You CAN Paint it Black…or White! (Or Fuchsia!!)

Greetings my gentle readers to another week and another installment of the “Be Yourself, Often” blog at www.joelwlamoure.com . This represents perhaps a checkpoint in the week when we can step back and reflect of the moments and sands of time that have traversed the hourglass and gave themselves to help us reach the point and state that we are today. And that the moment and present that is the now can be translated into the dreams of tomorrow.

There are so many potential subjects that can be addressed from a spiritual nature filtering through the concepts and parameters of H.O.P.E., which we are striving towards.  This is a worthy spiritual agenda that advances our holistic health and ways that we can capture and encapsulate it, outcome driven objectives, personalized perspective and the end goals and challenges associated with empowerment.

If we agree that we are spiritual beings having a human existence and proceeding through the school of life, with all of its classes, challenges, dynamics and trials/ tribulations then we can consider each step begets the next. Ther are the challenges and roadblocks that exist and demonstrate themselves in the course of our life and how we perceive and deal with these define outcomes. Certainly, there are freak accidents and events that we cannot even begin to conceptualize as to the why of them occurring. Far too often, bad things happen to good people and where we translate the learnings defines our “mark” in this particular class.

Do we focus on the learnings in the moment or dream towards the future? Remain firmly rooted in the past perhaps? There are certainly pros and cons to all of these and perhaps as opposed to having to pick one, in this class of life perhaps we may be able to approach it more as a smorgasbord or buffet of life. There are the various courses that we are fully able to mix and mingle and intersperse with other components. Nothing saying that we cannot take the past learnings and nostalgia of times go by, be aware of those moments and enjoy a quiet reflective moment and a tranquil smile. Knowing that YOU have been given that gift to experience such a wonderful thing and that it can persist across the quantum dimension of time… and time past is equidistantly dead and are unable to touch or change that past. So our filter of perspective should be one of positives, for want of otherwise living in regrets.

To capture that moment in the smorgasbord is an intense blend of utilization of our 5 senses in the here and now and encapsulated/imprinted on the psyche in the moment. These imprintations will trigger future memories based on sight, sound, touch, taste, or smells are the root of the event and stimulate our wits, which senses used to be termed in Shakespeare’s time.

But perhaps my friend we are even more than that from a spiritual existence and the senses impart a feeling which we can link and be aware through the gift and inspiration of cognition. So many other senses then are drilled down such as pain, nociception, kinesthetic sensory input and so much more. That we are able to balance and assign a “feeling” to an event that files the event in the sensorium in the filing cabinets of good or bad also will translate through across time.

So then, what we absorb, intuit and feel will become the picture that we will carry around in our mental wallets forever, and through the premises of HOPE can assign the degree of robustness and richness the picture will have. Personally, I feel the truest way of remembering an event in true vivid high definition (HD) imprinted in our mental wallet is to have the event resonate on all senses, embracing it with the gifts and talents and being that we are. My father used to call it being “in country”, which means that we fully immerse ourselves in the surrounding environment and learn by being part of it. That is a wonderful way to collect facts and understand the why of the event as opposed of standing by passively and casting stones and Judgement.

Moments that are very dichotomous in nature as well tend to be filmed in the very best HD film as well. These moments can be easily created by the observer and often creates a smile and pleasurable associations if they are planned to be. They are the adult at play, Light within a period of dark, Water element touching earth and a kind smile on a gloomy day. Captured in fact by the Rolling Stones on their album “Aftermath” and the song “Paint it Black”.  We can be light even in dark.

That is the root of spiritual living is to be the beacon of light and provide a positive lesson to others in the moments of darkness. To help others in an altruistic way see and be the positive side of the dichotomy. There is a choice and that is to be the negative…if you wish. But by seeing the light and positives, then we can help others see it and then me and you can be yourself, often.

     ~~~~ Rev. Dr. Joel Lamoure    April 2013

Who Is Driving on this Trip?

Greetings my gentle readers to another week's installment of the "Be Yourself, Often" blog. This is the time of the week where we can step back, and curl up with a favorite warm beverage and/or or a loved one/animal (or both!)  and breathe a sigh of gratitude. A time when we can stop and look at the fingerprint that we imparted on the world, not often realizing the chaos theory and the subsequent ripples outward that our actions will have.

What we do, how we do it in the intent with which it is done often extend far beyond the act itself. Too often, we think about things as throwaway gestures, if we even think about them. However, even worse, we don't even spare a thought about what we do, what we say or the intent at that point in time. To me, that would indicate that what we do is either running on our subconscious or we do not even think regarding our actions. Ouch. I prefer to believe it is the former.

However, if our subconscious is driving our decisions in a direct linkage with Higher powers, it would serve us well to occasionally take stock of what we are doing and the outcomes it is having on our self and others. Albert Einstein stated, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result". It is the squeaky wheel that gets the grease, and as such the only actions that normally track our valuable time are those that are negative in nature. But how often, does the person or party that is causing the negative outcome your self?

To illustrate this further, how often in a discussion will somebody make a comment about dealing with a jerk? That individual who is "the jerk “ is never the person standing in front of you telling their sad and tragic story. They are never, EVER the ones telling the story. Funny, eh?

Too often, we hear the first world wines of people that portray themselves as tragic victims, and often they do not know or have a clue regarding true victimization, truly being second- or third-class citizens. They do not have the ability, or insight to realize exactly the amount the impact, pathos (root of pathetic) and tragedy that they have imparted into the situation. Because everything has run on subconscious, and it has been a throwaway gesture, then it is not their fault. It is an unfortunate and scary state of affairs in today's society to realize how few people take responsibility for their own actions. It is always "the jerk" that has caused the problem.

