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Hi Wave,

You are important.  IMHO You are a unique expression of the divine, as are we all.

You're right that a lot of people do have a materialistic take on the holidays.  Just don't let them get you down.  You deserve better than that.  Energy spent is best spent on the positive!

Hey Julia,

Ha ha ha!  I like the Salty Sea Captain with a heart of gold image!  I guess it is better than being an old fart!

Thanks for your dedication to these forums.  I know it takes a lot of time to observe and make intelligent/compassionate comments.

Blessings to everyone, DH

I know that these holidays give people opportunities to saturate their egos with selfish stuff, but that doesn't negate their positive meanings for me. Every one of the holidays you mention was founded in order to honor people who served others, in many cases at the expense of their own lives.  I guess it's because I've been around for awhile and am turning into an old fart, but the railing against negative things doesn't work for me anymore (believe me I once thought it did, having been a political activist, a preacher and news reporter).  My life has been much more enriched since I started looking at what's right with things.  And all of these holidays bring me warm memories and great times with family and friends.

I'll put in my 2 bits.  I've ordered several things over the past 2 years with absolutely no problems.

DH

Hi Tessa,

I have been a hospice chaplain in the US. Your story is very touching and not unlike many I have had the honor of sharing with individuals and their families going through a transition.    A lot of transition experiences are chalked up to drugs or the brain being deprived of oxygen, and maybe a few are, but I'm firmly convinced that most aren't.   Your poem is awesome and I'm sure was a great help to your grandfather.  Thanks for sharing.

And by the way, my kids names are Mariah Faith, La Rhonda Jean and Joshua.

Glad you are feeling better and things are better.  DH

Hi Julia,

Good stuff.  This is one of my favorite stories in the same light from Rabbi Krohn, quoted by Wayne Dyer:

      In Brooklyn, New York, Chush is a school that caters to learning-disabled children. Some children remain in Chush for their entire school career, while others can be mainstreamed into conventional Jewish schools. At a Chush fundraising dinner, the father of a Chush child delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he cried out, "Where is the perfection in my son Shaya? Everything God does is done with perfection. But my child cannot understand things as other children do. My child cannot remember facts and figures as other children do. Where is God's perfection?" The audience was shocked by the question, pained by the father's anguish and stilled by the piercing query. I believe," the father answered, "that when God brings a child like this into the world, the perfection that He seeks is in the way people react to this child."

      He then told the following story about his son Shaya: One afternoon Shaya and his father walked past a park where some boys Shaya knew were playing baseball. Shaya asked, "Do you think they will let me play?" Shaya's father knew that his son was not at all athletic and that most boys would not want him on their team. But Shaya's father understood that if his son were chosen to play it would give him a comfortable sense of belonging.

      Shaya's father approached one of the boys in the field and asked if Shaya could play. The boy looked around for guidance from his teammates. Getting none, he took matters into his own hands and said, "We are losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him up to bat in the ninth inning." Shaya's father was ecstatic as Shaya smiled broadly. Shaya was told to put on a glove and go out to play short center field. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shaya's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shaya's team scored again and now with two outs and the bases loaded with the potential winning run on base, Shaya was scheduled to be up. Would the team actually let Shaya bat at this juncture and give away their chance to win the game?

      Surprisingly, Shaya was given the bat. Everyone knew that it was all but impossible because Shaya didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, let alone hit with it. However, as Shaya stepped up to the plate, the pitcher moved a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shaya should at least be able to make contact. The first pitch came in and Shaya swung clumsily and missed. One of Shaya's teammates came up to Shaya and together they held the bat and faced the pitcher waiting for the next pitch. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly toward Shaya.

      As the pitch came in, Shaya and his teammate swung the bat and together they hit a slow ground ball to the pitcher. The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could easily have thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shaya would have been out and that would have ended the game. Instead, the pitcher took the ball and threw it on a high arc to right field, far beyond reach of the first baseman.     

