Debra Basham

Living and Loving

Tag: spirituality

  • 5 Pounds

    Sacred Stories

    He came home from the hospital with a strict “no lifting anything over five pounds” until after his post-surgical recheck that was still a couple of weeks away.

    In a few days, as he gained some strength, he wondered aloud how much his guitar weighs.

    His wife carried the guitar into the bathroom, sat it down, stepped on the scale.

    Stepping off the scale, she picked up his guitar and stepping back on she calculated the difference.

    His guitar — a treasured (and VERY generous) gift from his life-long music buddy — weighed in at exactly 5 pounds!

  • PICC Line

    Sacred Stories

    Christopher, the OR nurse finished checking the patient’s PICC line.

    A peripherally inserted central catheter, also called a PICC line, is a long, thin tube that’s inserted through a vein.

    As he headed out the door, Christopher paused, turned, and shared an experience.

    “I am not a religious person, ” he began. “But one day I was trying to get a PICC line in a patient. It was not going well.”

    “Suddenly I had a palpable feeling of arms reaching around behind my back.”

    “It was as though I was watching someone else’s hands as that PICC line went right in….”

  • Cervantes

    Sacred Stories

    One month into their four-month snowbird season, her husband had emergency CABG – coronary artery bypass grafting. They had no idea he had extensive coronary artery disease.

    She anticipated he would be discharged from the hospital today. Catching up on email, a message from the book Easy Does It: A Book of Daily Twelve Step Meditations* their friend sent to her the previous day caught her attention. The author of the opening quotation leapt off the page.

    Time ripens all things. No man’s born wise.

    ~ Miguel de Cervantes

    Cervantes is the name of the surgeon who did her husband’s open-heart surgery!

    We come to understand time in a different way. Each day we discover that there is an order to life that is only revealed day-to-day. The moments when life forces us to reconsider our schedule are no longer met with anger and frustration. We begin to trust our Higher Power to actually dictate what will happen in our lives. We find ourselves staying close to people who have developed some measure of humility for they seem to have a better sense of timing.

  • See Cashier

    Sacred Stories

    She stopped to get gas. Her husband was in a hospital about an hour’s drive away.

    She inserted her credit card, punched in the ZIP code, and got the “See Cashier” message. She tried her debit card and it also said “See Cashier.”

    When she went in to the station, the cashier told her she had put in the wrong ZIP Code. The woman said, “We always notify the credit union and change to the Florida ZIP code for the time we’re here. I put in the Florida ZIP code.”

    As the cashier was running the prepayment amount, the woman said, “You know how people tell you inappropriate things? I’m on the way to the hospital because my husband may have had a heart attack.”

    The cashier said she would pray for him. Handing the woman the receipt the cashier looked right into the woman’s face and said, “You have such beautiful eyes.”

    The woman’s emotions were right on the edge, and she immediately teared up.

    Oblivious that there were people lined up, the cashier burst out, “Oh, you need a hug!” as she shot out from behind the counter, put her arms around the woman, and gave her a hug.

    During the embrace, lips up against the woman’s ear, that cashier whispered a prayer. “Dear Lord, be with this woman today and let all her news be good news.”

    She had been using the Florida ZIP code on both of those cards for a month already.

    Walking out the door she said over her shoulder, “It wasn’t about a credit card not working.”

    The cashier replied, “God works in mysterious ways.”

  • Channeling the Miraculous

    The wisdom of all ages and cultures emphasizes
    the tremendous power our thoughts have
    over our character and circumstances.
    ~Liane Cordes

    On Christmas Eve I joined a Zoom Interfaith gathering. Jeshua’s message,”You Are the Light That Comes to Transform the Earth,” channeled by Barbara Brodsky, was powerful. Here are a few excerpts:

    People have sometimes misunderstood my work, said that I came to save the world from sin, with confusion about that word. I take the letters S-I-N to mean sinking into negativity. Through so many lifetimes many beings have been sinking into negativity. And what will save us from that? It is not me that will save us; it is all of us together holding the potential of Love on an Earth that is awakened, the Eden we have been promised. You are important—vital, really—to recreate that brilliance, that love….

    You know those lines about the darkest time of the night before dawn. Dawn is coming. You each carry that dawn in your own hearts, especially when you compassionately observe the ways that you do sink into negativity. The watcher is not caught in that negativity. Of course, you fall into negativity at times; you are human. Every human does this at times….

    In the darkest hours, look around and say, “Yeshua, where are you?” And I am here, I promise. I will never break that promise or your trust because you are my beloved sisters and brothers. Together we undertook this work. And yes, we are doing it. Despite how the darkness seems to envelop us, we are bringing light, and that is all that’s needed.

    This morning I was writing in my journal about writing prompts when a prompt popped into my mind: What if we could….

