Where's our focus?

Things are not always what we think they are.

Or, seeing is not believing.

This little optical illusion is making its way around the Internet.

The link below goes to a circle of moving dots. They appear to be all pink. But if you focus on the center of the circle, one dot becomes green and scurries around the circumference.

The instructions say if you really focus on the center of the circle, the pink dots fade away, and you only see the green dot.

http://www.tonyboon.co.uk/imgs/illusions/dotcircle.htm

One conclusion might be that what we see depends on where we look, where our focus is.

Taking this a step further, if we are looking only at all our problems (all those pink dots), that's all we are going to see.

But if we change our focus to the good that is central to our very being, to that Higher Power that most people believe in, we see something that wasn't apparent before.

And then, instead of just going around and around in circles, our glimpse of spiritual reality (green dot) leads us to think in new ways that break out of the cycles of limitation. Solutions become apparent, even if sometimes only a step at a time.

Our willingness to leave old ways of looking at things for more inspired views gives us courage to take steps we might not have thought of before.

We are never trapped. Often what's needed for progress is a change of focus.

A 19th century spiritually-minded woman observed,

Mortal mind sees what it believes
as certainly as it believes what it sees.
Mary Baker Eddy
`

How many shades of green in infinity?

A busy stream in Vancouver's rain forest

Are there an infininte number of shades of green?

Joan and I took a before-dinner walk in West Vancouver’s “Canyon.”

The trail begins in the city, and works its way into rain forest. No kidding. A soggy, damp and most beautiful rain forest. Stumps, trees, branches – become a fashion show for as many shades of green as possible. Moss and/or lichens cover everything in jade. Just for variety, one forested hillside is layered with dark ivy. Another with bright ferns. The trail is natural mulch.

Everything is green! Everything.

There had been a recent heavy storm. Already cleanup crews had cut newly fallen logs and pulled them from the path. Washed out paths had warning tape across them, with signs pointing to hastily constructed detours.

We met lots of people – many walking, or running, with their dogs. Dogs are so good-natured, thrilled to be invited to go anywhere their people are going.

After a couple of hours, Joan answered my unasked question, “Yes, there is a purpose to this walk. Only a little further.”

Hidden between the mountains and the rainforest -- Capilano Dam. Vancouver’s water supply.

Off to the east pine-covered mountains perched patiently under low clouds. You had the feeling their tops were in the sunshine.

At eye level, hikers leaned on the railings to view the cataract that plunged magnificently, apparently from beneath our very feet.

Mist rises from beneath our very feet

The dam is manmade, and serves its purpose well. But the magnificent mountains, the incredible rain forest, even the "idea" for a dam to store drinking water. These things make us ask with the psalmist, “What is man that You even take notice of him?”

Going forward

Hiking down from "lunch in the clouds"

A willingness to go forward, and not to quit, is important in so many facets of our life experience.

After lunch, we four (see previous blog post, below) came down from not-quite-the-summit of Mount Gardiner, to find the road that would lead us through fields and fern forests to Elaine’s cabin overlooking the Pacific.

Somebody mentioned that a bus frequents this road. The option of riding back to the village and catching the ferry a day early appealed splendidly to my toes and legs. At the point of decision, Joan asked if I wanted to go on to the cabin (opposite direction from the ferry).

It was really dear of these Canadians to be sharing their special hiking treasures, and I didn’t want to disappoint them. It’s important to know that I’d been praying a lot all day to be a blessing rather than a burden.

When asked about the remaining terrain, was there much up and down, Elaine assured me, “Oh no, just a little up.” Yet it was startling to hear myself agreeing to continue to the cabin.

My prayer at this point became urgent.

“Father,” I said, “If you are sending me to this cabin, you’ll have to get me there. I cannot walk another step.”

In retrospect, this was not a bad prayer. Jesus had explained to his disciples that he could do nothing by himself, but depended totally on his Father in heaven.

It is spiritually healthy to be at the point of realizing that we can do nothing without aid from “above.” Somehow that low mental point often flings thought open to really letting God help. To letting God be God.

My sense of God is that He/She is infinite Mind, always active, always revealing creation, unfolding solutions to our human problems all the time. Mostly it’s a matter of our listening carefully and attentively enough to hear or see them.

Within just a couple of minutes of having agreed to go forward, the pain in my legs vanished. It was just gone. Gratefully I caught up with Joan, and we closed the gap somewhat with the gals who were leading.

In the cabin at last!

The uphill grades were indeed gentle. Cheeses and homemade bread for dinner tasted terrific. After the sun set, candles, substituting for electricity, lent a peaceful warmth to conversation .

