Jo's Notes

 

 

 

“The author and the reader know each other: they meet on the bridge of words.”—Madeleine L’Engle.

 

Supposedly the following quote came from a Native American elder, “You can look at the events ahead as a hole or a door. A hole will suck you in. A door will open to new possibilities."

Let us choose the door.

And from Dr. Terry Cole Whittiker:

“It takes a daring person to give up sickness and give up living from doom and gloom. It takes daring to actually give from joy and to change your work so that you are doing nothing but adding to peoples’ greatness.”

 

Yesterday, I stumbled upon an old blog site that I no longer use, and I was struck by Terry’s quote. I was taken back to the first time I walked into Terry’s Science of the Mind Church in San Diego, California—and walked out a different person.

Maybe I didn’t change so much in the hour or so I spent there, but it changed my focus; I found a home where others thought similarly to me. They came together in joy and celebration.

Those memories sent me back to reading some of the material I knew long ago, but it dimmed of late when I got caught up in world conditions. Zig Zigler was correct when he said, “People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing. That’s why we recommend it daily.”

Neville Goddard (1905-1972) wrote, “A nation can exhibit no greater wisdom in the mass than it generates in its units. For this reason, I have always preached self- help.”

Some say you are selfish in going for self-help. No, if everyone was whole, if they knew they were divine beings in love with life and the world, we would live in paradise. Until that day, we must have laws, preserve the rights of individuals, feed the hungry, and protect the weak and innocent. That’s society. We’d have a hard time without traffic laws. Can you imagine setting up the stop light system? I am amazed.

 

Renaissance / Whew

 

Whew!

Don’t you love fresh and new?

I was feeling that life was wearing out, becoming dull and joyless.

And then Kamala Harris came roaring in like that lady from the Cavalia Horse Show who whooped into the arena at breakneck speed, standing atop two horses who seemed to be having the time of their lives.

Now, that was fresh.

I felt like I had jumped on a trampoline. I am so tired of griping and complaining and getting caught up in it is so easy. It’s perversive, like a brown blanket of doom descending on us. It sucks the joy out of living. I know I’m speaking for myself, but perhaps others feel as I do.

I was tired of people telling me the world was going to hell and that people were manipulating and lying to me. I was tired of people asking for money by giving me a teaser and then saying that I ought to upgrade.

The trouble is, living that way just makes it more true. (Yep, I mean true and more true. Some think truth is absolute, but I have found that everyone has their own "truth.")

Right out of the starting gate, Harris was criticized for her quick smile and laughter. I know, when you are in an emotional quagmire and some shiny, glad-faced person comes into the room laughing and joking--it's irritating.

But then, we see reality.

Hey, this is fun. Let’s join the program. Get up and dance.

So, we go outside and see the green, and we praise the plants that are thriving and the ones that are struggling. I thank their determination to grow and to provide Oxygen for us. They aren’t just for beauty and use; they are co-creators with us.

Is it not so green where you live? Well, The Midwest is fun, too; the rock formations and the cliff dwellings that tell us of long-lost civilizations who probably wanted what we want: food, shelter, security, friendship, and families, and who also wanted to believe in the goodness of life.

While we were so busy worrying, listening to the rabble in the marketplace, and contemplating our navels, we didn’t look out there to thank those who went before us and the freedoms they fought so hard to give us.

A few weeks ago, I was asking for a renaissance.

Maybe there is one on the horizon.