OUR EYES WILL OPEN

We will wake up! We will give up the illusion and leave duality behind. When? We ask. When is this going to happen?

Let's say, it already happened. But we still can't see. Let's look at what's keeping us from seeing. The energy frequency of love is streaming down on Earth. It is coursing through our bodies. Individually and collectively we have many, many unresolved issues. They are rapidly working themselves out.

From the time we were born we were taught to judge ourselves and others. Some of us were brought up in religions that made god a cruel being that would send one to hell. We may have left that religion forty years ago; still it has imprinted responses in our minds that are difficult to erase. These imprints are mere shadows of what they were, but they are still shadows. We have grown a great deal. We have practiced forgiveness and learned to love ourselves and each other. These shadows, from many past experiences, continue to blur our vision. At some subliminal level, they keep us worried and in doubt about our worthiness, despite the endless promises from a loving universe that we are worthy and great beacons of light.

At some time, even the best of us are going to be weighed down and may doubt who we are. Let us not concern ourselves with trifles. The Unconditional Love of the Universe, Our Creator, wills that we come together. It is not a wish it is Will and it will be done.

Our eyes will pop open! We will See! With great relief we will experience a world without fear. Anxiety will not exist. Self doubt will be an ancient memory. A whole creation will lie before us.                     

When we find ourselves in a funk. Look first if there is an immediate thought or feeling. Do we need to forgive ourselves or others? Sometimes we may not be able to decipher what the funk is about. We can stop what we are doing and sink down into ourselves. We can find that quiet spot and ask the loving universe to engulf us in love and give us comfort.

Know that awakening is a done deal. It cannot not happen. Continue to shine your light and the shadows will burn off. As we are able to step out of the illusion, we will be able to help our neighbor. 

Just as we, as individuals, need to rid ourselves of shadows; the collective consciousness must rid itself of the dark. And that too, has happened, we are only experiencing the spasms of a dying age. Recognize that love will soon heal those breaches in our group mind. Do not dwell on the pain of the world lest it increase your own shadows. Send love to all in conflict. Love will out. LOVE IS! WE ARE ONE.

Love and Peace,  Gregg

LOVE

Wow! The world seems in upheaval. On the surface it is, and that is the only thing that gets reported. Or almost; positive news is now getting out. Love has been increasing exponentially. Love is stirring up the pot. Negative energy is rising to the surface to be burnt off or be vaporized. Collectively and individually we are ridding ourselves of our negative energy.

Imagine a huge wave of love/energy pouring over and through the Earth and the Earth's people. See it as a cleansing wave, washing out everything that is not love. This process leads to peace but is not in itself particularly peaceful. We are invited to give up all our negative energy.

There is a tremendous amount of noise right now because of all the old thoughts and ideas that are getting stirred up for review. We may find meditation difficult because of the clamor in our minds. It is all the more important that we persist and find that quiet place inside. Let the love energy flow through us and cleanse us of everything that is not love.

We have been saying all along that love is the only thing there is. It is time to realize it, and let go of all the petty judgements and conclusions that have been cluttering up our consciousness. We are the beacons of light that we have been told we are.

The great majority of folks on planet Earth have opted for Love. The insanity, being presently portrayed, has no energy behind it and will not last. Those who have, for eons, been wielding the power of divisiveness have lost to the power of love. They will be shrinking off the stage.

These are great times, but also disturbing for individuals, who experience everything changing and have not grasped that everything is love. The great flow of Love through our consciousness will make everything obsolete that is not based on Love. All the worlds institutions and systems will stand only to the degree they are based on Love. The  banking system and corporate world, as it now exist, will collapse. This is going to be sooner than later.

In  the last several years there have been millions of folks who have been imagining systems and institutions, based on love and respect, of all humankind. There are people standing by with a sane banking system, ready to be installed, when the old one collapses. Many people have been waiting for the old forces to get out of the way so new forms of energy could be incorporated. Our Mother gives us everything we need for an idyllic life, including free energy, and all the technology we would want.

The more we focus on Love, as the only thing there is, the easier the changes will be. Love is the energy of creation. LOVE IS! There is nothing else, except the illusion we choose to make. It is time for the illusion to be over. We choose to embrace Love.

