Impotent and Frigid No More

By Scott Kalechstein

"We don't realize the big secret in our midst - which isn't how little power we have to change things, but rather how much power we have that we aren't using! We're like birds that were never informed, or have forgotten, we have wings."
- Marianne Williamson


Lately I've counseled several people who were quite dis-couraged (removed from their courage) by the greed, violence, and destruction going down on the planet these days. Depression currently exists in epidemic proportions and many of us have lost our hope and vision for humanity.

I have not.

I have discovered something that gets me bouncing me out of bed in the morning without a need for caffeine and fills me with joy and enthusiasm all day long. It's a safe and natural alternative to Prozac, and Viagra as well. It gets me up, inspired and ready for action, 24/7. Its potency is off the charts, and now so is mine.

It's not a pill, however. It's a point of view.

My point of perception is that I am an honorable member of God's Reconstruction Team, here on a lifelong mission to penetrate the world with love. That's my viewpoint, and I'm sticking to it. I used to worry that it was arrogant, and that I was suffering from delusions of grandeur. Then I immersed myself in the study of A Course In Miracles, which points out, "Without you, God's Plan would be incomplete."

Now I understand that I actually am recovering from delusions of impotence!

I once lived in New Jersey by a well-traveled road. One winter day there was a huge storm, and the cars right outside my home were gridlocked for many hours, not moving an inch. This was before the days of cell phones and laptops, and the drivers had plenty of time on their hands. I left the shelter of my house to observe the variety of responses to their situation. Some spent the entire time grumbling their grievances, stressing the stress of their missed appointments, clutching their powerless steering wheels, never accepting, always at war with their predicament. Others surrendered and got out of their cars to greet their new neighbors, making the best of things, laughing together at their shared helplessness. Children got out and played in the snow, blustery chaos a treasured playground.

A few people went from car to car to take orders for coffee and snacks. They braved the elements to walk an eighth of a mile up the road to the 7/11, and then graciously delivered the goods to their fellow stranded motorists. I noticed that the ones choosing to serve were enthusiastic and happy. The external temperature didn't bring down their internal thermometers. They got it up for life, radiating the warmth of their love, dispelling the frigidity around them.

The day the Twin Towers went down I was glued to the television, like so many of us, trembling and weeping for our world. Later in the afternoon I wrenched myself away from the small screen and tried to tune into the bigger picture.

After some moments in the silence I heard my inner guidance say, "This event is an evolutionary quickening, bringing about an increase of both the dark and the light. Be of good courage. You came here for these times. Despite the tumult, the choice before everyone remains abundantly simple and abundantly clear: it's love or fear. The media will mostly report and distort the reasons to fear, supplying the drugs for those with an adrenaline habit. You needn't go there, and don't curse those who still believe that attack will make them safe. Light your candle and find others who are illuminating the earth with love. Focus on the building of a new consciousness and a new world, even as this old one stumbles and falls. Be a stand for personal and planetary healing and you will live in the warmth of your loving no matter how frigid the climate around you."

This is not summer vacation time on classroom earth. The curriculum is demanding, the lessons intense. The most fearful and aggressive people seem to have the most power. Certainly they have the most volume, being given a large megaphone by the media.

Is cheerfulness these days synonymous with denial? Are hope and optimism opiates for those with a lack of intelligence and an abundance of naivety? Will the meek really inherit the earth, and if so, where are they hiding? Ringo Starr just came out with a new CD called ‘Choose Love'. Could he be on to something, or did our beloved Ringo do too many drugs in the last millennium?

Humanity is at a fork in the road. What will we choose as a species? We've got some pretty big toys that can blow each other up in an afternoon. If we don't raise our emotional maturity to match our advances in technology we might not be around much longer. Everybody on earth is aware of that on some level. We know the stakes are high.

It's easy to lose heart, or to close the heart to protect it from the rawness of grief and pain. But as Yoda said to Anakin in the last Star Wars movie, "The fear of loss is a sure path to the dark side." Anakin's refusal to experience loss and face his grief led to the construction of Darth Vader: a black mask and armoring around his true self.

Take heart, fellow Jedi's. It's an honor to serve, and even our tears are a part of our contribution, so long as they do not come from believing we are powerless. Let's revel in what we can do. We can do small things with great love each day, letting go of any attachment to outcome. Was Martin Luther King discouraged because he might not see his dream made manifest in his lifetime? I don't think so. Planting the seeds and growing a dream is fulfillment enough, in and of itself.

It is a joy to serve God, but it is very stressful to play God.

I'm sure you've all heard the story of a man who encounters a lady on the beach. She is picking up starfish one by one and throwing them back into the ocean after a storm had dumped millions of them onto the shore. Her behavior is disturbing to him, as it holds up a mirror to his feelings of impotency. "Look around you! How can you feel what you're doing matters, saving just a few, in the face of such overwhelming tragedy?" "It mattered to that one," she replies as she happily tosses another starfish into the sea.

