Debra Basham

Living and Loving

Tag: joy

  • Goldfinch Grace

    A pair of goldfinches are active just outside my window on this early morning. I love early hours and beautiful bird songs that accompany their activity.

    I look up the spiritual meaning and am informed by AI:

    The goldfinch spiritually symbolizes unbridled joy, positive transformation, and divine grace. Because of its bright yellow plumage and cheerful song, its presence is a reminder to embrace optimism, celebrate life’s simple beauties, and express your true self without constraint.

    My attention leaves my window as the birds find some privacy in the lush leaves on the large shrub. I continue to hear their sweet singing as I begin to check Facebook. This message (attribtued to Deep Spring, and posted by a woman I used to attend their retreats with) speaks to my heart:

      “Hold in mind what you wish to create. Chaos is always uncomfortable for you. I’m not supporting the disruption of the world, but I’m reminding you that perhaps some of this disruption is a necessary process to move from the old into the new. The most important thing here is first, to watch your fear of letting go of the old, the fear of what will replace it. Will we all die in this process? Will everything be lost, everything we have loved? And then, to remind yourself of your power to co-create. As the old falls away, it is so important that you are able to step in and say, “Now, in this space that has opened, here is what we choose to co-create: a world of mercy, peace, friendship, loving kindness, well-being, joy.” You are being invited into that time, a time of letting go that is so hard for the human, a time of dreaming the big dreams. What would a world look like that is truly at peace? Envisioning a world of peace, of cooperation, of co-creation, of well-being for all beings. What would that look like? You are not the politicians who are going to put together the political structure, but the political structure is an outflow and not a ground. You are the ones who create the ground as you are able to be present with your feelings of fear, your presence with a world out of control, your feelings of anger at some of the authorities who are trying to push this world only for their own individuated use. Stop and note, “I am Shanti Das, a servant of peace, and I can use my energy to support peace in the world, or I can use my energy to further hatred and oppositionality.”

    I treasure the reminders we have to see the gifts life is offering. It is grace that holds steady the willingness to see this day as alive with possibilities. Of course there are conditions that challenge us. I certainly see that living here in our 55-and-over community. We have neighbors in wheelchairs who cannot even get out of their house and onto their porch. We have friends and family members who are navigating ongoing situations that call for Herculean strength every day.

    I don’t remember where I saw this, but these are wonderful words: Sometimes the things we can’t change end up changing us.

  • The Only True Hope

    When my eyes fill with wonder
    and my heart with love or joy,
    I do not betray my concerns for the world —
    I nourish my capacity to attend to them.

    ~ Kristi Nelson, 12-22-2021 Gratefulness.org

    I confess to recently having looked into the mirror and noticing a drooping of my jowls, deep crevasses of a frown on both sides of my mouth. More accurately, not frowning, just the absence of laughter and smiles.

    This past Sunday, I was Zoom host for Remembering Wholeness, a once-a-month event with Barbara Brodsky channeling darshan with “The Mother.”

    Darshan is a reciprocal experience of meeting with a holy or revered person or diety which results in the human viewer’s receiving a blessing. The person just before me to receive darshan had been told, “To be is your gift of the world. There is nothing at all selfish about just being for some period of time and letting yourself feel energetically restored. If you have a beautiful fountain, water must come into the basin or the fountain cannot continue to send out its beautiful movement. Fill the basin — with pure, radiant water.”

    In much of the world, this is the season for giving gifts. But to be able to give a gift, there must also be those to receive. Most of us are familiar with the lyrics of the song about the little drummer boy.

    I played my best for him
    Pa rum pum pum pum,
    Rum pum pum pum,
    Rum pum pum pum

    Then he smiled at me
    Pa rum pum pum pum
    Me and my drum

    I was the last to receive a blessing from The Mother.

    To Debra:

      And this last topic is a little less precise for you. You do take time to restore, but I think after you’ve taken some and you think, “I’ve already had my restoration and its time for me to flow out again.”

      Please stop thinking about in and out. The water comes into the basin of the fountain so it can go out. When it goes out it lands in the perimeter of the basin, flows into the center, then out. And it just keeps recirculating.

      Sometimes you’re more in one phase, sometimes more in the other. For you it would be good to try to find where the balance is. And remember that the basin is never empty, because it is not only you that fills it, but everything around you fills it.

      The gifts that you give to the world… I’ve enjoyed through Barbara reading your blog. It’s very beautiful. This is a gift to everyone. You’re hosting an event like this. This is a gift to everyone.

      Now to whatever degree it’s useful, focus on, “What do you need in order to be more fully nourished? And how can you invite that into yourself, knowing that it will recycle back out? … but in this moment, what will suit me in order for the fountain to be full and ready to pour out again of light?”

    This flowing of water into the basin so it is ready to pour out again brings to mind the ebb and flow of light on our planet.

    It has been a challenging autumn. August 30 we tested positive for Covid. September 24 John’s brother, Jerry, passed. The week of Thanksgiving, our 55-year old niece had a brain bleed. Since the first of November John has had an extremely painful sciatica flare. But the December full moon has come and gone. Known as the “cold moon” by the Mohawk people, this full moon occurs just a few days shy of December 21, the winter solstice.

    Humans have honored the significance of the winter solstice for a very, very long time. The ancient Monument of Newgrange is a 5200 year old megalithic structure built in precise alignment with the rising sun over the solstice each winter. Built around 3200 BC, that means it is 600 years older than the Pyramids at Giza, and 1,000 years older than Stonehenge.

    “What do you need in order to be more fully nourished? And how can you invite that into yourself, knowing that it will recycle back out?”

    I need to remember that spring always follows winter.

    I need to remember that water comes into the basin of the fountain so it can go out.

    I need to remember that, as Stephen Spender so beautifully expressed, “The only true hope for civilization — the conviction of the individual that his inner life can affect outward events.”

    I need to remember the face of our great-grandson, Jackson, when his G-ma took him to visit Santa.

    I need to remember that when my eyes fill with wonder and my heart with love or joy, I do not betray my concerns for the world — I nourish my capacity to attend to them.

    From my keyboard to yours, Merry Christmas everyone….

  • One

    Much of my life I have felt out-of-step with much of the world. Decades before smoking in public places was banned, I put up a “Thank You For Not Smoking” sign on my door. Some friends—even some family members—refused to come over.

    The Way of the Wolf: The Gospel in New Images by Martin Bell was first published in 1968. “What the Wind Said to Thajir” is about a young boy, Thajir, who goes out to play and the wind speaks to him. This is what the wind said:

    “Regardless of what anyone else tells you, regardless even of what your own experience might lead you to believe, everything that is, is good. At the center of things, life belongs to life.”

    You can hear a delightful reading of the short, significant story by Obi.

    The wind went on, “Regardless of what anyone else may ever tell you, regardless even of what your own experience might lead you to believe, you are everyone who ever was, and everyone who ever will be. You are the whole of creation—past, present, and future. Decisions that you make today, in what is called the here and the now, will validate or invalidate everything that has gone before, and make possible or impossible everything that is to come. Anything that hurts anyone, hurts you. Anything that helps anyone, helps you. It is not possible to gain from another’s loss, or to lose from another’s gain. Your life is immensely important. Everything depends upon you.”

    You must listen to hear what the wind said about destiny and hopelessness overcoming joy….

    Messages of hope and a choice to feel joy, especially in the wake of COVID-19 in March of 2020, are immensely important. Joy depends upon you.

    Here is a photo of the order to cease doing business in Michigan. Bars, restaurants, fitness centers, theaters…. all mandated to close through the end of the month!




    This sort of disruption of daily life for WEEKS is unprecedented for those who live in the U.S. We have never hidden in the attic from the Nazi’s. We have been spared genocide. Our idea of starving has been being late for dinner.

    The financial impact is worldwide. The shared humanity is world wide. We will get through this…. and good can come from it.

    In the Christian New Testament, the letter to the Romans, Chapter 8, Verse 28, we read: And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

    The wind told Thajir everything that is, is good. How in the name of heaven can we call this pandemic good? By finding the good within.

    David Wagoner wrote “Lost” in 1999, and it is perfect for 2020:

    Lost

    Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you
    Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,
    And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,
    Must ask permission to know it and be known.
    The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,
    I have made this place around you.
    If you leave it, you may come back again, saying Here.
    No two trees are the same to Raven.
    No two branches are the same to Wren.
    If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,
    You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows
    Where you are. You must let it find you.

    — David Wagoner
    (1999)

    Pamela Chappell, recorded a CD titled, “One” and in the title song by that name she sings, “What if we are one? What if we are angels sent to one another? What difference would it make every day in the world?”

    For the very first time in human history, we know the truth of Thajir’s wind. Humanity is one.

    Draw from the depths of your faith, intelligence, kindness, wisdom, and compassion. Your life is immensely important. Everything depends upon you.

  • Preparations

    I love order. Maybe I am not totally excessive compulsive about it, but I when I have been called a “neat freak” I have taken that as a compliment.

    This week, as many others are busy with holiday preparations, I am preparing our tiny house for a big construction project that will begin right after Christmas. As some areas are being emptied out, other areas are being jam-packed.


    One of the things I notice is that even my chaos must have order to it.

    I took a break from my preparations yesterday and enjoyed listening to the December 17 talk given by Reverend Linda Beushausen at St. John UCC in New Buffalo. The talk was on Joy, specifically that joy is not an emotion but rather a choice we make. She told about a person who admits to having a challenge letting go of the stuff she has held on to that has kept her a victim and let joy in. Gay Hendricks calls this the challenge of expanding our upper limits. He says those profound shifts in your internal set points do not generally happen overnight, but Linda gave us a hint how we can access more joy.

    She said gratitude is how we get to joy. When I put that phrase (gratitude is how we get to joy) into the search bar, it yielded about 6,950,000 results! A few of those include:

      Daily Habits of Gratitude That Will Attract Joy into Your Life with Jack Canfield

      12 Powerful Gratitude Practices That Bring Joy by Joel Almeida

      5 Tips to Supercharge Your Gratitude List and Infuse Your Life With Joy by Tree Franklyn

    Today, my business partner lost his wallet. He had been running errands and when he stopped to get gas, his wallet was gone. He back-tracked to the previous stops, but his wallet was not yet found when he sent a message telling me it was missing. A few minutes later, he sent word that his wallet had been returned with everything still in it. His message ended with this: “Certainly guardian angels seem to have come to the rescue, and I’m grateful….”

    That reminded me of “Package” published July 18, 2015, in Sacred Stories. If you are not signed up to receive the Sacred Stories each week, you can sign up to do that. Sharing them gives me joy!

    As you continue with what ever preparations you are involved in right now, may you find that your gratitude is a bridge so you can find then find joy in the journey.