My dog Eden

A few years ago I read a book called One with All Life by James Allen Booth. A wonderful little book, a true story about a man's journey into a new and profound relationship with all animals. Through his dog, he learned the art of communicating with animals. I was extremely moved by this little book and I highly recommend it to any animal lover - you'll never see your animals in the same way. Since reading that book, my dog of 17 years, Hamlet, a Golden Retriever, had died and we acquired a new dog - Jack. Some of you have read my articles about Jack. Jack is a Catahoula Leopard dog who has since moved out with my son and his fiancée.

Then as if we didn't have enough animals in our home: 1 dog, 4 cats, a fish tank and 4 family members, we went out and adopted Eden, the current love of my life. Eden is a half Rottweiler, half Sheppard, she is sweet and playful and my loyal companion.

Well, then came along my eldest son moving back into my home and he brought his boxer, Soco. YIKES.Yes, we are back to two large dogs, 4 cats, a fish tank but only 3 family members. The difference this time around is my eldest son's dog, Soco was never FIXED - you can see where this is going.

Back in January my Eden and his Soco mated - how can I be sure? On Tuesday, March 16th, she gave birth to 5 - yes 5 puppies - AND SHE GAVE BIRTH TO THEM ALL RIGHT ON MY BED.
Must be an act of love or familiarity or something - I had a cat do the same thing once about 25 years ago.

Yesterday morning while my son, Michael, was checking on them he discovered that one of the pups was deceased. I think Eden accidently laid on him and suffocated him. I'm told that this is quite common with dogs. All upset, Michael, came downstairs to give me the news and I suddenly had to be the strong one. Wow, how did this happen? I had to remain calm, go in, remove the pup while watching Eden be very upset and confused and remove him from the pack. Michael has since been buried this little one in the back yard next to our golden and one of eldest cats who passed some years ago.

Last night, I slept with one ear listening all night for fear of losing another one. Did you know that sometimes these pups sound just like little babies whimpering - as you can imagine - it wasn't a good night sleep. But we did wake up with all pups alive and well. Eden is starting to get her energy back and seems quite proud and enthusiastic about her accomplishment. I wonder: did she know what was coming? Has she already let go of the little one that passed? Her instincts are marvelous; I am in awe of how much she knows to care for them.

A few weeks from now, we will have to take them from her one pup at a time and give them away. How would you feel if your children were being distributing to others? I am blessed to have this experience and will stay very close to her throughout the balance of this experience. In case you are wondering, we will get her "fixed" now.

Blessings to you,
Michelle

I am of the Infinite!

There is one Universe, this Universe penetrates my being effortlessly and fills all space with its natural love. This love knows me intimately and I surrender into this knowing and disappear into the One.

There is One Infinite Life and that life is my life now. Within this Infinite is the possibility of all good all the time. I am opened up, and transformed by this simple realization. From within, all things are made available and possible, all of me is spiritual and powerful, and every expression is loving and potent. I am the Alpha and the Omega because God as me is so. Since I live right where God exists which of course is everywhere present than I am always available for God’s inspiration and intelligence. Effortlessly I morph into a being of great light and possibility as Spirit continues to seek to express. Yes, I am of the Infinite and it is good and very, very good.

For the life that is my life now, I am extremely grateful. May God always recognize me as available and willing for its use. I release this word into the Law and the Awe.

And so it is.
Amen.

Podcast cite

Here is the link for our new Podcast site.
Enjoy: http://www.cslnj.blogspot.com/

Today is the day that Spirit has made.

March 7, 2010


Today is the day that Spirit has made and I celebrate it in through of my actions. I celebrate this day by setting my sights on experience each and every day to its fullest. I tackle each day armored with Spirit’s guidance and strength. This strength carries me places where I could not have gone myself alone; yet with Spirit as my inspirer and my navigator I discover worlds both on the inner and outer that excite my soul.

I live and breathe into the gratitude that is at the foundation of this activity and in so doing, it multiples one hundred fold. Declaring that this life is good I trust that Spirit will move me into the proper place for my greatest receptivity.

I release this word and let it be so.

And so it is.

Amen.

Oh Beloved

Something I wrote some time ago that continues to live in me:

Consume me in your fire of love.  Burn away the veils that cloud my perspective of you. Return my attention to your brilliance.  And do this all while loving me so completely that I will never again doubt your love, your availability, your essence.  In readiness, I make myself available by keeping my heart open to your love, my eyes on the inner horizon to capture all of your inspiration and my mind ready for your intelligence and empowerment. Oh Beloved, I avail my total being to you.

Standing Naked in the Light

It doesn’t take too much courage to stand naked in the dark. After all, the darkness affords you the liberty of imperfection with its veil of safety in the form of blurred visibility. But step into the light and that same buffer is dispersed and you are left naked like never before. The kind of naked where each and every imperfection is revealed and you have no excuses or explanations.


This level of nakedness, of being authentic, simultaneously excites and enlivens me while it scares me half to death. The death that is actually taking place is the death of my ego, my protection, the part of me that keeps me playing small. Doing what I do as a minister, a teacher, a coach often catapults me into this light stark naked by far faster than I am ready. Yes, I could close down, avoid, resist and guard myself but what would that say about me.

If I could design the world, this is what my world would look like. I would have you love me in my nakedness with ALL of my flaws. Love me when I am on fire and love me when I am falling. Love me in my fullness and successes and love me in my failings. And furthermore I say, if you aren’t willing to love the all of me, then please just let me be. This is the kind of love I want to know for the balance of my life and this is the kind of love that I AM offering.

I want to stand naked; all flawed, all exposed and feel absolutely safe. In addition though, I would love for YOU to stand next to me, all naked, in the light, with all your flaws. Then together we can embrace the bigger possibility of Life without excuses or explanations. Spirit know me in this way and I will commit to the Allness with the entirety of my being.