February 13, 2022

As once again the country begins to lift Covid restrictions, I have been reflecting on limitation. This seems in contrast to my recent Zoom talk on The Space of Potential, but limitation is really an aspect of our potential as human beings and the unlimited, boundless creativity of God. This is not always easy to grasp at first. Fundamentally, it means making our peace with the parameters of the world we live in, the bodies and minds we function as, and the limitations of relationship. "Laws" of limitation define limits in legal matters, in language structure, in mathematics and banking, in ethics and behavior in many contexts--limit-setting is part of the structure of culture. Spiritually, different streams of religious thought impose various limitations on their followers in the form of rules, interpretations and belief structures. But the human impulse enfolded in both culture and spirituality is to transcend limitation or grow beyond it.

The abstract idea of unlimited potentiality actually is a free space that pulls humans into the creative field. In that pulling, new concepts, ideas, visions are possible, and those begin to define specific forms or events that, at first, are possibilities and then, when nurtured though thought, belief, repetitive activity and acceptance, become actual. We describe this as a process of consciousness. This is a basic principle of New Thought as well as other metaphysical spiritual teachings.

And yet, paradoxically, to function well in daily human life, in this world, we make our peace with limitation. While we have developed technology to fly planes and even rockets to get from one place to another, it's not necessary to defy the laws of gravity. We live with it's limitations and it's gifts. Gravity keeps us grounded and on that ground we live and grow. To successfully use any tool or technology, we need to understand its limitations. To stay well during a Pandemic, we bear the limits that make for caution. To live in a peaceful society, we bear the limitations of others. We all as unique individuals deal with personal limitations as well. They form the boundaries that define us as individual expressions of the vast creative activity of Life, of God. Defining our limits then, becomes part of the task of being an individual.

To go beyond our limits is to draw on that larger reality where we also live, move and have our being, in the Oneness of God. That Oneness includes all that is and well as all that holds potential for Good. (Susan Nettleton)

For a poetic reflection on the human condition of dependency, consider Maya Angelou's poem "Alone" (1975) . Follow the link: https://poets.org/poem/alone

February 6, 2022

With the frigid, icy weather that blew across the country this week, I found myself thinking of Cold Mountain, one of the classic volumes of Zen poetry. It was written by the T'ang Dynasty poet called Han-shan (believed to be 9th century). He is a legendary figure, with various tales of surrounding him, a recluse who wrote his poetry on rocks in the remote mountain area he roamed. There are several English translations of his work. Today I am quoting from Burton Watson's, published by Columbia University Press,1970. His poems give glimpses of his youth, his time as a father and family man, working as a bureaucrat for the government, and struggling with personalities, social classes and religious hypocrisy.

"I'm not so poor at reports and decisions--Why can't I get ahead in the government? The rating officials are determined to make life hard. All they do is try to expose my faults. Everything, I guess, is a matter of Fate; Still, I'll try the exam again this year.

A blind boy aiming at the eye of a sparrow, Might just accidentally manage a hit."

As he ages, he leans more and more to leaving the world behind and eventually does so, finding his mountain retreat: "Thirty years ago I was born into the world. A thousand, ten thousand miles I’ve roamed, By rivers where the green grass lies thick, Beyond the border where the red sands fly. I brewed potions in a vain search for life everlasting, I read books, I sang songs of history, And today I’ve come home to Cold Mountain, To pillow my head on the stream and wash my ears."

But he now he faces the challenge of loneliness and sometimes painful reflection on his past. "How cold it is on the mountain! Not this year but always. Crowded peaks forever choked with show, Dark forests breathing endless mist: No grass sprouts til the early days of June; Before the first of autumn, leaves are falling. And here a wanderer, drowned in delusion, Looks and looks but cannot see the sky."

But the seasons change and he continues in his inner pursuits. We now find him with new depth, and growing illumination and peace. "Today I sat before the cliff, Sat a long time till mists had cleared. A single thread, the clear stream runs cold; A thousand yards the green peaks lift their heads. Moon rise--the lamp of night drifts upward; What cares could trouble my mind?" And at last, "...All that remains is the core of truth." ..."Like a doctor prescribing a medicine for each disease, I use what remedy is at hand to save the world. Only when the mind is free of care, Can the light of understanding shine in every corner."

