Meditation Instructions for Sun., September 25, 2016

For this Sunday, September 25th, the focus for our meditation will be on Appreciation.  A schoolteacher in Florida named Chris Ulmer begins every day spending several minutes one-on-one with his students just to shower them with praise and let them know how much he Appreciates them as individuals.  Over time he found this practice modified their behavior with each other.  Soon he noticed students spontaneously complimenting each other and showing more patience with their fellow classmates.  By feeling Appreciated they more readily wanted to interact with others in a loving way rather than with anger.  The power of being acknowledged and Appreciated was transformative and helped his students to blossom as individuals.  This week when we look across this nation at all the strife that has resulted in acts of violence, in protests, and in anger and hatred let us consider how to help our country be transformed through the power of love and praise.  Find opportunities over the next week to let others know how much you Appreciate them for who they are.  Reach out to someone who may be different from you and acknowledge them in a way that makes them feel valued.  Let those in law enforcement who truly want to serve and protect know that they, too, are Appreciated for the difficult work they do.  By modeling our readiness to express Appreciation for others may we generate a wave of change that extends far beyond our communities and helps this nation ease the struggles that appear to want to consume us. 

In our efforts this week let us also continue to use the energy of our prayers and meditation to amplify the light that covers and fills this nation.  As we perform our meditation this week let us begin by re-energizing the brilliance and power of the light we create.  Just as before, begin by forming a concentrated ball of light that is so bright it is almost impossible to look directly at it.  Raise this sphere of light up high over the nation and then let its rays cascade down to create a solid, impenetrable dome of light that completely covers every inch of our country.  From shore to shore and border to border let the entire continent be filled with this brilliant, dense light that will serve to magnify the best and highest qualities of our country and the people who live across its vast lands. 

Please follow the same practice as before: Get centered in your body, ask to bring in your guides and others who are there to assist us, and connect to the circle of others participating in this project.

Ask yourself what do I feel in my body when others express Appreciation for who I am?  How does it feel in my body when I see the impact that can change someone else when I relate how much I Appreciate them?  Then send the energy and intention of those feelings to the nation.

Be sure to disconnect from the circle at the end and express thanks for those who have helped us in this effort.

If you have feedback or experiences you would like to share please let me know via e-mail to kmiritello@gmail.com

Meditation Instructions for Sun., September 18, 2016

For this Sunday, September 18th, the focus for our meditation will be on Priorities.  Last week saw the release of the movie, “Sully,” about the US Airways pilot, Captain Chesley Sullenberger, who successfully landed a plane in the Hudson River in New York City after losing both engines to a massive bird strike.  The incredible emergency landing in water was not attributed to mere luck but was very much a result of his hours of experience and preparation for just such a moment.  In his book, “Highest Duty,” Captain Sullenberger writes, “I had read enough about safety and cognitive theory.  I knew about the concept of ‘goal sacrificing.’  When it’s no longer possible to complete all of your goals, you sacrifice lower-Priority goals.  You do this in order to perform and fulfill higher goals…I knew instinctively and intuitively that goal sacrificing was paramount if we were to preserve life on Flight 1549.”  This lightning-fast Prioritization helped him realize he had to sacrifice the plane in order to save lives.  While hopefully most of us won’t ever be in a position of having to make such life or death decisions, we all can benefit from the wisdom he shares.  Some of us are held back from accomplishing as much as we are capable of because we cling to the need to perform everything on our list with perfection.  Perhaps we lack flexibility and feel that we must perform a sequence of actions in just the right order, but if we get hung up on the early tasks and are reluctant to set them aside undone, they can hinder our progress on the more important activities.  This week in our prayer and meditation let us examine the goals we have set for ourselves and the steps we believe we must follow to achieve them.  Are there intermediate steps that perhaps could be set aside or skipped that might interfere with how much we ultimately are able to do in the end?  Let us ask this week to be gently guided in the need to Prioritize our lives so we more clearly can see what truly matters and what may be sacrificed that would otherwise hold us back.

In our efforts this week let us also continue to use the energy of our prayers and meditation to amplify the light that covers and fills this nation.  As we perform our meditation this week let us begin by re-energizing the brilliance and power of the light we create.  Just as before, begin by forming a concentrated ball of light that is so bright it is almost impossible to look directly at it.  Raise this sphere of light up high over the nation and then let its rays cascade down to create a solid, impenetrable dome of light that completely covers every inch of our country.  From shore to shore and border to border let the entire continent be filled with this brilliant, dense light that will serve to magnify the best and highest qualities of our country and the people who live across its vast lands. 

Please follow the same practice as before: Get centered in your body, ask to bring in your guides and others who are there to assist us, and connect to the circle of others participating in this project.

Ask yourself what do I feel in my body when I am able to Prioritize what really matters and shed those things that are preventing me from making progress?  How does it feel in my body when I recognize I get so much more done when I am willing to sacrifice lower Priorities to focus on those that are more important?  Then send the energy and intention of those feelings to the nation.

Be sure to disconnect from the circle at the end and express thanks for those who have helped us in this effort.

