Debra Basham

Living and Loving

Tag: spirituality

  • In This Moment

    This early morning is so quiet…. in the stillness of this moment I am feeling the dawn and I am keenly aware of the possibilities alive in this moment.

    A melody awakened in my mind as I sat, and I let the stillness be enhanced by listening to a song I know well, by an artist I have personally met. “In the Stillness” is from the album Let it Shine, by Karen Drucker.

    Two months ago today, I arrived home in Michigan from wintering in Florida. (See Nothing is Not the Divine.)

    We began safe-sheltering in Florida on March 15, and we have continued to safe-shelter since our arrival in Michigan.

    But things are starting to open up. When I ride my bike, the quiet is again more intruded upon by cars whizzing by.

    How do we take the benefits from this “retreat” time as our lives move outward into the world again? How do/will I? How do/will you?

    Deborah King, author of Be Your Own Shaman, and Heal Yourself and the World sent out a message about the June (05-06) 2020 full moon, which is also a lunar eclipse.

    [T]here is an opening to bring the unconscious to the conscious level for healing and transformation.

    And this full moon combined with the lunar eclipse has this depth tenfold…

    In Vedic astrology, eclipses herald change. Combine that with Mars’s energy for making something happen, and Neptune’s energy for oneness, and we have a recipe for people gathering to create necessary change that’s long overdue.

    People gathering…. Oneness…. Healing and transformation.

    I was one of the first individuals in my world to choose to safe-shelter. I may be one of the last to choose to gather. It is certainly my intention to choose wholesome actions for the good of all.

    Today, I will reflect on some of the gifts this time has brought forth. I have certainly made more home-cooked meals. I have not packed a travel bag since December 1, 2019 — the day John and Stacey and I left Tennessee and made the drive to Pine Island. This from a person who had spent most every Wednesday driving the 50 miles to Kalamazoo. I was seeing clients at Kalamazoo Psychology, various other offices, then at Borgess Integrative Medicine. