We all like shorthand techniques.  It’s why emoticons were invented in our text messages, and all sorts of other abbreviations!  Heck, it’s why we have texting!   Soon I’ll command my TV with my voice, and  have a plethora of APPS that specialize in making my daily tasks faster (or so I think).

Sometimes shortcuts are not shortcuts.  Consider our speech, for instance.  Often when I think I am conserving words, I am actually creating misunderstanding!   Have you ever said something that you thought was clear … perhaps expedient in getting your message across … only to spend the next 5 hours explaining that what you said was not what you meant!?? 

Speech shortcuts, although expedient, miss the whole point of the richness of interaction and connection.  Worse, perhaps, is when our shortcuts alienate or wound others.  Shorthand characterization as a means of quick communication is an example of the latter.    We may say things like,  “well, she is blonde” and expect others to know what that means, as if the categorization by appearance expresses a multitude of qualities without the need for other dialogue.   We  describe tendencies, skills or aptitudes of someone by identifying them with a particular ethnic group or geographical area.  And then we say, “you know what I mean” expecting that all is understood by the unspoken insinuations.

Let’s bring back the long, slow, carefully thought out dialogue in life!  Let me, as the Buddha reminds us, engage in “Right Speech” in my life.  No More Shortcuts!   Let every word I speak be the most accurate, heartfelt description of my thoughts and feelings, and let me not be a propagator of erroneous collective consciousness about any class or group of person based on race, appearance, sexual orientation, education, country or religion in order to be expedient. 

And … let me be gentle, compassionate, and forgiving of self and others as together we learn to build a world that works more beautifully for all of us.

Our words are Precious .. And so are We.

Rev. Dr. Kristin Hawkins

Years ago I was contemplating the decision I had made to “go back into” a particular line of work, and considering how unhappy I was with that which used to excite and motivate me.  It felt as if something was calling me forward into the unknown, and I knew deep inside that I was resisting the call.

Driving home one day from work  I heard –  yes “heard” – a voice that simply said,  “God does not say ‘Been There – Done That’!”  In that moment I knew that I had to let go, and trust what was to unfold in my life next.  Just a few short months later I entered ministerial school 🙂

We all make decisions to “go back into” something?  A job, a relationship, habits, beliefs and perspectives.  Sometimes there is indeed more for us to gain or learn .. and sometimes we are simply falling back into the familiar and comfortable. 

Richard Rohr once said, “True religion is always a deep intuition that we are already participating in something very good, in spite of our best efforts to deny it or avoid it. “  The “very good” is the Life of Spirit.  Spirit has two great desires … to expand and to express.  For both, It requires forms through which to work, and for both it requires that these forms change.

You and I –  we are designed to expand and express.  And I’m not talking about our waste lines!  We are designed to continually expand our capacity to express the Divine manifesting Itself through us.  We are called, therefore, to move forward into the great next impulsion of Spirit living Itself as us.

Have you found yourself saying, “Been There, Done That”?  Is it time to answer a call?

You are Precious.  You are Awesome

Rev. Dr. Kristin 

I’m always amazed at the power of a simple affirmation.   The power of our spoken word to bring forth that which we declare is one of the greatest wonders of the world, as far as I’m concerned.  

Sometimes we don’t realize that the affirmations we use every day produce the continuation of conditions that we don’t want in our lives.  Listen to what is being re-created around you and you’ll hear things like :   “I just know the traffic is going to be heavy today, and I’ll be late”, or  “they will be out of the tickets by the time I get to the front of the line”, or “I’m going to run out of this paint before I finish.”   There are lots of ways that we draw on our history to re-declare into the present and future  that which we have experienced in the past.   If we liked the past, that might be a good thing for us.  But often if we were aware of what we were re-creating through our affirmations, we’d be shocked!

Consider this.   Every possibility, every experience imaginable, exists in the Universal Realm.  Quantum physics reveals to us that all possible outcomes exists at any given moment in “wave form”.   The thing that causes the “particularization” of the wave, bringing one of the infinite possibilities into tangible  form, is our observation or awareness. It is only when our consciousness interacts with one of the many possibilities that this possibility becomes part of our reality.  Like an atmosphere filled with vaporized water, nothing precipitates out so that we can see it until our consciousness calls it forth.

Affirmations represent a window into our consciousness.  They are the powerful tools of the rainmaker in us.  Believing is not only seeing, but believing is the thing itself that calls forth into our experience that which already is in the infinite field of possibility.

Makes me wonder what I’m forecasting for my day, and for my life.  How about you?

You are Precious.  You are Awesome!

Rev. Dr. Kristin

One of my favorite quotes from Ernest Holmes, the founder of Religious Science, is “Faith is the mental attitude which is so convinced of its own idea – which so completely accepts it – that any contradiction is unthinkable and impossible.”

We all have faith.  The question is what do we have faith in?   When my faith is in fear, I am so completely convinced of the idea of fear, so accepting of fear, that any contradiction is unthinkable and impossible.  We’ve probably all been there.  Faith in fear paralyzes us and tends to produce more fear in our lives.   This is not only a spiritual principle, but a scientific principle as well.  We live in a universe of infinite possibilities.  That which we focus on, believe in, and are convinced of in our own minds is reproduced in our outer world.  Given this truth, what would you like to consciously choose to put your faith in?

We all can pile up the evidence in our mind that validates what we should or should not have faith in.  Ultimately, however, we have a choice.   I’ve chosen to have faith in God as a universal principle whose nature is absolute Love, Peace, Abundance, and Wisdom.  I believe that the universe is inherently a friendly place.  I believe that there is enough and that we are each a perfect expression of God, one with It.

With this description of my faith, when life does not appear consistent with these beliefs, I don’t change my belief (remember faith is so convinced of itself that “any contradiction is unthinkable and impossible”), but rather challenge the appearances and my perceptions.  If life is looking unfriendly, when it appears there is not enough, when I feel separate from my neighbor, my faith says  – “I know you, and you are not the truth!”  With strong faith I am no longer at the effect of temporary circumstances, and because of the nature of my faith I reproduce more love, peace, abundance and wisdom in my life.

Faith is the single most powerful factor in our lives.  It reproduces itself as the experiences of our life and supports us in walking through the challenges of life.  May we choose it wisely.

You are Precious.  You are Awesome.

Rev. Dr. Kristin Hawkins

(Listen to the full talk at http://namastetalks.posterous.com/rev-dr-kristin-one-carry-on-only-please-12920)

How many times have you had a thought of someone for no apparent reason, only to see them the very next day, have them call you, or get some news of them.  Sometimes we pro-actively  act on these seemingly random thoughts of others, and sometimes we don’t.

The reasons we don’t reach out seem valid …  "It’s probably nothing", "I don’t want to intrude".   And yet often the times I have not reached out, taking the clue offered me, I have regretted it.  And I sure have never minded when others have checked in with me.

I’ve decided on a new practice for 2012.   It’s called my "I Just Thought of You – Call to Action"   It’s simple.  When I spontaneously think of someone, or when I realize I have not seen someone at church for a bit,  I’m going to take an action.   Perhaps it will be a hand written note, a text, a call, or an email …but in some way I’m going to take an action and reach out.  

Join me?  Together we can reach out a huge web of love and support.  Who knows the difference we might make.  Perhaps you’ll reach out just when someone needs your love.

You are Precious.  You are Awesome.

Rev. Dr. Kristin Hawkins