Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Louise Macdonald on January 7, 2010 at 1:12am

Thanks Doug for starting a discussion,

I think I joined this group because I just loved the name of it. But the actual work of Being a Blessing I think is challenging.

I'm in the middle of reading the book 'Authentic Happiness' by Martin Seligman - not my usual read but that is one of the blessings of my Christmas! One of his theories is that deep happiness and not just the experience of pleasure requires gratification (that is: activity aligned with noble purpose).

In order to achieve such activity one needs to develop virtues - he lists 6 virtues: wisdom, courage, love, justice, temperance and transcendence which he and a group of other white, male, academic Americans chose as being, if not universal, at least ubiqitous through most religions and cultures. Being aware that they were a very homogeneous group they developed the list through the study of many of the great sacred texts and interpretations of the world. He then goes on to say that developing these virtues is done by unearthing and then nurturing our personal strengths.

A lot of words to say self awareness and the living of a good or virtuous life is a way of Being a Blessing.

Go forth into the world in peace:
Be of good courage;
Hold fast to that which is good;
render to no one evil for evil;
strengthen the faint hearted;
support the weak;
help the afflicted;
honour all people;
And may the God who walked in the margins
Live in the centre of your life.

Blessings Louise

Permalink Reply by Rev. Douglas Walker on January 7, 2010 at 12:06pm

Dear Louise,
I loved your thoughtful reply and Martin Seligman's premiss as you describe it. As long as the pursuit of happiness is base solely in self-gratification, happiness is fleeting.

Our world's social, economic, and political systems are far to grounded in a paradigm of self-centeredness or self-interest. People abide or elect rulers based on self-interest. Nations make policies on the self-interest of only their nation. Companies make decisions base on the self-interest of their company and their shareholders and disregard the impact on land, air, water, other life forms, and even other humans. The paradigm of self-interest is what is taught in our schools and universities all over the world.

It is my opinion that their must be a fundamental shift in the paradigm from which we live. Blessings as a "paradigm for living" require consciousness. It is a practice that requires one to self-observe (have self-awareness) and evaluate ones actions in the light of the well-being of all that is.

When ones paradigm for living has been adjusted to "Being a Blessing" one then begins to develop Wisdom, Courage, Love, Justice, Temperance, Mercy, and Transcendence. As individuals and groups of people begin to make the capital investment of their life energy an investment in "Being a Blessing" to all, the net return will be an "Authentic Happiness".

You are right in saying "Being a Blessing is challenging" because the complexities that life's situation presents does not always shed clear light as to what constitutes a true blessing. But I believe that as we practice Living as a Blessing we develop the virtues that allow us to discern wisely what is the Greater Good.

Blessing - Doug

Permalink Reply by Rev. Kristen Kloostra on January 8, 2010 at 3:12pm

Here is on of my favorite Prayers to get you started! With Love and Gratitude for You and your Vision, Kristen

All gifts my brothers give belong to me.
Each day a thousand treasures come to me with every passing moment. I am blessed with gifts throughout the day, in value far beyond all things of which I can conceive. A brother smiles upon another, and my heart is gladdened. Someone speaks a word of gratitude or mercy, and my mind perceives this gift and takes it as its own. And everyone who finds the way to God becomes my Savior, pointing out the way to me, and giving me his certainty that what he learned is surely mine as well.

“I thank You, Father, for the many gifts that come to me today and every day from every Son of God. My brothers are unlimited in all their gifts to me. Now may I offer them my thankfulness, that gratitude to them may lead me on to my Creator and His memory.”

AMEN

*This is Prayer Lesson 315 from A Course in Miracles

Permalink Reply by Rev. Douglas Walker on January 8, 2010 at 5:39pm

What a magnificent Prayer!!!
Blessings - Doug

Rev. Kristen Kloostra said:

Here is on of my favorite Prayers to get you started! With Love and Gratitude for You and your Vision, Kristen

All gifts my brothers give belong to me.
Each day a thousand treasures come to me with every passing moment. I am blessed with gifts throughout the day, in value far beyond all things of which I can conceive. A brother smiles upon another, and my heart is gladdened. Someone speaks a word of gratitude or mercy, and my mind perceives this gift and takes it as its own. And everyone who finds the way to God becomes my Savior, pointing out the way to me, and giving me his certainty that what he learned is surely mine as well.

“I thank You, Father, for the many gifts that come to me today and every day from every Son of God. My brothers are unlimited in all their gifts to me. Now may I offer them my thankfulness, that gratitude to them may lead me on to my Creator and His memory.”

AMEN

*This is Prayer Lesson 315 from A Course in Miracles

Permalink Reply by Rev. Kristen Kloostra on January 8, 2010 at 6:04pm

Thanks so much Doug! Yes, the Course is full of them...it really is a Divine Masterpiece, designed specifically for the healing, transformation and awakening of the human mind. I wrote a recent blog post introducing it through my own personal experience which is here on my Peacenext page, in case you or anyone is interested. Also, here are a few links if you want to read more or see some more profound prayers for inspiration:

http://www.courseinmiracles.com/ - The entire original manuscript (Urtext) online - easy to navigate and very searchable!
http://www.thecourseinmiracles.com/ - a beautiful site about the Course, with a searchable version of the final edition (Blue Book)
http://www.acimi.com/ - Homepage for A Course in Miracles International with very helpful resources and worldwide events

With Unbounded Love and Blessings, Kristen

Rev. Douglas Walker said:

What a magnificent Prayer!!!
Blessings - Doug

Rev. Kristen Kloostra said:

Here is on of my favorite Prayers to get you started! With Love and Gratitude for You and your Vision, Kristen

All gifts my brothers give belong to me.
Each day a thousand treasures come to me with every passing moment. I am blessed with gifts throughout the day, in value far beyond all things of which I can conceive. A brother smiles upon another, and my heart is gladdened. Someone speaks a word of gratitude or mercy, and my mind perceives this gift and takes it as its own. And everyone who finds the way to God becomes my Savior, pointing out the way to me, and giving me his certainty that what he learned is surely mine as well.

“I thank You, Father, for the many gifts that come to me today and every day from every Son of God. My brothers are unlimited in all their gifts to me. Now may I offer them my thankfulness, that gratitude to them may lead me on to my Creator and His memory.”

AMEN

*This is Prayer Lesson 315 from A Course in Miracles

Permalink Reply by Graham George on January 9, 2010 at 6:09am

Doug Hi,

This is excellent, because there are so many ways in which we lose sight of Being a Blessing! For me as a writer hearing Jesus today, the power of 'giving' is paramount to the process of Blessings carrying the light that they contain, and, bestow upon another.
Here is a piece from last year where the last two lines sum it up, and bring the blessing to all.

Beyond me is where I really am
Beyond the world that I see
For I am not of the world
Nor my brother nor my sister

My ability to know this
Thus leads me to my Father's Peace
For should I no longer question or seek it
Will it be made known to me of returning Home

For within me does it so reside
I surrender thus to myself all the things I fear
Beyond my present self, by His Grace

For I exist not as I believe
But as a ray of Love
From the eternal Light of my Father

That I too may light the Truth
In the dreams of others

Graham

Permalink Reply by Rev. Douglas Walker on January 9, 2010 at 11:35am

Graham,
Thank you for this great knowing and precious gift!

Blessings - Doug

Graham George said:

Doug Hi,

This is excellent, because there are so many ways in which we lose sight of Being a Blessing! For me as a writer hearing Jesus today, the power of 'giving' is paramount to the process of Blessings carrying the light that they contain, and, bestow upon another.
Here is a piece from last year where the last two lines sum it up, and bring the blessing to all.

Beyond me is where I really am
Beyond the world that I see
For I am not of the world
Nor my brother nor my sister

My ability to know this
Thus leads me to my Father's Peace
For should I no longer question or seek it
Will it be made known to me of returning Home

For within me does it so reside
I surrender thus to myself all the things I fear
Beyond my present self, by His Grace

For I exist not as I believe
But as a ray of Love
From the eternal Light of my Father

That I too may light the Truth
In the dreams of others

Graham

Permalink Reply by Graham George on January 10, 2010 at 11:54am

Doug it is my/our pleasure!

There is more too on my website, recent words from Jesus, he has a blog too! As he said, "I don't need to know what a blog is, I have you for that!" always such joyousness in much of his communication. There are works of visionary-art inspired by Spirit and an online exhibition for "A Course in Miracles" too!

Blessings and Love to You Doug,
Graham

Rev. Douglas Walker said:

Graham,
Thank you for this great knowing and precious gift!

Blessings - Doug

Graham George said:

Doug Hi,

This is excellent, because there are so many ways in which we lose sight of Being a Blessing! For me as a writer hearing Jesus today, the power of 'giving' is paramount to the process of Blessings carrying the light that they contain, and, bestow upon another.
Here is a piece from last year where the last two lines sum it up, and bring the blessing to all.

