Welcome
to Voices of Peace: a section
where Peace Ministers from the Beloved
World Directory share their personal
insights on topics that are relevant
to Peace, Peacemaking in our daily lives
and humanities evolution.
Loss
As A Gift ..by Cheryl
Hiebert M.Div.
Email:
cdh@kingston.net
Website:
www.sacred-journeys.ca
The
first thing you may say is, “What!
How can that be true?”
Upon
discovering that my time was limited and
coming to an end with a being I loved
more deeply than any other, I was in shock.
Nothing; no amount of spiritual awareness
or enlightenment can prepare you for this.
At least that’s what I thought.
The unreal aspect of it was overwhelming.
It felt like I was in a dense fog. So...then
you go through the so-called stages of
grief. And you realize that the things
that used to irritate you no longer seem
important. In fact, many aspects of life,
seemingly meaningful, lose their importance,
for there will be a day when that very
thing will be what you miss most dearly.
One
of the lessons in loss has been impermanence.
The concept didn’t fully sink in
before. But loss brings us there squarely;
to the truth – to many truths. One
of which is, that all things are impermanent
and do eventually end in the way we know
them – AND we discover that when
everything falls away, love is all there
is. Truly.
Loss
ironically feels like the deepest pain
you could possibly endure and at the same
time, the most profoundly deep love. Both
are magical. Loss teaches us about this
- and can be one of life’s grandest
gifts.
With
the “rawness” each moment
becomes precious. Every nuance of that
being becomes so very precious. Time takes
on new meaning. And then if we really
get it, it translates and extends itself
out to everything and everyone. Things
slow down and there is hope that each
treasured memory will remain intact as
the years pass. With every encounter we
now look deeply into the eyes of each
person or being, honouring the impermanence
of the moment, not wanting to miss one
single thing. Being truly present in all
ways is our way of being now.
There
is no more running away, no more denying
but sitting in the face of the truth,
of all that really matters – love.
Pure unconditional love.
BRIDGE
TO PEACE! ..by Carol
Anne Munro, M.Div.,
Minister of Peace, Facilitator, Inspirational
Messenger, Artist
Email:majestictransformation@gmail.com
Website:www.majestictransformation.com
The
realms of all possibilities are within
what Lynne McTaggart calls "the field."
When we are in the lower vibration of
fear, worry, anxiety, horror, terror,
sadness, depression, grief, anger, resentment,
hate, impatience, etc., we attract and
radiate it in the field for ourself and
others. We are then the bridge to the
lower vibrations.
In the
same respect, as a bridge to extreme high
vibrations of kindness, love, excitement,
respect, openness, fairness, uprighteousness,
courage, gentleness, our actions lead
us to fixing, helping, controlling others
and environment, fanaticism, judgment,
criticism, comparison, inequality, etc.
We swing
from one to the other depending on our
reaction to the situation determining
the degree of our pain or pleasure. In
pain we like to dramatize the negative.
In the extremes of pleasure, we like to
dramatize the magic, good fortune, luck.
We can rest assured we will have an equal
down for every up and up for every down
– just like the pendulum going back
and forth until it comes to the centre
of its path where peace, love, joy, abundance,
contentment and wellness reside.
When
we become the observer of the pendulum
of our life, we can see where we go too
far up or down and choose to come into
stillness within our heart where creativity,
unconditional love, peace, compassion,
detachment, appreciation/gratitude, and
wellness reside.
For
example, if self-hatred is showing up
in others around us as self-mutilation,
self-deprivation, over indulgence, addictions,
then we can know by our reaction and feeling
in our body whether we have an emotional
charge – the same thing within us
– thus, an opportunity to neutralize
our emotional charge. In neutralizing
the emotional charge within us, we heal
ourself and radiate peace to the field.
From the place of patient peaceful loving
neutrality, we become “the bridge”
for others, in their own time, to choose
life-giving ways.
As the
“the bridge,” appreciate the
flow of small miracles, in alignment with
the divine within, ever increasing.
The
Master and the Servant ..by
Sofia Magdalena, SFO
Email:
thandi1080@yahoo.com
Website:
www.sanctadivina.org
May
the wind blow away all my footsteps.
~from a bushman prayer
“There
are many things I’m good at,”
she says, “and I’m waiting
for Spirit to show me where to put my
gifts and talents.” As I see her
lengthy list of possible projects for
2009, I feel a great weight of a mountain
burying her, holding her immobile. I recall
the oft-quoted words of Rumi: “Love
is always the answer. Now, what was the
question?”
