church photos made in to mandalas

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FULL MOON RISING CHRISTMAS DAY 2015

This Christmas 2015 the full moon will rise for the first time since 1977.  It was called THE FULL COLD MOON by Native Americans, who named moons to mark the seasons. This is the month when the winter cold locks in and the nights become longer and darker. This full Moon is also called the Long Nights Moon by some Native American tribes.

With the winter looking to be warmer this year, even in colder climates (like New York State where I am right now) perhaps it will not be such a cold moon. Hopefully the nights will be clear and we will be able to look up (looking UP is always good advice) and see The Full Cold Moon as she grows round and fat with the light of the sun reflecting against her beautiful body, peaking at around 6:11 EST (in the USA).

Wherever you are, this is a good time to turn within as winter officially begins December 21, 11:48 P.M. EST. Just as some animals are set to hibernate during the winter and awaken hungry, so can we use this time for inner meditation and awaken even more hungry for spiritual Truth.

Much love to you.

poem

I Am Not Old

 
I am not old…she said
I am rare.
I am the standing ovation
At the end of the play.
I am the retrospective
Of my life as art
I am the hours
Connected like dots
Into good sense
I am the fullness
Of existing.
You think I am waiting to die…
But I am waiting to be found
I am a treasure.
I am a map.
And these wrinkles are
Imprints of my journey
Ask me anything.

- Samantha Reynolds

Photo: Riitta Ikonen,
Norwegian photographer Karoline Hjorth

 

 

Another of my favorite books...

...written for young people, but good for all people....The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams, first published in 1922. It's about becoming real. We all need help with that!

Hi Everyone

I like the new theme for the Classroom a lot, as well as all the posts. In this world of tragedy, what a wonderful, uplifting place to come, to visit Truth and get a taste of the angel energy. I love it here. Is is the best classroom I was ever in. I have a Madeline L'engle quote to share:

“We don’t have to know everything at once. We just do one thing at a time, as it is given us to do.” ― Madeleine L'Engle, A Wind in the Door

I like this one. It reminds me that I need to stay in the present moment, with whatever I am doing in that moment. I do not need to worry about the future or think about the past. Just stay in the present. It reminds me that all I have to do is my best in that moment, leave the rest to God. It reminds me that I can have faith in the future when I have faith in the present. And it reminds me also that when I am present with the moment, my work and life and actions will be better because I will really be there. All I have to do is one thing at a time, that is all I can do, really, and the rest will take care of itself.

There--I tried some spontaneous writing on a subject and am pleased with the results. I stayed in the present moment and just wrote quickly like we are advised to do in our lessons. It works!!

Oh, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR INDIRA! I wish you a day of peace and calm under the sun wherever you are right now. Thank you for being who you are. Love, Kevin P.S. and here are many birthday candles to light your way...

One of my favorite authors...

“In a very real sense not one of us is qualified, but it seems that God continually chooses the most unqualified to do his work, to bear his glory. If we are qualified, we tend to think that we have done the job ourselves. If we are forced to accept our evident lack of qualification, then there's no danger that we will confuse God's work with our own, or God's glory with our own.”
   
― Madeleine L'Engle, Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art

ANGELS

Are angels with us always? Yes! Always! No matter what we think, how we feel, or where we are. Angels surround us in the air, in nature, in cities, in sleep, in our dreams, and in our homes. 

 

 

Be a light unto the world

The Peace of Wild Things

By Wendell Berry

When despair for the world grows in me

and I wake in the night at the least sound

in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,

I go and lie down where the wood drake

rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.

I come into the peace of wild things

who do not tax their lives with forethought

of grief. I come into the presence of still water.

And I feel above me the day-blind stars

waiting with their light. For a time

I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

Wendell Berry, "The Peace of Wild Things" from The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry. Copyright © 1998. Published and reprinted by arrangement with Counterpoint Press.