If you have feedback or experiences you would like to share please let me know via e-mail to kmiritello@gmail.com

Meditation Instructions for Sun., September 11, 2016

For this Sunday, September 11th, the focus for our meditation will be on Togetherness.  This Sunday marks the fifteenth anniversary of the September 11^th terrorist attacks on our nation.  It was a cataclysmic moment that forever altered our lives.  One of the survivors, Michael Benfante, wrote a book about his experiences titled, “Reluctant Hero.”  He and a coworker were in the North Tower of the World Trade Center and on their long, grueling journey down the stairs from their office came across a woman in a wheelchair.  Together they carried her down sixty-eight floors and out to safety just moments before the building collapsed.  He didn’t think of himself as doing anything particularly heroic.  In his mind, the real heroes were all the firefighters he passed on his way down as they grimly made their way up toward the fires knowing it was likely to be an impossible task ahead of them.  After the event he was repeatedly interviewed and asked why he did what he did.  He said it was because he knew the only way they were going to make it was to help each other and stick Together.  In his book he wrote, “The message of 9/11 that desperately needs remembering is no more complicated than We’re in this together.  The this means this office, this classroom, this street, this town, this country, or wherever you find yourself standing.  And we need not wait for the next fire, the next explosion, or the next tragedy to find that out or to act that out.”  Fifteen years later our nation faces so many challenges most of which are internally generated and not from some external threat.  As we reflect this week on the tragedy that took place on September 11^th let us remember that we are so much stronger if we face our problems not in a spirit of divisiveness but in Togetherness.  In our prayers and meditation let us ask that the feeling of Togetherness that briefly knitted the wounds created by 9/11 be restored, and may we all come to realize the importance of being united Together as a nation to successfully overcome the challenges ahead.

In our efforts this week let us also continue to use the energy of our prayers and meditation to amplify the light that covers and fills this nation.  As we perform our meditation this week let us begin by re-energizing the brilliance and power of the light we create.  Just as before, begin by forming a concentrated ball of light that is so bright it is almost impossible to look directly at it.  Raise this sphere of light up high over the nation and then let its rays cascade down to create a solid, impenetrable dome of light that completely covers every inch of our country.  From shore to shore and border to border let the entire continent be filled with this brilliant, dense light that will serve to magnify the best and highest qualities of our country and the people who live across its vast lands. 

Please follow the same practice as before: Get centered in your body, ask to bring in your guides and others who are there to assist us, and connect to the circle of others participating in this project.

Ask yourself what do I feel in my body when I recognize the importance of being Together with others in facing a challenge?  How does it feel in my body when I realize we are stronger when aligned in a spirit of Togetherness than divisiveness?  Then send the energy and intention of those feelings to the nation.

Be sure to disconnect from the circle at the end and express thanks for those who have helped us in this effort.

If you have feedback or experiences you would like to share please let me know via e-mail to kmiritello@gmail.com

Meditation Instructions for Sun., September 4, 2016

For this Sunday, September 4th, the focus for our meditation will be on Infusion.  This Labor Day weekend I would like to draw attention to a skilled artisan in Singapore, a man named Heath Yeo.  Mr. Yeo abandoned a successful career as a clothing fashion designer to spend the next several years being tutored by an elderly woman in how to create “sulam,” a traditional form of embroidery known in that region.  His handiwork commands steep prices in comparison with mass-produced clothing that often involves a great deal of computerized fabrication.  For his customers, what distinguishes the quality of the delicate flowers and petals that ornament his fabrics is they appear more “alive” than their commercial counterparts.  His human touch Infuses the work with what the local people call “hidup,” meaning it comes alive.  I believe this is what captivates us with many art forms.  The artist’s energy and spirit Infuse their work and give it a vitality that draws our attention.  As we celebrate Labor Day this weekend let us consider what we produce in the world through our labors, whether vocational or avocational, and how much of ourselves do we put into the end result.  Do we Infuse ourselves in our work so the fruits of our labor come alive for others, or are we simply on autopilot going through the motions?  If we feel we have lost that zest for what we do let us ask to be assisted in regaining our enthusiasm so that we may be motivated to leave an Infusion of our energy and spirit in the product of our work.

In our efforts this week let us also continue to use the energy of our prayers and meditation to amplify the light that covers and fills this nation.  As we perform our meditation this week let us begin by re-energizing the brilliance and power of the light we create.  Just as before, begin by forming a concentrated ball of light that is so bright it is almost impossible to look directly at it.  Raise this sphere of light up high over the nation and then let its rays cascade down to create a solid, impenetrable dome of light that completely covers every inch of our country.  From shore to shore and border to border let the entire continent be filled with this brilliant, dense light that will serve to magnify the best and highest qualities of our country and the people who live across its vast lands. 

Please follow the same practice as before: Get centered in your body, ask to bring in your guides and others who are there to assist us, and connect to the circle of others participating in this project.

Ask yourself what do I feel in my body when I appreciate how something comes alive through an Infusion of the person’s spirit and energy?  How does it feel in my body when I am aware I am Infusing the product of my labors with more of myself to share with others?  Then send the energy and intention of those feelings to the nation.

Be sure to disconnect from the circle at the end and express thanks for those who have helped us in this effort.

If you have feedback or experiences you would like to share please let me know via e-mail to kmiritello@gmail.com