Hari Om

When we learn to be uncomfortable and not look away, we begin to sew the mending of the wounds.

All In Love,

Michael

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Hari Om

We are all in a lineage. Everyone of us is successive in a line of teachers, and the more we can become aware of how we carry these teachings, the more we will understand how we are teaching.

All In Love,

Michael

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Hari Om

Are you hiding in your worry? Does it seem to fit a rationale of "to love is to worry"? What if we release the compulsion to fear and gently allow love? What then!

All In Love,

Michael

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Hari Om

Sometimes being here when you don't want to be here is EXACTLY why you came here. Let yourself do hard things, uncomfortable things, boring things. You are hiding in there somewhere, so settle in and become curious.

All In Love,

Michael

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Hari Om

Let's talk about receiving and how we can learn to receive when we learn to let go of who we think we are.

All In Love,

Michael

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Hari Om

How did we get from here to there? and How do we return?

All In Love,

Michael

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Hari Om

Finding the connection in our emotional and physical pain is important.

All In Love

Hari Om

by Mary Oliver:

Lead

Here is a story
to break your heart.
Are you willing?
This winter
the loons came to our harbor
and died, one by one,
of nothing we could see.
A friend told me
of one on the shore
that lifted its head and opened
the elegant beak and cried out
in the long, sweet savoring of its life
which, if you have heard it,
you know is a sacred thing,
and for which, if you have not heard it,
you had better hurry to where
they still sing.
And, believe me, tell no one
just where that is.
The next morning
this loon, speckled
and iridescent and with a plan
to fly home
to some hidden lake,
was dead on the shore.
I tell you this
to break your heart,
by which I mean only
that it break open and never close again
to the rest of the world.

Let yourself be fooled, again and again. It is the fool that gets to play the most.

All In Love,

Michael

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Hari Om

From the celebration of life booklet for John Ayers:

The kindly spirit of John Charles Ayers, born 15 April 1959, having given this world all he could, freed itself from the limitations of an earthly life on a beautiful spring day, 25 May 2024, at the merely ripened age of 65.

A man of vision, John was a premier poet, actor, director, composer, musician, master storyteller, teacher, craftsman, artist, and creative genius - he could blend the profound mysticism of Rumi with the regal beauty of Shakespeare, the down-to-earth folksiness of Dolly Parton, and the witty humor of Robin Williams, with a unique manner of expression that was purely John. And he did all this with extraordinary humility and a joyful generosity of spirit. The soul of a true poet does not merely pour its creativity into its work. John’s poetic brilliance and wit expressed itself in every aspect of his life, in every relationship, in his job with communications, even in the way he prepared his down-home gourmet-style meals, the way he dressed, and the delightfully playful way he decorated his home.

In the fall of 1980, still in his youth, John embraced the Teachings and practices of the Bahá’í Faith, which became the central theme of his life. His deeply profound and beautiful contributions to the programs and events of Baha’i community life, wherever he was, enhanced the standards of artistically delightful and spiritually meaningful programs. It was especially the children that would light up when John had prepared the devotions, or was about to sing or tell the stories. One of the great joys of John’s life was fulfilling his obligation to make his pilgrimage to the Holy Land in October/November 1985. There he paid homage at the sacred site holding the physical remains of the Founder of the Bahá’í Faith, Bahá’u’lláh. While In Israel, he was shown great favor by Hand of the Cause of God, `Alí Akbar Furútan, who served as John’s pilgrimage guide, and who frequently and tenderly referred to him as “such a good boy.”

John was an elevator. He uplifted our hearts with the fire of the love of God that he carried in his. In one way or another, all who were touched by John’s magnanimity are now part of his living legacy. The world is so much more because he walked among us, and now feels so much less without his voice offering us one more unexpected jolt of humor, one more inspiring expression of devoted love for God, or one more magical encouragement that called out the strengths and the genius in everyone he met.

Go In Peace, John.

All In Love,

Michael

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Hari Om

This morning I intended to speak about singing a joyful song; a light-hearted opening to our day. However, something snuck up and out of my body relating anxieties and fears to the shared trauma of Covid that we all experienced these past four years. I see a lot of room for healing here, and I see no good reason to wait.

All In Love,

Michael

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