The Long View

Posted By Vanessa on June 1, 2011

This is a great Scone recipe from Bridget at The Way the Cookie Crumbles. It is presented here in rhubarb form but it could totally be adapted for cranberries or other tart fruits you should feel so inclined to include.

Jordon and I went to the Newmarket Farmer’s Market this weekend and purchased some fresh asparagus, mushrooms and rhubarb. Saturday night we had the most amazing pizza with dough he made himself.

This morning I finally got around to making the scones – and they were fantastic. I would make these notes though:

1. I substituted a cup of all-purpose flour for whole wheat flour.

2. The dough is really, really moist. I didn’t want to add too much more flour so I globbed it all onto a large baking sheet, patted it out and baked it as a mound. The way my Aunt Lois always does it. Once it is baked, you can rip or cut pieces off and let this fantastic recipe melt in your mouth.

I’m pretty sure I have some harvestable rhubarb in my backyard and this recipe will definitely be a new favourite… though it will have to compete with the rhubarb crumble.

Enjoy!

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Tags: nomnomnom, recipe, rhubarb

Posted By Vanessa on February 2, 2011

In honour of Groundhog Day, I am thrilled to share Jordon’s mom’s recipe for…

Groundhog

1 cup elbow macaroni
1 quart boiling salted water
1 pound ground beef (we use chicken or turkey but you could use groundhog)
1 large onion, chopped
1 10-oz. can vegetable soup
1 10-oz. can tomato soup
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
Dash of Tobasco

Brown beef in frying pan. Stir macaroni in water for 5 minutes. Drain. Mix remaining ingredients together; combine with macaroni in large casserole. Make well around outside edges of dish to collect any grease. Cover. Bake at 325F for 30 minutes. Remove cover. Bake 30 minutes longer. Pour off grease. Yield: 8-10 servings.

Personal Note: The name of this dish was coined by my great grandfather who was teasing my mother by telling her that he had shot a groundhog for dinner.
– GERI DAVIDSON

My note: This recipe is totally yummy and all three of Jordon’s kids love it – a confluence of taste that is almost unheard of. As for feeding 8-10… I think it only applies if you don’t have a teenager in the house. With two teens and a tween we are lucky to have leftovers.

Enjoy!

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Posted By Vanessa on February 2, 2011

I’ve joined a Friends Worship Group here in Newmarket and we are slowly, very slowly, working our way through Patricia Loring’s Listening spirituality, the first of a three-volume set on Quaker spirituality.

Yesterday, we read a quote from Father Thomas Keating (someone I have come across several times recently in connection with Integral Spirituality and the Future of Christianity), that warned: ‘don’t equate peace of mind with a contemplative attitude’ (p108). At the end of the section I asked the group what they thought Keating meant by this as I was having trouble figuring it out.

There was discussion and listening to these wise women speak I was able to clarify it for myself in this way:

The most important distinction to make is that between traditional contemplation, a questioning focus or thoughtful observation of an issue, and contemplative prayer, the opening of oneself as a vessel to God. Both have intent, but what struck me was that the people I discussed this with all felt that contemplation was an active process – something we do or think about – while Loring makes it clear that contemplative prayer

is the name given the still, listening, nonverbal prayer in which we intentionally dispose ourselves to be receptive to God, either in conscious awareness of whatever is present or in openness to transformation in the depths of our being beyond consciousness. In Quaker traditions we speak mostly of ‘waiting on the Lord’ (p99).

Contemplative prayer takes us beyond the form of discursive prayer where we are talking to God and instead we simply (though seemingly impossibly for me right now) hold ourselves still with the intention of being with God.

How does this compare to ‘peace of mind’? For me, peace of mind is the absence of fear and worry and anger. This seems like the same sort of state of mind that one would want for contemplative prayer to be effective, a type of emptiness. The difference that I feel exists between the two states is one of intention. Peace of mind happens when we let go of our concerns and live in the moment while contemplative prayer happens when we set an intention, a focus, a direction, of being with God and being open to God in a very profound way.

So I understood Keating’s warning in this way – if you want to open to God you have to be intentional about it, not passive. What do you think?