The
JOY of a spiritual peacemaker lies in
the knowing that CERTAINTY occurs only
in the simplicity of the moment-to-moment
willingness to love what is, fully, completely,
unconditionally: AGAPE, of course! And
this kind of lovingness knows no limits
and does not need to seek anything upon
which to focus itself.
AGAPE
continuously gives with a GENEROSITY that
assures ABUNDANCE.
AGAPE
dissolves the mountains of considerations
like water or sometimes burns them away
like fire, sometimes blows them away like
wind.
With
ego’s considerations gone, there
is nothing left but the JOY of AGAPE,
the JOY of CLARITY and UNDERSTANDING.
There is nothing left to serve but this
beautiful love. With all considerations
gone, there simply is the knowing of what
one is to be and do.
Make
no mistake, dear ones, AGAPE is the Master
and you are AGAPE!
Water
as My Teacher
..by Karen Rosasco
Email:
creatingbalancewithin@yahoo.com
As
I sit on the deck of my ocean front room
in the quiet small town of Gold Beach,
I am reminded of how much I too am like
the water of the Ocean. Perhaps it is
because I consist of approximately 55%
water, I drink water for hydration, I
cleanse my body with water, or that it
really is my grandest teacher.
All
along the shore I witness the gentle or
sometimes fierce way in which the ocean
churns and crashes, in never quite the
same manner, yet its affects are always
identical. Rocks tumble, waves roll and
the sand ripples as the ocean breathes
with each wave. Through its persistent
action of rolling the rocks in the waves,
or crashing against large boulders, each
rock, over time, becomes smooth. The rough
edges are gently softened and sculpted
in a way that flows as the ocean itself.
Being
a Spiritual Peacemaker, I too transform
just like the rocks, as they represent
the many aspects of me. Water represents
the experiences in my life. As I learn
and grow, evolve and release judgment
and fear, my rough edges become a tad
smoother, a bit gentler, and more compassionate
and understanding. When storms come, and
they will, I can still stand in peace,
knowing the calm will follow as it always
does. I can take that energy and transform
it into dynamic actions.
There
are many sides to me as Spiritual Peacemaker,
both rough and smooth if you will, and
I need to accept all aspects of my Divine
being. Just like a drop of water is part
of the larger wave and ocean, I too am
part of the larger whole. With that, I
will continue to roll with the waves of
life, allowing the water to wash over
me, and honor the wisdom from my grand
yet humble teacher: Water.
ALMA
RUMBALL'S ART - of Spiritual Peacemaking
..by Wendy Oke
Email:wendy@almamatters.ca
Website:
www.almamatters.ca
About
The Artist, Alma Rumball:
Alma’s family pioneered in Muskoka
Ontario in the 1870’s, where she
lived most of her life. In the 1950’s,
following a vision of Jesus, she became
a clairvoyant recluse, , creating prolific,
intricate, colored pen and ink drawings,
born of a rich inner life. She watched
as “The Hand” drew by itself,
unfamiliar forms, faces, characters, separate
from her consciousness. Tibetan gods,
Joan of Arc figures and tales of Atlantis
revealed themselves. As a Christian, she
never claimed credit nor understanding.
She said she didn’t do them - “The
Hand” did. They have been called
the sacred
Language
of Light, containing activation codes
that may be accessed through meditation.
Wendy Oke is married to Alma’s nephew,
and in 1972 was given the soul mission
by Alma’s ‘genius’ guide,
Aba Pasha, to ‘take the drawings
to the world’. A retired teacher,
counselor and writer, Wendy has done presentations
of Alma’s art and writings for 32
years. An award-winning, televised documentary,
The Alma Drawings has gone global on the
Spiritual Cinema Circle DVD. As an ordained
Spiritual Peace Minister with James Twyman’s
Beloved Community, she marries couples
in Ontario, Canada.
Her website is www.almamatters.ca
Workshops
offering Alma’s images and their
overlay with the Emissary Wheel qualities
invite people to use the artwork as meditation
tools to acquire the desired attributes.
E.g. courage, patience, wisdom, certainty,
compassion, joy, clarity, understanding,
depth, generosity, abundance, agape. There
is a resonance between James’ source
for teachings in The Art of Spiritual
Peacemaking, Yeshua ben Joseph, and the
teachings offered by Alma’s Jesus
figure. The similarities are explored
in Wendy’s workshops. James owns
the Joan of Arc drawing.
