Oneness Mantra
A Oneness Resource
As part of my search for Oneness, I say, “Thank you, Rev. Roger Teel, for writing This Life Is Joy. At the halfway point, I am feeling more than half-full, certainly not at all empty.”
For today as well as for the past several weeks, thank you for your specific recommendation that I bring to mind, to focus this truth:
Deeply we are One.
How true your statement that “to use this as a moment-by-moment mantra is enormously powerful.”
Being a slow study who must build a solid practice by repetition, I introduced Deeply we are One into my meditation as my spoken mantra. It offered me an immediate, rhythmic comfort. With each inhale, long and slow, I drew that consciousness of Oneness into my heart.
Near the end of each exhale, I whispered Deeply we are One aloud and felt the affirmation punctuate the Truth.
Very quickly I have experienced carryover from my specific moments meditating to my out-in-the-world, moment-by-moment being. After just 3 or 4 days meditation, I discovered my Self feeling the mantra — Deeply we are One — when someone else raised my emotions, whether affirmatively or not.
- In line at the grocery store seeing the fatigue in the cashier’s eyes.
- Shopping for a new car and appreciating the salesperson’s efforts.
- Watching the other car in my rear-view mirror, much closer than I wished it to be.
- Closing my eyes now and envisioning you, reading this.
Deeply we are One.
While I encourage you to read and enjoy This Life Is Joy, you don’t have to wait to use the mantra.
And, of course, if you currently use a mantra that you trust, treasure and are willing to share with us, please do!
Good Friend GOD,
Every step that brings me closer
to knowing the true Oneness with you
and with all others is a blessing.
It is a blessing that cannot be repeated
too often; it offers heart-opening discoveries
every time.
Every sight that shows me we are One
for you are All gives me vision
of the infinite wonders of your creation.
It is a vision that cannot be enjoyed
too much; it shows the limitless beauty of One.
Thank you, Spirit, for every opportunity
to experience being One with you and with
everyone, with all, you have created.
And so it is. Amen.
Love and blessings,
5 January 2017
In: Affirmation, Energy, Gratitude, Mantra, Oneness, Prayer, Spirituality, Strength · Tagged with: Affirmations, Mantra, Oneness, praying, Strength
Commitment 2017
Commitment for 2017?
For years I haven’t made New Year’s Resolutions. Never could live up to them. Usually had forgotten the resolution by February.
But I’m all for setting measurable, accountable commitments. Right now I’m working on my Commitments 2017.
Just last week I received an e-mail invitation to Run the Year 2017. It invites me to run/walk 2017 miles in 2017. $25 gets me online encouragement, progress checks, a sense of camaraderie, a record-keeping tool and more. Another $10 gets me a medal I will wear if (and only if) I reach the 2017 miles goal.
2017 miles in 365 days equal 5.5 miles per day. That’s almost 39 miles a week. If my average run/walk speed is 12 minutes/mile (generously!), that’s almost 6 hours per week. Every week. For 52 weeks.
A good commitment offers powerful tension between challenge and feasibility. Running/walking 2017 miles is a challenge. The feasibility of running/walking 5.5 miles every day, every week through December 31, 2017 is a question.
Do we take on a commitment only if we are sure we can achieve it? Maybe not. Do we take on the commitment for the joy in the journey, whether we make the destination or not? I think so.
Some of my annual commitments I’ve over-accomplished. When I committed to 100 days’ sketching, I was hooked and stopped counting by the 2nd week. Sketching was more than enough turn on. It kept me on the commitment journey well beyond Day 100. Same with the several times I’ve committed to some sort of exercise for 100 days in a row.
Some commitments are not so successful but just as pleasurable during the doing. You may recall that Prayerful Life and I reached the 100/100 Affirmantra on June 5, 2015. Quite a high. But a year later we only reached 42/100 Morning Prayer. That shortfall had nothing to do with the joy of the journey. There was plenty of joy. Too many roadside distractions made me surrender that commitment. I fell short but felt good that I took it on.
2017 will likely tug hard for us to make and strive for commitments. If you’re hesitating, I offer some reasons to consider a specific Commitment 2017, almost any commitment. A number-of-times or number-of-days commitment will give you the opportunity
- To try something new
- To try something more than once
- To give something new more than just one chance
- To set yourself a target and to give yourself daily motivation to reach the target
- To experience growth, progress, improvement, enrichment as each step toward your commitment gets better, stronger, faster, more rewarding
Now, since this is Prayerful Life, I offer these possible prayer-related Commitments for 2017:
- Find/create a specific prayer to enjoy 100 days (or 100 times) in a row
- Build and follow a specific prayer practice 100 (or 80 or 60) days (times) in a row
- Enjoy a diverse prayer source, discover a unique prayer every day for 100 days (World Prayers)
- Mix and match the above…for 100 days/times
- Start a prayer journal, write in it each of 100 days
Those are merely suggestions. You know what type of commitment will inspire you. You know what excites you as a goal, an objective, an accomplishment. And it’s up to you do work with a number of days or a number of times. Maybe it is a question of rhythm versus freedom. The beauty and the joy are it’s your commitment, so it’s up to you.
I’ve just sent RuntheEdge.com my $25.
Powerful GOD,
I set my sight on the mountain crest
and I feel your Presence behind me.
I send my heart to the project’s end
and I hear your encouragement.
I stretch my muscles to lift the wall or build the fence
and I enjoy your breath with mine
as I saw every board and stack every boulder.
