" The way you look at things, is the most powerful force, shaping your life." John O'Donoghue.

 " Keep something beautiful in your heart, to survive difficult times, and enjoy the good times.' J. O'D. 

     " The Kingdom of God, is,  within you" Luke 17:21.

   " Come, Holy Spirit, and transform the hardened and frightened heart, of, this faithless one." (jih)

  " An eternal and universal kingdom, a kingdom of truth and life, a kingdom of holiness and grace, 

                                               a kingdom of peace, justice, and love." The Preface of Mass for C. T. King.

  For all who are conscious, of who they are, and, the who, they are becoming, everything is evolving into something new. This newness offers a great challenge.  At times, there is great fear involved. Especially for those of us who like, desire, control and certitude. That is why the spiritual journey, is a great, challenge. We have to, eventually, and absolutely let go, of all of our old ides.  Yes everything must go. Speaking for myself  this has been a life long process. I wish the process had a "Go Fast, jump" button, so  I would/will be able to skip the steps required for my journey into uncertainty and darkness. Yes !! Light will shine forth from the darkness, but why does the Brightening, take so much time? 

 We do not look into our yesterdays for the answers, knowledge, required to continue the evolution  into living effective reality. Yesterday's answers will not facilitate what is our vocation which is to allow, what, is in our depths, to become reality. We must pray for the grace, the prophetic courage, to become free, so as to live the radical life, that is demanded. There is no, choice , involved.  Each one has been created, fashioned uniquely, to be an essential , "living stone" required for the continuous evolutionary creation of a " Kingdom of peace, justice, and love."

     This is our unique, eternal destiny. Our's, before the dawning of time. The mists of antiquity must be penetrated, so we " will know who we were, before we knew who we are." Our joy, lies in our becoming our authentic self. NOT the false self ,of comfort, certainty, and assuredness. "Faith is doubt grounded in hope".  What comfort I have experienced in the reflection of that truth.This is the Holy Year committed to our supernatural gift of,  hope.  What are the joy-filled beautiful moments that have risen up from your depths ? They are the graced powered memories that will help you, " to survive the difficult times, and enjoy the difficult times", quoting John O'Donoghue.

 A mere glance at our current death dealing reality, where "peace, justice, and love" are just words on a page. Are they not words,  so so often written on the pages of an election stump diatribe, to what effect ? They get no further than the nearest garbage pail.  Sadly, and maddening are the ubiquitous lies, spoken not from a place of truth-filled sincerity. They are responding to the false self. Their actions are the liturgy reserved of  those who worship at the altar of life, and soul annihilation. They bring their desire for"power, property, and prestige" (Rohr), to a place where the only experience is, into journey into the embrace of   life-less-ness,  and  sadly, slow, soul destruction.

   Our eternal calling is to recognize the power that lies within. Within the collective unconscious, there waiting for our, "YES". "YES", to become the vivifying agents, we are called to be. YES, whomever is reading this effort, where has your "YES", lead you to ? Heartache, rejection, alienation, a feeling of failure, then reflect on ,the throne of The Divine, the cross. As king he has to have a crown, right ? How about a crown not fashioned from gold, but a crown, fashioned from merciless thorns ? That is not the end. In every ending there is a beginning. 

        What are the new life enhancing, vivifying  " new beginnings" that have awakened from the tomb-tabernacle of our depths, are  they not now gifts beyond our understanding ?  The King has willingly chosen, experienced death,  as to  bring rays of  light and hope, to the darkness of your Calvary. If so, then The Resurrection Life is the new mysterious life you are participating in your  lenses have experienced serious readjustment . Failure and rejection,  powerlessness are  stepping sones we must tread on,  so as  we can be lead to an ever new awareness of Living Kingdom, we have always  been  destined for.  Reality is so difficult to accept. Our A.A. friends will glad share that acceptance of all realities is the way to, "sobriety, sanity and serenity". The Kingdom within !!!! Failure is an essential experience, are there experiences I can reluctantly grow from ? Love, prayers, and blessings. Great great great grandpa.

"The soul that journeys to God, but does not pass through ,the nothing, will never reach The All."  

" We will never be led into a darkness, that will overwhelm us"

"Come, Holy Spirit transfigure and transform, this, wounded and hardened heart, of Your, beloved" (hij)

" Your longing, desires to take you towards the absolute realization of all the possibilities that sleep in the clay of your heart, it knows your eternal potential, and it will not rest until it is, awakened"J.O'Donoghue  

   " Hold on to your hats.  Tighten, the seat belts." We are going on a trip into, what was unknown to me, until this afternoon. I am to say the least,  I am very apprehensive, if not scared.

