Turn Up The Heat....

I pressed my index fingers to my thumbs and inhaled deeply.  A thought flashed through my consciousness like a wayward firefly - "I'm having a hard time staying inward."  Being a novice at the practice of meditation, I accepted the struggle and tried to quiet my mind.  While I have chosen to avoid the news and media, a television broadcast could be heard from the kitchen downstairs where MyHoney's mother busied herself with getting ready for the day.  The words "children, teachers, shooter, tragedy, and mourning" drifted into my ears.  I wished I was more experienced in blocking out external distractions.  I breathed deeper.  Another thought floated by "Why is there such evil in the world?  Where was Paradise on Friday?"
 
Determined to at least attempt meditating this morning, I closed my eyes, drew in a breath, then shivered, realizing the heat was still down low.  I reached over, pulled a blanket over my shoulders and continued to draw in.  I closed my eyes again... the blaring television interupted my Zen as a reporter interviewed a woman making the argument that stricter gun control laws were the only way to stop these madmen ....  and I exhaled.  My shoulders felt warm from the blanket, and the heat of my body radiated from me, but the blanket held the warmth close.  Even though the room was chilled, I was warm.  My distracted mind reminded me I should turn up the heat when I am done "meditating."

One last deep breath in ... one long exhale out.  Shivering, I pulled the blanket closer around me and became annoyed by the lack of heat in the room.  Another firefly thought flickered through my mind "Does cold actually exist, or is cold merely the absence of heat?"   I was fascinated by the thought that cold may not even be real.  We could walk around and say "Do you feel lack of heat?"   Another thought flittered by... "Evil is merely the absence of good"  I held my breath for longer than I should have, startled by my own revolution that evil isn't real either.... it is simply the absence of good.  I know what I have to do to rid the room of the chill this morning - I have to turn up the heat.  It would only make sense then, to rid the world of evil, we need to turn up the good.

We all are asking how God allowed such an evil act to happen?  He may simply be saying to us "Kids, if you are cold - turn up the heat!"   If you are feeling the world is too evil for your own comfort, turn up the good! 

My blanket was enough to warm my own body this morning, but not enough to rid the room of it's chill.  It was a good start.  Once I felt warm enough, I was able to finish meditating, get up and walk over to the thermostat and turn it up.  This is how we must start.  Start with your families.  Teach your children to be kind and loving to all living things.  Be kind to yourself.  Be good to your pets.  Be honest.  Be gentle. Be kind.  When you feel conflicted, frustrated or angry - turn up the good by loving harder.  Stoke up that fire. 

Once your home is warm - radiate out to your neighbors.  Practice random acts of kindness.  Shovel their driveway.  Bring them cookies.  Wave and smile at them as you drive by.  Give them a log for their fire - and pretty soon, they will be radiating heat too. 

And turning  up the good doesn't just require what we DO.... our actions are great kindling to get the fire to catch, but more importantly, it's what we THINK.  In my humble opinion, we have turned the thermostat way down low by even entertaining the thought that the world may end on December 21st and dwelling about the "fiscal cliff" that we are facing on January 1st.  Turn the heat back up by believing we are prosperous, we are abundant and we are resilient.

Turn up the heat with every thought you think.  Every thought.  Even towards people who make you feel cold - it's even more important to crank your furnace in their presence.  If your thermostat is set high enough, you won't feel the effects of their chill.  You may even unthaw them too.  Crank it up.


Then go catch the world on fire. It only takes a spark, to get a fire going....




  Paradise is Here, Paradise is Now..... Paradise is a WARM place to be.