      Everyone started yelling, "Shaya, run to first. Run to first!" Never in his life had Shaya run to first. He scampered down the baseline wide eyed and startled. By the time he reached first base, the right fielder had the ball. He could have thrown the ball to the second baseman that would tag out Shaya, who was still running. But, the right fielder understood what the pitcher's intentions were, so he threw the ball high and far over the third baseman's head. Everyone yelled, "Run to second, run to second." Shaya ran towards second base as the runners ahead of him deliriously circled the bases towards home. As Shaya reached second base, the opposing shortstop ran to him, turned him in the direction of third base and shouted, "Run to third." As Shaya rounded third, the boys from both teams ran behind him screaming, "Shaya run home!" Shaya ran home, stepped on home plate and all 18 boys lifted him on their shoulders and made him the hero, as he had just hit a "grandslam" and won the game for his team.

      "That day," said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, "those 18 boys reached their level of God's perfection."

Great story. 

It's been said many times but is worth repeating:  Our judgment of others says actually says nothing about others and volumes about who we really are.

grace and peace

What kind of baptism, or what do you mean by baptism?

Hi Heather,

I haven't read all of their stuff, but I read  Ask and It is Given.

The emphasis on emotions as vibrational interpreters was helpful to me.

Part II of the book "The 22 Proven Processes that Will Improve Your Point of Attraction" had several exercises that were helpful to me in replacing powerful feelings of grief on the death of my wife last summer.  Not that I'm where I want to be emotionally, but things have gotten so much better after I used some of their exercises.

What do you think about their stuff?  Any of it helpful?  I tend to go with what works.

DH

Hi Tessa,

I agree with the others that you need to go where your heart (or inner guidance) leads you.

Several years ago I started going with homeopathic and other alternative forms of medical treatment, like pure herbs.  I felt like they worked much better because I did see more positive results.

Now I think they worked better because I thought they would.  I had more faith in what alternative medicine could do than in what traditional medicine and pharmaceuticals could do.

That being said, most people you help will have a hard time understanding that Mind can heal all, that health comes from within.  You have to meet people where they are.  You can encourage them to look within, but if they just aren't there yet, then IMHO the alternative forms of medicine are generally safer sometimes more cost effective.  Go for it!

I've been in a "helping profession" for several years, and I've learned that being non-judgmental and meeting people where they are is critical.  That's what love is all about.  I try to help people look within for answers, but falling short of that, I try to get them to be positive and put their faith in whatever they believe can make them well.  I've seen people put their trust in healing concepts that personally seemed wacked to me, but their faith worked for them!

Bless you,

DH   

Hello Leslie,

And welcome to the forums.

Yes, putting up with those who don't understand with "where you are" is a big challenge.  The negativity can be overwhelming.  I have dealt with it this way:

When possible, "delete" those negative influences by getting away from them, i.e. run like hell!!!   

However, sometimes you have to live with them or work with them, so...........

1) Spend time in meditation each day.  Connect with Source.  I purify my thoughts from outside influences twice a day.  I try to end the day with a meditation to review the day and give thanks for the blessings, forgive those who have upset me, which includes getting negative junk out (much like squeezing the grime out of a dirty sponge).

2) When people are talking "crap" in my face, I've found that it does no good to argue.  You mostly likely won't change anyone's mind with some verbal arguments, and the arguments just add more bad effects of negative vibes you have to deal with later.  Depending on the circumstances, I usually try to re-frame the conversation in positive terms or I say "thanks for your opinion" and walk away.

Whatever you think about, dwell upon and  infuse with interest will be like a magnet drawing the same back to you.  Don't waste life drawing negativity and fighting a useless battle.

Blessings, DH   

In the Hebrew of Genesis 2, the word adam means something like "earth creature" because he was taken from the adamah or "earth" or "dirt".  The Hebrew scriptures are full of word plays and puns.  "Dust bunny" is a stretch but might work too!   

DH

Hi Julia,

Quote: I am in the process of being present with my mother who is in passage through the door. Her situation has changed dramatically this week. I do not know if she should change her mind as to her timing, it isn't for me to know. I can only be present. Forgiveness is a key here. Not towards her but towards myself and in so doing I can offer it to those whom I thought were responsible for creating my own hell.