This is a reminder this Sunday, that our lives follow the lives of all that have come before, hardship and times of wonder, struggles with the natural order and insights into nature's unceasing gifts, separation and belonging, and great leaps forward even when we collectively regress. Winter passes, spring is born. Whatever the weather, this day is here to lead you to your "core of truth". (Susan Nettleton)

January 23, 2022

This morning as I sat staring at the computer, reflecting on a Sunday morning message, sorting out my thoughts, the dead silence was broken by a sharp call, a dialog among crows cut through my blank page. Then I heard their flapping wings as they launched out the yard, above this house, into the crisp blue sky. Now I was alert, filled with metaphors of sudden awakening. I had to smile. There is a kind of simplicity that waits underneath all the complexity of life and the muddledness of human thought and the vastness of nature in all it's forms. That's why there are so many spiritual stories of the commonplace sound (or sight, touch, taste, scent...) that cuts through everydayness and the search for more than what we are given here, where we are, now.

Crows are a rather mixed bag of tricks in the realm of the collective and cultural psyche. So to give them a prophetic role can actually put you back into shadows and superstition. They can be annoying creatures to gardeners and farmers, hence the birth of scarecrows. Naturalists and biologists tell us they are highly intelligent. I happen to be in an urban area where they like to hangout. So I am friendly. I let them lead me to this perfect poem and the unexpected.

Forest Life, by Joseph Kushnir (website: allpoetry)

Through the pine forest, direction comes by crows whispering wayward secrets.

This morning of crows opened the door to the memory of another poem that sings with the birds of the glory of life, the spiritual wonder of nature, the seasons, and our perception of time, Derrick Walcott's "The Season of Phantasmal Peace". (link below) This day is full of Wonder, of Beauty, of Guidance and yes, Love. Pay attention to God's call. Life is bringing you a gift. (Susan Nettleton)

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/.../the-season-of...

January 21, 2022

Hillside Church's next Sunday Zoom talk will be January 30, 2022. Dr. Susan Nettleton will be speaking on "The Space of Potential" at 11:00 A.M. (Mountain Time) (10:00 A.M. Pacific time) If you would like to be on our email list and receive the Zoom link for the talk, please email us at hillsideew@aol.com or contact us through our website: hillsidesource.com and we will email you the link. You may also send your email address through Facebook messenger. Hope you can attend!

January 16, 2022

"I was passionate,

filled with longing,

I searched

far and wide.

But the day

that the Truthful One

found me,

I was at home."

Lal Ded,

“[I was passionate]” translated by Jane Hirshfield, from Women in Praise of the Sacred (New York: Harper Collins, 1994).

I recently came across this short poem poem by 14th century saint and mystic poet of Kashmir, Lal Ded (also known as Lalla and Lallesawri). Her poem hits me with new force during this Omicron phase of the Pandemic. Lal Ded was 'given in marriage' to a harsh family when she was 12 years old and had only a basic education in the scriptures. As she matured she became an ardent worshiper of the Hindu God, Shiva. By age 26, she had broken free of tradition, renounced her marriage and became a wandering mystic and poet. But as her words point out, she found what she was seeking not in her wanderings, but "at home". The poem is a quiet reminder of the futility of trying to force spiritual revelation, especially (paradoxically) when driven by passionate longing. The problem is that the "longing" leads us further and further away from what is already here, right here, right now.

How do we, in 2022, approach That "right here, right now'? Depending on where you live and the intensity of the Pandemic surge, once again we are cautioned to not travel, to avoid crowds--particularly indoors, and be vigilant about virus exposure. Safety seems fused to limitation and caution, while places, people and even memory seem to cry out for movement, discovery, freedom and growth. Spiritually though, we are called again and again back to what is right in front of us wherever, whatever is here, now. Out of this push/pull experience, two distinct paths of mystical revelation historically arose. One is an inward-turning path of contemplation and awareness of the transcendent aspects of each day through meditation and prayer--essentially disengagement from the outer world. The other is a practice of opening wide to the world of the senses and the wonder of the external world as the daily manifestation of God. Either or both are within reach today, at home. And Lal Ded offers yet another realization--when the 'Truthful One" finds you, you are indeed, home.

For a poetic taste of the path of the senses, follow the link to the opening verses of Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself".

https://recyclemefree.org/.../song-of-myself-walt-whitman...

January 9, 2022

I am thinking of the tradition of New Years resolutions, as one way our culture offers for reinforcing fresh starts and new beginnings. Our resolve to initiate change and improvement in our lives gives us a reference point and serves as a catalyst for 'newness of life'.

But any new construction needs a solid foundation. And adding new structures on old foundations may conserve resources in the short run but fail us in the long term. It's a good idea to inspect the foundation first and determine it's strength and stability, whether or not it is appropriate to the design of the new blueprint. That is my metaphor for the forgiveness process this Sunday. Adding a list of new resolutions, new goals, new directions in this new year may require more depth to a forgiveness process--even an attitude overhaul-- to move pass the accumulated burden, the mental, emotional, and physical strain of these 2 years of Pandemic.