Each of us has a vital role in bringing in the New World. Find that peace inside you. Act out of love and peace and your contribution will be ideal. We will see how to best help our neighbors who have not quite woken up. Those of us, who see, will  be in a position to help those ready to unlearn. Nobody can be forced to see. We cannot argue or cajole people out of old positions. Just listen to them with love. They will gradually be able to give up their old way of interpreting the universe. Love surrounds us. We will all learn to see.

Love and Peace,  Gregg

MIND BOGGLING

It is a slow Morning; at least, in terms of my activity. I am late getting started on my blog, but I have no big plans today. I need to do a pile of dishes and I would like to change the oil on my lawn mower. I am having a leisurely day. It is good. I feel comfortable and peaceful, as if the arms of the Universe are embracing me. Time is speeding up again.

It is a given that when you reach my age time goes fast. It appears to happen to all of us. But it has been going especially fast these last couple weeks. I have written about this before. I think I mentioned that it seems to go in spurts. It slows down for awhile {but never slow-unless we are waiting}. No, time never seems to slow down to normal-but then how could there be a normal. Anyway, it seems like Friday was just yesterday and I can't believe July will soon be over.

Most of us accept that time is an illusion. Linear time exist in this 3rd dimensional world of duality. It doesn't exist, as we experience it, once we pass out of this phase. When we pass out of it we will be in a perpetual NOW. Everything will be NOW. Many of us practice this in our present 3rd dimensional state. It is difficult to maintain, but we can get a glimpse of it. To understand it though, wow! Doesn't it boggle the mind?

We are so time oriented. We have a clock in every room of the house. How can we get our mind around the idea that time doesn't really exist? At some level we know it is true. It is as if we have this profound knowledge deep within us. We can only access it by quieting our mind, way, way down. Our mentors say we know everything. That brings us to another mind boggler, ONENESS.

Perhaps, when we reach that very quiet place, we can understand Oneness, also. I think it may be easier to understand intellectually, than Time is. We can see that we inhabit a great variation in body types, but at a feeling level, we can relate to each other. We can imagine what the world might look like peering out of another's body and body of experience. Yet, those realizations tend to be transitory. Our default position appears to be separateness.

Yet, when we quiet our mind, oneness is something we can feel. In meditation we can feel our mind [self?] expand so it includes everybody. It is knowing but it isn't intellectual. Those of us who haven't experienced it, may do it. When in meditation we can let our awareness expand, invite the world in to share our consciousness, without thought. There is a sense of home, of belonging, of being One.

Many of us, who have been practicing beaming our love on all that we meet, experience a sense of oneness in our love exchanges with the people we meet. For an instant, there is a coming together with Love. Love joins. Love brings together.

Perhaps we have a better sense of Oneness, than the unreality of Time. Certainly, there are folks who can help guide us. We are heading out of this 3rd dimensional dominance. There are already folks who are not boggled by these concepts. Soon we will all See, and when we do See, we will wonder what the fuss was.

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Love and Peace,  Gregg
  

WANDERING

I got up about an hour later than usual, this Morning, and in my eagerness to let my chickens out, I found myself taking a different route to the barn. I walked by different bushes, ducked under different branches and passed by a clump of day lilies I don't usually pay much attention to. It was the same distance, just a little different path through the yard. It is only hundred yards from my door to the chicken coop, yet one could experience a different world by altering the path slightly. I realized that from any spot, I stopped and observed, I would perceive a different world. 

In our spiritual journey we are cautioned to stay on the path. However, the path out of this illusion, is not the "straight and narrow" path often defined. There is nothing rigid about the path that leads us back to Source. It is the illusion that is full of rules and regulations. When our mentors cautioned us to stay on the path, they are recommending that we keep our eyes on Love. Let Love guide us every step of the way.

We are to stay in this moment. NOW! Get it? NOW! That is where Love is. Go with the Love, we are on our path. Sounds simple. And it is simple.

But........................ we have so much unlearning to do. We are in the moment. We experience nothing but love. Then our thoughts, programmed by thousands of years of separation, start pulling us out of the moment. No matter what the the thought is, if we examine it, we will find it is fear based. The dishes need washing. I wonder if we will get that bill paid on time? I wonder what that kid is up to now? What is happening in the Ukraine? What is wrong with my toe? I wonder if the mosquitoes will be bad for the party? The thought can seem important or silly. It has one function, to take us out of the NOW and reestablish us in the illusion.

