When I wake in Sedona and look out from my bed, I can readily see the formation known as Coffee Pot Rock.”

Like many of Sedona’s Red Rocks, this one is named for what it resembles.

Can you see what looks like an old-style, percolating coffee pot at the far-right end of the elevated range? (You may need to use your gift of Imagination.)

Recently, when I woke, Coffee Pot Rock was not there!

At least it appeared to “not be there” because a heavy fog rested right on the tree tops and covered the entire rock range. (Notice the seeming “absence” of the Red Rocks in the second photo.)

In a few hours, the vapor lifted, and I could once again plainly see the Red Rocks.

Meanwhile, while the rocks remained hidden from view, I was reminded of how our inner gifts can seem to be absent.

In fact, it was a morning when I felt empty of Joy.

I saw this illusion of the rocks missing, along with knowing that the giant formations were indeed present, as a symbol of Faith, which led to feeling of gratitude and on to a stirring of Joy.

Anytime we experience the “absence” of Joy or Love or Faith… any of our inner resources… we can remember that that experience is an illusion… like the missing rocks.

Just like the Red Rocks existing, as they have, for millions of years,

the gifts of Life exist in us, always.

Consider letting this be a symbol of Faith for you, too.

Have you ever said, “I’ve got too much on my plate?”

Several years ago, while I was promoting a new book and traveling around the Midwest, I voiced that to Rev. Ralph, a minister I met in Milwaukee.

“Well, just ask God for a bigger plate!” Rev. Ralph chortled. “That’s what I do.”

Although his response was offered humorously, and I laughed along with that vibrant man, I immediately sensed the power in his light-hearted suggestion. And, in that ah-ha moment, the image of a large plate popped into my mind.

For sure, it makes sense for us to regularly examine our lives with compassion and wisdom, prioritize, and postpone (or eliminate) some of our “to dos.” Sometimes we do need to remove stuff from our proverbial plates.

At the same time, it IS wise to ask for a bigger plate!

We are all capable of so much more than we are presently doing and being.

Asking for a bigger plate reminds me of the Prayer of Jabez. Perhaps you read the book by that name which was authored by Bruce Wilkinson, published in 2000. The bestseller is based on the 1 Chronicles 4:10 biblical quote in which Jabez asks God to enlarge his “territory.”

To me, the Prayer of Jabez is like asking God for bigger plate. That prayer is not about wanting more material power and prosperity, but about having limitations softened and capacities expanded. We can all benefit by expanding our consciousness, capacities, and confidence. Can’t we? And, we need guidance and grace to do that.

When, like Jabez and Rev. Ralph, I ask for a bigger plate, I feel less restricted by limiting thoughts, such as I don’t have enough time; and I experience a sense of more space, focus, order, peace, and hope.

Try it. Ask for a bigger plate. Picture one in your mind. And, see how it works for you.

If you’ve ever watched an episode of Chopped, you have seen at least one demonstration of an ingredient  being “repurposed” in cooking. Repurposing is similar to the concept of taking a lemon and making  lemonade, and yet it’s more than that. When an item is repurposed in food preparation, it’s used in a whole  new way. For example, taco shells in the dessert mystery basket could be spun into crumbs and used as a  cookie, candy, or cake component.

I find this show to be inspirational as well as entertaining. What will the contestants prepare using their mystery ingredients? How might they combine salmon and root beer barrels into an appetizer?

As I watch the food transformations, I feel guided to apply the “repurposing” principle to life.

Everyday, we are handed a basket of unknowns. Nearly everyday, that basket contains challenges. The assignment for each of us is to accept everything that is in each day’s basket and use it as best we can.

We might first moan and groan, as some of the contestants do, when we face something difficult to incorporate. Then we get to work, as they do, using imagination, wisdom, and other resources.

On that show, the contestants have access to a pantry full of staples. To me, that pantry symbolizes our inner storehouse. We all have essential resources available to us. Among them are courage, wisdom, compassion, and love. Using these resources, we can repurpose everything. (In fact, many of the champion chefs have said that love is one of their most valuable ingredients.)

We’re not all great chefs. But we all have the ability to take the challenges we’re handed and turn them into savory and sweet life experiences.

Here’s a simple example. If we’re stuck in traffic, we can transform the seemingly “wasted minutes” into time to strengthen our muscles by doing isometric exercises.  Or, we can practice deep breathing. Or visualize our dreams. Or sing. Or just be present.

What about tougher challenges? You might ask. How do we repurpose an argument, an accident, an illness, a layoff? I don’t pretend to have solutions to all of life’s challenges. Ultimately, we each need to find our own ways to deal with them.

But, I’m convinced that we can “repurpose” anything when we use imagination, courage, and love. Chopped Grand Champion, Madison Cowan, sure shows the way, with examples like his Waffle Cone Remoulade and, more powerfully, his life. Did you know that, for a time, he was homeless?

Do you know the original meaning of the word “touchstone?”

I was fascinated to learn this meaning and to understand how, centuries ago, certain black stones helped people to build wealth. This led me to look into the contemporary meaning of the word and to discover a way to use “today’s touchstones” to enrich my life.

Now, I’m eager to share this concept with you.

ORIGINAL MEANING

Around 750 BC, someone observed how a distinctive streak was left upon a smooth, black stone when it was “touched” by pure gold. By carrying about a black stone that held the mark of true gold, people could test the authenticity of any piece of gold offered in trade. One would simply stroke the offered gold item upon the stone and compare that mark against the first streak. If the marks matched, the payment offered could be trusted.

Those black stones came to be called “touchstones” because of the way gold was “touched” upon them to test for authenticity.  As a result of a touchstone’s ability to reflect true value, people conducted business more easily. This use of touchstones led to the widespread use of coins, which led to the building of wealth… material wealth.

EXPANDED MEANING

Over the years, the word “touchstone” has grown beyond that original definition and come to mean “an example of the excellence or genuineness of something.”

I’ve come to use this word, with its modern meaning, for things that reflect the excellence within humanity… things that help me to recognize the true value in you and in me!

I believe that, like gold buried in pockets under the surface in our physical world, there is great worth in the core of us. The wealth in us is in the form of strength, beauty, courage, compassion, hope, joy, talent, imagination, reverence, wisdom, love, and faith… what I call The Twelve Gifts.

For the past few years, I’ve been collecting stories, quotes, affirmations, activities, songs, films, fables… all sorts of things that reflect The Twelve Gifts and help me to recognize the worth in us. As I go about my day, like those ancient people who carried about a stone reflecting gold to help them make careful business choices, I hold, in my mind and heart, an inspirational touchstone.

AN INVITATION

I invite you to consider carrying such a touchstone with you each day…an uplifting memory, an affirmation, a quote, a prayer… anything that serves as a “gold standard” for your values.

We can all benefit by using today’s meaning of touchstones in this way. As possibilities are offered to us in the course of a day, we can evaluate how each choice compares with our highest qualities.  We can ask: Does this response reflect beauty, love, and compassion? Does it meet my gold standard? Today’s touchstones can help us to build upon the spiritual wealth in us and enrich all areas of our lives.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO RECEIVE TODAY’S TOUCHSTONE?

In addition to introducing this concept, I plan to share specific touchstones. If you would like to see Today’s Touchstone from time to time, please visit this website and click on the gift box near the top of my home page. If you would like to receive Today’s Touchstone via email, please sign up for my newsletter in the area on the right of this page.

EXAMPLE OF “TODAY’S TOUCHSTONE”

“We are born to delight in the world.” – Carl Sagan

Yes. I appreciate the miracle of all creation and my part in it!

By Charlene Costanzo

Can you recall the first time you saw THE WIZARD OF OZ? What in that film made the biggest impression on you? For me, it was the arrival of the Good Witch of the North, gliding in to Munchkin land in a lustrous bubble.

That image popped into my mind this morning, as I was wondering: How can protect myself from negativity? How do I do that without isolating myself? How can I be fully in the world, contributing in positive ways, and not be pulled down by the fear, the anger, and the hurt I often see and feel?

I wanted to maintain the peace I was feeling after prayer and meditation.

Suddenly, there it was, in my mind’s eye, that large, luminous bubble floating toward Dorothy in the film and toward me as the viewer.

And I “got it.”

As I child I wanted to be in that bubble. I realized that…  I COULD!

In my imagination, I created a sense of being in a bubble that is filled with all the highest energies of life. I am imagining that bubble around me now. Its shimmering film allows all the lovely energies within to pass outward. Like a sweet flower, the bubble I am in is frangrancing the world with love. Yet, that film is tight enough to prevent heavy energies from entering into the bubble.

Imagination is powerful. We all have this gift. And we use it every day.

Consider using yours to create such a bubble through visualization. It’s easy, fun, and feels great!

Sit in a comfortable place. I like to sit on my bed, propped up with my back against pillows and my legs stretched out in front of me.

Close you eyes, or keep them open, as you prefer.

Place your dominant hand over your heart and your other hand over your belly.

Breathe in deeply. Exhale slowly.

Next time, on the in-breath, imagine that you are drawing toward you, the powers of strength, beauty, courage, compassion, hope, joy, reverence, wisdom, love, and faith.

They are now surrounding you, sparkling with light and all the colors of the rainbow.

Imagine an iridescent film forming in a circle, a ball, all around you.

You are in the bubble.

Now, glide through your day, in a wondrous way.

“Use your imagination not to scare yourself to death, but to inspire yourself to life.” – Adele Brookman

Peace to All People on Earth: A Prayer from America by Charlene Costanzo

God bless me, my family and all families.

