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| from Jan Phillips
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April 2008
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Greetings!
These are such interesting times. My mom, who is 86, has been attending classes with other seniors who are doing the Eckhart Tolle/Oprah work and reading his book. As a result, two significant things have occurred. One, she realized that holding onto negative feelings and putting them out into the world is damaging to her own well-being and the well-being of others. "All that resentment I had about so-and-so, I'm giving it up," she said. "If I ever start talking about that stuff again, stop me. I'm not going to be negative anymore." Suddenly her health seems to improve. She has more energy. Next thing she calls me to tell me she's writing a new book now-a history about our family reunions. She's inviting everyone to submit stories, so she's on the phone having conversations with relatives all over the country. She's blossoming like the petunias in my windowbox.
The next day, I see the video response from the frightened people who think Oprah is trying to start a new religion (see sidebar link). As soon as one big force takes root and branches out, another one immediately surfaces to attack it. This is the nature of dualism. The old traditions are giving way to the new, and so many of us are afraid to let go. Bishop John Shelby Spong and Marcus Borg have written brilliant books that are deconstructing Christian mythology based on new biblical research and the questions that are emerging are huge. What if there were no real miracles, no virgin birth, no resurrection? What if Jesus was totally human, just like us? What does that thought do to you? Does it cause you fear, anger? Does it empower you in any way? The important thing is to notice your thinking, to see if you can bring the "other" into yourself and see what happens.
The challenge as I see it is for us to create a faith for ourselves that is based on conviction and commitment, a faith that is not based on dogma that can be fought over, but principles that can be lived. Our myths are changing because we are evolving and our consciousness is expanding. Whether we believe that Jesus walked on water or was born of a virgin is not nearly as important as how what we believe informs our actions.
Part of the evolution of humanity is that we are dismantling the boundaries that have kept us separate. We are beginning to see that we are all cells in the Body of God, and all in different stages of awareness. Just as the leaves on a maple tree change color in their own time, so do human beings. I may be yellow, you may be red, my neighbor may be green, but we are all on the same tree. And all we are asked to do is to be compassionate with each other. To respect the opinions of each other, and do our best to be lights in the world.
How do we combat the terrorism and fear that plagues us? We become its exact opposite and enact that wholeheartedly into the world. I'm learning from my mom these days. I'm abandoning negativity. I've started a new book. And I can feel my power and passion growing every day. May it be the same way there...
Love to you all across the miles,
Jan
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If prayer would do it
I'd pray.
If reading esteemed thinkers would do it
I'd be halfway through the Patriarchs.
If discourse would do it
I'd be sitting with His Holiness
every moment he was free.
If contemplation would do it
I'd have translated the Periodic Table
to hermit poems, converting
matter to spirit.
If even fighting would do it
I'd already be a blackbelt.
If anything other than love could do it
I've done it already
and left the hardest for last.
~ Stephen Levine ~
(Breaking the Drought)
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What moral touchstone did our ancestors go by before the arrival of the Hebrew Bible in the 10-6th centuries BCE? |
Workshops and Talks Coming Up...
Sunday, April 20, Denver, CO- Mile Hi Church
Tea Talks - The Art of Original Thinking - Transforming Spiritual Wisdom to Prophetic Vision and Compassionate Action
Saturday, May 17, Atmore, AL - Divining the Body, call Lisa 251-379-0218;
lisa Reynolds <lisareynolds@atmorerealty.com>
Friday, May 23 and Saturday, May 24, Carrolton, GA-Creativity as Sacrament,
call Carol Boyd, 770-832-0688, boydville@bellsouth.net
May 29-30 Reboot Camp for Writers (Muse Lodge-Lake Bonaparte)
call Jan 858-571-1417, jan@janphillips.com, For more info
June 6-8- Facilitator training (Muse Lodge-Lake Bonaparte, NY)
For more info
 Lake Bonaparte
July 12-Cleveland, OH-The Word, the Image, the Story: Tools for Transformation
contact Barb Bemus 216-765-4470, barbbemus@insightwellnes.org
July 13, Bath, OH - Creativity as Sacrament (a joint hands-on art-making workshop with the brilliant sculptor Stacia Davis Moore-see her website
Info on Crown Point
July 27-August 2- Stella Maris Retreat Center, Skaneateles, NY- Creativity as Sacrament-a retreat to totally heal and inspire you in body, mind and spirit
This is a GORGEOUS retreat center on a beautiful lake. You'll LOVE it!
For more info
September 5-6, Springfiled, IL Tools for Transformation: Creativity,Spirituality and Social Change, contact Runkelmj@spdom.org
September 7, Springfield, IL Unity Church-The Word, the Image, the Story: Tools for Transformation; contact Leslie; unityofspringfield@sbcglobal.net
September 19-21, House Springs, MO Rock Haven Ecozoic Center
The Word, the Image, the Story: Tools for Transformation; contact
Jan@rockhavencenter.org; 636-375-3159
September 26-28 Reboot and Shoot- A Photography Workshop at Lake Bonaparte
For more info
October 4-5, Lake Bonaparte, Adirondacks in the Fall:Sketching and Watercolor in your Personal Journal; Taught by my dear friend and creative genius Jane LaFazio
More info
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from the Easter Parade on 5th Avenue, 2008
Sonnets to Orpheus, Part Two, XII
Want the change. Be inspired by the flame
where everything shines as it disappears.
The artist, when sketching, loves nothing so much
as the curve of the body as it turns away.
What locks itself in sameness has congealed.
Is it safer to be gray and numb?
What turns hard becomes rigid
and is easily shattered.
Pour yourself out like a fountain.
Flow into the knowledge that what you are seeking
finishes often at the start, and, with ending, begins.
Every happiness is the child of a separation
it did not think it could survive. And Daphne, becoming
a laurel,
dares you to become the wind.
~ Rainer Maria Rilke ~
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Some quotes for the day...
The real heroism is opening to a reality where all beliefs may be shattered. Richard Tarnas
The kingdom of God is breaking into human history through our actions. Bishop John Shelby Spong
Nothing that is worth knowing can be taught. Oscar Wilde
You shall do as I have done, and greater things still. Jesus
in the struggle of evil and disaster, adoration is the ultimate help. Abbe Pierre
When you make the two into one, then you will enter the kingdom. Jesus, Gospel of Thomas
To say "I will" is to create the future. Anodea Judith, PhD (Waking the Global Heart)
Wherever there is an empty space, there the presence of God is found. Talmud
All theologies are straws His Sun burns to dust;
Knowing takes you to the threshold, but not through the door.
Nothing can teach you if you don't unlearn everything.
How learned I was, before Revelation made me dumb.
Rumi
P.S. If you'd like to forward this Museletter to your friends, there is a
forward email link at the bottom of the page.
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