      What if we could use all of the power of the universe for the good of all? Might humans cease fighting as though there was not enough for all? Would men and women cease blaming one another and love and revere our differences instead? What might occur if we can recognize fear and negativity when it shoves us off the path of awakening and we can lay a finger across our lips and whisper, “Shhhhh…..”

      What if we do away with ‘what if’ and simply focus on the truth of WE COULD.

      We could remember who we really are. We could rise above grasping and clinging and aversion. We could feel the wind and know our body is breathing. We could watch the sun rise and set as sacred witness to the ever-present ever-changing nature of All That Is. We could soften around our experiences and let the space of possibility weave laughter and hope and trust back into our days and our nights.

      We could….

    A bit later, I listened to an interview with Leesa Anderson: Channeling the Miraculous. She and her family witnessed a motorcycle accident. A deer stepped right into the path of a man at cruising speed. The man went end-over-end and landed in a heap, with his head and arms underneath his chest. You really do deserve to hear Leesa tell in her own words how she heard a message from God; a message given to her to whisper into his ear. And then, to be lost and stop for directions only to connect with the motorcyclist’s wife. Please listen….

    Leesa’s spiritually transformative experiences have often happened when she was on the highway. I hope you will take time to listen to the entire interview and to check out IANDS.

    NLP (Neurolinguistic Programming) has a nifty process of setting up a chain of anchors, moving an individual’s mind states along the path from “I can’t” to “I might” to “I could” to “I can” to “I will.”

    Join me in moving our own mind states from “I can’t” to “I will” say yes and join Leesa in Channeling the Miraculous!

  • 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….

  • Ray of Sunshine

    Sacred Stories

    She went to the cemetery to put a grave blanket on her husband‘s grave.

    As she got in the car to leave something said to her, “Tak one more picture.”

    She took this picture from her car window and this is what she saw.


    (Eastampton New Jersey USA — shared on Facebook)

  • Essence

    We are enjoying wonderful weather here on Pine Island. Whether the weather is pleasant or unpleasant, John and I continue to navigate some challenging physical stuff.

    John started with planting a mum early November in Michigan’s hard autumn ground. Stepping on the shovel with his right leg, he felt a pop in his low back. Three chiropractic sessions, a TENS unit, and exercises could not prevent our long drive times from Michigan to Tennessee and from Tennessee to Florida from pushing him over the edge. Fast forward to this week:


    I am having some sort of chronic sinus stuff. Interestingly, my friend (who did not know about this) sent an article titled “Marvels of Mucus and Phlegm.”

    It is challenging to not feel discouraged.

    A couple of days ago problems with some Amazon Web Services cloud servers were causing slow loading or failures for significant chunks of the internet. Our Alexa device stopped working. Everything looked right at the configuration level, but nothing I did brought her back online. Later, when Alexa came back online, we could still not access Amazon Music Unlimited.

    Add to this a new app for TV here in Florida. Hmmmm, you know about teaching old dogs new tricks, right? We are struggling big time with that.

    I said to John, “This house is too quiet!!!”

    True confession. Those words have never come out of my mouth before.

    I miss his music.

    I miss putting together thousands of puzzle pieces as he is playing his guitar and I am (badly) singing along with him.

    I miss him being out-and-about gabbing.

    I miss the way we have historically lived life here.

    We have both realized the profound fact that a lot has changed.

    John’s brother, Jerry, passed in September. John will not be hanging out with Jerry for his normal two-days-per-week-off-island this January, February, and March. Also, John’s long-time musician friend, Walt, sold his place here on Pie Island after Walt’s wife passed in September.

    Big changes.

    I am currently the one to go to the store, the pharmacy, the store, the pharmacy; the pharmacy, the store, the pharmacy. The other day, the pharmacy tech at CVS was having a really bad day. She used the “F” word, and she cried.

    We are not alone living through these stressful times.

    Yesterday I had the privilege of transcribing my (marvels of mucus) friend’s private session with Barbara Brodsky. Here is a brief excerpt:

    You said you’ve been – I don’t remember who – you said you’ve been listening to some of these teachers. I am looking at the questions.

    Adyashanti – alright, he is very rooted in the true self, and I don’t know the 30 specific pointers and “practices” but I would imagine they must be pointers toward remembering and resting in the true self.

    I am glad you are doing that. That’s perfect.

    My true self is way beyond the mucus. John’s true self is much more than sciatica pain.

    For sure, everything is a reminder of how we are giving meaning to our experiences. I drew an Osho card this morning. 7 of Water. Projections. The last lines: And there are as many worlds as there are minds, because every mind lives in its own world.

    Grandson Brad checked in with us last evening. He suggested John tally his highest level of well-being each day. Rather than using a pain scale to see his lows, what was he able to do/enjoy/achieve today?