On a side note, have you been to the Quaker Meeting House? It’s one of the oldest structure in the area and quite beautiful in its quiet simplicity. Graceful, elegant and inspiring when I can bring my mind to sit quietly at Weekly Meeting. Check it out sometime – they always seem to be in Doors Open.

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Tags: book review, books, contemplative prayer, Friends, God, Keating, Loring, Meditation, Prayer, Quakers, religion, spirituality

Posted By Vanessa on January 6, 2011

I’ve just powered through Core Integral Level I, the brainchild of Ken Wilber and Clint Fuhs over at Integral Life and it has been quite a ride. I feel that my mind has been pummeled and that my brain has been sent to the steam room to recover after a wicked workout. Every now and then it’s good for me to tackle a big thought – and Integral Theory certainly appears to be that, a sort of metaphilosophical theory of everything.

With quadrants, lines, levels, states and types, just about any phenomenon or thought can be interpreted and classified through the Integral lens. Plus, I still get to play with Enneagrams through the wide-open Types category.

I have a new vocabulary and framework for exploring the world around me and a new set of practices to help me work on meditation and building the solid foundation required for taking compassionate action in the world. It is all rather fragile in me right now, but I am looking forward to having the practice solidify as I continue to apply the concepts to my daily life.

As an example, the Integral exploration of states (gross, subtle, causal, witness and nondual) has shed new light upon a very famous quote that I have always understood at a gross level and now can interpret at a causal level.

The Shakespeare quote: ‘Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more; it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.’

I’d always taken this to mean that in the big picture, the grand scheme of things, our actions have little value and though we allow our egos to convince us we our important, that we are merely bit players overdramatizing our tiny parts but having no real effect.

However, from a causal state perspective, nothing has a very different meaning. Nothing is no-thing, the meditative experience of oceanic emptiness. It is the experience we have at the level before oneness, before the nondual. And it renders everything meaningless and, paradoxically, stupendously full of meaning.

What if, instead of being dismissive, this quote is calling us to a higher plane of existence, one where we can become the Witness, and see this life as the object, where we play our parts, developing our perspectives until we can glimpse the state of emptiness, of no-thing. Where we can realize that not only are we significant but that we are creating our lives as we go, dancing with the Sacred in a cosmic creation that is both everything and nothing.

And, of course, an archetypal Idiot, or Fool, will lead the way – their pure wisdom, empty of artifice, shocking us into a state experience of emptiness, or even of oneness.

What do you think?

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Tags: archetype, causal, Clint Fuhs, Fool, Integral, Ken Wilber, nondual, Oneness, Shakespeare, state experience, Witness

Posted By Vanessa on January 3, 2011

I find the idea that the world as we perceive it is not really the world rather captivating. That the Matrix’s thesis that it is an illusion designed to keep us emotionally enthralled reminds me of Otter Thompson’s perspective in Walking Through Illusion. Her argument, as I understand it, is that the events that we experience are only mirrors created by our higher Selves to help us to grow and mature. What really matters is how we feel about what we experience and it is our feelings that will travel with us when we leave the physical plane. In one of her character sketches, the question arises: What do you remember 10 or 20 years on, after a significant event? Do you remember the event or do you remember how you felt about the events? What makes more of an impression?

So the basic argument is that what we feel is real, what we experience is an illusion. Further, we are called to awaken to this truth so that we can use our experiences for what they are meant – as a chance to learn about our true natures and rise above illusion.

There’s only one teensy little problem for me in accepting this argument. I have a business. It’s called Sacred Physicality. And the whole purpose of Sacred Physicality is to help people awaken to the magical, mystical miracle that is daily life. My mission is to help people really see and understand that the world and people we encounter from moment to moment, including ourselves, is sacred. My hope is that we will wake up and realize that we have the chance to experience the Divine in our daily lives and that it is our responsibility to do so. And our responsibility to care for the physical world as we would for our souls. To cherish it as part of ourselves.

When I really understood that Otter Thompson was calling us to realize that this world is an illusion, crafted for the purpose of helping us understand our emotions, I was a bit flummoxed. How could I reconcile her world of illusion with my world of sacred reality?

I finally decided was that the two could co-exist quite nicely with a bit of reinterpretation. Here’s how I did it: in the conversations that Otter-Thompson has with Jesus, it becomes clear that for an awakened soul there is very little difference between living and ‘death’, the soul simply moves from within a physical body to without. There is a change in awareness but, as I understood it, there is no change in realm. That is, the earthly, physical realm is not cast aside as a toy that is no longer desired, instead, the soul shifts energetically into a new space of perception.

