What would you do if you believed anything was possible?

“Someone was asking me some questions the other day-including some of the basics

that maybe we don’t think about enough. I think I wanted, like a day, to think about each one
and come up with the perfect answers: you know- things like what makes you unhappy and
what brings you joy.

Part of the conversation we had was about the choice to be happy or not. We can all
look at just about anything and find either something in it to be unhappy about or something to
be grateful about or something to be joyous about.

I love this time of year because the reminders are all around us. I was at my sisters
the other day and all of her tulips are starting to come up. Simply unfolding, in their slow and
steady way. We can think about all of the laws of nature that have come in to play to make
that happen. Or we can call it a miracle.

Miracle or Law? I don’t know. But I do know that when I start to get all in my head in
the analyzing of it I remind myself that if it wasn’t a little bit miraculous, I could make it.

So this is the last couple of weeks of Lent: this year I am borrowing a new acronym from
my friend Rev. Edward in No Calif. Lent-Living Enthusiastically with New Thinking.

His idea is that rather than giving up things like chocolate for Lent, as many of us grew
up doing, we give up thoughts and ways of being that no longer serve us. I liked this one for
today:

“”Today I give up the idea that my thoughts are different from my words. I give up
the idea that things are independent from my ideas. I embrace the mystery of oneness and
diligently look for the signs of connectedness in everything that appears before me.”

What would you do if you believed that anything was possible?

I would snap my fingers and change the “system” so that no one was ever without
enough to eat again. I don’t know how to do that, but I can hold the vision and I can know that
the miracle is possible.

Why that? A lot of reasons, many of them having to do with numbers and facts about
food production and things that aren’t for this morning. But the biggest reason?

When I embrace the mystery of Oneness, when I truly remember and know that there is
no separation between myself and God and therefor there can be no separation between me

and you, then I know there is no they, there is no you, there is no me and. And when I really
get that, I know that allowing others to be hungry leaves us all hungry. Allowing others to be
poor, or mistreated, or harmed, leaves us all poor and mistreated and harmed.

We just might not see it right away. We might refuse to see it at all.

But here’s the thing I know today: when I refuse to see, when I walk by the hungry man
on the side of the road and I feel nothing, or I show contempt or disrespect. When I refuse to
feel, then I am keeping myself separate. And when I keep myself separate from you, I keep
myself separate from God.

And I no longer want to be separate.

Rumi said: Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers
within yourself that you have built against it.

That seems like a good assignment for this week.”

Namaste

Above is an excerpt from a talk with Reverend Barbara Bue on 3-17-2013.

I can’t believe it’s almost Valentine’s Day! Which, of course, has me thinking about love—
the human kind, the unconditional kind, and the kind we think of as God/Spirit. It seems like
February either leaves people feeling alone and lonely or stressed out about buying the perfect
card for the person they love. And, at least once each February, I always hear the question,
“How can I have more love in my life”?

Which is reasonable. I’ve certainly never known anyone looking for less love in their life.
Although interestingly, people seem to think there is a limited amount of love available and
they might run out if they aren’t careful about how they dole it out.

In reality—well, in Spirit actually, which is like Reality—there are no limits on love except the
ones we place on it. Spirit doesn’t limit love; instead, we decide that it is too risky, and we hold
back love. We decide that we’ve shared enough, and we hold back love. We decide that we’ve
made too many stupid choices with our hearts, and we hold back love.

We talk, in New Thought, about laws: Provable ways that the universe works. One example is
the Law of Attraction, which you’ve heard so much about over the last few years. But there
is another very important law: The Law of Circulation. The Law of Circulation says that what
we give out we receive back. The law itself makes no judgment about it, nor does it choose.
It simply responds to our action and says yes. So if I hold back love, I experience the world
around me also holding back love, as if everyone inhales at the same time and forgets to
exhale.

But if I give out love, then the entire action of Spirit aligns with me and says YES and more love
shows up around me. It may not look exactly as I expect, but if I am open to seeing the love
around me just as it is and just as it is not, then I get to experience it. When I experience it, I
grow from it in my faith that it works. Then, I give out more and I continue to receive more. Of
course, this works for everything I want to expand in my life.

I was told that in Native American tradition, if you give a gift to someone, it becomes
inappropriate for you to ask anything about the gift again, because if you truly give something
away it is no longer yours to be concerned about. When you give it away, you have released
your attachment to how or whether is used by someone else. What if we could create a
practice like that with love? What if we could give it away with no concern for how it is
received or what happens next?

Giving away love could mean giving money to a stranger, spending extra time with a friend in
need, or cooking a meal for someone we care about. Often we do those things and look for a
particular result. We expect a certain behavior, or we have some idea about getting something

back because of this thing we did. How many arguments have been caused in relationships
because our unspoken expectations didn’t get met somehow? Once we understand that Spirit
is Love, therefore we are always surrounded and held in love when we are open to it, we can
let go of our expectations of how any one person will respond or behave. We can know that
somewhere along the way we will have the experience of greater love within our own being.

Then, the only expectation we have is simple: God, let me more freely give love that I may more
fully experience love. No fear, no disappointment, no heartache. Just stretching and leaning in
to the practice of Love.

Now that is a Happy Valentine’s Day.