    A couple of evenings ago, after some lateral leg pulls and a few minutes on the makeshift inversion table John was able to walk upright. He looked like someone with a book on their head, as proud as punch!

    A suggestion from my friend’s reading: I want you to find that infinite source of love, that essence of love which you are…

    And from Adyashanti: Essence isn’t a small thing, essence is an immense thing. The essence of you is everything you ever see, taste, touch, and experience. Everywhere you go, every step you take, every breath you take is actually happening by the essence, of the essence, in the essence, and to the essence.

    The marvel of mucus and the severity of sciatica are both happening in the essence….

  • Being of Genuine Service

    Tuesday evening while still in the post-overnight-drive malaise, I tried to log on as Zoom host for our Dharma Path class. It said “username / password incorrect” so I tried again. Same thing. Then the foggy thinking took over and I questioned if the link was set up on one of the other accounts. I tried both, but neither of those worked either, so I tried the main account once more.

    Up popped, “YOUR ACCOUNT HAS BEEN LOCKED FOR 30 MINUTES DUE TO FIVE INCORRECT LOGIN ATTEMPTS.”

    About 15 minutes late opening the room, and about 15 minutes before the class is to begin, I used the student link to log in as a participant. That worked, but I was unable to support the class as host by making the teacher/s co-hosts, muting, spotlighting the teacher, recording the class, etc.

    I asked one of the other students who is also a volunteer host to give it a try. He got the same message. I sent a text message to the Zoom team leader who was not attending the class. Perhaps she could help.

    Barbara said we would begin and we would just rely upon audio recording with her iPad.

    About 15-20 minutes later, the Zoom team leader was successful logging in as host! She was able to make me host, and I was able to perform my hosting duties.

    You so want to be of genuine service….

    I was very aware of the significance of Aaron’s opening illustration about a young child’s coming to dinner and lamenting, “I don’t want that black stuff on my potatoes.”

    Note* I am allergic to black pepper. It gives me a sour stomach and “juicy” burps.

    Aaron had Barbara share her experience at age 17 of being on a freedom ride with a group of students from the north who went into the deep south working toward the end of segregation. When Barbara voiced her fear in anticipation of the following day’s event, an elder church member said to her, “WE would not want you to do this if you were not afraid — you need to recognize the harm that could be done so you can already forgive them for any possible harm.”

    It is like Jesus saying, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”

    The following day their bus was run off the road. It was tipped on its side. The angry mob was breaking the windows. Glass and rocks were raining down on them. Amidst this shock and risk a single voice began to sing, “We shall overcome…” before they all joined in.

    Barbara remembers that as a pivotal moment.

    Great harm or even death may have come to them if not for the arrival of the National Guard.

    Many of us are old enough to remember segregated movie theaters, drinking fountains, schools. Forward movement is not always a straight line.

    A substantial theme of the class was this path of genuine service while navigating an ongoing pandemic and divisiveness. We were asked how we would (or could) respond if a neighbor’s child fell on the sidewalk and was obviously seriously injured. The parents of this child had been very hostile toward social distancing, wearing a mask, or getting a vaccine. Perhaps one of the parents currently had Covid. Several student were able to describe ways to tend to the needs of the child while still protecting themselves from potential exposure to the virus.

    During the Q&A, sincere anger and frustration was expressed about a grown son who refused to get a Covid test for his mother to be comfortable coming to and assist the family with a toddler and an expectant mom. Aaron used the example of saying a firm “no” from a place of compassion as one would do if a teenage son had been drinking and wanted to drive the car.

    Aaron responded to the anger and frustration with such wisdom and loving kindness.

    “Compassion does not make you weak.”

    Another person expressed fear around the deepening of positions of humans around alternate views.

    “They are not here as destroyers of each other, they are teachers for one another.”

    As this last month of 2021 unfolds, my sister (Janis) and I continue to use the 2020 Magic Eye calendar as a spiritual template for the upcoming month.

    December’s is a lovely holiday scene.


    As you let your focus relax, three deer appear in the foreground. The one on the left is looking toward the right. The one on the right is looking toward the left. The one in the middle is looking forward.

    Varying slightly from culture to culture, symbolism of deer is gentleness, awareness of surroundings, unconditional love, and mindfulness. A deer represents innocence, kindness, grace, and good luck.

    May all beings act from these qualities that are within each of us.

    That is being of genuine service….

  • Jasper’s New Crate

    Sacred Stories

    She had recently gotten a new rescue dog. She named him Jasper.

    She met another woman who was walking her dog at the park.

    She mentioned she was going to go out of state to visit her father for the first time since Jasper had come into her family, so she needed to buy a crate.

    The woman volunteered, “My dog has just outgrown a crate. You can have it!”

    Benoit Mandelbrot said, “There is a saying that every nice piece of work needs the right person in the right place at the right time.”

    Here is a very contented Jasper looking dapper in his new crate.