While the earthly experiences are perceived as illusion, with only the energy they created in the form of emotion being considered real, the illusions were soul-created to help awakening and therefore sacred. Not something unimportant to be transcended.

Which is the point of sacred physicality! This is our chance to realize that everything is sacred, what we feel, what we touch and perceive through our senses. Everything! We use this to learn that our perceptions need to be developed.

It isn’t necessarily that the world is an illusion, but our perceptions of the world are. We perceive the world through our own particular filters, interpreting the actions of others in a way that makes sense to us and confirms our world views. And it is our job to slowly cleanse these filters so that we more and more perceive the world as it really is, a Divine dance of becoming where even the smallest mote is a sacred gift of enlightenment.

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Tags: book review, books, God, Jesus, nature, Otter Thompson, reading, Sacred Physicality, Walking Through Illusion

Posted By Vanessa on November 24, 2010

The bottom line (because why should you have to wait!): B
If you are looking to deepen your spiritual practice and connect more fully with the Earth and yourself, this is a valuable resource.

Favourite Quote: “In order to find our way to the enlightenment and spiritual fulfillment we seek, we need to live our path every day. We need to take the time to pray, to interact with nature and follow its cycles, and we need to learn to quiet ourselves and listen to the lessons revealed to us by the divine creator on a daily basis” (p9).

Goal Achievement: A
Smith’s goal was “to present an introduction to a path leading to spiritual awakening and enlightenment allowing the reader to fully experience the beginning of the process of awakening” (p181-2).

Clarity, Lyricism and Flow: Does the editing make sense? Does it have proper spelling, punctuation, and grammar? Is it beautifully written? Does it make my heart sing and sweep me away? D
umm… no. I felt as if I were reading a textbook, not a book of praise for the Earth and the Divine within and outside of ourselves. I actually contacted Rev. Smith and asked him if I was reading a draft. He assured me that it had been proofread by not one, but two professors, and all I could do at that point was express my condolences. The book has many errors throughout: repeated words and phrases, words out of place, a quote by Winston Churchill that is used twice in sequence. These are all easily fixed errors and a good editor would never have let them pass.

Genre-busting and Paradigm Challenging: How does it rise above other books in the field? Is it world-shifting? For me? C+
I’d have to put this book into a Christian genre of eco-spirituality. It does an excellent job of moving the Christian believer (though it would also work for non-Christians) towards a more inclusive, holistic belief system. Rev. Smith displays reverence both for the Divine Creator and for Nature, as a creation of the Creator and a creator itself. His inclusion of meditations, exercises and prayers in every section provides an excellent toolbox for the aspirant looking to deepen their connection to Spirit, to themselves, and to Nature.

What I Loved and What I Would Have Loved:
I confess, I really, really wanted to love this book. A lot. I connected with David on Twitter and offered to review the book as it sounded right up my alley. After all, my mission is Sacred Physicality and honoring the Divine in ourselves and in the Earth. So I thought it was a natural fit. Not to mention that I had created an image of David’s work based on his work with the UUs (Unitarian Universalists) and as a Druid.

So I was taken aback when the book began with two quotes from the Bible and a discussion of how the Earth is sacred because it was created by God. Now, normally, if someone says that the Earth is created by God, I can abstract that to my own cosmogenesis fairly easily since I believe that God is the Creative Force. But when that statement is accompanied by Bible quotes I start to worry. To me, the Earth is God, just as you are, just as I am. We are all God. God is not a figure outside of us that we need to revere. We are to be revered. All of existence is to be revered.

I would have loved better editing. I know some great editors. They obviously did not work on this book. It made me sad. In addition, I wish that Smith considered the work important enough to expect a proper journal. Instead, in each of the meditations and exercises he allowed that the seeker might wish to write down their thoughts on ‘scraps of paper’. Argh! Over and over again. Really? This work demands respect. Go get a journal.

