SGM April 2011

Who’s Keeping Score?

We are all inclined to judge ourselves by our ideals; others, by their acts. ~ Harold Nicolson

Keep feeling the need for being first. But I want you to be the first in love. I want you to be the first in moral excellence. I want you to be the first in generosity.
 ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

Lay Yourself Open

When you want to lay yourself open for the divine,
like a snare that is hollowed out to its depth,
like a canopy that projects a shadow from the divine heat and light into your soul,
then go into your inner place physically,
or to that story or symbol that reminds you of the sacred.

Close the door of your awareness to
the public person you think yourself to be.
Pray to the parent of creation, with your inner sense,
the outer senses turned within.
Veiling yourself, the mystery may be unveiled through you.

By opening yourself to the flow of the sacred,
somewhere, resounding in some inner form,
the swell of the divine ocean can move through you.

The breathing life of all reveals itself
in the way you live your life.

~ Neil Douglas-Klotz

Karma, Dharma, Pudding and Pie

O Karma, Dharma, pudding and pie,
gimme a break before I die:
grant me wisdom, will and wit,
purity, probity, pluck and grit.
Trustworthy, loyal, helpful, kind,
gimme great abs and a steel-trap mind,
and forgive, Ye Gods, some humble advice—
these little blessings would suffice
to beget an earthly paradise:
make the bad people good—
and the good people nice;
and before our world goes over the brink,
teach the believers how to think.

~Philip Appleman

Questions: When it comes to good and bad, right and wrong, do you think “scores” are kept? 

Do you keep score on yourself? On others?

If you do, how does keeping score effect the way you live?  Love?  Forgive?  Forget?

How do feel about the concept of karma?

What happens if no one keeps score?  Chaos? Bliss? Something in between?

Spiritual Exercise: Pay attention this month to whether you are keeping score on yourself or others, family, friends, colleagues and /or whether you feel someone or something is keeping score on you and how that affects you. Do you experience jealousy, envy, judgment, feelings of competition?