Living and Loving
Last evening I attended my brother-in-law’s wedding. He has been a care-giver for many years for the woman who is now his wife. The hospice spiritual care coordinator performed the ceremony. Theirs is not young love, and the decision for them to marry is not something everyone will understand, but it is precious none-the-less. When I crawled into a warm bed last night yoga was the only thing on my calendar for today. As I moved into my day, however, opportunities popped up. Like the pieces of glass in a kaleidoscope, my schedule has kept moving and showing me life and love.
I was able to have lunch with my dear friend and her two young children. Her son will be two in December and her daughter is almost three months old. You can imagine how wonderFULL her life is!
My afternoon was spent sharing with a colleague in the healing arts I met for the first time today. It was tender to appreciate one another and to witness the divine movement that brought us together. She understands the privilege to work with another. As Ram Dass says, we are all just walking each other home.
This evening I will share a letting go ritual with a mom and her adult child who is in hospice care.
As I let myself notice, it is obvious that everything that occurs in our days is an unfolding of the highest interest of all.
This morning I watched a video talk by Mary Reed, author of The Unwitting Mystic. I think I would have noticed the unfolding anyway, but I appreciated Mary’s starting my day with that expanded awareness. This afternoon I also watched a video where Mary led a box exercise about our attention and shifting out of mind constructs. She says to put all of our thoughts (including all of our past, fears, beliefs, memories, etc.) into a box so we can let our mind be in service to and in partnership with Divine Love.
Our precious life can be lived not wanting to be where we are and not wanting to feel what we are feeling. Mary says Mooji tells us to find that place which is effortless at rest within itself and be one with that. It would be marvelous if we can all slip into this place as easily as slipping into a comfortable pair of jeans or listening to a favorite piece of music.
It was raining here again today as I was out-and-about. I observed how I had a choice to resit the rain or just notice that the wet and the wind was cold against my face as I had a judgment: uncomfortable. My body contracted. From my meditation practice I remembered simply to note aversion.
Grateful for that awareness.
Grateful for the opportunities to be present in my own life.
Grateful for teachers and learners.
The phrase, “We are each a single piece of glass in a kaleidoscope” keeps coming to my mind. We are not together by chance. We are not fastened together. Life is not some random shaking of the glass. Purpose and meaning are inherent in everything, and the placement of each piece and the subsequent shifting yields yet another beautiful view.
May all beings come to the end of suffering.
Here is a photo of the sweet little one I was with today:
She was trying desperately to get to see her grandmother before she passed. On the highway she drove into a flock of white doves. She felt profound peace and she had the thought that her grandmother had passed.
And she had….
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.
Her dad loved playing the guitar and he had always encouraged her to learn to play. She was not at all drawn to it.
When her dad passed, he left the guitar to her.
A few months later, she felt compelled to pick the guitar up. She felt so close to her dad. She began taking lessons.
Every time she plays the guitar she feels her dad’s loving presence!
When we enjoy things our loved ones in spirit enjoy, we are all blessed….
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.
It was not the one they thought they wanted, but she called the number on the “For Sale” sign in the front window as her husband walked around the outside of the manufactured home. The man who answered the phone said he could be there in about ten minutes.
“This was my mom’s home. She passed and I am here from California needing to sell it,” he told them.
“My mother-in-law passed a year and a half ago, so we understand how hard that is. When did your mom pass?” she asked him.
“My mom passed on May 20th,” he answered.
“My mom passed on May 20th, 2003,” she shared.
“My mom’s funeral was on May 23rd,” he continued.
“My mom’s funeral was on May 23rd!” she blurted out.
Walking in the front door, they loved the home immediately. Giving him verbal agreement to purchase the home she left with a copy of the paperwork detailing the original purchase of the home. Looking it over later that evening she noticed the purchase date: May 20!
You can imagine these two mothers were working in spirit to bring things together around this home for their children.
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.
She had kept the interfaith menorah with the tall glass oil lamps in her basement for 12 years. Made especially for them by a Carmelite nun, it was a very powerful presence for their interfaith fellowship but the center where their group met had closed in 2005. Downsizing her home now there was no place to store it. She was so relieved Interfaith Center for Spiritual Growth, located several hours drive away in Ann Arbor, had spoken of wanting one and would be glad to have it!
“Let’s be open to an easy way of getting it safely to you,” she said to the director of the center.
The following week a friend from Florida was visiting. Chatting about his schedule, he said he would be going to Ann Arbor.
“I have an interfaith menorah I need to get to Ann Arbor.” He was willing to take it so they began exploring what made sense about him dropping it off or having someone pick it up she asked him the address where he would be staying.
“My cousin lives on Pauline Court,” he said.
She made a call to the director of the center and was told a member of the interfaith group lived on Pauline Court and could easily pick the menorah up.
Her friend was very amazed at the ease of delivery and he mused, “What are the odds? Pauline Court is just a short little street….”
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.