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Tag Archives: God

Daily Ramblings – Wisdom Wednesday – Francis of Assisi

13 Wednesday Jan 2021

Posted by Dave Gardner in Wisdom Wednesday

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Francis of Assisi, Giving, God, Lord, Peace, Pope, Saint, Wikipedia

Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.

Francis of Assisi

Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love.

Francis of Assisi

A single sunbeam is enough to drive away many shadows.

Francis of Assisi

While you are proclaiming peace with your lips, be careful to have it even more fully in your heart.

Francis of Assisi

For it is in giving that we receive.

Francis of Assisi

For those of you interested in reading about Francis of Assisi, here’s the Wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_of_Assisi

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Spiritual Saturday – The Law of HU

09 Saturday Jan 2021

Posted by Dave Gardner in Spiritual Saturday

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Contemplation, creation, Divine Spirit, Eckankar, God, Light and Sound, Meditation, reality, The ECK

HU is an ancient name of God. In ECKANKAR, we use it during our contemplations, among other charged words. You can chant HU, regardless of your religion. It is an uplifting mantra that gives peace and calm, particularly when life is giving you a rough time. Below is a link for you to listen to if you wish.

HU—The Sound of Soul

The Law of HU declares that the ECK or divine spirit, or what we call the Light and Sound of God, are the formers of this and many other universes. It is this divine spirit that gives life to the matter in this reality.

I hope all of you have a terrific Saturday.

May the blessings be.

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Spiritual Saturday – The Law of Grace

12 Saturday Dec 2020

Posted by Dave Gardner in Spiritual Saturday

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Discipline, earn, God, Grace, heaven, Jesus, Karma, realization, Work

Jesus said, “Come unto me and be lifted up.” Many assume God’s grace comes to us merely by asking for it. It does, but only when we make some effort to attain it. You only get what you earn. Nothing is given freely.

It is so easy to see really bad people doing bad things and wondering why they never have to pay the price. They do. Karma has no time limit when it comes to paying back our debts. Karma always wins. People think they are getting away with cheating on their taxes, cheating on their loved ones, or pretending they are doing something noble, but in the end, Karma always comes back to bite us–in this lifetime or the next or the next or the next.

“Soul exists because God loves it.” – Sri Harold Klemp. These words have changed meaning as I have matured on the spiritual path of ECKANKAR. Gods love is much different from the love you have for your pets or loved ones. It is an impersonal and powerful love. As I have mentioned earlier, the body Soul occupies (the one you exist in today), is meaningless to God. It is only a shell that Soul uses to learn while it is here.

God’s love is for Soul, which is imperishable. But Soul must work, discipline itself, and put effort into realizing the grace of God that is already there, ready for the taking. How do you realize it? You have to attain a state of consciousness that aligns with the ECK, or what many call the Holy Spirit. Imagine loving your enemy, as Jesus did and said. This is God’s love. God doesn’t care whether you are an evil person, a good person, a hard worker, or a sloth. God’s love comes to everyone equally. IT doesn’t play favorites. Some of the ignorant may think he chooses them over another, or favors them over another, but these are absolute falsehoods. God’s love is equally distributed to all.

God’s love comes like a wave. This wave goes out into creation and returns back to IT. Everyone gets God’s grace, but few recognize it, because they lack the ability to realize it. What does realization mean? It means that you believe in something and accept it wholeheartedly. You know. There are few in this plane of existence that have attained God realization, or the actual experience of God, but it is attainable. Those that have, have a different experience of life than the rest of us. They see the beauty in the simple things. They see God in everything.

Well, I’ll end this little talk here. I hope all of you have a terrific day!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Spiritual Saturday – The Law of Change

14 Saturday Nov 2020

Posted by Dave Gardner in Spiritual Saturday

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

God, inevitable, Law of Change, reality, Spiritual, Spiritual Saturday, Universe

Take a moment to think about your life. What do you notice?