As a lover of memoir, I wanted to hear more of David in this book. It felt much more like I was reading a textbook than a love story of humanity and the earth. There were moments, notably when Smith was discussing the various ways art can connect us to Nature and whenever he mentioned his love for his son that his warm and passionate personality came through. Which only made the general ‘coolness’ of his tone harder to bear. It felt as though he were hovering on the other side of the page, tantalizingly close but unreachable.

What I loved was the variety. For each approach to communion with Nature he offered a brief prayer, meditation, and/or an exercise. Not only were there three techniques but the variety of approaches was inspiring. Whether you feel more comfortable celebrating or observing the seasons, sitting in Nature or working in your garden, or learning and developing a new artistic skill, this book had so much variety it would be very easy to find something that worked for you and begin to develop it as part of a deeper and more complete spiritual practice.

Who’s It For: Seekers desiring guidance on new ways to connect to and celebrate themselves and the planet.

The Details:
Title: “Honoring the Sacred Earth: A Path to Spiritual Awakening”
Author: Rev. David P. Smith
Publisher: Dreamz-Work Productions, LLC, Rockville, MD
ISBN: 978-0-9825531-9-0

Part I: Returning to Nature (Introduction)
Part II: Honoring and Living the Seasons (Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter)
Part III: Caring for Our Planet and Ourselves (Replenish, Giving Back, Love, Forgiveness)
Part IV: The Traditional Elements (Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Spirit)
Part V: Seeking Your Path (Teachers, Truth, Experience, Faith)
Part VI: Awakening (Eyes, Mind, Heart, Spirit)
Part VII: Putting It All Together

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Tags: book reviews, books, Honoring the Sacred Earth, Meditation, nature, Nonfiction, religion, Smith, spirituality

Posted By Vanessa on November 24, 2010

‘Aha!’ I thought to myself the other day. I’d finally found a flaw with Walking Through Illusion, Betsy Otter Thompson’s excellent book to be released in January. I had just slammed through four chapters (I’ve read 11 now if you are keeping track) and suddenly it occurred to me that this is not a book to be read quickly.

It’s too rich, too deep and too well-thought out to do anything but savour it slowly, one chapter per day, perhaps, or even one per week. The exercises at the end of each chapter, and the realizations they inspire, deserve time in which to ruminate, to gestate, and to help the reader shift their reality.

My other realization was that the book does not need to be read in sequence. Most of the chapters, to me, can be read independently, after reading the Preface, of course, which explains the idea of action/reaction and mirrors. However, the experience is much more powerful if the chapters are allowed to build upon one another in the reader’s consciousness.

Okay, so it’s not really a flaw but it was the best I could do. I am in love with this book. Otter Thompson has written engaging character sketches of Biblical characters that take us beyond their common images and into their flaws, their struggles, and their triumphs as they learned to feel themselves more honestly.

“Sorry, life isn’t meant to be fair, it’s meant to be informative,” Jesus tells Betsy at the end of Chapter 11, the subject of which was Thomas and his struggles with self-esteem. mmm… the weight of that just staggers me. Which is odd, because I’ve heard that sentiment many, many times in the past. Why does it affect me so strongly at this time? Partially, perhaps, because I have reached a point where I am ready to assume 100% responsibility for my life (that’s all Jack’s fault).

A large part of its impact is the context in which it is presented. Betsy (and Jesus) show so clearly that Thomas created his own reality (as we all do) and that his feelings of un-worth were reflected back to him in the mirrors around him. When he esteemed himself, others did so as well. At the very end of Chapter 11, Betsy applies this lesson to her own life and shows how she has moved from waiting for everyone else to approve of her to approving of herself.

This book flows so well, building insight upon insight and lesson upon lesson. It drives home the idea of the mirror, refracted through so many different experiences and characters, I believe it would take an extremely obstinate reader to not start examining their own life.

Loving it. Totally recommend it. Taking it slow.

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Tags: book review, books, Jesus, Nonfiction, Otter Thompson, reading, spiritual, spirituality, Walking Throu

Posted By Vanessa on November 18, 2010

Having finished with Bartholomew, Walking Through Illusion has now explored the lessons that Peter and Paul learned through living an examined life.

What does it mean to meet your mirror? According to Otter Thompson’s dialogue with Jesus, for Paul it meant experiencing material lack when he tried to hoard his financial resources, or being taking advantage of by others when he lived in greed.