I love you Kahsan, I honor you. Namaste  Quote

Hi Julia,

I'm kind of in a rush and there are several things I want to respond to in your post when I have more time, but I noted what you said about your mother.  I just wanted to say that I appreciate your honoring of her, especially during this time of transition.  God's love and peace be with you all during this difficult time.  Namaste, DH

[totally]

Good Morning DH,
Wow! What an intimate experience in being present as ones are transitioning. 'Times' Up!! Playtime is over and it's time to come inside. Very Interesting.
In light of hearing about my grandmother, it made me think about her experience and how it applied to myself. What I have thought about for awhile is that if I raise my energy vibration on this the densest level of experience, it ripples throughout the entire vibrational levels. Again, my view of death is actually a living process of purification. I can practice this daily by 'dying' to my ego and allowing Source to fill the space, bringing new 'life' to my experience.
One thought that was shared with me regarding 'hell' was that it was separation from God (Source) which of course is an illusion but real to the one who 'believes' it is possible. That's another subject.
Hmm.... So much to learn........
Blessings and Be Well,
Julia

Hi Julia,

I think that anytime we "die" to the ego and allow Source to fill the space (which for me usually ends up being a push out to help someone) we raise the vibrational level.  Jesus said, "If you want to be my disciple, you must deny yourself daily and pick up your cross and follow me."  The "picking up your cross" is metaphorical, of course, but it's all about "crucifying the ego" and putting others first.

I believe that hell is definitely a separation from God.  Sure, it's all in the mind, but I can't tell you how many times my selfish decisions have left me feeling alone and totally separated from everyone.  Being totally left alone with myself was indeed a hell.  I couldn't stand myself, for some justifiable reasons.

Over the years that has all changed and I have learn to forgive and be forgiven and have come to love myself and the God who created me.  It's all good.

Blessings, DH

Hi Sheena,

Thanks for the response!  I agree that the truth is hard to face sometimes and gets in the way of a lot things!

I have done drumming sessions alone  with cds, and also in a group with some Native Americans where I live.  They have been valuable experiences.  I like the shamanic worldview that treats all of creation with love and respect.

There does some to be a difference between inner journeys of consciousness, such as shamanic journeying and phasing, and OBEs that seem to make a clear path out and away from the physical body.  I'm no pro, but both have offered clear cut experiences that were much more distinquishible than my usual dreams that require some interpretation. 

Thanks for your input.  I haven't been able to find much discussion about the differences and similarities of the outer and inner journeys.  I know some think they are the same.

Blessings, DH

Hi Julia,

Thanks for the wonderful post.  Wasn't too lengthy.  Hit several points of agreement with me.

[Quote:  While I honestly never experienced it towards myself in regards to my mixed heritage 'look' (people often ask me "What are you?" I will not share the various cheeky replies I have given.  Quote]

LOL!  Had to laugh.  We adopted my youngest daughter when she was a week old.  She is Puerto Rican and Black (now a beautiful actress) and looked much different than my wife and me, even though my wife was a Cherokee Indian.  Strangers would often ask, "What nationality is she?"  And while they were mostly innocent questions, sometimes I couldn't help but give the response:  "American!"   

Yes, understanding and forgiveness (unconditional love) are at the heart of wholeness.  I try to be at peace with everyone.  I have pretty much reconciled myself to the way life is with its ups and downs, knowing that it all fits in to the higher scheme of things.  But I guess sometimes I still like to "bitch and moan" just to let the emotional poison out.  The calendar reading you mentioned is very good.  Negative emotions are like a spiritual cancer that can do us in if we don't detox them through letting them out somehow.  However, dwelling on the negativity seems to draw it in the long run.  I've always admired people who could get mad and let it out and go, because I have tended to be a brooder:  get mad, think about it, analyze it, get madder, crazier, etc.  But I'm much better now.  Earth life is too short to mess up for long!  I'd rather have some fun!

[Quote:  I do speak up when prompted, I just don't 'attack' like I once did as much (If you think the Irish are known for tempers I'm here to share, my mother would take an Irish man on.  Quote]


Now that IS scary!    

I appreciate your friendship.  I have met some really neat people on these forums, including you.   

Bless you!  DH