And peace to all people on Earth.

Bless my friends And everyone’s friends.

And peace to all people on Earth.

Bless the creatures who swim and fly, creep, crawl, and climb, hop, run, and roam.

Bless all our homes.

And peace to all people on Earth.

Bless all fruits and flowers, grains and greens, oceans and rivers, lakes and streams, every rock and stone, every grain of sand, every speck of soil on every land.

Bless America.

Bless all countries.

Bless the sun, the moon, all the planets and stars.

And peace to all people on Earth (c)Charlene Costanzo 2009 ALL RIGHTS

A MESSAGE SENT TODAY VIA THE “INNERNET”

During the past week, I came across several references to the “Innernet.” This clever and evocative name is already being used by individuals and businesses in a host of ways. A quick Google search offers over 650,000 results.

But imagine an Innernet… the Innernet… as real and relevant as the Internet, perhaps even more so, because absolutely everyone on the planet is on it. Imagine a wondrous energy web in which we are all connected, sending and receiving messages 24/7.

I wondered: How we might use this Innernet to spread hope on the planet? That question triggered a memory that I’d like to share with you now.

It was a typical summer day in Sedona, Arizona. The cloudless blue sky provided a perfect back drop for the area’s amazing rock formations. While waiting for the stop light to change from red to green at the intersection of 179 and 89A–where there is now a roundabout –I watched a young woman clothed in a long-white robe cross the street in front of my car. Only when she reached the other side and stepped on to the sidewalk did I notice her feet. They were bare! The air temperature outside my car was nearly 100. Imagine the heat of the black asphalt!

When the signal changed, I u-turned and pulled into a strip mall driveway so that I could encounter the young woman. I rolled down my window and offered her money for shoes. “I cannot accept money,” she said.

I offered her my sandals.

“Thank you. But, I cannot accept shoes either. Being shoeless is voluntary for me. It’s a kind of prayer,” she said. The young woman went on to explain that being shoeless was part of loving service she was doing for humankind. Beaming with joy, she offered to chant a blessing for me, which I accepted.

On that day, in that way, she sent a Therevada Buddhist Blessing out on the Innernet. Today, in this way, I am sending a similar one from The Twelve Gifts for Healing:

May you allow fear to soften and melt away.

May you release all regrets and resentments.

May you see the world with wonder.

And may you imagine only good things.

May hope rise within you.

May peace wash over you.

May you hear the voice of wisdom.

Listening, may you act with trust.

May your heart open.

May joy emerge.

May love flow through you.

May you heal and help others.

What if, just once each day, we each simply whisper “Hope” and we send that out on the Innernet?

What is it about stones?  So many of us are drawn to them.

The accompanying photo illustrates this phenomenon.  It shows a collection of pebbles picked up over a lifetime of travel around the world.  It belonged to my Aunt Mary Lou.   In one stone she etched “Greece, 1979.”  In another “Syracusa, Sicily.” Other stones are from Germany, Austria, Finland, Sweden, Spain, Russia, China, Egypt, Turkey, Mexico, Canada, Costa Rica, and places I don’t remember.

Why, like so many people around the world, did Mary Lou stoop to pick up stones when she walked on Earth?

An obscure Eastern European fable offers an explanation. In The Thirteenth Gift we

learn about a kingdom that was suffering as a result of growing fears. One night the inhabitants of that kingdom entered a deep sleep, visited the dream realm together, and shared a vision: Everyone saw how all creation breathes together in the heart of Love.  In the morning, rousing from sleep, everyone held a shimmering stone.  Like the details of the dream, each stone faded and disappeared within moments.  Yet each stone had remained in hand long enough to anchor the vision. According to the story, that is why people are drawn to stones. Stones urge us to hold on to the truth of who we are.  We pick them up because we yearn to remember who we are, to see the world with wonder, and to experience the truth of the dream that lives in the consciousness of all humanity.

Here is a simple practice you can incorporate into your day with relative ease no matter how busy you are. It is a small yet real way to foster peace within yourself and bring a measure of peace into the world. Over time, it can become a sacred daily ritual with profound effects.

Upon waking or before you begin your work day, remove an ice cube from your freezer and place it in a cup, saucer, or bowl. Set the container in a room temperature place where it will remain undisturbed by pets or children.

See the ice cube as representing fear, your own fear in all the ways it shows up, as well as fear in the world.  Silently or out loud say, “This represents fear. I am willing to allow my feelings of fear to soften and melt away.”

Go about your day.

At a convenient time later in the day, bring your attention again to the container. Notice the water now in the liquid state. See it as representing fear transformed. Bless the water. Use this water to nourish a plant in your home. Or, go outdoors and pour it onto a place where, symbolizing your intention of contributing to healing on Earth, this modicum of water can nourish some tiny living thing.