Decorations for Jesus

Here it is a time when we see more emphasis on taking God/Jesus out of the world and yet I love that the world decorates for Jesus' birthday. It seems that all of our differences end for the celebration of the birth of Jesus. Whether prophet, Son of God, or Jewish boy, all of us want to celebrate His Birthday with great fanfare. Look at all of the lights, the ribbons, the greenery and bows, the music, the gift wrapping.
Is it possible, that the gifts we give to one another are really our desire to give something back to this baby who is the salve to our human suffering and our hope for an eternity of joy. Joyful is this season of celebration and grateful am I that everyone decorates for world is more beautiful.

Finding Joy

Yesterday was the third Sunday of Advent, referred to as Gaudete. The Latin Gaudete is translated as Rejoice, Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, rejoice; let your forbearance be known to all, for the Lord is near at hand; have no anxiety about anything, but in all things, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God. The holiday period has been known to be stressful and this year it has been particularly stressful. My stress due to very demanding work matters that are unceasing right now, too many commitments with friends that have kept me from time to refresh my energy and the macro conditions in the world that concern all of us. My last guest will leave this morning and sad to say it is with much relief as I believe I have just over done it. I can give with joy when there is moderation in my own life and this weekend was anything but moderation. We all experienced excessive partying, visiting, travelling to events and coming home to more people. This past weekend was too full for me causing me to lose the joy of the day especially on Sunday night when I returned home and was so physically and emotionally drained. I woke up this morning still joyless. My very nature is JOY. However I have neglected the garden of my heart and instead of being a joyful hostess, I was crusty, bitter and joyless. My JOY will return, even now, it is present as I soften my eyes, lift my spine, and smile, my outward movements, an intentional breath- inhale, pause, exhale and there, in this moment my joy is present. What is lost in excess activity is found in awareness of this moment. Rejoice, the Lord is near, in fact She is breathing me even now.

The Moon Followed Me Home

Last night after a long day at the office I began my commute home and there she was big, bright and shining, our beautiful moon. So I drove along 101 south and outside my left window she followed me and she even reflected her glow from the water right into my car. Through heavy traffic we travelled and we smiled she at me and I at her. We, my moon and I exited the freeway and now she was behind me enabling the darkness in front of me to reveal the brightest star in the sky. Was this the same star that led the wise men to Jesus? I thought, hmm the moon, so humble, letting the star shine on our salvation. Often the songs refer to the Holy night when the stars were brightly shining, and tonight I realized that Jesus was like both the moon in her humility and the star in her brilliance. We wish you a Merry Christmas in this season of LOVE and PEACE, the gift of the moon and the stars who shine on our salvation.

Life's Busyness

I sat in observation of people on cell phones, blackberry's and other handheld devices as I rode the shuttle bus from the car rental return to the airport following a long two days of client meetings and dinners. All around me the busyness of life was present. I too fill every minute with work, activity, calls, cleaning, thinking, and transacting something. Often I want to slow down and just be. Although, as I have pondered in what little time I find for the thinking rather than the doing, I realize that my own busyness is sometimes a gift. This is contrary to my spiritual being that longs for meditation, silence and peace of mind. The joy of busyness is that I have a sense of purpose, contribution and of expansion to focus and learn challenging new things. I find that the busyness is not only bearable but necessary for my life's quality. In the infrequent time of day dreaming about just being, I know that I appreciate just being more following productive living. In the end I appreciate the quiet and peaceful moments more because of my productive "busy" living.

Healing with Companions

My friend Dana had 5 of her lady companions and her daughter for a yoga class and dinner on Tuesday night. Dana had bid on a private yoga class at a silent auction and won and hence she gathered her friends for a lovely night. We found the yoga practice rigorous and yet healing but the real healing came from the dinner and the sharing in the breaking of the bread that followed our yoga. One woman was dealing with hot flashes from menopause, another woman revealed her a challenging marriage to a man that was not kind and obviously had caused long term suffering, and another woman shared her story of the struggle with raising teenage children. One woman's daughter had just gotten engaged to a lovely young man and their family was excited about the upcoming wedding. We shared secret recipes of the soups Dana and her daughter made and covered other topics that brought insight for dealing with menopause and some of life's other matters.

As we sat at Dana's lovely table and ate as companions joy became apparent. I use the term companion deliberately as I love its Latin root "Companionem," which was, "one with whom you would eat bread" -- "Con" (with) and "Pan" (bread) -- presumably, your "companion" was someone with whom you would "break bread." Dana, thank you for your companionship and sharing your companions with all of us. In the breaking of bread my heart is lighter and my soul is healed.

Why Obama

My nephew Matthew, soon to be 9 years old, asked my why I was voting for Obama. He lives in Texas and his family is true "red". What Matthew does not know is that while we are young we follow our parents or peers' views. So when I was young I would vote exactly as my parents for I trusted their integrity. As an adult, I must trust myself to choose with integrity. Based on what I hope for the future, for Matthew's future, I began researching more of what it was about Obama that called me to vote for him. It really was nothing against McCain; it is more that Obama represents a hopeful change. A change that will make not only the US better but the world. Obama does not seem red or blue. Obama captures what I hope to be the future of America which is really no longer red or blue but purple, the blend of the best of both the red republicans and the blue democrats. America's borders surrounded and "protected by water" no longer need to be protected but to protect the entire world's freedom. For me I have become hopeful for a global republic, based on the concept that sovereignty resides in the people, who delegate the power to rule in their behalf to elected representatives and officials. We need to choose wisely all leaders.

I would say I am both republican and democrat as I want government "these leaders we choose" that supports people and supports peoples' ability to achieve success measured by freedom for all rights. However, as we have seen with the financial crisis we are in, we need a just government made up of people with integrity to doing the right thing. Do we raise taxes? Probably we need to raise taxes. Why? We have a war to fund, we have our collapsed banking and capital markets system without it's propping up by "the people" (the people being defined as the taxpayers), all companies big and small would not meet payroll.

It's a huge cycle of dependence and responsibility. We depend on every person, particularly those leading companies and countries to have integrity and for us "the people" to have integrity. Both candidates have the capacity to lead, both candidates have the capacity for integrity. Who is the best choice, for me I choose Obama for his integrity to his campaign focus and for the work he did as senator and his commitment to the poor. Obama recognizes that poverty whether here in the US or globally affects all of us. As people become fed and housed and educated, they desire better lives and wants; everything we call the "American dream". Obama will embrace the Millennium Development Goal of cutting extreme poverty around the world in half by 2015, and he "we" will double our foreign assistance to $50 billion to achieve that goal. He "we" will help the world's weakest states to build healthy and educated communities, reduce poverty, develop markets, and generate wealth. This too will cost us tax dollars, but in the end we will all have better lives if everyone has a better life.

I think we need a change in the government, in corporate business leadership and in us. A change of attitudes where people have integrity to truth, to justice and to caring for one another. We need to change ourselves and take personal responsibility for living beyond our means, for being complacent in our work, our eating, our religious commitments, and our personal commitments.
I am choosing to be personally responsible to my vote and to the winner whoever it is, so that we galvanize as a country and become once again a people who represent freedom for all.

The Mad Scientist

Last night was Halloween and it is one of my most favorite nights as I love to put on my warm pajamas, have a glass of wine maybe two, light my candles and eagerly greet the children who come to the door. A little power ranger and his spider man brother were first and then the little princess and batman brother, my neighbors children and then of course a variety of others including a great "Jack" from the jack in the box commercial, quite clever. His friends helped him maneuver down the porch steps, as he was certainly top heavy. The highlight of the night was a little 9 year old (I asked him his age), dressed as a mad scientist. What made him special was that he played the character, and without saying trick or treat he stated that he carried a smoking pipe which he reached into his little white lab coat and pulled out to show me. Over his arm hung a little green umbrella and he carried a simple "green" bag about the size of what you would carry for your lunch. I called to Joe to come see our little scientist who also had some back streaks across his delicate face, suggesting a scientific experiment had exploded and our scientist told us he had many experiments that did not go quite work so well. My night felt complete for I had seen the face of God dress as a mad scientist and I will fondly remember him forever.