There are many ways to look at forgiveness; today I am looking at it as a spiritual process that uproots worn out emotions, disappointment and resentment, fear as well as anger and blame. Forgiving the events of the Pandemic (and the Pandemic itself) may seem like an impossible feat. Yet, if we let go of the demand to simply go back to our pre-pandemic life as our 'foundation', we may uncover the spiritual bedrock that has supported us all along. (Susan Nettleton)

For a new perspective on forgiveness from Hafiz, tr. Daniel Ladinsky

https://gladdestthing.com/poems/a-strange-feather

For D.H. Lawrence's perspective of getting to the foundation:

https://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/.../DeeperThanLo/index.html

January 2, 2022

New Years morning was different this year. It didn't feel new; it still felt like 2021 as once again New Year's Eve revelry across the globe gave way to video celebrations. I had to accept that this New Year had a sluggish aura, a slow start as the Pandemic unexpectedly surges. When I walked outside though, the relief of a clear blue sky and warming sunshine (after gray days of unrelenting rain) brought another perspective: in the world of nature each day is another beginning, while human culture has a separate need for tracking time, setting apart it's own reference points of beginnings and ends, time and date. Then I suddenly realized I had forgotten my mask and had to backtrack to get it, a concrete reminder the Pandemic didn't end with 2021 nor the sunrise.

I walked to the prayer garden that rests on the edge of a heavily trafficked boulevard and is an sustained by a mega church campus. In spite of the urban setting, it is indeed a place of peace, prayer and Presence. The garden with it's rocks of inscribed scripture, miniature creek and pathways, and towering crosses is designed to invoke the power of tradition, anchored in the spiritual significance of the life and teachings of Jesus. For me, it is a reminder that this day and everyday contains the past, as well as the passing of time and events, along with the unfolding of

ever-renewing life as what was our future, is revealed as today. Where I sat on a bench watching the water flow, there were bees on my left less than 2 ft away, gathering pollen from a bottlebrush shrub and beautiful small finches landing on my right, equally close and unperturbed by my presence, resting on branches at eye height. Harmony here, now.

One thought seemed especially important to write today. As is Nature's way, the virus continues to evolve, but so do we. Daily, we gather more and more information in the outer world, especially in the microbial world, to push our tools beyond the mutating virus. But we also have an inner world and an inner human capacity to direct the ways in which we ourselves shift in relationship to our experiences. Our ideas, our choices, our responses are as much a part of our evolution as our biological entanglement with the viral world. While science sorts out genetics, as individuals we can sort out our inner life and frame our intent toward health, harmony, resilience and Good in this New Year. (Susan Nettleton)

For a beautiful affirmation on the new year from Unity's Daily Word, click the link below

http://www.xn--www-hla9801brya.dailyword.com/.../new-year...

December 26, 2021

This week in conversation, a phrase floated through my head, "Grace cuts through all interpretation."

This week before New Years Day will be filled with interpretation. The years of the Pandemic have weighted heavily with interpretation. Perhaps this the way of things when human being meet with events that shift the axis of culture and life spills open into a debate of meaning, like the imponderable question, 'what does the Pandemic mean?'

The human mind naturally divides events and things into categories and subcategories in order to gain some control and understanding. So there is a natural movement to divide time and the cycles of the seasons into years, and as a new year is born, to interpret and give meaning and judgement to the issues of the year that is passing. Interpretation is a kind of judgement that assigns meaning. It is an aspect of human intellect that helps us problem solve and learn as we equip ourselves for the future. There is a usefulness in exercising our interpretive faculty; we assess risks, sort through values in order to make decisions, evaluate leaders and sources of information.--all of these skills require interpretive processes.

Yet, when we talk of letting go of the old year, spiritually, we begin by letting go of our personal interpretation. When we forgive the wounds of the old year, we discover they too are interpretations. Our minds have put together all the movements and activity of 2021, the times of emptiness and times of crises, fear and frustration, hope followed by disappointment, solitude and separation, and these have created a field of interpretation, that now is to be forgiven and released to make way for the new. Letting go our our viewpoint is not easy. This process sparked that thought that still circles through me, "Grace cuts through all interpretation".

