All Saints

There is a church tradition that celebrates all saints on November 1.  Not just the declared saints of a religious organization, but all saints.  So today, if you know of a person who you think is saintly, such as a holy blogger, this is your day to congratulate them.  I know lots of saintly people and if they read this blog, Happy All Saint’s Day to you. Some of the saintliest people are the behind-the-scene persons who make things happen on a regular basis but get little fanfare.  Today is your day especially! 

Halloween

 Halloween was where I would meet neighbors I did not really know or has little to do with.  We went around the neighborhood knocking on doors, with hope.  As a little boy, we lived in an apartment building so there was no way to know if people were home or not.  One apartment door was the same as another.  Along with hope, we had trust in our little known neighbor.  If they gave us anything it was OK to eat it.  Health was ignored.  Sugar highs were part of Halloween.  Nothing was organized and no one was in charge.  The way it is today shows how much society has changed.  Anyway, Happy Halloween, organized or happenstance.  

Life

 As someone said, “Life is lifey.”  It is what it is.  You don’t have to spend a lot of time trying to control everything.  People and places are what they are.  Stuff happens.  It is life.  Morning spiritual practice is to get me ready for life’s life and not the life my ego must have to be happy.  Egos are never happy for very long.  Ego wants “more.”  

The Pleaser

 People pleasing is very stressful.  Worrying about what others think of you takes a lot of energy.  And it can become very lonely, them out there and you on the stage trying to figure out the script.  Then resentments can occur because you read them wrong.  You did not please, or please enough.  There is nothing authentic about yourself.  People drink and drug over this, go to gyms excessively, starve themself, do things with no aptitude for the doing.  And so on.  It is more likely people are not paying all that much attention to you at all.  Well, that can bring a resentment.  So just try to find the real you inside there and become it.  

Sculptor

You are an artist when you do your morning prayer.  I find it is at this time that I am chipping away at my old self, to reveal the person I am meant to be, hidden inside old behavior.  If I think or feel that nothing is going on, I know that my Higher Power, God, is chipping away at any ego build up or life-long Stoney Heart, to bring out the best me God created.  Like a piece of marble, I sit there and do nothing much.  God is at work.  Then I can better live God’s Day.   

Attitude

 You can follow rules, steps and still not change.  What happened?  Well, you might check your attitude in relation to events in your life.  Just because you are living a less crazy life, does not mean anyone around you is going to change.  They are fine being whatever.  Either you change your attitude or you build resentments.  When your life was a mess, you had shame and guilt, and maybe resentments too.  You changed some outside behavior.  But you are no one’s center of their life.  Well,  your ego thinks so, whatever.  Spiritual growth comes with attitude change. Attitude change, replacing resentments opens up new possibilities for you to act.  

The List

 When my “to do” list includes some time for God, I have it backwards.  I have found that I need to get myself right with God first.  Then things tend to fall into place and my “to do” list can change or become “enlightened.  I pray first in the morning and do some spiritual reading, psalms and such.  Otherwise, my list becomes ego driven, too long, too unrealistic, too fear-based.