The Grace in Dying

This is the title of a phenomenal book I have just finished reading. It is the most comprehensive, compassionate book I've read on the physical and psychospiritual stages of the journey from life in this form to life beyond what we call death. I borrowed the book from the library but my own copy is on its way via Book Depository! The author, Kathleen Dowling Singh, also has a website with many articles, downloads and details of her work. Click here to go to it.

A quote from near the end of the book sums up so much that is significant to me and features often in this Blog:
"Grace is the common thread linking dying, contemplative practice and spiritual growth. The essential unity of dying, contemplative practice and spiritual growth is becoming increasingly apparent."
Certainly my own contemplative practices over the years have been the core of my spiritual growth - and more and more I see that dying is not just something that occurs at the end of physical life but a process and a practice of continual letting go and letting be.

The world is a blue dot.

This is a NASA photo of the world from Saturn. (The dot right of centre is us!)

I've mentioned the Gratefulness site many times on this blog.
Today I noticed this four minute video posted on New Year's Eve with this introduction:

Take Four Minutes To Reflect On Your Place In The Cosmos

"So it's New Year's Eve again and that means resolutions — resolutions to stop this and resolutions to start that. Maybe just looking at where we are from a different perspective is all we need…It may not help you with your New Year's resolutions, but it will fill you with a sense of pure wonder."

New Year, New Day,...

"What the caterpillar calls the end of the world the master calls a butterfly."

Richard Bach

I don't go in for New Year resolutions. Each new day is a new beginning, a new chance, a new opportunity. But one attitude I want to develop more fully this year is spontaneity, the "just do it" spark of freedom, fun, challenge… Watch this space!