If I were to die tomorrow, I’d have wanted to tell my children these things today:
First, God is love, and only goodness and beauty and grace come from love. We humans have created, through the misuse of free will, all the darkness in the world. We must choose oneness with God to cleanse ourselves and the world.
Second, be yourself. Accept who you are. Don’t compare yourself to others. You are not them; you are you. You are not here to please anyone else: Follow your heart. Love who you are. It’s okay, even good, to work at being a better person, but because God is love, and we are love-cells on God’s body, we must love ourselves just as we are to become the best human being we can be. This is my most hard-won life lesson.
Third, forgive yourself for every mistake you’ve ever made, period. When we forgive ourselves, we’re applying God’s love to ourselves. Then, forgive everyone else for everything ever done or not done that harmed you, one at a time, or however feels good to you. Every hurt that needs forgiving exists as a shadow on our souls and as we forgive, we become lighter and lighter. I have used a specific forgiveness technique from J. Everett Irion that has changed my life. It is linked here in three posts, Forgiveness, Forgiveness II and Forgiveness III.
Fourth, put your trust in God and be open to other people and experiences. There’s a wonderful, magical mix of people and places on our planet just waiting to be explored and known. Realize how much alike we humans are. In life, we all need to love and be loved, a peaceful shelter for ourselves and families, healthy food, and an education that opens and grows our minds and hearts. Expand your horizons.
Fifth, banish fear. Every time you feel fear, say to it, “You’re not the boss of me! Scram, fear!” Breathe deeply, think of someone or something really marvelous, and tell fear to get lost as many times as you need to. Fear is the Great Pretend-Forecaster. Fear cannot tell us the truth, because it doesn’t care about the truth. It’s job is to make us afraid—the very opposite of what God wants for us.
Sixth, let others be right, too. And agree to disagree at times. Don’t sweat the small stuff—spend your life-energy on the people and matters that are important to you. Be kind and cooperative as much as possible. Don’t waste resources, yours or the planet’s.
If any other important life-lessons come to me, I’ll add them in another post. And if you, dear reader, would like to share any of yours, please put them in a comment box, tell me how you want your insights signed, and I’ll post them here at NAtP. Thank you!
The killing of thirteen American soldiers (and forty-three wounded) on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009, by a practicing-Muslim Army doctor at Fort Hood, Texas, reminds me of the massacre that two high school seniors committed in April, 1999, at Columbine High School (near Denver, CO). Troubled insiders, who don’t feel understood or accepted, go berserk and strike out against their peers in ways so extreme that no sense can be made of the crimes. There were signs, of course, but they were overlooked. Besides, who could imagine something like Columbine or Fort Hood, no matter how pressing the signs?
I love your laugh—and the easy way you make me laugh.
Last night, my daughter and I were talking about a Catholic nun, Sister Carmen, who works with the local Catholic schools tirelessly gathering food for the homeless and hungry people who come to area Catholic churches for help. My daughter called her a saint and though she is not a saint as measured by the church, she is a living saint to my daughter and I because she lives for the poor.
I struggled all night, and the next night, too, after I saw a mother who looked to me to be drowning her toddler in the pool at the apartments where we live. My horror turned to rage—at myself for not calling the police right then—and at her for being so evil and holding her daughter under the water. I am praying for them, for intervention for the daughter and counseling (would that be enough?) for the mother.
I first came across the writings of Carl Johan Calleman, Ph.D, in June of this year after I began blog-writing. Each of my three children had asked me at different times if I thought the world was going to end in 2012. They each, in their own way, thought that if it was, we had all gotten a pretty raw deal. It was interesting to hear them talk about their life goals, like marriage and family, and having a chance to build a life. I couldn’t fathom why this would happen. Why would God create our world and us, His children, only to destroy it all? I told them I didn’t think the world was going to end in 2012 and began in earnest to read some of the materials online.
I know we all got up this morning and went about our responsibilities, like getting ready for work and/or the kids off to school, with all that these morning rituals entail. We have a lot on our minds, especially those of us who didn’t get ready for work because we don’t have jobs. It’s important, though, not to lose sight of the bigger picture of how we’re all in this together, of the life of our home, Mother Earth, and where we as God’s children fit into the universal Cosmic Story.
Writing about my angel-dream yesterday got me thinking that there may be some interesting stuff in my old dream journals. I’ve lost some of them along the way, the older ones from the late 70s and early 80s; and once I began raising my children I lapsed into not keeping them regularly, though I have remembered some as far back as 1990, when I dreamed about meeting my daughter’s father. In 1991, after my sons’ father had the brain aneurysm, people kept telling me in my dreams that he wasn’t going to survive (he lived for 40 days), and I kept arguing with them. Even when the ‘voice from heaven’ told me, I said, “No, no, no, NO!” I found a couple dreams from 1992, then 1994, but the journaling starts back regularly in 1995. I know without looking they are full of two themes: dreams of my complex relationship with my former spiritual guide (and her family), and me being chased by various dark things, which will turn out to be mostly my shadow-self, I’m sure.
I’d have to look back through my dream journals to be sure—I should actually type them into the computer and then they’d all be here—but I can only remember one dream with an angel. This angel had blonde, slightly wavy hair below the ears but above the shoulders, and wore a white gown. The angel was beautiful with delicate features and a serious expression, and though I couldn’t tell if the being was male or female, I think I’ll call the angel ‘him’ since it seems rude to call an angel ‘it.’
Have you ever wondered how our Divine Creator can be everywhere all at once? I think it’s because God’s essence, Love, is in everything, and that’s also how we’re all connected. We truly are made of the same stuff, at one with each other and our world. Our bodies house the love-particles of us, and we can sense love in everything using our intuition. Love-particles enliven our gratitude, devotion, and our awe of the beauty and grandeur of nature.
“Grandfather, tell me about Spirit,” said the young boy with crow-black hair.
