7/9/17

Detroit can be so interesting. Last week as I drove down Warren, a few blocks from my home, I caught sight of large sculpture pieces sitting on a field. I couldn’t help but stop to view them up close. I met a man, Jay, who was working to clean the field. He told me he was an artist who had created the huge brown sculpture. We talked for a while and I promised to come back after I picked up my meds at CVS. When I came back, he introduced me to the Executive Director of their new art project, Carl Goines. Carl came over and told that they are fixing up the old, school building at the corner of Warren and Mitchel because they want to start a place where artists can work and show off their art. They named their endeavor “555 Nonprofit Gallery and Studio.” www.555arts.org

I got excited with hope after talking to these men. Hope that they have enough funding to continue to improve this property. Already, the field looks great and I can see they have done a lot of work. There are a lot of artist in this neighborhood so I expect they should do well. I hope I hope to help or get involved in some way.

Life size sculpted figures at 555 Arts Same figures behind a sculpted tree.

7/1/17

Awesome is the only word I can use for our meeting upon the mountain this morning. I slowly walked up the different levels of mountain because this always helps clear my mind of thought debris. I wanted a clear mind for God. Well, it got it. As soon as I reached the top, the others met me and we joined hands in a circle as usual. But nothing was as usual. As soon as we enclosed the circle, it lit up as if fire from the sun had come down to create a ring around us. I felt the bright cool flames of light inside as well as outside and all around our circle.

We turned and lifted our arms out and watched the light flash into a million colors as if we each held onto rainbow flecks that burst into the air. The colors grew long tongues that streamed out over the whole world.

At this point, each of us stepped down from the mountain to carry the blazing light to our own countries and nations. I stepped down to the United States. There I was met by priests and monks and nuns and sisters who joined in a new circle of rainbow light. We watched as the light of love poured away and into all the souls within reach.

I saw one person pause for a moment, as if a new thought had entered her mind, then she continued on with her soul afire and new hope. This happened everyplace we made a new bubble circle of light. With each circle, prayerful people, those inclined towards heaven, stepped into the circle to join hands with us to spread the rainbow flecks and light rays even further.

Over and over, the people of America created new circles and every circle reached out to many others, reached into hearts, reached into souls to give a new hope. This nourishment of the soul filled each one of us with greater empathy. When we noticed a person in need of belief, we sent enough hope into the person to lighten their load.

This gift of God held promise for everyone it touched this day. A promise of individual fulfillment in the urge to carry forward. My own troubles fell away like water over a cliff. I too stepped away from my meditation cleared of worry and full of hope and love.

7/5/17

We met at the natural well this morning. I touched the trickling stream of water with my finger tips and felt the rough rock beneath the water. It is summer here too. If the well actually exists, it could be anyplace in the northern woods of a deciduous forest where the water flows downstream. Whether real or imagined, the water has created a natural well where I like to sit and talk to Jesus.

The others joined me at the well this morning. From here we took a few giant steps towards the golden mountain and stood at its summit. Not too high a mountain because its peak has a concave of greenery as if we stood in a hidden Shangri-La.

I thanked the others for allowing me to continue to join with them. I realize I don’t have as great an ability to concentrate as the others. But to their way of thinking, anything that helps spread love in the world is good. I also realize I can’t actually fix many things wrong with the world, but I can carry God’s light-energy to people and perhaps ease their burden or increase their ability to love. And that is what our purpose was this day--to spread love and joy to any who could accept it.

We began in the east because it is such a hot spot right now. I hugged a number of solders in North Korea. One young man was very young and conflicted but determined to follow orders. He understood much because of his old grandmother who remembered from years back and taught him. The others spread out love in their own way. We did this in every nation and country. I would choose an individual to share the light with and surround the person with light while I hugged them.

The angels tell me my main purpose to spread love in America. I worried at their comment to me. If this is true, then I have failed miserably. But they added that many others are meant to spread the spirit and God’s love in America too.  A relief to know that. Regardless, I reached down to a person in Viet Nam and Columbia and Eastern Africa before I stepped into Texas and Wisconsin. In each place I found numerous people to share light-energy with. At one point, a group of us stood in a circle and created a bubble of light to cover a whole city. We did this a number of times. In California, I went to a street person, but the person was high on some drug. This confounds me. I sent him light but didn’t have much hope that it would penetrate. I went to another person sitting with his back to a building and felt more successful.

By now the rosary ended as did I. I noticed as we walked around the earth and gathered in a few hot spots that we are more numerous than before. This is pleasing. The angels on earth today and tomorrow gather with us also which increases our numbers. When I see the people who have very little material goods continue to push forward with tenacity and spirit, I am feel proud of the human race. I know we will continue through the future to become great beings. As bad as we seem to act at times, God foresaw our ability to eventually rise above the fro to become highly moral beings who will spread Jesus and Buddha’s teaching of love through the galaxy.

Our Milky Way Galaxy

7/29/17

I met with Jesus this morning beneath a universe of stars and asked for his help during meditation. I feel that I am not doing enough and want to do better. His smile assured me that I am well. I felt like a child who needs approval of a parent. There is nothing wrong in this. It would be a better world if more of us looked up to someone of greater wisdom.

So this morning after turning on the rosary, I tried to shuffle the many thoughts away by imagining them as hunks of ice falling off me like from a high cliff. It seemed to work because when I next looked forward I saw our golden mountain blazing with sunlight. It seemed to be floating against the sky like a mirage.  This mountain we gather upon is both a symbol of God on earth and a reality to those of us who gather together at its peak.

