Thoughts & Reflections for New Years

On Life’s Purpose Henry David Thoreau

I wish to begin this [year] well; to do something in it that is worthy of it and me; to transcend my daily routine; to have my immortality now; in the quality of my daily life. May I dare as I have never done. May I attain to a youth never attained. I am eager to report the glory of the universe; may I be worthy of it, for it is [only] reasonable that we should be more worthy [of life] at the end of each year, than at its beginning.

An old Quaker greeting goes like this, when you would meet someone you would ask: ” Brother or Sister, how does it go with your spirit?

If someone asked you that question, how would you answer it? We will often take for granted that the body must be fed in order to remain healthy, but this is also true about the human spirit. If we neglect it, we atrophy or find ourselves complaining, wanting, unfulfilled, and we say to ourselves and others, that we do not feel very good. A church family seeks to help each person to address all our human needs, from holding community dinners, to sponsoring outreach and opportunities for social action, from classes and lectures, to visiting one another and to just being there if needed…..

How is it with your spirit? In the year to come, may we all be filled….

The Contented Fisherman

One day, a rich industrialist drove up to the edge of the ocean to admire the view… there, under a shady tree, with his fishing pole in his hand, he saw a young fisherman lying lazily beside his boat…

He got out of his limousine, and walked over to the young fisherman and questioned him… in a direct tone of voice, he asked

” Why aren’t you out fishing today???

It is still early, and you should be still hard at work…!

” The fisherman said, ” I have already caught enough fish for the day”

The rich man pushed further” Why aren’t you eager to stay out and catch more?? The fisherman replied, ” What would I do with anymore?”

You could sell it and earn money, was the industrialist’s reply. Then, you could buy a motor, fix up your boat or buy a bigger one, and then be able to go out long distances, into deeper water, and catch even more fish! Then you would make enough money to buy nylon nets, so you can catch more fish, and make more money. Then you could hire workers and buy another boat… maybe a whole fleet of fishing boats! Then you would become a rich man like me.”

What would I do then? asked the fisherman

Then you could relax and really enjoy life said the rich man.

What do you think I am doing right now??

Question: Which would you rather have: a fortune in your future or the capacity to enjoy life in the here and now?

A Guideline for Making Soulful Resolutions

As this is the time for new beginnings on a personal level as well, I have found it important to deepen, redeem, or to make more valuable the process we commonly call making our New Year’s resolutions. The value, as I have seen it over the years, is that our resolutions become more important when they are shared in an atmosphere of community support and understanding.

While I find it necessary to reject the necessity of living with guilt, shame, or sin, and so I propose that we are to live and to learn boldly-and that learning and changing, growing and adapting is what serves to ripen the soul and deepen our human connections.

“Only human beings possess the spiritual quality of hope; and we cannot possess it truly unless we are willing to share it with those who are close and who are supportive around us. Hope, like love, is not something that happens to us, but it grows within us and that is what changes us. The truth is, hope is a spiritual gift that can come to us from the first moment we accept its vitality and reality- its possibilities for us.

Hope, they say, springs eternal, no matter what season of the soul or coldness of the heart might appear to be controlling us.” At this start of a cold winter, having resolutions to declare and share can revive us, and the warmth they can kindle within us can give us joy for the rest of our days.

The Basic Ground Rules

The basic ground rules for making effective and hope-filled resolutions is to avoid the extremes- to avoid making them too easy or too difficult. The first extreme asks too little or almost nothing more from us than going through the motions and being willing to receive a small satisfaction from their accomplishments. The other extreme of difficulty programs in failure, encourages disappointment, or excuse-making when most of us are in need of affirmation, more self knowledge, and a greater ability to empathize with what we most need to do for ourselves and our world. The best approach to resolution making is to choose ones that make us stretch, but that will not break us, resolutions that assist our growth and learning without intimidation or being too easy.

Some years, the tasks and resolutions we choose have a different theme or intensity to them. As a part of change, growth, and the cycles of our human experience, some years our resolutions will be intensely personal. Other times in our lives, our resolutions will be more community based or motivated by larger aims and goals. Some years will focus on personal behavior, relational shifts and changes, or career objectives.

However you choose them or will choose to express them to yourself and to others, there can become an indication of what will be happening in your life this year.

The Start

Starting each day, we promise ourselves to take one thing at a time, and not to try and solve all of our problems at once. … Starting each day, we shall remember to communicate our joy as well as our despair, so that we can know others better in open and honest communication. Starting each day, we will remind ourselves to really listen to others, and try to see the other person’s point of view. Starting each day, we will remind ourselves that we are human and not demand perfection from ourselves or any others.

Starting each day, we will remind ourselves to reach out and other others gently with our words, our eyes, and our actions…..

adapted from Leo Buscaglia’s book on Love

Steven Levine

Much has been said about the concept that we are “wounded healers.” That we learn from our own pain how best to address the pain we see in others.

My spinal pain has taught me something about the reintegration of the heart, which is reflected in the body…

A softening around pain, an investigation of my incessant resistance to accept, and the despair that is manifest in my desire to escape. At first, all I ever sought to learn from my pain is how to negate or relieve it.

Then after learning that there was no easy relief, I asked one of my teachers how best to let go or accept this pain I have to contend with daily. His answer was one that propelled me further into my spiritual path than any other piece of advice I have received. It is a starling wisdom that I will never forget. He said, ” Don’t try for relief, look instead for the truth!

We are all wounded healers on the way to completion, entering our wholeness just beneath the surface of our superficial attachments and holdings. … As we live our lives in the lab, life itself becomes an experiment in the truth of our being.]

It’s Time

It’s time that we understand our role as stewards of this planet,

That we respect and honor the delicate balance of our world

It’s time that we realize, “We are all one people”,

That separateness is an illusion and that, in truth, we are all connected.

It’s time that we see past the veil of illusion called separateness,

and understand just how connected we really are,

That we are all made from the same substance of the universe,

and by harming another we are only harming ourselves.

It’s time that we see past the color of one’s skin or the name of one’s God,

That we realize we are merely traveling parallel paths leading up the same mountain.

It’s time that we stop searching for happiness outside ourselves,

That we turn our attention inward and tune into the calm peace of our soul.

It’s time that we take responsibility for making the world a better place,

That we strengthen the foundation of our communities by being of good character.

It’s time that we ask, “how can I make a difference?”,

That we leave this world in a little better shape than when we arrived

It’s time that we listen to each other with empathy and compassion,

That we overcome the fear in our mind so that we can experience the love in our heart.

It’s time that we get past our ego and discover our innate spiritual essence,

That we realize our selfish desires and serve humankind unconditionally, with love.

It’s time that we “Love all, serve all”,

That we be at peace.

ITS TIME