What is the nature of the things we find ourselves doing, saying or thinking? Are they loving?
Love.
All other emotions are degrees of negativity;
deeply-seated as self-doubt can be,
to the other extreme of surface-level, seething anger.
And there’s scathing commentary, appropriate at the time, so it seemed, as it came forth with such fury, but in retrospect, with every recollection, the memory taunts with overwhelming regret.
What about that bit of jealousy of withholding a sentiment that freely expressed might have “made the day” for someone?
You know it would have.
If God, the Heavenly Father is Love, than what is the source of all of the other emotions?
With feelings of depression or hopelessness, life is dark; positive emotions so far out of reach, it seems impossible to recall how it feels to be content or happy. The light has been replaced with darkness.
Rather than perceiving this darkness as the opposite of light, it may be more correct in being perceived as the absence of Light, the absence of God.
Because there is none else.
GOD IS.
Every thing is His creation, His majesty.
The synchronicity and the incredible design found in the living things specific for sustenance within an environment is in every living thing on the earth; most incredible and intricate and found in the very smallest forms of life. And the closer we look, there’s even more detail for a specific purpose, beautifully balanced within itself, and with every other thing in the space around it.. all working synergistically, in harmony and in support of the environment, that after being brought into existence lives, grows, multiplies and thrives, unchanged in purpose and being.
Darkness is the absence of Light…the absence of God.
Because there is only ONE, or, there is His absence, dreadful and dark.
1 John 1:5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
Pray!
This comes to me now:
When I was a child, I have a clear recollection of a summer day, lying in the grass and looking closely at the life forms all around me. I decided to remain motionless to perceive what came into the space in front of my eyes, what I could see without moving my head. I realized the incredible activity and the beauty. Every weed was amazing, I discovered the design in everything. After a while I discovered an entire community of insects living in harmony, each pursuing its particular interest in a flower. Bees flying in to access pollen as some smaller insect that I could not identify went about its business roaming underneath at the stem, resting there it seemed, sheltering from the sun. Butterflies fluttering from one to the next of the wildflowers. And the ants scouting about the ground having discovered some morsel to deliver back home and working in an invisible line with other ants, each briskly baring treasures larger than themselves. And I thought of how the entire yard had to be quietly populated just as the space was where I decided to lie down after eating my peanut butter and jelly sandwich. For many days after that, I remained conscious of what my every step might be destroying whenever I went out into my backyard.
A few years ago, I was grappling with a health condition which defied understanding of several medical professionals. After extensive online research, I myself would come to discover what was keeping me ill. The process was draining and exhausting. One day, at my desk wondering where else to look for answers, I folded my arms and rested my head. I seemed to be falling asleep a much more pleasant and beautiful memory from my childhood, of a summer that I visited with my grandparents at their farm in Virginia drifted into my mind. It was a very clear recollection of what happened so long ago so I started to write everything that was coming to me.
Here is an excerpt of what turned out to be a 50-page novelette.
This is the 4th chapter where I tell of the night my grandfather picked up my mother and me from the train station in Fredericksburg, Va.
4
My grandfather’s forest green Buick was quite the automobile with plush seats that reminded me of our living room couch. It was round like cars were then, with huge chrome grill adorning the front of it. The doors closed with an impressive sound, firm and solid, and inside there was a slight scent of musk from having been parked for long periods of time, I imagined, in reserve for special occasions. Buffed to a high sheen and with the occasional scent possessed by new cars, we made our way through the dark night under a sky as I had never seen it; so filled with stars with practically no space at all between them. “We don’t get to see so many stars back home do we? Isn’t it beautiful?” she said. I turned to the rear window. The entire sky seemed to defy the passage of the vehicle as did the farmhouses, trees, and roadside mailboxes. I began to feel very small and insignificant as I turned back around and closer to my mother.
From the highway the tires ground onto a narrow dirt road. As we rumbled along the air became moist, cool; filled with the many unfamiliar scents of the countryside. The startling awareness of skunk was somewhat softened by the sweet surprise of wild honeysuckle that my mother said grew wildly along the length of a fence. The Buick’s headlamps captured husks growing low on towering cornstalks. The crop had grown out over the sides of the road threatening to swallow the car as well, but only the sound, reduced to a soft rumble was forfeited, as it flumped up and over the bumps in the road and in and out of the ditches. With yellow cones of light showing the way, the night was teeming with fluttering ethereal life forms darting in and out, and the relentless sound of a million crickets.
