Webkinz...What are we doing?

On Saturday, I stopped by a local gift shop to pick up a few items. As I entered the store I saw a sign announcing they had Webkinz. I had seen the sign in a few other stores so I guessed this must be a popular item, much like the Beanie Babies had been many years earlier. When I checked out I thought I would ask what they were. The clerk was excited to tell me they were small stuffed animals and each one comes with a secret code that you use to log into the Webkinz web site. The stuffed animals, or pets as they are referred to, need to be taken care of. The secret code entitles you to play games so you can earn virtual money to buy virtual food, clothing and other things for your pet.

Well...I just started to laugh almost hysterically at how absurd it was. I was quickly told that the pets teach children to be responsible since they have to be fed and taken care of daily. In one instance a girl became concerned about how she would care for her pet while on vacation because she may not have access to a computer. I knew better than to keep on laughing at the absurdity of it, but I could hardly believe what I was hearing. I simply said, what are we doing and what are we teaching our children? The look on the clerk's face told me I had said enough as she reminded me that they taught kids to be responsible.

I got in my car and as I drove home I could not get this out of my head. We buy children a stuffed animal by which they get a code to play computer games so they can buy fake food to feed a fake pet? What are we doing and what are we teaching our children?

Surely I must have missed the point of this. I logged unto the Webkinz site to check it out and sure enough that is what it is. They even address questions like can my pet die? They assure you that a pet can only get sick from not enough food or attention. If that happens you log on, play more games to earn money to buy food for your pet.

I will stop carrying on about this but I did stop to wonder about some things. What happened to parents teaching their children responsibility? How can we teach caring, love and respect for things when our model isn't even real? Today in our culture we are losing our ability to connect to one another in ways that are meaningful. If we believe certain things are important to teach our children we can't let someone or something else do that for us. I'm wondering if we care for others in a way that is compassionate and loving. There is no substitute or anything more powerful than teaching our children the values we hold dear...that is a sacred task and it belongs to each of us. I understand we can get lost in the craziness if life and lose sight of things but we have to step back and get some perspective. It is important to to ask if our actions are matching what we think is important. So today, take a step back and get some perspective on your life.

Blessings,
Sandy

It's All About Grace...

Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost and now I'm found, was blind bit now I see. 'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear and grace my fears relieved...

As you read these words you can probably hear the song being sung in your head. I have to be honest, this has never been one of my favorite songs. However, it was my grandmother Selma's favorite. As a small child I would sit next to her in church as she sang this song with great reverence. I knew there was something important about it but never really knew what it was. Many years later I sat in that same church and sang this song with great reverence at her funeral. Again, I knew there was something I was not understanding. I have spent much time thinking about it...not the song as much as the idea of grace.

Our year long theme at church this year is Amazing Grace. Everything will revolve around this idea. And So I had to ask myself, just what is so amazing about grace? According to Webster it is unmerited Divine assistance given to humans for their regeneration or sanctification. When I think about this meaning I can't help but think that alone is pretty amazing! It is true that you will often hear that grace is a free gift from God. It is available to all and does not have to be earned. It is given for the sacred purpose of spiritual renewal to each one of us. I believe it comes to us a peace, joy, understanding at the most unlikely times. So if grace is a Divine and Holy gift given by our Creator...how do we extend it out beyond ourselves....

That is what I want to keep learning about...how to extend grace to others. Sometimes I have trouble putting into words how exactly it is we can extend this Divine gift to those around us. I have a friend who has taught me more about this amazing gift than I could have learned alone. She has taught me what I have come to know about grace

~It comes in the softness of a persons eyes when they speak

~It is not in the words as much as in the spaces between the words

~Sometimes it is no words at all

~It is the unconditional love held for another

~In times of difficulty it is saying, bless you and change me

In essence it is not so much about what is done as what is felt that describes grace. It is a state of being that comes from the heart and enters the very essence of another person with love and compassion. That is what my friend and my grandmother Selma taught me.. just how amazing it really is and how we each can show each other the essence of grace.

Grace to you,

Sandy

Who Are You Most Like?

