Me and my Shadow...

I'm so surprised to find this is letting me post. I'm just going to toss up a short one tonight and then we'll see what happens next.

I think 2020 hit us all right up side the head. It was also hard on our hearts. Between the loss of many of our constitutional and God given rights, the serious risks of illness, the loss of family and friends from deaths that were unexpected, and the convoluted problems of the primary and the general elections, we were left spinning, mentally and emotionally.

Much of what I have been doing has kept me occupied with trying to figure out just what happened at that time.

I hope you are enjoying the photo of my friend. :-) I discovered him lurking in the table one night and managed to get a snapshot to show that he did exist. I'm not sure if he's a figment of artificial intelligence, my imagination, or an alien manifesting by some unusual technology. 😎

The little cabin still shelters me and keeps me content and warm. A few neighbors have moved in or out, but it's still a good neighborhood. The flowers have to defend themselves now as it's hard for me to get out and tend to them. It's actually gotten difficult to get around much at all, but I'm okay and still getting by with a lot of help from my family and friends. I'm very blessed with them.

Minimus, AKA Minnie mouse, the cat just didn't come home one day a couple years ago. She is missed, but the chores that went with her are not.

 I've grown to appreciate the solitude and peacefulness, but it was kind of fun the night the alien showed up. I don't see much of my shadow anymore, and I can't tap dance to the song any longer. 

It sent me to thinking about how far our love reaches when we share it with others. A very small kindness can travel a long way when the light is behind it, like a shadow.

Doing one good day today is good for your heart. And then trust the light to make sure it travels where it needs to be.

It's also good to find a smile in your day! Finding out that I can still post here made me smile.

Hopefully, I'll be back sooner than last time. 4 years is a little long between posts. God bless all of you!

What are we doing here?

Stay with me through this first part.

Our creator, who is some place, even if we aren't sure where it is, hallowed, holy, and blessed be whichever name you are known by to each one that knows you.

May your kingdom come and your will be done on Earth -- as it is done wherever you exist.

Please give us our bread for today and feed our spirits with your Love.

Forgive our mistakes and our outright hurtful behaviors, and help us learn to forgive ourselves, as well as those who have hurt us with their mistakes and errors. Help us learn to do better.

Don't let us be led into temptation, but protect us and guide us away from evil.

All of creation is yours. All of the power is yours. All of the glory is yours, forever and ever.

So be it!

†xxx†

Matthew 6: 9 - 13

Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.

Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever and ever.
Amen.

†xxx†

Matthew 6: 10

"Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, in Earth as it is in heaven."

It came to me one day, that we were doing more than praying when we say these words. We are asking a favor; Making a request of the Divine love.

May your kingdom come and your will be done on Earth -- as it is done wherever you exist.

And I wondered, how is this supposed to happen? Were we expecting him to just,        - Poof!-  make it so?

I realized that where even one stands who hears the Divine voice, and who walks as their heart is guided by the Divine love, they are creating and holding a piece of his kingdom here on Earth.

May your kingdom come and your will be done on Earth --  is a request.

For his kingdom to come here, he needs occupants. He needs us to participate with him. He needs leaders, he needs people to care about others, she (intentional, he, she, holy Spirit, genderless is my view of the Divine loving being ) people of wisdom, she needs women of thrifty ways, children filled with the spirit of joy, people of song and music and so many others and their talents. It's a kingdom, a place where we all live under glory and joy in love. It is a place where we have peace in our hearts and in our lives.

It has no boundaries, it has no geographical location, it lives only as long as we create it in our lives. And it grows as others join us.

It is not just one book and it is not just one way of believing. Anyone who believes in a loving Divine being, and believes that you do unto others as you wish they would do unto you, lovingly, is a member of that same kingdom.

You will know one another by the fruits of your spirits. Those that are creating harm and pain are not walking with the loving Divine being that I know is real.

Even those of the kingdom can hurt each other and cause pain, but it's normally unintentional. (I have many discussions with him about design flaws...)

A part of his Joy in being with us, is taking each thing we do and making it work for more love. You are his and when you know it, you understand that he is always with you. He knows your heart and that you are doing your best, even when you feel it's not your best.

I have had proof that even when I intentionally am trying to be bad, he will turn it around and make it good. I have seen it with my own eyes.

Here, in this world on this planet, I will say walk where your heart leads you. Walk in the truth of yourself and your beliefs. The Love is always with you.

You cannot do one thing to make the Divine loving being love you less, and you cannot do anything to make him love you more. Exactly the way you are walking, exactly the way you are living, if your heart is his, you are doing what he needs you to do here for his kingdom come on our Earth.

You are creating a piece of his kingdom here by the way you live your life, loving God.

When you have a decision to make the only real question is, "What is most loving for everyone involved?" The smartest way to find the answer, that I know of, is ask him in prayer first.

When I pray, I use the Lord's prayer in my own words and now I add, how may I help you? How can I resolve this situation? How can I help this person? Why should I try if nobody else cares? Whatever is on my heart, even writing this today, I asked, are these the words you want out there?

The Divine loving being reminds me, "Then be still".

Listen for the answer in your heart. To have a conversation with God, you have to give him a turn to speak. I had my answer. If I can, I should. It's up to him what he does with it. That's the Grace from walking with the Divine loving, living being. I do what I can, but he reminds me he can do anything.

If you can do something you feel is loving, you do it. If he asks you to do something, you do it. Then he does what is needed with it.

If you look up and say, "How may I help you?", you may find yourself in over your head very quickly. The Divine love is not slow to answer you.

Then comes the hard part. He's chosen you to help him on Earth. He has given you a conviction and a mission. You will quickly find it becoming difficult.

I'm on a mission from God. It has had no definition. I just know it's so. Where I see his kingdom becoming, I add my help as best I can.

I think all of Matthew 6, for those of you who use the Bible, would be a good chapter for you today.

America, God shed his grace on the and crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea. And may that Grace spread worldwide.

If you are working for his kingdom to come here on Earth, the words I have for you today are, "Stand your ground".

Wherever a believer stands is God's kingdom becoming on Earth. Stand God's ground!

Fearless Living?

Nothing major to post today. Just curious at how we KNOW that something is a problem for us and continue to avoid instigating the solution. For a fear of the dark we put up a night light, no problem. But many other fears could be comforted as easily and we deal with the fear rather than correcting the situation. It mystifies me.

When the correction is applied, the fear is gone, the stress is off, we rest better, smile more and our bodies go off  the "yellow alert" that they have lived under. So WHY don't we get off our butts and take care of it when it is first an issue, instead of waiting until we are half nuts from coping?

Humans. Are we really that lazy or do we somehow think we deserve our fears? I know that not all fears are as easily dealt with as plugging in a night light. It may take more effort or finances than we have to correct what we fear. Maybe you can't comfort all fears, but the ones you can create a fix for can be OUT of your life.

If you are living with a fear, and can figure out what it would take to stop it, then do it! Put the safe guards in place and RELAX!

When you feel the relief from stress that a release from fear provides, I think you will be glad you took the time to take the fear out of your life. Don't let it control you. Get it under your control.

Thank you

I survived, and actually ended up having fun, doing the interview with Rudi Rudinski for NDEspace.org on the Carribean Radio Show through BlogTalk Radio. Dottie Clark was a great help to me with her friendly encouragement. Dr. Richardson is going through a rough time right now and took the time to put on the show for us. It took a lot of people, their talents and time to make it happen.

The link in the post below will let you listen to it, if you are interested. We covered a lot of topics. Rudi made it easy to find my  thoughts and express them...

You really can't know why things happen as they do. This was originally scheduled for the 12th and got moved to the 19th...I sent an email out to those I thought might be interested in listening. One of my email friends that had read the book earlier wrote me to say he had intended to "go home" (via suicide) that day, but stayed to hear our talk...and has now decided to stay on longer here.

To be rescheduled meant I had to be nervous a week more. :) It didn't seem like a good thing to me. It meant something different to my email friend. He saw it as a reason to stay; to hear our words on the THAT date. That we cared he stayed lifted his spirit.

To know that even ONE person was helped by us in doing that show made it so very worthwhile to me...and all I did was talk...share words...

When we care and share we can change life for the better for each other. I might never had known how important it was to that friend, but he is here today and I am glad!

It took all those people in so many different locations on this planet to put those words out there and we helped one find the strength to keep living and loving...Go Team!!

First Radio Interview

I will be interviewed about my experience with dying and death tomorrow night, Monday, December 19th at 11:00 pm. You can listen live here:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/caribbeanradioshow/2011/12/20/near-death-experience-the-mystery-of-suicide-death

Call in numbers for questions are 347 202 0222 or 661 467 2407.

You can read about my experience at http://www.1way2see.com/thebook.html

This is a first for me. I have done private interviews and one for Discovery Channel that was not used...I'm curious to see just how it goes.

The other point....

We make much of the death of Jesus, it was such a horrible ordeal and he did suffer terribly. Many here still suffer horrible, painful deaths. We seem to forget that the point of the story is that He did NOT "die" - He continued to LIVE.

It is not (to me) his death that changes each heart, not that He died for us, but His living love for us. He loved us enough that HE CAME BACK for us to SHOW that He lived on and that WE will live, too.

It is His living presence in our lives, his willingness to love us as we are, even as we continue to ignore, reject or disbelieve in Him, that gives us proof of His Divine Love; And it is his return that proved to us the reality of Eternity.

While He was alive, as we know alive, He changed hearts, healed and taught - and He is STILL Alive, doing the same.

Death doesn't count any more...not for Him and not for us. It's just a stepping stone to another way to live and love...People don't seem to see that. Jesus, by living beyond the death of His body, has opened up Eternity to each of us.

Even though His body here was killed, He lives, loving us still, and He SHOWS us that...proving His love to each of us here as we reach for it, and giving comfort to each heart that loses a loved one, that we will be with them again forever - where death can never separate us again.

Old Habits are Hard to Break

Each of us has our own ways of living and doing things that, over time, become habitual. It may be as simple as the way we walk to town or as complicated as an addiction.

I know that each of us is needed here, exactly as we are, for the completion of the divine and loving plan for all. Even those that a general vote would find as failures, mean, addicts, or another "negative" way of living, are needed here - I don't always know why something that may seem wrong to so many is truely right for another. I know that it is.

Learning to accept each other "unconditionally" takes something that one finds objectionable to learn on. You can't "learn" to love unconditionally if every thing is perfect between everyone...we would already know how...

What we seem to need to keep the closest eye on is our hearts...All we can really do is the best we can do. The only person we can change here is our self.