Through the darkness we walked along a small path toward the light of the farmhouse to find my Grandmother waiting by the kitchen door. Her smiling eyes were mere crescents above cheeks like apples and her braid was coiled and pinned back. She was shorter than she seemed from the stories my mother had told about her. I remember never having been as completely hugged as I was that day within her full bosom, smelling of the coconut cake that was at the center of the table in the old country kitchen. I felt known and loved in the most reassuring way. And I thought that she must have heard many stories about me as well, and that eventually I would discover somewhere in this house without mantels, the baby-in-pink with-teddy picture that other seldom visited relatives all seemed to possess. After a glass of lemonade and a piece of the coconut cake, I was shuttled off to bed as the elders lingered over a pitcher of tea. I remember that the smokehouse hickory seemed to be everywhere, even in the sheets with the little red roses that I slept on that night.
In regard to things we yearn for, they may be and most probably will be, a long time coming.
Maybe circumstances are more of the essence than they are of time.
Certain things are happening but must come in convergence with other things, to make that wonderful event; each within its own time line, but each including that other part (or parts) to be discovered, when the time is right, for each.
It all makes sense in the end, but I always wish I could have managed better, you know?
As a significant note, I would like to share more about this beautiful song.
In 9th grade at junior high school, my classmate, Linda Creed was the center of attention for her buoyant spirit, her out-going nature, and ability to lead. At lunchtime, she would go to the middle of the gym floor and invite us all to dance and sing to the latest music. I always thought it odd how completely immersed in the music she seemed to be, and her insistence for us to come together to dance in the gym after lunch at school. She made it happen just about everyday, if I recall correctly, breaking racial barriers and other irritating issues we faced in school.
Our school was in a neighborhood comprised of predominately Jewish people. So the school was a reflection of the neighborhood and was populated of 50% Jewish and 50% everyone else. I make these facts known as they indicate how all encompassing Linda’s influence actually was. Linda insisted we all come together to have fun dancing, and we did. She was infectious, beaming and so happy being able to create with music and dancing, a moment that would bring us together like nothing else could.
Linda was Jewish so at first one might wonder how and what part of her felt so compelled to rouse us all to dance to rhythm and blues at lunchtime. We could feel that she was special somehow.
Years later, I learned that Linda had became a standout songwriter, creating some of the best lyrics and music of our era and in collaboration with Gamble & Huff, a significant part of what would come to be known as “The Philly Sound” of the 1970s.
Linda is the composer of this amazing song. Not long after writing this song, Linda would die of cancer in 1986.
RIP dear Linda, you “crazy diamond”!
Thank you for bringing us together in junior high school.
And a bigger thanks for all of the incredible lyrics and music.
We may think we know ourselves, but unless and until we determine and identify the various aspects of our personality, I wonder how can we truly know.
I may not be describing this as well as I might, but this is how it seems to me.
We should have an awareness of what is important to us, what we keep within us; such as:.
What we believe.
What we will not tolerate.
We we must always do in every situation.
What we will never allow ourselves to do in any situation, and so on.
And what are the things that we expect of other people who enter our lives, etc. etc..
Each person brings a pre-determined standard along with every encounter, otherwise we are vulnerable to any well-phrased opinion, especially by someone we admire.
Speaking of this, you may give credibility to someone, an eloquent speaker with a well spring of knowledge, very convincing, charismatic and engaging. But what if something that is said comes against a standard that you have for yourself…a standard that you actually have, but have not determined or recognized as such?
Maybe you paid to be in the audience of this person. You are enjoying what you are hearing. Then suddenly, the person says something that is a little irritating, just “a little bit” (channelling De Niro’s character from the movie Goodfellas, haha!). The person has captured your attention and has your trust and respect. But still, you find what has just been uttered to be slightly irritating. It doesn’t fit. Their narrative should resonate with you; you expected it to have. You are annoyed with yourself because of this intrusive and inconvenient feeling. You want it to go away. You wait to hear something that overrides this initial response within you, bringing the speaker back in line with what you expect to hear. You invested in this moment after all. Are you the only one who feels this way? It may seem to be only with you.
