CONSISTENCY

For those who have been following this blog for a while, you know that one of my favorite sources of inspiration is the Food Network show Chopped. This week was no exception. One of the spiritual messages that I have been receiving lately is about consistency. One of the primary reasons contestants are “chopped” is because there is inconsistency in plating and in preparation of the food. The inconsistency can be that the meats were cooked to differing degrees of doneness. Other times, the same amount of ingredients was not placed in the same way or in the same amount on the plates. Consistency is important. If you are going out to eat at a restaurant, it is important that all who order a dish, regardless of when they order it get the same dish. One of the things I have found personally challenging is when I order something and love it and then order it again a few weeks later and it is not the same dish. Inconsistency challenges one’s ability to trust they are going to have the same experience or that all who order it will experience the same dish.

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Song of the Week

 In the age of self-esteem, it can be easy to forget that our personal accomplishments are inexorably linked to the people who have supported us and the good fortune we have stumbled upon. Humble self-esteem is not the same as low self-esteem. It involves seeing oneself as worthy but not more worthy than others, and not without flaws. This is the theme behind this week's Inspiritual Song of the Week http://inspiritual.biz/inspiritual-song-of-the-week1/

Thought for the day

 “The human heart feels things the eyes cannot see, and knows what the mind cannot understand.”

Robert Valett
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Thought for the day

"If your everyday practice is open to all your emotions, to all the people you meet, to all the situations you encounter, without closing down, trusting that you can do that - then that will take you are far as you can go. And then you'll understand all the teachings that anyone has ever taught."

Pema Chodron
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Thought for the day

"Understand what reality is and know there is nothing to fear

Liara Covert
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ARE YOU THROWING YOUR LIFE AWAY?

This morning I stumbled across a quote from the writing of C. JoyBell C., which seemed to echo one of the things we talked about at Love and Inspiration yesterday morning. She wrote, “You can be the most beautiful person in the world and everybody sees light and rainbows when they look at you, but if you yourself don't know it, all of that doesn't even matter. Every second that you spend on doubting your worth, every moment that you use to criticize yourself; is a second of your life wasted, is a moment of your life thrown away. It's not like you have forever, so don't waste any of your seconds, don't throw even one of your moments away.”

It seems that doubting one’s self is something many of us have mastered. We no longer need to practice doubting or criticizing ourselves; we have practiced it for so long, that we have mastered it. 

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Thought for the day

To transform the world, we must begin with ourselves; and what is important in beginning with ourselves is the intention. The intention must be to understand ourselves and not to leave it to others.

Jiddu Krishnamurti
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Thought for the day

 “We live in illusion and the appearance of things. There is a reality. We are that reality. When you understand this, you see that you are nothing, and being nothing, you are everything. That is all.”

Kalu Rinpoche
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Thought for the day

"Intuition is the innate ability in everyone to perceive truth directly - not by reason, logic, or analysis, but by a simple knowing from within. That is the very meaning of the word "intuition": to know, or understand from within - from one's own self, and from the heart of whatever one is trying to understand. Intuition is the inner ability to see behind the outer forms of things to their inner essence."

J. Donald Walters
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IT’S SELF-REFLECTION TIME!

I just have to say that sometimes I am much better at following the four agreements than others. It seems that most of the time I am impeccable with my word, I do not take things personally, I seek clarification and don’t make assumptions and work to always do my best. Then there are those moments, whether it is because of a super moon, a total eclipse of the sun or that we are in some planetary retrograde. There are those moments when, for whatever reason, I forget and take something personally.

When this happens I know I am not upset with the person who said or did whatever, I am upset with myself because I allowed myself to take it personally.

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Thought for the day

There are situations when all answers and explanations fade. When you fully accept that you do not know, you give up struggling to find answers with the limited thinking mind. That is when the greater intelligence can operate though you. Sometimes surrender means giving up trying to understand and becoming comfortable with not knowing.

