Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – I’m back!

Tags

Bodybuilding, Dad, family, God, Home, NIece, Wife

Well, folks, my nieces have headed back home to Virginia and Arizona respectively, and we are finally back on schedule. It was a great time! We played board games like Scrabble, SkipBo, and Boggle. Mom and the niece even gave Upwords a shot, although this game is deceivingly challenging, despite its ease of play.

The most important part of their trip was to visit Mom and Dad, particularly Dad, who has deteriorated quite a bit. The highlight was the two nieces watching a movie with Dad. Dad loves movies, but has given up watching them mostly, because he cannot understand them anymore. He enjoyed hanging out with the nieces though.

Some folks have a hard time with situations like this. Admittedly, I had a tough time of it, initially. Over time, however, I realized this is how it works. Our loved ones, our friends, everyone gets old. When we get old, there are certain things that happen, particularly with the brain. It just doesn’t work as well as it did when we were younger. I made my peace with Dad’s passing. I hope he stays with us longer, but when its time for Dad to leave–it’s time for Dad to leave.

For those of you who still have your parents around; enjoy them. I consider it a privilege to have gotten back home and enjoyed Dad before his decline. We got in a lot of tv time, movie time, and some good discussions. I will cherish them forever. Now, all Mom and I can do is keep him comfortable, and be ready when the day that Dad leaves.

If you haven’t noticed this before, watch your pets. They teach you a great deal. Both of the dogs we lost both slept most of the day, when they were getting ready to pass. You could see their paws moving as they slept, and hear a muffled bark. In my religious path, this is God’s way of preparing them for their next life. They get to see what they will be doing, where they will live, and the whole thing. I picture Goldie and Weezer, running in parks, totally healthy, with their new families. God is doing the same thing for Dad. He is preparing Dad for his next home.

I hope each of you are having a great summer. It is hot and muggy here, but still nice with blue skies. We had a little rain while the nieces were here, but they had a great time going out to eat with Mom, walking along the St. Clair river, which runs right next to our town, and even got to a Van Gogh exhibit in Detroit. Mom has been wanting to go, but didn’t have anyone to go with. Her friends were busy, and with our current situation, one of us has to be here at all times. So, one of the nieces did some research and got tickets for them to go. Mom had a great time.

My wife, just finished her third bodybuilding competition. She placed 2nd in one category and 5th in another. She was very proud of herself, and she busted her butt to get ready. We were all very proud of her. In the three years she has spent competing she has added 20 pounds of muscle! Anyway, I wanted to brag about her a bit, because the work she does in the gym and her diet are very impressive.

Well, that’s it for now. We’ll be back on schedule tomorrow.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Bonus Content – ECK Wisdom Series on Health and Healing

Tags

God, Healing, health, Karma, Public, spirituality, ZOOM

Hello all! I am running another spiritual discussion on Health and Healing, using the ECK Wisdom Series Booklet Health and Healing. If you’d like to join you can register at this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZckfumpqDMuH90HkN17U7X9zdvhX-F7rjWT

This link will send you an email with the ZOOM link itself for the session, which is on May 20, 2021 at 7 PM Eastern Standard Time. Many of you are outside the United States or are in different parts of the country, so make sure you adjust for the time difference.

I hope some of you can make it. It will be nice to meet some of you in person.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Wisdom Wednesday – Francis of Assisi

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

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

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

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.

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…

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

 

 

Daily Ramblings – Thankful Thursday – The School of Hard Knocks

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

 

Daily Ramblings – Spiritual Saturday – Be Grounded in Something

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