A
deepening of this connection happened
on the trip to Egypt and Israel with James,
following the path of Moses, leading the
Hebrews out of bondage to the Promised
Land. The essence of the Jesus energy
there penetrated Wendy’s consciousness,
reinforcing the connection between the
two teachings.
Photo
of Wendy Oke and James Twyman with Joan
of Art Picture in May 2005.
Building
a Resonance of Peace
..by Rev. Cynthia J. Reiber, Spiritual
Peacemaker
Email:
cjpeacemaker@gmail.com
Website:
www.celestial-joy.com
Blog:
http://resonantpeace.blogspot.com/
In our
world today, with the media able to point
out every wrinkle and flaw on the planet,
it would be easy to succumb to fear, throw
hands in the air and exclaim, “It’s
hopeless.” Many are talking about
their fears, praying about them, trying
to find solutions for them. Even more
may not voice their fears, but they feel
them nonetheless.
Being
a Minister of Peace and a student and
teacher of the principles of the Law of
Attraction, it seems to me that the basic
flaw in these activities is that they
focus on what is not wanted, rather than
on what is wanted. This only serves to
feed fear and bring more of the same.
Even if they remain unspoken, fears are
still felt. If fear is the dominant resonance,
fear, or the object of the fear, is what
predominantly manifests. Admittedly, it
is difficult to turn focus to what you
want when what you don’t want seems
so blatantly in your face, but here is
where creating a new set of beliefs and
behaviors, a new neural net, makes all
the difference.
Have
you noticed that once you know something,
you cannot go back to un-knowing it?
I tell
you, you are the conduit for peace on
Earth. Each individual emanating a clear
resonance of peace then becomes the critical
path. Focusing on three of the attributes
from the Emissary Wheel can assist in
closing the gap between feeling fear and
feeling peace, and thus raise the global
resonance of the world to peace:
The
Three C’s
Courage
... to see the world in our own way
Certainty ... that peace and love are
the core of all beings and all circumstances
Clarity ... of vision such that the resonance
of peace is unwavering
Being
Peacemakers means that no matter what
appears to be happening in the world,
we hold true to our knowing and the resonance
of peace so clearly that peace is inevitable.
Together, we can do it.
Namasté!
What
will you do today, to be an advocate for
a child in your life?
by
Ariella Grace Magdalena
Email:
ariella@sanctadivina.org
Website: www.sanctadivina.org
& www.SelfDesign.com
I must
create a system
or be enslaved by another man's;
I will not reason and compare:
my business is to create.
~William Blake
We
never change things by fighting the existing
reality.
To change something, build anew model
that makes the existing model obsolete.
~R. Buckminster Fuller
Our
blessed children that are incarnating
on this planet right now, are here to
show us the way. We don't need to figure
out how to create peace, we only need
the willingness to listen to our children.
They are here to BE peace.
My prayer
is that every conscious adult, will find
the courage to advocate for these children.
For me, this means creating systems that
allow them to be educated in an organic,
holistic way, that honors who they are,
their interests, and how they learn. Learning,
without relevance, is pointless. Learning
without complete regard and reverence
for the uniqueness of each individual
child, is abusive.
The
children incarnating now, are coming in
wide awake. There is no work for them
to do, their Divine-knowing switch is
turned on. As adults, if we want to transition
into a way of being that is peace, we
MUST allow these children to remain spiritually
whole.
When
we are supporting, empowering, and trusting
our youth, in the process of leading their
own educations, in 50 years we will have
experienced the largest quantum leap in
humanity this planet has ever known.
What
will you do today, to be an advocate for
a child in your life?
Peace
in the Body
..by Rev. Wm Guillermo
Ortiz
Email:
gortiz2@earthlink.net
My father was my first movement teacher,
and a tough one at that. He ran a small
moving company in downtown Los Angeles
called Ortiz Transfer which consisted
of him and his young sons. He’d
yell out his “lessons” to
us while on jobs, "Use your legs!"
"Watch where you're going!"
And my favorite, “Dammit, RELAX!"
For years I resented what I viewed as
forced labor. I realized early on I
preferred to move my body in a different
way. I became a cross-country runner and
devoted my weekends to dance. Eventually,
I became involved in the study of t’ai
chi ch’uan in my mid-twenties.
