a new way. He probably wanted to help others on their spiritual paths. But, somewhere along the way, he ended up in the
blockbuster hit "The Secret" and gained some fame. Suddenly, his little spiritual insight business became "big business."
Suddenly, he turned into someone who thought it appropriate to charge folks $10,000 a pop for his "great wisdom" and
for things like starving for a day and a half, then sweating in a tent. Somewhere along the way, James Arthur Ray's ego and
the fact that he could make millions got in the way of his spiritual messages. Too bad Mr. Ray didn't understand his own advice
about things like karma and the universe returning to you what you send out.
I used to be a big fan of Deepak Chopra. I found his books to be not
only fascinating, but life-changing. Here was a man, I thought, that had delved into the spiritual world and had found some
answers. A holy man, I thought. But, alas, this new age guru, just like James Arthur Ray, got a taste of fame and money. Suddenly,
he was sporting red-framed glittery glasses and appearing on talk shows. OK, that's OK, I thought--he's just spreading "truth"
and he's leading people on their spiritual paths. It is all good. However, when I caught ol' Deepak on a Bill Maher Show (late
at night on HBO) shortly after "The Secret" made it big, my opinion of him plummeted quickly.
You see, ol' Deepak got left out of "The Secret" movie. I suspect it
was because he wouldn't do it for no compensation, which apparently was required of all the participants. Deepak
apparently turned down the Secret folks, and now that they were in the limelight and he was left out in the cold, he got a
tad bitter. Bill Maher (who is an atheist and thought the "Secret" was nothing but bunk) invited Deepak on his show to help
him make fun of the Secret. Deepak was only too happy to oblige. (After all, I'm sure he thought, my followers would certainly
not be watching Bill Maher.) Well, maybe so. But Deepak didn't count on people like me. I was watching. There was this
spiritual guru helping Bill Maher laugh at the things in the Secret--never once admitting that he, himself, had advocated
almost all of its concepts previously in his own books! Maybe it was just jealousy. Maybe he was mad that he had written most
of this stuff before the Secret talked about it, and he was getting no credit. Sourgrapes, as they say. Deepak had been
left out, so he sat there in Bill Maher's studio acting like he hadn't pushed the exact same concepts himself for
years.
Even that wouldn't have been so bad, and certainly understandable,
except he said one other thing that made me take all his books to Goodwill the next day. When introduced by Bill Maher as
a modern-day prophet, Deepak grinned from behind his red glitter eyeglasses and said, "PROPHET? Yeah, Bill,
I'm a prophet, spelled P-R-O-F-I-T." That endeared him to Bill and Bill's audience. But, that ended my respect for Mr. Deepak
Chopra.
I could go on about other so-called new age gurus (Wayne Dyer comes
to mind) who have made millions and millions professing to have the "keys to spiritual awakening." (The fact that Dyer's wife
left him is perhaps a little clue that he's still missing a few keys.) Again, I think Dyer and others like him started
out with the right intentions, hoping to help humanity move to a new level of understanding and happiness. But, along the
way, the money and fame got in the way. In the end, these spiritual gurus not only turned out to have feet of clay and be
very human, they actually turned out to be farther BACK on the spiritual path than most of the rest of us. How can they lead
us when they have yet to apply the concepts to their own lives?
I wrote a previous blog entitled "What Would Jesus Charge?" and that
phrase came to mind again today when I read that a third person died at Ray's $10,000-a-person sweat lodge experience. The
sad thing is that these money-chasers are obscuring the true message of spiritualism, the true message of "new thought." This
is the exact reason we revere Jesus, the way-shower, so much today--more than 2,000 years after he walked the earth. Jesus
not only understood the concepts, he lived them. Apparently, given what we are seeing with the new age gurus
of today, that is a VERY HARD thing to do.
Saturday, October 17, 2009 RIGHT TURN ON RED or TAKING PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITYHere in Florida you cannot assume if you have a green light
that you have the right of way. Not only do you have to be wary of opposing traffic running a red light (which is not an exception
here but rather the rule), now you have to watch for people making a "right turn on red." In the olden days, when people actually knew and followed traffic laws, "right turn on red" meant you
came to a FULL stop, and you only proceeded to make the turn if NOBODY WAS COMING FOR AT LEAST A HALF-MILE or so. Because
NOBODY WAS COMING, the law permitted you to make a "right turn on red." Today, here in Florida, it apparently has morphed
into this: you have as much right to the road making a "right turn on red" as the opposing traffic with the green light.