Can we give up time? Can we live in a perpetual NOW and know all creative solutions will be given us? It is said that problems and solutions arrive together and there is no need to be out of the present.

Separation from Source has been wrought with fear. We indulged in separation from each other to the point where all kinds of competition and aggression, aimed at the other, dominated our psyche. Our egos became protective shields to keep us safe from attack. We learned. We saw that this path only led to perpetual hell. We saw that it was fear of the other that kept us from paradise. We learned that we had made a whole array of things to be afraid of and they kept us from experiencing truth, which is love.

We could see that Oneness with Source and Each Other was where our safety lie. We discovered that pursuing Love was our path back to Source. More and more we are learning to be in the moment. More and more we are learning to reject fear thoughts as meaningless. As we go along our paths of love we begin to glimpse ONENESS. What if we all existed in one energy? One creative force? A creative force that was Source {Or God if you prefer}?

What if we could exist without fear? Without anxiety? Without a past or future? What if we could just wander through creation experiencing what is? I love to wander. Let us wander through this universe with love and then explore the next one.

Love and Peace,  Gregg

WAKING UP

In my earliest memories of looking out upon the world, I thought the world would be paradise if we didn't interfere with it. I know I had confused and mixed feelings and my seeing was often obscured, but in essence, I believed it had to be perfect. I was in love with Nature, sometimes a little overwhelmed, many times in awe, but always in love.

My dream was to be a forest ranger and live in some wilderness paradise. Of course my life path was completely different. I was fascinated by how we {human kind} defined our role in Nature and what we were all about. My intellectual quest led me to philosophy, psychology and anthropology. The ultimate quest was understanding, 'who was I' and 'who is the other'.

I lived life with both hands and didn't shy away from many experiences. But all through my life was this thread of understanding, the world could be paradise if we just loved each other. Perhaps I didn't pay attention to this awareness all the time-but it was always there. Many teachers and great ones encouraged me to do something. Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, there were many more. They could see that it was only our own silliness that kept us out of Paradise.

In the Seventies there was a great back to the land movement. Jamie and I were swept up in it without even knowing it was a movement. We thought we were originals. We thought we were pioneers showing others how to live on the land. It was only after we had emerged our selves in it that we discovered it was a huge movement and there were several magazines dedicated to the 'back to the landers'.

About the same time I developed an idea for a Healing/Learning Center. I envisioned a gathering of folks who had many talents as healers, people who understood Nature was the source of healing. I saw understanding, who we are, as part of the healing. Understanding reincarnation, understanding how are minds work, understanding, connection and interaction of mind, body and spirit. I would include anybody who had something valuable to offer, whether it be an astrologer, numerologist, herbalist, massage therapist, energy healer, nutritionist, gardener, etc. and traditional doctor dentist folks. The idea was to reeducate people to live on the Earth with harmony. It would require people to give up all their pet beliefs and learn to see. I knew we lived in paradise. I wanted to see it. I wanted others to see it.

We moved here to our present location in 1975. We had a wood stove in the kitchen with a water reservoir. The house had running water when we moved in but the system was crippled and rather than repair it we put a hand pump on the well and built an outhouse. It was what we wanted to do anyway. We wanted to discover what folks lost when they embraced the, so called, modern conveniences.

In 1975 through 1977 I met many people who were interested in my idea of a healing center. There were people of influence, with the money to kick start it, who expressed interest. I had the notion that I had to express my confidence in the idea and go ahead and trust in Source. I left my psychotherapy practice in the city in March of 1977 to begin the project.

Well, a lot happened. Jamie and I had many an interesting experience. We met many interesting people, we would have never met if we had our old lifestyle. We did meet many people, very interested in spirituality, who shared an interest in learning to live on the Earth in a sane and peaceful manner. Perhaps the Healing Center did happen in a way that I didn't recognize. We had many people come up and spend an afternoon or a few days with us and I think we all learned immensely.

I recognized the Healing Center was not going to happen and I opened an office in a neighboring town. It worked marginally, but it was clear that I needed to rejoin the class of salaried professionals if I was to care adequately for my family. 

I rejoined the professional community by getting a job as a social worker in a rural county. I moved from there to a larger county, then worked for a while as an in-home family therapist for a private agency. I rejoined the county I started out in in 1962. This is 1988. I worked in intake, then  began and supervised the Children's Mental Health Unit. The last several years before I retired in 2000 I was Program Manager of the Family and Children Services.