In a very real way it is only you. It is personal.
Whether you have actually given thought to this or not, you have a guidance system. And it may come as a surprise to find how unconsciousness you can be of it, and how it works with and for you.
I would like to suggest that you take a moment to identify what makes you who you are by getting to know your silent guidance system. What are your morals and standards for yourself, and for others? It may take a while because who can name every thing, and you have not thought In this way before, not like this? But it can be very enlightening. And the irritation that you felt with the person of many opinions, well, you will probably come to realize has something to do with your internal guidance system.
Discovering yourself by naming the things that make you who you are can be a lot of fun and a little surprising! But what is even more significant, is realizing there is a system at work all of the time. Trust that it is sorting things out for you. And, while identifying your guidance system, you may find that some things could be changed, in order to be your authentic self! If you are clearly and honestly identifying what guides you, you may want to actually make a change or two. With determined and thorough examination, you may have found by identifying all that is guiding you, that changes can be made! Each of us, we are evolving all of the time. So taking this look of what is guiding us can be thought of as maintenance; making sure that we are aligned with ourselves in the present time.
It is a hell of a thing! Residing within you may be a standard that has the ability to, and may have taken you in directions that you didn’t intend to go, and what a revelation this could be for you, more over how empowering that you control this! You have always been in control.
Well, now with this new-found consciousness of the control that you have always had, I think now as I write this, that there is also, and no less significant, the opportunity to forgive yourself for decisions you may have made, unconsciously!
Taking inventory of your guidance system and realizing the control you actually have in the creation of the life you live may be time very well spent.
Wow. Wee!!!
“Thoughts create things!” (this is a quote from in the movie, The Secret)
Get to know your guidance system. You may need an update!
Finding the truth of things requires time and experience, most times.
We set our hearts on things. We can get lost in the feelings. But we can be our very own and very best friend by being honest and truthful, with ourselves.
This is a resources that we all have.
What will happen when you make a best friend of yourself? One thing is that you relieve your friends from the burden of what you can do for yourself. You can see your friends in a different way. You can love them more and freely, without expectations.
“Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.”
Mark 9:23
Now this one may take most of a lifetime to grasp.
We each have our own beliefs. They are based on life experiences, from the very beginning of awareness. When matters turn in our favor, we feel confirmation for the thing that guided us to act in a certain way. When we are not favored, that can lead to feelings of powerlessness. And we try again and again to prove that we are right. And we defend our position with every bit of our will. We may surrender friends and family members who don’t support our beliefs. We may even die with our inability to consider the possibility that we may be wrong. Yes, being right is that important to some people, because otherwise, there must be something else that has control then, right? Well this is the truly frightening concept for us. We fear the unknown, most terribly. So we stay vigilant, stalwart in our beliefs that we tirelessly defend. We may isolate ourselves from any challenging opposition to what we have come to “know” is true.
And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.
1 Kings 19:12
How absolutely profound, “a still small voice“.
He is there…always.
This world of distractions keeps us from hearing Him. We are used to thinking about and responding to noise, as though significance must come with a bang. We miss the beauty of stillness, the knowledge that is there, the love.
Everything that happens is to bring you closer to the Creator…every, single, thing.
Realizing and accepting this truth…then everything makes sense and falls into place.
All is understood for how it was meant to be in your life. All is in harmony, with The Divine.
Change fears to prayers!
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
2 Timothy 1:7
...And I will do whatever you ask in My name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. / If you askMe for anything in My name, I will do it.
How Great Thou Art Oh Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder Consider all the world Thy hands have made I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder Thy power throughout the universe displayed
Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee How great Thou art, how great Thou art Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee How great Thou art, how great Thou art
And when I think that God, His son not sparing Sent Him to die I scarce can take it in That on the cross my burden gladly bearing He bled and died to take away my sin
Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee How great Thou art, how great Thou art Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee How great Thou art, how great Thou art
When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation And take me home what joy shall feel my heart Then I shall bow in humble adoration and there proclaim My God, how great Thou art
Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee How great Thou art, how great Thou art Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee How great Thou art, how great Thou art How great Thou art, how great Thou art How great Thou art
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