Worthy is the Lamb

I know who I am. I know where I've come from and where I've been. I know exactly how I got to be in this place.

What I don't know is who you are and how you got here too?

Do you think our meeting is by chance? Or do you believe it may have been orchestrated by someone, somewhere, higher and mightier?

God, I give you all the praise for my life and or any goodness that comes from it. Take away that which is not meant for me. Take away that which is not my charge. Increase that which is.

Thank you and Amen.

Supertramp, makes you wonder

I am very mindful today. I'm working on manifesting some more of what's been around me lately and enjoying the moment.

The moments have been sweet.

Take the last moment. I was listening to music I listened to a lot when I was younger. Practically wore the album out back then. Now of course it's a cd and it too, when I took it out of the case just now, looked smudged and beat up. Nonetheless, I popped it in and filled the house with it. It's on a cellular level....music that is.

Note: I wonder what music does to water, if anything? If thoughts can change it, what can music do?

Rudy, by Supertramp was one of my favorite songs from the Classics album back in the day - it still is but I'm listening to it now with ears that have matured somewhat so it's even better. I just love the storyline and the build up of music throughout and then they bring it back down to a simmer. Just like life she typed smiling.

Just now while listening it made me think of all the beautiful people I've met recently and how we're all so alike. We all get caught up in patterns of emotion and thought and repetitive, crippling, mind numbing, knee-jerk reactions to life. We somehow forget that we're in control and we have the ability to break patterns, process through emotion, forgive, have mercy, get stronger, overcome, be victorious in our lives - in all areas.

But you say 'I've got this to contend with' and 'I've got that'.
Yes, yes, I know. We all do.
We all have highs and lows and we all struggle at points in our lives.
The struggle is just as important as what we interpret as the blessings.

I do distinguish between them too. I thank God for the struggles and the blessings and I'm learning to be more mindful and when those struggles come, I try to ride that wave just like I ride the energy wave. It's all purposeful. It's all useful. Stop struggling against the inevitable tide of divine chaos and start accepting. Once you get into a place of acceptance, decision time comes shortly thereafter. What can you change about it? What are my choices? Is it really a struggle? What is a struggle anyway?

Was that illness that I recovered from a struggle?
Was failure that I recovered from a struggle?
The depression? The loneliness? all recovered from...were they struggles?

How are they so unique if we all experience them?
Do they have a higher purpose?
Do we have a higher purpose?
Are we evolving?
Are we awakening?

And then I remembered my dream from last night.

I was in a motorvehicle driving at night with a few friends and colleagues from my past. I looked up at the nighttime sky and noticed what looked like ufo's. There were a lot of points of white light moving across the sky together. They maintained their space apart and seemed to be flying in formation. I could see them crossing the sky and I could see some white clouds.

I got really excited in my dream and (I think I was in a bus at this point) I got up to join my friends and I said to one of them "Did you see those points of light - there was like a million of them"!

And my friend, who is the funniest dry humor guy calmly says smiling "Yes, I did. There was 500 of them". He was kinda mocking me because okay - maybe a million was exaggerating. Bill called me on it. It was funny stuff and very light hearted. There was no fear involved in this dream and my friend was of a sense of knowing - which was very cool.

At that point we looked back up at the sky and there were tons of white points of light moving. Then, all of a sudden, they became one. I kid you not.

They became one and disappeared behind the clouds.

That's all I remember.

In a moment, thinking about all of these beautiful souls listening to Rudy, a song about all of us, I remembered a dream that blows my mind. I love moments like these.

Still Riding the Energy Wave

(Thank you Bergen Community College)

Today was a day. Well, they're all days - but today...one of my favorites.

I got to spend time with some young, beautiful, vibrant, glowing students at Bergen Community College. Professor Lisa Sargese invited me to give a talk on Reiki and I humbly accepted the invitation. The time seemed to fly. The energy in the room was exceptional. I prayed for these students long before I met them. I sent Reiki energy to each and every one of them. Honestly, I'm sitting here typing at 9:25 full of energy, still riding the wave.

I just realized that I had only eaten a small yogurt and a blueberry multi-grain bar today...and tons of water. I do fast from time to time - deliberately - but today I wasn't planning on it. I've barely eaten. I also realized that I'm getting much better at fasting. It seems that every since I've been attuned to Reiki energy, fasting is as easy as pie...no pun intended.

I am not hungry. I do not have a headache. I have a lot of energy. Do I feel like folding the laundry? No. But I could do it easily and mop the floors if I wanted to. I love that.

I love and am grateful for the opportunity to share. You know it really does come back to you tenfold. I never look for the yang of it...but when yin is in motion, yang is sure to follow. Call it karma, call it a boomerang...call it a chipmunk for all I care...it doesn't matter what label you put on energy. What flows from you, will return to you.