     This happened this afternoon as I was surfacing from my afternoon siesta. This habit, has been partly responsible for, the reality of my 86 years of ? I was going to say living, but that would not be the truth. For many, many decades I was  just eking out,  existence. The I began to take the challenge that goes with, " Some people die, without ever, living". Was that going to be me, or is that me today? I have deep gratitude those who have lead me, challenged me, to not only seek the truth, but live this truth: "We are not human beings having a spiritual experience, we are spiritual beings immersed in the human condition." My life, like all of our lives, began in eternity. In the womb of Infinite Love.We are first and foremost eternal, spiritual beings. Who will never really experience death as an end in itself. Death is the beginning of a transformed life, a new life that requires new vision. What is you deepest understanding of what happens when you see yourself, penetrating the veil of death ? Is there unbridled, joy, yes, JOY.

      Well, here goes !!!  The thought came to me that those two feasts we celebrated, All Souls and all Saints are really on feast, celebrated over two days. Is there another example for us to reflect on ? Does it not take us three continuous days of celebration to celebrate,  Paschal Mystery. Celebrating the death of The Historical Jesus, which lead Him to being The Christ Of Faith. In The Risen one, we live and move and have our being"." Awareness leads to realization", is a saying that has been kicking at my door to gain attention. There is,  awareness. That very slow process  which occurs as we come to be awakened, woke, to the" fullness, vitality and Power" inherent in us.  When ALLOWED this empowers to the living life, and, living it to the fullness." These must not be words on a page, but words so blazoned, that our sight must ever embrace their challenge. Conversion is a process. What is the rugged trail, you are trudging?

      "We have eternal potential", John O'Donoghue, has written, and we are to have no rest until it is awakened." To accept the gift of living in ,the non-binary world,  is not forced we are free to accept or reject. Have a nonbinary vision is essential as, we move forward. In the spiritual life there is no either/or. all there is, is, the both/and. Those of us brought up immersed in binary thought, we were seeing the right, and wrong, the good and bad, acceptable, and the unacceptable etc. etc. What hard work goes into embracing the both/and. I was lucky enough to have been taught by my mother, " There is as much bad in the best of us, and as much good in the worst of us, I am as good as you are, as bad as I am." Mothers are always right. Right ? 

      Yes there is a life, our participation in The Ineffable's Unconditioned Love, that is being shared with us, in every now moment.It is a gift that has never been taken back from us. In fact, it can never be lost by us. What happens unfortunately is, we loose our perception of who we really are, the living sacrament of Beauty, Love and truth. The false self will attempt, and persist in the effort, to use every means to have us loose, deny, or live lives that are a lie. Coming to live in the truth is how some see us living our Purgatory in this life. We all are confronted with the lie lies we have bought into. You have to be beautiful, athletic, smart, gifted, etc. according to some accepted standard, that some perfectionist, very religious person thought up so that they or some family member will look perfect ,on the outside. This person, and persons are actually experiencing Hell on this Earth. There are no consuming fires, as there are no consuming fires in the next life. The perfectionist lives in the hell, created by the false self. Living Hell is seeing ourselves  being locked  in the prisons of guilt, fear, and shame, sorrow anger and remorse. 

           One well know it the Purgatory being  experienced by those who work the Twelve Steps, (the essence of spirituality. Rohr)  leading to recovery, and a  life, lived in  the radical freedom, of truth. The egotistical ego has to be faced, and steps taken to say a consistent NO, to its demands. Purgatory is the lived existential acceptance, that, " That, The truth will set you free". Now-a -days  some add, "but first it will tee you off". Vigilance is essential. The false self is, the speaker of the lie is, "cunning, baffling power-full, very patient and insidious". We have within us The Holy Spirit, The Advocate. Why do we need an Advocate, Defense Attorney, because opposing is The Prosecuting Attorney, also known as Satan.

              All deaths, are both, pain-full and transformative. We will do a lot to avoid, duck, deny the existence of death. Where do you see yourself being forced to face, death in its many forms ? What are the fruits that have appeared, or are you in the process of being awakened, to the inherent gifts?

I failed, to reach my goal.  I got side tracked, as usual, some will add. This is not a newly acquired, trait. This character defect is a friend. With friends like this, why would I ever entertain any new manifestations of the insidious false. Now I ask you where did I get lost ? How will The Feasts of All Saints, and all souls be viewed, accepted as one continuous feast ?  Hint, we are loved  and will eternally be loved with a restorative love, NOT to be condemned because of, punitive justice. " I will NOT the death of the sinner rather that he/she be, CONVERTED, and live." "There is always next week." Is not this a kinda flippant remark for  a person, of my age ??? Well  may love, peace, and joy be your, chosen, companions. Gramps.

