Tag: 4th of July

  • 4th of July Call for Help


    They were camping for the 4th of July weekend. While riding their new electric bikes to the evening’s bonfire, he thought he heard a male voice. Stopping to listen closely, he realized it was someone calling out for help.

    Following the calls, he located an older man by an overturned golf cart. The cart had flipped over pinning the man’s wife underneath! Quickly calling 911, what seemed a supernatural source of energy allowed him to lift the golf cart off of her.

    “Do not move her,” he was instructed. Taking charge, he directed campers who had come to see what the commotion was to leave the area. He stayed with the couple, supporting them until the medical team arrived and could safely transport her. He was very thankful for the news that although the woman’s pelvis was broken, she was expected to recover fully.

    Hearing details of her grandson’s unexpected 4th of July encounter, his grandmother told him, “There are angels in this world. You were an angel to this couple when you answered the call for help.”

    In many respects, this experience aligns perfectly with accounts in the gospels. Jesus did not operate like a modern crisis responder traveling the globe on a schedule; rather, His ministry was deeply relational and situational. He primarily ministered to the people He physically encountered as He walked through towns, taught on hillsides, or sat at meals.

  • 4th of July Fireworks

    His 4th of July weekend had not unfolded the way he expected. As an over-the-road truck driver, when he got into it with his boss, he ended up without a job or a home.

    Fortunately, his family had come through for him again. Navigating challenges but pulling together, he had a great weekend and today he was starting a new job.

    The Daily Word says it all: In times of trouble or great joy, I behold the wonder of God in a world filled to overflowing with divine splendor. Whenever I fail to notice, I look to the people who love me and to the people I love, and know I am blessed…. As I affirm this great goodness, I remain aware that pain and disappointment may come to anyone. During challenging moments, I have faith that good will triumph in the fullness of time. All is well, despite appearances to the contrary….

  • True Freedom

    “When the water is muddy
    and you can’t see the bottom,
    no amount of stirring
    can clear the water.”
    ~ Debra Basham

    In the U.S. the 4th of July represents freedom. People often think of freedom as freedom FROM something outside of us, but true freedom is an inside job, and nothing outside of you needs to change for you to enjoy it.

    Wednesday night I was unable to fall asleep after John came to bed, so I got up and came in on the bed in the office. At 2:00 am, I was still awake, but I fell asleep some time after that.

    At my normal waking time (about 6:00 am) I was enjoying a very stable (lucid) dream state, and I knew I had a choice (or not) to feel (or not) tired. It really isn’t sleep that restores one—we are restored by alignment. What is alignment? Activation of your parasympathetic nervous system….

    I have previously posted several tips on activation, but maybe it is worth another quick reminder: (See PNS is BIG; A Chilling Way to Calm Down; Covid-19.

    For decades I have enjoyed the benefits of doing a Self-Full Body Connection or meditation or prayer at bedtime so I fall asleep in alignment. I use this metaphor: If your TV is on channel 19 when you fall asleep, it will still be on that channel when you wake up.

    With all the stress around the globe, most people are running the sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight) much of the time. Now, like never before, it is vital to bring ourselves back into alignment again and again.

    Ram Dass said that compassion is the ability to see how it all is. When you are worried about “X” or “Y” or “Z” your body is processing EVERYTHING via the sympathetic nervous system. Even if you worry yourself to a solution about SOMETHING, your TV is still set on channel 19.

    I saw a beautiful quotation by Haruki Murakami, a Japanese writer: “When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what the storm is all about.”

    How amazing that without being fabricated,
    This mind, which is unborn and primordially pure,
    Is spontaneously present from the very beginning!
    This self awareness is naturally free from the very first,
    How amazing that it is liberated by just resting — —
    At ease in whatever happens!

    Flight of the Garuda

    Lama Shabkar, Tsogdruk Rangdrol

    Think about activation of your sympathetic nervous system as being the storm. Not something outside of you, but what is happening inside. Think also about activation of your parasympathetic nervous system as being coming out of the storm. Also not something outside of you, but what is happening inside.

    True freedom is an inside job.