One thing I notice when I look at my life is change. The Law of Change deals with this aspect of our universe. Nothing stays the same—nothing. Our bodies age, our friends change, our environment changes, our relationships change, and so on. Everything in this reality we live in is constantly changing.

Why does change occur? It occurs because our universe is built on three different forces. There is a positive force, a negative force, and a neutral force. These forces interact with one another and impact each of us in an infinite amount of ways. Since each of us is unique, we experience these fluctuations in these three forces uniquely. Our experiences with these fluctuations can be good, bad, or indifferent. Our experience is dictated by our reactions to them. If we perceive change as good, we accept it. If we perceive change as bad, we fight it. If we perceive a change as neutral, we don’t see the change, so it doesn’t affect us.

Realizing this, it should be apt that we embrace change, expect it. But do we do that? No. We fight it, we rail against it, we dislike it. This results in a pretty unhappy existence for most.

When things change around us, we have to change. For example, if you are working a good job and told one day that the company is going out of business, you have to adapt to that change. If your loved one tells you that he or she is no longer in love with you and is having an affair, you have to adapt to that. When you wake up and realize you’re sick, you have to adapt to that.

Change is inevitable. It is constant. It is ongoing. When things change, look for the positives. Embrace the change as necessary for your spiritual growth. When you do this, you’re going to begin enjoying changes in your life and realizing a fact: All is in its rightful place in the worlds of God – Harold Klemp. Nothing is left to chance here. There is no bad or good luck. All is in its rightful place. Our feeble human minds may not grasp the reason behind a change, but the change is going to come, and it is necessary for you, me, all of us.

I hope you have a terrific Saturday!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Spiritual Saturday – Mom and Dad Don’t Know Anything.

13 Saturday Jun 2020

Posted by Dave Gardner in Spiritual Saturday

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Tags

Compassion, Forgiveness, God, heartless, intolerant, Old, Soul, tolerance, Unforgiving, Young

Each generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than the one that went before it, and wiser than the one that comes after it.

George Orwell

It is hard to argue with the quotation from George Orwell. It was a while back, but I remember my youth. And this is exactly what I thought when I was younger. The older generation was cute, but didn’t know anything. Now that I’m in my later 50s, I have the same thoughts about the generation behind me. You haven’t experienced enough yet. Wait until you’re my age.

Ahh, the self-righteousness we all carry with us.

To reckon with this, I have adopted the following three characteristics: Tolerance, Forgiveness, and Compassion. As I’ve aged, I have become more sensitive to the mistakes of others and realized that most people don’t go out of their way to hurt, insult, or injure others. I’ve also realized that holding grudges is a horrible waste of time and hurtful to everyone involved. Finally, I try to be compassionate for those who are doing the best they can with what they have and still come up short.

Honestly, I have benefited from the tolerance, forgiveness, and compassion of others. So, I pay that back. I remember the nice things that are done for me. I remember mistakes I’ve made and how other people gave me a break. I remember the people who listened to me complain when that was all I could do.

You see, we’re all human. We are all learning and experiencing and doing the best we can. We all deal with our current circumstances, work through them, and hope for the best. If we can all take a moment and try to empathize with others and treat each person with dignity and respect, we would see some dramatic changes in the world around us.

In my religion, we look at one another as Soul, a spark of God. When I have difficulty with this, I imagine the person I am having a challenge with as a child. Can any of us be angry with a child? Even one that is being a brat? Sometimes. But for the most part, we cannot be angry with a child. Why? Because the child doesn’t know any better. The child is learning about his or her world. The child is making mistakes and learning. When you view other people as children, it takes some sting away when there are hard feelings between you.

Some would consider this idea madness, when you think about the outright evil in this world. Then again, what is good? What is evil? We all define these terms using our viewpoint. Good and evil are subjective terms.