What an absolutely beautiful morning...it could not be more perfect! I have been sitting on my deck meditating and taking in the nature that surrounds me. I am in awe of this universe.

Many times I include a reading as part of my early morning ritual. The book I am using right now is, The Book of Awakening by Mark Nepo. He talks about two people who changed our world, Christopher Columbus-explorer and Carl Jung-psychologist. Columbus set out looking for a new world to claim while Jung looked inwardly with intent for the very same thing. They both found something... Columbus found a new world, fame and fortune and Jung found the inner most places of ourselves; the place of unconditional love. Both men became famous but the path seems quite different. One looked outwardly and one looked inward. One keeps you separate from the universe and the other connects to it. I can see myself in both of these men. The part that wants to conquer and the part that realizes I am a part of this grand universe. I am not separate at all just like you are not. Of course I have choice about my actions, but we are all connected and guided to a force much greater than ourselves. I had to ask myself, who am I most of the time, Columbus or Jung? I would like to say the answer is always Jung but I am human, and sometimes I slip into fear that takes me away from what I know to be true. If you look at your life who are you most like? What if we need some of each...looking inward and then acting outward? That is what living conscious is about. We must learn to look deep inside ourselves for answers, trust in the guidance of that which is greater than us and live our life with passion and purpose. Trust that the unconditional love that available to all of us, is the greatest gift of all.

Blessings to you this day! I hope you are enjoying this Labor Day Weekend...and be sure to have some fun!

Sandy

Living With Integrity

I believe that life always has a way of bringing us what we need to learn, whether we are aware of it at the time, or not. Many times it is only with a little perspective that we can truly see what was there for us to learn. It is not that we don't know it, we may just need to learn it on a deeper level. I think that is what happens when we decide to live in a way that is more conscious, we are presented with life situations that help us do just that. One aspect of that is living with integrity. Do we live our life with personal integrity? A quick overview might say that we do. For the most part we tell the truth, treat others with respect, trust the goodness in others and do the things we say we will. It is important to do more than that...we must look at how we carry out integrity in our lives a little more closely. If we believe treating others with respect is important, we compromise our integrity whenever we lack respect in our relationships with others. In the same vein, we lack integrity when we allow others to treat us in a way that is disrespectful. The same thinking applies to telling the truth, trusting others and believing in the goodness of humanity. The thoughts, words and actions have to match to live with authenticity and integrity. But we are human, none of us can do this all the time. Therefore this idea of living with integrity, is something that takes conscious thought and action. Over the last several weeks I have had many opportunities to look at my own integrity. It is not always easy to stay in truth and respect, especially when that gets challenged, but staying with situations when they get hard, can lead to mutual understanding. If we can stay stay with a difficult situation, we bring a tremendous gift to that relationship. To live our life in aliment with our thoughts, words and deeds, we must look at our daily interactions. In this way, we have a new opportunity to define and refine, how we want to live. We can create the context for how we will treat others and how we want to be treated. Imagine...for just a moment...what our relationships would be like like if everyone gave conscious thought to their everyday interactions. Then imagine the ripple effect of that...this very idea going out beyond us, and how that would create a world that is more peaceful and joyful. Blessings to you as you live more consciously.
Sandy

Our Children Need...

All children need a laptop. not a computer but a human laptop. Moms, dads, grannies and grandpas, aunts, uncles - someone to hold them, teach them. Loved ones who will embrace them and pass on the experience, rituals and knowledge of a hundred generations. Loved ones who will pass to the next generation their expectations of them, their hopes and their dreams. ~ General Colin Powell

I stopped for a Starbucks coffee as I was driving to Georgia bringing my youngest son to college. I have to admit that I was feeling a bit sad about leaving him so far from home and then I read this quote on my latte cup. I have three sons and ever since they were small I wanted them to know their extended family in such a way that they could go to them with anything. It was important to me that they learned about who they are and what they stand for. And now I am about to drop my son off so far away and the only thing that makes this better is that we have family about and hour and a half away. They are so excited to have him closer for another school year. They take good care of him and he enjoys being with them. It is a home away from home. In a moments notice they would drive to Atlanta if he ever needed anything or got lonesome.