(Special thanks to LM)

What's in your energy?

Everyday's the Day

So ends another year and another year begins.

What have we done with our time?

What will we do with the time before us?

Many are all about resolutions and big change this time of year and many more are just the opposite sitting in defiance against the propositions. Personally it doesn't matter to me what time of year it is. Every day is the day.

New Year's has always been a rather curious occasion to me ever since I was a child. We would spend the late afternoon into the evening in great anticipation watching Dick Clark's New Years Rocking Eve and the Times Square Ball. Then at the stroke of midnight, my mother and sister and I would bang huge pots together on the porch in the freezing weather, if we managed to stay up that late. The more noise we made the better. The grand finale was calling our grandmother Mary on the telephone and saying "Happy New Year Nanny" into the phone as loud as we could. She would reply in like kind and then off to dream land until the dawn of a new year.

When we got older, my mother, sister and I would go out for dinner religiously every New Year's Eve. We would have a few friends join us at La Fortunata in Bayonne for their famous table-side ceasar salad. THAT was special. We loved it. I enjoyed those dinners more than words can express. Looking back, I don't know why we ever stopped our gatherings there. It was a great tradition. But that was a long time ago and times change. La Fortunata is no longer there and none of us even lives in Bayonne anymore - we're all spread out now so....out with the old and in with the new.

This year Jimmy and I are going out for dinner to a local (what else?) Italian restaurant and then we're coming home early to bring in the new year together on our humble little couch. After our journey out west and hectic Christmas, we can use a little home time.

Resolutions? Nah. Every single day is a new day to shine. What a waste to wait all that time to make changes in our lives that, well, should be made today.

What's wrong with today? Nothing that I can see.

What's wrong with tomorrow? No guarantee.

This much we've learned over the years. Time is fleeting. Years are flying by. We are getting older. So, LIVE while you're alive and okay, if you need a milestone to mark your changes then December 31st, 2008 at the stroke of midnight is as good a time as any.

I hope that you're planning on loving yourself more in 2009.

I hope that you're planning on being your most loyal companion.

I hope that you're learning to trust that voice on the inside of you that only wants the best for you. You know that one that says "I love you just the way you are, right where you are, right now, unconditionally - now move forward".

I hope that you're planning on giving more than you receive in 2009. The world needs you.

I hope that you're planning on taking more risks.

I hope that you're planning on stepping out in faith for the things that you've hoped and prayed for and grabbing those things with both hands.

I hope you're planning on living every single blessed minute of your life and not wasting a second thinking thoughts that are not of love.

I hope you're planning on having fun and laughing a lot and not taking yourself or anyone else for that matter, so seriously - even when things are serious.

I hope you're planning on planting, growing and reaping more of the virtues that this world is lacking. They're all on the inside of us placed there by grace - if we'd only share our time with one another.

Yes, yes, plan. Plan like your life depends on it. Plan like there are no obstacles or illnesses or time constraints or lack. Lack of ... hmmmm ... time, money, resources or abundance. You have all that you need. If you need more, create it.

Plan to have more fun.

Plan to be more conscious.

Plan to be more.

Plan to be.

Just plan and see what you can accomplish.

God Bless You and those you love with a Happy & Most Healthy New Year!

P.S. This was the first year - Christmas and soon to be New Year - that I celebrate without my little spirit in the sky, my Mango Yoti Yoshimangasheito. I plan on loving him forever.

Christmas, etc.

I neglected to post these pictures of St. Mary's Basilica in Phoenix. It was such a special place. It's important to see.

And, I almost forgot the next one too.

Remember the old confessionals? I call them old I guess because I don't see them very often any more. The don't build them like they used to. This one is ominous looking isn't it? Makes my knees shake just looking at it.

Flash Back - My First Confession

I can see the space in between Father O'Reilly's two front teeth behind the mesh grating that was supposed to protect my identity. Paaallleeeezze. If I can see him - he can see me!!! Besides, everyone saw me go in the confessional and everyone saw me come out. There would be no secrets. The jig was up and I had to tell the priest all my sins. I remember barely getting the words out. 'Bless me Father for I have sinned. This is my first confession. These are my sins. I fought with my sister, I didn't clean my room and once, I lied'. Gulp!

Father O'Reilly smiled and handed out the standard penance of five Hail Mary's and two Our Father's. Whew. Piece of cake. It would be a few years yet before I'd have to do hard time staying behind to dust pews and clean the convent. LOL!

Jim's parents Carmella and Jim Sr. are a lot of fun especially around Christmas time. (Jim's Dad looks a little like Santa in this picture - yeah, Mr. & Mrs. Kringle teeheehee).

