The Voice of Coca Cola

In 1971, Coca Cola released a commercial that lit up the world. Part of the lyrics "I'd like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony" (produced by Billy Davis and sung by the "New Seekers") was such a big hit that eventually coke waived royalties to the song and it became a No. 1 hit on charts around the world. The theme of the song (for those too young to remember) was one of multicultural unity with hundreds of children singing on a hilltop. It was a sign of hope for peace and respect for people of all ages, skin color, gender, religious orientation...it was a call for unity.

Today we live in a world that is unsettled but I feel is also in the middle of a new birth. I am old enough to remember the days of the Cold War and the Berlin Wall and what an amazing event it became when those walls crumbled and people were given their voice. We are watching that now, in the Middle East, as people are seeking the Divine human right to have a say over their lives. I think each of us, regardless of circumstance, always have a say over our own lives. It begins with our own story and how we interpret our own story. But more importantly, using the Coke song as inspiration, the human spirit is strong and resilient and longs to sing in harmony with everyone else. Even those who would limit the scope of human freedoms seek the same expression when they join cults, gangs, or terrorist groups. The trick with us humans is that the notes of my song are not imposed upon the notes of your song...and together the notes create harmony.

You listen when I share an idea with you and I listen as you share an idea with me and each idea takes us deeper and closer to the Truth of what all Saints and Masters have directed us toward. It is the inner light of Divinity that is ours to claim and when I claim that I can know that your inner light is also waiting a window to light the path for life as we all struggle through the dark forest together. The resilience of the human spirit is strong and viable. It calls to us, begs us, whispers to us, yells at us, to pay attention. If I can be all I am meant to be then I am far less concerned with making you who I think you should be. "I'd like to teach the world to sing, in perfect harmony, I would like to hold it in my arms and keep it company." I don't think that this is an idealistic dream; it is the stuff that living peacefully is made of .http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlR0KElxxVg

The Voice of Piece

Over the years I have spent a lot of time coming to terms with some of the events of my childhood. I don't think I am all that different than many from my generation in that respect. There were so many parts to my early life that formed me. Somewhere along the pathway, I took some of those parts and made them my identity. Some of those parts were like a sore thumb and like a sore thumb, I continually bumped it up against something that reminded me I was broken. On the other hand, some of the parts I called my own were woven from love and compassion and moved me into deeper contemplation about life. What I have come to is that I am not a sum total of the parts but am, if I am willing to emotionally surrender the "whys" of what happened, more. I am assured by great spiritual masters that if I do this I will find a greater part of myself. The Divine part of myself.

The hardest part of all this is owning my own piece in the events of my life. I started my adult life quite early. I was 17 years old when I stepped out into adulthood. I was wholly unskilled for the adult life I faced. As I have matured, I have realized that some of the parts of my life had become a concrete shell I had shaped around myself, mostly my heart. It was all done in the name of protection; but it separated me from my piece. Too ashamed to look at my imperfections, I was like a puzzle that had not been put back together. I know now that I was not only carrying my piece, but the pieces of my family that may have been passed on from generation to generation. Whether it was a thousand years, or only fifty, it didn't matter. That influence was the "piece" that I needed to embrace so I could own my piece in the areas of my life that didn't work.

Having been a parent for 38 years of my 57, I am more conscious now than ever before of how my legacy was formed and how I have passed it on. The one legacy I am unwilling to let go of and feel so blessed to call my own is my deep and ever evolving sense of what love really means. As I stood today, reflecting on the things I would like to have a "do over" on I heard this silent whisper, spoken with great love and compassion:  until you can own your piece, you will never own your Peace. Later, in the inspirational reading I do each day a message from 2500 years ago met my heart. Lao Tzu shared: "To let knowledge produce troubles, and then use knowledge to prepare against them, is like stirring water in hopes of making it clear." It takes new perspective to own my piece so I can own my Peace. Somewhere in that formula I tasted the sweet honey of compassion, and waiting there were my relatives. As I share it with you today, I am also reminded: Just breathe...

The Voice of Burnt Offerings

There is a time for every purpose under heaven. A time to review, rewind, rewrite, release, and renew. Today marks the Christian tradition of Lent. While there are many of us who have stepped off the paved road of our religious training and are exploring the well-trodden but dirt path of other spiritual masters, we are each blessed with the traditions of established faith. Each religion offers to us something of the deep sacred in the traditions of old. Many of them were inspired by deeply devoted, spiritually aware humans. Whether we call those humans God, saints, or simply enlightened individuals, each of these Masters, in their own way, cleared a part of the tangled jungle of everyday life so we might each travel our own Spiritual path. Lenten Season is purposeful and beautiful when understood in that light.

