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| SHORT SLEEVES INSIGHTS |
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A Note about the Editor
The only joy in the world is to begin.
Cesare Pavese was born in 1908 and was an Italian poet and novelist.
Italy considers him one of the greatest authors of the
twentieth century. His simply statement about beginning is in
fact a joyful experience.
When I begin anything, it’s always with excitement and joy. I feel
the energy of creation around me; it’s in my every thought. My
impulses vibrate in harmony with my inner self and something
magical happens; things begin to manifest in all sorts of
wonderful ways. Writing is a good example of that; just starting
the process of writing is a magnifi cent adventure. New worlds
open around me, and people begin to enter my life with
vibrant energy. The writing becomes a mode of knowing and I
am surrounded by love.
Yvonne Perry is an example of this flowing energy. She is an
author, business owner and gentle spirit. Her life is dedicated to
the service of others; especially writers who are trying to make a
living with their words. I first became aware of Yvonne through
my wife, who was interviewed by Yvonne for a book she was
writing. We never met physically but I read her book, MoreThan Meets the Eye, and found her to be more than I expected.
Her insight and dedication to the subject of the afterlife was
informative, comprehensive and enlightening.
Somehow I knew we would meet and become friends and that
happened sooner than I expected. When I actually started to
send my poetry to people in the writing profession, Yvonne
was on the top of my list. I had never been published and was a
bit nervous about anyone reading what I had written, but I sent
Yvonne one of my poems anyway. In my email, I introduced
myself to her and told her a little about me, and then asked
her to read my work and let me know her thoughts about it.
Almost immediately I got her response and in her loving way
she thanked me for connecting with her and told me she had
just started a newsletter and would include my poem in the
next edition. As you can imagine, I was overwhelmed with
excitement.
That gesture fi lled me with the confidence to continue writing
and to express myself with gratitude, just the way Yvonne did
for me. The joy I felt beginning my friendship with Yvonne was
pure motivation. I felt her love and she continues to give that love
to everyone she meets. Her newsletter, which is a group of articles
from writers around the globe, is now a 20-plus-page work
read by thousands.
Her new book, Right to Recover: Winning
the Political and Religious Wars over Stem Cell Research in
America, has just been published and it is a work worth reading.
Everything that Yvonne begins is done in joy; everyone Yvonne
meets is met with love. Her example has infl uenced manywriters to continue their journey with confi dence and faith.
One person does make a difference; Yvonne is an angel dressed
as a writer and she touches life with the gift of love.
I start my day writing and reading; I usually visit Yvonne’s site
and she is always promoting the works of others, which is
great inspiration for me. The basic act of connection brings so
much light and love into my daily experiences. My friend Yvonne
is the plug that fi ts into that socket of love. Her awareness is the
light of unity.
You can visit Yvonne’s Website,
http://www.yvonneperry.net/
to learn more about this amazing spirit. Thanks Yvonne, for the
joy and the example to just begin.
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I’ve Had Secrets!
Socrates said, “A happy man was well demonized.” As I look
back over my life, I have to agree with him.
I am filled with happiness as I write this essay and I have had my
share of demons along the way. In fact, I lived in a state of fear
for years.
But why? What was I afraid of? I have lived through family
losses, job losses, money losses, property losses, relationship
losses and self-esteem losses, and here I am writing this as a
happy man. The answers didn’t come from someone else; they
came from within me. We all know Roosevelt’s words about
fear, but they really didn’t register with me until I started to dig
within me. I had secrets—lots of secrets—that I kept hidden
from myself. I used so much energy trying to hide these events
that I blocked myself from seeing the true me. This blocked
energy manifested itself in many ways: sickness, addictions,
fantasies and low self-worth to name a few. My life was a secret
that overshadowed the good that surrounded me.
The psychology books told me I had to face my fears for they are
a reality I created from my own beliefs of good and bad, right
and wrong—beliefs that were so strong that I was willing to
physically destroy myself rather than face these secret demons.
My focused consciousness kept me in a state of fear with
no weapon other than my thoughts. I had closed off a part of
myself, I buried my secrets in fear, and the evil I had created
was the cemetery.
I decided I wanted to change. I wanted to feel better. I wanted
my emotions back. The time had come for me to fi nd a solution.
I wanted a new life.
One sunny Tennessee morning I sat in the garden among all the
living things that had no secrets—the trees, plants, birds and
insects—and looked around me. I felt their freedom, their honesty,
and their wholeness. So, I reached into my coffi n of secretsstarting with the very fi rst one I buried many years ago and dug
it up. There it was right where I remembered it. I gently put my
thoughts around it and kissed it and forgave it. That morning I
went through several years of my life accepting all I had hidden
and forgiving myself for doing so. Like magic, my energy level
seemed to explode and a great weight was lifted from my body.
I cried; joyful emotion enfolded within me.
There were many days like that day, each one bringing me closer
to my happiness, each one reconnecting me to a self that
was hidden. I know now that there are no secrets. I can’t hide
from myself and I certainly can’t hide from others.
What I can do is accept myself as a spirit having a human
experience in order to be a grander version of who I really
am—a soul connected to all life in truth, freedom and Love.
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1. All Streams Start Somewhere!
When a country obtains great power, it becomes like the sea; all
streams run downward into it. The more powerful it grows, the
greater the need for humility. Humility means trusting my own
truth, thus never needing to be defensive. A great nation is like
a great man: when he makes a mistake, he realizes it. Having
realized it, he admits it. Having admitted it, he corrects it.