Beyond me is where I really am
Beyond the world that I see
For I am not of the world
Nor my brother nor my sister

My ability to know this
Thus leads me to my Father's Peace
For should I no longer question or seek it
Will it be made known to me of returning Home

For within me does it so reside
I surrender thus to myself all the things I fear
Beyond my present self, by His Grace

For I exist not as I believe
But as a ray of Love
From the eternal Light of my Father

That I too may light the Truth
In the dreams of others

Graham

Permalink Reply by Rev. Douglas Walker on January 10, 2010 at 9:18pm

Dear Rev. Kristen,
Thank you for your precious prayer and gratefull heart.
Blessings - Doug

Rev. Kristen Kloostra said:

Here is on of my favorite Prayers to get you started! With Love and Gratitude for You and your Vision, Kristen

All gifts my brothers give belong to me.
Each day a thousand treasures come to me with every passing moment. I am blessed with gifts throughout the day, in value far beyond all things of which I can conceive. A brother smiles upon another, and my heart is gladdened. Someone speaks a word of gratitude or mercy, and my mind perceives this gift and takes it as its own. And everyone who finds the way to God becomes my Savior, pointing out the way to me, and giving me his certainty that what he learned is surely mine as well.

“I thank You, Father, for the many gifts that come to me today and every day from every Son of God. My brothers are unlimited in all their gifts to me. Now may I offer them my thankfulness, that gratitude to them may lead me on to my Creator and His memory.”

AMEN

*This is Prayer Lesson 315 from A Course in Miracles

Permalink Reply by Jennifer Surdam on January 13, 2010 at 9:59pm

This may sound cheesy, but I think the movie "Avatar" is a great representation of this question. It really calls into question what we do to abominate nature and the things around us. It really calls into question how much we value all of that around us, everything that lives around us, everything that we see around us. WE seem to think we have the power to take and mold and do with everything we have to us. Just cuz we're "us." I don't see it that way, and I think that the movie really brings that around...

JMO.
Hugs and BB,
jen :)

Permalink Reply by Rev. Douglas Walker on January 13, 2010 at 10:48pm

Yes, Jennifer, I like this movie for that reason and others. I love how it plays off the inter-connectedness of the unspoiled life verses the crasping, get all you can at any cost, spoilers of life.

There are many levels that this can be taken to. I prefer to read it as "the life of the Soul" verses "modern materialistic life". In this seeing of the story the soul finds it's sustenance in the inter-connectedness of the One. Here the Soul thrives in the tree of life ( the old Norse Yggdrasil) or World Tree, in a world of beauty and wholeness. It live in harmony with nature and tames the beasts not by domination but by deep connection. We see here that living from greed and materialism threatens to destroy the life of the Soul, nature, and life itself, in our quest for material profit, power, and domination on the material plane.

But in the end materialism and greed will never be able to destroy life or the life of the soul which is rooted in the the source of All That Is and that which holds the life giving and healing power when we connect deeply with it . Being an Avatar mean one is fully living in the life of the Soul and One with all that is. This is a true Wisdom Teaching for those that have eyes to see and ears to hear.

Blessings of profound wisdom and peace - Doug

Jennifer Surdam said:

This may sound cheesy, but I think the movie "Avatar" is a great representation of this question. It really calls into question what we do to abominate nature and the things around us. It really calls into question how much we value all of that around us, everything that lives around us, everything that we see around us. WE seem to think we have the power to take and mold and do with everything we have to us. Just cuz we're "us." I don't see it that way, and I think that the movie really brings that around...
JMO. Hugs and BB, jen :)

li

Permalink Reply by Jennifer Surdam on January 15, 2010 at 1:09am

I definitely agree, Doug. There's a lot of undertones, and a lot of things to think about with the movie. There's so much going on on both sides. You have a warring nation (actually just a company employing mercs) forcing a peaceful one to fight. You have someone who dearly wants something who's willing to give it up for what he knows is the right thing. You have a people who feel they've been betrayed, but finally recognize that's not the case, but it takes a lot of hard work on the one person's part to prove it. You really have so many plotlines going on--all of them following so many different little points of action, and so many imperative points of reality (greed, brutality, beauty, necessity, etc), that it's hard to keep up. But the story goes by, and you think, wow, I could watch it 18 times and not get it all...I think Cameron did a great job getting it all in. And I have to wonder how much ended up on the cutting room floor! LOL ;)

But I think you have a great point. And there were a lot of points that weren't lost on me, either. I guess I didn't want to sound too cheesy or stupid quoting a movie, and I didn't want to get into it too far! :)

Hugs and BB,
jen :)

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• Next ›
• Page