Eckhart tolle
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Song of the week

This week's song of the week reminds us that we have the power to manifest our destiny. http://inspiritual.biz/inspiritual-song-of-the-week1/

Thought for the day

"Begin to understand this with the heart: Everything you see and experience is in the mind. There are no people out there, only the mind manifesting those people that seem to be..."

Burt Harding
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Thought for the day

"Hear me, four quarters of the world - a relative I am! Give me the strength to walk the soft earth, a relative to all that is! Give me the eyes to see and the strength to understand, that I may be like you. With your power only can I face the winds."

Black Elk
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Thought for the day

“Resolve to be tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant with the weak and wrong. Sometime in your life, you will have been all of these.”

― Gautama Buddha
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SILENT UNDERSTANDING

Currently, I am teaching a five week summer intensive on Queer Theory and one of my students told me that until she took this course she thought she understood everything and know she feels as if she understands nothing and is not even sure she understands herself at present. My response was, “I am so happy for you.” Understanding something often times means that you have to open yourself up to new understandings and release old ones. Today, I want to share a piece I read recently about understanding Zen. It resonated with my spirit and reinforced for me the teaching of don Miguel Ruiz who helped me understanding that it is what it is, nothing more, nothing less. We make things something because of the meaning and value we attach to it and the perspective we attach to it. We spoke about this at our last Love and Inspiration on Skype gathering. Energy is energy. It does not become something positive or negative until we attach a meaning to it. You may resonate or not with the story below about understanding Zen, but that will depend on you and the meanings you attach to it.
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Thought for the day

“Whenever you feel like criticizing any one...just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had.”

― F. Scott Fitzgerald
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Thought for the day

“Read not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider. Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested: that is, some books are to be read only in parts, others to be read, but not curiously, and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention.”

― Francis Bacon, The Essays
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Thought for the day

“Don't you understand that we need to be childish in order to understand? Only a child sees things with perfect clarity, because it hasn't developed all those filters which prevent us from seeing things that we don't expect to see.”

― Douglas Adams, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
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JUST SAY THANK YOU!

So today, I just want to thank my Bubby for teaching me how to seek out the gratitude in all situations. This message has been hitting home for me repeatedly this week. Each day, as you know, I start off the day with five things I am grateful for that day and then before going to be tell Zoe one thing about her I am grateful for or one thing she did for which I give thanks. My Bubby used to tell me that if I could see the positive in any situation, then I am going to be okay. Just say thank you for the gift, she would say. Hmm, I wonder if she said the same thing to Meister Eckhart, or if at least spirit conveyed those same words to him. He once said something similar. He said, “if the only prayer you said in your whole life was “thank you,“ that would suffice.” At the end of each Oneness Blessing gathering, we take a moment to say, “I am blessed, and full of gratitude. Today, my affirmation was “my life is blessed, and I am so grateful.”
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Thought for the day

“Try to understand men. If you understand each other you will be kind to each other. Knowing a man well never leads to hate and almost always leads to love.”

― John Steinbeck
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Inspiritual song of the week

Sometimes we need to break the sound of silence and speak love in darkness. This is one of the messages in this week's Inspiritual Song of the Week http://inspiritual.biz/inspiritual-song-of-the-week1/

Thought for the day

“Sometimes it's not enough to know what things mean, sometimes you have to know what things don't mean.”

― Bob Dylan
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IT’S ABOUT THE STICK

For the last two nights, I have been making dinners served on sticks. Last night was chicken and zucchini yakatori. The night before was chicken and tomato pesto skewers. My family loved both of them and they were both put on the “you can make this again” list. At first, I thought this is my first time to cook food on sticks, but then I began to realize it was not my first time to serve food on sticks. Numerous times, I have made popsicles, in which I have inserted a popsicle stick as it froze. I have also used straws and created breakfast skewers with donut holes and chunks of fresh fruit.

Food on sticks is becoming increasingly popular and is one of those things, which exists in every culture around the world. 

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Thought for the day

“And when I came in with tears in my eyes, you always knew whether I needed you to hold me or just let me be. I don't know how you knew, but you did, and you made it easier for me.”

― Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook
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Prayer Requests

We received two new prayer requests this morning. Please join us in lifting those and others whose prayers have not been spoken in prayer - http://inspiritual.biz/prayer-requests/

My Inspiration

So what is inspiring you today? http://inspiritual.biz/my-inspiration/

Thought for the day

“Just because you don't understand it doesn't mean it isn't so.”

― Lemony Snicket, The Blank Book
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"IF YOU CAN'T FIX IT, FEATURE IT!"

This seems to be the theme for this week, “If you can’t fix it, feature it1.” I wish I could say I created that phrase, but it was given to me by a colleague of mine Rev Glenna Tillery Shepherd, pastor at Decatur UCC in Decatur, GA. It is like that old saying, we have all heard – “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” We all have things, situations, and parts of our lives that we can’t fix. It is not about what it is, but what you do with it.

This week, for me, has been filled with examples of featuring it, when you can’t fix it. For example, the other day I met an amazing person who has Tourette’s syndrome (his can’t fix it thing), however, when he is drumming he becomes asymptomatic. Therefore, he drums. He has taken what has helped him all his life and features it in every aspect of his life

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Thought for the day

“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.”

― Marie Curie
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Inspiration Journal

What is inspiring you today? http://inspiritual.biz/my-inspiration/

Thought for the day

“Understanding is the first step to acceptance, and only with acceptance can there be recovery.”

― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
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Gratitude

So what are you grateful for today? http://inspiritual.biz/gratitude-journal/

Thought for the day

“I think it happens to everyone as they grow up. You find out who you are and what you want, and then you realize that people you've known forever don't see things the way you do. And so you keep the wonderful memories, but find yourself moving on.”

― Nicholas Sparks, True Believer
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CAN THE EYE SEE ITSELF?

I read this quote recently by Janet Jiryu Abels that said, “You can’t face yourself or turn away from yourself because you’re it. What do you need to understand? Can the eye see itself?” So today, I just need to sit with that because I am it. I guess it is as I wrote about the other day; I have to be at peace with what I do understand and what I don’t. As don Miguel Ruiz say, “it is what it is.” We are not to make any more or less of it then it is. I am who I am. I am exactly who I am supposed to be at this very moment in time. I am it. 

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Thought for the day

“Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.”

― C.G. Jung
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Inspiritual Song of the Week

This week's song of the week reminds us that understanding is healing and liberating http://inspiritual.biz/inspiritual-song-of-the-week1/

Thought for the day

“Any fool can know. The point is to understand.”

― Albert Einstein
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WATCH, DO, BUT NOT ON

Anybody who has ever had a conversation with me about food knows that I am a Chopped junkie. In case you are thinking I need a 12-step group to help me overcome my addiction, I do not. I thoroughly enjoy watching this show for a number of reasons, some of which have nothing to do with food itself. One of the reasons is that so many of the chefs who are on the show have such amazing stories to tell about their lives that I find inspiring and remind me of the power of the human spirit and the transformative power to manifest our destiny, often times building them out of rubble. There have been episodes I have watched that the stories have moved me to tears as I have listened to how people have come through numerous bouts with cancer, loss of limbs, homeless, and addictions and as Maya Angelou once wrote, “And still I rise.” This show has also reminded me of the importance of being humble. I have always found it interesting how the humility one brings to the ingredients and the creation of the food somehow seems to translate into how the dish tastes. Simultaneously, I find myself rooting for those who seem to be the most humble and to be focused on honoring the ingredients. For me, ingredients are like people. There are those you enjoy being around more than others, but each is a gift from the Universe and should be treated with dignity and respect. 

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Thought for the day

“Your friends will know you better in the first minute you meet than your acquaintances will know you in a thousand years.”

― Richard Bach
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Gratitude Journal

so what are you grateful for today?To read what I am grateful for visit http://inspiritual.biz/gratitude-journal/

Thought for the day

“One of the tasks of true friendship is to listen compassionately and creatively to the hidden silences. Often secrets are not revealed in words, they lie concealed in the silence between the words or in the depth of what is unsayable between two people.”

― John O'Donohue, Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom
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UNDERSTANDING UNDERSTANDING

I have been thinking about this word for a few days now and while the academic part of my brain understands the word means to comprehend, my inner child keeps thinking about a time of sitting under my Bubby’s needlepoint. I remember it as if it was yesterday, but it was now probably 50 years ago, if not more. She was working on piece of needlepoint, sitting by her feet, and looking it up, all I could see was the underside with strings of yarn going all different places and many little knots. I remember wondering why she would want to create something so ugly, when we could be doing making something amazing like blowing bubbles that the light shone through and then floated up to heaven. Then she would have me climb up on her lap and look at her creation and it always looked so beautiful. I never saw any of the knots, strings, or anything else, which took away from its beauty. I could only see how it all came together to form one beautiful picture. It was at this young age, that my Bubby taught me that our understandings of the Ultimate Creator’s ways are not ours. The Ultimate sees things in one way and we see them in another. My Bubby taught me that we are standing under the Creator’s masterpiece and so we see things one way. However, there are moments in our life, when the Creator provides us with the opportunity to see the larger picture, just as my Bubby had helped me.

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Thought for the day

“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.”

― Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
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Thought for the day

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”

― Søren Kierkegaard
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MY INDEPENDENCE DAY

Yesterday was the 4th of July. I have mixed feelings about this holiday. On the one hand, I have these amazing memories of picnics, time with family barbecuing hot dogs and hamburgers, swimming in our pool, eating watermelon and then going to the fireworks at night. As an adult, however, I have found that I struggle with celebrating a day that celebrates Independence from those we considered subjugating only to do the same to others. At the same time, every year there are people we know who are looking for a space to gather with friends and family and so the spiritual being in me feels called to open our doors and host our now annual Fourth of July potluck barbecue. This year, I think I came to a space where I could participate in this day in a new way. I have come to a place where I can honor the memories of the past, the inequalities that continue to exist today, be of service to the other beings in the Universe, and at the same time have a deeply personal reason to celebrate. So this year I celebrated my personal independence day.

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Thought for the day

"By introducing you to yourself it enables you to discover for yourself the true meaning of life and thus enrich every moment of it. Such self-discovery can lead to greater understanding of fellow-beings and therefore to true love."

Swami Venkatesananda
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Thought for the day

"We are all Spirit experiencing a process set up to facilitate its (each Spirit's) understanding of its true identity and, through that understanding, to revert to its pristine state."

Ian Gardner
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Inspiritual song of the week

This week’s song of the week goes back in time, but remind us to take the time and open ourselves up to new understandings about our life and our journey. http://inspiritual.biz/inspiritual-song-of-the-week1/

Thought for the day

"Without self-knowledge, without understanding the working and functions of his machine, man cannot be free, he cannot govern himself and he will always remain a slave."

G. I. Gurdjieff
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SCALLOPS SENSE

The other night I was watching a rerun of an episode of Chopped where they had amateur home cooks competing on the show. In the first round, the contestants were given amongst other ingredients scallops in a shell. One of the contestants was unfamiliar with how to deal with scallops in a shell. To be honest, most of the time when I get scallops they have already been cleaned and shelled. So, had I not taken the time to learn about this I may not have even known that they come in shell, but they do. While they are not as difficult to open as other shelled mollusks, they do need to be opened and cleaned before preparation. Besides having the sand and grit washed off them, the various organs such as the liver, abductor muscle, and sex organs need to be removed. Then and only then they can be baked, broiled, fried, or prepared in some other way.

Scallops are one of those foods that are not only healthy to eat, but they are powerful spiritually. Eating scallops is like any information that life presents us. There are some things that need to be removed and some things which need to be washed off before we can even consider ingesting them and making them part of our internal belief system.

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Thought for the day

 “All higher dimensional understanding comes from the oneness that exists within a frequency of bliss-charged love. For it is this frequency that allows your DNA to spin and take you to worlds far beyond three-dimensional physicality."

Magenta Pixie
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Thought for the day

"The key to conversation at work is flexibility and understanding how what you say might be perceived by others."

Deborah Tannen
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