Grace is unearned Good. Grace is the gift that expresses as healing, as love, as creative possibilities and artful solutions; grace is the sudden awareness of the beauty all around us, and the wonder of the world and the lives that intertwine with ours. It is a truth that hovers beyond our interpretations of life. The unearned, and often unseen, Good. (Susan Nettleton)

"Behold, I make all things new." (Rev 21:5)

December 12, 2021

"Life is a spell so exquisite that everything conspires to break it" Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

Where I sit today, is a gorgeous morning. The air is clean, mildly cool, with cloudless blue sky. There is a grapefruit tree and a tangerine tree, right outside the door, both laden with fruit. The image transports me to a early childhood memory of my grandmother's house in Laredo, Texas where I first saw grapefruits hanging on a tree. My siblings and I would have grapefruit wars, throwing them at each other. Because we were so young, we had no capacity for aiming them so it was all fun and wonder. It was my first awakening to a realization that the fruit we bought at our neighborhood grocery in Houston, actually grew from trees. That is the great Wonder of childhood, where life is fresh with discovery.

The fall season brings the culmination of nature's peak productivity. As we mature, the seasons initiate the awareness of time passing, the cyclical processes of life, and the often harshness of winter. That magical sense of life recedes in a sea of knowledge and experience, tossed up only now and then when a door of awareness briefly opens. What triggers those openings is really a mystery. Most likely, the actual trigger point is unique to each individual psyche, although we have our theories and teachings that give some direction to those moments when we recapture a sense of wonder.

This Sunday, I am reminding you that one of the reasons holiday practices endure is that they offer the space and a bit of magic for our hearts to spark that freshness of life that is young and innocent. Without that spark, especially in times of crisis, whether personal or collective, we cannot move beyond fear, sadness, or a world weary attitude to remember the Truth that life is ever renewing itself in an endless stream of creativity. In the ongoing uncertainty of the Pandemic, our own receptivity to all the ways nature and the human spirit work to sparkle in December, can replenish our Wonder. (Susan Nettleton)

"Find ecstasy in life; the mere sense of living is joy enough.” Emily Dickinson

For Thomas Trahern's (1636–1674) poem of childhood innocence and the hint of it's return, follow the link: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/.../wonder-56d22507c0b42

December 5, 2021

This week I came across a copy of Rev. Hugh Prather's ( 1938-2010) best selling book from the 1970's , "Notes to Myself: My Struggle to Become a Person." Prather and his wife Gayle were co-founders of the "Dispensable Church" in Santa Fe, NM and later moved to Arizona. The book is an honest examination and probing of himself, particularly in relationships, and circles around and around his self preoccupation, along with his drive to come to some truth in his connection with others.

Prather wrote: "I learn most about myself by observing myself in relation to others. When I examine myself by myself, I am actually examining the results of a previous encounter." Further probing brings new insight: "Perceptions are not of things but of relationships. Nothing, including me, exists by itself--this is an illusion of words. I am a relationship, ever-changing".

As we now enter the Christmas season, we enter it with both Delta and a quickly spreading Omicron--variants of Covid-19. Health authorities caution that it will take a few weeks to have the answers to the question of how this variant will impact American attempts at returning to normalcy and basically, how great a threat we face. We are advised to continue safe practices which includes of course vaccines. Meanwhile scientists, governments and health care officials across the globe are sifting through data and case reports. The sudden emergence of Omicron and the rapid response around the globe is another reminder of the interdependence of life.

You as a relationship is a startling concept that moves beyond just your personal life to the whole of being--beyond people to nature (including microbes and viruses as I have written many times) and beyond that to social structures, and beyond that to abstractions like time, space, location. Here, now, we are presented with yet another global event that can spur tremendous collective cooperation or further isolation and attack It also holds the potential for your own spiritually illuminating discovery: You are a relationship.

Prather leads us to his discovery, even though I am sure he had heard similar words by others, read powerful passages by others. After this inner insight, he could share how it finally came to him: "Love unites the part with the whole. Love unites me with the world and with myself. My life work could well be love. Love is the universe complete...Love shows me where all minds and essences unite." Perhaps today, perhaps this Christmas season of continued Pandemic, is leading you to your own unveiling. (Susan Nettleton)

November 28, 2021

As Thanksgiving weekend comes to a close, Hanukkah 2021--the 8 day Jewish Festival of Light--begins. Both holidays and the ones that follow, are powerful traditions that have evolved and adapted to changing cultures, social orders, and outer conditions, still celebrated as supplies were disrupted (or just not there) and grave dangers hovered. The spirit of celebration and remembrance continues, always retaining the spiritual essence of it's origin--even in the face of secularization. Human beings are rooted by tradition. Yet we continue to adapt. As the poem linked below expresses, we make and unmake ourselves individually and collectively over and over again, as does all of Nature. The microbial world too is the changing unseen face of Nature. We are now facing yet another mutation of Covid-19--the Omicron variant.

