Changes and Choices

Greetings in Gratitude!

While the Earth continues to spin on its axis, shifting gradually as it relieves its internal pressure, the human condition reveals itself also, ever changing, evolving, shifting.

Consciousness itself, in natural evolution, has expanded beyond its own understanding. I read the other day a thought I had just shared with a friend: We've created a technology (the internet) which no one understands. And my thought is, we cannot understand anything that expands upon itself because the new dimensions of it spin out beyond our comprehension. We've come to a place in our own creation where the brain has created the original, but the mind has taken that creation to levels beyond recognition. We can grasp that segment that applies to us directly, but beyond that...Creation has taken over.

On the one hand I am comforted by this because I have learned to trust mind over logic. On the other hand, it takes my breath away and I feel a bit out of control. Ah, the human conundrum.

Several dear people in my world are exploring extreme change in their lives. My son, on the eve of his daughter having her ears pierced, holds and hugs her, and laments the loss of his little girl. We all grow up; some of us with enthusiasm and others with resistance, and often in a mix of both. Choosing when to retire, sell a home, change employment, etc., feels more complex at this stage in our evolution. So much energy to manage, so many options available, and so much advice from those who are wrestling with their own internal change. In this regard, let's remember the Universal rule: People only challenge us when our own conviction is wavering. And the remedy is to breathe, balance and breathe again to reveal our own Wisdom.

The Wisdom is always there. As I explored in a previous post, it is all within us, therefore no thing is greater than we are. All that we are creating is already known. The trick is to surrender to the level where it can be revealed. Oh, such Cosmic Gymnastics!

We are learning to move more easily with change. Breath is our friend in this endeavor, and as you know, I strongly advise it. In breath we are at One with our Wisdom. And with increasing trust in this Wisdom, we roll with the tides of change.

In addition to breathing and re-mineralized water (I filter tap water & now add a touch of pure sea salt), a daily regimen of music, physical activity and grounding meditation supports and balances our bodies. Balance. The key to a life of ease.

Until next time, Breathing with you,

I AM Phyllis, Still Becoming

Celebrations of Self

Greetings in Gratitude!

Birthdays are on my mind today so that is where I will start; my aunt, 87 yesterday; my brother, 65 today; my granddaughter, 10 on Sunday. And on the 24th, my father and my mother's mother, then on the 31st, my father's mother, all having passed on so many years ago. So many people to celebrate in May, and so many others who come to mind, celebrated by all of you.

Birthdays mark time. And time is a human creation. So birthdays are self-designed celebrations of ourselves. Whoa! That sounded judgmental, and yet I meant it to sound like:

WOW, yes, let's celebrate ourselves.

I woke thinking about Deon, a long-time friend who knew how to celebrate herself. I was missing her this morning, so I know she was part of one complicated dream I had last night.

Deon would throw a party for her own birthday, and openly welcomed the gifts we showered upon her. And she would buy herself something special to mark the day. As part of the celebration, she would also start a story circle to relate how we knew and admired her. She was outrageous and such a teacher of being authentic to what she needed - and deserved.

Something unique within prompted her to this loveliness, because her childhood only taught her that she was less than others.

At what point do we stop celebrating who we are? Children know how to unabashedly accept our love and appreciation. Andrea, 10 on Sunday, will happily accept our loving attention and gifts. Life is "awesome" for her. She moves with the energy of the day and fairly bounces with joy, accepting all that is offered to honor her being. We taught her from her first breath to see herself as strong, smart and beautiful.

Many of us learn to be self-deprecating. We shy away from celebrations that place us in the spotlight. We press ourselves to achieve more, provide more evidence that our lives count for something. We deny accolades unless we feel we have worked hard enough to earn them.

Yet, we are these awesome creations, unique, one-of-a-kind beings in all the Cosmos. We have not a thing to prove. We are, therefore we count - for more than we can imagine.

A friend, enjoying a surge of new Spirit, is exploring changing her name. She is acknowledging a new dimension of herself and seeking a way to celebrate this emerging self. Hurrah!

What if every day were spent seeing ourselves in the light from God's eyes? What if we acted as if we were special each and every day. And that energy built within us and became a light that shown outwardly to illuminate each other person. Each person seen in their own perfection.

And celebrated.

Until next time, Breathing with you,

I AM Phyllis, Still Becoming

Pride, Prejudice and Power

Greetings in Gratitude!

A generous client and friend has given permission to share with all of you the essence of her recent session, and I paraphrase here this Wisdom:

Using the term, "colossus," her System described the things in life that appear so huge as to be unimaginably difficult to understand, much less resolve. And It went on to say that, approaching the colossus as a thing you have created, you know the same wisdom that went into creating it can be applied to resolve it.

All things are created by us. Therefore, nothing is foreign to us or beyond our ability to solve.

Our Wisdom, a consciousness working through us to produce our lives in total, is inherently available to bring a remedy to any thing. Her Wisdom referred to the loving part of self that can trust this and give it permission to dissolve the appearance of conflict in any situation.

Think about this in terms of a physical situation we can understand in this three-dimensional world: System says, "A mason comes to a job with mortar, bricks and a trowel. He lays the bricks, then stands back to view his work. He sees that his first measurement was off about an inch. He dismantles the wall and recreates it to suit his sense of balance and a good job done."

We are building our lives every day. We may be uncomfortable accepting that some of the things we create become troublesome, but still we have created them. We cannot truthfully say, "Ah, I love the children I have created," then say, "But this crumby financial situation wasn't created by me, it just happened to me."

We might appreciate that we have created great friends. But we contradict ourselves if we then deny people in our lives who seem to have inserted themselves against our will. Uh-oh. No.

Every relationship is created by us. The mason may not like his first wall, but he learns and grows from the experience (notice I did not say, "mistake,") and so the first wall is a perfect creation, just as much as the wall he finishes with flair and pride.

This reminds me of some of the very first Wisdom shared with me and my colleague, Michael, at Perkins Restaurant back in 1983. When I resisted the thought of giving up control, one of the Masters said, "To gain control, you must give it up." Then, when I said I could not - I had children to raise and a life to manage; I had responsibilities that overwhelmed me - they said, "Having responsibility, you naturally have the power."

Well, now offered in a new context, I am moved again with the Truth, the inspired insight that alters the consciousness at a cellular level.

We are equal to any thing, because we create every thing.

Until next time,

I AM Phyllis, Still Becoming

Gifts that Multiply

Greetings in Gratitude!

On this Mother's Day Sunday, I celebrate all those of you who share this title and these gifts. And I offer a short post today as I am on the way to Duluth in about an hour. Mom is going with me for the first time, and I am grateful for that, too. We both like road trips, so it must be one of those lovely things she has passed on to me.

Last week, on Tuesday, I received an abundant bouquet of lilies from a lovely friend and her equally lovely son. They came through 1-800-Flowers in the long box with clear instructions for care of the stems. I took them from the box, removed the bands holding them in place, stripped the lower greenery and cut the stems, and arranged them in the graceful rose-colored vase also provided. On the 4th day, or thereabouts, I was to change the water and add another packet of flower fresh to keep them blooming.

Yesterday I took them from the vase, cleaned it, prepared the fresh water with the solution, washed the stems, and as I replaced them in the vase a small packet suddenly appeared against the flower stems, as if from nowhere. The clear plastic packet was flat, and held what appeared to be a lot pearls. I opened it to discover a faux pearl expandable bracelet, over an inch in width. It's very pretty. I'll wear it today.

Apparently, I needed the gift to multiply and expand through the week, as it has. Thank you, Linda and Leif. Thank you, my All That Is.

Breathe and have yourselves a lovely day, Until next time,

IAM Phyllis, Still Becoming

Losses and Revelations

Greetings in Gratitude!

Happy Cinco de Mayo! But don't get me started on the Hispanic/immigration issue. If I decide I have something to say about that, I'll write to my local paper.

Today I am celebrating the lives of many loved ones who have left their human suits behind to join the legions of survivors we like to call spirits.

As we left the funeral service for my oldest cousin, Dick Andrus, last night, I looked up to see a gorgeous double rainbow radiating against a very black sky. As I shouted back to those standing near the building, "A rainbow for Dick!", I heard clearly, "No, a rainbow from Dick." Very like him to give us something of beauty following a lovely service that honored him with such heartfelt energy; just as he left us rich memories of his music and that twinkle in his eye that told a person he truly was glad to see you.

The synchronicity of a service for my cousin Dick, at the same time as we had services for my former husband, Dick, and my uncle, Nick, 2 years ago, resonates as an exclamation point in this life. Seems they all decided to begin a new stage of life just as we are celebrating our new, pretty, green Spring. And they all coordinated their physical exits in some mystical synchronicity that we could not miss. Congratulations, guys, and I love you all.

Another note that resonated for me last week: A client gave me permission to relate a piece from his reading. When he asked why he has few friends he really wants to cultivate, he was told that he chooses only those who carry a similar "cosmic weight." Something to think about as we assess our relationships. And a reason to drop any self-consciousness.

As I prepare for the church service in Duluth on Sunday, I'm considering the message to bring to our church community and I think it is about Becoming. We are exploring so many unique ways of Becoming. Seems a huge landscape, and has much Wisdom to reveal. Mother is going with me; a first for us in the 20+ years I've been serving my Duluth church. And it's Mother's Day. Another perfect resonance.

We walk around in these human suits for whatever time we design in this Cosmic Web. We choose those with whom we will walk the design, some with "cosmic weight," some without, but all still important players in our design. We stay the course and Become, all the better because we share the course with them. And we say goodbye, temporarily. Or we change the character of the relationship as they release their physical envelope. But they are still in the loop of the human consciousness, so they are still human in all the ways that count.

I often hear the lovely voice of the female character who loves Ben Hur in the movie of that name, relating the message she has heard from Jesus, "We are more than we know." Indeed.

Until next time, Breathing with you,

I AM Phyllis, Still Becoming

Two-Part Harmony

Greetings in Gratitude!

This post is a combination message, and I'll get right down to follow-up on an earlier post reviewing my journey about the counseling work that I have enjoyed with clients for so many years.

1.) I've come to this melding of thought about my belief in what is authentic in my sessions:

If what I do with a client in any way slows their surrender, then I am compromising both my integrity and that of the client.

Over the years, offering counsel regarding anything of the future or of the free will choices a client might make, I was enabling a client to delay surrendering. It might have satisfied my ego and theirs, temporarily, but it delayed an attitude of surrender. And surrender is the only way we are going to achieve a life of ease and peace. Always, whatever the question, surrender is the Wisdom offered.

Offering what I now call "psychic band aids," was a part of our karmic journey, and I can only surrender my part in this as a process of our mutual growth. Psychic band aids always fall off and leave us hungering for yet more to soothe a wound. On the other hand, in this New Earth, we are counseled to surrender. Surrender, achieved with breath, opens the doorway into our Wisdom. And our Wisdom unfailingly reveals anything we need to achieve peace and ease.

2.) I'm seeing in my apartment increasingly concrete evidence of those who are here to help us; those we have for so long referred to as Spirit.

For a couple of years now, my friends (in Spirit) have altered physical things to get my attention; physically and determinedly turning my heavy lace curtains outward many times to remind me to surrender; rattling (nonexistent) items in my stainless steel kitchen sink to introduce their presence for one reason or another. It's like me to become involved in my life and sometimes to forget to initiate a conversation with them. When I do, of course, I am delighted to find them immediately available.

These days I am seeing their feet crossing the corner of my living room. Over the years, perhaps like you, I've seen movement; at my desk, as I am waking, in moments of reverie.