So tonight, my first night without him since May, I realize how lucky we both are. He has extended family to to be his family when we cannot. They love and care for him as they would their own children. But most of all he will learn from their experience and listen to their hopes and dreams. Take some time today to connect to people close to your family.

In Georgia, my family said that everyone says, Bless your heart...so I said I would sign off my blog with that tonight. So...Bless your heart and those that are close to you!

Sandy

Trust Your Knowing

Have you ever had a insight or gut feeling about something ? Sometimes this gut feeling even goes against what seems logical or right, but have you done it anyway?, It is hard to trust something that we don't know the outcome of, but we are often asked to do just that. Today at church, I heard that a fellow parishioner had won $10,000.00 in a raffle. When I asked her about it, she told me that a neighbor had asked her to buy a ticket for church event. The raffle ticket was $100.00,not quite the average price of a raffle ticket. They had decided it might not be prudent to purchase a ticket since they had many medical expenses to pay this past year. In addition to the extra medical expenses they were newly retired with a $10,000.00 deductible on their medical insurance. A high deductible they would need to cover! She went on to say that they really could not afford to buy the ticket but knew she had to. Anyway if they did not win, it went for a good cause. After some discussion, the ticket was purchased and set aside. Some time later, the neighbor who had sold the ticket ,came over to present the winnings with much delight to a surprised couple. In talking with her today she just could not get over how sure she was that she need to buy that ticket. Not only that but the winnings was exactly the amount of their medical insurance deductible! She said it was amazing.

This is amazing indeed! Everyday each of us has these knowings and insights that guide us. We happened to know the ending to this story but often we do not. We are asked to trust our insights even we we cannot see the outcome. Today as you trust what you know, also trust that God is really watching over us all.
Blessings,
Sandy

Nothing Is Impossible

I have just finished reading an incredible book called, Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson. Greg was born in Minnesota but at a very young age his parents moved to Tanzania, Africa to be missionaries. At age 11 he climbed Mount Kilimanjaro with his dad and is now an avid mountain climber. When is was a teenager he parents moved back and he went on to finish high school and then earned a degree in nursing. When he finished school he organized an expedition to climb K2 in the Himalayas. While on that climb he became separated from his party and thought he would freeze on the mountain. He spent the night with no tent or shelter. Surprised to find himself alive in the morning, he set out to try to get off the mountain. In his condition he became more disorientated. Finally just before nightfall, he was rescued by one of the porters that had been guiding the group up the mountain to the summit. The porter took Greg to his village of Korpe where the village nursed him back to health. While in the village he realized the plight of the people and their need to educate their children. He promised to repay them for saving his life by coming back and building a school in this remote village. He went home, got a nursing job and lived out of his car to save money for the school. He talked with every one he knew to get donations to build his school without much success. Finally when he had given up hope, he was given $12,000 to build the school. He went back and bought the material in the closest town and began transporting the goods to the village. When the villagers heard he had come back they were overjoyed. However he was informed that the bridge could not support getting the material;s to the village. First he would have to build a new bridge that could support the supplies. Discouraged and disappointed, he went home and started to raise the money for a bridge. Finally with money in hand, he went back and built the bridge and eventually the school. In re-telling this story I cannot do justice to the determination of this man and his commitment to the vision he had for the children of the Himalayas. This is only part of the story, he beat insurmountable odds in a very remote part of the world to make his vision happen. In all, he has now build 28 schools and women's centers!

I have been so taken by this book that I can't stop thinking about it. This man defied the odds against him and refused to take no for an answer. I know for myself, I had a great teacher, my grandmother Selma. She believed that nothing could stand in the way of doing what she believed in. What is that for you? What is the vision that is burning inside you?

For me it has been creating a healing center...a place where people can learn to find peace and joy in their lives. That is why we have created the Institute for Peace and Joy...it is the vision that has been burning inside Paula and I. We are getting closer than we ever have before to getting this dream. Sometimes the odds seem insurmountable, sometimes it is disappointing, but most of all it is the passion we have to do this work that will bring this vision to life.

If you would like to talk about what we are doing please give us a call 952-435-4144. Blessings to you this day!

Sandy