This morning, I listened to an Omicron update by Dr. Fauci, announcing that it would likely be another 2 weeks for research to determine how effective the current vaccines are against Omicron, even as new and updated vaccines are already in the early stages of development. He advised a basic rule: as we wait, prepare for the worst--not expect the worst, not that it will be "the worst", but prepare. There are some indications that although highly transmissible, the Omicron variant may not be as dangerous as we fear. We are in a waiting window, where we simply must be clear-headed. Everyday for the next few weeks will bring new information and, unfortunately, exploitative misinformation. For me, this means staying flexible, grounded in faith that includes the inner spiritual directive, prayer, peace, and intelligent practice--spiritual practice and public health practice in 6 steps: (summed up by epidemiologist Katelyn Jetelina)

Ventilate spaces. Use masks. Test if you have symptoms. Isolate if positive. Get vaccinated. Get boosted.

For many, myself included, this Thanksgiving marked a great step forward, past the isolation of the Pandemic with a chance to gather with others in shared traditions. I felt deep gratitude for that opportunity and for all who have made the vaccines and boosters possible and available. I am sure the Hanukkah celebrations that are planned for the week ahead bring that same excitement and hope of Thanksgiving, even though new uncertainty surrounds us once again. As Rabbi Joshua M. Davidson wrote this morning (online CNN), "The message of this season is the potential of the smallest bit of light to push back the darkness." All the more reason to light our candles, physically and metaphorically. (Susan Nettleton)

For a lighthearted, incisive poem on the great mix of life and adaptation from contemporary Korean-American poet, Suji Kwok Kim, follow the link:

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47863/slant

November 21, 2021

Today's post is an excerpt from this morning's Zoom talk on "The Imperfect"

We each have our struggles in our attempts at perfection and concern over other's judgement of our mistakes, but there is also this human tendency to personally judge others. Society sets up the legal and civil means for judgement and corrective action or punishment for trespass or harm to others or the social order. But our focus here is how we as individuals, trying to live spiritually, handle other's imperfections, not just our own. In the sermon on the mount Jesus sums up the issue with "judge not others lest you be judged" and the piercing line that basically says why judge a speck of some dirt in someone else's eye when you are walking around with a log in yours? Here is a profound and difficult truth, which is why I think religion in general with all it's tenants of shoulds and collective moral judgements and proclamation of spiritual consequences, caution people about our judging mentality: The human tendency to project our own flaws on to others and/or defend against our flaws, failure, and mistakes through hyper-vigilance of the mistakes of others.

Of course I have to mention forgiveness here, including self-forgiveness as we deal with the imperfect. In away all of this is about forgiveness, coming to terms with the imperfect. Sometimes, the real block to forgiving others is about not wanting to recognize the same imperfection in ourselves. Our judgement of others can actually be the window, the mirror, the uprooting and acknowledgment of our own flaws and mistakes. It can lead to self acceptance, self-forgiveness and asking and accepting it for those mistakes--on any level. Forgiveness work includes asking and accepting forgiveness as an inner process; it's not always appropriate or helpful to do that as a spoken request. Reflecting on our own mistakes makes forgiving others a lot easier. I am not saying a correlation is always there, but even if you do not find a point of identification in your judgement, you do learn to identify as an imperfect character in life's drama.

In 12 step programs, there is a saying, "Keep your side of the street clean." Life easily becomes messy and unmanageable when we begin to shift our focus to monitoring and managing others' lives before giving attention to our own, and in the complexity of modern life, it isn't always obvious where the boundaries lay. Reflecting on "my side of the street" is one way to recalibrate responsibility and clarify our choices. Our actions and non-actions impact others in the great scheme of life. Human beings are not perfect--none of us. But we are capable of positive choices, of learning, of adapting and forgiving. Self-forgiveness and self-acceptance of imperfection, open the door to Grace and transformative healing. (Susan Nettleton)

Ring the bells that still can ring. Forget your perfect offering. There Is a Crack in Everything, That’s How the Light Gets In

(by Leonard Cohen)

November 19, 2021

Susan Nettleton is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Hope you can make it!

Topic: The Imperfect

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November 14, 2021

This week I have been contemplating two quotes from very different 20th century writers. Each quote--separate and apart from the complete philosophical orientation and context of the authors-- struck me as unusual approaches to expanding our lives in this new phase of the Pandemic. This "phase" is new because of the experience we have gathered in our almost 2 years under the Pandemic threat, the extraordinary success of vaccines and the early promise of new treatment for Covid 19. At the same time, we shoulder a collective awareness of viral mutations and seasonal surges as ongoing possibilities during the years to come. Moving beyond the trauma and fear of the last 2 years is not going to happen by denial or dismissal of the continued threat, nor by suppressing all that we felt and experienced in the process--both gain and loss. But neither can it be a continued one-pointed focus on contagion. The world grows more complex. Moving beyond these years of Pandemic requires expansion.

