I came across this old riddle again the other day and it spoke to me.

Five frogs are sitting on a log.
Four decide to jump off. How many are left?

Answer: five.  

Why? Because there's a difference between deciding and doing.

This week we are intentionally focusing on one of the most interesting parts of being human – relationships.  From the moment our souls breathe into our magic suits at birth, we start the lifelong journey of interacting with other human beings.  And, from those earliest connections all the way to our current relationships, we have each been learning and growing along the way.

This week we are exploring the teachings of Rev. Edwene Gaines, and she says - “You must assign significance and meaning to your life, giving yourself strength and endurance and bringing joy to your existence on a daily basis.”

On Monday, July 6th, the Dalai Lama will turn 91.  His life story is fascinating, and I encourage you to read about him.  He is the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, teaching mindfulness, joy, compassion and harmony.  He states often that his religion is kindness, and he firmly believes conflicts are solved through dialogue. 

We all have friends we love spending time with. Recently, while talking with one of mine, I found myself saying, “I love who I am when I’m with you.” It wasn't simply that I enjoy her company. It was that being with her brings forth a version of me that feels authentic, joyful, wise, and alive. There is a difference between liking someone and liking who you become in their presence.

A few days ago, I spontaneously decided to explore a trail that led away from the RV campsite we were currently enjoying and so deep into the woods that I could no longer see any other campers.   It was an easy walk for the first thirty minutes, but then I came across a rather large mud patch. Wearing only my tennis shoes, I convinced myself that I could balance on the tiny patches of dried mud to transverse this wet, soggy part of the trail.

Rainbows seem to appear everywhere in June as we celebrate Pride Month. I had been considering what I might write about Pride when I came across a quote from Maya Angelou that immediately captured my attention:

"Try to be a rainbow in someone else's cloud."

Buddhism is one of the religions that influenced Ernest Holmes heavily as he wrote The Science of Mind that we study.  After all, it was Buddha who said – “What we think, we become.”  Sounds like Holmes to me! 

Who are you traveling the road of life with these days?  As many of you know, I just returned from a long period of traveling, and I did so with 7 other people, therefore there were 8 of us on planes, trains, boats, touring vans, and buses.  Eight of us were constantly together trying new foods, wearing interesting sarongs, feeding large bats, walking steep terrain to waterfalls, navigating crowds of people, observing the culture around us, dancing, telling stories, laughing and sharing everything. 

There’s an old joke about a man who finds a magic lamp with a genie inside. He rubs the lamp, the genie appears and grants him three wishes. Sarcastically, the man says, “Make me a cheeseburger.” And with a puff of smoke, the genie turns him into a cheeseburger.

There is a traditional Buddhist saying – “Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional.”   Maybe you are like me and have heard that many times.  But, over the past few weeks, I learned more about that phrase and got to deepen my understanding of it through a personal experience. 

In his book, A Hat Full of Sky, Terry Pratchett wrote - “Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.”

It is amazing just how many choices there are to be made on a Sunday morning, just to single out one day of the week. I can choose to sleep in and cuddle my cat.  I can choose to arrive at the Center early enough to join Sacred Cup.  I can choose to arrive later for just the service, or I can choose to watch it online live or later.   And, that is just Sunday alone! 

By the time this newsletter is distributed, I will be somewhere in Thailand, but I can guarantee that I will be thinking about our upcoming Summer together at CSLTB!  

Diagnosis from a medical standpoint is naming an illness or condition on the basis of testing and symptoms. Prognosis is what is expected as a result of the diagnosis. Medically I seek a cure, a relief of symptoms, by doing physical things such as taking medications, exercising, heating healthy, surgery, etc.

Ah, it’s April – one of my favorite months of the year.  I’ve always liked April because I could see the light at the end of the school year tunnel, my favorite flowers were blooming, I could almost taste the Easter chocolates, spring break was usually part of it, and the days were noticeably growing longer. 

This week in Centers for Spiritual Living, the topic of discussion is about becoming a “possibilitarian”.  Don’t you love that word? 

I was talking with a neighbor friend earlier this week and our conversation turned to the reality that “there is a lot going on in the world.”  She was overwhelmed by how much was going in the “wrong direction” and how helpless she felt to make things better.  It seems I keep having this type of interaction wherever I go, and I am sure you can relate.

The sound of chainsaws woke me up this morning on Monday when I’d hoped to sleep in.  When I went outside to investigate the source, I saw that a neighbor was finally having their vastly overgrown philodendrons brought back to a manageable size. The denuded trunks looked ridiculously small, as though they couldn’t possibly be the source of all that jungle-worthy leafiness.

I hit a rough patch at work late last year.  I found myself feeling overwhelmed by the number of things that were on my to do list versus the number of things I could do in any given day/week.  The math wasn’t adding up, there was just no way I could keep up at the level I expected of myself.