Debra Basham

Living and Loving

Tag: Holy Spirit

  • The Spiral Path – Thanksgiving Day 2025

    Today is “Thanksgiving Day” in the US. The modern holiday was established by Abraham Lincoln in 1863, though the first Thanksgiving is often linked to the 1621 harvest feast shared by the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag people.

    Today is also the birthday of Eldon John Basham. As I write his name I have the thought, “Don’t ever name your child and call him or her by their middle name.” It makes a mess in the ordinary world.

    I am awake before daylight (the likely result of my having once again gone to bed about 2 hours earlier than my ‘normal’ bedtime). Alexa is shuffling songs by Alan Jackson as I start working on a jigsaw puzzle. This one is of The Major Arcana — a collection of 22 Tarot cards that unveil the fundamental archetypes of human existence.

    The subject of this puzzle opens up an inner dialog with what I came to call Holy Spirit many years ago as the name “God” dissipated in my thoughts and prayers. If I called out to God, whose God or which God would I be speaking to? YHWH is the Bible’s commonest name for God. Hinduism has the concept of 330 million gods, a symbolic number representing the infinite manifestations of the one supreme, formless reality called Brahman. There are the Greek Gods and the Roman Gods.

    To many Native Americans, the Great Spirit is a supreme, all-encompassing force or being that represents the essence of the universe and all living things. It is often viewed as the creator of the world, a life force that is present in nature, and a source of guidance and harmony. The specific name and interpretation can differ between tribes, but the concept emphasizes the interconnectedness of all existence and a universal, divine power. Perhaps my tiny bit of Native American blood (the wonders of modern DNA testing) mingled with my Christian beliefs to influence my heart’s landing on the term Holy Spirit.

    On this day I have so much to give thanks for and my heart also carries myriad impressions of the passing of my sister in January, and this past week of our long-time music friend, and the many dear ones navigating complex medical conditions — some at home and some hospitalized.

    This brings to mind the true befuddlement of worshiping an “omnipresent god” while noticing or pointing out all of the places god is not. Maybe there are not 330 million gods, but when asking myself how does my heart hold simultaneously all of the grief and relief on this day of thanksgiving, the only answer that seems honest is to say, “How could the heart not?”

    I saw this on the Facebook page of Daily Shaman:“If you’re looking for me, follow the stillness where the forest breathes between worlds. I walk the spiral path, where moss remembers and thresholds dream.”

  • Embrace Your Radiance and Power

    Sometimes it takes hindsight to see most clearly how to move forward.

    This morning I came across a Beyond Mastery Newsletter post from ten years ago. The title of that post is “You’re Pushin’ Too Hard.” Here it is:

      I may have been affected by a week of flu, but these words to the song “You’re Pushin’ Too Hard,” by the Seeds, just keep rolling in my head: “You’re pushin’ too hard, what you want me to be, about the things you say, you’re pushin’ too hard every night and day…. All I want is to just have fun, live my life like it’s just begun.…”

      In Jin Shin Jyutsu, pushin’ too hard is called efforting, and in ways perhaps known only to the soul, it is based on a lack of trust. I don’t often think of myself as lacking trust, and I often speak quite to the contrary, expressing ultimate trust in Divine Intelligence, or LIFE, or the Universe, what is sometimes in this culture called God. What does it mean, then, that efforting is oh, too, familiar….

      An exercise I have invited myself and others to play goes something like this, “If you could have anything you wanted, what would that be? And if you had that now, what would your having it now allow you to do or have or be that you have seemed unable to do or have or be currently?”

      Recently, I am very aware of the gap in ease I experience about that answer. I know my life would have an element of service in it, and yet, I am not called to anything concrete in the ways I used to be. I know my life would have time for balance of body, mind, and spirit. I would exercise, preferably by riding my bike most days. I would eat healthy food, and enjoy well-prepared meals. I would meditate daily, as well as join group meditation. I would write. I have come to recognize how much writing is central in my spiritual balance.

      When I ask if I would work, I cannot answer that with perfect clarity. Would I teach? Maybe. Would I preach if I had the opportunity? Maybe.

