The Mystery within... |
My new book, Both/and Things—The Power in Reflection, is soon to be published. It highlights my growing understanding of the paradoxical nature of everything. In my first memoire, God Never Hurries, I danced with fear and anger for my mother’s and my safety. In Both/and Things—The Power in Reflection, I am evolving in my dance with love, forgiveness, and connection. I share what I am learning about fear and courage, evil, vital decay, recycling pain, curiosity, diversity’s many gifts, the evolution of love, unconditional love, and forgiveness. The following highlighted words capture the essence of Both/and Things.
Empowerment - Fear brought me closer to the truth to show me how my compliance with patriarchy allowed destructive behaviors in the other and myself. I learned I was the one who needed to change. And I’m still a work in progress.
Acceptance - Somehow the creative force of the Great Mystery exists in the interplay of darkness and light where so much becomes clear. I am learning that embracing the darkness is the first step to creating goodness and strength in us all.
Diversity - When we reflectively interact with nature and each other, we become good medicine for the earth and one another.
Belonging - I am learning a new language of belonging is needed to treat all of creation and each and everyone of us as holy.
Love - Each day brings ample opportunity to work toward life’s ultimate goal—love of self and all others unconditionally through the power of reflection.
Forgiveness - It’s all about forgiveness. Sheer compassion and forgiveness of myself teaches me how to love and forgive the other unconditionally.
Wisdom– My reflections in Both/and Things begin with quotes from diverse souls who understand what life is about:
Pema Chodron
“Fear is a natural reaction to moving closer to the truth.”
“Nothing awakens the heart like extreme sadness.”
e. e. cummings
“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really
are."
Richard Rohr
“Darkness, mistakes, and trials are the supreme teachers. Success really teaches you nothing; it just feels good."
Jellaludin Rumi
“Grief can be the garden of compassion. If you keep your heart open through everything, your pain can become your greatest ally in your life’s search for love and wisdom.”
Albert Einstein
“Never lose a holy curiosity.”
Stephen Covey
“Strength lies in differences, not in similarities.”
Teilhard de Chardin
“Yet it is the law of all progress that is made by passing through some stages of instability and that may take a very long time.”
“The most telling and profound way of describing the evolution of the universe would undoubtedly be to trace the evolution of love.”
“Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world [man] we will have discovered fire."
What if we all came to know the power in reflection?
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