Patti Peterson Counseling

I stole this from a friend’s pastor. It says very eloquently what I believe. Thanks for sharing it Doug.

A recent blog from my Pastor at First United Methodist Church of Mesa -
I wanted to share with you all.

May 9, 2012
Speaking of God’s Word
Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: gay marriage, love neighbor, scriptural misuse — PastorJim @ 10:21 am
The older I get, the less comfortable I get with people “speaking for God”, and I notice that happening a lot these days. It happened at our own General Conference and just yesterday with some people in North Carolina screaming to ban gay marriage because “God’s Word is clear about it.”
Just a couple of thoughts I would like to share…but be clear, I will not be speaking for God: First, I must point out that calling the Bible “God’s Word” is a bit of a stretch. Just because we have been doing it for a number of years doesn’t make it accurate. There was a famous pundit who once stated that if we all get together and decide that a cat is not a cat…it’s still a cat.
The Bible itself says that the Word of God is Jesus…not some words written by men and voted into the Bible by men. And make no mistake, that is exactly how the Bible came into existence in its present form…discussions were held, arguments were had and then the votes were taken…some in, some out.
And a word about the Bible being “clear” on issues…to name just a few, “God’s Word” has been used to justify slavery, segregation, child abuse, the subjugation of women, and much more. Just a few years ago, many folks were clamoring about divorce the same way they are now clamoring about gay marriage.
I’m not certain, since I do not feel comfortable speaking for God, but I do wonder if this kind of thing (claiming exclusive understanding of God’s intended meaning in scripture) isn’t the reason Jesus tried to clarify things. Remember…he said that all of the Law and all of the Prophets (basically his Bible) come down to this: LOVE GOD AND LOVE NEIGHBOR!
Perhaps he should have spoken louder.

There are no magic pills that can instantly solve your problems. Life is yours to be lived through, not to be skipped over.

The difficulties add just as much richness to your experience as the delights. The sadness serves to make the joy that much more magnificent.

The challenges ar what give the accomplishments real value. The setbacks are whawt make the rewards so sweet.

The tedium and the excitement, the problems and the pleasures, the satisfaction and the disappointment all merge together into the vibrant and fulfilling symphony that is life. You would not want to miss a single minute of it all.

There is indeed a miracle here, but it’s not in a magic pill. It’s in the fact that you’re alive and aware and able to successfylly move through life’s ups and downs.

The difficulties do not continue forever, yet the value of making it through them will always be yours. Instead of wishing for a magic pill,dive into the experience of creating your own special magic by the way you live your life.

- Ralph Marston

Like most of you, I’m sick of hearing about all the bullying and resulting suicides, etc that have been broadcast recently.  Do you ever wonder why there are so many such incidents?  I think we can all agree the internet & instant communication we all have access to is part of it.  But it goes much deeper than that.

Our lives have become inundated with an attitude of dishonoring other human beings.

Along with most of the rest of middle America during the past few years, I’ve become completely disgusted with the petty, jr high-level jabs our elected officials are throwing at each other.  We all know that our country was founded on the right to express our opinions.

But what’s been happening in recent years is more than a difference of opinion – it’s become personal.  What these people don’t seem to realize is that to those of us who have an ounce of sense, they’re only showing their own insecurities when they make such intimate, belittling remarks about each other. The media exploits it, the section of the public that agrees with the speaker’s view joins in and shares it on Twitter, Facebook, and emails with everyone they know & it takes on a life of it’s own.

Or we see degrading cartoons and videos being displayed on all the social media sights that criticize or make fun of certain minorities or of celebrities or elected officials who have had their vulnerabilities exposed, etc.

I personally believe that many of us have a tendency to feel threatened by anything or anyone that we don’t quite understand.  In order to feel better about themselves, those who are very insecure tend to do anything they can to feel like THEY fit in by sharing unprincipled opinions with others who believe in the same way.

Then we wonder why our children become bullies and do and say awful things to each other.

In my opinion, it’s up to all of us to change this.  But how?  First, we check our attitudes ourselves.  Ask yourself, am I  judgmental of others who don’t look, dress, act like I do?  If I am judgmental, how do I handle that?  Am I loving and respectful to others, regardless of their sexual orientation, how they dress or what they believe?

I believe we all come from the same source and so what happens to one of us, happens to all of us.

There’s an Ojibwa Indian saying:  No tree has branches so foolish as to fight amongst themselves.

All of humanity (I include the animal kingdom and nature also) is a part of the whole.  Each of us are individuals and have our own unique traits and lives, but we all eventually come back to the same place that we came from in the beginning.

In a recent podcast, I heard Dr. Wayne Dyer explain it this way:  Place the palm of your hand on the table, cover it with a napkin except for your five fingers.  As you look at your fingers, you can see that each one has it’s own physical traits and purpose – one is shorter than all the others, one is fatter, the nail on one is longer – each is very unique and individual.  You can’t see where they are connected.  Then you remove the napkin, and you can see that each finger is an individual part of the hand – something bigger (representing humankind – or even God/Spirit/Source, if that fits your belief).  So you can see that we can each be an individual expression of something that we are all connected to.  It’s our life source.  If you were to cut each finger off & set it aside, it would wither away and die.