But these days their physical presence tweaks my awareness to ask myself a question.

In what belief-scape am I living? My sis, Judith, visiting this week, also relates her revelations regarding a belief-scape that astonishes and inspires. And friend Nancy, with her own hologram revelations, also explores and reports amazing shifts in her Cosmic dynamic (my words, not theirs).

Do I unconsciously choose a belief-scape in which I feel most comfortable? I think so. And do I, by expanding my consciousness, also expand my field of vision to reveal increasingly concrete images of those who have always occupied my space? I believe so. And I know without hesitation that the space I occupy is also occupied by all of those who love and help me. As our friend Barbara, who left her human suit behind a few years ago, advised us: "Please stop saying we are 'on the other side.' We are right here."

Yet I do not see them all the time, and there's a good reason for that. I asked my angels years ago why I could not see them all the time, and they said, "Because you would never go to work."

I celebrate these relationships, and I count on them as part of my essential community. I've learned to trust this expanding belief-scape over the years. And I've grown more comfortable initiating conversation with all of them. They intimidated me at first. But as Jesus said to me in back in '83, "Stand up. Look me in the eye. How will you know me on your knees?"

What belief-scape is in store for me or for you? It will undoubtedly be different for each of us.

As System we are entitled to take the journey that we prefer and that serves us best in our unique Cosmic role. I welcome your own revelations, which I believe reveal yet more for each other explorer in this rapidly expanding consciousness.

Breathing with you until next time,

I AM, Phyllis Still Becoming

"Hold My Hand"

Greetings in Gratitude!

Over the years I have spent a good deal of time contemplating where and how each of us is comforted; comforted by a force outside of family and friends and caring professionals. Not to discount the folks we need so much all along the rocky path of life. We are not intended to walk this path alone. If we were, we would not be born into relationships. They can and do comfort us. We can and do comfort them. We could not measure this essential human comfort.

Across the planet, people are born with a hunger for some relationship beyond human contact. Whatever the culture, a deep, abiding belief in something beyond ourselves is born within us.

This hunger expresses from ego. And System identifies ego as our identity, unique in the Cosmos. The mystery of this identity fascinates me, and I know I will not live long enough to comprehend it. The journey to know as much about it as possible is in my passion and what drives my life path. And with each person I meet, again I wonder at the Source they lean into.

An ecumenical person, I have counseled Buddhists, Unitarians, Spiritualists, Jewish folks and Christians of every description. I was raised Lutheran - Missouri Synod no less - and practiced Buddhism for 10 years. I happily serve, part-time for about 25 years, my own Lake Superior Interfaith Community Church in Duluth. And for the past year have attended a Unitarian Universalist church with Mom, my daughter-in-love and grandchildren.

I've thought over the years that the identity of a deity is not explained by the church a person attends. System has reported that there are as many faiths as there are people. Wow, just think of all the churches we'd need - and how lonely we'd be attending without community.

And if you do choose to attend a church, still, within self is a knowing that, after all is said and done, YOU are right. Zealots are born of this belief. Ouch. If you've known one (or if you are one) you know how painful that can be.

At the Center of Self / Ego, a prescription for the faith we follow must exist. And this Known Self must be a perfect reflection of the deity we choose. Even atheists believe in something, or they would have nothing to talk about.

If, as System tells us, we are not flawed or able to choose incorrectly, then each deity we choose is true and absolute. Or, the deity IS the individual. Oh, heresy! Oh, curiosity.

Having taken this journey with you, I feel as if I know a little more than I did when I got up.

One thing I know today that has not changed: We are accompanied on this journey by a great number of folks who have gone on before us and probably know all the answers to these questions. And they encourage us to ask us for help. Every day, and every moment of every day, ask. My friend, Christ, tells me, "Hold my hand." And I do, and I am grateful. The community we need is as close a breath. Your friends in Spirit and the deity you choose will never fail you.

Breathing with you until next time,

I AM Phyllis, Still Becoming