How we treat others and our selves shows to everyone we meet. We can't help it, the truth of us comes out through our words and actions...and what others see IS what they get.

You can keep a smile pasted on your face and say, "I'm just fine." for quite a while. But some where, it's going to slip off. The truth of how you really feel is aching for someone who really cares to hear it and offer comfort...

That's what we can do for each other here, listen and care, really care, how our hearts feel...for that is where the truth of you is...in your heart.

Matthew 15:17 - Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?

Matthew 15:18 - But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.

These verses remind me to look at what is inside a person and to consider why they appear to me the way they do. What thing in life has driven them to be the way they are? Why does it matter so much to me that they "change"?

Often, if I answer those questions honestly, I find that I believe the way I live is "better", "easier" or more "right" than the way they chose to be...

Which one of us can claim to understand all of life and why it is as it is? I'm thinking the answer to that is, "Not one." I have to understand that, for them, their way is right - no matter what I might think. And it is OKAY that their way is different than mine.

When your heart is full of hurts and pain, betrayals and losses, how can you feel content or happy here? When you hate yourself, how can you care for or be kind to anyone else?

Helping each other get our hearts emptied of hurtful things and filled with hope and comfort is what we do when we treat each other kindly and with respect. To truely change a heart takes the Divine Love to act on it.

All we can do as humans is to be as gentle as we can on the hearts around us. They are what they are. People have "bad" habits and "bad" ways of acting - but each one of us has a heart that is just aching to love and be loved...just the way they are...

To be careful what comes out of your heart, you have to be careful what you allow to stay in it. Try to remember your hurts and hard feelings will keep coming out until you forgive those involved and set yourself free to be caring and open again...

Don't let the looks, habits or even actions of others change how YOU treat them...offer respect and kindness to each one. Care enough to help who ever is brought to your attention as best you think you can. You may not change their heart, but you CAN change yours...Having even one person treat you fairly, honestly and with loving care can give hope to the hardest heart when it meets one who really cares.

Considering that it's only three words, it sometimes seems like the hardest thing to do, but it's the only thing that counts; Love one another.

See no Evil

It's said God can't see evil...when I started looking it up I found a verse:

Zep 3:15 The LORD hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy: the king of Israel, [even] the LORD, [is] in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil any more

The thought I want to share is this; God says thou shalt not see evil, should I keep seeing it?

What if I just give up the the word "bad"? What if I refuse to say anyone has done "evil"? If I leave it all to Him, I do not need to define bad or evil or sin - I only need to walk my steps in kindness and caring to those he brings me without judging if they "are worth" the effort, the care I offer...I can just offer to help if I can....and let Him cover what I can't see anymore.

It frees me. I only need to know if I CAN meet the need that is brought to me. I don't have to decide if I SHOULD meet the need.

And if it's not mine to do, I won't have what is needed. Either my heart won't be able to care enough to meet the need, or even if it DOES care and want to meet the need, I may not have what it takes to fill the gap...I will have to say that I can't help. They will have to seek elsewhere.

But I will not have called them worthless, sinful, bad, or whatever. I can just treat them like the hurting humans I see them as and do what I can for each one I meet. They don't have to "be worthy" of a kindness, any more than I am worthy of God's grace... I just have to do His will - and that is no mystery to me. His will is that we love, care, heal, help, encourage and even carry one another - that is what His son said and did.

1Jo 4:12 No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.

If I want someone to be able to see there is a loving God then first I have to show them a loving human...that's not easy. I'm not God. But the life force in me is His. The love in me is His. I am of God. And I chose to walk the world lovingly.

If they can find one human who loves and cares, maybe they can reach to believe in a God that loves and cares.

I want to be like that. I want to love. I can't love all of everyone and thing here - but I will continue to do the best I can to be gentle with all those I meet. If even one looks up and finds the reality of the Creator, I can feel like being here was worth the walk. If something I can do eases even one heart for one day, it was a day worth getting through.

You don't have to be a saint. You only have to care.

Reminder Reprised

Sometimes I need to remember what works for me doesn't work for others. You will all make your own choices and have your own beliefs. They are all valid. To be true to my heart and my ideals I have to live my beliefs...below are some things from a couple pages I've written to remind me that we all can only be what we are...even me.

"When others don't understand why I care so deeply and give so much, I will not do less to suit their view of life. I will not care less to "match" their level of love. I will keep sharing my love so there is more love in the world. I want to show them that even broken and sad hearts can learn to love and trust again and that caring for each other is caring for ourselves."

"Striking out when we hurt is built into the body as a defense mechanisim. It shouldn't to be built into our hearts. I will forgive the hurt I feel and return loving attention and care. I don't find it easy. Prayer helps me to understand.

If we can look at the hurt done to us we will realize that, in many cases, it is our own sense of importance and social pride that is hurting. Is that really worth losing a friend over?"

"I will try not to return tit for tat. I'm just not going to get into a lose-lose situation again if I can help it. You do what you need to do - I will answer when you call, return your calls, come when you need me, share what I have and try to give what you ask me for. I will continue to help where I can, to fill the needs I see around me....I will try to soothe hurts, ease hearts, offer caring attention....even if that is NOT what you have shared with me.

Why?

Because I believe we are all in this together - we are ONE - each a part of the whole. If I hurt you I am hurting myself. I want to love myself. I want to love all of myself. That means loving you, too. "

I don't have to love what you do, I just have to love you the way you are. I can do that, most of the time, and with most people. It's just more of an exercise of the heart with some than with others. I work on it as it is brought to my attention.

"The book doesn't say 'do unto others AS they do unto you', it says to do what you WISH they would do for you.

I wish to be loved. To be forgiven when I hurt another. To have help when I need it. To have food when I am hungry. To have companionship when I am lonely. To have what I need when it's needed. I wish to be loved by others and to love them freely. I try to give that to all I meet.

I can't do that and hold on to the hurts done to me. I am letting go of the hurts and only counting the love. I will count the smallest sign of loving care and watch as those small, loving actions increase. I believe Love is all there is. Why would I try to track and remember things that are "notlove"?"

"If you encourage the smallest kindness of others and offer only kindness, it will change the world."

"Maybe I won't be able to live up to the ideal every day. I'm human. I can get vengeful and vindictive and want to hurt someone back....but if I can slow down even one minute and think about it, I can let the hurt flow over me instead of through me. I am slowing notlove and encouraging Love....I gotta try.

So do unto others as you WISH others would do unto you - feed them, house them, hold them while they cry, laugh with them, and love them.

Forgive them for being humans, love them for being part of your life forever."

I can't be what I am not. I care. Each of you has to do what is right for you, believe or not believe, care or not care, love or not love, share or not share, give or not give, take all you can get or give all you can spare. Your choice.

Mine is to love, to forgive, to smile, to care, to share and to enjoy what has been gifted to me. I'm a human female. I love things human, I love as a female. I will keep reaching for love here, enjoying parties and music, writing, riding, and all that brings smiles and joy to my heart. Joy is a gift of the spirit.

Last night I sat with the last of the family who cleaned up after a party. We sat in the dark, under a tent at a picnic table. As I tried again to describe the Divine Loving Being I met to one of them, I put my hand up and arched it across the horizon to try and show the size of that being. As my hand moved across our view of the sky, a falling star followed my fingers. It was seen by them and we all got a major rush off it....it was real in their world, not just mine.

The Divine Love knows how to show each of you that it is real. Last night it showed some of my family it was listening and caring about them...

Call it coincidence, if you must. It might make it easier for you to believe that I just happened to move my hand across the part of the sky we could see under the edge of a tent and a star just happened to fall the same way my hand was moving....

To me, it is the Divine Love showing it is alive and well in our world. And if those around me can not deal with that, it's not up to me to change their minds or their hearts. He does that. I just watch in awe while He does.

I'm not trying to be a saint. I'm trying to be a good steward of resources given to me and a good neighbor to those I share the planet with. In my tiny contribution to the world we live in, I want to gift happiness, comfort and contentment to those I walk with.

It won't happen every day, unless I work toward it everyday. Today I had to remember not to dim my shine to fit other's view of the world. That's their choice, how they see it.

I see we shine when we love and care and are kind to each other. My family shines. My friends shine. I wanna shine, too!

Don't let the world's idea of how you should live be all that guides you, follow your heart. Love as YOU love. And remember to love as you WISH others would love you.

You ARE Okay

Genesis 1:
31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, [it was] very (completely) good.

Time is for humans. Where there is no time, all things are together at once. What He created on day one, is still happening for us, but He saw ALL that He had made - the whole of it to it's final form - as He made it to be. All of us, each one, is included in "it was VERY good."

There is no qualifier in this statement. It doesn't say "almost everyone" or "only the ones who believe I made them" ... it says EVERY thing. That means you and I. To me, that means Lucifer and the angels, too. He created it all.

Isa 45
7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these [things].

All that we decide is good or bad, kind or hurtful, evil or loving, was created of the Divine Love. Each of us was designed to be as we are for a reason. We are each here to fill a need in His creation of perfection. We can't mess it up.

There is not one thing we can do that cannot be undone by God. There is not one thing we can make strong enough that he can't knock it down.

There is not one person here, just the way they are today, that is not His beloved creation, His child. We are all His. We are all part of Him.

Proverbs 16
4 The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil

Even those things that we see as evil, are needed for creation to be "very good". Now that is a stumper for some. Love is good. Evil is bad. Ask anyone....

But sometimes what is most loving looks evil to the one receiving it. Having their home burn down Christmas Eve didn't look good to my niece and nephew in law with four kids. Ask them how they feel about it now, more than a year later....in a larger, better home with easier finances....and all healthy and here.

Sometimes what is evil looks very good...."free" candy or trinkets for the taking can seem more than tempting. And who is hurt by it?... But when the truth comes out, it's not good any more.

Appearances are deceptive. Good and Bad are relative to the person and society. They are how WE judge.

We can be harsh judges. "He's a drunk.", "She's on crack." Even when it's the truth about others, it is the intent to express a negative toward others that is not loving. "She had four kids by four men.", not, "She raised four children alone." He screws around on his wife."He doesn't feel loved enough". Not one of us is walking here with a clean heart that always loves everyone...not one. So who are we to judge them?

And He says it is all very good....

Isa 437 [Even] every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed (shaped) him; yea, I have made him.

I believe that the life spark and spirit of each of us is a part of God's own spirit. He created us to be "like" Him. He powered us with His life force. We are all needed here, just as we are to complete His very good creation...