I reached over, stretched out my arm, and sunk my hand into the side of the golden mountain. It felt as if I were reaching through a cloud of gold atoms. I held a large quantity of this golden God stuff in my hand for a long moment, amazed at its wonder. Then I centered it in my chest as a lantern. I watched as the others did the same. Now we had only to carry our golden lantern of God energy down the mountain to share with other people.  

I went to middle Michigan this morning, to farm country, to small towns and villages and townships to deliver energy from God’s mountain. People already know how to love. Everyone knows how to love their families and friends and people in church or other gatherings. But this extra bundle of God energy can give people so much love in excess that they can also embrace the ‘other.’ Those people they don’t see often enough to actually get to know on a personal level. God’s love can help erase the fear we humans often have for people unknown.

When we stretch love and caring further out into the world we begin to realize that each person has value, at least as much value as their character allows. Like the child who trespassed alone through sand and sea to get to America with the belief that this land would be good. Like the women who bends over a patch of lettuce or berries every day under a hot sun so we can have fresh produce. Like the family who finally passes all the tests and arrives in America with the hope of being safe and prosperous and contributing to their new country.

God’s love is meant to counteract the bad news we hear every day about people who are different. To allow room in our hearts for their well-being. To understand their struggle and realize their needs are the same as our own needs no matter if they dress different. A women wears a scarf over her hair perhaps as a symbol of their faith, just as nuns of old wore habits or monks wore robes. Just as we Christians wear a cross around our necks as a symbol of our love for Jesus. As the world turns beneath God’s gaze our symbols can reaffirm that most of us are in this same struggle for good and peace.  

Wisdom can only come after we become familiar with people with different views. I shudder at the thought, but I have a few family members who like Trump. I know people at work who also like our Tweeting president, a president I prefer to label, Orange Hitler.  I go to church with African Americans and later sit and visit with some I consider friends. My doctor wears a scarf over her hair because she is a Muslim. My neighbors are a mixture of white and black, adults and children, artists and eccentrics with probably a few crazies in the mix. I am proud to live in this America. I deeply pray this nation stays free.

7/29/17-Travel with Jesus

While I was trying to paint a strange looking person I met on another world, I found it hard to remember exactly what she looked like. All I could remember was that she was female, extremely tall, with a ultra-skinny arms and legs.  As I sat pondering my painting, this female spoke to me and said, “You can come back for another visit.”

I was astonished that she could speak to me or even knew that I was thinking about her.

Later, I asked Jesus about her speaking to me. He told me, “The universe is open for those who know how to tune in to it.”

His answer was interesting and made a lot of sense to me because I have realized this same idea before. The oneness of the universe is how we can travel to so many different planets. Everything is one under God, therefore, in God’s mind, it is all within reach. And ours too, if we join with God. Amazing concept.  

Well, we did go back for a second visit this evening. The neighborhood behind me was quiet and I put some water in my broken pond so I could hear the water trickle over the rocks while I walked with Jesus. We called to other people who might want to join us.  My usual friends always want to travel with Jesus and I plus a few new people joined us until we had quite a group. We first followed the sky tunnel, which is not a tunnel but more like a bridge, and I showed the new guests the plants growing inside and the large windows, but mostly how to rub their palm over the smooth knotted wood. In some places the wood seemed to be actually braided.

We followed Jesus to the top and there we stood. I realized once again that I can hardly describe what we see at the top. I am not sure if it is a billowing curtain or the universe folded and moving around us. Certainly, I could never paint such a scene. We followed Jesus through the swaying curtain and stepped onto green grass beneath a peacock blue sky with fluffy white clouds.

The next thing we saw were a lot of flowers arranged in large groups. Each group had different colors of flowers. When we walked towards the flower group of white and blue petals with green leaves and stems, the whole group of flowers lifted up into the air and moved away from our spirit bodies. I laughed. “Now I remember the most amazing part of this planet.”

Each of us remembered this world now. Where else would you find flying flowers? Well, it is true that some flower seeds ride the winds on earth, but they don’t fly. Although, to be accurate, these flowers didn’t fly so much as lift up two or three feet and move over to another patch of land. Still, it was enchanting.

Then the tall female we had met before walked out of a wooded forest to greet us. I told her how delighted we were with the flying flowers. She explained that there is less gravity on her world and that the trees could also walk a short distance away.

We all agreed this was interesting because our own flowers and trees can’t move.

She told us that she was familiar with our world and she had been amazed that Earth’s flowers were not ambulatory.

“Earth flowers can only move by spreading out roots or through reproduction,” I added, “or by persuading us humans to move them.” We all laughed.

I asked her if I could look at her closely. I want to remember what you look like so I can include an image of you in one of my paintings. She smiled and as she did I looked at her face. She has big beautiful eyes with long lashes, two openings instead of a nose and a flat, lipless mouth. Her face was oblong as was her body, which was composed of two main parts with a narrow waist in between. Her clothing had a diagonal pattern that I won’t try to reproduce in paint. I am not that skillful. Her arms were truly stick thin but her hands were earth normal. By now I was losing focus. I asked the other people with us if they could see well enough. They said yes but agreed to leave with me. We nodded our good-bye to this tall beautiful being and stepped back to our individual homes. I looked at my small pond with the ivy growing inside because I hardly use it. The ivy is gloriously green atop the water. The small details are so wonderful here on earth if we take the time to notice. Other planets are wonderful as well, but never seem quite as beautiful as our own earth. I guess this is natural. We each love what we grew into.