Words from the Heart

All Souls Day - Church Cemetery - Bangladesh - Wikimedia CC The words "in memorium" often grace the cards they hand out at wakes in New England. When I was a child, we called them Holy Cards and collected them much like the way some people collect baseball cards.  Collecting them served two purposes, although I am not sure any of us kids were really aware of them. First, having a cared that memorialized someone assured the family that this person would not be forgotten. Second, the cards often displayed classic religious paintings and poetry, both of which we ended up memorizing after so many times of staring at the cards. One of my favorite pictures was that of a Guardian Angel guarding over two children as the crossed a rickety bridge of a swollen stream. This was a card from the funeral of a child who died of pneumonia before we had penicillin.  Today is all Soul's Day - a day of remembrance - a day to offer a prayer or light a candle for those who h...

Constellations of Light - Hope Always Prevails Photo (c) 2019 Rev. Linda M. Rhinehart Neas From time to time, I will see or hear something that just hits my solar plexus with such power that I no longer have control of my emotions. Tears flow without my thinking. My heart fills with the beauty of the moment. At these times, I know there is something mystically magical happening. The BBC series, Doctor Who, has given me several such moments. The writers somehow manage to put words into the actors' mouths that the actors are able to say in such a way as to hit the heartstrings at just the right vibration to trigger an auto-response. Most recently, this happened as I was watching Season 11, Episode 5 with the new Doctor played by Jodie Whittaker. After a series of frenetic incidents in which the Doctor, her companions and the passengers of a failing space ship try to outwit a deadly alien species, the episode ends with a prayer for the general who gives her life to pi...

Those who know me, know that I am not a big fan of St. Valentine's Day. Not because I am no longer Catholic, but rather because of the commercialism that surrounds it. Let's face it, people are guilted into sending cards, giving candy, flowers, gifts and going out to eat even if they don't have the money.  My feeling on this is strong. Don't tell me you love me one day in the year...show me every day.  Love stagnates when we only recognize it once every 12 months. But, when we share it daily, when we do little kindness that say, "I love you," and when we take the time to "be" with those we love, Love grows, overflows and spreads out into the universe! So, on the eve of this St. Valentine's Day, may all my family and friends be assured of my Love for them, not because I remembered to say something on this occasion, but because I try to show them daily how much they mean to me.  Blessings to all!

(c) 2018 Linda M. Rhinehart Neas For the past five years, I have picked a word that I have used as a focus for the coming year. To pick the word, I have put various words in a hat and picked one out; randomly opened to a page in a book and used the first word I saw; and chosen a certain numbered word of an email. This year, I used a random word for the year tool online .  This year's word is "know."  What I find interesting about this is that last year, my word was intuition. The ability to intuit things is different from knowing. Intuition is about trusting feelings around something; whereas, "to know," according to dictionary.com means: to perceive or understand as fact or truth; to apprehend clearly and with certainty: I know the situation fully.   to have established or fixed in the mind or memory: to know a poem by heart; Do you know the way to the park from here? to be cognizant or aware of: I know it. My intuition tells me I have a lot ...

I have as a guest Rev. Teal L. Gray, N.D. , who has recently released a new book, Spirited Tales. This book is an anthology of stories by several authors of whom I am honored to be included.  I wanted to share the book with you all, but also share more about Teal and why she wrote and compiled this book. What do you say to people who wonder how a Christian Minister writes in the genre of Horror and the Paranormal?  I explain that the Horror story defines good and evil very clearly for the reader, often as a cautionary tale. No other genre allows for spiritual and religious content more than horror. We all must navigate through this world and not everything or everyone is good or even honestly represented. You need to be knowledgeable about all the elements of the spirit world you are navigating through.  You wouldn’t go on a hike in unknown territory without familiarizing yourself with what type of animals, insects, snakes, and weather it has there would you?...

Being in the Presence of Love: Zdenko Arsenijvevic  by Myrna J. Smith  When Zdenko Arsenijevic spoke to me across his desk that first time in 2006, I felt bathed in love. How he conveyed such love I am not sure. Maybe it was those sparkling eyes, that golden voice, that lovely smile, or an unnamable essence that came from his heart. I had recently returned from a long stay in India and was looking to continue my spiritual pursuits. More urgently, I wanted help with some health issues people often experience after traveling in India that, in my case, traditional medicine seemed unable to resolve. I began going to alternative healers and ended up at the Arsenijevic Healing Center then in Philadelphia and now in Doylestown, Pa. As we talked, I realized not all great spiritual teachers live in India.  During the year I attended Zdenko’s classes, I saw him in a variety of settings: as a teacher, a healer and a father. He wasn’t always gentle; he seemed to sense ...

Recently, I greeted an acquaintance with, "Happy Holidays!"  What I received in return was the most unexpected reply, "Come on, Linda, you mean Merry Christmas, don't you?" Since I knew that this particular person was Christian, it might have seemed more appropriate to wish a Merry Christmas as I left, but we were in a public venue with people who I knew did not celebrate the Christian holy day of Christmas, let alone the secular version.  So... the greeting of Happy Holidays as I was leaving seemed very appropriate. As you can see from the picture above, there are many Holy/holi days in the winter months.  The ones pictured include six that are not Christian. Since I work, live and communicate in a multicultural, multi-faith traditioned society, I believe wishing others a happy holiday is A. kind, B. thoughtful and C. more than appropriate. I also think about that adage that many use, "What would Jesus do?"  Well, first of all, Jesus wouldn...