You are not bad because you are addicted. You are not lost because you are a thief. Your actions have been unloving toward yourself and others. He knows that. He formed you.

I can't begin to state how completely you are loved and accepted, just as you are, as His perfect creation.

I have had to try again, the past several weeks, to share this with others, how I see it.

We need you to be the truth of who and what you are. I don't know why, I only know that truth and love are the essence of the Creator and are in each of us as our individual soul.

However you are today, you are perfectly you.

If you chose to be loving and to bring more love into being on this planet, good by me. If you chose to be hurtful and spread more not-love around, not good by me, BUT, I know it's good by HIM.

If you are needed to be loving, you will be shaped that way. If you are needed to be strong and angry, you will be shaped that way. Life itself will shape you.

He brings us into being out of Love, He brings us home in Love. What you are is needed here. If you want to change something, go for it....if you can't do it yourself, then consider establishing a connection to the Divine love....reach for it.

Proverbs 16
3 Commit (trust) thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts (intentions) shall be established (stood upright).

If you chose to walk in Love here, then do so. If you, in your deepest truth, want to change anything about yourself, the power is there. It is already yours if you but reach out to touch it.

I don't believe you need to be saved or changed unless you want it. You will be brought home to Love one day, however you are. We are all just doing the best we can in this life.

What I do believe is that no matter what YOU believe, no matter how you live, no matter your strength, weakness, ability to contribute in the eyes of humans or any other thing - it won't change the fact that you are LOVED and seen as PERFECT, just as you are.

What I think of you or what other humans think of you doesn't count in the long run. Only what YOU think of you and what HE thinks of you.

And I tell you He says "I have formed (shaped) him; yea, I have made him."

He says "[it was] very (completely) good"

You ARE okay. Be yourself. Find the truth of yourself and express it today. Others may have trouble dealing with it, He won't.

Be gentle with each other. Life is hard enough without more pain being added to it. Start by being gentle with yourself. Realize you can't be a crystal if you are granite or marble. You can't be a tree if you are a flower....you are what you are...and it is very good.

Do what you can

Some days all you can do is hunker down and live through what life has brought to you. That's what trees do in the winter and it's good enough...

Just being here, alive and yourself, allows possiblities for the world to be a better place. Even just standing back and watching the dance of life around you is enough. You don't have to "do" all the time, you have to "BE" all the time. If all you think you can be is just alive - that's all you NEED to be. Living and loving is enough.

Whatever you can find the loving care, strength, time, interest, or breath to do and chose to do, is being your loving self and it is good enough. Whatever little bit you can do, it's enough.

Even Jesus didn't "fix" everything, only what came into his path. But he tells us that doing what we see needs done in love is enough...

Mark 14:3 - 9

And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he (Jesus) sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard, very precious; and she brake (opened) the box, and poured it on his head.

And there were some that had indignation within themselves, (they got upset) and said, "Why was this waste of the ointment made? For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor." And they murmured against her.

And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? She hath wrought a good work on me. For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will, ye may do them good: but me ye have not always.

She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying.
Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.

This woman has been given no name. She could be rich, poor, married, single, loved, unloved...we know almost nothing about her. She could be any one of us that listens with our heart and does what feels most loving to us.

But I know she had heard the words of Jesus from someone she trusted and, in those words, (Mark 10: 33-34 that he would be killed and rise again in 3 days) she believed. She believed it enough to search her heart for a kindness to do for the man who had affected her life in some way that was so important to her that she wanted him to know she cared.

To the man that gave so much to so many, she gave a gift....

At that time most women were the responsibility of a man. Those that were not were considered low lifes...

Where did a woman get such a gift? Did she beg the gift of the ointment from a friend? Did she have to ask a husband or brother for the money to buy it? Did she sell her jewelry to purchase it? We can't know. But she found a way to get it.

She walked alone, through the house of a known leper, to make her gift. It's not a place many would go at all.

She didn't ask someone to hand it to him. She didn't give it to one of the diciples for him. (good thing too, or they would have sold it!) She walked through the home where a woman alone would stand out and be marked with shame. She went into the room where they were eating, found Jesus and applied it to his body herself.

When they began to mutter that it could have been used better to serve many other poor people Jesus himself didn't just defended her, he praised her action; "She hath done what she could."

And he told them, (I feel to make the point - again - that he had TOLD them he would be killed) "she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying."

In essence He said - This woman BELIEVED what I have said to you all.

And her belief and gift touched him so deeply that he declared, "this .. that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her."

Still no name given...why not?

I believe it is so any woman, any time, any where, that has "done what she could" will know that her kindness will be remembered and stand as a memorial to her.

Maybe what you can do won't seem like much. Maybe it won't seem to be good enough. Others may say you could have done more or differently -

But in God's eyes, when you have done what you could in loving care, it will be remembered.

And in the eyes of the one you do for, it will be remembered in their hearts.

Do what you can in love - it is enough.

Be not afraid, only believe

Jesus was speaking to a huge crowd....

Mark 5:21 ... much people gathered unto him:...

22 And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet, 23 and besought him greatly, saying, "My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live".

This man would have been one whose peers were against Jesus. But he walked through a large crowd of people, people that would KNOW him, and interrupted the teachings that were being given. For love of his child, he would risk or try anything, even one reviled by his peers...and he ASKED for help...

24 And Jesus went with him; and much people followed him, and thronged him.

He was ANSWERED, yes; Jesus said he would come.

Those that heard the request followed to see this miracle done. How often do you get to SEE a real healing? They all had questions and wanted to be where they had a good view. They "crowded in on all sides", bumping right into Jesus and his friends as they walked....there would be many touching each other in such a large crowd trying to fit on a road...

Yet there was another who needed Him and his help that day...

25 And a certain woman, who had an issue of blood (for) twelve years, 26 and had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, ... was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse. 27 When she had heard of Jesus, (passing by) came in the press (crowd) behind, and touched his garment. 28 For she said (to herself), "If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole (healed)." 29 And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.

This woman BELIEVED that if she only REACHED OUT her hand and TOUCHED just his clothing, that she would be healed. And she was....

30 And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, "Who touched my clothes?" 31 And his disciples said unto him, "Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?" 32 And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing.

Jesus KNEW he had been touched in faith, he FELT the power in him react to that touch. He knew it was his clothes that had been touched and he knew a woman had done it. When he asked his friends who did it, they meant "You gotta be kidding?" when they answered. How could you tell which one touched you in a crowd this large? But Jesus kept looking for her....

33 But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.

Like anyone who has taken something from someone without asking, she was afraid she would be punished...but she knew she was already healed. She knew he was aware of her. She told him all the truth.

34 And he said unto her,"Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole (healed) of thy plague (illness)".

His words to her were not a punishment, but an explaination, a comfort and a blessing.

What came to me as I listened to this passage is that he feels all of us around him. He feels our belief and our need.

Those that reach out to him with belief draw His attention. His power is ours to use, even for ourselves.

The man asked for and was going to be given help, not for himself, but for his daugher. She was too ill to ask for herself. He was afraid she would die. We can ask for help for others.

This healing slowed them down...

35 While he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue's house certain which said, "Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further?"

36 As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, "Be not afraid, only believe."

His fear had come true...One of his own people had come to tell him his daughter died. Yet a man he did not know, except by reputation, told him it would be alright....what a quandry! Grieve his daughter or believe she would live? Believe in the word of one he had just met? But he would have SEEN the woman that was healed as she confessed to Jesus. And he had heard of other healings or he would not have come to ask for help. He must have kept believing, as hard as it was....

37 And he suffered (allowed) no man to follow him, save Peter, and James, and John the brother of James.

38 And he cometh to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and seeth the tumult, and them that wept and wailed greatly. 39 And when he was come in, he saith unto them,"Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth".

40 And they laughed him to scorn. (they ridiculed him, they didn't believe him) But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying.

41 And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, "Talitha cumi"; which is, being interpreted, "Damsel, I say unto thee, arise". 42 And straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was of the age of twelve years. And they were astonished with a great astonishment.

His daughter lived....The worst word that can come to a parent, "your child has died", was made untrue. What a relief! What a joy to share with his wife and family!

One reached out in belief and was healed, one asked for another and they were healed....the girl was too young and too ill to believe in a stranger - but her father believed for her and she lived...I believe she lived to know who healed her...and those who believed she was dead would have KNOWN a miracle when they saw it...

Try the impossible. Believe in God's unconditional LOVE.

Ask. Don't be afraid, even to stand in front of a crowd and ASK.
Reach out. You have to reach for what you believe will help you.
See. Pay attention and begin to see the miracles around you.
Know. The power of his Love is His to share with us all. Learn to know it is real when you begin to see it around you in answer to your requests and prayers.
Believe. Not just for yourself, your belief will touch others. Ask for those that don't believe.

Ask that they see His love is real, ask that they might have what they need, too. They will begin to see the miracles and know the power of God's love. In time, as they learn to believe, they will reach out to touch others, too.

Whatever comes to you in life, however hard it is, never forget that He tells us, "Be not afraid, only believe."

Be not afraid.

only believe.

No rules

Pain in your heart that seems caused by another can lead you understanding God's heart in your life. He loves you as you are. He asks that you love others, as they are. Not as you wish them to be, not as they treat you - but as He loves you - no conditions, no rules; Love freely given.

Your percieved pain, when you think someone has hurt your heart, is the birth of learning to love another as God loves - with no conditions. When you remove the conditions from your love the pain fades away.

Loving is not what hurts you, and not being loved by another is not what hurts. Trying to love and be loved only on your terms and not having those conditions honored by others hurts you.

But it is you that set the terms, the conditions, that you would love by....So you have hurt yourself.

""If you don't do this and do act in this way, then I will love you"" - that is what we do to ourselves. Love withheld for behaviors is not love - it is punishment and reward....You sully love when you use it in this way.

And it is human's rules you set to love by when you give conditions to be met, not God's. God's love has no rules to be met, no behaviors to be learned. Love is to always be given freely, not earned...not doled out like coins - GIVEN.

Letting go of your conditions frees you to give love, no matter what others do or how they love. Being human and having to relearn this is normal. We fall into thinking that we have to meet the conditions of those around us, family, friends, society, in order to be loved...We think again that we can not love one who wrongs us by human's rules or those around us will not understand.

Let them be confused but follow the light that is love in your own heart. Love anyway. No rules.

Accept that we hurt each other, that we can not live under others conditions. Forgive them the hurts done as you forgive yourself for being human and feeling a hurt was done.

Give and share love where ever you see it needed, with no rules, no conditions and love on with peace in your heart.

The gift of love freely given can not be wrapped, but it can be carried away in a heart with a smile and a hug behind it that will not be forgotten.

Never say you have no gift to give - your love for those around you IS the gift the never fades.

Choose to love

Each love you nourish in your life teaches you more about how to love. I try to learn to show love to others as I wish others would show love to me. When I exercise my ability to love gently and kindly, it nourishes everyone I touch but it only changes ME. It changes the way my heart feels.

When I am hurt and forgive it, I feel eased, released from the stress of being upset or emotionally in pain. I can't change how another person is feeling. I can only decide how I will feel.
When I can offer help it lets my heart smile. It is in how we interact with others, how WE each decide to act toward others, that the hope of a good world is brought closer to reality.

A seed can only grow to be like the flower is came from. You can loosen the soil, locate it in the proper amount of sun, keep the weeds away and feed it - offering your labor, your time and your care to the seed. Still, a zinnia seed will only grow to be a zinnia flower.

With your extra care, it will be the best and most healthy zinnia flower it can be, but it will still be a zinnia. What comes from your care of it is your increased exposure to sunshine, more exercise of your muscles, more contemplation of what you can do to help it flower better, thinking caring thoughts - YOU grow stronger for your care of the flower.

People can only be what the seed in them is designed to be - we can't change that, even in ourselves. But our loving care of each other can help us all be the best at being what we are.

It is YOU who changes from giving love to others. You learn to encourage, not discourage; to offer a hand up, not a hand out; to feed a spirit as well as a body. Your heart learns to see that they don't need to change, any more than you do - you just need to accept them as they are and yourself as you are.

Love them just as they are and learn to see what you can do to encourage them to be their very best self. Love yourself JUST as you are and know that each time you overcome your anger or hurt to forgive a friend that the world IS a better place. Be the best and most loving YOU that you can every day.

Lu 12:31 But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you.

If God is love and the kingdom of God is composed of love, then the kingdom is in each heart that loves - your heart and mine. Seek to love freely, to forgive easily, to show others how to love as you wish love would be showed to you here.

Plant your feet in love and expand the border of His Kingdom on this planet. His Kingdom come, His will be done. In His Unconditional and Divine Love I trust. Choose to love.

Shine on

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.

We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

The above was orignally written by Marianne Williamson not by Nelson Mandela.

When others don't understand why I care so deeply and give so much, I will not do less to suit their view of life.

I know sometimes we can only love a little from our broken and sad hearts. I will not care less to "match" their level of love. I will keep sharing my love so there is more love in the world.

I want to show them that even broken and sad hearts can learn to love and trust again and that caring for each other is caring for ourselves.

Forgive me

Why is it so HARD to remember - "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, [b]do ye even so to them[/b]:....matthew 7:12

Some don't return my phone calls, some don't come when I think I need help. Some can't soothe me when I hurt. Some say unkind things about me when I'm not there. Some have taken things from me without asking. Some don't show up when they say they will be over. Some hurt my feelings with words or actions. Some just seem to be mean to me.

To do what makes me feel I am on the right path and get the warm fuzzy feeling inside, I have to remember we are each just human. I have done these things to others in the past. I have to forgive the hurt I am feeling and return only loving attention and care.

I don't find it easy. Striking out when we hurt is built into the body as a defense mechanisim. It shouldn't to be built into our hearts. We can look at the hurt done to us and realize that, in many cases, it is our sense of importance and pride that is hurting. Is that really worth losing a friend over?

I can no longer return tit for tat. I'm just not going to get into a lose-lose situation again if I can help it. You do what you need to do - I will answer when you call, return your calls, come when you need me, share what I have and try to give what you ask me for. I will continue to help where I can, to fill the needs I see around me....I will try to soothe hurts, ease hearts, offer caring attention....even if that is NOT what you have shared with me -

Why? Because I believe we are all in this together - we are ONE - each a part of the whole. If I hurt you I am hurting myself. I want to love myself. I want to love all of myself. That means loving you, too.

The book doesn't say 'do unto others AS they do unto you', it says to do what you WISH they would do for you...

I wish to be loved. To have help when I need it. To have food when I am hungry. To have companionship when I am lonely. To have what I need when it's needed...I wish to be loved by others and to love them freely.

I can't do that and count the hurts done to me. I am letting go of the hurts and only counting the love. I will count the smallest sign of loving care and watch as those small, loving actions increase.

I believe Love is all there is. Why would I try to track and remember things that are "notlove"?

If you encourage the smallest kindness of others and offer only kindness, it will change the world.

Maybe I won't be able to live up to the ideal every day. I'm human. I can't get vengeful and vindictive and want to hurt someone back....but if I can slow down even one minute and think to try and let the hurt flow over me instead of through me, I am slowing notlove and encouraging Love....I gotta try.

So do unto others as you WISH others would do unto you - feed them, house them, hold them while they cry, laugh with them, and love them.

Forgive them for being humans, love them for being part of your life forever.

Day is Done

By fire or candle, light was labor. You were sparing with it. There was no running down to the gas station for more propane or to the neighbors for candles...The light went OUT when the sun went down. And we let it.