For those who nurture their spiritual life, that expansion is spiritual expansion and it is the expansion of consciousness. We participate in the healing, renewing activity of life at this time, in the place where we are, as active spirituality--willing to grow beyond what we have known and trusting an unfolding Good. Here are the quotes for a Sunday contemplation on expansion, this November, 2021:

"So many things fail to interest us, simply because they don't find in us enough surfaces on which to live, and what we have to do then is to increase the number of planes in our mind, so that a much larger number of themes can find a place in it at the same time." José Ortega y Gasset (1883-1955)

"What we think is less than what we know; What we know is less than what we love; What we love is so much less than what there is; and to this precise extent, we are much less than what we are." R.D. Laing (1927-1982)

Consider a broader expanse of love, love that feeds new planes (even dimensions) of involvement--widening, spacious themes that spark new ways of knowing, ways of responding, flowing from our minds and hearts. (Susan Nettleton)

November 7, 2021

"Himalayas of the Heart" by Larry Morris (1939-2015)

A salute to those

fearless daring explorers

of the Inner Journey

who risk all for awakening

those intrepid travelers

through Inner Space

who seek The Kingdom

of infinite untouched Peace.

This past week marked the 6th anniversary of the death of Dr. Larry Morris who led Hillside Church for 33 years. This seems a good occasion to offer two of his poems for today's Sunday post. Through ministry, he became a prolific spiritual writer and poet, his poetry arising from his own journey. The above salute applies not just to Larry and those he knew--the writers and teachers who shaped his way--but it also applies to you, if you too seek that Kingdom of infinite untouched Peace. This is the Peace you have yet to find--that which underlies your longing for peace in your life and in the world around you, underlies the longing that others for whom you care can also touch such Peace. The Himalaya mountain range contains some of the highest peaks on Earth, including the highest, Mt. Everest. Although there are those who physically set out to climb those peaks, many of whom have life changing experiences, here is a reminder that the spiritual journey is actually through Inner Space, toward an awareness of oneself and one's own heart. That journey demands courage as well as, sooner or later, the touch of Grace. Inner exploration leads back to yourself, to meeting yourself again and again, until you come to a frontier where the sense of self can no longer be sustained as you have viewed it your whole life; it must give way to something larger, something interwoven into the fabric of Life itself and blended with all that is. This is the birth of new life and yet paradoxically, it is the discovery of what has been true all along-- God's Secret. (Susan Nettleton)

"God's Secret" by Larry Morris

The love we thought

the universe could never give us

the surprise Birthday cake

with the candle that we can

never blow out

the wish that can

never be extinguished

the dream that never

evaporates into our common life.

for more poems by Larry Morris, scroll down the page to the Larry Morris poems section at:

https://hillsidesource.com/creativewell

October 31, 2021

Listen, my child, to the silence.

An undulating silence,

a silence

that turns valleys and echoes slippery,

bends foreheads

toward the ground.

(Federico García Lorca-1898-1936), Selected Verse, ed. Christopher Maurer, 2004)

Tonight's Halloween is yet another experiment in navigating the Pandemic while venturing outward, exploring new avenues for tradition as the world rapidly changes. Lately, I have been contemplating the ways in which cultures pass on core values to the next generation, teaching character traits and early concepts of right and wrong that we build on and adjust over a lifetime. Folktales (and Halloween offers many, both ancient and modern) are one way we share our collective history, reinforcing cultural values. Although now in the age of Covid, young children have learned to easily shift back and forth between picture books and computers and phones with animated You Tube storytelling, the classic tales like Goldilocks and the Three Bears and The Three Little Pigs endure. And in all cultures, the power of oral tradition still links one generation to another as teachers, parents and grandparents tell "the stories".

These seem like trivial events when we are facing so much in the way of cultural polarization, the ongoing threat of Pandemic, and climate change. And yet folk tales, along with celebrations such as Halloween and Carnival and other secular and religious traditions, weave a fabric of stability and belonging to humans, even as life demands we change. While tonight is Halloween, tomorrow is All Saints Day in the Catholic tradition. These two days, back to back, underscore the human attempt to reconcile what often seems like opposing forces in humanity: good and evil, right and wrong, the world of the living and the dead, Saint and sinner, spiritual and profane, heaven and earth. Indeed, there are traditions that view Halloween, along with the Day of the Dead, as a time when these divides dissolve and polarities blend, sliding one into another, if only for a brief window of time. If you don't have a plan or tradition for Halloween, this is actually a good time to meditate. A new view of Oneness may await. (Susan Nettleton)

"When you are no longer caught up in the dichotomy of right and wrong or good and bad you can never do anything wrong. As long as you are caught up in this duality, the danger is that you will always do wrong." U.G. Krishnamurti (1918-2007)

October 24, 2021

The universe is deathless,

Is deathless because, having no finite self,

It stays infinite.