I’ve been thinking about this concept a lot, and noticing its presence in my own life. My own mirror has been reflecting as I explore the world of politics and community-building. Over the past few months I have come across a few people who, I have felt, have taken a dislike to me for reasons that seemed rather, well, unreasonable. I am the local Green Candidate and my logic has run something like this: ‘They don’t like me because I am a politician’.

It made sense to me that people would distrust politicians, even unelected Green ones. After all, in a recent trust survey, Reader’s Digest reported that politicians were one of the least trusted professionals, only barely beating out used car salespeople, and finishing behind psychics.

And these are the people we select to run our towns, provinces, territories and our country. Wacky.

Anyway. It finally occurred to me on the weekend that I was actually experiencing the mirror for the lack of trust that I have in my own abilities. I consider myself a person of high integrity: I rarely lie, and I try not to hurt others. Indeed, the reason I am running is to protect future generations, as well as current ones.

But, yet, thanks to the tapes that run in my mind, I still don’t trust myself. I have doubt. I question. I get mad at myself for not being perfect. And my mirror reflects that back. I encounter people who do not trust me and it resonates inside of me, causing feelings of guilt and shame. That is, until I can have a talk with myself and remind my mind that those feelings are not the whole story, or even the majority of the story.

So, following Otter Thompson’s model, the lack of love that I feel for myself will naturally be reflected back to me in the people that I encounter.

It isn’t easy for me to be a politician and I am learning that there are certain fundamental truths of politics. One of those is that without funding any attempt at a campaign victory will surely fail. Political campaigning is expensive and funds are required. And I need to become comfortable with that ask. Another is that emails and casual communications can be turned against you. I continue to learn.

When I do find peace with the roles that I have assumed, only then will my mirror be polished clean and, only then will peace be reflected back to me. This is a lesson it is taking me a long time to learn and it is one of the great lessons for me in this lifetime. Trusting myself, loving myself is a conscious decision that I must make every day.

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Tags: beliefs, book review, guilt, Love, Nonfiction, Otter Thompson, peace, politics, shame, Walking Through Illusion

Posted By Vanessa on November 9, 2010

Betsy Otter Thompson contacted me in September and graciously offered to send me a copy of her new book, Walking Through Illusion, to review and promised that it would be in the mail the next day.

Yesterday, she sent me an email to see how the review was coming along and I realized I hadn’t checked my PO Box for a couple of weeks. Holy Oops! I asked my fiancé to check for it on his way home yesterday, and sure enough, there it was, patiently waiting for me. Mental note: I must check the box every week and, sometimes, the mail takes a long time.

Last night I took “Walking Through Illusion” to bed and finished the Preface, Author’s Note, and first two Chapters.

First Impression: NEAT-O! (I know, I know. I excel at the technical language.)

“Walking Through Illusion” is Otter Thompson’s examination of love and compassion and the action/reaction dynamic that seems to be at the root of so much that we experience in this life. It “was written from her conviction that hearts are free to express from the depth to which they go” (p1). Admittedly, I had to read this phrase a couple of times to get it, but, she does go on to explain that the more we love, the deeper our capacity to experience and love becomes and the fuller our understanding and being-ness. In other words, the less we live in illusion.

Action/reaction is compared to an ‘emotional mirror’ that life holds up to us – we can only experience on the outside what we free ourselves to feel on the inside. If we refuse to see what is being reflected to us, life continues to provide us with opportunities to accept and learn.

The goal of “Walking Through Illusion” is to challenge us to become more accountable, to realize that all of our decisions result in growth and that taking responsibility for our lives is the tool through which we can create different experiences (p3).

In the Preface, Otter Thompson and Jesus discuss how life is like a night at the theatre and that how, when we are there, the players on the stage and the plot become real for us, they captivate us, but that when the play is over, we know we will continue with our lives. In the same way, the dramas that we experience throughout our lives are chosen by our souls to help us learn and grow and when we leave this life we will be able to review how we did and choose our next adventure. There is a lightness to this philosophy that I love. It is not that this life is unimportant, but that we can choose to remember that it is only one moment in an eternity of experience and tenderly hold it as as an opportunity to grow.

Which brings me to the first caveat: This is a Jesus book. If you have issues with Jesus (and I know there are many who do), just bear with me because Betsy has done a masterful job of presenting an amiable and enlightened Jesus who seeks to share instead of to judge.