For the past thirteen years Carmella has made a huge fish feast for the family on Christmas Eve and Jim Sr. hasn't missed a beat. On Christmas morning, he cooks a great prosciutto, egg, potato, bacon, sausage, toast, coffee and juice feast. He never cooks so this is special. I absolutely love the tradition. This year we had the added bonus of going to hear the men's choir at St. Lucy's Church in Newark. Jim's been threatening to sing with the choir and we think we saw his lips move once - but we're not sure. We thoroughly enjoyed midnight mass together. Who knows? Maybe a new family tradition is starting? As for the choir, I should've video taped some of it - but hey - it was late - we did have a little wine with the fish feast, I was lucky to get this shot with Jim's phone - the perspective is from the upstairs choir room. Pretty huh?

BTW, Jim's parents are still married - to each other. No really. They still live in the same house that Jimmy grew up in. I think they've been married for almost fifty years. That's incredible.

Then it was off to my Dad's for a little Christmas day celebration.

I don't remember laughing harder than when my brother Tony gave my Dad this jacket. My Dad absolutely loathed it! Check out the videos below. The lighting isn't that great, but they're hysterical.

Dad's Jacket Part I

Dad, you look so comfy in your new jacket. I bet as I type these words that jacket has already been returned and/or exchanged. Thank God for the video tape.

And, who is that guy sitting next to my husband? Oh yeah, brother-stunt-man Tony showed up with his new Madison dye-do! I'm not sure Tony, but I think we were thinking Madison dye-don't. Otherwise people might think you're under suspicion...not that there's anything wrong with that.

Which one is Toshie and which one is Buscie??

Okay, last video. Isn't it great making fun of your parents? Tony started it. Ha!

Still in the Moment

Here are two more shots from my night at MSU.


I can't wait to go back. We're talking about doing a Reiki Workshop!!!

Of course, I'll keep you posted.

Love and life are made manifest every day in every breath we take, if we choose them to be.

Love and life can be included with morning tea, afternoon lunch, dinner and dessert and if you're lucky, everything in between.

Despite our circumstances.

I realize how hard that is, how hard life can sometimes be, and how easy it is to give in and compromise where we shouldn't. But don't. Don't backslide. Stay the love and life course.

1st Corinthians 13:4-7

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."

13"And now these three remain; faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

Realize that by the Grace of Almighty God you are here but for a moment on this planet, in this universe, in this galaxy with the rest of human and spirit kind as well as all living things.

What you choose to do with this moment effects the entire universe, least of all your individual world.

So, in the face of a life or death choice "choose life" as Jesus commanded quoting Moses.

The Old Testament Book of Deuteronomy talks about blessings and curses, life and death. This is really powerful. I've read through the Old and New Testaments and these passages have always stayed with me. Moses wrote the Book of Deuteronomy with means "second law". After forty years the Israelites were about the enter the Promised Land of Canaan. But before they did, Moses wanted to remind them of their history, all that God had done for them, and the laws they had to continue to obey as God's chosen people. Bet you didn't know that it was Moses who told the people to 'love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your strength' in order to continue to enjoy God's blessing.

Interesting to note that these Holy Words are only 320 pages into the Bible. I've included the whole Chapter.

Deuteronomy 30
Prosperity After Turning to the LORD

When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come upon you and you take them to heart wherever the LORD your God disperses you among the nations, 2 and when you and your children return to the LORD your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, 3 then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you. 4 Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the LORD your God will gather you and bring you back.

5 He will bring you to the land that belonged to your fathers, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. 6 The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live. 7 The LORD your God will put all these curses on your enemies who hate and persecute you. 8 You will again obey the LORD and follow all his commands I am giving you today.

9 Then the LORD your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The LORD will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your fathers, 10 if you obey the LORD your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

The Offer of Life or Death

11 Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. 12 It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, "Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, "Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" 14 No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.

15 See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. 16 For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

17 But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, 18 I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.

19 This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Can I get an AMEN! Wow. Moses was serious. Loving God has many benefits. Choosing to turn your back on God, not such a good idea.

The choice since the very beginning has always been ours. It is there for the taking. You can either embrace life or not, blessings or not. Be prepared though. Your choices have consequences.

As for me and my house, we are and always shall be in great anticipation of the continued blessings the King of the Universe prepares to bestow upon us. We shall receive them with great gratitude and humility and will declare that we have these things and can do these things because of the Great God we serve.

If you are experiencing a deeper awakening than ever before, you are not alone. There are millions of people on this planet at this very moment who are sending out Agape love, healing, and prayers, despite their circumstances, to everyone and anyone in need.

You can tap into and receive that energy by focusing your attention on love and life and healing. Ghandi said "be the change you want to see in the world". Begin by praying for the world, your world.

