Death is unfrightening once Wisdom grows

     Death doesn’t seem to scare me as much as it used to. I mean, I see it as a transition, and not an ending. In some ways, it will be a welcome “new adventure” if you think about it in spiritual terms.

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Calling all ‘Spiritual Soldiers of Fortune’

     I believe that I have become a “Spiritual Soldier of Fortune” and would travel anywhere my heart beckons me to learn, to pray, and to find answers about the Universe.

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Gifts from within that we all might share

     Spiritual Gifts are Available Right Now

Ever wonder what you can do to be more like the person you have always aspired to be? You know, the one you hoped you would grow up to be, but didn’t get the chance because life seemed to hit you upside your head and throw you off course? 

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I’ll be One when I finally let myself ‘Let Go’

      Could I ever be strong enough to let the more tender side of me take over and simply “Let Go“?

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What is awakening my senses now-a-days?

I got hit upside the head today.    Continue reading

Healing others starts first with healing self

   Words of Another can help in Your Healing  Continue reading

Learning a ‘Little Greek’ from Francesco

 Student of History Learns About Saint Francis

    What did I learn about Francis of Assisi while researching the facts about his life?

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Ups & downs of life provide me lessons

“When you’re down and feel like nothing,

God is usually up to something just for you.”

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Francis of Assisi; awakening him by a novel

Dream of Writing a Book about to Come True

As I stand on the precipice of my literary journey, the dream of writing a book feels closer than ever. The countless hours spent brainstorming ideas, developing characters, and crafting intricate plots have finally begun to take shape. I can see the pages of my story unfolding before me, each chapter brimming with potential and passion.

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The Gospel according to Micha’el the lesser

     Storytelling with a Gospel Twist or Two

      I was Jesus’ sidekick.

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Hoping for a lofty goal, I write a lot & often

(Question 2 on Hope)

          Think of a time when you felt sure you were going to attain a lofty goal, even though the path to the goal was not apparent. That is the hope that comes from your being.

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NaNoWriMo done in 30 days, Thank God

I just finished writing 73,000 words about Francesco, the young man from Assisi who overcame post-traumatic stress from battles, as well as a year-long imprisonment, before being ransomed by his rich mercantile father.  Continue reading

You’ve been Called; now Choose up Sides

Am I among the “Chosen?” Will I be one of those who make the “cutoff” at the end when the proverbial bill finally gets to be paid?

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Universal Love grants me the touch of love

        I wanted so much to write about your soft, careful touch on my arms and my hands. How you slide your fingers ever so meticulously over the outer parts of me, teasing a sensation to come forth, to grow from the inside out, knowing all along your touch is the Touch of Love.

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Sweat Lodge Reveals many Creative Spirits

     It took several hours for the effects of the Sweat Lodge ceremony to kick in, but when it did, I realized the control I always thought I needed was not in my hands, but in what the Greeks called the Fates; the Christians, God; and the Buddhists, Karma.

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Saying ‘I Love You’ Twice Blesses Me!

“I Love.”

     It’s an affirmation I can live with over and over, day in and day out, from one lifetime to another, without ever getting tired of saying it.

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Don’t let me believe in all my thoughts

     I’m so scared because I don’t know what to do, nor who to turn to. Flashes of insights, intuition, and a “knowing” that borders on the Psychic have arisen in me and I don’t know if it’s a blessing or a curse.  Continue reading

Friar Pope champions single moms, Chastises clergy for shutting ’em out

     He’s at it again. This time, the Friar Pope is championing what I call the “untouchable class” of Catholics, the single mother, also known throughout Christianity’s Dark Ages as the “UN – WED MOTHER.”

     (Funny, but those Dark Ages seem like only yesterday!)  Continue reading

Doors are Opening for All Doing Good!

There’s a passage in Mark’s Gospel in which Jesus’ disciples complain that someone — one who is not one of them — is casting out demons in Jesus’ name. It seems that fundamentalists of all ages have held a belief that there was only one way to get to the kingdom; only one way, and that was through Jesus.  Continue reading

Happy Mothers’ Day, Poor Little Thérèse

     (Thanks for letting me tell my story – Therese)

      How could I – a mother of two with a 10-year drug problem – be facing a life sentence for something stupid I did at the local Rite Aid store. Continue reading

I wish all compassion found in meditation

     On February 5th, 2012, a friend who calls herself, the Frugal Xpatcommented:

I always wanted to meditate . . .

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Greet your road with love and compassion

     I’ve taken compassion on the road.

     Literally!

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Abide in the moment you just completed

I am Complete.

I am Finished.

     I’ve done what I have done and everyone can be satisfied with my efforts, including — and most importantly — me. Continue reading

Being present for the dying brings all alive

     Death entered my life recently and I’ve felt so alive with its presence.  Continue reading

Only the Pure in Heart Will See their Goal

Purity

     There’s something in it that resonates with me. In my private moments, I try my best to connect with it, but once I start to analyze it, it vanishes. Continue reading

‘Mammy’ can you hear? It’s your little boy!

     View All You have Contact with as Your Mother

There is a tradition in Eastern philosophies where you’re taught to view each person and other sentient being as if he, she – or it is your mother. I never knew how nurturing this could be until I allowed the child in me to reciprocate and bask in the most secure and loving place.  Continue reading

How many times must we say “I’m Sorry”?

Will I ever Be Forgiven for My Actions?

Saying you’re sorry can be downright scary.