Source: Collected Poems 1957-1982 (Counterpoint Press, 1985)

Steve Jobs’ Last Words -

Steve Jobs’ Last Words

 

I reached the pinnacle of success in the business world. In others’ eyes, my life is an epitome of success.

However, aside from work, I have little joy. In the end, wealth is only a fact of life that I am accustomed to.

At this moment, lying on the sick bed and recalling my whole life, I realize that all the recognition and wealth that I took so much pride in, have paled and become meaningless in the face of impending death.

In the darkness, I look at the green lights from the life supporting machines and hear the humming mechanical sounds, I can feel the breath of god of death drawing closer…

Now I know, when we have accumulated sufficient wealth to last our lifetime, we should pursue other matters that are unrelated to wealth… Should be something that is more important:

Perhaps relationships, perhaps art, perhaps a dream from younger days ...
Non-stop pursuing of wealth will only turn a person into a twisted being, just like me.

God gave us the senses to let us feel the love in everyone’s heart, not the illusions brought about by wealth. 

The wealth I have won in my life I cannot bring with me. What I can bring is only the memories precipitated by love. That’s the true riches which will follow you, accompany you, giving you strength and light to go on.

Love can travel a thousand miles. Life has no limit. Go where you want to go. Reach the height you want to reach. It is all in your heart and in your hands.
What is the most expensive bed in the world? - "Sick bed" …

You can employ someone to drive the car for you, make money for you but you cannot have someone to bear the sickness for you. Material things lost can be found. But there is one thing that can never be found when it is lost – "Life".

When a person goes into the operating room, he will realize that there is one book that he has yet to finish reading – "Book of Healthy Life".

Whichever stage in life we are at right now, with time, we will face the day when the curtain comes down.

Treasure Love for your family, love for your spouse, love for your friends...

Treat yourself well. Cherish others.

Watership Down

"Animals don't behave like men...If they have to fight, they fight; and if they have to kill they kill. But they don't sit down and set their wits to work to devise ways of spoiling other creatures' lives and hurting them. They have dignity and animality."

from the wonderful book, Watership Down

One Energy

Cleansing Prayer

I like finding new prayers.

Gold

Always look for the gold within the heart. It's the only gold worth finding. All other gold is fools gold.

I haven't been showing up much in the Classroom lately. I suppose because I have been a lazy student -- a condition I suspect effects many of us. What I can say is that I've noticed that when I don't show up for my spiritual path, it effects my everyday life. It's like not eating healthy food--eventually it shows in low energy levels and the body not doing so well. 

I did just read my last 3 lessons again all at once and felt a definite surge of energy and inspiration. 

I also want to say how sorry I am, Indira, for your recent loss. I know there are not words that can really comfort, but I hope you can feel my heart reaching out to yours.

And to say thank you for continuing to show up for our school. You do not ask us to do anything that you also do not do. You keep showing up, no matter what is going on in your life. You are an inspiration to me in that way -- a true teacher because you do what you ask us to do. I learn, not only from your words, but from how you choose to live your life. I don't know the inner workings of your daily life, but I do know you keep showing up, as you ask us to do. I will try to be a better student -- and a better Teacher to myself.  Love, Kevin

Be Yourself

Today I found this and I like it:
"Be yourself: everyone else is already taken." by Oscar Wilde

The Journey

The spiritual path is a journey of awareness, a journey to awareness, and yet awareness is always present. Awareness is here when you pull on your socks in the morning and when you pull them off at night. Awareness exists in every state: waking, sleeping, dreaming, and deep sleep.

Dark/Light

“We live in a kind of dark age, craftily lit with synthetic light, so that no one can tell how dark it has really gotten.” - Martín Prechte

Brilliant

I HAVE ABANDONED MY SEARCH FOR TRUTH, AND AM NOW LOOKING FOR A GOOD FANTASY. - Ashleigh Brilliant

Believing

"One can't believe impossible things," said Alice. "I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was your age I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast." (Through The Looking Glass, Lewis Carroll)