Spiritual Book Discussion - The Spiritual Child, The pause that refreshes.

Topic Eleven

Prayer - The Pause that refreshes.

Without support and encouragement to keep developing that part of themselves, children’s spiritual development weakens under pressure from a culture that constantly has them feeling judged and pressured to perform, and that trains them to evaluate others the same way. Our culture has not necessarily been welcoming to spirituality and its questions. Our predominantly materialistic, 24/7 media-infused world is not set up for the introspective thought involved in spiritual reflection. We’re pressured to fill downtime with productive activity, and we often feel compelled to fill in any quiet moment with diversions. This is how we live and this is what we’re modeling for our children.

Miller, Dr. Lisa. The Spiritual Child (p. 31). St. Martin's Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

The world of the ego is extremely demanding, crushing, damaging to the spiritual health of our children and ourselves.

Do we take time for aesthetic pleasures when we can just smell the roses and savor precious moments which fill us with awe, curiosity, and gratitude? The old Coke commercial uses the meme, “The pause that refreshes.” This advertising slogan was used to sell a surgery, caffeine laden soft drink. Supposing we used the same slogan to sell the practice of soulful mindfulness asking ourselves and our children to pause for a minute five times a day as the Muslims do, and pray?

Good news for 09/04/20 - Olympia Washington Stopped Sending Police to Every 911 Call - Riding along with the civilian “crisis responders” of Olympia, Washington.

Olympia, Washington Stopped Sending Police to Every 911 Call

Riding along with the civilian “crisis responders” of Olympia, Washington.

From The Marshall Project by Christie Thompson on 07/24/20

OLYMPIA, Wash. — On a rainy June day, the manager of a Motel 6 outside Olympia decided one guest had to leave. The woman had been smoking indoors and had an unauthorized visitor. She appeared to be on drugs and was acting erratically.

Normally, that manager might call 911, which would bring police officers to the scene. If the guest refused to leave, the cops might handcuff and arrest her for trespassing. They could find an open warrant on her record or drugs in her room. The interaction could easily escalate into violence, especially if the woman grew angry over facing jail time or another night on the streets. It’s the kind of low-level, “quality of life” call that takes up much of an officer’s day.

But over a year ago, Olympia started taking a different approach to nonviolent incidents caused by someone experiencing mental illness, addiction, or homelessness. Instead of sending armed officers to respond, the city dispatches “crisis responders” to diffuse the situation and connect the individual with services—a model now being considered by a growing number of cities across the U.S.

That day, instead of a police officer, the woman had two “crisis responders” knocking on her door, carrying only a radio and a backpack of clean clothes.

For more click here.

Unitarian Universalists covenant together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person.

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #34 - I could see peace instead of this.

Lesson #34

I could see peace instead of this.

The choice is ours. The choice we have forgotten. Sometimes we say exasperatedly, “There must be a better way,” and when we say this we could follow it with “I could see peace instead of this.” This is where a sense of humor helps. We say, “You can either laugh or cry.” Often, it is both.

We can experience pain, anger, fear, sadness and we need to recognize and acknowledge it, not deny it, but then say to ourselves “I could see peace instead of this.”

Seeing peace instead of upset is what A Course In Miracles calls a “miracle.” The miracle is this shift in perception. It is the shift from the world of the ego to the world of the soul. In the world of spirit there is peace and bliss. In the world of the ego there is fear, anger, resentment, grievance, pain, and sorrow.

In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person: justice, equity, and compassion in human relations; respect for the interdependent web of all existence; and a free and responsible search for truth and meaning. It is in the application of these principles that we find peace instead of “this.”

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #33 - There is another way of looking at the world.

Lesson #33

There is another way of looking at the world.

The saying which comes from “the rooms” (AA, Alcoholic Anonymous) is, “If you always do what you always did, you’ll always get what you always got.”.

People like to whine, playing the victim, “Why do these things always happen to me?”

People don’t change usually until they get desperate and then they exclaim, “There must be a better way.”

Good news. There is. But it’s nothing you can come up with by yourself. You have turn your will over to your Higher Power and ask for help. This makes you feel vulnerable so most people don’t and won’t do it until they have no other choice.

Today’s lesson is a gentle reminder that there is another way of looking at the world.

Unitarian Universalists covenant together to affirm and promote a free and responsible search for truth and meaning. People don’t start searching until they feel stuck in the same old rut and then it dawns on them that there may be another way of looking at the world. With that dawning the search begins.

Good news for 09/03/20 - Mojo picks for top 10 good things so far in 2020.

Spiritual book discussion - The Spiritual Child - Is childhood spirituality natural?

Spirituality is a vast untapped resource in our understanding of human development, illness, health, and healing. Specifically, research in medicine and psychology has found that people with a developed spirituality get sick less, are happier, and feel more connected and less isolated.
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Further, research shows that natural spirituality, if supported in childhood, prepares the adolescent for critical developmental tasks of that age. If supported in adolescence, natural spirituality deepens and can become a significant resource for health and healing through adult life.

Miller, Dr. Lisa. The Spiritual Child (p. 28). St. Martin's Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

In developmental terms, the timing of change in developmental spirituality coincides, exactly, with that of other forms of development and appears interrelated; it emerges alongside secondary sex characteristics, abstract cognitive development such as meta-cognition and meaning making, and onset of fertility. This has been the focus of groundbreaking research in my lab, studies in which we have tracked the development of natural spirituality and its protective effects from childhood through adolescence into emerging adulthood.

Miller, Dr. Lisa. The Spiritual Child (p. 29). St. Martin's Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

It is an interesting observation and idea that spiritual development is similar to physical, cognitive, emotional, and social development. People have known this since time immemorial and societies have supported it until the last 50 years when religion as an institution has faded as an influence in modern life. And so, the question in our contemporary time is, how is spirituality to be nurtured in our current day society when increasing numbers of people report on polling that they are not religious but spiritual. Is this spirituality being nurtured and cultivated somehow? How do parents cultivate it in themselves and in their children?

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Letter #11 from Hilton, NY - Lighten up.

Dear Jake:

I received your last letter and have grown concerned that you are taking things too seriously. Would it help to lighten up? A sense of humor can go a long way in nurturing our resilience. After all, what if the hokey pokey is what life is all about?

As you may recall, laughter is one of the components of spiritual health. When people stop laughing they are in trouble. Seriousness can lead to scrupulosity which has been recognized for centuries as a spiritual disease.

How do you develop a sense of humor? You have to look for the absurdities and incongruities in life. Puns are a great place to start. Jokes with an unexpected punchline are great.

The court jester was an iconic figure in the King’s court. Tom foolery was recognized as an important part of good governance. The court jester reminds everyone that the ways and wiles of the ego can be destructive so to make light engenders a sense of humility and perspective.

One way of engendering a sense of humor is having a joke a day. Share it with people you interact with during the day. I find bumper sticker sayings fun to share. My bumper sticker for today is “Never fetch water downstream from the herd.” We don’t live in agricultural communities any more, but even so, I found this funny and it is packed with wisdom.

Til next time, I hope you find some humor in your life. It will help you live longer and enjoy life more.

Your loving cousin,

Harry