A Shepherd's Pie


By Summer Bacon


Sigh. So many perspectives, so little time.

For example, last week I was bemoaning the fact that I'm not Jesus. No, seriously. It's not an ego thing. It was about wanting to really be like Jesus in a most humble, beautiful, seriously-committed-to-God kind of way. Like, with no fear, no doubt, no shame, no concern about the future or the past, and knowing with total certainty when to tell people to go ahead and cast their nets into the ocean for a big haul of fish.

C'mon...I mean, haven't you been feeling a bit like that, too, lately? Wouldn't it be nice to have that much faith and trust in God? Wouldn't it be nice to live in the peace that surpasses understanding? Wouldn't it feel so good to live life so selflessly that helping others felt like a gift?

Even if you don't believe in Jesus as a man who walked the earth, but see his story as just as another parable of life, it doesn't really matter. No matter how you slice it, Jesus had it goin' on. He knew when to call a spade a spade. "Satan, get thee hence." He knew when temptation was near. He knew his friends and foes, and he loved them equally. Yup. Friends and foe alike. And, he knew that love was important, and that death was an illusion. He knew how to share, and how to play fair. And, he didn't sweat the small stuff. Or the big stuff, for that matter. (Like, for instance, his impending death by crucifixion.) He was too busy loving everyone.

My boyfriend, "The Atheist," (who never ceases to amaze me with his spiritual prowess, though he doesn't realize he has it) who attends every Open Session, has noted one thing about Dr. Peebles: no matter what subject he is talking about, it's all about love. My boyfriend thinks that's pretty cool.

Dr. Peebles harps about love. He's kind of like the Beatles, singing the endless chorus: "Love is all you need." He loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah. He helps us examine life from every angle, in every situation, and the litmus test keeps coming up positive: "Yup. It's all about LOVE." Not too acidic, not too alkaline. Just right.

Here are a few examples of what Dr. Peebles has said over the years:

"Despite what is going on around you, you can remain in love."

"Fall in love with the wonder of yourself, for it is there where you will discover peace, harmony and love beyond your wildest dreams and imaginations."

"Love those who at times you feel in your heart are not worthy of love, for they too are family members."

"It is time to no longer have judgement against anyone upon the Earth--not even an ant, a plant or a spider. All of it is birthed from love."

"Walk the walk of love."

Slice it, dice it, mix it, blend it, and it--the Truth--the main ingredient of life--still comes up as L-O-V-E.

Ask any Chef. Lasagna made without Love is just noodles, sauce, and cheese served piping hot.

Lasagna made with Love is like winning dinner AND a cruise, complete with a whole box of candy on the pillow, 400+ count cotton sheets on the bed, a bit of the bubbly, and never having to say you're sorry you didn't exercise.

Love is calories without the guilt. It's playing the guitar without pain in your fingers. It's the lingering of a kiss that never leaves your lips.

Or, as Dr. Peebles would say, "True Love is beyond your wildest dreams and imaginations."

But, back to the food metaphor. I just cleaned out my refrigerator bins today. I love to cook, and I love to spend money on fresh foods. I would have been in my element had I been born in a little European town and shopped every day at the Farmer's Market. But, I shop at Safeway and Fry's, buy in bulk, and sometimes those halves of pears, ends of green onions, forgotten cucumbers, and pieces of peppers, seem to ferment unbeknownst to me in the vegetable bins. Then I pull them out---eeewww---sopping wet (probably from their tears at being forgotten) and, with a sad heart, I throw them away. They were intended to become Love in a pot of soup, salad, or casserole, or included in a yummy pot roast or Brunswick stew. But, no, they were forgotten instead.

I think that this is what might happen with that unexpressed love in our hearts. It kind of rots and ferments. Then we get angry or sad, and we don't know why, and we feel like we are in a state of lack, and we throw our personal pity parties, "What about ME?" And meanwhile (as Dr. Peebles once pointed out) the kitty cat jumps into our lap and we push it off saying, "Go away! Leave me alone! I'm looking for love!" We get so disgruntled with life that we don't even recognize love when it is sitting right in our lap.

In the October Open Session in Sedona, Dr. Peebles gave us a remedy for a loveless life, and for the pain a lack of love can cause. The remedy for when you are feeling unloved, is to GIVE LOVE.

In his words, "Giving love, my dear friends, alleviates pain. Giving love, my dear friends, alleviates stress and anxiety. Giving love, my dear friends, means that you are opening yourself up to only one vibration that is as pure as the driven snow, and that, my dear friends, is the love of God flowing through every cell of your being. If you have anxiety about pain, if you have anxiety, if you will, about illness, of disease, of discomforts within your physicality, take a nice deep breath into these areas and draw in the love of God here, allowing for it to flow, to fill these areas with life. Love, my dear friends, equals life. And that is what you are here to explore and to understand on this school called Planet Earth."

The answer to everything is really as simple as that. Life can be like a comforting Shepherd's pie, when it's filled with one main ingredient: Love. And, the cool thing is, Love comes in a wide variety of flavors and textures, too. Dig deep inside of yourself, and I'll bet you'll find a lot of those forgotten, unexpressed words, hugs and kisses sitting there, waiting to be incorporated into a fabulous Love feast.

I'll bet you could whip up some really yummy spiritual comfort food today using ingredients like unexpressed thank yous, I love yous, and your welcomes. Sprinkle with some hugs and kisses, add a phone call to a family member "just because," pour on some patience and compassion for the clerk at the grocery store, and roll it all in sweet nothings. Then bake with passion for infinity, and serve it up in heaping platefuls. YUM!

I think the world is pretty hungry for it, don't you?