Not only does the author discuss Jesus in the book, she also converses with Jesus. And that’s okay. Neale Donald Walsch talks to God in his Conversations With God series and Paul Ferrini talks to Jesus in Love Without Conditions. Contacting that energy that is highest, regardless of what we call it or whether we consider it to be within or outside of ourselves has, in my experience, the capacity to convey truths in a simple and profound way and I almost always enjoy the books that are written with this intention.

Betsy was inspired to approach the subject of self-development through the examination of the lives of Biblical characters and their interactions with Jesus. In the first two chapters, through her examination of the life of Bartholomew (probably Nathanael), she examines the challenges that arise when we are trying to live a life of integrity and love. As he matured, he began to take responsibility for creating the life that he wanted instead of blaming the life he had, and its restrictions, on everyone around him.

Each Chapter ends with a series of questions to help you delve deeper into the subject matter and Personal Insights from the author which help to personalize and concretize the information presented. Happily, they aren’t your typical questions. The very first question is: “How many useless goals can you think up?” (p16). I confess I was flummoxed by this one. If every experience is worthwhile from a growth perspective, how could any goal be useless. Luckily, I have Facebook and when I threw the question out to the crowd, I received several wonderful responses. Here, then, is a short list of useless goals:

1. Trying to achieve high scores in video games.
2. Making lists of useless goals.
3. Participating in hockey/baseball/football pools.
4. Preparing for the zombie apocalypse.

While I could see a worthy kernel in each of these goals, it would be a better use of my energy and time to choose different goals that I found enjoyable and motivating in order to get to those kernels.

Quote I love: “If you think you have to change others to be happy, no one is going to change for the better from knowing you” (p7).

Okay, that’s the first look at the newest book. Let me know what you think.

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Tags: book review, Ferrini, illusion, Integrity, Jesus, NDW, Nonfiction, Otter Thompson, spirituality, Walking Through Illusion

Posted By Vanessa on September 26, 2010

I’m reading David Smith’s section on Forgiveness in Honoring the Sacred EarthHonoring the Sacred Earth (I know! I can’t believe I haven’t finished it yet, but that’s another story…) and something about this prayer really got to me:

“Almighty God who created everything grant us your forgiveness for the wrongs we have done in our lives and help us to forgive those who have done wrong to us…” (p 97).

I think there are a couple things that bug me about this prayer. The first is that I don’t believe in a God that requires us to apologize for anything, or that sits in judgment of our actions as right or wrong, or that we can somehow offend by our actions.

I just don’t. I believe God is Life is Peace is Change is Love. You can read more about this in my posts on Neale Donald Walsch’s book, Tomorrow’s GodTomorrow’s God. That is what is truth for me.

But this first problem leads me to a second conundrum. If I don’t believe in a God that judges, what right do I have to judge the actions of others as right and wrong? I can feel that they are acting in a manner that causes me to feel hurt, but can I truly say that they are wrong?

I could say that they are acting in a way that society does not approve of so they must be dealt with, but does that mean that they are wrong? What moral relativism will I use to justify my judgments?

And if I don’t believe in a God that judges, then what right do I have to judge my childrens’ actions as right or wrong?

So… if I can’t judge anyone else, does that mean that the only person I can judge is myself? But if God doesn’t judge me, and others have no right to judge me, what right do I have to judge myself? To say that I am wrong, or that I am right? That I am good, or I am bad?

And if I can’t do any of those things, how will I get better.

The idea the slowly percolates through is one of ideals.

Perhaps, after an action I take or a word I speak, I can ask myself if my behaviour/thought/words were in alignment with what I believe to be the highest truth I hold about myself. If the answer is that I have somehow not lived up to these highest ideals, then it is appropriate to take action to correct any harm I perceive I may have caused, and to change my behaviour in the future.

But not to judge. Is it possible to leave right/wrong, good/bad behind and move into a more forgiving space where we treat ourselves and others as fragile, beautiful, fallible fellow humans who are doing the best they can? Can we leave blame behind?

I need to think about this more. Any thoughts?

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Tags: book review, books, Change, embodied wisdom, forgiveness, God, NDW, Nonfiction, Oneness, Smith, Tomorrow's God, Walsch