I have never given up the idea of a Healing Center. We have so much to learn. Nature is a creation of Source, it is love. Everything we need is right here. For the last two thousand years we have been making Nature the enemy. She is waiting for us to see Her. She would like to embrace us with Love. We can't know what we will see until we rid ourselves of some silly ideas. We have thousands of years of unlearning to do.

Let's practice being awake. Let's pretend we are already awake. Let's see nothing but love. Let's not accept our egos' perception of the world and each other. Let's see through the superficial veil of each others' pretensions and look at the beauty and magnificence we have been hiding.

We can learn by taking on what we want to learn. We can be awakened. Let us refuse to see anything else but paradise.

Love and Peace,  Gregg

PAST AND ONENESS

What do past and oneness have in common? Giving up the past and 'Oneness' are two things I have trouble with. No matter how committed I am to giving up the past, things from the past still haunt my consciousness. I don't usually dwell on them and I can more readily dismiss them, but I still find myself sometimes cringing over some past event. Yet, it is much better than thinking these past things are important and I should feel guilty or remorseful. All and all, I have made progress. Just knowing that we need not pay attention to thoughts of the past is very helpful. I do cherish those moments when my mind is completely uncluttered and I am completely present. Meditation is a great help in finding that space and learning how to reach it quickly when the mind strays.

I practice daily being in the present moment, especially when I am outside doing the chores or simply walking around the farm. This Morning was an absolutely beautiful introduction to a wondrous day. Just for a moment I was chagrined to realize I wasn't seeing it. It is so easy to pay attention to some nonsense in your mind. This Morning I was paying too much attention to the creaks of an aging body. We learn. There will be a time when we can't imagine having any difficulty keeping our minds in the present.

I love the concept of ONENESS. One with Source. One with Nature. One with Each Other. If we really knew oneness, we would have no anxiety. Fear would be impossible. Love would be our only choice. I don't think I have trouble with the concept intellectually. Then it is not an intellectual idea. It is experiential. It is about being. It is about expanding the concept of being. It is about experiencing. I am just realizing that to be fully in the moment, where we can experience oneness, we have to give up the past. So, there is a connection.

All our difficulties come from believing we are separate from each other and from Source. We are coming together and realizing our oneness. As the light increases, those who were in control are panicking. They are attempting to start global war so they can regain control. Hot spots all over the world are being fueled be cabal interests. False flag operations in the Ukraine are underway. Israel's invasion of the Gaza Strip can only lead to further strife. The media reporting of world events will continue to reflect the war monger's interest. It won't last long. Already there is some sanity creeping into the news reporting and the present charade will not last much longer.

Although these events are heart breaking; unless you are in direct position to affect them, it is best not to dwell on them. Send your love to all folks involved and turn your mind to the love in your heart. When we know our oneness we bless everyone.  Know that these events are the last gasps of those who seek separation. They can't win. There is only love. We need to concentrate on getting our own act together. The world will follow.

Happy Friday!

Love and Peace,  Gregg 

GETTING THROUGH THE DAY

Decisions. Are we aware of what decisions are? There is, what to have for supper? There is, where to live? There is, what to wear? Who we should invite to a party? We can think of endless examples. Are these the important decisions?

Our most important decision is choosing between Love and Fear [with its myriad relatives]. We make them continuously in our minds. I am beginning to recognize how often we make these little decisions. We could call them micro-decisions, but there is nothing small about their affect on our consciousness.

The last few days I have been attuning myself to the decision making process on a minute by minute basis. I wanted to make all my decisions with love. What I discovered was both subtle and profound. My thought stream was constantly presenting me with things to judge. Instead of being completely open and surrendering to the moment I was filtering the world through a maze of little judgements. It is hard to describe. Everyone must do it themselves. I know there are a million examples but as I sit here they don't come to me.

I have had a Summer cold and as I walk along I might say to myself, "I wonder how long this cold will last". Now, you might think this is just a question, but it is not. It is a statement triggered by the fear that the cold will continue. "I wonder if it will be too cold for the party tomorrow".  Only the thinker knows if that is a real conjecture or a fear thought.