      One question that can still bring tears to my eyes has to do with a sense of failure. I know my mother felt she had wasted her life. At the time she was expressing those feelings, they struck me as so odd, after all, she had me! Perhaps she had been responding to a deeper dream that had not revealed itself in her doing. She was an amazing cook. She could make an eight-course meal look easy. Her own needs for food were minimal, but her need to feed those she loves was nearly insatiable. Meatloaf for one, roast beef for another. Lasagna. Cornbread. When the kids were all young, and several of them preferred the center of the pan of cinnamon rolls, she would make several, so everyone got a center!

      I am not sure my soul needs that level of pandering to, but it does need to be heard, and honored, and allowed a say in what I do with my time and energy.

      I shall give my soul pen here and see what is desiring to be shared!

      What small gift can I bring?

      • I can open the door for someone who is rushing in or out.

      • I can listen to someone who is feeling alone or confused.

      • I can remember to breathe when those around me are in stressful moments.

      • I can pick up a piece of trash when I see it and not harbor a thought about how it came to be there in the first place.

      • I can tip well when service was poor and tip even better when service is great.

      What might it mean that I find no lofty goals when I look deeply inside? Perhaps nature has seeped into my being and contentment is being born where restlessness once whipped my moods like March winds working kites as delighted children watch with their eyes all aglow. I cannot imagine the roses pining or the Bluebird considering a life being lived a failure.

      Maybe seen in its true light, even the greatest loss is really a gain. I am willing to think of it this way and give it time to see if that is what is happening.

    Re-reading this is especially significant after the message I received during Darshan (a blessing from The Mother) during Remembering Wholeness with Barbara Brodsky yesterday.

      I know you are familiar with the experience of shame. I don’t mean an intense horror “OH!” of shame, but just, “Oh, I only got 98 on that. I could have gotten 100. I could have put a little more love into it; I could have paid a little more attention.”

      Sometimes being more perfectionist can be helpful — if someone is lazy or sloppy about things — but when one is already giving so much love, then being perfectionists is a way of negating the gift of the self. What does that mean?

      I think it’s mostly an old habit, but not entirely, so, I’d like you to ask when you move into that sense of subtle smallness, that sense of, “I could have done it better,” to ask, “What do I gain by putting myself down in that way? Why can I not embrace my full radiance and power?”

      And, especially I’m talking about power.

      What if you are as powerful as I know you to be? What then?

      I look forward to seeing what evolves as you start to open up to your power.

      I love you, and I am with you.

    When I read down my bulleted list from 2012, I can see that I live all of those desires. It is time for a new list….

    What might evolve as I open fully to my power?

      • I will welcome each day with expectancy that the power of the Holy Spirit is alive within me.

      • I will give each experience room to reveal the Holy Spirit’s grace and gift that experience offers.

      • I will worry less about dying and care more about living as a radiant expression of Holy Spirit.

      • I will express exuberantly the power of the Holy Spirit for the good of all.

      • I will see a 98 as “Well done, good and faithful servant.”


    A monarch butterfly travels as much as 100 miles a day
    during its 3,000-mile migration south.

  • Hari Om, Holy Spirit

    Whoa…. fear can spread like wildfire. We can put that fire out.

    A friend/colleague is part of several groups I attend here in Florida. She has cancelled the meditation group she hosts in her home and has reached out to another of our mutual groups suggesting the meetings be cancelled because “at least one, and possibly two, deaths in the county from corona virus.”

    Her closing line in the email message is quite telling: I’m sorry to miss the group if you do go ahead and meet on Monday.

    Admittedly, her husband is an epidemiologist, and we do not yet know the extent of risk.

    But we do already know the results of fear.

    Last evening I received (and passed along) a very mindful message from the Dzogchen Center and Foundation:

    Dear Dharma family,

    Lama Surya has asked that we lend our energetic support tomorrow morning. He will be leading a prayer ceremony in Northampton, Massachusetts, and has asked that, if possible, we take the hour from 9 AM to 10 AM EDT (Sunday, March 8th) to chant or pray with the clear and specific intention of pushing back on this destructive coronavirus, COVID-19, and purifying and supporting all those who have been / will be infected or otherwise impacted.-19,

    He has specifically asked that we practice where we are, rather than trying to participate in person.

    We look forward to holding the energetic space with you tomorrow as we lift our body, speech and heart-minds in unison, in support of our beloved Lama, on behalf of all beings.

    Don’t forget to put your clocks forward tonight before you go to bed if you are in a place that uses daylight savings time. Oh, and don’t forget to wash those hands!

    Warmly,

    The Dzogchen Center and Foundation

    I got up in plenty of time to chant for the hour with this group. I have recorded voice memos of many of the chants we do on retreat. Hari Om is one of the chants I did this morning. In Sanskrit, “Hari” is a mantra to remove troubles and pain. In Hindu, Hari references the god Vishnu, remover of bondages.

    Omniscience (/ɒmˈnɪʃəns/) is the capacity to know everything. In monotheistic religions, such as Sikhism and the Abrahamic religions, God is omniscient. “God” has the capacity to know everything. In Jainism, omniscience is an attribute that any individual can eventually attain.

    Since the 6th century BC, and continuing today, Jainism has three guiding principles: right belief, right knowledge, and right conduct.

    Here is another of the chants I sang this morning: Seems like such a long time, Holy Spirit, waiting, since I’ve drawn your breath in, silent and all pervading.

    It is important that we DO something with the energy of fear that can get stirred up. We can sing, pray, chant. We can dance. I clean. My sister sleeps.

    It is vital to remember we are able draw in the breath of the holy spirit and extinguish the raging wildfire of fear.

    Life depends on us….

    If you have requested email updates for posts, click on the image below to listen to the audio of the Hari Om chant:


  • Everyone Benefits or Everyone Suffers

      Faith.
      It’s all about believing.
      You don’t know how it will happen.
      But you know it will.
      ~ Anonymous (AwakentheGreatnessWithin.com)

    Sometimes I think it could be quite helpful to be an astrologer, or a psychic, or a saint. Especially when life presents challenges.

    Below are three recent journal entries. The “D” stands for Debra, and the “V” stands for what I call The Voice (of the Holy Spirit). I have used XXXX where an individual’s name was recorded in my journal. I think you will agree the messages are for us all.

    D: What would Spirit have XXXX XXXX know in consciousness about her son XXXX? (Autistic and threatened harm to them both.)

    V: It may be time for her to seek a residential program for him. She (all of you) must recognize your limits. You are human. You cannot live every day in such distress. What would happen to him if she died?

    D: We don’t like to think about that. We need to…

    V: Karma helps us see truly. Her staying in a situation that is detrimental to her generates karma for him; generating karma for him generates more karma for her. As she chooses freedom for herself, she is helping him. People are so worried about doing something that is selfish. Sacrificing yourself in the name of love is the most selfish act you can do. Loving (doing the most wholesome thing for) yourself is the most generous. Everyone benefits or everyone suffers.

    Tell all who know. They all know.

    Love,
    Holy Spirit

    V: Yesterday you reminded your friend of ‘the rule of six.’ Can you come up with six options you see you for her husband?

    D:
    1. 24-hour care
    2. 16-hour care
    3. Facility
    4. Bed pan
    5. Catheter
    6. Hospital bed / wheel chair

    V: Notice these all go downhill. Are you able to imagine him having another rally? He has had many. Make sure you don’t turn a rough moment into a rough day or rough period into a rough life.

    D: Thank you for that! I see what you mean.

    V: Tell all who know. They all know.

    Love,
    Holy Spirit

    D: XXXX is so distressed over her daughter-in-law and granddaughter, following the granddaughter’s recent attempt at suicide. What would you have her know?

    V: In many ways, regardless of the conditions, the same message is called for:
    There is nothing to fix. There are only circumstances that require your loving attention. I wonder if XXXX has considered having them live with her? Not that this would be the final decision, but notice how XXXX’s town could be a good social environment for her granddaughter. Andrews University had many people of other countries and many with black skin. When we are willing to do whatever it takes, we are inspired, and what-ever-it-takes expands.

    Tell all who know. YOU all know.

    Love,
    Holy Spirit

    Years ago I wrote about the importance of using our WIT, whatever-it-takes. The phrase “resistance is futile” became prevalent in popular culture. The film Star Trek: First Contact used the phrase as the tagline for the 1996 film.

    The next time life presents a challenge, just try using your wit. Rather than bringing into focus all the things you are not willing to do to improve the situation, let yourself expand all the things you are willing to do. I am so often inspired by recalling the story of the man who got his arm wedged in the rocks while climbing. Using a pocket knife, he cut his arm off and got himself to safety.

    Most likely, none of the circumstances you are currently navigating—regardless of how challenging—require you to cut your arm off.

    Black Elk said it this way, “It may be that some little root of the sacred tree still lives. Nourish it then, that it may leaf and bloom and fill with singing birds.”

    Let’s all nourish our faith.

    You don’t know how it will happen. Why waste time imagining the worst.

    Even though it won’t happen exactly as you imagine it, imagine a scene that proves beyond a doubt, things have gone even better than you imagined….

    P.S. XXXX’s husband is doing better, and so is XXXX’s son. Join in holding space for XXXX’s granddaughter, too….

  • Learn the Tables

    Recently I wrote a poem titled ‘Longing’ that was inspired by an exchange with a dear friend that left me feeling less than valued, wondering if I should have, or could have, done something differently in our past to allow for a more pleasant current exchange.

    Sitting heart-to-heart with another precious friend a week or so later, I was stunned to have her say to me, “You are more invested in saving my marriage than I am.”

    Later, as I was writing in my journal, some clarity came about all of this, inspired in part by the Thought for Today from Deep Spring Center.

    You as a world are inviting conflict but then not doing the needed practice with it, so you must invite it again and again. You are like the child in school doing endless multiplication table drills; they are unpleasant but you have not studied the tables, and will not, so the teacher repeats the drills. Your inattention calls forth the repetition. If you wish the drills to cease, learn the tables.
    ~ Aaron

    The “D” stands for Debra, and the “V” stands for the voice of wisdom I call Holy Spirit, from my journal entry:

    D: I know the truth that ‘wherever you go, there you are.’ If she is so easily offended because he yelled at her, she will encounter that energy again. It is today’s quotation from Aaron about calling difficulties to us over and over to learn what we need to know.

    V: If you had a lesson you are still learning that expresses itself in the ‘Longing’ poem, what might that lesson be?

    D: Take nothing personally. I am not responsible for another person’s emotional state.

    Note—As I wrote these words on to the journal page, I could feel something leaving my energy!

    V: What else?

    D: Wonderings are a symptom of not being present moment where I can gently say, “Oh, this is that old habit energy. I know you. Come, sit, have tea. I’ve been expecting you.” *

    V: Tell all who know. They all know. Love, Holy Spirit

    A very wonderful message on an Easter morning.

    Going right along with that, was the quotation, “When humanity awakens, it will move beyond time,” which came from the Brahma Kumaris with this image:

    *This is a reference to the stories of Milarepa (c. 1052 – c. 1135 CE), one of Tibet’s most famous yogis and poets.

  • Acceptance

    I am still doing morning ‘writing down your soul’ pages. This morning’s entry dealt with my sleeping with a bed hog. From my journal:

    This morning as I got up, I again showed John how he pushes me over to a 12-inch slot of bed. I find that very unrestful.

    I asked what Holy Spirit would have me know. Would I prefer my bed empty? I answered that I would prefer not to sleep pushed over.

    I was then reminded how all of life is connected, and how much I enjoy hearing John’s music, and how much I appreciate the life we have generated. When asked if this sleeping is major or minor, I admitted that it is overall minor, but it feels major when I am trying to sleep.

    (Note* In my journal, I use a marginal notation of ‘D:’ for what I am saying and ‘V:’ for what Holy Spirit is saying. Here is the rest of my entry.)

    V: OK. What allows you to bring kindness to both of you and have you say, “Honey, please scoot over. I am on the edge.”

    D: The desire (choice) to have both of us matter.

    V: You see how your sleeping in resentment is not kind to either of you. Saying exactly what you need will allow a new pattern to emerge. Be willing to say it gently over and over until the new pattern is stable.

    As I closed my journal, I opened email to read this ‘Thought for Today’ from the Brahma Kumaris:

    Your expectation will hold others back.
    Your acceptance will let others fly.

    P.S.
    As I posted this, and went back to email, my next message was this: