Do You Have a Dream?

I thought I’d risk being one of many people writing this week about Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Everyone pretty much knows the story of his life, his historical speech in Washington, D.C. and his tragic death. I don’t want to focus on any of those events. I want to focus on what allowed him to succeed where others didn’t seem to be able to do so.

He had a dream – I know, you’ve heard that and it’s no surprise. We all have dreams, but Dr. King truly believed his dream would be reality. Unfortunately, our country has still failed to reach the lofty goals he set for us, but in many ways we are closer than ever before. For us to realize our dreams we must have the patience and the tenacity to hold on to that vision until it moves from the thought to the thing. It is impatience and neglect that causes many dreams to fade away or die an untimely death.

The founder of the Science of Mind philosophy, Dr. Ernest S. Holmes, had a dream, too. He wrote, “We all look forward to the day when science and religion shall walk hand in hand through the visible to the invisible.” We are closer to that dream now than ever before. Quantum physics has proven that we are all one, just energy vibrating at different frequencies. I imagine that Holmes would love to see the advances we’ve made since his death in 1960 to bringing science and religion closer together.

Do you have a dream? I don’t mean something you hope will happen, or something you don’t feel could ever happen, yet you continue to pine for it. I mean a “stomp-your-foot-down-I-know-this-is-possible” dream. Perhaps it is something that you wanted as a child, or a goal you had as a young adult. Something squelched that dream. Is the seed still there deep inside you? It most probably is. Would you be willing to do what it takes to help it germinate once more and assist it to grow into a vibrant, healthy plant?

There is a power within us that knows no boundaries and refuses to accept anything but what it expects. That power is at our disposal all the time, but we have to utilize it. It’s as simple as turning on a light instead of wandering around in a dark room bumping into the furniture. Be willing this week to turn a bright light on your life and remind yourself of what it is you dream could be a reality. The more you know that’s possible the more you’ll believe that in the mind of God it is already a reality.

In Spirit, Truth and Playfulness,

Terry

It's Time

With the arrival of all the New Year’s resolutions last week I’ve heard, more than once, “It’s about time I                         .” It’s about time. I got to thinking about that while I was listening to a program on NPR this past weekend about how time is inconsistent from one person to another.

“HUH?!?” you might be saying. I know that was my first thought. But then I got to thinking about it. If you’re a five-year-old waiting for Santa Claus to come again it will seem like an eternity. Her grandfather on the other hand is wondering how Christmas got here so fast last year. Why the difference? Part of it goes back to Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. For the little girl, a year is one-sixth of her entire life. But for her sixty-five year old granddad, it is only 1/65^th of the time he has spend on this earth.

Another aspect of time is whether or not we are enjoying ourselves. Suppose I’ve returned from a two-week vacation wondering what happened since it seems like I just left. Contrast that with spending three hours in the dentist’s office for a double root canal, which is going to feel like about three weeks. I think you get my point. Rev. Dr. Dennis Merritt Jones suggested in his recent “Huffington Post” column that we be very mindful about what we put on our calendars for 2014. We’ve got this whole blank calendar before us – how much of yours is already filling up? If we have everything planned out to the nth degree it’s pretty unlikely to have any spontaneous experiences.

So for me it’s time; time to stop what I’m doing and take stock of where I am in my life. Perhaps you’d like to join me in this endeavor. We each have approximately 24 hours each day to do what we need to, want to or have to do. On the one hand you could rationalize that we are immortal spiritual beings having a human experience, so it doesn’t much matter if we schedule our time or not since we will always have time. I see the point, but here’s something else to consider. There will never be another “now” in your life. There never has been before “now” and there never will be another one in the future. Even if we are immortal spiritual beings, which I firmly believe, each moment of our existence is a precious commodity to be enjoyed for what it is, nothing more, nothing less.

This makes taking charge of our lives a priority so that the time we are spending is wisely spent with people we want to be with, doing things we want to do, and doing them in the style in which we want to enjoy. There are very few things you “have” to do. There a LOT of things you probably think you “should” do, someone ELSE thinks you “should” do, but very few things you “have” to do.

How about this week, or just for one day this week, you stopping “shoulding” on yourself, refuse to let anyone else “should” on you and just enjoy being the now, experiencing the magnificent being that you are and expression God as only you can. Seriously. It’s time.

In Spirit, Truth and Playfulness,

Terry

Greek Yogurt

One of my favorite people to fly with at my "day job" is an Austrian-born, naturalized U.S. citizen. You'd never think he was anything but American, at least until you get into a conversation with him. As Americanized as he is, his European roots are pretty close to the surface and a lot of his opinions are, well, very European.

Perhaps that's why I enjoy his company. I live with someone who is more American than apple pie and defends even the most outrageous customs and life choices here in this country. I don't. I grew up in an American trailer park - four all together, thank you very much - but my sensibilities definitely lean toward a less independent and more interdependent lifestyle, i.e. European in nature.

That's why I was so taken back with a comment my Austrian-born friend made not long ago that put me in a the class of a "typical American." I'm far from "typical" in my opinion, but that's another topic not to be discussed at his time. I happen to mention to my friend that I had brought along some "Greek yogurt" with me on our trip. He launched into a tirade about how gullible Americans are. "Oh, it's the next big thing and it's no different than any other yogurt, but the advertisers say it's better so you Americans have to run out and buy it. Europeans would never be misled that way."

Wow...and I only bought it because it was on sale! Okay, not completely, I mean I think it IS creamer, but I digress. It got me to thinking. We Americans pride ourselves on our independence and independent thinking, but we ARE lulled (not so subtly) into buying things just because it's the next "thing" to have. Contrast that with the interdependence that Europeans experience with each other, perhaps because of the close proximity of so many different countries, yet they don't seem to be as easily swayed. How can that be?

They might not, actually. I'm sure that you could be reading this thinking just the opposite is true about Europeans and Americans, and have all kinds of evidence to prove your point. It really doesn't matter. What I got out of this discussion - and the subsequent pondering I've been doing on the subject over the past few weeks - is that we aren't going to please everybody no matter what we decide!

Just because a product or way of doing something is supposedly the thing to have or do doesn't make it right for us. Madisyn Taylor recently wrote about "going against what it popular." She goes on to say, "...part of the way that something becomes popular is that many of us don't take the time to determine what's right for us; we simply do what most of the people we know are doing. In this way, our decisions about life are made by default, which means they aren't what we call conscious decisions."

I'd like to suggest a game for you to play this week. Just for the fun of it, question everything you do for a day. I don't mean you have to stop and analyze everything so you don't get anything done. Just take a breath and ask yourself why you are doing what you are doing. Do you really want to do it? Why are you buying a particular product? If you discover that you are at a loss to explain your motivation then perhaps you are being manipulated by societal pressure, someone special in your life, a lack of self-esteem or self-confidence, or just a victim to marketing.

In other words, take back your life, because I can assure you of this: You are doing something in your life, buying something on a regular basis (or lusting after it), or acting in a particular way that just doesn't feel right, yet you continue to do it. Really, you say? Great - you are the person to whom I'm speaking in particular. Take the challenge and then write me to tell me why I'm wrong. Wanna play?

In Spirit, Truth and Playfulness,

Terry

P.S. Happy New Year! May 2014 bring you all the joy, love, laughter and prosperity you can accept!