We are the same way.  As long as we stay connected and see ourselves as a part of the source, we’ll thrive and serve the higher purpose of the whole.  As that part, we are entitled to be treated with all the love and respect there is.  And when we know that, we recognize that everyone else is just as deserving.

I meditate every day to nurture my soul. Meditation gives you the opportunity to come to know your invisible self. It shatters the illusion of your separateness. - Wayne Dyer

I can’t count the number of times clients have said  – “but it’s so hard. . .”

Most of the time I don’t confront them with what I’m really thinking, because it’s taken a lot for them to get to the place where they finally at least recognize what they might need to do to make a change.

But what I’ve learned is that it’s only hard if I allow it to be.

For example, I love to work out and walk.  When I can, I walk around the neighborhood lake.  It’s a slightly hilly terrain, but I walk on a sidewalk, so it’s a pretty smooth path.

One day, several years ago, I met another woman walking in the opposite direction. As we smiled and exchanged “good mornings” she said, “I hate having to climb uphill here when I’m going your direction.”

I just smiled and went on. But I was surprised, because I had never even noticed that I was walking uphill. Suddenly, I noticed that indeed, I was climbing up an incline, and yes, it seemed difficult to navigate at that moment!

I have walked that path many times in the years since that encounter, and every time I remember that it’s uphill.  It’s amazing how just having your attention brought to something in a different way can make a difference in how you view it.

But, I didn’t let the new-found realization that I’m walking uphill bother me. I have always enjoyed the challenge of walking up an incline and gratefully focus on how good the muscles in my legs feel as they work to move my body.  I love the feeling I get after working my body in an intensive workout – it’s a feeling of accomplishment. Besides, once you get to the top of a hill, you’re either walking on a flat surface for a while, or you’re going downhill, which is so much easier – it’s almost exhilarating!

“When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”          – Wayne Dyer

We’ve known for some time that the neurons that “hold” our memories & emotions are in every part of our body. That’s why somatic therapies have become more widely used. They help us actually physically work through our issues. This short blog is more evidence of that:

Did you know that your heart has neurons just like your brain? In fact, the HEART is the first thing to register stress or emotion of any kind. Then it sends a signal to the brain. And the brain makes up a story to explain the feeling in your heart. What that means it that it’s better to trust your heart than the story your mind tells you. Or better yet, understand that your mind needs to take its cue for what to think from your HEART! The heart speaks to us with emotions. And all emotions signal genuine needs for love, touch, validation, grief, etc. Check out www.cnvc.org to decode the language of your emotions and your heart!

-Dr. Christiane Northrup

(Repost from May 2010)

This mantra is helping me when I have the urge to overeat. It calms me down & puts me back into the moment.

I am enough. I have enough. There is nothing that I need that is not already in place in my life.

(Repost from May of 2010)

This is about overeating – but if you substitute whatever your obsession is for the word “food” it works just as well!

Obssession gives you something to do besides having your heart shattered by disappointment, conflict, loss. You can become so focused on getting food in your mouth that you block out everything that’s potentially painful. . . .

Being obsessed with food is a way of organizing our lives so that we never have to deal with the hard part. . . .

. . . ending the obsession with food is all about developing the capacity to stay in the present moment – to not leave (our)selves. . .

There are many ways to leave: . . walking out the door. . . distracting yourself by thinking about something else. . . blaming your mother. . . starting an argument. . . comparing yourself to other people . . .watching TV. . . working too much. . .drinking. . . having sex. . . eating. . . spending your life trying to lose weight. . .resigning yourself to the endless struggle with food so you never have to discover who you are . . . or what’s really going on in hte present moment. . .

-Geneen Roth

Shame is like mold . . . it grows the best in the dark!

If you open it to the light (by sharing your shame with someone who can be trusted), shame loses it’s power. It’s best if you share with someone you know can be trusted – someone with whom you have experience that they can listen without judgment and without telling others.

Secrets and shame go hand-in-hand. In the 12 Step Programs we say, “You’re only as sick as your secrets”. The only way to be truly free is to not have to carry a load of secrets.

When you find yourself reacting instead of responding, step back. Let the dust settle and your head clear. Where there is defensiveness there is no communication. None.

Return to love first, and then return to the conversation.

– Cheryl Richardson

In our most recent issue, we highlighted a recent study showing a link between proper nutrient intake and mental health.

Last fall, researchers in China published a study in Public Health Nutrition regarding the effect specific diets have on mental health. This is somewhat different from last issue’s study, which focused on specific nutrient levels and their effect on mental health.

This group of 8 researchers—along with public and school nurses, as well as interviewers—studied the eating habits of over 5000 Chinese youth ranging in age from 13–21. They also measured their levels of depression and anxiety.

What they discovered is that diets high in processed foods or animal-based foods increased the risk of depression and anxiety.

On the other hand, they discovered a traditional Chinese diet (whole grains, fruits, vegetables, rice, and some soya products) actually lowered the risk of depression and anxiety.

A 2006 study found similar correlations regarding a traditional Mediterranean diet (fruits, nuts, vegetables, cereals, legumes, and fish) also protected against depression in young people.
……
Happy eating!
吃的开心

-Taken from an article in the Truehope Common Ground Newsletter.