PARADISE

I remember a Rabbi once saying
Sit in Paradise when you read,
when you study Torah,
when you pray, and
anytime you seek to be
with God

Paradise has always been
hard for me to envision, to see,
to experience,
so it has felt as if there is a barrier
to being in the deepest state
with God

Paradise now
for me is not anything special, but
those everyday moments that
bring me to a place of peace,
joy, and
openness.

Paradise
is that feeling of being
wrapped in God’s loving arms
like a warm, cozy blanket.
It is the smell of freshly mowed grass.
It is the tastes,
touches,
sounds,
feelings, and
appearances,
which bring me to a space
of closeness and intimacy
with God

PUREE FOR THE SOUL

When I was younger, I thought of pureed foods as baby foods and food for the elderly. Now I look at them and see them as smooth and luxurious. I have tried making them before but they never look like they do on the cooking shows.  Imagine that. LOL. When I see them on cooking shows, they look so smooth and luxurious and I can only imagine how good they taste and feel. As I have been reading about and listening to chefs talk about them, I have been struck by a couple of simple steps which make all the difference.

One is to begin by peelings and/or washing your produce. This made me laugh, as this month the Pampered Chef guest special is your choice of serrated or vegetable peeler. Having a good vegetable and/or serrated peeler can be invaluable. I love serrated peelers for fruits and vegetables with hard to remove skins like kiwi, peaches, tomatoes, mangoes, etc. Having the right tools to begin is important.

The second step I learned is to steam your produce for 12-15 minutes. The best purees are from fruits and vegetables that soften as you cook them. Having a steamer insert for your pot is important. You can cook them without a steamer; however, the steamer makes it easier to get the produce in and out of the water.

Read More

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Just be you.

THE VARIOUS FORMS OF DEVOTION

Dear Ultimate Consciousness,

The past few days I have been thinking about all the ways devotion takes form in my life. Today’s thought for the day seems to capture the essence of what I have been feeling. I have been thinking about how I practice devotion to the Ultimate in my life and how I practice devotion to my own personal self-development and to my relationship with those I love.

I guess it really hit me last night when I was talking about my relationship with you at the spiritual journaling workshop. I have been using the phrase I picked up from Doreen Virtue’s book Assertiveness Training for Earth Angels and telling people I am employed by God Inc. I love the understanding that comes from knowing you hired me to do specific things here on earth and it is in the process of doing so that I am able to practice and experience devotion in my life.

Read More