Rev. Barbara Bue is the Sr. Minister and Community Spiritual Leader of the Creative Center for
Spiritual Living. She can be heard at www.CreativeCSL.org or Sundays at 1113 8th Ave.

Three significant events took place this week that seem to me to speak to something larger.

First, congratulations to the LGBT community in Colorado on the passage of Civil Unions and,
more importantly, the furthering of the idea that all of us are created in the image and likeness
of God ,and therefore ALL people are created equal and endowed with the right to life, liberty
and the pursuit of happiness. We’ve expanded and moved forward in a way that brings hope
and joy to millions of people.

Then, congratulations to the Catholic community on the election of a new pope. Pope Francis
sounds very much like the old pope; most of what I have read so far about him leads me to
believe that he is very conservative and will not be rushing to change anything about Catholic
doctrine. I can see that this brings comfort and peace to millions of people.

And then spring poked her head out this week, bringing rays of warmth, some wet snow
and commercials about yard work. The seeds are out at the hardware store and farmers are
plowing. In the midst of the dichotomy in the world right now, the seesaw back and forth
between the “liberal” and the “conservative,” we are reminded that life simply moves forward
and renews itself every year. Mother Nature doesn’t care one whit about all the things we find
to disagree over; she simply brings warmth and renewal. Her resurrection, every year, brings
comfort and joy and hope and peace to millions of people.

So much seems to divide us these days, and yet we all are so alike in our desires. We are
all looking for love, acceptance, a feeling of security and a little happiness. If only we could
change the dialogue, getting away from the question of how we get there and starting with the
simple question, “What do you really want?” With that question I am sure we can begin by
recognizing our commonality. Then, we can move beyond our fear and find solutions that work
for everyone.

Of course, this only works if everyone is willing to give a little in order to receive a little.

As we approach the Spring Equinox and Easter, the season of renewal and rebirth, I am
reminded again and again of the simple yet profound commandment: “Love thy neighbor.” To
love requires a bit of compassion, and perhaps a dose of non-judgment and a willingness to
look with new eyes. Perhaps it requires a willingness to see through the eyes of God, to whom
we are all simply precious and awesome.

For those moments of fear and those moments we simply don’t understand, I offer the Unity
Prayer of Protection (written by James Dillet Freeman).

The light of God surrounds us;
The love of God enfolds us;

The power of God protects us;
The presence of God watches over us;
Wherever we are, God is.

Amen. May the renewal of spring bring joy and light to your life.

Rev. Barbara Bue is the Sr. Minister of the Creative Center for Spiritual Living. She believes we can
create a world that works for everyone. www.CreativeCSL.org

I am 3,000 miles from Albuquerque, walking alone on a path by the ocean.

The only sound is my footsteps and the waking rainforest around me, and suddenly I can hear my cell phone ringing. Clear as day, the sound that says stop whatever you are doing and rush to answer, rush to make certain that the call isn’t missed. The thing is, my cell phone isn’t here, it is 3,000 away back in a drawer in my home, and this isn’t the first time in my technology free vacation that I’ve heard my phantom cell phone ringing, vibrating, calling my attention to it. I stop and wonder, if my cell phone was actually here, would I answer it? Would I let whatever seemingly pressing need to connect, allow me to miss this sunrise, distracted by things that are far away from what is happening right here and now?

The answer is probably yes, I would answer it, I am trained to answer it and that is why I have left it at home, so that I can’t. But my mind is playing tricks on me, it is insisting that even in this landscape that is so foreign that the familiar beckons, and not just subtly, but with the jarring jingle that is specifically designed to get my attention. And I make the decision every year to take a technology sabbatical, in a distant land, to let my mind play such tricks on me, and to recommit to paying attention to what matters.

What I notice is that in unfamiliar places and situations, my tendency is to connect with what is already known, and my desire to try to find the familiar is so strong that I would end up gravitating to other English speakers, food and drink I’m used to, staying connected back home through technology and to those who can, by the sharing of common experience, make me comfortable in my discomfort. And so, in a conscious effort to hone the life skill of walking in trust into the unknown and unfamiliar, without falling back into old patterns and limitations, I turn it all off.

Without honing this skill of walking in trust, we walk the path of change that is life, often responding to situations in ways that restrict possibilities instead of allowing them to expand, and so we keep creating situations and patterns that are familiar and recognizable instead of opening ourselves to the greater good that is seeking to express itself through us. Thich Nhat Hanh says, “People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.” And, so even though responding to and creating life from our old patterns makes us miserable, these old patterns are often our immediate automatic response, like leaping away from what we are doing to answer the ringing cell phone.

And, even though it seems so desirable to let go of even our familiar suffering, turning our habitual patterns off, it is harder than it seems. What is revealed, though, the power to take back our time, and energy, and find new ways of responding to old situations, is revolutionary. And doing so doesn’t require leaving home, changing jobs, going on retreat, or leaving the world of ordinary life, all it requires is conscious attention to those things that are demanding our attention, and the willingness to examine whether what we are attending to is diminishing us, or expanding us, and then choosing to answer only the call of what is making us come alive.

Reverend Kylie Renner serves as Minister at the Albuquerque Center for Spiritual Living. Learn more about Kylie HERE.