Prayers Answered – Deep Gratitude to All!

I just received the news that the 4.4 cm polyp removed from Shawn’s colon is an adenoma,* a benign tumor!  This is great news and an example of the power of people praying together.  Even the surgeon felt the growth would be determined malignant.  I do not have to tell you how relieved Shawn is, and of course, so am I.  She will have to return to the hospital at a later time to complete the colonoscopy that was interrupted due to her waking up during the procedure.  But now there is time to continue building the image of a vital, perfectly functioning system, fully healed.

Thank you all for your prayerful support!

* Adenomas of the colon are quite prevalent. They are found commonly at colonoscopy. They are removed because of their tendency to become malignant and to lead to colon cancer.  --Wikipedia

Why Did This Happen To Me?

I KNOW you have asked yourself, “Why did this happen to me?”  If you didn’t ask the question for yourself, you have probably wondered why so much bad stuff happens to people you know.  Those of you who read my blog or follow my “Notes” on Facebook will know I have a dear friend who is one of those for whom the question surely can be asked.  In fact, Shawn brought it up herself and in doing so she made light of her circumstances.  I couldn’t help but chuckle about the way she was looking through the pain and fear to see the “funny” side of her situation.

As I read her question about why all the bad stuff happens to people it occurred to me that maybe God knows which of His children can handle paying up KARMA in advance!  Okay, I know how this sounds, but it isn’t any crazier than thinking God is punishing us for some nutty behavior. I personally do not believe things happen by chance.  I am not always able to connect the dots on why something works out the way it does in my life, but still, I know I am participating in some way.  Hopefully in the scheme of things we will come to understand what it is all about.  For one thing, consider what we often learn about ourselves when we overcome the challenge.  How many times have you said, “Well, I won’t have to make that mistake again”?

When someone is in the midst of despair, pain, illness and discouragement, it is NOT time to point out how they brought this on themselves.  It is just not that simple.  Furthermore, who are we to think we know the cause/effect situations in another person’s life?  We usually can’t figure it out for our own.  Love and pray for those in need.  Encourage them to do the same for themselves, when appropriate.  That is your gift to the situation.  That, in my opinion, is why you are connected to that friend or loved one who very much needs support, right now.

My Long-Time Friend

I have a long-time friend whom I met (in this lifetime) back in the early 1980s.  We were married for ten years and have now been divorced for many years.  Shawn is one of those persons in life that once you meet you know you have always known her and will always travel with her through life times, no matter what events draw you close or tear you asunder. With deep passion we loved and with great heartbreak we fell apart.  But we have remained friends through it all.

This dearest of friends is now engaged in a struggle with cancer, among other health  challenges.  Her vital spirit is not dampened, but fear abounds as one might imagine.  She recently visited me because she felt I needed support.  She knew I was on the down side of depression.  She is like that.  She always knows.  And I always know about her.  I must share that I hurt so deeply for her and the pain and fear she is experiencing.  I can only do what I know to do and that is to love her and pray for her without end.

I can get all "metaphysical" about the philosophy of healing.  I can say that healing is the reality even
if the body is released and soul moves on.  For me, right now, even knowing that is little comfort.  I
share that belief with Shawn, but I know how hard it is to hear it--experience it--through the fear.

So, my readers and my friends, I ask you to support us both with your prayers for strength, life and courage.  I am eternally grateful!

To My Long-Time Friend
(Whom I Met Just Recently)

We are long-time friends, you and I,
Who met just recently.
Pasts and futures acknowledged
As one impacting play
Of knowing,
Forgetting,
Remembering.

Universes have we traveled together,
And many we wandered alone.
Yet in the heart-search that urged
Us forward
We have felt the closeness of our Spirits.

Whatever paths we ultimately may follow
As once again we seek our
Self-direction,
Our eyes now lock in single embrace,
A mutual eternity.

And in this now-moment we
Laugh again,
Cry again,
Love again—

I love you
My long-time Friend
Whom I met just recently!