He considers those who point out his faults as his most benevolent
teachers. He thinks of his enemy as the shadow that he himself
casts. If a nation is centered in truth, if it nourishes its own
people and doesn’t meddle in the affairs of others, it will be a
light to all nations in the world.
These words were originally written in Chinese over 2,500 years
ago. The author Lao-tzu was an ordinary man. Not much is
known about him, but his words explain who he was. His message
above is a simple one. Truth is much the same way; it fi nds its
path in freedom.
I look around our great nation and see the enormous effects
of its power. I see people realizing the mistakes made by
the misuse of that power. I see people trying to correct those
mistakes and admitting the devastation they have caused. I see
people looking at their enemies and seeing themselves in
their eyes. I see the opportunity to change my beliefs and listen
to my benevolent teachers, who want nothing but truth to be
my power. I see the fl icker of light that will illuminate the hearts
of all nations.
Mistakes are the steps to humility. I walk on those steps and
reach out and touch the world with my love and forgiveness.
I become the light that shines for all to see. My truth is love.
My truth is power. My truth is peace.
Lao-tzu has a simple message for all of us. Look within yourself
and fi nd the answers; they are waiting for us to remember them.
There is no greater power than truth; it is within all of us. Truth
is awareness, connection, and unity. It is abundant and free and
it has no opposite.
Remembering who I am—a spirit fi lled with truth—brings
peace and joy to the world.
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2. A Sense of Matter
Pierre Teilhard De Chardin was born in 1881. He was a French
Jesuit priest, paleontologist, and philosopher. His book, ThePhenomenon of Man, was a sweeping account of the unfolding
of the cosmos. The church was displeased with his work, so
none of his works were published in his lifetime. Pope John
XXIII rehabilitated him posthumously and his writings have
been considered an important infl uence on the church’s stance
on evolution.
I found some of Pierre’s work this morning and it gave me a
distinct awareness of matter. All the matter around me is special.
The universe and all the matter in it is there for me to learn
and grow from. It is something to bless and Pierre’s words do it
beautifully.
Louis Nizer, the twentieth century lawyer and author said, “True
religion is the life we lead, not the creed we profess.” Pierre’s
church religion turned its back on him, only to fi nd his life’s
religion to be an important tool in its quest for remembering.
I am sharing his work this morning with pleasure, and with the
understanding that I am connected to all matter and it is there for
me to appreciate and accept with gratitude.
Blessed be you, harsh matter, barren soil, stubborn rock, you
who yield only to force, you who cause us to work if we would eat.
Blessed be you, perilous matter, violent sea, untamable passion,
you who, unless we fetter you, will devour us.
Blessed be you, mighty matter, irresistible march of evolution,
reality ever new-born, you who, by constantly shattering our
mental categories, force us to go even further and further in our
pursuit of the truth.
Blessed be you, universal matter
immeasurable time, boundless
ether, triple abyss of stars and atoms and generations, you
who by overfl owing and dissolving our narrow standards or
measurements reveal to us the dimensions of God.
Blessed be you, impenetrable matter, you who interposed
between our minds and the world of essences, cause us to
languish with the desire to pierce through the seamless veil
of phenomena.
Blessed be you, mortal matter, you who one day will undergo the
process of dissolution within us and will thereby take us forcibly
into the very heart of that which exists.
You who batter us and then dress our wounds, you who resist
and yield to us, you who wreck and build, you who shackle and
liberate, the sap of our souls; the hand of God, the flesh of Christ
it is you, matter, that I bless.
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3. Stressed Out?
Dr. Fred Alan Wolf gives me insight and remembrance with his
words below. By changing my thoughts about who I am, I can
begin to integrate my spirit and physical matter into a free
fl owing unit of being.
Stress becomes the contrast that I accept
and forgive and move through, on my way to total self-awareness
and higher vibrations. It seems my quest in physical form is to
reconnect my body with my body-less spirit, in order to reduce the
illusion of suffering. A reunion of selves reduces my need for external
props and the drama I experience is more joy than suffering.
“Much like Narcissus who was punished by the Goddess
Nemesis for resisting Echo’s call, spirit embedded in matter
as self-meaning body consciousness-resists spirit’s call. In doing
so, embodied spirit makes a primary distinction: recognizing
itself as matter, it becomes entranced, lost in the image of itself
as separate from spirit; an illusion, and a powerful one.
Thus we,
as self, begin the lifelong process of distinguishing one thing from
another, a process from which we derive both joy and suffering.
Narcissus dies at the edge of the river gazing at his own reflection.
Each of us suffers a similar malady as we gaze intently at the
image we call our bodies. Unlike Narcissus, however, we don’t
just lie there, lost in our reflection.
We move on, all the while
feeling the loss as we miss the echo of our spirit calling us.
We live in continual stress arising from the anxiety of the ongoing
battle between matter and spirit (body and soul). Some of you
may object to this idea, claiming through special techniques,
meditation, spiritual practice, or simply being a good person,
we may experience relief from this stress. But like the suffering
of Narcissus, the stress I refer to must continually arise from
spirit and body opposing each other. The battle results in a
continual con fl ict we all feel as our common human suffering.
Ironically,
it is this very condition that makes life worthwhile
and leads to the wonderful drama of our daily reality.
Our human condition depends on the rise of spiritual stress.
And here the mind enters the game. More than any other
causative factor, our thoughts amplify this stress. More important
than any medical care, good mental habits promote relief from
this stress amplifi cation.
By good mental habits I mean simply
thinking positively about every situation we encounter, even
when critical thought is required.”
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