As we go through the day we observe, we see, we perceive, we experience. "Boy, that is an ugly car." Who in the world would get a tattoo like that?" "Wow he has got a big nose!"  Are these just observations about the world? Are they judgements? The thinker knows which they are. She/he knows if they are loving observations or judgements. Behind all judgements there is fear, although it may be hidden and not readily seen. A tattoo might upset one's sense of order; a person might be fearful she/he can't live in their predictable world. A big nose may being up fears about one's own appearance. Again, the thinker knows.

When we walk through the world without judgement; we walk in the light. It is as if the Sun is shining on us all the time. We bask in unconditional love. Any thought stream that is negative is ignored. We don't attach to any negative thoughts or ideas.

When ever we attach ourselves to a fear thought or judgement; we block the light. We descend in to darkness. It may be only a temporary cloud but it will affect our consciousness until it is dismissed or runs its course.

As I went through the day I was aware of how many times my mind departed from love, by my attachment to some thought. It might not have been heavy. It might have been only a light cloud. I might not have lost complete awareness with love. But where was that feeling of deep contentment? Where did the joy go?

The biggest decision is the one that is occurring in our minds right now. It is ongoing. We are deciding whether to love or not. Let us embrace Love. Let us walk in the light. We don't want to be afraid anymore. There are not any minor fears. They all block the light.

Love and Peace,  Gregg

UNLEARNING

Ever since we forgot our origins and the spectre of fear entered in, we have been programmed, by those most dominant, to see 'reality' as they saw it. Of course, it isn't reality as it is a manipulation of the illusion. 

Now we are about to enter a new phase of our evolution where we experience only love. If we hang on to our belief systems, we will stay stuck seeing the old illusion.

How do we unlearn? Let us start at a basic truth; love and fear cannot co-exist. Where fear is present, we are missing out on love. Can we look honestly at our myriad beliefs and see what has been influenced by fear? We all grew up with authority. Even the most loving parents resorted to fear to control or shape their children. We couldn't help it. Our parents did it to us. But the big boys, the ones who wanted to have power over us, were experts on controlling with fear. Get folks hooked on a fear and you can sell them anything e.g. cholesterol scary, give them statins; Sun dangerous, sell them sunscreen. Then, of course, the big one, War.

Those interested in controlling us have used the concept of war at every turn. Get people hooked with fear, and mobilizing for war is simple; whether the war is against Nature or another group of people. Terrorist, do they exist? Sure there are angry people everywhere. But the real terrorist are those that use violence to promote violence. It is emerging that most, so called, terrorist attacks are false flag operations perpetrated by those who want war for money and control. 

The gross ways we have been manipulated are not the biggest problem. Once folks accept that we have been manipulated into war and poverty and inequality; things will unravel fast. It is fairly easy to see that those in control have been using war for their own purposes and many have suspected it all along. We have three generations of men who have experienced the horrors of war and the rah, rah rah crowd are losing their clout.

The most significant aspects of our unlearning has to do with more subtle factors. Each of us has a network of little beliefs that drive our perception. We are not even aware of having the beliefs but they drive how we see the world. We continue to make judgements based on these beliefs and we are not even aware they are judgements. We think they are just conclusions or harmless thoughts. We don't see that they are a response to some minor fear we harbor.

Two obvious examples [that most of us share] are our attitudes toward time and money, and some people taught us they are the same thing. Time is an interesting illusion that is a major part of the larger illusion. How much do we allow time to interfere with the rhythm of our life? How often do we do things by the clock instead of by other more basic factors? Do we eat when we are hungry or at a set time? Do we go to bed when we are sleepy or when the clock tells us to?  How many of us can do nothing all day and feel good about it? How often have we escaped our focus on time?

Some of us have noted that our sense of time is changing. For most of us it has sped up. Today is Monday, but it seems that Mondays come one after another. Where did the weekend go? Where did the week go? It is the middle of July. How did that happen. Yet, sometime, when I am absorbed in something, I look at the clock and almost no time passed. Other times the clock seems to jump ahead without me knowing it.

Is it safe to say that time does not really exist as we know it? Perhaps, we are learning and unlearning.

Money, this is the big one. We have so many judgements and beliefs tied to money that an authentic reaction is hard to discern. Here, fear is both obvious and disguised. Money has been used to enslave us and we have been taught that it is our salvation. It will be awhile before we realize money has no value of its own. Many of us realize that now and we may spout this knowledge, but, how willing are we to depart with it. I think most of us will be relieved to do the relearning in this area. Money has created a great deal of fear.