A sound man by not advancing himself

Stays the further ahead of himself,

By not confining himself to himself

Sustains himself outside himself:

By never being an end in himself

He endlessly becomes himself. (#7, The Way of Life, tr. Witter Bynner)

Today I invite you to relax in moments that scramble your sense of order. We've had almost two years of life being scrambled by Covid-19 and information, breakthroughs, misinformation, things opening, things closing, receding, re-surging, and in the midst of it all, having to find solid ground here and now. It's time to consider your ability to let the "irrational" move through you and pass on. That ability is dependent on where and how you discover solid ground. What grounds you? The skill is to relax, not resist, and let your ground of being re-emerge. Faith means you let it find you; faith is a quiet confidence in yourself and in Life. Order does re-emerge, when you relax. Consider a bigger spiritual picture at work.

The "ground of being" of our life doesn't change, but our understanding of it does. This brings to mind the author Thomas Merton (1915-1986). Born in Prades, France, the child of an American mother and a New Zealander father, he spent his early years in America, France, Bermuda, and England. At the age of 26, he withdrew from the world to enter a Catholic ascetic order of Trappist monks in Kentucky, the Abbey of Gethsemani. During his lifetime, he wrote over sixty books and hundreds of poems and articles, probing the depths of monastic spirituality, his growing grasp and respect of Eastern religions, and the painful political issues of his times, including the nuclear arms race, the civil rights movement, and nonviolence. Throughout these works, he wrestled with a tremendous inward pull to disengage from the outer world and an emerging push to publicly express his own deepening understanding of social forces and their moral consequences to that larger world.

What seems like extreme contradictions in a brilliant mind, is a powerful picture of the kind of contradictions that sooner or later become evident in any spiritual path taken seriously. Creation itself is sustained on one level by apparent polarity or dualism. One the other hand, spiritual "awakening" brings awareness of the unity of all life. We are separate individuals, yet we can intuit or directly experience the shattering of all boundaries and separation. Spiritual awareness opens further contradictions in our own identities and sense of purpose. Life is no longer solely about our individual development, comforts, success, needs. We are larger than our personal lives. We are larger than the wants, stereotypes and "shoulds" of the marketplace. And yet, if we neglect ourselves as individuals, we give up our capacity to give our uniqueness to the whole, to contribute what we alone have to contribute in the unfolding of this mystery of life. What now feels as the pull to remain in Pandemic mode as we are pushed into rejoining the outer world of work, socializing and community participation, is a manifestation of this larger spiritual contradiction. This is the paradox of Lao Tzu's passage above, resolved in the mystical experience of sweet irrational worship in Merton's poem ink below. (Susan Nettleton)

http://artistsworkbench.blogspot.com/.../poetry-corner-o...

October 17, 2021

"Life" by Juan Ramón Jiménez

What I used to regard as a glory shut in my face,

was a door, opening

toward this clarity:

Country without a name:

Nothing can destroy it, this road

of doors, opening, one after another,

always toward reality:

Life without calculation!

While everyday carries within it the opportunity for inner realization, there is something to dedicating a time and space for deepening our spiritual reflection, a rhythm and routine. Humanity has discovered and developed countless and conflicting ways of connecting and maintaining a spiritual perspective over the long course of human history. You most likely have experienced a variety of religious/spiritual ideas, ceremonies, rituals, prayer, attitudes and ways of interacting in the course of your life, but sooner or later we settle in with that which nourishes and strengthens us personally. For me, the cornerstone remains meditation which at times melts into prayer and vice-verse.

When reflecting on my own spiritual journey, I can identify a handful of specific experiences that were turning points--points of no return with the spiritual life. By that I mean, they marked a shift where there was no possibility of turning back to an earlier understanding or way of living. I cannot say those were all ecstatic or joyous moments, but rather a cracking of a fixed viewpoint and an expansion, revelation...growth.

Each peak was followed by busy times of adjustment of my life to the new growth. Not that I always understood it in that way, nor that I "chose" all the adjustments, but such growth brings the excitement of both renewal and discovery. Realistically, in between such times there are plateaus and beyond plateaus, dry spells that stretch to the limit before cracking open another door of expansion. This is the way humans grow, beyond the physical growth of childhood.