To curse the darkness when you could be lighting a candle (or saving a starfish) is quite a waste of vital life energy. To put it bluntly, it's time for all of us to get it up - for God, each other, and our planet. It may be our darkest hour, but some of us can see dawn coming, and there's truly something beautiful on the horizon- a new world waiting to be conceived and birthed. Your heat, your potency, your hands and heart are needed. And it is quite a pleasure to serve.

SHOW THE WAY

By David Wilcox

You say you see no hope, you say you see no reason
We should dream that the world would ever change
You're saying love is foolish to believe
'Cause there'll always be some crazy with an Army or a Knife
To wake you from your day-dream, put the fear back in your life...

Look, if someone wrote a play just to glorify what's stronger than hate,
Would they not arrange the stage to look as if the hero came too late
he's almost in defeat
It's looking like the Evil side will win, so on the Edge
Of every seat,
from the moment that the whole thing begins…

It is love who makes the mortar
And it's love who stacked these stones
And it's love who made the stage here
Although it looks like we're alone
In this scene set in shadows
Like the night is here to stay
There is evil cast around us
But it's love that wrote the play...
For in this darkness love can show the way


Scott Kalechstein is a traveling minister, a counselor and coach, a modern day troubadour, and an outrageous inspirational speaker. He makes his home in Marin, California and loves presenting at conferences, giving talks, concerts and workshops. In his phone counseling practice, he is a relationship specialist, helping both individuals and couples heal, manifest, and awaken into conscious relationship. Call 415-721-2954 to schedule a session, or email him at scott@scottsongs.com. You can visit www.scottsongs.com to read more about his workshops, to hear his talks or to sample songs from his nine CD's. Send him an email to receive writings like this one on a semi-occasional basis.

The Ultimate Addiction

By Scott Kalechstein

I have an insidious addiction that I wrestle with: criticholism. It is the addiction behind all addictions, as it has driven me to compulsively drink, smoke, watch television, eat chocolate, and work without rest. For a very long time this disease has been my Achilles Heal.* I am happy to say that my feet are well on the road to recovery. I confess this and share my story in the hopes that it may inspire any fellow criticholics out there to realize what they've been doing and encourage them to get help.

Like many, I spent years in denial of my thinking problem. I fancied myself an average social criticizer, enjoying a few harmless judgments of myself and of others at parties and other social situations. Then I noticed myself sneaking in a few criticisms while alone. Soon I was waking up and starting my day with a double shot of straight criticism. When I found myself criticizing myself for how much I was criticizing myself, I knew I had a problem. But where to go for help? There were no twelve step programs for this addiction, and I had definitely hit bottom.

One Sunday I was thinking and driving, and got caught in the act. A policeman pulled me over. He had clocked me on his radar judging myself at eighty three times per hour. My thoughts had been swerving all over the road! I had no excuse. He arrested me for inner child abuse, driving myself crazy, and disturbing my own peace. When I told him I was a workaholic and was on my way to work, he added resisting a rest to my charges. He also informed me that my thinking problem increases my astral carbon footprint and eats away at the ozone layer. Uy,Vey! Did I feel guilty!?!

In court I was asked to be my own prosecuting attorney, since the judge knew I had so much experience in that role already. Of course I won my case, and was found guilty as charged. I thought they would throw the book at me, being that domestic self-violence is such a heated issue these days. Instead, the judge let me off with a suspended sentence and

He then warned me that if I was found beating myself up again that I would serve hard time for giving myself a hard time.

The court suggested I visit a hospital that specialized in the treatment of Chronic Critique Syndrome.* Upon examination I was immediately placed on the critical list. The doctors were blunt. They told me that if I didn't learn to be more gentle with myself my mental habits would lead me to a probable critiac arrest.* I decided to start resting my critic instead.


*Achilles Heal: One's greatest weakness which, through self-forgiveness, alchemizes into a blessing that serves humanity.

*Chronic Critique Syndrome: This condition renders the alleged victim unable to see and enjoy the good. It is passed from parent to child, and can also be caught from schoolteachers and the media. The disease affects the eyes, often leaving the sufferer with Anal Eyes , the predisposition to anal-eyes everyone and everything, especially oneself. The cure is an emotional and mental procedure designed to remove the layers of anesthesia blocking one from heartfelt feelings. People in remission often can be seen spreading joy and hugging on the streets. For more information, see Jimmy Stewart at the end of It's A Wonderful Life.

*Critiac Arrest: This occurs when, after years of a person attacking their own heart, the heart fails. The major causes of critiac arrest are a poor mental diet, hardening of the attitudes, and the lack of heart-strengthening exercises, such as hugging, laughing and playing.

More Americans suffer from critiac arrests than all other metaphoric illnesses combined!


Scott Kalechstein is a Miracles Minded Modern Day Minstrel Man and Mischief Maker who makes his home in Marin, CA. (Yes, he has a special relationship with the letter 'M') Scott's life is dedicated to ending seriousness on the planet by the year 2012. He pays the rent and the car payments as an inspirational speaker, a recording artist, singer, minister and workshop leader. He can be visited at www.scottsongs.com If you like his writings, you are invited to sample his inspirational music in the recordings section of his website. His CD, Levitational Pull, contains twenty deliciously humorous personal growth related songs.