Perhaps the most important aspect of learning and unlearning, we have to do, is our attitude towards Nature. We have been in a war with Nature for eons. Those interested in controlling us attempted to split us from Nature. They wanted us to get our wisdom from them rather than learn from Nature. We have a great deal of unlearning to do. We have a huge number of false and distorted ideas about Nature. Seen clearly, our natural surroundings can be the source of all our bodily needs e.g. food, medicines, clothing, housing etc. We can see Nature as a system of unconditional love. We have been programmed to be afraid of Nature and we have learned to relish our fears.

We will have Learning/Healing centers spring up through out the world to help with these problems. Our relearning about Nature deserves a blog by itself. I will be writing more about it.  

We are discovering that Love is always the answer.

Love and Peace,  Gregg

UNFOLDING

It is a strange time. Our mentors have said the dark has lifted. The cabal has been defeated. We are free to experience a world created by love. When I sit here and experience my little piece of paradise, I have no doubt. However, when I turn on the television or read the newspaper I see something else. The cabal might be defeated but they haven't given up. The news of the world is still steeped in negativity.

It is good that more and more is coming out about how we have been manipulated, with fear, to do the work of the dark. For eons we have fought wars to make the rich richer. We have been taught that good is bad and bad is good. We have accepted the tyranny of church and state, at the same time we are taught we are free beings. How does that work out? We are told we are free, while being enslaved to a capitalistic state.

We have been taught that natural functions, like sex are bad or at least suspect. We are taught that Nature is scary and even the Sun is to be avoided. Wow! The source of all life on this planet is dangerous? Hmmmmm, after a million years, or so, who came up with that? Everything has been turned upside down in our mind like a "1984" prediction.

I could go on and on about all the horrors that exist and how we have been indoctrinated with misinformation. We forgot why we are here or who we are. The horrors of the world are well documented. I don't need to do that here.

We can accept what our mentors say, the dark are defeated. It is true we have always been free, but we didn't know it and expressing freedom was difficult in a world that suppressed it. Now we can walk out in the light with only the resistance of our own minds holding us back.

How do we do that? How do we relearn? As our current history unfolds in front of us, we are going to be aghast at the amount of corruption. We are going to be startled again and again by how easily and completely we were fooled. It is important for our learning that we see it and acknowledge it. But - don't dwell on it.

As one of our final lessons in duality, we will be able to see the dichotomy between the old world and the new world of light. Focus on the world of light and love.

Remember we are creative beings and what we pay attention to, grows. Pay attention to love.

This is always been true. One of the reasons we have made such progress in the last seventy years is that millions of folks have quietly decided to focus on what is good. They have raised the vibration of the planet to the degree that the dark can no longer stay hidden. Bringing the dark to the light creates more light.

We are at the end, the struggle is over. Actually there was never any struggle. The very idea of struggle comes from the dark. The dark controlled by divisiveness. They created a war with everything. A war against drugs. A war against disease. A war against poverty. A war to end war. A war to be free. It goes on and on. They never intended to correct any of these problems. But they sure gained control and wealth fighting these fake wars.

Avoid the idea that their exist a war between the Light and the Dark. That is ridiculous. A war implies that the dark could win. That is impossible because the dark doesn't really exist. The dark is a figment of our imagination. We made it up because of our separation from Source. It only exist because we made it. We embraced fear and took it to its logical conclusion. We are done with that. The light always Is. The Light is Source.

Let us remember that during this unfolding. The images of the Dark that come to us may be truly diabolical. But it isn't real, it is just a bad movie we made up. Let us walk out of the shadowy theater into the Light. 

We are part of Source and great and marvelous beings of light. Let us practice seeing ourselves and each other in this regard. Our silly experiment with separation is over. We are coming together and acknowledging our oneness with Source.

Happy Friday! Celebrate!

Love and Peace,  Gregg

HOLDING PATTERN

WHAT'S GOING ON? That could be the title of this blog. I thought maybe I would just skip blogging today. I don't know what I have to say. But then, I am alive and breathing, I must have something to say.

It seems that I am in some kind of holding pattern. But it is not a stable condition. Sometimes I see Paradise. Sometimes I have my head in the toilet. Reminds me of that old song, "Sometimes I'm up, sometimes I'm down, oh yes Lord. Sometimes I'm almost to the ground................" The difference is, from some periods in the past, I can readily get out of it. I know how. I can pause, say some affirmations to myself and choose to love. Sometimes I am stubborn though, as if I choose to wallow in self pity or other morose feelings.

On one hand it feels like there is a great change going to happen in the world momentarily, on the other hand, it feels like we are going to have to put up with this world's craziness forever.

As I write this I can feel my mood lifting. In the last forty years, or so, I have developed a great faith in mankind's ability to evolve positively. When I am not too stubborn to look I can see the light growing and I can feel the guidance of an intelligence of Unconditional Love. I KNOW we are going to break through this veil of darkness and walk in the Light.

It is amazing, that I can know that I create everything in my mind, yet, I am willing to let negative thoughts drive my perception. Okay, I won't do it. I can pull the curtain back, at least, enough to get a glimpse of paradise.

When I look out at my world and I am not happy with what I see, I can make an effort to change what affronts me. If that is not possible, I can change my perception. I can always find something to love. I can always see some positive in a situation. Sometimes I stubbornly refuse to, I choose misery instead. That would be especially possible if the issue involves another person I am having an ego struggle with.  {Oh no Gregg! You wouldn't be like that, would you?} Well, perfection has eluded my so far. Anyway we are not here to learn perfection, we are here to learn love. I am not sure perfection is possible in these bodies. I know we can learn to love, though.

We can always choose love. What a relief, to emerge from the swamp, and know that love is always available. Everything is a learning experience. We are in this together. We are one.

Love and Peace,  Gregg

FINDING OURSELVES

Many of us have felt something missing in connection with the world we live in. We know our bodies are part of the natural order but but but.......we feel so separated from nature. We live in isolation from the natural world. Our houses are often air conditioned, our windows closed. We go from house, to car, to work and rarely venture out of our protective cocoon. Except for the occasional ant that scurries across a table top, we don't see much wildlife.

I live in the wilderness compared to many folks. We have a geothermal heat pump, so we have whole house air conditioning available, but we use it only five or six days a year. We love to keep our windows open and we have a screen porch that becomes the focus of our Summer living. We have sheep, goats and chickens. Deer and assorted wildlife visit us daily.

I am not excluding myself and family when I make the observation that we are separated from nature. I have known farmers who had no sense of the natural order around them and I have known city dwellers with highly developed connection with nature.

When we pay attention to the nonsense in our minds we miss everything around us. I can go out on a beautiful Morning and not hear the birds singing or feel the soft breeze caressing my cheek; I am preoccupied by the perpetual racket in the mind.

Almost everyone loves camping. It is renewing. It is reinvigorating. Living on the earth, cooking over an open fire. Sleeping outside or with only a thin layer of canvas between us and the world. I have had hunters and fisherman tell me the only reason they pursue the sport is because it allows them to take a vacation in the wilderness.

What is wholeness? We have all heard the expression. Is it knowing our spiritual, physical, mental selves as one? Isn't it odd that we seem to have divisions in our own being? We have mental processes that actually split ourselves from nature. How do we achieve wholeness? Does peace lie in wholeness?

Perhaps we need to understand how we have separated and insulated ourselves from nature. When we dream of our new world, what is natures role? Is that the right question? We are part of nature. We need to know how to understand our emergence in nature.

Perhaps it is best to assume we have never separated from nature. We deny our connection. In a similar manner we have denied our spiritual connection. Our spiritual nature and our biological nature are extant. They just are. We can only pretend they don't exist.

We take refuge in a mind that serves us poorly and denies the truth of our being. Seen correctly, the mind can be the tool that brings the spirit and nature into focus. We can achieve wholeness. Of course, love at every level is the solution.

On our path of finding ourselves, we may find art, music and poetry a great help. I have been neglecting poetry. I have some old favorites but I haven't been seeking out poetry as a means to open my mind and heart. Recently, the universe has thrust some poetry into my awareness. One poet is an old master, Rabindranath Tagore; the other contemporary, Billy Collins. Both of these folks are examples of poets that help increase our heart mind space. I am sure many of you have your own favorites. It is interesting that poetry gives an 'aha' experience without explanation or discussion. We may realize we see something differently without being able to explain it.

I will be writing more about how we can discover our oneness with Nature.

Love and Peace,  Gregg

FORTH OF JULY

When I awoke this Morning I didn't know if I was just going to write, NO BLOG TODAY, or what. I wasn't sure I had anything to say {of course that is usual} and my time is limited.

