Don't Go Back To Sleep

The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.

Don't go back to sleep.

You must ask for what you really want.

Don't go back to sleep.

People are going back and forth across the doorsill

where the two worlds touch.

The door is round and open.

Don't go back to sleep.

- Rumi

You are a divine creator.

Each moment of every day offers the richest of privileges to access the power of that creative energy. To say or believe otherwise is like sleepwalking - functioning in this world, yet oblivious to the infinite ways and means by which Universal Presence longs to co-create.

We are asleep to our true nature when we make another responsible for any unhappiness.

We are asleep to our essential self when we flee or fight our present day circumstances.

We are asleep to our authentic being when we fall prey to the great lie of comparison.

13th Century Sufi poet Rumi encourages us to wake up. Shake yourself from your sleepwalking and embrace your creative potential.

I realized long ago that in my world of effect, there will always be someone smarter, prettier/handsomer, richer, braver, and more talented than me. And eventually I learned that the gift of life isn't about any of that; it's about ceaselessly taking inventory of all the gifts I do possess and never abusing them through the waste of comparison.

I repeat - you are a divine creator. No one can create it, design it, BE it exactly like you.

The world eagerly awaits your individualized expression. This is your reason for being here.

Don't go back to sleep.

Year End Resolutions

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Did I express love this year, real love? The kind of love that doesn't announce itself in flashy

circumstances or structured conditions - but an authentic, quiet, internal love? The kind of love

that bubbles to the surface when I gaze at another with understanding, a love that places me in their

shoes, granting freedom from judgment and deepening my compassion? A philanthropic love that expresses

because it simply feels compelled to, because it knows there is more than enough and everyone can benefit.

If not, then I resolve to be and do better in my authentic loving.

Did I forgive this year, really forgive? The kind of forgiveness that cracks open my heart, peeling away

one more layer of righteous indignation, thus allowing my soul to breathe? The kind of forgiveness that

loosens my clinched fists held high at a situation so that I don't enter into the next one with guarded

mistrust? The kind of forgiveness that comprehends there is a difference between understanding a

behavioral choice and condoning it? If not, then I resolve to be and do better in my forgiving.

Did I stop this year, really stop? The kind of stopping that can't help but make me vulnerable by

becoming more familiar with who I am without distraction, smoke screens, excuses or self-imposed

numbing? The kind of stopping that turns me, naked, towards my feelings, giving them permission to

express? No right or wrong - a stopping that simply lets me hear what I need to hear so that I can live

more effectively? If not, then I resolve to be and do better in allowing myself to stop.

Did I seek adventure this year, real adventure? The kind of adventure that requires me to not only take a

leap of faith off my cliff of familiarity but actually sends me back to get a running start? The kind of

adventure that shakes the dust off my capable but underused wings and gives them an opportunity to catch

the gorgeous wind of change? The kind of adventure that knows there is no outside safety net in this

physical world, only an internal one? The kind of adventure that shouts, "I choose to live fully!" If

not, then I resolve to be and do better in seeking adventure.

Did I seek wellness this year, real wellness? The kind of wellness that requires me to be fully

conscious of what I put in my body - the kind of wellness that requires me to practice what I preach

when it comes to self-love while understanding that the power to dissolve poor habits starts by simply

choosing to change? Wellness that says, "This is the only body you've got. Treat me with respect, praise me

daily and honor me as the holy temple that I am?" If not, then I resolve to be and do better in allowing

wellness in my life.

Did I play this year, really play? The kind of play that gives value to the heavenly activity of fun -

knowing that fun is sacred, that play is the equivalent of work and that during play - renewal and

relaxation usher in the newest ideas and the clearest choices for better manifestations? Did I view play as

a necessary life function and not a debatable luxury? If not, then I resolve to be and do better in my

relationship to playing.

Did I set a goal and see it to completion this year, really complete it? The kind of completion that lets

the vibration of satisfaction and confidence in my abilities heal any opposing ideas of not being good

enough? Did I honor my life and its sacred purpose by utilizing my time with forward thinking and letting my

mistakes be motivators not antagonists? Did I dissolve my insecurities and procrastination by understanding

that my untapped genius has but one mode of expression and that is through idea, thought, word and action?

If not, then I resolve to be and do better in setting and completing my goals.

