The Last Rose of Summer

Not summer anymore.

Surely I jest! Any respectable gardener can tell that this is NOT a rose. You are absolutely right. In truth it is merely a charming bit of garden art from welded metal kitchen utensils--a ladle for the flower center and serving spoons for the petals. A three and a half foot re-bar "stem" plants it into the ground.

That's a four-foot fence around the back yard, so you have a clear perspective of the sort of late summer day we are experiencing here in Bend.

Goodbye, dear flower! Today a slight bump in the snow suggests that my "rose" has been overtaken by the ill affects of summer long gone.

ZEN Things I get to . . .

Mint, Sage, Pine, Juniper, Spruce Cones

The little scrap of paper fell at my feet. I had placed a collection of greenery donated by the chill November outdoors when I picked up and read for the first time a list of Zen Things.

It felt like the soothing calm of a loving mother who stills a frantic child. I'm thankful to be able to share the list with you.

1 DO ONE THING AT A TIME

2 DO IT SLOWLY AND DELIBERATELY

3 DO IT COMPLETELY

4 DO LESS

5 PUT SPACE BETWEEN THINGS

6 DEVELOP RITUALS

7 DESIGNATE TIME FOR CERTAIN THINGS

8 DEVOTE TIME TO SITTING

9 SMILE AND SERVE OTHERS

10 MAKE CLEANING AND COOKING BECOME A MEDITATION

11 THINK ABOUT WHAT IS NECESSARY

12 LIVE SIMPLY

After the Candle

My candles are lit. Their healing light soothes the raw edges. A loving breath encourages us to move forward now with purposeful action that will hold the center of good.

For all of us there is tremendous strength in using our intention to heal our country and humanity on a larger scale. Our thoughts and prayers are freely our own and need not be constrained by whoever has been elected to lead this nation.

Consider using this powerful prayer to anchor Light and Love in your home, your neighborhood, your city, your state and all across the country. Remember that whatever you extend to others will come back to you many times and multiplied. As you bless others, may you be blessed.

The Great Invocation

From the point of Light within the Mind of God

Let Light stream forth into the minds of all people.

Let Light descend on Earth.

From the point of Love within the Heart of God

Let Love stream forth into the minds of all people.

May the Chosen One return to Earth.

From the Center where the will of God is known,

Let purpose guide the little wills of all people,

The purpose which the Masters know and serve.

From the Center which we call the Human Race,

Let the Plan of Love and Light work out

And may it seal the door where Evil dwells.

Let Light and Love and Power restore the Plan on Earth.

                                   Djwhal Khul/Alice Bailey

Time to Light Candles

It's dark these days. Daylight Saving skipped away last week to wherever it lives during the winter. Usually sunny Bend has had more than the normal grey days. The temperatures are promised to drop a bit this week. And many of the events of our nation have a foreboding energy around them that could be described as dark.

We offer as a warming antidote the first stanza from "The Great Invocation" (Djwhal Khul/Alice Bailey)

From the point of Light within the Mind of God

Let Light stream forth into the minds of all people.

Let Light descend on Earth!

Then let us all light candles to tell our physical eyes that there is glowing, warm hope available to us always, to show us that there is always something we can do as we stand in Divine Love, to soothe us when we might forget the power and eternal strength of Good.

I light this candle for you!

Unlikely Litter

I pick up litter. The trash varies in its makeup: plenty of cigarette butts, occasional clothing or boots, beer cans and bottles, plastic bags and cups from the fast-food restaurant and the grocery store nearby. It all goes into the yellow bag. The bags are hauled away by the city. Repeat every couple of weeks. Makes me feel better about my space on the Earth.

Really nothing to catch my attention on the road today when I headed out for a walk. On the return it seemed important to tidy up the occasional bit of debris--bare-handed, no gloves, no trash grabber, no big yellow bag. The last scrap of paper stopped me gloriously alert in my tracks. Tell me what you make of it!

The act of smiling opens the heart chakras making us more available to the outpouring of good from the Universe.
It also makes us more sensitive to the energies around us.
May your heart, your mind and your face smile today with Divine Guidance and Illumination.
So Be It!

This Is NOT the End!

Today is the beginning of a new level of creativity. Muscles are not developed on the couch. Learning to hold a heart of peace is not best fostered in an atmosphere of prosperity and good will.

We have before us one of the Grandest Laboratories of Peace and Harmony and Well Being that our country has even known. Let us each move forward to the edge of the light we have, perfecting the balance of loving kindness and mercy, with a willingness to explore our hearts and create elegant altars of Harmony in the spaces we that find.

We are blessed with energies of contrast that cause us to ask and will require a brilliance of creative thought we have not yet used in this evolution of our being. May we be brave with Divine Guidance and Help. May we move forward with Divine Protection and Illumination. May our Divine Creativity soar to heights not seen before. So Be It. So Be It. So Be It.

(Please share your comments of how this plays out in your space of love. We are enriched by our connected and collective experiences.)

Harmony of the trees for our blessing

TODAY I ELECT. . .

-To look for all the best that this day has to offer.
-To speak with compassion and peace on all subjects.
-To regard each, without exception, as her/his Highest and Best Self.
-To bask in the vibrational contentedness of Love.
-To accept the Divine Guidance surrounding us.
-To move forward with the confidence of Divine Help and Protection.
-To stand in the blissful, warm, caressing sunshine of this day.
-To once again hang my clean, wet sheets outside on the line to absorb the radiance of the sun.
-To sleep tonight wrapped in the elegance of the Universe and its Wisdom.

May each of you feel my sharing of these blessings, today and always.  So Be It.

Shimmering in the exquisite rays of Divine Love