The purpose behind the ceremony of Lent is not necessarily to isolate ourselves from something we enjoy but rather, it is a time to make a commitment to our own lives. I know that I have been burdened in my own life with things from my past that have prevented me from embracing the sacredness of each day. To take a time, especially a time when many people pray and fast together, is to let go of that which limits or lives. There is a power in that practice. To step away from any spiritual tradition because we have become disillusioned with the dogma of that religion is sometimes equivalent to throwing the baby out with the bathwater! The practice of Lent, of letting go of our past or of some personally harmful behavior, is healing not only to us but to the world.

It is no mistake that Lent coincides with the transition from Winter that is dormant into the Spring that is sparked with new life. The seedling lying deep within the soil, cannot reach for the warmth of the sun in the darkness and cold of the Winter. Let Lent be your time to discover this equinoctial process within your own soul. Be willing to shed light upon the personal darkness of misunderstanding, fear, regret or anger; be willing to say no to the things that harm you or others...even if it is simply to give up criticism. I long to be renewed and find new energy and life within me so that I cannot simply live my life, but so my life can live me. I wish the same for everyone.

The Voice of Me

Socrates is quoted as having said "Know Thyself." I am unsure how many of us truly know the complexity of ourselves. Having been conditioned to underestimate the value of listening, our own voice (that Soul voice deep within us) is rarely heard amid the din of all the things that circulate in our lives: work, relationships, goals, worries, desires, etc, etc, etc. The list can go on as long as there is day and night, which is pretty endless. But to truly know ourselves it takes courage and patience and honesty. Too often the voice that keeps speaking to us, telling us about the "me" inside our skin, is ignored.

Sometimes that voice is shrouded in guilt or shame; sometimes the voice of "me" is muffled in the sounds of "should" and "have to"; other times it is simply ignored. Then there are the times when everything becomes "about me" to the degree that we have so over-personalized a situation that we have lost our ability to perceive, realistically, what is happening and we leave the rest of the world out. That happened to me when we lost our mother. I simply did not believe that anyone else understood MY pain. My voice of "me" became a victim of loss and it took me years to realize I was at some level diminishing her life by making it only my loss. It was dark and lonely where I found myself. When I started listening to the authentic "me" that was trying valiantly to be heard I began to heal.

The real voice of "me" is connected to something far greater than myself; it is not small but it is eternal and enlightening if I am willing to listen. I think that I have mistaken the idea of "enlightenment" over the years to be something out of my reach. I don't know if I exactly thought that I should one day wake up with an ability to walk across our swimming pool or not! All I know is that I set my expectations for myself so high they could never be reached. That kind of understanding gave me an excuse to stay small and in the darkness of my own limited perceptions. In fact, I argued vehemently for my own limitations. It was far easier to accept I was less than my version of "enlightened" than it was to take a good long hard look at my inner world. Now, enlightenment has become more user friendly. Each time I have a breakthrough or an "ah-ha" moment, I find a little more light within myself. By letting go of my own limiting perceptions, I find a little more space within myself to be a little more enlightened, with less ego telling me who I should be. "Me" and my voice are getting along a lot better these days!

The Voice of Mirrors

We live in a world full of mirrors. A friend of mine and I were recently discussing a difficult relationship he has been in for a very long time. He didn't understand why it was so hard. I simply commented to him that his wife was a perfect mirror for him. I don't think he particularly liked what I said, but it is true. I have known them for a long time. I first heard this idea many years ago from a spiritual teacher and I didn't like hearing it at the time either. We all love the Nordstroms mirror...you know that one...it makes us look GOOD in a new outfit, even flawless. We all love our Nordstrom mirror-friends. But give us a mirror out of a traveling carnival...you know the ones...the ones that are all distorted, and we don't like those mirror friends who reflect back our flaws, maybe even bring us pain. Not fun.

When I first began doing seriously self-reflective work I felt ashamed at what I perceived as flaws in my being. Being much wiser and older now, I have come to appreciate the friends who show me what is holding me back from my life. They did not show up to torment me. Just the opposite, they came into my life because a part of me, a soulful part of me, wanted more from myself and my from the life I was valiantly trying to live. I had no ability or chance to change my perceptions until I could see what perceptions needed changing. My distorted mirror friends gifted me with insight even though the reality of what I saw at times was not only embarrassing but painful. But heh...surgery is painful. So is childbirth! Living life sometimes feels like one or both of these!

The trick is not letting that distorted mirror trick you into believing you are the distortion. Looking into those mirrors is like walking through the "fun house" of mirrors that traveling carnivals sport. The fun house is darkened and complex, weaving you through a maze of false images. The difference between the fun house and real life is that the fun house eventually leads to an exit. When we leave that building, we know we are not the distorted images we saw. When we feel the sun shining on our face, we know we are alive, vital human beings that can vibrantly love, be courageous in the face of life's changes and challenges, can achieve whatever our heart's long for. The trick is not staying in the "fun house" which...in the end...is no fun at all.