After a day of hauling wood, cutting sod, feeding animals, and teaching kids how to do the same, the sun went down. Readings or recitations by firelight were entertainment and schooling. Singing was a release of the heart after a day of exercising your muscles...break time. If it was too dark to read, too dark to mend harness, we gathered together and told each other stories.

Families didn't have limitless supplies of acholol or drugs to 'relax' with. Forget TV. They found their own ways to unwind at the end of the day.

We are losing the art of family relaxation. We all need it; it's hardwired into almost everything on the planet. We need the dark. We need to rest.

Even out plants grow better when given dark time in their day. Too much light makes them spindly and thin. Our animals produce better when they are given "night" in their barns.

There is no prize for "Most Exausted Human".

There is a prize for families that relax together. That time of almost sleepy but still awake that we can share builds a bond that lasts. You don't have to do anything but be there and communicate with your family. Make it "Joke of the Day" and everyone tells one. Or just sit in the yard and stare at the consellations together.

Find a way to spend a few minutes each day glad that the night is come and day is done with your family. Even if it is the panacea of TV, snuggling down together to watch it makes the bonds between you stronger. It helps you all rest better knowing there are those who care who are with you each night.

Kick back and party, play cards, sing, tell stories - RELAX - but do it together.

"Col 2:2 That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love ........."

How may I help you?

I care about those around me. I try to show it. How do you know it's needed if you aren't the one who needs it?

When I care about others I often see things that I think need filling -- from sugar bowls to hearts. I think it's needed because I have needed it before. A gallon of milk, a gas tank, a hug, a quiet talk...I can only recognize "need" as I have known my own needs.

There are some needs we all have and can't mistake. There are some needs unique to each of us.

How do you know you are filling what's truely needed when it's not you who needs it and it's not a need you have had?

I don't. I can only offer to fill the needs as I see them.

I'm really filling the needs [i]I know[/i] in those I meet; My needs. I can only hope it's close enough to what they really need that it helps them.

Can you fill a need if you have not known the need?

I think we can. I think we can see another's plight and aid them even when we don't understand why they think they need something we have never needed so badly. It's not a need you have had, it's not important to you, but you reach out to help them fill it...I think that is love; To help another be all of the best that they are.

I need to love and be loved. I see that as a need in all of us. Whether it truely is a need or not, I see it that way.

When I see someone who needs to be loved it touches my heart. My heart is ripped when I can't fill that need. When all expression of caring is denied by them you can't soothe their hurts. They will not let others love them.

When I see someone who has stopped loving, it makes my heart ache for them. Denying yourself that need, to me, is the same as standing in a blizzard naked. To stop loving others is to kill something in yourself, as I see it.

So the basic reason I fill the needs around me is because I NEED to love. To show people they are loved is secondary, really.

That's a hard thing to say. I want to be caring for others to show them there is one who cares for us all, but I know now it's my need to give love that I am filling...

When I fill anyone's need, I am filling my own....I'll keep reaching out to each I meet. Now I think I understand why I do.

Where are you going?

Joh 16:12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.

You can't bear them now. Interesting phrase. He would not hurt their hearts further or load them down with things they did not need to know yet, but He wanted them to know He would be sharing more thoughts with them later.

What he had to say NOW was hard enough to share with them. The rest could wait.

Joh 16:16 A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father.

Joh 16:18 They said therefore, What is this that he saith, A little while? we cannot tell what he saith.

They didn't understand. He is telling them he's going to die, but he calls it "you won't see me and then, after a little while, you WILL see me...He SAYS he doesn't die, just go where he can't be seen.....but "He'll be back."

Joh 16:20 Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.

You will be sad and upset, but it will be a good thing that I have died to this world...and you will understand it - later.

Joh 16:22 And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.

Now He knows He has made his friends sad. They understand he's going to die...and - like us - they STILL thought it meant "dead". Even though they had seen him revive the dead.....so they know that the spirit can be returned to a body....the SPIRIT didn't die.

He tries to comfort them by saying He will see them later and you will never miss me again...but they probably didn't believe Him.

Dead is dead, right?

So when people don't believe me I know I am in good company.

What happens when we "die"? Where do we go? Can WE come back? He tried to tell them.

I try to tell you... http://1way2see.com/thebook.html

You won't die. You change, but you are alive and loving on. I can't say I will return here to see anyone after, but I will say I'll be watching and loving you and that I'll see you when you get there.

Next time I will take another swing at grace. It's why I believe that each one of us will meet later.

Truth

I've covered this before but it comes back over and over. The Divine Love is so pure it feels like liquid truth...I can't say it better.

Truth is so much a part of love that they can't be separated.

When you use untruths to those you love it twists something in you because YOU know it is not truth.

The other person now has false information to work with between you. They believe you. Your lie is their truth.

Now the balance is off between you but you are the only one who knows it.

When all the lies you have told come together in the day you need the truth between you they are hurt, your love together is hurt badly and you have shown yourself as untrustworthy.

Really - is it worth looking perfect to lie?

We're not perfect. We make mistakes. We hurt each other. But if you keep it all in the daylight, nothing to hide, it can be dealt with between you.

I'll find the verses that go with this later, it is in the book.

But I am glad I have kept what I do and where I walk in the light. I have no shame and nothing to hide in my life now.

I have done things in the past that shame me. I like walking without that in my life.

It's hard to be honest. And it's hard to find honest words that don't hurt. But it's loving to be truthful with each other. It's not loving to lie.

I gotta go with the love.