We awaken to these present moments. We come in from mugginess and rain-forest humidity to learn, to challenge, to comfort – to enjoy the now and to anticipate the hours of this grand day. The lilies now brag of beauty: colors of orange, yellow, red. All nature so vibrant and full. As creation cruises into summer strength and growth, we, too, stand up into life’s stream of challenges and conveniences this day. We think about our thinking: Letting go and taking on as dynamic dancing partners of consciousness and awareness What a tough and awesome thing it is to be human…and to now move more closely and bravely into Being and awakening beyond ego’s domain.

We celebrate personal growth and the individual creating and awakening to higher purpose. We honor the quest, the determination, the being - the day-to-day glimpses and experiences of greater freedom beyond our inner prisons and attachments. And as we affirm personal transformations, so too do we affirm ourselves as gifts to this world in need and in wait. For personal transformation alone or done in selfish pursuit, leaves a world aching and yearning for true healing and health; and transforming the world without residing in a reservoir of freeing awareness or fresh consciousness may be seen as another exploit of the ego, done for personal gain and causing more harm in the end. Ah, what a balancing act.

May our personal expansiveness result in deep-seeded peace and justice woven so intimately in the fabric of our lives that it touches and textures this world for everyone’s benefit. Indeed, may we be the change we wish to see in this world. Would we be about awakening so that we would present our better and best selves to the world so in need of new life, new hope, mercy, kindness and justice flowing down like waters. Amen. Let it be.

Even now, we awaken to our connections with ones loved; we affirm intimacies with our neighbors near and far. Do we realize what we contribute to or take away with our daily litany of words, thoughts, actions, attitudes, cares, cynicisms, hopes? As we remember so many within our human family, the war-torn, the hungry, the dying, soldiers, presidential candidates, friends, family, the hospitalized and homeless, may we create possibilities of care and connect life to life with deepening being and awareness – presenting ourselves, our energies and loving-kindness to the friendless, the song-less, the hope-less.

Like Jesus and countless sages, saviors, authors and prophets across traditions and ages, may we honor and celebrate personal growth and a new spirituality that would be enjoyed ourselves and then presented as living gifts and presence to our fellow sojourners through this amazing and wow-evoking life. Amen.

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