Long ago, I learned to listen and reflect on the words I said.  At the time, my teacher was speaking about saying prayer mindfully, instead of rattling off words in an unconscious stream.  This was a lesson that stayed with me through the years, not only for prayer, but also for speech, in general.  When we are mindful of the words we are using, then we are more capable of saying exactly what we mean. To illustrate, let us look at the words to the Serenity Prayer written by the theologian, Reinhold Niebuhr . An acquaintance once mentioned that they loved this prayer.  I asked why.  They were unable to articulate what it was about the prayer that resonated with them.  Many people know this prayer by heart; however, they have never reflected on the exact meaning of the words. The prayer is:   God, grant me the serenity To accept the things I cannot change; Courage to change the things I can; And wisdom to know the difference. ...

Today, I have as my guest blogger, Shiela Deeth who describes herself as an, "author(and sometimes illustrator)--Mongrel Christian--Anglo-American--mathematician who can't add up and writer who can't spell." Her latest book, Bethlehem's Baby is out. In Bethlehem’s Baby, we meet the Emperor Augustus’s advisors, the quiet research student helping wise men study stars, the shepherd whose granddad keeps complaining, an Egyptian fisherboy, a Roman soldier, and more. Bethlehem's Baby is a set of forty 5-minute read-aloud stories based around the events of the Christ Child’s birth in Bethlehem.   Read on as Shiela tells us a bit about how she came to write her Five-Minute Bible Stories for children. One day my eight-year-old, he with the boxes of dinosaur toys, dinosaur games, dinosaur cards, books and more, suddenly announced, “I don’t believe in dinosaurs anymore.” Not having realized they were a matter of faith, I asked him why. “Because my teache...

I don't often review books, mainly because I think people should read books and decide whether they are relevant to them rather than taking the word of someone else.  However, I am making an exception with Beyond Belief: The Secret Lives of Women in Extreme Religions, an anthology of stories by women from a wide and diverse range of religious communities.  I learned of this book through Women on Writing , who are sponsoring the Beyond Belief Blog Tour. The first thing that hit me was the use of the word extreme.  What, I thought, was an "extreme" religion?  As an interfaith minister, I had some ideas, but like most judgements, they were my own personal feelings.  So, I delved into the introduction to the book written by the editors, Susan Tive and Cami Ostman.   Susan and Cami tell the readers in their introduction about how "women living life inside extreme religions have much in common despite their differences of practice and belief." ...

Officially, I have been an interfaith minister for one week, today.  I am finding it surreal that, just seven days ago, I walked down the aisle of All Soul's Church in New York City, choking out the chorus of "Here I Am Lord."    Processing into Church This past week, I have meditated on how I got to this point in my journey.  I remembered the discussions, as I child, with Sister Superior.  She had asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up.  I told her a priest.  She said girls can't become priests; however, I could become a bride of Jesus by going into the convent.  No Way!  I didn't want to be married to Jesus, I wanted to be one of his buddies. Clearly, I had a lot of problems when I voiced this to Sister. Later in life, I continued to feel the calling to serve.  I looked at various programs, degrees, opportunities.  I did what I could, when I could but continued to feel that my calling was deeper.   As the...

One of the preparations from ordination has been to spend time in meditation.  I will admit, I have a difficult time with the traditional, sit-on-the-cushion-empty-your-mind form of this spiritual art.  For me, meditating while doing something, such as walking a labyrinth or gardening, is far more effective. As I was gardening yesterday, I suddenly realized that many of our flowers/plants have been given common names that are linked to the Sacred.  In my garden alone, I have Jacob's Ladder, Moses in the Cradle, Solomon's Seal, Marigolds, Monk's Hood, Rose of Sharon, Lily of the Valley, and Star of Bethlehem to name a few.  Marigolds - named after Mary, the mother of Jesus. But, also a sacred plant to the Hindus, where it is called Genda, possibly named after the Gonda people, who have a myth about the origin of the flower. The Marigold's genus name, Tagetes, comes from the Etruscan god of wisdom, Tages .   The thought came to me that perhaps we named...

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Today, May 22, I participated in an interfaith memorial service held on the town commons in Gre enfield, MA.  I have attended many memorial services , but this was the fir st time I had attended and participated in a service for those who had died homeless. Reading a prayer for those who died homeless The Interfaith Council of Franklin County (ICFC) , of which I am a member, h as held this service in May for close to 15 years.  Each year, we pray will be the last.  N ation wide, the observ ance is hel d on the win ter solstice . But, for those of us in ICFC, the observance is in the spring . These are the words I wrote and read at the service. I ask that as you read them, you hold the the memory of the homeless - men, women and children - in your heart. We gather here today to remember - Remember those who have no homes - Remember those who have found no comfort - Remember those turned away -...