To add a lighter touch to these days before Christmas I am posting a link to Jack Correu's blog, Little Shack of Insight, from December 2018. Jack reminds us that Christmas is meant to be magical and wondrous and connects us to life and relationship. (Susan Nettleton)
Follow the link:
For many who are following the Covid-19 public health guidelines, this Christmas will mean virtual gatherings, rather than celebrating directly with family and friends. The disruption in traditions gives an opportunity for reflection on the idea of family and traditions, opening new ways to view both. Even though our gatherings may be online, or for some, postponed gatherings, holiday connections continue to hold opportunities to reconnect, perhaps resolve old conflicts and not repeat painful patterns. However your holiday is shaping up, I encourage to connect in an atmosphere of peace. It maybe brief. It maybe by phone, note, or computer, or even in silent prayer. Connect and know peace. We all will benefit. (Susan Nettleton)
For further thoughts follow the link: https://hillsidesource.com/familypeace?rq=holidays
Today is the Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year. It is also the much announced and anticipated great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, where the two planets appear closer together than they have since the middle ages. Although they are planets, they appear as two stars in the night sky with a combined light some refer to as the Christmas star. This unusual event will also include an annual meteor shower, likely visible in late morning, depending where you are.
Rare planetary events are always fuel for interpretation and there are many floating around in this year of Pandemic, especially as we approach a new calendar year. For me Winter Solstice is always a most welcomed day because this is the point of maximum dark; from this point forward, until June, the light increases. The rhythm and pattern theme of the cosmos continues even as the human world drama plays out. There is always a larger reality and point of view available to us. And that includes, the value of night and dark in the pulse of the cosmos. (See the link below.)
Hopefully it will be a clear night and whether you can spot particulars go outside for a view of the night sky. It always holds the potential for clearing your head of narrow thinking and opening your heart to awe. (Susan Nettleton)
For more thoughts, follow the link: https://hillsidesource.com/winter-creativity?rq=holiday%20traditions
This Sunday I am posting a poem on light, by T.S. Eliot. Here we are turning to invisible light, or perhaps barely perceptible light that reminds us: There is always light somewhere and the Light we know as spiritual Presence is always at hand within us. Remember in the wholeness of Life, while our sun is "setting" so quickly in winter, it is bringing a new day elsewhere to our planet, even in the darkest night.
My favorite line in this poem refers to "those who meditate at midnight...", another reminder that we are never alone in meditation either. In that sense, all meditation is communal meditation. It is especially comforting to reflect on that during this Holy week on lockdown. (Susan Nettleton)
Follow the link: https://www.poetrynook.com/.../o-light-invisible-we...
Today is the last day of Hanukkah this year. As the Jewish Festival of Lights comes to it's 8th and final day to light the candle, we can let this day be a reminder that winter celebrations hold Light, as well as tradition and history. Whatever changes you may need to make this month in your traditions, let light be an aspect. In the short piece below, Larry Morris reminds us that the holidays hold something else as well: the potential for surprise. On one hand it seems that this year has brought too many shocks to consider the joy of surprise, but surprise is the positive pole that adds sparkle, wonder and a magical quality to life that takes us beyond the box of thought and expectation, reminding us the Light (and delight) of life is not to be contained. (Susan Nettleton)
Follow the link: https://hillsidesource.com/holiday-surprise?rq=holiday%20surprise
As new vaccines are being distributed and the first Americans begin receiving them, the hospitals in many states are at peak capacity with severely ill Covid-19 patients. Emotionally, we are confronted with a roller coaster of reactions: hope, relief, further fear and deeper grief. On a public health level, we must continue our prevention practices, staying at home as much as is possible and consistent with the community's mandates, while at the same time, we begin preparing for the vaccine process, by staying informed and open to our community's plan. Spiritually, the ground remains the same. That is the focal point I encourage you to stay with as winter unfolds.