 " The voyage of discovery, consists not in seeing new landscapes, but having new eyes." M. Proust

" Awakening is not to new facts, but to a new way of seeing, 

                                                 and becoming responsible for what we see." Thomas Merton.

               "Awareness, demands, response" (Anon)

       "Though I walk in the valley of darkness, I fear no evil, for You are with me." Psalm 23.

The above quotes can be used to describe my life's journey, up to this point in time. I hope and pray that complacency does not set in, for one reason or another. Can I  say, "Joe, You have been working for decades now, why don't just put your feet up, and relax. Take it easy, you have earned it." ? Words that sound vey tempting, but are the words of the false self, wanting to lull me into, inaction, and that death dealing, state of, complacency.

       Remember how often our beloved Pope Francis, acting as prophet, challenged us to face our individual, and collective, sin of indifference. Can we honestly say, as we view today's individual, and collective  inhospitable and death dealing actions, that there has been any real compassionate actions directed towards relieving, what ? The gruesome burdens of our victimized, exploited, marginalized, dehumanized sisters, and brothers. "  These, "The least of the brethren" are seen as always been the dwelling place of, Divinity.As it was, so it is, and ever shall be, long after those who read this are, dead.

               PLEASE, do NOT even think or imagine that I have come, to the new insights, shared have somehow come by the much desired, "easier and softer way". The, may I say Golden years, have not in any way been golden, in the accepted sense. I am being awakened to this reality, the true, invaluable  lasting treasures of old age, have come ever so slowly, and not according to my, expectations.  My expectations emerge from my false self, and it's insatiable appetite for "power, property, and prestige" (Rohr)  I have placed this little reminder, in my direct  line of sight, as dishes are wash dishes, " Expectations, are PLANNED, resentments."

      Does it work, to be brutally honest, I may catch myself once, in every 40-50 times. That is on a good day, when I am most, vigilant. WOW, the places, events, and circumstances my expectations have taken me would fill volumes. All of which would challenge today's, sensors. Attempting to life in real reality, not fantasy land, demands such effort and discipline. Being disciplined is an essential part of my story. Misdirected discipline can and does irretractable damage.The death dealing, and the abortion of healthy embryonic life, is the  residue  that lasts a lifetime, especially when it comes to sexual abuse. When you say, " I love you" do not expect a heartfelt response to you expressions,The inability to respond, finds it's origin, in the wound that can never be, healed. We must. always be guided by, reverential light when expressing the desire, to really know,  a person, and their in-depth story. The requirement for this real, healthy encounter requires, NO, demands compassion, not empathy. 

            I am sharing with you what has been gifted from my Paschal Journey, into being, AWOKE, and the process of awakening. I was prepared for this  recent, intensely  challenging journey, when I discovered in my library Keating's book " Reawakening". I remember reading his other book. "Awakening." Being in the process of becoming "Woke" we asked, really challenged, to meet the moment to moment change of vision. This is an evolving process. This challenges us to become more and more conversant with, what, at one point in our lives was viewed as unthinkable, a demand to have a personal response to the systems of inequality, loss, sexuality, environment, and global injustice. 

 We all have to accept, and embrace  the local and cosmic challenges, no other generation  has been forced to personally and globally, such challenges. Be gentle going forward. The solution(s) will not come to consciousness upon demand. The answers lie in our depths.  They lie within the collective unconscious, which we all contribute to.  We must have patience with the birthing process. Birthing can be a very slow and extremely pain-full experience. Can we expect any less, as we participate in the cosmic birthing that is happening through our cooperation and instrumentality ?

      Take heart. Make Psalm 23 your own. Yes !! we will with certainty enter dark valleys, We will see that those dark valleys  were in reality, wombs. Fertile wombs from which a vivifying something, un-definable , responding to the darkness of our existential, as our true, reality, emerges.  Again, slow and pain-full, are the operative words. This is how we  to recognize our true destiny. Sadly it comes with a very slow  birthing. That adage: " No pain, no gain" is truer than fantasy, or fiction. You have a Gospel to write.Wrong, Joe. The new gospel, emerging from the collective unconscious, is being written.  The challenge is to bring it to, consciousness.  Maybe this will be the only spiritual reading, gospel-book, some  people will ever be blessed to read. This is your destiny. It is your, eternal, destiny. Great gramps.