Choose life and be a part of the shift in our mindsets to seek after the things that are not of this world.

Dreams and Visions

Last night's dream was interesting. I dreamt it was a beautiful, calm, still night. I was alone, standing in what appeared to be an alley - or my backyard standing next to a familiar fence (we just put in a new fence). I was in a safe place. In the light of the night I saw some mist moving around me and then I looked up to see a full moon. I was completely filled with the knowledge of His Presence and I began to pray thankfully to My Most High God . . .

...would you believe something off into the distance called me away and I woke up to a ringing phone. ugggghhhhh!

I forgot about the dream until now. Truly, what a blessing to have such a great and awesome dream. My immediate interpretation was...Holy Emmanuel (meaning God with us; or God with me). Wow! That's humbling.

Psalm 8:4 "...what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him"?

I spend time in prayer seeking His Holy Countenance and then I have a dream like this one with Holy Mist and I know God is with me. I know God makes my path straight because I ask Him to. When the unpredictability of life happens, as it does everyday, I pray. And I tell you from the depths of my soul that Romans 8:28 is true.

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose." People always leave that last part out...they always say "...God works all things together for the good..." period and they stop there. But the rest of that Scripture is extremely important, "...for those that love Him, who have been called according to His purpose".

I believe we are all called to the Creators' higher purpose and whoever responds with openness and love and is ready for duty -- get this -- r e c e i v e s. Receives the necessary gifts, talents and faith to minister to and heal the world. That's what life is all about. Simple huh?

I am compelled to pray, seek and communicate about spiritual matters. I am in awe of the love I feel inside and I believe it can only be emanating from and returning to its source.

I make myself forever available to that source of light, love and miracles.

I believe that dream was God returning to me all the time that I put in. God knows the spiritual manifestation inside of me that is growing and is eternal. He knows that's the part of myself that I love to nurture most. He should know since He's placed that desire inside of me and He reinforces those notions every day (and every night : ).

Mighty Lessons Learned

One of the biggest mistakes that I've ever made was not allowing myself to feel something, whatever that may have been at the time.

Perhaps I was going through a painful experience and instead of facing it head on, praying about it, talking about it (with the right people) I would either pretend I wasn't feeling it, or numb myself by getting into even more trouble.

That set me back monumentally. It's self sabotage.

I realize we do these things because it's hard to feel bad feelings, sad feelings, insecure or frightening feelings. Sometimes life is not all sweetness and air. Sometimes it's damp and heavy and musty and depressing.

I have found that over time it is best to acknowledge and accept whatever it is. You have to eventually anyway if you want to lead a healthy, productive, evolved, illuminating, conscious, forgiving, nurturing (to yourself as well as others) and gift filled life.

If you allow yourself to turn away from that which haunts you, you will only continue to be haunted. Perhaps it will show up when you least expect it.

We trick ourselves into thinking 'this or that' doesn't bother us. That it's all under control. But then the ripples on the surface of our lake break, and the cycle of pain and denial begins all over again.

It becomes a re-living of that very experience that you thought you'd put behind you. It taunts you. It teases you. It has all the power over you as long as you choose not to face it.

Once you do face it head on, however, the flood gates of anxiety, fear, pain, sorrow, remorse, anger, they all release and come to the surface. At that point, you can either turn away because it's too much or you can work through it. You might get sicker before you get better, but like any infection with a little care it will clear up.

I have many emotional scars that I tend to. All mighty lessons learned. I don't try to deny that they exist or that I once felt a certain way in particular. I am who I am. I went through what I went through. Life happens to all of us and it makes us stronger in the end, I am convinced because I am proof.

Today, I am living in the present moment. If something arises on the surface and bothers me, I tend to look deeper to find the root (if there is one). I will allow myself to feel. Feel the sorrow. Feel the loss. Feel the insecurity of it all. If it is a deep rooted feeling and I know the origination, I pray and meditate and give that over to God. I 'give it over' to God by releasing it into the air, into the Spirit, into Grace.

God waits all day for us to give Him our struggles and He happily takes them and replaces them with peace, strength and a sense of space where there was none before. That space can then be used by God to teach us about the true essence of the strength in growing and evolving from humanity into Spirit.

Embrace the evolution and rejoice! What you are to be you are still becoming.

Love & Namaste

With Faith Like A Child . . .

If you haven't figured it out by now, I love photography. These are some images that I am very proud of. They make me laugh. They make me cry. Mostly, they make me smile.

Following are some of my most favorite people on the planet. They are the future of both spirit and humanity. In some cases, I believe the image captures both. They are intelligent, hysterical, creative, soulful, playful, generous, warm and full of love (to say the least).

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