What You Came Here To Discover
Life isn’t black and white.
Although we may wish it were.
But it’s not that simple.
Life is grey and blue and purple and red and every color of the rainbow.
Life is not what you grew up thinking it was.
Life is now.
And often contradictory and paradoxical.
Just when you think you’ve figured it out, it expands beyond your comprehension.
Yet, it’s so often wondrous and loving along the way.
Yes, we have sorrow and grief, but often these provide the contrast for us to appreciate how exquisite and sacred every moment is, every breath is.
You and I have been given a gift.
And it’s this very instant. It’s this very breath.
And the next one.
Wisdom traditions dating back to the dawn of consciousness have been trying to tell us this.
When you center yourself…
When you clear your mind…
When you get in touch with the magic of your holy breath… you can approach an understanding of the magic that surrounds you.
It is profound.
It is yours.
It is what you came here to discover.
#BeHereNow #ThisIsTheSacredMoment #Meditation #Breath #HolyBreath #Zen #Spirit #ACIM #DownloadingYourSoul #ChrisDuel
The Summer of Our Discontent
How do we make sense of the senseless?
Beheadings and car bombs on the other side of the world.
Civilian “soft targets,” from Paris to Brussels to Istanbul, suicide bombed by “martyrs” in the name of their God.
A slaughter in an Orlando nightclub.
Over 2,000 gun deaths in Chicago this year.
Cell phone video of highly questionable shootings of African Americans.
And now, the ambush and assassination of Dallas Police officers during an otherwise peaceful protest.
Ironically, this most recent national tragedy occurred very close to Dealey Plaza, the site of America’s most notorious assassination.
How do we make sense of the senseless?
We cannot.
But there are things we can do.
We can affect our own individual spheres of influence.
Our family, friends, neighbors and communities.
It starts small. It starts organically. It starts with you. And it grows.
We can choose reason over insanity.
We can choose light over darkness.
We can choose love over fear.
We can increase the peace.
In our communities, in our state, in our nation, in our world.
The good people in this world vastly outnumber the misguided, vicious ones.
I am convinced that in the end, love wins.
We just need to consciously, actively intend the light and the love a little more.
Shielding My Eyes
Another horrific act of violence in America today and it was apparently captured on video.
This happens all too often. And we are presented with an option to view the day’s most senseless act on our computer and television screens.
No, thanks.
I choose not to see it.
I have read the story. I grieve and pray for the victims and their families. I lament that we live in a society where such murder has become so very commonplace.
Out of respect for the victims and their families and as a conscious choice to determine which images I allow into my mind, my psyche and my soul – I will not watch it.
May we all find a path to love, light and peace as we continue our journey through this wondrous life.
Prayers For Charleston, Prayers for America
I cannot begin to fathom the sickness and hatred that drives a human being to kill other innocent human beings, much less for the absurd “difference” of skin color or ethnicity.
We live in a world of so many beautiful blessings. How and why can this happen? I don’t have the answers.
What I do know is that there are two powerful forces in the world: Love and Fear.
Fear is the illusion.
And once again we have a choice.
To choose Love and spread Love.
Or to choose Fear and spread Fear.
I vividly remember the night Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. I was seven years old. I sat in front of the television late into the night of April 4, 1968 and watched the replays of his speech from the night before, where he said he’d been to the mountaintop and seen the beauty of all God’s children living in peace, while adding that he might not make it there with us.
I’m stunned that in the 21st Century such unevolved fear, hatred and ignorance still exists.
All I know to do is to continue to choose Love over Fear.
And to continue to shine a light on the darkness of hatred, racism and ignorance.
God Bless those who were killed in Charleston last night. And may comfort and peace ease the horror and pain of their families and friends.