And I learned once again the importance of being willing to go forward --whatever that means in one’s particular circumstances.

Lunch in Vancouver clouds!

Karin Heath at Camp Bow-Isle

shares her delicious homemade cookies!

My first clue that these women were serious hikers came when Joan offered some “hockey tape” for protecting friction areas on my (tender Midwestern American) feet. No, she didn’t need any tape for a short (8-hour) hike like this one.

So we walked a couple of blocks to the bus (I am learning to appreciate communities with good public transportation!), connected with Elaine and Shirley, caught the ferry and, following a ten-minute trip across the water, walked off the ferry into a quaint little village.

Some background: I knew Joan was a hiker, and when she invited me to visit her and Jim, I asked if we might do some hiking. She graciously arranged a very special trip with her hiking club (another clue) to Elaine’s A-frame on the Bowen Island.

So now from the village straight into the forest we trekked, first to a pre-season tour of summer Camp Bow-Isle which Joan had kindly arranged. Karin Heath graciously shared her delicious cookies with us, and we eagerly scarfed down more than was polite.

Her husband and camp director, Jon, and their black lab graciously guided us straight up through a magnificent pine forest for about an hour, to connect us with the path to our luncheon view.

After lunch. Notice the fog/coud to Elaine's left.

We lunched near the summit of Mount Gardiner on a cloud-drenched slanty rock – empty plastic bags serving as sit-upons and keeping our bottoms dry. Surrounded by a mist of gray tree trunks, we munched happily, nonetheless, on very good sandwiches on home-made bread.

This day I learned the grace of friends and total strangers. Seasoned hikers that they were, they could have reached the lunch rock an hour earlier had they not frequently and cheerfully, it must be added, stopped and waited for their Illinois "flatland" novice to catch up.

Being on the receiving end of compassion and patience – over and over – was something new for me. It’s amazing how humble and grateful at the same time, it makes you feel.

A rambling week

Hello Dear Readers,

This is to let you know I'm taking a week off.

See you the week of June 15th!

Meanwhile, may you have wonderful insights and find ways to share them with others.

Until next week!

Sandi

Listening, not judging

My friend, Kathy, teaches classes for business people to learn to communicate effectively. She has been learning to listen for inspired ideas, to let God as Mind help her prepare for the classes.

In each class there is usually somebody who isn’t happy about having to be there. And she finds it tempting to make a quick judgment about this type of person as a “loud mouth,” a “bully,” or “anti social.”

When this happens, she finds herself spending way too much time fretting about these annoying personalities. Eventually she reminds herself that these classes belong to God. That He/She brings the people who are to be blessed.

The interesting thing is that the difficult people always come around to understand how they can be part of the solution in their companies, instead of being part of the problem.

And my friend has realized that God as Truth hasn’t given her the responsibility of judging His/Her children. She has watched time and again as these men and women begin to take an honest look at how their behavior and language affects others; she has seen softening and a willingness to change replace harshness and anger. She knows she doesn’t cause these changes.

She has come to realize that God as Truth doesn’t burden her with a responsibility to spend her time judging people and then having to worry about them. Her job is to provide an atmosphere that allows people to feel safe among their colleagues. And she has found that she can trust God to reveal the good that is inherently within them.

Assuming responsibilities God hasn’t given us, makes us feel uncomfortable, and then we wonder why. That’s the time to really listen for what the Bible refers to as that “still small voice” of Truth.

I’ve found that God does care, and is very helpful – if we really want to know what to do next and the best way to do it. And – oh yes, this is a big one – if we are willing to completely drop our own preconceptions about how and what we should be doing. Then we are ready to listen.

Making a difference

“I challenge you to think about what it means to be significant. Success is about your own achievements. Significance is about what you do for others.” Eboo Patel, founder and executive director of Interfaith Youth Core, Chicago.

Patel's Youth Core helps young people make a significant difference in their communities and in the world.

This was a new concept for me. Success is about self; significance is about others.

The world is full of heroes. The real heroes are usually not those in positions of power -- not the presidents, the kings, or the generals. The real heroes are those who have forgotten self in serving others.

Think Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Mother Theresa. The disciple Judas was successful, but the man he betrayed has been significant through centuries.

Twentieth century American reformer Mary Baker Eddy knew how to make a genuine difference. “Forget self," she wrote, "in laboring for mankind.”

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Is it easier to be successful or significant?

Who do you know, or know of, who has made a difference in the lives of others?

Click here and give your two cents worth!

Brief example of how the Youth Core makes a difference.