We had to move in with my wife’s parents until I found another job. In a way, it was the best of time and it was the worst of time. My wife’s parents could now enjoy their grandchild, and we could help them as they walked through their final golden days here on earth.
Spiritually, I was not ready to join any organized religion. I did participate in several choirs in several different churches in the Phoenix area. During this time, the new age consciousness was starting to get popular. What I saw was ancient spiritual truths just being reinvented and repackaged for a new generation. The art of compassion, the true mindfulness of our thoughts and action, and leaving in the here and now was discovered in Zen and Buddhism back in 500 BC. To be honest with you, when I read the book, “The Course on Miracles”, it just put me to sleep.
I personally believe that there is no conflict in the spirituality of Judaism, Buddhism, or Christianity. In all three, there is the personal journey of turning always from the ego and the hindrances of personal pride, the true acceptance of the impermanence of all things in nature, and that there is always a beginning and an end, and lastly a true reunion with the our life force called God.
Judaism faith is to believe in God. Buddhism believe in God’s life force that is all around us in nature. I truly believe that a real Buddhist's would not kill a fly. I believe that this life force from God could also be labeled the Holy Spirit. Christians believe in the Son of God, Jesus. I believe Jesus was a symbol of the pure love of God for all humankind. Truly, God incarnate in the flesh of man.
Don’t you see the pattern? God, Yahweh, who is the father, then
Nirvana as seen as the Holy Spirit, and then Jesus, who is the son, and who represented true love given to us on Earth. God, Holy Spirit, and Jesus, The three eternal symbols that are in the holy trinity.
I do see the holy trinity in this pattern. The holy trinity for all humanity, I believe that this is the key that once found can rid the world of discrimination, religious hate, and began to reunite the world with the power of God love and energy.
I believe all members of all religions must take responsibility for their thoughts and actions while on earth and in the spiritual plane. Compassion is a word that is not an absolute for any one religion, but should be incorporated in all of us. Truly, our false pride and ignorance separate us from the divine love of the creator. We must always remember that we are all scattered souls within this beautiful galaxy of ours, and are all heading on a spiritual journey back home which is to the cradle of God’s love.
Do you not get tired and frustrated with the entire finger pointing, and everyone saying that their type of religion is betters then yours, and is the only way? The Baptists are better than the Lutherans, the Lutherans are better than the Methodist, the Mormon's better than the Catholic’s. Vanity, Vanity, It is all vanity under the setting sun.
I just can’t imagine that God is going to put you at the back of the bus, or make you stand on the bus if you are one denomination and not another, but war’s have been fought here on earth for much less.
It is interesting that Phoenix is now the same size as Philadelphia. I started out in one large eastern city, and now I am in the same size western city. It is interesting is that everything is new out here in the West.
Renovation of 40-year-old buildings is called progress here in Phoenix. I make this statement because it is always depends on your own personal history and on how you perceive the world around you, and how you form your opinions and values.
However, if we can step out of our personal history and perceptions for a moment, and say that we are all truly spiritual beings. We are all on the same journey together and life does not end in death but we are transformed into new beginnings, how much better off would our world be? Maybe, just maybe, one soul at a time we can change this violent world of ours into a world of compassion, kindness, and mutual understanding, trust, and love.
Lesson #5: CompassionLiving begins with the birth of compassion and love, without it, we are dead already.
Compassion is the positive energy that we give to one another as we take our journey together. We are all interconnected, and it is important that we treat each other with dignity and love. When we do get upset and angry, we need to take a step back and analyze what is going on and what corrective action can we take to solve the issue or problem. It is important to create good karma while we are here on earth, and as we love and share with one another, we are building bridges and pathways to new friendships, and new beginnings with each other.
A Morning Prayer:Every morning, I awaken,
and pray
for no more wars.
No more sorrow and no more pain.
May all God’s children
be fed, without hunger nevermore
I pray to God, the father that grace and compassion may comfort us one and all.
An Angel on my ShoulderI remember walking down to the convenient store by our house. It is a nice walk and it gets me out of the house and some exercise. I have always wondered about angels. They must be glorious creatures of God, with hearts as big as their wings that guide them through the heavens. You can imagine the excitement that I got when the voice from the other side told me that I was going to see an angel. It definitely got my attention. How, when, where, all of these questions were going through my head. I went and got my soft drink from a self-service side counter, and went in line to pay for my soft drink. There was a young woman in front of me with a spaghetti string top on, and on her left shoulder was a beautiful tattoo of a beautiful Angel. I just had to smile to myself. I learned that day not to have any type of preset definition of what a vision or a dream may become or mean.
I do still believe in Angels, and some day I may have a vision of one to write about in another book. I do believe that we all have our own guardian angel that helps us and guides us through the darker moments of our lives. You may not see the angel itself, but you may get a feeling, a dream, or an urge to change direction. Your intuitions have helped you, guided you, and were the wiser because you followed that feeling that you had inside after all.
It is interesting that we are all taught at a very young age, especially males, in our society to not feel, or to hold our feelings in, and do not show any emotions. Because of this, I believe that we do turn off the intuitive side of our nature, and we close the door to our spiritual growth. I believe that a large part of our spiritual growth is to feel through our emotions and to be aware of the larger consciousness of God that is around us.
The next time that you have an intuition, ask your guardian angel, these simple questions:1) What is the purpose of this intuition or feeling that I am having?
2) How should I react to it, and how does it relate to my circle of friends and family?
3) I also believe that it is important to thank our angel when a message is offered to us in gratitude and understanding.
I remember during one of my walks to the store, when I suddenly was flooded with not only childhood memories, but also with the smell of home cooked meals, and baskets of fall cinnamon apples. It reminded me of a childhood’s family house that was close to ours where I was growing up. They had a large family, and they did a lot of homemade cooking, and had large baskets of apples out in their garage where they stored them.
I have not thought about the house or my high school friend’s family in years, but there I was in Arizona being flooded with the smells, and memories of my childhood back in Michigan.
It was in the early evening when the telephone rang, and it was my best friend whose farm and memories flooded me just that afternoon. I asked if everything was all right. He told me that his mother past away, and wanted me to know. I told them that I was deeply sorry, and that I would pass the word on to my mother back in Michigan who could represent the family at the funeral.
Lesson # 6: FeelingsIt is important that we are open to the feelings of our own intuition. It is the ability to have emotions that makes us human, and allows us to become more spiritually aware of our surroundings and of each other. Once we accept our feelings and others, I believe we then have the ability to make a connection and come to a mutual understanding, and then have the opportunity of spiritual growth.
Feelings usually represent the feminine side of our nature, while action and problem solving represents the male side. The male side always want to jump into action and become a true action hero. But it is also very important to develop the feminine side of our nature, and become retrospective and caring. Within our spiritual growth, we need both.
Without action, we would just remain where were are. Without retrospection, we would go into an action mode without understanding the cause and effect that the action will have on ourselves and our love ones.
An Angel
appears
holding
a small lamb.
Upon the winds of miracles, The messengers of God’s truth.