When you read a book, you soon learn who the good guy is and who the bad guy is. What defines the good guy and the bad guy? The author does. As the reader, you have to either agree with what the author has described as evil and what he or she has described as good. But there are always nuances, particularly if the author is good at their craft. Darth Vader, for all the Star Wars fans in my reading audience, is the heavy in the Star Wars saga. He is the bad guy. But is he? He is redeemed in the end, right?

So the next time you are unforgiving, intolerant, or heartless, remember that the people who are older than you are, did the best they could. Those that are younger are learning and experiencing and figuring things out. You did the same stupid shit, the young people today are doing. You are now the pompous one, complaining that the younger generations ‘don’t know nothin’. Remember that each of us is a child of God.

There’s a quote prominent in my religion. It is this: “Soul exists because God loves it.” God loves the good, the evil, the young, the old, the animals, the plants, everything. God loves because that is ITS nature. When you are tolerant of others, forgiving of others, and compassionate for the trials and challenges others are experiencing, you take another step toward God.

Have a great Saturday, folks.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Spiritual Saturday – In Times of Trouble…

21 Saturday Mar 2020

Posted by Dave Gardner in Spiritual Saturday

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Tags

Bible, God, Inner Peace, Meditation, Prayer, Religious Practice, Spiritual Exercises, spirituality, The Calm

They say that we seek comfort during times of trouble. Many reach out to friends and family. Others use activities to take their mind off of things. Some turn to their religious beliefs.

It’s hard now because they’ve banned public gatherings across the country. Religious institutions are closed. No one but families in the home can get together. So how do you get comfort?

Some religious institutions are offering worship services online. Others are doing charitable work in the community by delivering food and other items to those less fortunate or at risk. Some will read their Bible or religious tome and rely on the faith they have in their hearts. I fall into the last group. I have a faith belief that all things happen for a reason and that whatever happens is exactly what should happen. “Everything is in its rightful place in the worlds of God.” – Harold Klemp.

How you comfort yourself and your family is up to you. I am comforted by the timeless principles in the scripture I read daily. I am also comforted by the daily spiritual exercises that help me reach the calm within. It is always there—waiting.

I hope each of you finds the calm in your own way. It is a tremendous place to be during calamity, disaster, and chaos, when the world seems to get more frightening daily.

Be safe. Follow the guidance provided by authorities. Take care of each other. We will all get through this together.

Until next time…

Dave

 

 

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Daily Ramblings – Thankful Thursday – The School of Hard Knocks

13 Thursday Feb 2020

Posted by Dave Gardner in Thankful Thursdays

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Tags

Experience, God, Hardship, Love, pain, Suffering, Teacher, Thankful, trouble

I review my life quite a bit. I wonder why I did this or that. I relish the experiences I’ve had. I like looking back at what I call a pinnacle moment. That moment when you make a decision that drastically changes your life. Sometimes a change comes because we want it. Other times, it comes because we have no other choice.

I’ve experienced bankruptcy, death, horror, fear, extreme boredom, and high adventure. I’ve experienced divorce, breakups, and the loss of dear friends. I’ve achieved some pretty terrific things and failed miserably at others.

What have I gathered so far in this life? Quite a bit of wisdom. I’ve learned what to avoid. I’ve learned about myself. My definition of love has changed. I’ve cultivated a gratitude for everything in my life.

I think about how I am today, compared to what I was. When I look back over the years, I didn’t like my earlier self too much. But you have to start somewhere. Over the years, hardship and problems have smoothed out the rough edges. I’ve become more accepting of other people and empathize more with people in tough positions. Perhaps this empathy developed because I have experienced some of these things myself or at least can measure another person’s troubles more accurately now that I have experienced some of the things others have.

Would I change anything? No. My life is the way it is today because of each bump, scratch, and tear. I like where I am today. There are many more things to learn, perhaps even more suffering, but each experience is a gift. One of my friends told me that many people are upset with life because of what life does to them. He told me that life doesn’t do anything to us—life does things for us. To rephrase, it’s not what is done to us, but what is done for us.

We are all here to learn through experience. God wants us to come home, but only when we have learned to serve others, to love others, and receive the love of others. When we achieve that state, we can then become Co-workers with God and carry out our mission for the good of all.

I hope each of you has a terrific Thursday.

Until next time…

Dave

 

42.997350
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Daily Ramblings – Spiritual Saturday – Be Grounded in Something

08 Saturday Feb 2020

Posted by Dave Gardner in Spiritual Saturday

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Tags

Doing your Best, Expertise, God, Grounded, Harold Klemp, Paying attention, spirituality

“Become an expert in something. You need to be grounded in something. When you do something for God, for the highest principle, you do each step until it sings.”

—Harold Klemp, The Language of Soul

When I first joined the Army back in the early 80s, my first few years were tough. I was going through the motions, doing all I could to stay out of trouble, but my heart wasn’t in it. I was in this organization 24 hours a day and wasn’t really doing all I could to do my best.

I thought about that one weekend and decided to change things up. I said to myself, “You’re here. You might as well make the best of it and do the best you can at anything the Army asks you to do.” It was hard at first.

Then, as I began to gain some pride in myself, I began feeling good about my uniform, my room, my equipment. I began to put even more effort into the service. I began reading military history, started exercising in the base gym, began reading regulations, field manuals, anything I could get my hands on. You know what? My life in the Army transformed. I actually began to enjoy the service I volunteered for. The remaining 18 years was a joy.

I’m not sure if other veterans can relate, but I’m pretty sure that a great many followed the same path I did. They realized that they were here, anyway. Why not do your best with the time you have?

That lesson led to many other experiences and taught me something. It’s better to do the best you can on any job, than half-ass it. You feel great when you do a good job. You feel great when you develop expertise in something. The people around you notice too. They will approach you to help them. They will ask you how you got good at it. They will notice.

I enjoy writing. I enjoy learning. I enjoy programming. I enjoy exercise. I enjoy my spiritual path. In each of these areas and many others I do my best. I do the best I can.

The moral of this posting is this: We can all be lazy and do the bare minimum. That’s easy. If this is you, try something different. Try putting all you have into each task, whether it’s making your bed, folding your laundry, or taking out the trash. Take your time, do the best job you can do. Then, when you’re done, take a minute and think about how you feel. It’s a great feeling when you know you did your best. It feels even better when you decide to do your best for God. Then, it takes on a whole new meaning.

Do everything until it sings.

Until next time…

Dave

42.997710
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Daily Ramblings – Spiritual Saturday – Live Your Life Fully

24 Friday Jan 2020

Posted by Dave Gardner in Spiritual Saturday

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Dream, Dreams, God, Life, Live, Purpose, Serve

All of us have dreams. Our dreams are unique to each of us. How do you figure what they are? Some of them are a given. We have to uncover the others.

Sometimes we put off our dreams because we don’t think we’re good enough. Perhaps we lack the training or knowledge we need. Whatever it is, I think many of us give up too quickly.

So how do we overcome something like that? Well, we need to use the same tools we use to create the blocks we put in front of ourselves to begin with. Ignore the blocks for now. Instead, imagine what you would do if you couldn’t fail. Think about that for a moment. What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail?

If you conducted this little thought experiment you probably felt a huge rush of freedom and the same wonder, you had as a child. This happened when I did it. It exhilarated me.

So now you have the capability of pursuing something that has real meaning for you. This is living. This is what will wake you up in the morning. This is what will cause you to work in your spare time to achieve something you really want.

How do you think anyone else got started? J. K. Rowling, Stephen King, Albert Einstein, Stephen Hawking, anyone you recognize as someone who has achieved great things. If you look at everyone’s history, you see that they all started out the same way. They were all kids at one point. They all had their struggles. Yet, here they are decorating our history with an amazing collection of feats. Sure, in hindsight we could say they had gifts. But, imagine if they chickened out? We wouldn’t have Harry Potter, The Shining, The Theory of Relativity, or a greater knowledge of black holes.

I am a firm believer that each of us is here to learn something, do something. I don’t know what your “thing” is. Figuring this out is up to you. Do you want to live your life pushing the envelope, pursuing your life’s dream or do you want to sit on the sidelines, cowering in fear, afraid to fail at something you haven’t even attempted? I hope you pursue the former.

I don’t know if I’ll ever be a great writer or write a helpful computer program that people will pay for. I don’t know if any of my books will sell. I know that I want to try to, realizing a long time ago that none of us can fail if we keep trying. It may take us longer than we like. It may be harder than we thought, but we can’t fail if we keep pushing forward.

I believe we are all here for a purpose. We’re here to learn. We’re here to serve others. We’re here live our lives fully, experiencing all that life has to offer. Get out there. Make something happen. You have nothing to lose and who knows? You might just get what you want.

Have a great Saturday folks.

Until next time…

Dave

 

42.941645
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Daily Ramblings – Thankful Thursdays – Thanks For the Memories—The Good and the Bad…

22 Wednesday Jan 2020

Posted by Dave Gardner in Thankful Thursdays

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Tags

BeautyBeyondBones, Calm, Dark Night of Soul, Faith, God, memories, Peace, Pheonix, Transformation

When I think of “Thanks for the Memories”, I think Bob Hope. If you’re too young to remember him, he was an actor and a comedian and did a lot of work with the USO to support our men and women in uniform.

I’m thankful for my memories. There are good ones and bad ones. What I’ve found over time is that the bad ones fade a bit, some even funny, while the good ones just get stronger.

I’m thankful for the bad ones because they teach us so much. I always learn more during the hard times than I do during the easy times. I think this happens because when your survival instincts kick in; you are so alive. Every sense is tingling, your creativity is through the roof.

The most important learning I have gained from the bad memories I have had is that you survived. It was tough. It was hard, but you made your way through it. If you want to read some stories that will just knock you in the dirt, check out my friend’s blog Beauty Beyond Bones.

I have not read her book yet, but it’s on my list. Read through a few of her blog posts, particularly the early ones when she just started out. I don’t want to give anything away, but they are heartbreaking. I’m a sucker for people who have faced this kind of adversity and win. She’s a testament of faith, belief in God, and is just “hard as nails.”

My memories are not as stark as hers, but they are uniquely my own. Each of us when we face those “dark nights of soul” rely on our creativity, our faith, and anything else we can grab onto to pull ourselves out of that deep, dark hole we find ourselves in, when nothing is going right, nothing works, and there appears to be no way out. It takes an iron will to push through these periods in our lives. Slowly, we pull ourselves out.

We are stronger, learn what NOT to do, and we evolve, much like the legend of the Phoenix, who rises from the ashes—renewed. After we’ve endured and recovered from events like these, we are different. We look at life with a new set of eyes. We realize that we are stronger than we ever thought we were.

I’m a firm believer that God never gives us something we cannot handle. God knows us better than we ever will. God gives us these experiences to become stronger spiritually, so we can serve others.

My good memories are always better. You feel them more. The day I proposed to my wife. The day I graduated from college. The day I graduated from Ranger School. My wife and I’s first date. These memories, along with many more, fill my heart with love. All of us have these memories. Hold on to them. They will continue to fill your heart with warmth and a love that is indescribable.

I hope each of you is having a great week. It’s late where I am (around 11:30 pm). I can hear the customary trains coming through town. It’s 27 degrees outside, and all is quiet. My time alone at night is a precious time. During these times I reminisce through all of my experiences, listen to calming music, and thank God for this life. A life that has been worth living, filled with adventure, excitement, fear, pain, boredom, and all the rest. I hope each of you can find a moment or time during the day to reach the same place I find myself every evening. A place of calm, peace, and gratitude for the gift of living.

Thanks for your attention.

Until next time…

Dave

42.941645
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