Did I open myself up to learn this year, really learn? The kind of learning that entices me to enroll

in being a student of life with thirst and enthusiasm? Did I set an intention for uncovering more of my

potential, letting divine intellect eat from my plate and stepping deeper into the waters of wisdom? Did I

open a book, take a class, study a language, learn an instrument, write a poem, visit another culture? Did

I learn to surprise and thrill myself with the infinite capacity I have to master more than I thought

I could? If not, then I resolve to be and do better on my personal path of learning.

Did I clean up my relationships this year, really clean them up? The kind of cleaning that requires me

to break open the lock, pull back the curtain, throw open the window and start removing the dust of harsh

words, grudges, false accusations and misguided choices that have layered my heart? Did I make amends

for the fearful ways that disheartened another, for neglecting to honor their point of view? With careful

examination, did I communicate my truth, understanding that sometimes all we may be able to do is agree to

disagree and to do so without judgement or malice? If not, then I resolve to be and do better on cleaning up

my relationships.

Did I share my good this year, really share? The kind of sharing that comes from the pure joy of seeing

another succeed, not from what I think they can or will do for me in return? Did I tithe back to where I

was spiritually fed, transformed and inspired? Did I practice random acts of kindness and give of my time,

talent, and treasure realizing that my good is a part of a never-ending wellspring that cannot run dry -

whose source is and always will be the infinite wellspring of the Divine? Did I commit to walking the

altruistic path, remembering that every step brings healing and enlightenment to the world? If not, then

I resolve to be and do better in my sharing.

Did I pray this year, really pray? The kind of prayer that is spoken not to God but AS God - prayers

that affirm rather than beseech, are pregnant with knowing rather than bloated with doubt? Did I make my

every day activities a prayer - realizing that every thought I think carries with it the responsibility of

an effect on the world? Did I remember how truly powerful my own prayer actually is and that by simply

devoting myself to the practice of it, I become the change? Did I remember that my prayer takes what I

seek and introduces it to me, the seeker? If not, then I resolve to be and do better with praying.

Did I do all these things because deep down inside I fully understand how precious I am and that these

activities will help me to see that I am held in the light as a perfect idea? Did I remember that I have

been perfectly conceived and am always held in the perfect mind of God as perfect being? Did I know that

there is nothing that I can ever say, nothing I can ever do that will separate me from the love of God?

If for any reason, I forgot my divinity this year, then I resolve to be and do better in my knowing of

it, to fully understand and embody the truth that it is done unto me as I believe. And I believe in the

power of Good, for me, for you, for all.

(c)2004 Rev. David Ault

Love Is An Experience

Recently featured in an airline magazine was a beautifully written article about the migration of monarch butterflies and their winter resting place - a forest in the Michoacan summit of Mexico.

The author and naturalist ended the story of the butterflies remarkable sojourn by telling how his guide had found a female drowning in a puddle, weak and freezing. The native guide held her in his hand to provide warmth and began feeding the winged beauty by squeezing nectar from a flower into her mouth.

"She could smell it," he recalled.

The butterfly drank the contents of four flowers, regained her strength and flittered away.

I thought, "That's what we offer when we love something or someone as much as this guide loved butterflies. We offer sustenance/fuel for the experience of life."

Every single one of us can recall times when we felt as though we were drowning in the effects of our earthly world.

I pray we become a society that can equally recall those times when angels among us cared enough to hold us in the light of truth, warm our hearts with compassion, and were patient in feeding us the right amount of guidance to get us back on a conscious path.

Perhaps no greater act can ever come close to matching the life giving force of love than our taking the time to express appreciation for it.

Love defies the boundaries of definition. Just as teaching doesn't build a fire, love cannot be explained or taught through fancy texts or the stringing together of words. Love will only be understood through expression and experience.

At this time of holiday gift-giving and recognition, why not take the time to let those who have been those merciful angels in your life know how you feel.

Take the time to cradle and nurture the people and things you love with deliberate action and care. In so doing, you become a catalyst in helping one another strengthen and rediscover our wings.

Tree of Life

Chatter

Over the loud speaker in the grocery store, I heard a rather amusing country song with a chorus that went, "Swing batter batter, swing batter batter, swing batter batter swwwwiiinnnggg."

There, in the produce section, my mind traveled back in time to remembrances of Little League Baseball games and how we were coached to chant this from the outfield when the opposing team was up to bat. It was suppose to distract them, break their concentration and make the player's time at bat as ineffectual as possible.

