Newsletter May 2006 by Cathy Combs

May's Flowering!!!!

May's flowering for sure!!!!!! I love this month. I was born in this month. In the western hemisphere this is a beautiful month, as they all are really in their own way! Mother Nature is in full flower now. Mother Nature's beauty is fully evident. The spring storms are also in full swing. This delicate balance in Nature reminds me of an equally interesting social phenomenon we deal with as human, social beings trying to get along with ourselves and each other. We often confuse honesty with telling the Truth. No matter what situation we're in Truth without kindness is simply cruelty! If we are to live compassionate, empowered lives we must remember our social consciousness! If we want to stop the cycle of violence of every kind we must ask ourselves in each moment what is the impact of my words, my actions on myself and others. We must remember we are the ripple in the stream. We are the change we want to be and want to see in the world! We are amazingly powerful! We literally have an unlimited capacity to heal ourselves and each other if we simply will commit to do that for ourselves and each other. What greater gift can we possibly be? Isn't that the gift you would truly love to be in your world?

In the spirit of our ever-growing social consciousness of our interconnectedness I want to once again mention the Cultural Creatives, which now number in the 50 millions! I've been writing for The Edge magazine since July 2003. The magazine is now known as Edge Life magazine and has devoted its entire 2006 focus to the Cultural Creative movement. You can go to www.edgelife.net to see their work and my article each month. The Cultural Creative movement is a grouping of people that crosses all racial, ethnic, geographic, religious, political and age groups. Some of the key focuses are: green issues (in all ways being responsible for our impact on Mother Earth and each other), living authentic lives, bringing women's issues into the forefront of our public lives, touting the benefits of alternative health care and organic food. I doubt that it's a surprise how important all of these issues are. These issues are signs to me that we have awakened to living beyond fear! We are embracing love of ourselves and each other as the “new” way! These changes couldn't be happening at a more important, needed time.

In this same spirit we are embracing generosity as a spiritual value, as a core value of how to live empowered, optimized lives. In Rev. Edwene Gaines' book, “The Four Spiritual Laws of Prosperity”, she speaks of there being far more than enough food to abundantly feed the whole world. She says, “we just haven't focused yet, nor valued  yet, our ability to mobilize ourselves to get the food where it needs to be before it rots  on the ground.” Putting that idea out there undoubtedly motivates us to move toward  getting the food where it needs to be before it rots. How can we not be motivated to  be that kind of love in action? Doesn't love, generosity and kindness demand that we  get that accomplished? It is reprehensible to me that we pay our farmers subsidies  to plow their crops under rather than sell them or give them to the poor of the world.  Don't we realize that kind of poverty consciousness impoverishes the soul of the  whole world? We must move toward generosity in every conceivable way!

Another  kind of generosity that comes to my awareness is we must move beyond allowing our emotions to blind us to logic and compassion. When we make attributions about  people and situations based on emotion we can be cruel and insensitive beyond our  wildest imagination. We don't need cruelty in this world. We need to work individually  and collectively on healing our woundedness and separations of every kind in order to  be the love in action we were created to be! Another piece of this love and generosity continuum just occurred to me in a very, very personal way. Sometimes I'm more than a little blindsided by how my illusions of separation slap me up side the head and ask me, “Would you please look at this assumption yet again?” Just today I was thinking it's humiliating to ask for help. It's frustrating to need someone or something! Then I remembered a thought from years ago that I wrote about how we see ourselves when we're brought to our knees and how God sees us. Ego tends to see “brought to our knees as humiliated and defeated”. Our God Self sees this attitude of heart and mind as our readiness to receive the Love that those who love us are ever so willing to give if we'd just please let them know we need help! It's humbling rather than humiliating to realize how very much we are loved! I probably don't need to say the world of difference in those attitudes. One speaks to our deeply cherished connectedness and one speaks to our deeply fear-based separateness. I can't help but breathe easier as I open my heart and mind and settle back into how deeply loved I am by the Divine, and all the Divine's representatives here on Earth as all of us! This reality speaks to me of another thing Edwene Gaines mentions in her awesome book. When we are about the task of transforming our lives “we will have to do some serious prayer work in order to get ready to receive how awesomely the Universe wishes to respond to us.”

This is one of those areas for me. I have to release the misconceptions I've unconsciously held about being afraid to be loved. I realize I'm not entirely afraid to be loved but there are moments that are a hindrance to my spiritual growth and I want to release them so I can move into the greatness we are meant to be that Marianne Williamson speaks of in her beautiful prayer, “Our Greatest Fear” from her best-selling book, “A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles”. She says, “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It's our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous. Actually who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” (Harper Collins, Chapter 7, Section 3, 1992).

I feel that this is the consciousness the entire world is waking up to this very day. What a precious and important reality to embrace. That's what all this flowering of Mother Nature's bounty calls me out so passionately to be and do! How about you? What are you called out by beauty to passionately be and do? Let your light shine. Let your presence and essence be felt, seen, and heard. You are so very precious and so very much needed in this precious world of ours!!!!!! Love, and Peace, and Joy to all of you!!!!! Namaste!!!!!!!

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