When spiritual practice becomes a necessary part of your own daily life, the routine and rhythm sustain you. As British writer/mystic Paul Brunton (1898-1981)wrote: "...When we put the mind in repose and recollect who we are our effort needs no further reward. We have secured balm for the day and all life looks good." We don't look for the life changing but for the life sustaining, our daily spiritual bread. A practice of meditation, led by your own intuitive promptings, will not leave you where you started, but you may not truly appreciate that if you are looking for the life changing peak. Let the calculating mind rest today, the mind that strategizes, weighs and measures. Be fed and grow strong. Doors will open when it's time. (Susan Nettleton)

October 10, 2021

Today is good day to clear up hindrances. There are of course many varying levels to that call: obstacles to your physical movements, emotional stumbling blocks, the barriers to the fields of ideas and relationships. Intense attachments in all those arenas are likely to entangle our energy in ways that siphon our resolve to live from our highest values that fulfill our deepest needs. That is why spiritual teachings bring our attachments into focus, to be considered in spiritual practice and day to day living. Ultimately, the intent is to acquire the freedom to listen and respond to the promptings of our own inner guiding Intelligence and overseeing Love, accessible to each of us. We can call that God, Spirit, Higher Power, Transcendence--what we call it is not the point; the point is our receptivity and response, that which aligns us with the Good and the unfathomable Whole.

Earlier this week, I ran into what seemed like a critical obstacle in daily life--my internet shut down! All the standard procedures of rebooting and resetting failed. A phone call to the provider did give me the clarity that the modem was working fine, but offered no further help other than through email, which of course I could not access. A quick trip to the local library gave me public access (an essential service for any urban center!). There I was able to discern that my wifi was also fine, but while I could use the public access, my personal internet service was not connecting with my computer. I went home. None of the possible "fixes" I had found worked. My frustration level finally led me back to meditation.

In meditation I realized that there would be a solution, but now it was evening and all of this could wait another day. Contrary to the habitual power of daily routine and rhythm, life really does not depend on the internet, nor on completing my work as planned. I would start again tomorrow. At that moment, a friend texted and I told her of my day of obstacles. Though we do not have the same OS, she shared a similar recent experience, offering what had been her solution: clear the browser history, then restart. And it worked! I had to 'clear the field' of weeks and weeks and weeks of accumulated data. Somewhere, something in that pile had triggered the glitch. Are human minds and personal habits that different?

We have no choice but to trust the way our brains sort and file and connect accumulated bits of information and experiences, retrieving them as necessary. The quiet practice of meditation (as well as natural sleep) allows that process to work more efficiently. But meditation is also a process where we disentangle ourselves from emotional obstacles and false ideas. We see our accumulated history in a new light. We forgive. We let go. And the Light turns back on...(Susan Nettleton)

"You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?" Galatians 5:7

October 3, 2021

A few days ago while idly flipping through a cookbook I hadn't opened in years, I discovered a quote by American poet, author and activist, Maya Angelou:

"Each person deserves a day away in which no problems are confronted, no solutions searched for. Each of us needs to withdraw from the cares which will not withdraw from us. We need hours of aimless wandering or spates of time sitting on park benches, observing the mysterious world of ants and the canopy of treetops."

There is a quiet calm to her words. The words are of course partially addressing the world of the writer and poet--or really, any creative spirit. The creative needs the space and time to expand and grow, to take form and reach some plateau of definition, even if it continues to reverberate with ongoing possibilities. Artists and thinkers of every type, even experimental cooks need room to tinker and taste, watch and wonder, without the world and it's demands closing in. But this quote expands that artistic need to all us, "each person". How else can we open to life's larger, immense possibilities that hold unrealized joys and unknown solutions?

As a child, Angelou remained mute for 5 years after a traumatic event. Like most children, she blamed herself. She became fearful of her own voice, refusing to speak. During this long period of traumatic silence, she read and absorbed literature, poetry and new ways of understanding life through quiet observation. A teacher eventually led her to recover her voice by convincing her that she could love poetry more by actually speaking it.

This story gives added depth to the quote above. We don't remain withdrawn; what we gather in, we eventually give expression to in one form or another. Paradoxically, those cares that will not withdraw from us potentially announce a gift, an expansion that we will never discover until we withdraw from them. If not today, choose a day, or even a few hours to be carefree. Go where your trouble and your striving cannot find you. Stop seeking solutions, simply wander aimlessly, sit...watching...listening... receiving. (Susan Nettleton)