Written for Shawn
February 1983

It's Nap Time!

Back in the years I was directing the Whole Life Learning Center, 1, I spent a great deal of time studying the many Seth books authored by Jane Roberts, 2, a trance medium. I taught a variety of classes and workshops centered in the principles of philosophy and psychology developed in those books.

I was thinking to myself today, after posting on my Facebook page: Hooray! It’s nap time again! that most people would probably chuckle and think I was just kidding. Well, I wasn’t kidding, though after thinking about it I decided to explain what is behind my napping. To state it briefly, one of Seth’s principles about sleep was that when you are sleepy you should sleep. When you are staying awake, get up and do something. In other words trust your body to tell you what it needs and then follow the instructions.

For most people working for someone else it is not very convenient to take a nap at your workstation in the middle of the day if you feel like it. (And don’t we all?) On the other hand I read just recently that some avant-garde businesses are experimenting with ways to afford workers such an opportunity. They have found in initial efforts that workers feel more energized and are more efficient after a brief nap break. For someone like me, now retired, I get to do as I darn please! So, when I feel like napping, get out of the way! I also don’t fret about waking up at 3:00 AM and deciding to get up and read, check my email, or do anything else that comes to mind. That doesn’t happen very often, I hasten to say. I sleep pretty well—anytime! When I feel sleepy again, back to bed! I have found this to be a very workable arrangement for my lifestyle.

Concurrent with this principle, Seth also talked about our eating schedule and suggested once again that the body knows best what it needs. Eating small portions of food more often during the day, he says, is healthier for the body because it is able to maintain a comfortable metabolism instead of going from hunger to stuffed all the time. I haven’t quite worked this one out yet. I never have been much of a snacker and to eat “between” meals seems like snacking. Old habits die hard! I seldom eat breakfast. I don’t miss lunch very often, but I vary my evening eating habits based on the weather—heat of summer equals salads. Cold of winter equals cooked meals.

I am sure this is all very interesting to you, my readers, and now that I have told you these things, I can get back to taking that nap I was planning on. Good night!
_________________
1 Whole Life Learning Center, Inc. a non-profit education and counseling center, operated in Denver, CO from 1973 through 1982, along with a branch in Colorado Springs, CO.
2 See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Roberts

Thoughts On Children

My grandson, Aubrey, and his wife, Becky, both of whom are in the Airforce currently stationed in Hawaii, are visiting this week. I picked them up at the airport in the early morning and after breakfast dropped them off at the car rental office so they could pick up their wheels of “independence.” I say independence because they have a long list of places to go and things to do, so I will probably only see them a few times during the visit. One place we are most likely to visit together is the Washington Park Zoological Gardens. (One has to check in to see how all the “relatives” are doing, you know!)

In between my attention to emails and other computer activities I began to think about children. As I did, I immediately focused my mind on one of my favorite photos of my son and daughter when David was five and Jennifer was two. It is this same photo that most often comes to my mind when I think of them. There is something so innocent, carefree and appealing to our children at those early ages. All their dreams are just beginning to take shape and the most important thing they have to do is have fun with their imaginings.

I cannot speak for all parents, of course, but I think many of us always hold on to a favorite image of our children, one in which they always are children. There is no intent to not recognize that they have grown up and are now living their own lives, probably with their own children and the memories that are just beginning to be stored away for later recollection. Rather, it is more the realization of how life unfolds from childhood, to adult, to parent, grandparent and maybe to doting patriarch or matriarch of a proud family. As I ponder this wonderful family pattern I am reminded of a favorite passage by Kahlil Gibran:

On Children

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.

It takes great effort sometimes to really let our children go, to let them grow and become who they are destined to be, with their own set of values and priorities. Hopefully, some of the positive efforts we make as parents will assist them in the process of building the foundation for their lives. Remember, They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. As such, they have their own dreams from which they will build unique lives that bring blessings to all of us that would not exist without them.