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Waiting for cooler weather.

It has been a hot summer and last winter was a colder one than most. There is no way to get around it. Weather patterns are changing

and it is not for the better. When I walk indoors after being out in the heat even for a minute, I breathe easier. I ask myself how anyone can survive this kind of heat without some kind of relief from it.

I could kiss the person who invented air conditioning. Some of our new technologies are great and some not so great.

I still remember seeing my first television set. It was a black and white picture and the reception was no so great. Now we have high definition flat screen viewing.

There was a time I carried a pager, now I have a cell phone. It used to cost you a mint to make a long distance call and you had to go through an operator to do that.

Let's not forget remotes. There is a remote for practically everything these days and there is my personal favorite...the GPS. Now there is no excuse to get lost unless of course the GPS is not working.

One thing we can't put on a remote is God. You still have to have a lot of one on one. No technology can touch the creator for bringing everything back into clarity and peace with a remote, without a cell phone or a computer.

So while I think thoughts of autumn days with crisp cool nights and colored leaves of gold and red, I will talk with God and say Thank You for all of it...the hot and the cold days...flowers and snow...fireplaces and cool showers, iced tea and hot coffee...blankets and swim suits and most of all for all the love that comes my way every second. I will be patient while waiting for cooler weather and appreciate what is...even if it is a bit hot for me!

Starting the day with the right tools.

Today I am going to suggest to you to try a few things that I do to get the right energy into the day and connect with God in a powerful way.

After all the usual things of feeding Hector, the dog and Miss Fuzz, the cat...I go to my computer to see if anything came in during the night that needs my immediate attention. I go to you tube and find some beautiful music and put it on auto play
so it will play one beautiful piece after another and minimize the window. Beautiful music on demand is a great thing.You never know what the next piece will be and it is always a treat for the ears and the soul. The videos with each piece is usually a meditative sight all by itself.

I always send my thoughts and words of love to God and the universe. I find music and affirmations a beautiful way to start the day.

Gossip...The sharp tongue cuts both ways.

Lets face it. People are always going to talk about us. Gossip is a past time of many people. Just as it brings you discomfort and pain when you know someone has talked about you unkindly, do not do this to others. Refuse to engage if someone else is gossiping. Walk away or change the subject. Do unto others as you would have them do to you is more powerful than you would think.

I teach a spiritual development class every Wednesday night and this month we are concentrating on relationships.

Everything is a relationship of some form or another. We have relationships with our cars, pets, gardens, homes, clothes etc. The list is endless. Of course the most important relationship is the one we have with our God and then ourselves and then and only then everyone else.

Too many of us have this all backwards and that is where the trouble comes in. How can you have a healthy authentic relationship with another person if you do not have one with yourself.

It is important to know who you are and what makes you happy or sad. What do you like or dislike. What kind of food or movies are your preference? Simple questions but the sad truth is we are way too willing to concentrate on the needs of others and put ourselves and God last on the list of priorities.

God should be first because without a relationship with your creator nothing else will work right. But most of you know that already , don't you?

Suicide and the aftermath

I seriously think that unless someone is a suicide survivor that they should not be able to voice their opinion on suicide without a disclaimer stamped on their forehead proclaiming "Caution: This person is not a suicide survivor and therefore should not be opening their uneducated mouth". This may sound a little harsh, but as a suicide survivor, I have come across one too many people who shoot off at the mouth, talking about how suicide is a "selfish act" and whatever other controversial statement that they let flow freely from their mouth. I have even had one person straight out tell me my husband was in hell because of what he had done. Are you kidding me?

Life is an education, giving us lessons everyday. As we learn those lessons it is our job to teach others who have not learned the same things. So when someone tells me my husband is in hell, it is my job to make them understand that when someone makes the choice to take their own life, they are feeling so much inner turmoil that they do not feel there is another choice. Suicide is not a joke, not something someone decides to do because they are feeling selfish one day or because they want to commit a sin. Suicide is the end result of a long unfulfilled journey, a journey where one searches frantically for peace, a peace that is the only thing that will heal the severe troubles of the mind. One day, that journey becomes too much, the troubled mind takes over the right mind and suicide becomes the only option for peace. Is this unforgivable? Who are we, as people who can sleep at night and wake up in the morning feeling good, who are we to judge how one finds peace?

The only sin that comes along with suicide is the people who speak before thinking, who believe that God punishes those who have already spent a lifetime punishing themselves. These are people who are so mentally sick with sadness and depression that they are willing to do anything they possibly can to be free of that, and who the hell are we to judge their way of finding peace.

My husband chose suicide. Do I think he was selfish and horrible to leave his family? No, I think of it this way: If he was hurting so much that just waking up everyday was bringing him mental anguish, if he felt there was no other way out and the only light at the end of the tunnel was through suicide, then I have to be at peace with his decision. If I was to spend my life condemning him and being angry at his "sin" then I would be the selfish one. God is merciful, and those who speak out about suicide in terms of it being a sin should remember that.

I also want anyone out there who is contemplating this act to remember that the people they leave behind will suffer greatly. There will always be the question of what could I have done or not done to prevent this. It also leaves behind a message that this is an option when the going gets too tough. The percentage of suicides in family members goes up when someone sets the tone for the rest of them. This is not the example you want to set.

I have two words for you if you are thinking of this and that is...GET HELP! Do not suffer in silence.

The Anchor

The Anchor
By Rev. Diannia Baty

The storm pounds and rages
and I turn the pages
in my meandering mind
and dare step back in time

I go to moments crystal clear
When I shed so many tears
and my heart ripped a seam
Now all feels like dirty dreams

Backward times when filled with dread
and I wished that I were dead
Conflict announced it was my dark friend
It tried to break me unto the end.

My God did softly come to me
and threw an anchor into my sea
I was told to grab the ring
I was told to dance and sing

I protested that I was not worthy of this
It is the Holy Ones who feel such bliss
I do not deserve this thing called love
or this abundance that you speak of.

At this my mighty God did laugh
and said, "my child you are whole not half"
Use your mind and your beating heart
Know that we have never been apart.

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