Joanne

[vimeo id="22439234" width="600" height="350"]For the longest time I couldn't utter the word God, even silently. Not because I thought God was dead as some headlines clamored nor because God had failed to live up to false hopes or expectations that I wrongly conceived. No, it was because my sense of God was much bigger, much grander than the bearded, throne occupying figure that my early religious upbringing had left me imaging. This characterization of God – a being having a human-like identity can lead one down a slippery slope. It’s a natural progression to go from a child offering prayers to a ‘heavenly Father’ to an adult beseeching God for special interventions. Sadly, the oversimplification of a more complex reality leaves many blaming God when tragedy strikes and the world goes to hell, leading far too many away from the love [...]

This is Independence Day Weekend – the time when many of us pause from our all too busy lives to celebrate the nation’s independence and the freedom to exercise free will that it affords. In addition to the traditional markers – family picnics, parades, fireworks, weekends away at the beach, mountains or similarly restful and fun filled getaways, it is a time to ponder what freedom and free will mean in our lives. During my three decades in social welfare, half of which I spent working on behalf of homeless people, I became acutely aware of how high on a pedestal we have installed FREEDOM in our culture and national psyche. In the case of those homeless persons suffering serious mental illness, we have become acculturated to their right to choose outdoor living to more normalized living indoors. I don’t advocate [...]

Change – it’s inevitable! We are reminded by Eckhart Tolle that “Some changes look negative on the surface but you will soon realize that space is being created in you life for something new to emerge.” I recognize this as truth, real wisdom, but I must admit there have been times when I was not thrilled with the changes that were unfolding. And I suspect that the same goes for almost everyone. It goes without saying that as life unfolds, change is ever present. Day changes to night. Spring ends and summer begins. School semesters start and wind down. We begin jobs and leave them; launch careers and then change them. We start relationships and some wane over time. Each of us ages, slowly at first or so it seems, but then years accumulate into decades and decades mount into lifetimes. [...]

[youtube id="IdcN4BRpmGI" width="600" height="350"] I guess it is no surprise given my age that so many people I know are caring for aging parents and other loved ones who are in the process of moving on – some might say getting ready to ‘cross over’ or ‘go home’. As many of us know this is often an incredibly challenging and painful time as we ready for the impending loss. For those of us who believe in reincarnation and past lives the emotion of imminent loss is partially mitigated by the knowledge that we will be reunited with loved ones and in some cases to start all over again in a future life. For those who don’t accept the notion of multiple lives or life after death, preparing for the loss of a loved one can be excruciating. Many are familiar with [...]

Someone recently asked "what does spring mean to you"; after a brief pause I answered it is the cycle of rebirth. And then I realized, perhaps because I am currently rereading Dr. Michael Newton's Journey of Souls, that the seasons mirror our own cycle of rebirth through time eternal. The nature lovers and gardeners amongst us are acutely aware of the annual cycle of planning, gestation, germination, birth, life, death, rejuvenation and fortification that our gardens experience. In general the process is quite similar to the one that frames our succession of lives. Here’s how. Most of the readers of this blog understand that at the very core each of us is energy - energy that transmutes when the body dies. This energy has consciousness. In fact, some say this energy is consciousness! Upon death our individual energy body is released [...]

Each of us is blessed with many lives affording many lessons. Do you wonder about the past lives that you have lived? And if so, do you wonder whether your past is oozing into the present? From the perspective of those of us who believe in reincarnation and/or who have re-experienced past lives or journeyed to the life between lives, the answer is a simple and emphatic YES. For us, our soul lineage is as important as our family heritage and goes a lot further to explain our current views and perspectives not to mention our decisions, behavior and relationships. Comprehending that we are eternal beings journeying through successive lives on earth not only gives our current lives context but well, it’s like the emotional experience of watching fireworks – exciting, stimulating, electrifying, marvelous, impressive, fantastic and beautiful all rolled into [...]

My window into eternity opened recently amidst a fairly typical and common experience and I was overcome with tears of joy. I had the pleasure of reuniting with a colleague who had become a friend. Time, distance, career change and an ocean had intervened to separate us. On the surface it would seem to most that this was an ordinary event, hardly of any import to anyone other than two old pals. But what started out as ordinary was something extraordinary . . . my window into eternity opened. Our reunion began as many do with updates, status reports and life progress notes. We shared stories about our respective spouses and families. We offered chronologies that detailed milestones and significant events that had occurred during the ensuing years – highs and lows, successes and set-backs, losses and lessons. And just like [...]

You Are A Soul Having A Human Experience Perhaps you have heard and agree that you are a soul having a human experience and wondered about the implications. If you accept that you are a soul having a human experience, you are more able to see the brilliance behind how the divine plan is unfolding in your life. The simplest way to understand this is to view each of your successive lives as the latest chapter in your eternal life. A big idea I know, but one that is nonetheless true. Here’s an even bigger one, your soul has developed the life plan that you are now living! That’s right, you are the architect of your life plan. We have learned from the many thousands who have experienced life between lives regression that life is far from random although not devoid [...]

Imagine the Infinite Can you imagine the Infinite? Do you grapple with the idea of ‘life eternal’?  Do you understand your place in the cosmic ocean? These are big questions for certain – but questions which many ponder? For me, these questions are enlivened by the glorious photos, made possible by the Hubble and other space telescopes, that we are now privileged to enjoy. These engineering marvels have made it possible for us to peer into time and space and as we do to ponder the intelligence that is embedded within everything in the grand universe wherein we reside. What do you imagine when you peer into the heavens looking onto the billions of galaxies that swirl about endlessly? Can you imagine the Infinite? Do you understand that you are an integral part of its composition? In The Afterlife of Billy [...]

Stroke of Insight By now you may have already seen Dr Jill Bolte Taylor - on TED, You Tube (below), Oprah or in some other thought forum or read her provocative book "My Stroke of Insight". For those who may not, I offer a little background.  She  is a brain scientist who was working at the Harvard Brain Bank when she had a massive stroke and watched 'from the inside out' as her brain functions shut down one by one --  motion, speech, memory, self-awareness. With the help of her mother, she spent the next eight years recovering her ability to think, walk and talk! But her recovery is not what makes her story so provocative. It was what she gained in the process of losing her left brain functioning. Surprised to find that she was alive, she reported, " I [...]