We are both more tired and more experienced as the end of the year approaches. This is the time to lean on your experience, as well as cultivating times of necessary rest. The holidays, seen through the eyes of Holy Days, can be a source of strength and inner nourishment, when we view them that way. There is still an often buried ancient spiritual energy that runs through these weeks that can give us new momentum toward a new year. We can stop and turn to it. These Holy Days can also be holidays that provide needed distractions from the news and distractions from ourselves, when we turn our attention to how we choose to celebrate, who and how we connect, remembering past holidays and creating new memories that will become part of our history. Still, the spiritual ground remains the same.
Our understanding shifts. Our faith both wavers and strengthens. Our hearts question or drink deeply in times of comfort and inspiration. Still, the spiritual ground remains the same. These next weeks and in to Spring, we will walk this strange balance point between the raging Pandemic and the gift of vaccine. Recover the spiritual ground. Let it lead you. (Susan Nettleton)
For this Sunday evening I am posting a poem by Rilke that I read at the Zoom service this morning. Here Rilke offers an endearing view of God, a God who we feel may require our care. A God who is close by. In one way, it is a call to explore God as in a more intimate, reciprocal relationship. In other way, it is a hint that in the Oneness, the spiritual expresses itself everywhere, including whoever maybe next door. (Susan Nettleton)
Follow the link: https://www.elissaelliott.com/rilke-poem-for-today/
Here is your invitation to our next Zoom Service tomorrow, December 13, 2020. I hope you can attend!
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This morning, I held in my mind various threads of thought that I considered pursuing in today's post. Then I read the morning news. I felt the immense agitation across the country and knew it not as mine, but as a collective consciousness, conflicted, struggling to find our way to health, stability, and peace. This passage from the teachings of Jesus came next to my mind as a universal spiritual teaching. There are many traditional and metaphysical interpretations of these beatitudes, but I decided to post them as they are translated from the Bible, for your own contemplation. Today, here, I find a message of peace and healing. (Susan Nettleton)
Matthew 5:3-10
3. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
7. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
8. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
10. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
This Sunday morning, I encourage you to sink into the idea that you have all that you need. Let today be a day of rest, regardless of what plans you may have or chores you may tackle. Do them with rest, the kind of ease that comes in knowing you have enough for a this moment. Even if you have to take that one moment at a time. A pause in our concerns. An openness in our sense of time. A space in our longing. We can let the mind be satisfied for now.As poet Holly Hughes writes, "the mind always wants more...". Let today be enough. (Susan Nettleton)
Follow the link: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/.../mind-wanting-more
Today in Los Angeles County, California, we are under still further restrictions and Stay-at-Home orders as the hospitals fill with new Covid-19 patients. No one should be surprised; we have been warned since last spring and throughout the summer and fall that this would be a difficult, frightening winter if we ignored the Pandemic and cautionary practices. Thanksgiving gatherings initiated a new surge upon the surge and we now face the upcoming holidays with new restrictions across the country, as we look with hope toward the vaccine. It was a mild sunny day here and I was able to take a short walk up the tree lined. The street was not still, but definitely quieter as things begin to slow down and people digest the news. It is a lovely street and I felt a new calm being back outside among those trees and landscape. I reflected on the week of prayer posts I wrote before Thanksgiving; a prelude to the predicted winter harshness with my hope that those prayers will seed your spiritual life with new prayers as we move through the winter months, wherever you may be.
As I walked, my eye caught some black rolling fruit along the sidewalk and street curb that I had never seen there before. And then I saw a flash of bright green where the fruit had smashed on concrete. I looked up and saw a huge tree, laden with ripe avocados! When had they arrived? I would have never identified the tree without it's fruit. The avocados were everywhere. And it hit me with renewed insight--how nature provides, not just provides, but provides in abundance with quiet generosity. While we struggled with our restrictions and traditions and resistances and fear and frustration, this magnificent tree was growing fruit, lining the sidewalk with it, spilling it into the streets, sending it rolling down the hill with it's own joy of growing and giving. Here is food. There are oranges and lemons and persimmons spilling in the backyards here. If you are facing barren trees, snow and ice, remember in the cycle of seasons, nature is growing underground and will spill out in Spring regardless of Covid-19. This is the root of Thanksgiving and the root of holidays and Holy Days, the recognition that Life does provide, generously. We have more than enough of what is needed to move through this time into a new year and renewed life. (Susan Nettleton)
“And still, after all this time, the sun never says to the earth,
"You owe Me."
