Imagination Gives Us Images to Hold in Our Mind

I want to be more like a flute

It may seem odd to aspire to be more like an inanimate object but let me explain.

I have heard the image of “hollow bone” spoken to illustrate the state of being empty so that one can be filled with Spirit. I’m starting to understand why images work sometimes when words don’t. I can take that image and feel it. It only takes a moment to conjure an image and the ideas behind it can germinate and grow over time.

For me the image of the flute takes the "hollow bone" even further. Like the bone I picture the long empty passage free of the mental clutter, judgement and general stuff that may get in Spirit’s way. But with the flute the breath (Spirit) has to be added to make it sing and when it does sing the music resonates outward touching everything everywhere with it’s music, it’s vibration. Our being can sense vibration long after our conscious mind is recognizing the sounds. There’s a skill to playing it which is built with practice. It can be spiritual practices, it can be a creative practice such as in playing the flute … to really bring the magic it’s probably both.

Flutes are in all kinds of stories. They are kind of magical. I like that too. It inspires my imagination.

Imaging is A Muscle
Sometimes I can hold images in my mind, sometimes I have to rely on the word to hold the image for me. I always have to remember that imaging is a skill, a muscle and will strengthen with use.

Images, Stories & Song
As we contemplate the role of creativity this month I am finding new appreciation in images and stories to connect with greater truths. Images, symbols show up in art, in stories, songs and our dreams. It’s another avenue for Spirit.

The Stories We Sometimes Need
Saturday night I was out enjoying the full moon. As I drove away I decided I needed a song. It was a beautiful full moon so I searched the iPod for something night sky-ish and not finding Van Morrison’s Moondance I settled on Jack Johnson’s “Constellations.”

The lyrics were just perfect and one line stood out among the others

“to find the stories we sometimes need.”

Sometimes we need stories, we need art, we need song. Their vibrations affect us long after we can hear the flute.

Here's a little Jack ... enjoy.

Infinite Imagination Sunday Service

Starting now, I surrender each present moment to my soul's happiness. Spirit guides me every moment, of every day to the 'ride of my life.' I simply ride with pleasure. And So It Is!

Live Stream Starts at 10:30am

Triumph Over Fears

"There is something in you that wants to confront and triumph over your fears and doubts, and master the earthly forces, freeing yourself to be your potential fully expressed."

Fears and doubts truly keep us in bondage and we are designed to live in joyous freedom.

Last night  I let an old fear of spiders enter my consciousness. As I was pulling the sheet back to crawl into bed, I saw a large black and red spider dash between my mattress and the box spring. Of course, I imagined that it was a black widow and thought it unsafe to be such a close target.  I slept in my guest room.

Scores of  thoughts and feelings flooded my mind. I felt cowardly; I am thousands of times bigger than any spider,why couldn't I use my vast knowledge to remove the danger. I felt fear. Should I try to remove it or just let it make a nest in my bed? I felt a little helpless and I felt very silly.

A few months after I first moved to California in the early 90's I had my first real encounter with black widow spiders. I was moving to a different office in the same complex so the men from the Center were moving the office furniture. When they moved my desk, there she sat, a huge black widow spider. I was transfixed. I had never seen one before and this one was at least two inches long. The men came and went. No one took much notice except my Board President, a big man, a former Navy Seal who just casually said, that I shouldn't get too close as she looked like a grandmother spider. I was certain that one of the men would get rid of the spider.

No one moved the spider! 

My interpretation was that nobody cared about my life! Yes, indeed, I was quite dramatic and very short-sighted. remember, I was a dumb Canadian who had had no experience with poisonous spiders except from the movies. Later a friend introduced me to a pest control person who shared a wealth of information about black widow spiders. One thing he told me, is that they are very shy. You usually don't see them because they are in hiding. He also told me that they will only attack if they feel threatened.

Upon reading this quote from our joyous living journal, I realized that that something in me which is all-knowing has never been reactionary, acted out of fear, or side-stepped an issue or a spider. That Presence knows me as a masterful, powerful and loving being. I use the helpful information and I make new choices. Every fear, when looked at in the light of Truth, becomes insignificant.  

In the oneness of all life, I am safe in my world including my home. 

Tonight I will have a talk with that spider. I will let her know that I respect her and she must find another bed to sleep in. I will remind myself that I live in a friendly universe and I will sleep in my own bed. 

This Friday CSLCV presents "Walter Cronkite is Dead"

Walter Cronkite is Dead

Why is the church putting on the play “Walter Cronkite is Dead”? Well, last Friday, Reverend Heather came to see the show. Her planned talk on Sunday was “It’s time for an exorcism.” And in the course of seeing the show, she heard the character Patty do a three-minute monologue on the movie, “The Exorcist,” which she asked me to reprise on Sunday as an introduction to her talk. It’s a very funny monologue and the congregation enjoyed it so much that some of them asked if we could put on the whole show. We applied for and got the rights to it for one night on July 11. My acting partner, Marilyn Wolfe, graciously agreed to come and perform it with me.

I decided to audition for “Walter Cronkite is Dead” at the Broadway Vista Theater because: 1) I’m always looking for a new theater opportunity; 2) I was looking for a new challenge and memorizing more than half of an two-person, 90-minute show seemed like a new level of opportunity; 3) the subject matter is very Science of Mind; 4) it was a paying gig and very few theaters offer actors more than a gas stipend; and 5) God sent me a sign—we already had a trip planned to visit our parents in the Midwest in May and they were having a two-week break in rehearsals over the exact dates I planned to be gone!

There were 34 women who auditioned for the part, which the director culled down to five for each character at callbacks. I was delighted that I was chosen to play Patty—the Southern Conservative. Marilyn Wolfe was selected to play Margaret, the uptight East Coast Liberal.

The play is a long conversation that occurs between these two women when they get stuck sitting next to each other at an airport during a big storm. The discussion between them is volatile. It’s a great opportunity to look at how our personal world-view influences even our smallest social interactions. The biases we carry about how we should live our lives seep into every area of discussion. And as the conversation moves from the best places to travel, to children, to personal hopes and fears, to politics, the audience gets a chance to examine their own beliefs, see which character they identify with, and see the commonalities between them. After all, we ARE all one.

I’m excited to have another opportunity to share “Walter Cronkite is Dead” with our spiritual community. Marilyn and I performed the show for the last month at the Broadway theater in Vista. We worked hard to flesh out all of the nuances of this show and hope that translates to a wonderful audience experience for you as you get to know and, hopefully, understand and appreciate both Patty’s and Margaret’s points of view. I hope you’ll join us this Friday, July 11, at 7 p.m. at the Center for Spiritual Living Capistrano Valley.

~Kimberly Wooldridge