However, this was no sure fire way of disrupting the batter, for even with our adolescent chanting, some still managed to hit the ball successfully.

I smiled at the corollary to our ongoing spiritual journey.

The world serves up quite a bit of chatter and disruption, distracting us from our inherent knowing of the Divine's presence. Regardless of the level of that 'noise', our continued intention is to physically, materially, and spiritually remember what was expressed in Genesis... we are made in the image and the likeness of God and one of our inherited God-qualities is the creative nature of our thought.

We are forever strengthening our ability to channel that thought towards conscious possibility and expansive expression.

The earthly chatter may be a resounding, "You're a failure. You're not good enough."

But one must remember, it's only chatter - not your truth.

Through concentration on truth, we strengthen and sustain a loyal ownership towards our personal value. This is really no different than the concentration and discipline needed to complete any work-oriented task. The great author and motivator Og Mandino once reminded that "drops of water, by continually falling, hone their passage through the hardest of rocks but the hasty torrent rushes over it with hideous uproar and leaves no trace behind."

Honing away at earthly chatter is the same. We transcend it by linking one quiet moment to the next even through life's uproars.

How beautiful to know that we have dominion over the world's chattering of less than, not enough, and other messages of scarcity.

Quiet, meditative moments always reveal a greater message that speaks of our unlimited potentiality. We connect our thoughts to boundless demonstrations of good. And we step up to the plate in this game of life with willingness and expectancy of right action.

The Process of Progress

Life is simple. Everything happens for you, not to you. Everything happens at exactly the right moment, neither too soon nor too late. You don't have to like it... it's just easier if you do. - Byron Katie

For over a month and a half, the fig tree in my front yard has shown the promise of producing a rather prolific harvest. Every week I'd walk out to the yard, stand underneath and look for signs of ripening. Yet, with every viewing I'd see the same sized green spheres clinging to the vine - no ripening in sight. Why do I not see progress?

I stopped the randomly scheduled viewings. I stopped comparing the time frame that my tree in Alabama produced to this one in Georgia. I stopped thinking about it altogether.

Walking up my driveway this morning, I happened to turn and look at the tree and lo and behold, it was covered with beautiful ripened figs.

Byron Katie's quote above reminds us that everything happens at exactly the right moment, neither too soon nor too late - everything. Nature consistently offers up its wisdom by teaching us to trust. It inherently understands the brilliance of the process. The wisdom within the fig tree knows.

The wisdom within us knows as well.

Life invites us all to relax into the process of progress.

As evolutionary beings, we are and will always be in the midst of our own natural growth spurt. In other words, we will eternally be in the midst of personal progress. But our trust in the process of our progress tempers the entire experience.

Journalist Paul Sweeney commented, "How can a society that exists on instant mashed potatoes, packaged cake mixes, frozen dinners and instant cameras teach patience to its young?" The world of "I want what I want when I want it" hardly ever works harmoniously with the schedule of Infinite Intelligence.

I recall innumerable times in life when certain ideas and plans that I'd bargained on, sweated over and efforted to make happen, didn't, only to breathe deep sighs of relief over how detours and delays worked together for my greater good.

Currently, I see myself involved and devoted to greater and greater arenas of passionate expression. I visualize enthusiastic, committed supporters for my school in Cambodia. I see channels of revenue opening up that I never conceived of. I see myself allowing surprise and expansive thinking for bringing about solution for Khmer Child Foundation and the ever-growing population of children deserving education.

I see this mentally AND, like so many of us, I tend to want that funding yesterday.

Admittedly, part of me is metaphorically walking up to my tree of expansion and not always seeing the results I yearn for. Yet, I am reminded that the right moment has already been created - our solution does exist and that harvest is inevitable.

I must remember Nature's wisdom. I've decided to use the visual of the fig tree to create a mindfulness practice. These weeks, as the tree continues to produce more and more fruit, I take it all in, breathe and whisper to myself, "Everything is unfolding perfectly."

The Universe encourages me to relax - let go of my timeline and open up to the Infinite's timeline. It's potent wisdom to pass on. Whatever we are involved in individually and collectively - it's unfolding right on time.

Rally For Inclusion

Filmed in Atlanta, Georgia on June 26, 2011
Featuring Bishop Carlton Pearson, Pastor D E Paulk and Rev. Dr. David Ault