In fact, today, someone pulled right in front of me making a "right turn on red" without even stopping!
Because so much of the driving public refuses to learn and follow the
laws--because they will not take personal responsibility for their own driving--I now need to slow up at EVERY intersection
and look all ways if I hope to continue living. I won't even blog about the idiots who "text" while driving--the fact that
their lack of personal responsibility (doing something so pointless as texting) while driving, resulting in others
getting killed in wrecks is inexcusable. But, this "right turn on red and you be damned" attitude goes way beyond the streets
of Florida. It has seeped into almost all facets of our daily life.
This week I had to call my bank up north and freeze all my accounts.
Why? Because the bank was taken over by another bank and they mailed me a packet of information that not only contained all
my current account numbers, but all the numbers for when the "switch" occurs. On the OUTSIDE of the envelope, they actually
put something to the effect that "We're getting ready to change your accounts. Important information inside. Open immediately."
They might as well have put a red flag on it saying: important information to steal. They compounded their
stupidity by using an envelope with a cellophane address viewer. When it got to me, the cellophane had been stripped off,
the address viewer was torn to the side, and it was obvious my account information had been taken out, copied, then slid back
in. And WHY would a bank do something so STUPID in this day of identify theft, you ask? Well, I asked them that and their
answer was worse than what they had actually done. This is how they justified their stupidity. "We have to put that on the
outside of the envelope or people will think it is junk mail and just throw it out. We don't want people to throw out important
stuff." So, because they have customers too irresponsible to open, read and sort through their OWN mail, I have to suffer.
Because of the moron customers who take no personal responsibility for their OWN mail, my mail has to have a red flag on it
saying: STEAL ME, IMPORTANT INFO inside. Because of them, I have to be inconvenienced making phone calls, stopping accounts,
and changing numbers.
Then there is that family with the kid and the balloon. Because they
don't watch their own children, because they are daft enough to blow up a homemade balloon and tether it poorly in their back
yard, because they were on a reality TV show and get some kind of kick out of being eccentric and in the limelight, the rest
of us have to pay for it. How? By a whole afternoon of all the TV stations covering it and pre-empting the news that REALLY
matters in this world. By our tax dollars paying for police, rescue vehicles and helicopters chasing a balloon with no one
in it. By the endless interviews and coverage of a family of idiots who think, somehow, that they and their antics are of
interest to the rest of us. Once again, no personal responsibility. The father, supposedly discovering that his 6-year-old
might be in a balloon 5,000 feet up in the air, calls WHO first? A TV station. Why do I know that this same guy throws out
his mail without opening or reading it? Why do I know that this same guy makes right turns on red in front of opposing
traffic that has a green?
I used to be astounded by people who sued McDonald's when
they poured hot coffee on themselves. I used to fume over the coverage and accolades given to risk-takers with no common sense
who climbed mountains and then had to survive in snowdrifts for days when they fell (while expensive tax-payer-funded
rescues had to bail them out). I'm tired of hearing about folks who bought houses they couldn't afford or who ran up credit
card debt into the thousands just because they could and gee whiz, no one told us we couldn't afford it.
It's time that each individual take personal responsibility for his/her
own actions here on this earth. That means being considerate of OTHERS who are sharing this earth with you. It means not always
getting your way. It means there is NOT a good excuse for every moronic thing you do. It means saying you're sorry or SAYING
"I take personal responsibility for what happened" is not enough. People need to start making real amends for their mistakes.
It means stopping and NOT pulling out into traffic when you DON'T have the right-of-way. It means resigning from your
job when you cause a scandal. It means accepting your burn when you are clumsy enough to spill hot coffee on yourself. It
means getting fired when you are a CEO that was head of a company that just went belly-up and got bailed out by the government.
It means NO BONUSES for doing nothing. It means NO JOB for what you did do!
What does this have to do with spirituality? Well, if we ALL
ARE ONE, then we have to stop thinking that our actions only affect ourselves. What you do, affects me. What I do,
affects you. We have to start taking personal responsibility for what we are doing! The day of the "right turn on red" needs
to come to an end.
Monday, October 12, 2009 IT'S NOT THE CAR; IT'S WHAT YOU ARE DOING IN IT THAT MATTERSTuesday's contest theme at Blogdumps is "What was your
first car or favorite car?"
My first car was a 1972 powder-blue Volkswagen Super Beetle. If I had
gotten just the Beetle, as opposed to the Super Beetle, it would have cost under $2,000. (That's how they were advertising
them back then--can you believe it?--a car that was still slightly under $2,000!) I opted for the "super" model and
I think it ran my cost up to $2,200. It was my first real car after getting my first real job. I remember that
my father went with me to buy it and he got them to throw in the radio (that was an "extra" in those days) for no additional
cost. He was quite proud of that. My, how things have changed.
But, I really don't want to write about how much I loved my Super
Beetle when I was young--I'd much rather blog about what I did in that car--what many of us did in our cars--as
young people "back in the days." (Please, folks, get your mind out of the gutter--this is a spiritual blog. LOL)
In addition to paying attention to our driving (our parents and the
rest of society would have had our heads if we hadn't), there was something very different about our time in our cars alone
as young people back then. There were few distractions, except perhaps for the radio playing the latest Monkees song in the
background. (Most of us had the good sense not to blast it at 1,000 decibels because we wanted to be able to still hear things
when we turned forty.)
We had no cell phones. No one was going to interrupt our drive with
a call or a text. There was no one we desperately had to call or text back. We had no GPS that was going to announce
the next turn. There were no DVD players for children in the backseat, and no access to the Internet with I-pods and
blackberries and whatnot. All that was in that car was the AM radio, playing low like background music.
So what did I (and most other young people) DO while we were driving, you ask? We thought. We relished being alone with our own thoughts. We got in touch with our inner voice. We thought about how we felt, who we were, who we wanted to be, and what kind of mark we were going to make on the world. We thought about our job and how we might do it better. We listened to the silence of our souls, often reviewing the day in our mind, reviewing our relationships with our parents, our siblings, our friends and others. We struggled with our emotions. Sometimes we let a few tears out. Sometimes we just smiled as we watched the fall leaves blowing across the road behind us in our rear view mirror, feeling happy to be alive. Often, we used this "alone time" to talk out loud to God. We carried on conversations back then not with acquaintenances
and friends on a cell phone or strangers on Twitter--we carried on conversations in our head with God and our inner self.
This helped us understand ourselves and our world better. This helped us to sort out priorities and what mattered to us. This
helped us to see the big picture. We made decisions about our future. We planned. We dreamed. We prayed. We thanked God. Our
"car time" was better than "church time." A drive alone in the car renewed and refreshed us.
Cars have changed dramatically since the days of my Super Beetle--both in cost and style. But, sadly, so has the "sacred
space" that an automobile used to provide to its driver. Not enough people today take advantage of the time driving
alone in their car can provide them--the opportunity NOT to social network, the opportunity to "shut out the world" for a
brief time--the chance to "be still and know that I am God." It's not a car, after all, it's really a "church on
wheels." If you see it that way, your car can become something more than just transportation. It can become a haven.
Friday, October 9, 2009 OBAMA & THE NOBEL: GREAT EXPECTATIONSI'm trying to decide how I feel about President Obama getting
the Nobel Peace Prize. My initial reaction was to immediately think of the slogan from George Orwell's novel 1984:
War is Peace. After all, which country do we know that is currently waging not one, but two wars in
the world? And which president do we know, who promised us otherwise, is not only still engaging us in these wars, but
is considering escalating one of them? War is Peace? The head of these wars gets a Nobel
Peace Prize? Perhaps it should be awarded posthumously to Harry Truman for dropping the nuclear bombs
on Hiroshima and Nakasaki. You see my dilemma in understanding the logic of this whole situation.
But, of course, compared to George Bush, who began
these two wars, President Obama does seem like a man of peace. He talks peace. He talks global unity. He's traveled to other
countries, apologized, promised, and raised expectations for peace. The man sure does talk a lot about peace and
unity--yes, he talks. That's another thing that is troubling to me. It's been nearly a year now and President Obama is still
talking. But nothing has changed.
Do they give awards for that? Do they give awards for good intentions
and talking these days, instead of for accomplishment and action? Well, yes, I guess we do that all the time nowadays. Children
were raised on the idea that they should get trophies for sports just because they showed up in a uniform. Contestants
on reality shows expect adoration, publicity and money for no reason at all; most have no talent and got there on
a "fluke"--not through hard work or skill. In practically every field, incompetence reigns because there are no longer
rewards for a "good job" or termination for a "bad job."
We no longer reward accomplishment, we reward outrageousness.
We no longer reward skill, we reward marketing. We no longer reward doing things to help our fellow men, we reward slickness
and greed and audacity. We no longer invent and manufacture things to make money (too much like hard work), we make money
by investing and/or cheating others (easier and slicker). So, why
not give the Nobel Peace Prize to a guy who hasn't really done anything yet, but who offers us instead "great expectations."
It makes perfect sense when you look at it that way.
It also makes perfect sense if you believe in the concept of "creating
our own reality." That's the part that has me confused, I guess, because I do believe in the concept of "The Secret," "The
Law of Attraction," and that what you focus on, you eventually get. Every spiritual bone in my body tells me that we
have to have "great expectations" for peace, unity, and harmony if we are to ever manifest it in this world. We have to think
about peace, expect peace, live peace. Yes, we do have to talk about peace. We have to believe that this
man, Barack Obama, will talk about peace so much that eventually he will manifest it in his own actions and in the world.
This is the spiritual principle--the universal law--that I and many others have come to believe in. Great Expectations eventually
become one's Great Reality. So, despite my initial misgivings about President Obama receiving this most prestigious
prize for peace-making (which to some seems like putting the cart before the horse), I applaud the committee's choice!
If we all act as though Peace is coming to the world--whether through Barack Obama or through any other means--it WILL come.
That's how the Universe works.
Congratulations, President Obama. May your Great Expectations
turn into our Great Reality!
Monday, October 5, 2009 FOLLOW THE YELLOW BRICK ROADThis Tuesday's theme at Blogdumps is "What is your
favorite movie?"
It is no surprise that my favorite movie is The Wizard of Oz.
How could it not be? It's a spiritual tale that teaches us so much about life. Here are just a few things we can
learn from The Wizard of Oz.
This is the 70th-year anniversary for The Wizard of Oz. It is easy to see why this classic movie endures! Friday, October 2, 2009 MICHAEL MOORE'S "CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY"I just came back from seeing the first matinee showing
of Michael Moore's "Capitalism: A Love Story," which opened today in theatres across the country. Whether you are Republican
or Democrat, whether you are rich or poor, whether you are currently employed or unemployed, whether you own a house or not--you
should go and see it. And after you see it, start to question. Question everything, and start thinking for yourselves!
What scares me most about our current society--and this younger generation
in particular--is that people no longer seem to "question" anything. They don't question what they see on TV, they don't
question what their government is doing, they don't question what they are told in church, they don't question what they read
in books. They either a) ignore what is going on in the country, b) are too busy and focused on themselves to see what is
going on in this country, c) are more concerned with being entertained than in thinking, or d) all of the above. Because of that, our democracy is turning into something else right before our
blind eyes. And frankly, folks, it is scary. Scary.
Question. Question. Question. Use your own mind, your own heart, your own moral compass. Come to conclusions not based on what the skewed media tells you or even what Michael Moore tells you--come to conclusions based on what your gut, your inner self, your spirit, your God tells you. When you do, it won't match up with what is going on right now in this country. Jesus would not be happy with America right now. And frankly, neither am I. Today's news, by the way, told us that Chicago got the least number of votes from the Olympic committee out of the four
world sites being considered. Oprah and Obama's influences apparently are not what we all think they are. The United
States can no longer bend the world to its needs. This is just a small sign that our thinking in this country needs
to change. No, we are no longer "the best country in the world." Saying it doesn't make it so. Other countries
have better health care, manufacture more goods, lead in the sciences, have a better quality of life, and have better moral
compasses than we do. It's a simple fact. That's what happens when your focus turns to materialism and greed. That's
what happens when the big story in today's news is that David Letterman slept with co-workers and was being blackmailed
instead of the fact that unemployment was up again! Wake up, America!
The words "patriotism" and "capitalism" have taken on an air of authority. You dare not question them, some say. Neither words
are in the Constitution. And I say, question them, question them, question them. They are being used to benefit the few. If
you don't start questioning and thinking for yourselves, you may soon find that the Constitution will go the way
of your pensions.
For many of us, the day we really started to question our government came during Katrina. Who ever thought in America
we could watch fellow citizens herded like animals into an arena, dying from lack of water or help. But we watched it. And
what did we do about this appalling event that surely couldn't happen in the United States of America? Very little.
It's time people quit listening to Rush Limbaugh and Wall Street and the banks and the Treasury secretary. It's time
people start listening to the still small voice within themselves. When they do, they will know that our great country is
going to hell in a handcart. When the thinking of the critical masses change, the situation will change. Change your
thinking and help make the world a better place.
Go see the movie. Watch. Question. Pray.
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