Look what happen with a love like that, it lights the Whole Sky.”
(14th century Persian poet) Hafez
Susan Nettleton is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: To Care or Not to Care by Dr. Susan Nettleton
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It's now Sunday evening and I once again came across this short poem by the great medieval Saint, Hildegard of Bingen. We have read it many times over the years at church services.It is a quiet and simple reminder of the ever-present form of the Spiritual essence of Life, known as the Holy Spirit.
Follow the link: https://untamedabyss.tumblr.com/.../st-hildegard-von-bingen
However circumstances have led your holiday, it still remains a day set aside for giving Thanks, no matter what your spiritual viewpoint or religious background, no matter where or how you find yourself at this moment. Today, we let gratitude fill our prayers with faith and new vision.
Follow the link to a poem https://gratefulness.org/resource/thanksgiving-song/
As a final post on this Pandemic process of prayer, now the day before Thanksgiving, we can go one step further in our awareness of the Oneness of Life on our planet. Earth life is more than human beings. We are interdependent not just on each other, but the whole of nature as well. While the exact source of the original Covid-19 virus is still not known, research points to crossover DNA/RNA from the animal world, with it first spreading to yet another species, and then to humans. Whether that was a natural event, whether that somehow involved a human laboratory process, whether the ecological changes that have occurred through human population growth and encroachment on natural habitats or climate change has anything to do with it--these questions have not been answered, and may not be answerable. But the fact that they are raised is a powerful reminder that we share the planet with animal, insect, microbial and plant life, that is impacted by one another.
Our future has always been, and will continue to be, dependent on the ways in which we relate to other species and the forces of nature in one way or another. So as a final prayer in this process, we can affirm the totality of life as we understand it and recognize that it's vastness is far beyond the scale and scope of human knowledge. We ask and accept for new ideas and new understanding, new guidance and approaches to living in this complex, amazing abundance of Life's expression. We let our hearts acknowledge the beauty and wonder of Life and offer both respect and care for the magnificent living forms of this Earth. We add our trust of Life's ability to heal all that needs healing, as it changes, adapts, and continues to thrive, and as we, as human being, listen, learn, and act as agents of healing. Thank you God, for a new sense of meaning and depth and responsiveness to this unfolding Earth that arises from the Pandemic of 2020. And so it is. Amen. (Susan Nettleton)
This is day 7 of our process of looking at the Pandemic through the lens of prayer, beginning as individuals and moving through the layers of impact participation and impact. Today we turn our attention to the global aspect of the pandemic. While from the standpoint of our everyday tumultuous planet, this may feel futile, we can find that still point where we know life as a flow of consciousness; from a transcendent view, we are the world. So in stillness we pray for the whole, as we turn to our Source. In a world of 7.8 billion people, we can more easily grasp the world's struggle in this Pandemic, by first turning our prayer to world and national leaders, in all the fields activity that are impacted by the Pandemic and the interaction and exchange with one another across the globe. We don't have access to all the exchanges that have taken place, but we can choose to see through prayer the same guiding Light of Intelligence and Wisdom and Care that we have affirmed throughout our prayers.