T’ai
chi ch’uan (“supreme ultimate
fist”) has its roots in ancient
China, being both a sophisticated martial
art and a complete health system. It is
a movement sequence which integrates body
and mind, inner and outer energies with
the very forces of heaven and earth. The
basic principles are deep relaxation,
natural breathing, suspended head top
and slow continuous movement. When these
principles are learned and embodied in
practice, a state of energized calm pervades
one’s entirety.
It was
this feeling that sustained my practice
through many years and
provided a foundation for physical and
spiritual awakening. I realized that our
bodies are exquisite and magnificent creations
that can avail us to the most extraordinary
states of peace, poise and happiness.
It seemed clear that when we treat our
own bodies with respect, care and kindness,
we are more likely to treat others the
same. With this understanding, I moved
towards a greater desire to become a peacemaker
and undertook my studies with the seminary.
I
believe that generating peace in our bodies,
by whatever means, leads to generating
peace in the body of the world. So may
we breathe, relax, align and connect with
our embodiment of this precious human
life.
To
paraphrase the words of St. Francis, “Lord,
make my body an instrument of your peace.”
THE
RESONANCE OF CREATION ~ HEALING AND PEACEMAKING
THRU THE ARTS ..by Lisa
Roma
Email:
halfmoontheatrco@aol.com
Website: www.halfmoontheatrecompany.com
&
www.myspace.com/thehalfmoontheatrecompany
Years ago, someone
told me that I minister thru my music.
I had not thought of it that way. At least,
I had forgotten what I originally knew.
During
a moment of depression when I was 15,
I vowed in prayer to help and heal people
and make them happy using all my creative
talents, the ones I knew about and the
ones I had yet to discover. And in that
moment, had a glimpse into the future
and knew that I would be combining my
natural talents with new creative skills
in unique ways in the future to “make
a difference.” From then on, I was
always conscious of having clear mind
and pure loving thoughts whatever I was
creating, music, art or poetry.
Since
age 2, my father had accustomed me to
listening to every genre of music in his
record collection, and I especially loved
Broadway showtunes. I began writing poetry
at 16, and composing songs on piano when
I was 17. I desperately wanted to learn
guitar, and have been self-taught since
age 20, when I opened up to receive divinely
inspired “songpoems.”
Never
having studied theatre, I began writing
the outline for my first musical in the
mid-1990s. Shortly after auditioning for
Rob Darnell’s Poetic Notion Chorus
in December 2006, we discovered we had
separately been writing the same musical
over the years. This began our collaboration,
and the Half Moon Theatre Company was
born. We’ve been performing our
music together and co-producing various
music shows ever since, highlighting other
artists’ work besides our own. We
are currently working on developing Arts
and Education workshops for youth.
Last
year, I had an intention to bring writing
to the prison population. This year I
am giving ex-prisoners a voice thru writing
workshops in a NYC organization, hoping
they will want to publish, and eventually
introducing them to theatre and spoken
word performance. Whomever I work with,
I bring the art of spiritual peacemaking,
and I see healing take place.
Water:
The healing element ..by
Bobby Jenusaitis
Email:
hopelovenow@yahoo.com
Among the many challenges facing the future
well-being of our world, the health of
water is perhaps the most urgent. The
tenuous condition of our water makes the
possibility of a loving and peaceful world
just that more remote. While there are
many things which need to be done in order
to better care for the water of the world,
caring for the water inside of us is the
springboard for the healing of our wider
world.
Through my work with various teachers
who work closely with water, such as Dr.
Masuro Emoto and Malidoma Some', I can
say with some certainty that water is
the key to healing. Dr. Emoto teaches
how energy vibration effects the quality
of water. In our bodies, which are made
up of between 70 and 80% water, the ability
for us to live a healthy and peaceful
life depends on how our water is doing.
As a peacemaker we must love our water.
We can love our water by simply respecting
it. This means drinking enough of it daily
and making sure we are allowing ourselves
to love unconditionally. As we allow love
to become the central motivating force
in our lives, water will be healed. In
addition, doing what we can to ensure
the availability of clean water to everyone
in this world is another way in which
the healing of our collective humanity
will be achieved.
Next
VOICES of PEACE Edition
~ June 21st, 2009
Thank
you to all the Peace Ministers
who have offered their wisdom
for this fourth edition.
*Please note: The
information shared above
are Personal Insights shared
by each Peace Minister.
Their words, beliefs and
ideas are personal to them
and are not approved or
endorsed by Beloved World
and its founders.
To
view Previous Editions click
below on the Edition
Edition
#1 June 2008 ~ Edition
#2 September 2008 ~
Edition
#3 December 2008
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