I just came in from this morning's session and I feel terrific.

We don't realize how much we hold up (energy-wise) until we relax.

Try this: If you have a chronic body ache, like a sore neck, start with prayer. Ask for anything that you might be able to do to help this problem go away, if there is anything. Be sure to include "if there is anything." If tears fall, let them. Notice how the energy around the sore spot changes. All the extra tension tied up in the effort to: 

• give unnecessary support to the sore spot 
• give unnecessary protection to the sore spot 
• find a solution 
• reject the possibility that there may be none 

releases, and all you are left with the is just the sore spot. We may like to think that the area needs the continued support of the surrounding muscles, but we may discover that they are not trying to cradle the injury while it heals, but trying to hold up an unfounded, unrealistic desire.

It frightens me a bit to see how polarized this part of the world is becoming around religion. I used to think that we were secular and that people of all faiths and creeds were welcome to take part equally in the running and growth and affluence of our countries. Yet in places which used to seem so open and welcoming, the doors are slamming fast on anything that hints of difference. The kind of hatred and intolerance that used to be seen in communities where people gathered because of their sameness, has somehow become a louder shout.

The questions people ask are not "What do you value?" as a way to find common ground. The questions are more like "What club do you belong to?" so I can find a legitimate way to hate and fear you.

I seem to be seeing more and more of this. Yet in retrospect, this kind of thing has always been around.Yesterday a possible client said, "I'm very interested in a reading and just wanted to ask one question, not meaning at all to be rude. Do you hold Christian beliefs?" She must have known it was rude to ask. And I feel certain I failed her test of my suitability to read for her. Wording is important in these cliques. My own mother asked me at one point if I had "Found Christ," and I knew that if I didn't answer with the correct terminology, I would be excluded from her circle of acceptable people. All I could offer her were my values, and not the secret password to her club.

It was sad. It wasn't personal, even if it felt that way. Intolerance in any form feels personal. 

But maybe it's a good thing to see these voices get louder. When people slam their doors on others in public, maybe this is a way for those who feel uncomfortable with their conditioned intolerance to look at it in a deeper way. By airing it out, maybe we can see it for what it is.