For Sunday November 17th, 2024

Hello to all and welcome to another time of quietness. Let us take time tonight to simply disconnect for a bit. Let the quietness be. Let our minds be. Let our moods settle in, and just be.

Set all your worries, hopes, and cares on an imaginary shelf. You can pick them up afterward, completely unscathed. I promise.

Submitted with reverence for you all,

Richard 

For Sunday November 10th, 2024

Hello, beautiful people. Reactions to the recent election have run the gamut from despair to elation. Yet, for those who love outwardly our task remains the same; to assist others through the experience of being on Earth.

This requires taking care of ourselves as well as being attentive to the spiritual needs of others. It sounds like such a cliché but it's still true; we help them find the light in their lives by being the light in our own lives.

May we sit this evening with the knowledge of a larger perspective to help us deal with daily perspectives.

 
With love and grace for all,

Richard

Fwd: Thoughts in the middle of the night...

Although the spiritual transformation of humanity is a given thing, the process, the path taken to achieve it, is ours to build. We can voluntarily commit ourselves to the efforts required, or wait until we're driven to them in a fit of desperation. The choice has always been ours to make.

It is no longer safe to coast along trusting things will work out in time, with minimal efforts on our part.

This is the time to meditate deeply, pray, sometimes pray fervently, and do what comes to hand to be done. It may be simply to take a shower, eat and rest well, and treat others beautifully. Or, it may be a spontaneous act of loving kindness while in meditation or the sleep state.

Each of us, with our own talents and abilities, has a role to play. Please, play it lovingly and fully.

"Dear God, show me what you would have me do. Lead me to those who need me. Lead me to where I am needed."

With reverence and love,

Richard

For Sunday November 3rd, 2024

Hello everyone, it has been said that meditation is not for eliminating the ego, but for understanding it, for grasping what it is, then using it spiritually. After all, we came here for a purpose, a purpose to be fulfilled with that same ego.

The trick is between how much we let the ego run our lives, and how well we use the ego to serve a higher purpose in life.

May we sit this Sunday for our continued development. May we see ourselves clearly, without judgement, with discernment, and for the best of all.

Blessings to all,

Richard

For Sunday October 27th, 2024

Here is an early Hello to all. I'll be away in VA Beach at the NDE retreat this weekend, so this is Sunday's meditation, already.

 
We all have monkey mind while trying to meditate. I've been 'enjoying' it for years now. However, in the book Spiritual Sight by Melvin Morse and Isabelle A. Chauffeton Saavedra, there is a pretty neat way of handling it. They offer that we acknowledge the thought as occurring, recognize its importance, then state that it cannot be resolved within the time frame of the meditation – so it will be set aside for now.

It can be simple, as if you're saying to your busy mind, "Yes, that's a problem, but it cannot be resolved in the next hour so let's set it aside." No judgement. No denying. No struggle. Repeat as necessary, without judgement.

May we give this a try this Sunday, or anytime, and see what happens.

Offered in loving grace,

Richard

For Sunday October 20th, 2024

Hello, to all and sundry. In his book An Urgent Message for Humanity, Melvin Morse describes an encounter a medium had with a pre-selected target. The medium reported going to the target, an older woman hospitalized with atrial fibrillation, saying hello to her, touching her arm, and telling her that her daughter would be coming to visit in a few minutes. Upon returning to the sitting room, where her body had been the entire time, the medium wrote down what happened and drew a picture of the woman.

The older woman was questioned. She reported that someone said hello to her although no one else was in the room at the time, and that she felt a hand on her arm. A few minutes later her daughter arrived to visit. And, her atrial fibrillation was gone.

There are many of these seeming 'angel encounters' which were actually brought about by living people who managed to become fervently and lovingly focused.

May we sit this evening with the intention to practice a fervent, loving, focus, then let our hearts lead us on. You never know what may happen by developing even a degree of it. Let's find out, shall we?

Bless you all in all you do,

Richard

For Sunday October 13th, 2024

Hello beautiful people. By the time Tom Sawyer was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis he had already beaten the typical life expectancy for that disease. Typical life expectancy was five years from the onset of symptoms. He had lived eight years by then. When he was included in a research study for a new treatment, he was the only one who really benefited.

His explanation – attitude changes everything.

How we approach a problem has no effect on the problem itself, but it makes a HUGE difference in how we bring solutions. With our free will we can bring an attitude of sad, defeated subordination or we can bring an attitude of 'well, what can I really do here?' You can feel the difference in your body chemistry and emotional outlook.

 
This evening let's set an intention to develop our attitudes. May we face our lives with openness, willingness, and curiosity. We already set intentions to find a good parking space, right? Let's expand on that.

With blessings for all,

Richard 

For Sunday October 6th, 2024

Hello, beautiful people. Here's a familiar human foible: A situation occurs in which we're not sure what the outcome will be. We react with fear, which is uncomfortable. So, we replace fear with anger. Focusing anger on the situation gives us the illusion of power and purpose. Anger, power, and purpose gives us something to do, which is far more emotionally comfortable than the unknowns of fear. Anger, power, and purpose driven by fear creates chaos – which then drives fear, anger, power, and purpose to recycle again. If not interrupted, it is endless.

On the other hand, we know love casts out fear. The question is, how do we love in the original situation?

 
The answer to that varies based upon the individuals involved, the actual situation, and perhaps a degree of intuitive timing. You may not know anything until it's time to know it. The key is in the searching.

May we sit this evening being open to what may come from honest searching, for the trust that answers will come, and for the courage to follow through.

Bless you all for who you are,

Richard

Special Prayer Request

Hello all, looking at the destruction of Hurricane Helene prompts a prayer for all those affected. May God's will be done.

Richard

For Sunday September, 29th,

Hello and welcome to official fall. We've all had experience with 'monkey mind' during meditation. It's typically seen as an interruption. But, what if there's something we can learn from it? The monkey mind comes from us. Observing it tells us about ourselves in a very accurate way, because it is us. It is of our mind.

So how do we make best use of monkey mind? We observe it – without comment. Our monkey mind is no more an interruption of us than our limbs are an interruption of our bodies. The trick is to simply observe. Watch it happen, then let it pass of it's own. That can be the difficult part.

We're so accustomed to commenting, judging, analyzing, toying with in a million ways, that to just observe has become the difficult part.

May we sit this evening just watching without comment. Observe what is. Be with whatever comes. If a larger perspective becomes apparent, observe that too.

Submitted with love,

Richard

For Sunday September 22nd, 2024

Hello beautiful people. It's always a treat for me when Sundays land on the 22nd. Tom Sawyer considered that to be an important vibration number. 

And, in keeping with the process of the transformation of the Earth and humanity, let's remember that changes can be difficult. We can each recall a time when we've personally rejected a change before embracing it. It looks like that's what's happening now.

 
There are 56 armed conflicts, involving 90 different countries, happening around the Big Blue Marble right now – more than at any other time since WWII. But, there are also more groups of people working toward peace.

We are promised a beautiful conclusion. We are not promised an easy path.

 
May we sit this evening giving energy to this ongoing process – in accordance with Divine will.

 
Reverently submitted,

Richard 

For Sunday September 14th, 2024

Hello gracious and good people. When we look at the world we typically view it from an individual standpoint, our personal past, and whatever happens which affects us now. Or, we see it as something which is happening 'over there' to other people.

However, if it's true that we are all One, then our individuated view of the world is incomplete.

May we sit Sunday evening with the awareness that nothing happens in separation. We are WE, all of One humanity. An injury to one person is an injury to the human race. The contentment and satisfaction of anyone is a positive for all. May we realize the flow of the human experience, and our place in it.

Blessings, and thank you for who you are,

Richard 

For Sunday September 8th, 2024

Hello and welcome once again. We have all been conditioned by our upbringing; our families, our religions, our politics, our financial positions, our biases and prejudices, even the shape and health of our bodies. And here we are, caught up in this huge, massive, ever flowing, and tremendously powerful river of life. Our conditioning is so small, narrow, and shallow in comparison to all that life is, yet our conditioning is what we respond to life from.

Can we drop all that? Are we capable of leaving all of our conditioning behind and seeing life anew? If not we will remain trapped within our familiar walls of conditioning, and miss the grand and beautiful expanse of what life truly is.

Let us sit this evening without blinders on our experiences. Let us be open to see all that is. Let us truly and simply BE.

With love for all,

Richard