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A Change in Time Helps Change my Reality

Reality shifted on me the other day, and it helped me realize that I have more control than my “resifted” thoughts allowed me to see. Now, with a “time-control outlook,” I can try to change my world for the better.  Continue reading

Let Catholics ‘opt out” in birth control plan

I don’t understand all the fuss that Catholic universities and hospitals are raising over providing health care for women that includes mandatory birth control provisions. Why not let “Practicing Catholics” follow the teachings of their church to “opt out” for the coverage, while permitting non-Catholics what doctors and women’s groups say is a health benefit?  Continue reading

Don’t ‘better’ yourself by berating another

I was seething when I saw my former US senator decry Blacks receiving food stamps from the government. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania told an Iowa audience this week that he would tackle this “race problem” if elected president, thus echoing the sentiments of his old congressional colleague, Newt Gingrich, who suggested poor students in city schools clean the bathrooms for their more affluent ones, rather than grow up to be pimps or prostitutes.  Continue reading

Like to Change History? Try Writing It!

How’d you like to go back in time and correct mistakes made in the past? No, you couldn’t go back to the moment before you were conceived, or any other time in your far distant past. Go back to more recent moments – say in the past year or two — when you believed you knew so much about life and how to live it without doing harm to others.  Continue reading

Resolve to Stop Anger from Feeding on Me

Anger

     It hits like a poison arrow causing me to drop what I’m doing and focus on the pain it inflicts.

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Recalling childhood angels with dirty faces

I can think of no worse place to be than in a church, a temple, or a synagogue when an unbidden and involuntary giggle would invade my psyche and take control of me. A “giggle” is too mild a word: uncontrollable laughter would rise to the level of guffaws and downright knee-slappers, right at the most somber parts of a religious service. Continue reading

Reaching Higher In Women’s Company

I Love Women.

     I’ll take them in all shapes and sizes, the old and the young, the rich and the poor.

If it wasn’t for women, I — and a lot of guys I know — wouldn’t even be here! Continue reading

All I Want For Christmas Is . . . Nothing!

     Am I un-American or anti-religious when I tell you something I’ve been trying to say for years, but have been afraid of hurting your feelings?

     I want Nothing for Christmas!  Continue reading

Indulgences for Purgatory from Past Lives

      (Caution: Exposure to this post could be hazardous to your health, particularly if you were raised Catholic with a taste of Buddhist and Kabalistic ingredients thrown in the mix.)

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Love & Comfort Your Self on Sick Days

     There’s something about getting sick on a day off that allows me to feel sorry for myself free of all guilt. I take pity on myself; I baby myself; I pamper myself. Nothing prevents me from going “easy” on myself and refraining from pushing to get something done. Continue reading

Joseph’s Pregnant Conversion

“Did you hear what I said? I’m pregnant.

Aren’t you going to say anything Joseph?”

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Begging Your Pardon, I Can See You Now

     I saw more of the Divine in a beggar on the road to Calvary last year than I did in the three religions occupying Jerusalem. The beggar’s blindness beamed into me, and I’ll never forget the look on his face as I offered him Israeli shekels, and he bowed to me in thanks.
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Open my Vessel for ALL Lights to Shine

Merging My Belief in Both God & the Buddha

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My life is dependent on the rest of you

     I am as dependent on you as you are on me, as we all are on the kindness and labor of others we too often take for granted.

     As I look around, I see that my fortune is dependent on the cooperation and contributions of others. Continue reading

Giving Thanks For Feeling So Grateful

      I want to give “thanks” today, but don’t want to offer it the Norman-Rockwell, “fake-it-‘til-you-make-it” way of the holidays. Instead, I want to share how grateful I am for such taken-for-granted “gifts” that I am only beginning to realize most of us have been given. Continue reading

My Loving Prayer to Saint Francis of Assisi

I want to follow you and not lead

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War is never the answer today (11-11-11)

On this Veterans Day, 11-11-11, what would you tell yourself if you could go back in time and greet that young man recently returned home from the war?

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A noble banker needs to occupy here

Is there a noble banker in the world? Only someone in the lending business who sees his calling as a “service for the people,” I believe, could correct past abuses and recommend changes for, and in the best interests of, us “99 percenters.”

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Twice snow uncovers October awakenings

     It snowed along the East Coast of the United States today (October 29, 2011), making it the first time in more than 30 years the white stuff appeared this early outside my Conshohocken, PA, window.

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Wall Street Never Profits Anyone’s Soul!

     The phone rang, and Henry Rushing answered it, hoping the call would not delay his weekly trip to church services Sunday morning. The pastor of his Presbyterian Church was on the line. Continue reading

These are the True Signs of Our Times!

When I read the Occupy Wall Street demonstrators were unfocused and without a coherent message, I took a closer look at them in Philadelphia, and discovered some were disheveled street persons looking for handouts, and one was a graduate school political science major spouting Marxist teaching.

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“For the Signs, they are a ‘Changing'”

(From Part I, These are true signs of our Times/)

The greatest protest of our generation is seeking change in all shapes and sizes. You can see it in the signs the demonstrators carry, writing the letters out really big with magic markers so that passersby need not squint to get the messages.

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Grant me a World of Group Friends, Amen!

As my world started to close in on me, demanding its immediate attention toward responsibilities, affairs of work, and needs in my house, I found an oasis inside of myself and in the thoughts of friends in my Kabbalah group.

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