When the mountain top comes no closer
your Presence stays as strong.
As my project dissolves unfinished
your encouragement speaks as loud.
While the winds toss away the frame
and the rains flood away the boulders,
your breath is One with mine.
And so it is. I thank you, GOD. Amen.
Love and blessings,
29 December 2016
In: Affirmation, Commitment, Energy, Grounded, Joy, Prayer, Praying, Zeal · Tagged with: Affirmations, Energy, Grounding, praying, Prosperity, Strength
Child pose.
Child Pose
Immediately after church service this morning, I intercepted friend Joanna at the back of the sanctuary. Shortly before, I had received a wonderful treat from her 9-year-old daughter, Serena.
“I had the most fun watching Serena listen intently to the Sunday School story of Mary and Joseph making their way to Bethlehem. The class was spread out on their carpet pads. Several other youngsters surrounded Serena. Each of them sprawled, stirred, wiggled non-stop. She held the perfect child pose.
“Serena was folded motionless over her knees on her carpet pad. Her feet tucked under her bottom. Her head rested on her rolled-up parka, just above her knees. Her arms reached down bedside her legs, her hands tucked beneath her ankles. Her bright red cap with ear flaps and strings added perfect punctuation.
“From a few feet away and giving only a quick glance, I might have thought she was a colorful backpack lying there on the floor. Then I heard Serena calmly, quietly add to the discussion of Mary and Joseph and their donkey a few days before their big event. Her agility impressed me. Her freedom delighted me. And her youth enthused me. Thank you! And please thank Serena for me!”
With all the love and pride a mother can have, Joanna brushed the tear and thanked me. She then said, “And I wanted to thank you for something too, even before you told me about Serena.”
She then reminded me of a meeting we attended almost a year ago. “In the discussion about physical well-being, someone said our bodies are temples. And you offered a different idea: that our bodies are vehicles rather than temples. That has meant so much to me since then. Thank you.”
How wonderful when a circle closes. Two separate instances, spanning a year, connected by a mother and daughter. Two separate demonstrations that our physical being transports us through this human existence. Two powerful illustrations of our bodies giving varied and beautiful expression to our spiritual reality.
And what perfect gifts to receive in this wonderful season! I am thankful!
Sweet Spirit!
What a wonderful gift the body is.
You grant us the power
to travel in our bodies where we will,
to fine tune them as we choose,
to care for them with love or not.
Truth is the wonderful realization
that our bodies are but tools
directed by our minds
led by the Spirit we are of you.
Ours is the freedom to enjoy
the body vehicle in child pose
or as couch potato.
Ours is the grace to know
what is forever is our Spirit:
your Presence, your Power, your Love.
And so it is and so we thank you, GOD.
Amen.
Love and blessings,
19 December 2016
In: Energy, God, Grounded, Joy, Life, Oneness, Power, Prayer, Strength, Wellness · Tagged with: Body, Divine Spirit, Energy, Love, Oneness, spiritual simplicity, Strength, Truth
God’s Dwelling Place.
God’s dwelling everywhere.
What wonders some discoveries bring. New ways of saying and seeing things that affirm (perhaps expand) what I already know and believe. Discoveries that are new “Aha!” producers.
“I was created in God’s likeness and image; I am God’s dwelling place.” (Sacred Space for Advent and the Christmas Season 2016-2017)
First half of that statement is noteworthy but not new. It’s caused me to ponder off and on for years, in several ways. Does God look like me? Do I look like God? If one of those is yes, doesn’t the other have to be yes as well?
And maybe in another 67 years I’ll have uncovered that I am God’s dwelling place. But I’m so much happier not to wait but to be blessed with the discovery now.
It offers me wonderful closure. I’ve been certain for a while that heaven is not a special place, not a “someplace else”. I’ve long been at home with the Truth that heaven is where we are, wherever we are. All we have to do is open our hearts and realize that. All we have to do is see beyond our projected hardships, trials, terrors of the earth-plane. All we have to do is realize that Spirit is with us, around us, in us non-stop: 24/7, 360°. God’s presence fills us always, all ways.
Still, old teachings are tough to overcome. When I’m walking or running and I have something special to say to God, I usually look up. Heaven always seemed overhead and God belongs in heaven. How many times did all of my grandparents express, “God’s in his heaven; all’s right with the world.”? I usually look up instead of in.
How big a blessing then to have the wonderful perspective: I am God’s dwelling place. Not only is Spirit within me. Spirit lives there. As I’ve grown increasingly aware, I live with God all the time. Yet the consciousness that God lives in me — doesn’t just visit, doesn’t sometimes hang out, doesn’t drop by on occasion but truly is at home in me — is a wonderful discovery.
Even if I already knew it.
And, yes, I strongly recommend Sacred Space. It’s a daily prayer book that offers a fantastic morning “retreat” with a wonderful start to every day.
Loving God, most welcome tenant of my being,
You strengthen me to know I am your dwelling place.
Not just my physical body, my spiritual being is where you reside.
You empower my awareness that
you do not merely live in me; you make your home in me.
How wonderful enjoying your presence
fills my being as your house.
Knowing your love in every space of my self
fills me with peace.
Feeling your blessings in the lawns around my presence
brings me joy.
Having my heart continually refurbished by your grace
makes me whole.
Welcome home, God!
And so it is. And so I thank you, God.
Amen.
11 December 2016
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