I still have the dishes to wash and we are leaving for a family party in an hour or so. In the last fifteen years or so, my oldest Son, Stuart, and his wife's family and friends have been gathering together on an old farm site in Wisconsin and celebrating the Fourth. They often make a three day affair of it. They invite the extended family and we have gone for the day several times.

It is generally the younger folks [under fifty] that camp over in tents. I guess that younger group is getting older. Stuart was fifty last year. My oldest daughter, Laura was fifty-four this year. Wow, how could a young man like me have two children over fifty? I have six children. My second Son, Matt, will be fifty next year. Andrew is next, he is forty-six. Noah is thirty-six and Naomi is thirty-four.

I always have loved celebrating Fourth of July. It comes at the end of the busy Spring season and ushers in the endless Summer. How I love Summer! My animals need very little attention. I let the chickens out in the Morning and lock them up at dusk. I have tried not closing their little door and for a few days it will work; but sooner or later a fox or skunk will discover they can get in and have a delicious dinner. Also, they will emerge at first Dawn, another time to be wary of predators. Great Horned Owls are still making their rounds at first light and they like chicken, too. 

We have a pond for the sheep but I do keep water for them in the farmyard area, also. Summer chores are light; making sure there is fresh water available and gathering eggs. I feed the chickens a little corn and mash. There have been times in the past when I have just let them forage in the Summer. They do fine and seem healthier. Giving them a little feed means I can wait until 8 to 8:30 to let them out in the Morning. They then lay most of their eggs in the coop and I don't have to hunt for them. The hens generally will lay their eggs in the coop anyway. It is only a few adventurous ones that will hide their eggs.

I hope everyone has a great Fourth of July, basking in the love of friends and neighbors. Keep spreading the light.

Love and Peace,  Gregg

STRUGGGLING TO SEE

I didn't have to struggle to see this Morning. I went out to let the chickens out and it was beautiful. An absolutely gorgeous Morning. Paradise was easy to see. We had some of that arctic air flow over us last night and the temperature dropped into the forties Fahrenheit. The record cold for this day is 49. We have been flip flopping from hot weather to cool. But it is a beautiful Summer, plenty of moisture and everything is lush.

 "I will to see", that is an affirmation from The Course In Miracles. It expresses an intent to see through the ego created veil that we weave before our eyes. We know it is an illusion, but it is all we know. We can't see any evidence that it is not real. Yet we know, that when we have those moments of clarity and love fills our hearts and minds the world looks quite different. Perhaps, still an illusion, but one of love rather than fear.

Our teachers, throughout the ages, have taught us that the first step out of the illusion is to see everything with/as love. After basking in unconditional love for a few generations we may be ready to see what is creating the illusion. We have been taught that it is the unconditional love of pure energy. All is energy. All is Love. All is oneness.

We have accepted that our experience is our creation. Most of us now experience a world created by both fear and love. The trouble is having a world created by a little fear is like being a little pregnant. Fear likes to attract the attention of the mind. When we let in a grain of fear, it opens the door for a bushel. As long as we are willing to tolerate a little bit of fear, we deny ourselves from Paradise. We can't put our big toe in hell and not let it take us over.

Okay, we struggle. That cranky neighbor. That difficult relative. Sure we know that the light is in them, too. They are good at engaging our egos. We react emotionally. There goes our Paradise. We have to accept that we are responsible for our perception. If your neighbor or relative wants to be crazy,  bless them. Bless them again. Imagine a white light around them ameliorating their negativity. We are not obligated to react to or correct another's negativity. We would be acting through our egos. Reacting could send both of us to hell. Correcting would be seen as controlling; which is ego. Guidance comes from people without any stake in the game.

We are learning acceptance. Acceptance doesn't react. Acceptance doesn't correct. Acceptance sees that the love is there. It may be hidden. It is there. Love is behind everything. Acceptance knows there is no need to struggle. We are learning. We are evolving. All we need to do is Love.

Every time we catch ourselves reacting through our ego, we are one step closer to giving it up. Yes, we are learning acceptance. Some of us learn easy. Some of us like to be dragged through the brambles. We are, all, learning.

There is only Love and Fear. It is our choice. There is no such thing as a little bit of fear.

Love and Peace,  Gregg