Debra Basham

Living and Loving

Category: Sacred Stories

Contains sacred stories

  • Toby

    Sacred Stories

    Her beloved dog, Toby, had just passed.

    First, her husband had passed.

    Then both their son and their daughter were out on their own.

    Toby was a rescue, and a rescuer. He was her first dog ever, and he had come into her life when she felt very alone. He had been her faithful companion for 15 years.

    She writes the morning after his passing:

      Toby came through today. I made myself drive to the lake to walk as he and I always went out together in the morning. I had Pandora on. As I was looking over at the empty seat, barely able to breathe in that moment, a hauntingly beautiful song came on. I looked to see the title. It was, “I Am Always Right Here.”

    These are sacred stories. Pay attention to happenings in your life. Do you have a story to share? Send email to debra@scs-matters.com.

  • Fifty-Fourth Birthday

    Sacred Stories

    She was working on a very deep poem — inspired by her goddaughter’s birthday — with her four poet colleagues/friends on Zoom. She did not share the poem simply because hers was a personal piece not requiring critique, and others had pieces that did. She agreed to send it after the meeting, just for sharing.

    That evening, after substantial insight, she also sent an edited version to the group with a bit of background, adding, “Oddly, the original version had 282 words, the final 228!”

    “How old is your goddaughter?” asked one.

    “Fifty-four.”

    “The difference between 282 and 228 is 54,” her friend wrote back.

    “What made you ask how old she is?”

    “I figured since you had included the number of words in both versions, it must be significant.”

    She quickly looked up the numerology meaning. (54 reduces to 9.)

    Number 9 is the number of Universal love, eternity, faith, Universal Spiritual Laws, the concept of karma, spiritual enlightenment, spiritual awakening, service to humanity, humanitarianism and the humanitarian, lightworking and lightworkers, leading by positive example, philanthropy and the philanthropist, charity.

    Very significant, indeed!

  • Rocking Chair

    Sacred Stories

    “Remember when you told me IF I ever miss the rocking chair I can let you know?”

    The local resale shop had refused the chair when all the other household goods were picked up. Her friend had taken the chair. The seat had been repaired and a new fluffy brown chair-pad set purchased. The rocking chair had been waiting in the friend’s great room for three years.

    “Today is one of those weirdest days… I even had a dream about the chair….”

    ‘Today’ was her son’s birthday. She had had to cancel plans to see him on the West Coast.

    Her mother would not be flying in from Europe the following week.

    All due to the pandemic.

    “I am overtaken by emotions of missing my family…. That rocking chair still carries some of the attachment I guess.”

    In minutes the rocking chair filled with this mother’s loving memories was regally perched on the front porch waiting to be picked up!

    The card from her friend said simply:

    “God told me to keep the chair for you until time for it to be returned.”

  • Message from Chuck

    Sacred Stories

    She was attending a grief journey group that is meeting virtually during the pandemic.

    One of the co-facilitators is a man very sensitive to messages from those in spirit. He said he had a message from “Chuck.” He thought it might be for one of the other women but she knew it was for her.

    “My dad is Chuck,” she said.

    “Chuck wants you to know that your nephew ‘landed safely.’”

    Her 35-year-old nephew had just passed away this week!!!

  • Praying Mantis

    Sacred Stories

    Chatting on the phone, she mentioned having seen a praying mantis the previous day. It was on the cover that protects the bikes from rain. She said she had gently relocated it to the porch step, and then asked permission to take a photo. “It looked right at the camera!”

    After the photo was taken, the mantis moved back onto the bike cover, then later onto the side of the house, staying there the rest of the day.

    She looked up the symbolic meaning.

      Praying Mantis Totem

      Folks with the Praying Mantis totem tend to elevate the consciousness of others. They are gifted psychics that are willing to share their knowledge. They love to teach.

    Her friend excitedly chimed in, “I had a praying mantis on my hand in the garden day before yesterday! It stayed there until I had to gently move it onto a rock sculpture so I could finish my work.”

    We are receiving messages from nature moment-by-moment….

  • Angie’s Mom

    Sacred Stories

    “How is your yoga practice working or not working for you?” the yoga instructor asked as they began the second yoga retreat using the Zoom platform since the beginning of the pandemic.

    One woman confessed she had been having difficulty finding a location in her home to practice yoga. She said she was currently in her bedroom, which offers the best space, but she would be lying on a dirty rug that smelled like dog.

    They had only recently lost Angie…

    The Zoom host read a powerful paragraph from The Dharma of Dogs: Our Best Friends as Spiritual Teachers, by Tami Simon.

    “The pain of her death was exquisite. I cried for weeks, but felt an incredible joy and comfort that was an equal part of the grief. I was so grateful that I had spent time with her — only with her, fully present and joyful.” (p.163)

    The host mentioned that an online grief journey group attended by a mutual friend of Angie’s mom would be meeting virtually the following day from 4-6 pm. The mutual friend was currently in Atlanta — awaiting the welcoming of a new grandchild — and would not be in attendance. The yoga instructor said she also attends the group (her husband had passed seven months earlier) and would be there.

    Just as the invitation to attend the grief journey group for support was being offered Angie’s mom, a text message popped in from the friend in Atlanta!

    There is no such thing as accident; it is fate misnamed. ~ Napoleon Bonaparte

  • All is Well

    Sacred Stories

    She had been nursing a bruised left foot for over a week when her friend suggested they look up the metaphysical meaning of bruise in Heal Your Body by Louise Hay.


    Louise says, “In order to permanently eliminate a condition, we must first dissolve the mental cause.” Her friend put down the phone, grabbed her copy of the book, picked up the phone, and read to her:

    Bruises (Ecchymoses)

    Probable Cause:
    The little bumps in life. Self-punishment.

    The affirmation:
    I love and cherish myself.
    I am kind and gentle with me.
    All is well.

    Mere moments before she had called her friend that morning she placed one of her “beach-stone-beauties” on the counter in the kitchen where her cat, Bella, eats.

    The words she had painted on the stone spoke directly to Louise Hay’s suggested affirmation for her bruised foot!

    All is well. And it will be well.

  • Our “Tardiff”

    Sacred Stories

    She was sending a photo to a friend when the auto correct change “our yard” to our “Tardiff.” which just happens to be the last name of friends. He had passed away over ten years ago, and she had not seen his wife in quite a while.

    She took a screen shot, and sent it to Mrs. Tardiff.



    Mrs. Tardiff quickly wrote back:

      Interesting! Today I signed the papers for transfer of Title of the land (BOMARSH – wild Flowers) to our Amish next door neighbor. He has been taking care of the field for the last 12 years. I allow him to hunt on it. Now he is allowing my son to continue to hunt on it.

      It was what Bob wanted. If our neighbor didn’t want the land it was to be given to the land conservatives (but then no one could hunt on it). Bob didn’t want a McMansion built there.

      Sad, but happy day for me. The timing is a sign to me that it’s OK to move forward.

      Thanks, I really needed confirmation!

  • Ambiguous Moth

    Sacred Stories

    “Do you know what kind of moth this is?” she asked, texting a photo to her sister.

    Within moments her sister had sent an identification link to the Ambiguous Moth.

    These moths had been coming into their master bedroom every night — entering from the former screen porch that was being transformed into her husband’s art studio.

    Her husband spent the next day filling in all the entry gaps, and the following morning they were thrilled to wake to a bedroom free of their ambiguous friends.

    Coming in after a few minutes outside this was on his back:

    Moth medicine meaning: Moth medicine’s meaning is resurrection and transformation. A moth represents tremendous change, but it also seeks the light. Thus, moth spiritual meaning is to trust the changes that are happening and that freedom and liberation are around the corner.

    Perhaps not so ambiguous after all….

  • Swarm of Dragonflies!

    Sacred Stories

    This wonderful sacred story is shared by a friend. Her mom passed recently. Here are her own words describing the experience:

    I went to the home of my mom’s best friend for a visit on Sunday. She began by telling me that every time she and my mom got together they would exchange some little token or gift with each other. So she was going to do that with me now.

    She gave me a choice of three charms; one was a dragon fly.

    I told her the story of when I was little. A huge swarm of dragonflies came to our yard (in a very densely populated city). Hundreds of them — swarming and twirling around the yard!

    My mom stood with me so we could watch and I wouldn’t be scared.

    So I picked the dragonfly charm.

    An hour after I left, a whole swarm of dragonflies were outside my mom’s best friend’s house — unlike anything she has ever seen!

    A neat visit from my mom ❤️