We ask and accept new cooperation arising from almost a year now of experience with this Covid-19 Pandemic. We know that in the Oneness of Life there is infinite variation, and that is life's beauty and strength. Throughout this year, there have been many international exchanges, beyond the global commerce-- exchange of data, of equipment, of creative solutions and creative expression, of scientific and medical experience and understanding, of teams involved in discovering issues of antibodies, medications, immunization and so much more, and most certainly an exchange of prayers. We are grateful for the points of meeting and exchange. They offer new meaning to a new world and we let that bear fruit that moves life forward, moves healing forward. We ask and accept a deeper trust and truth of serving and supporting one another, across our planet. We ask and accept forgiveness of where we have all missed the mark. We affirm our capacity to learn and to adapt and to heal together. Thank you God for a new global resolve to heal. And so it is, Amen. (Susan Nettleton)
This daily focus on prayer is a way to expand our awareness of the complex impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic. It is a practice intended to stretch our consciousness of prayer at a crucial point as the steady, swift rise of new cases meets the Thanksgiving holiday in America for a weary population. It is an opportunity to try different aspects of prayer as part of your spiritual practice and reflect on the experience of adding your affirmation of the spiritual life to all those who are praying for healing during the Pandemic. You are never alone in prayer. Someone, somewhere is always at prayer with you, regardless of belief or concern. Prayers on a larger, more universal scale, are not the same as personalized prayer, until we find the "we" behind the nameless and the many. The words I have been offering are a kind of template; let your heart lead your words.
Today we turn toward those who are sick with Covid-19, those who still struggle with residual effects and unresolved symptoms from the illness, those who struggle with the emotional toll of treatment, and the families who grieve for those who have died. We can begin with the recognition that healing and repair are essential, natural responses of the body itself. The human body is equipped for healing. It has evolved to favor healing and repair. Death is a part of life, but here, today, we pray in support of life, in wondrous recognition of the body's healing capacity. We ask and we accept, all that is needed to allow the body to regulate, to adjust, to resist infection, and rebuild where needed. We claim new peace and new courage for those who are afraid. Peace and courage allow for rest, needed to repair. We loosen within ourselves, any doubt, sadness, blame or fear in the face of those who are now in the body's process of healing; We know love. Love lifts. Love affirms and supports the intelligent care of life. Love transcends the barriers of expectation, doubt, and separation; love is itself healing. God is Love. God is Health. We know that these for whom we pray are cared for, soothed, nourished, sustained, and made whole. We are grateful to be here, now, as witnesses in
Today I turn to prayer for those who are essential to the healing process of individuals, as well as our public health leaders and workers and the global scientific world now at work on a Covid-19 vaccine. I decided to recognize these human healers on Sunday to make a point. All healing is spiritual healing. There is no need to divide the world of prayer and spiritual vision from the world of medicine and science. While medical science requires a certain kind of objectivity that allows for precision and measurement and holds us to the rigorous methods of science, the only barrier to realizing this discipline as a spiritual practice is in our consciousness, our ideas of division and categorization. Understanding this seems especially important during the Pandemic. We need sound medical treatment and we need faith in a larger spiritual reality.
Because Covid-19 is so contagious and the consequences potentially so serious, hospitalized and quarantined patients are not allowed one essential aspect of healing--the direct support of family and friends. The more we view this division between medical healing and spiritual healing the greater the distance seems between prayer process--now from a distance--and medical treatment without visitors, without the touch of someone close. This is not only true for the patient, but for the staff as well, many of whom leave their own faith at home, because it is extremely difficult to hold a spiritual awareness and at the same time, hold to the demands of precision and objectivity when under the extreme stress of overflowing hospitals, shortages of equipment and supplies, protocols for contamination and contagion, and the heartbreak of human suffering. I am not just writing about doctors and nurses and clinical staff, but also those who measure and dispense medications, maintain equipment, clean rooms, manage the scheduling, deal with the paper work...
So today we hold a vision of hospitals and their workers and of all those in clinic situations and the first responders, EMT's, fire fighters, police who give their life energy to health emergencies. Today, we hold them in prayer, with great care and respect. We ask and we accept their renewed strength. We offer our faith when theirs is not accessible to them. We give them our affirmation of life's resilience that includes each of these workers and their families-- their personal lives, as well as their work, remembering that to be humane, we must human. We need rest, we need "down town." The way now opens. We affirm community compassion and understanding of the weight of their responsibility. We offer it now, from our hearts. We ask and accept that the Highest Wisdom, Intelligence and Truth now guides their knowledge and their decisions. Every day and every night. And we enfold them in gratitude and assurance that they are indeed essential, and accordingly, God pours forth all that brings healing through their hands. And so it is. Amen. (Susan Nettleton).
Today, I am turning our prayer process to the workers and business owners who have struggled and faced higher risks during the Pandemic. (Tomorrow we turn to the Medical and First Responders). At this point in the Pandemic, most people realize the crux of conflict between lowering contagion of Covid-19 through isolation, quarantine, lock-downs and social distancing (avoiding public places as much as possible), and the economic imperative to keep supply lines for everyone open, as well as to earn income that provides food, clothing, shelter, healthcare for families and revenue for public programs. Various models for maintaining some balance in this process have been tried, some more creative, some more successful than others. All have required the entire population to think in different ways and stretch beyond our convenience and self-protection.
With those experiences in mind, I encourage you today to turn your prayers toward businesses, workers, and public programs and facilities, all of which involve people. We turn once again, to the Source of life--as we understand the Spiritual-- to acknowledge the complexity of these issues. Yet at this spiritual level, we can affirm the universal nature of exchange of goods and services as a core process of life. We are grateful for this exchange, for those who have supplied us, given of their efforts, their talents, their time and energy, their courage as agents of the flow and sustenance of life--whatever the individual human motivation may be. We are willing to acknowledge that there may have been times when we have ourselves have taken this exchange for granted, especially during the times of great stress, with our own preoccupations and pressures during the Pandemic. In this acknowledgement, we reach a deeper level of gratitude and compassion; we can let go of any grudges we may be holding about the economic realities of the Pandemic. We ask and accept renewed courage and strength in those who are working to maintain businesses, to maintain institutions--from the car repairman, to city maintenance, to teachers of every kind, the grocery workers, restaurant workers, factory workers, delivery and warehouse workers, small businesses to large, public and private. We offer a new respect for their labor. We welcome a new peace that enfolds our workers and businesses within God's protecting, healing Grace. Out of the exchange of life on this level, we affirm a new and stable, inclusive prosperity. And so it is, Amen. (Susan Nettleton)
Although there are always exceptions, human beings have the need for belonging, for mutual support, for group security as well as individual safety, and for collective celebration. Shared value systems, shared place, make these needs easier to fulfill. Yet, the larger the group, the more room there can be for diversity, including values and personal choice, as long as members of the community retain the understanding that individual well-being depends on the basic agreement of protection and stability of the group.
Human history, though, is replete with the story of division. Spiritual faith and religious beliefs and practices can be the glue of community, but they are frequently the source of division. Even within shared basic beliefs, religious and spiritual groups split and fragment into opposing factions. Human beings unite and divide. The sobering reality is that our individual well-being does indeed depend on a diverse and often conflicting world. It is in recognition of that, that I approach prayer today as prayer for our community.
Prayer on a community level is not as personal as for ourselves and our family and friends, but realistically, by definition, our community includes us as well as those closest to us. So in prayer we recognize the community, our community, as an aggregate of individuals, of friendships, of families, of those we know and don't know, of those who are like-minded and those that do not see things as we see. Yet we are all participants at the level that we define as our community. We admit that we do not know and cannot know what is best for each. We may have our stories, but we let them go right now, in an acceptance of a unity that transcends our separation. We ask and we accept that which is highest and best for our community as we move through the Pandemic. We accept Divine Intelligence, Truth, Wisdom and Healing as the movement of Life at work throughout, within and without, this community. We ask and we accept harmonious interactions and exchanges that bring health and well -being to all. In the spirit of forgiveness, of mutual dependency, a new kind of vibrancy and friendliness now eases the wounds of the past and the stresses of the present. And in a communal spirit, we are open to and abundantly receive creative possibilities of renewed life. And so it is, Amen. (Susan Nettleton)
The Hillside Source is an online resource project of Hillside Community Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico.