Create a Meaningful New Year

Christmas might be over, but we can still give many meaningful and wanted presents each day. Everyone already knows that at New Year's, it's "out with the old, in with the new." Does anyone really ponder how truly important that is? We make resolutions to try to do better, be better (i.e. skinnier, healthier, nicer, less stressed, more organized, yada, yada), but I'd like to offer some ideas to really make the meaning of "out with the old" effective. I'd love to invite all readers to participate in this experiment.
This year, can we really let the past stay in the past? Can we believe it's possible to see each moment with fresh eyes? Can we see the people in our lives as who they are in the present moment, clear of old belief tapes running in our heads? Can we let people out of the box we keep them in by our old expectations and inadvertent hurts? In this new year, can we honestly begin to forgive those in our lives who have given us reasons to mistrust? Can we begin to see the highest potential in the human being who is trying to emerge from under the rocks we've placed on them based on past history? What a gift that would be, to release others from the bondage we've kept them in by holding on to old grudges, picking the scabs of old wounds. Can everyone imagine the peace that could enfold and surround us as we create new relationships based on PRESENCE.....being present in our listening, present in our noticing, present in our responses with no preconceived notions or habits? Wow, I think a whole new world would open up for us. And yes, I do think it would work. And yes, I do think it will be something we have to practice. But that is what life is for; to practice becoming better human beings; to practice evolving in our relationships; to practice the eternal principles of forgiveness and compassion and kindness; to practice BECOMING the kind of person we would be proud to be. It doesn't come automatically to anyone. It comes by imagining who and how we want to be "when we grow up", and then taking the necessary steps to become THAT human being, which is the Divine path......we are human becomings as well as human beings. We are each endowed with Divine Pure Potential in every moment.
And it all takes practice, and it all takes mindfulness, and it all takes constant forgiveness. These are the true gifts of the spirit. They may also be the true Spirit of the Gift.
Love to all.

Deep Peace to You

As the Christmas season is upon us,

may I pass along a Gaelic prayer.

May peace reign in our hearts, and

may we spread love and harmony

through our actions.
May we all be instruments of peace.

Deep peace of the running wave to you,

of water flowing, rising and falling,

sometimes advancing, sometimes receding…

May the stream of your life flow unimpeded!

Deep peace of the running wave to you!

Deep peace of the flowing air to you,

which fans your face on a sultry day

the air which you breathe deeply, rhythmically,

which imparts to you energy, consciousness, life.

Deep peace of the flowing air to you!

Deep peace of the quiet earth to you,

who, herself unmoving, harbours the movements

and facilitates the life of the ten thousand creatures,

while resting contented, stable, tranquil.

Deep peace of the quiet earth to you!

Deep peace of the shining stars to you,

which stay invisible till darkness falls

and discloses their pure and shining presence

beaming down in compassion on our turning world.

Deep peace of the shining stars to you!

Deep peace of the watching shepherds to you,

of unpretentious fold who, watching and waiting,

spend long hours out on the hillside,

expecting in simplicity some Coming of the Lord.

Deep peace of the watching shepherds to you!

Deep peace of the Son of Peace to you,

who, swift as the wave and pervasive as the air,

quiet as the earth and shining like a star,

breathes into us His Peace and His Spirit.

Deep peace of the Son of Peace to you!

Adapted from the Gaelic, by Mary Rogers

Love to all, and Peace on Earth.