Too often in life, it is not about absolutes. In fact, that is a positive fact that we are so intertwined that together adds there is neither good nor evil, black or white existing in isolation on earth. Almost 100% of everything is a shade of gray. Certainly, there are exceptions at the opposite spectrums, but these are more usually associated with "beyond the earth" concepts. There is God, the embodiment of good, and Satan who represents the embodiment of negative from a biblical perspective. And if we were to consider this from a perspective of light, black is thought to be the absence of any light and white is thought to be radiant and positive light. Small changes in semiotics however change that outlook when we think about it from a perspective of colors.

Dark is color to its highest degree of intensity. It is all the colors scribbled together and dark. White is pure and absence of color, yet we KNOW not devoid of color as we assign the arbitrary word "white" to this color.

As we look at all of these factors from the perspective of the impact of what we do, then we must understand what drives our subconscious. In the same sort of way as we assign a word to a color, that word does not describe every aspect of a color. There are associations that we have assigned as a society to a color, right? White is pure and black is evil. It is all black and white. Seriously?

Does our subconscious do the same? I believe so. If we are not aware of the associations that we hold then we are not able to make a true evidence-informed decision. And to touch the concepts of evidence for living is to be able to understand ourselves and others and our role in the acts and actions that are performed in such a casual, indeed throwaway gesture driven society. Would you not rather know what sort of associations you carry? Are they positive or negative? Only you know. And is a combination of your past, history, genetics and experiences And to know your subconscious is to then be able to touch your belief structure, as well as understand the decisions that you make. At this point, you are able to know the root energy that is placed into the actions that you conduct.

At this point you will start to understand karmic energies moving ahead and truly be able to touch and be yourself, often.

~~~ Rev. Dr. Joel Lamoure   March 2013

It Just Was

Greetings my gentle readers to this weeks installment of the “Be Yourself, Often” blog. That time that we can snuggle down with a form of comfort and reflect in the recesses of our mind the events that transpired over the week. There is chance to step back in a simplistic way and look at simpler times and be comfortable to embrace that. We need to be able to touch and embrace that innocence and Light again. Not by doing more, but by doing less and with love and passion, which will ultimately give us more depth and breadth to our lives.

The past 2 weeks we have looked at addressing the statements “It Just Is” and then last week looked at “Is it Just?” This week the realize the permanence of the fleeting moments that were and understand the fact “It Just Was”

In the moments of horror of the week that was and the subsequent loss of innocent life in the United States, we realize that there is a battle for our souls and us. A balance of good and evil and a constant interface between the two that is playing out in the here and now. When one is able to look through that filter, which is far beyond us, people, humans and indeed religions, we realize this is very humbling.  We are empowered in the moment and not sheeple or pacifists to whom we blindly accept anything that comes from and to us.  I offer no judgment as we do not know the exact situations that transpired but we have the ability to learn from the tragedy that just was versus frank judgments.

We can be, should be and are empowered to make decisions that when passed through our beliefs, thoughts and such ultimately will become actions. And in order to decide and know that it just was and indeed just and proper, we need to apply basic tenants of kindness, humility, love, light, passion and inspiration to advance the human entity into the sort of person that we truly are, created in Gods image. However, given the challenges and battleground that lies around us, we obviously must make choices to practice in our root entities, which is that of the White and Light and Good.

We have the opportunity and sanity within the insanity of life to make healthy choices moving ahead. To beat the struggle of dark and light. We can choose sanity or insanity to put it bluntly, not in the mental health individual context but a larger “pain body” as eloquently described by Eckhart Tolle.

We can remember the victims. We can sympathize with whatever hell the perpetrator was going through, while not condoning their actions. Condoning through a passive way is in part buying into the same hell they were and engaging in active or passive support through the media. We can refuse to bully. We can embrace the devastating effects of mental health disorders and the dis-ease within the disease.  We can stand together and embrace humanity, not insanity. We can step away and have the choice to turn off the televisions and not create further insanity. We can bond with loved ones and neighbors in a sense of unity.  Touching nature and the previously experience child-like attitudes and thoughts. We can do expressions of basic human kindness. These are our choices.

Because, once the moment passes, we realize it just was. Within that moment however, lives can be made or lost and no one has the power or should have the power to influence or decide what others could or should do. That comes from within our connections and us with our Higher selves. Do you want the moment that just was to be one of positivity or negativity? Herein lie the choices.

Within those moments that just were is a wonderful Power that is the Free Will Covenant and the ability to make informed decisions that help and optimize your physical and mental health and ultimately those around you. For we do not live in a vacuum and we all learn from each other. We are all teachers. We all have the ability to be inspirational through our actions since what we do ripples out in concentric circles and ultimately will impact on others.

For the moment the just was, captured as a snapshot in the photographic album that is the hard drive of our mind, we wish and want is to be fair, positive and just. A moment of healing and a potential for the time for peace. It does start with every one of us making that informed decision that will derive a more positive outcome. We can look and learn, avoid blame and understand we do not know fully the tapestry that is in the process of being woven.

I would rather collect pictures and photographs of moments of prayer, peace, happiness, laughter, love and embracing the moments of innocence and fun that also are associated with healing.  A wise friend told me that love is not complex, it is simple. We only make it complicated and that is so very true.

Close your eyes, open your heart and feel your heart open 10 fold and the love within it and be yourself, often.

~~~ Rev. Dr. Joel Lamoure  December 2012 (Third Sunday of Advent)