April 12, 2020

Easter and Passover bring a surge of spiritual energy freely available to all no matter what your religious or non-religious background may be.  This energy arises from the devotional celebrations of the millions across the planet that cultural and spiritual traditions, adapted and refined across centuries of time.  This year, there is a rupture in traditions with the call to social distancing.  But hearts connect regardless, whether alone in stillness, or through technology and virtual gatherings.  Regardless of external circumstances, and practices that come and go,that which is true and real for us remains.

From Poems on the Way by Larry Morris:

God has

so gently guided us

this far                         

our tender hearts

can only stay open                                                       

and let God                                       

guide us                                            

all the way                                        

home.  

Absorbed in inner freedom

we forget

how not to let go

and God sweeps us

forward, pushing us through

the doorway of

our small doubt

into vast expanding openness

one at last with

the innermost

fabric of the universe.

April 11, 2020

Building on the legacy of Hillside Community Church in Albuquerque, The Hillside Source aspires to be a resource for 21st century spirituality as it is being defined through time and events throughout this century.  Certainly, the Covid 19 Pandemic will profoundly shape this century in ways we cannot currently foresee. 

The future is built on the past, shaped by the events of an ever-changing present and the visionary realm pulling life forward into the new.  The healing of this Pandemic involves all three.  We look to past pandemics for ways in which people coped, survived, and society changed.  We look to the future for prevention, technology, discoveries that have yet to actualized. We stretch creativity and imagination, sometimes fearfully, but to heal, we  envision positive outcomes.  In this ever-changing present, we make do. We adapt.  We use whatever skills we have, while we learn new skills. 

We each have our personal difficulties, but we are all under the weight of a collective pressure.

That pressure is lightened if we have learned how to stop now and then.  Stop and let go.  Stop and rest.  The pressure is lightened even more, if we can give way to silence and stillness,trusting life, trusting something greater than our personal and collective struggles

(Susan Netteton)

For further thoughts on Trusting Life (from our website hillsidesource.com), visit the web addresses below.

from Easy Does It  by Larry Morris:

https://hillsidesource.com/daily-thoughts/2018/3/28/trust?rq=trust

https://hillsidesource.com/daily-thoughts/2018/6/28/letting-go-is-trust?rq=trust

April 11, 2020

As we move deeper into Spring 2020, the Covid 19 Pandemic continues to spread throughout America and across the planet.  We have had weeks of updates, statistics, policy changes, medical advice and disturbing news.   We have also had our collective moments of celebration,  inspiring heroics, and brilliant humor to lighten our burden.

Sometimes it feels, as someone put it, an "info-demic" arrived with the pandemic.  And it brings a sense of being bombarded with digitalized voices shouting to be heard above everyone else.

So it is with cautious hesitation that I add one more voice with this Face Book page for The Hillside Source web site (hillsidesource.com).  It is my hope that this page can offer you a point of spiritual focus during the pandemic.

This Easter weekend will be unlike any the world has experienced, as at least 1 in 4 Americans, along with millions around the globe remain under 'Shelter in Place' orders due to the pandemic.  There are so many different ways to experience this slowing down of modern life, this standstill with all its closed doors... 

In stillness, the inner door to the spiritual life opens wide. (Susan Nettleton)