A few days ago I flew here to Florida to take care of my Mom as she faced some health issues. As I write it’s early morning. I was woken up a few minutes ago by the sound of my Mom’s slippered feet as they shuffle past my bedroom door on her way to the kitchen. It’s pill time. I can hear the pull tab on the tomato juice pop loose. I can hear the front door open and the plastic bag that houses the New York Times be discarded. I can hear the flicking of her Bic lighter as she lights her first cigarette. As she begins another day, I lie here in a whirl of worry. Every sense alert. I never had children but I imagine this is the feeling parents have listening for the whimpers of a new born baby or waiting on a Saturday night to hear the car pull up the driveway delivering the teenager home safely. I am vigilant, keenly aware of my Mom's every movement, falsely convinced my attention will make a difference. But then I remember

greenpastures2A message from The Voice You come here to this spot on your couch to tap into the reservoir of goodness that exists in the world, everywhere, all the time—even in you. You know that as you proceed through your day people will interrupt you, rocks will fall in your path, flowers will bloom right beside but go unnoticed. That’s why you sit here with me. You know that right beyond the front door of your physical experience are rolling hills and green pastures waiting for you to play and be your best. You come here to remember. You come here to remember the ever unfolding, infinitely available fields of possibility. As far as the eye can see, up and down, across and around, there is love and joy eager to be expressed. You are bathed in it. It infuses your skins and is absorbed to your core. It is what you are made of. Close your eyes for just a moment and see

windI spring from the rivers of great mountain ranges and fall into the oceans that feed the world. I am a child of my parents. I am the living breath body through which Spirit expresses itself. Beyond my body is a world. Other people, trees, fish, swamp and sea, ferns and foxtail, swan and swallow, worm and seed. This planet is rife with throbbing life. The wind blows from Kuala Lumpur to Kentucky bringing with it the sweet nectar of promise. On the winds come rain and clear skies and the possibility of newness. Beyond my mind and my limiting view of what’s possible is a whirl of life, dreams, hopes and love – unending, warm, soft embracing love. On the winds from the west come all that we seek. On the winds from the west comes Spirit.

A message from The Voice. The crowd that has gathered in your mind to pass judgment is nothing more than your monkey mind holding court. The stage is yours and yours alone. What will you do with it? To whom will you speak and about what will you share? Your life is an opportunity, an opening, an invitation. As the sun rises this morning and the birds greet the day, your curtain is going up. The stage is set. The lights are coming up. The music is cued. It’s your turn to speak. Who will you be today?

cloudsI place my anxiety and worry on the proverbial altar. There among the remnants of my past and devotional illusions I place my anxiety and worry to be tended by God. I hand my concerns over to the spirit of wisdom, strength and patience that I am not, at present, able to feel. There, on my imagined altar, among the fresh cut roses and gifts given to me with love, I place the anxiety and worry that impairs my ability to be fully who I am. For those among you who think this is all a bunch of hooey, I have only one thing to say — and this I know for sure — that there is more to life than meets the eye. There is more than we experience in our five senses, more than we can see, hear, smell, touch or taste. There is another dimension, another reality that is, in fact, grander and more significant that anything in our petty physical world. Yes, there is more than meets eye. There —right beyond the obvious (the black of this keyboard, the smells of morning, the sound of passing cars) beyond all the things in life that seem tactile and irrefutable — is where Life lives. Beyond the three dimensional manifestation of our labors, right there on the other side, around the corner, underneath, in between, behind and right in front of us are the formless qualities we most crave.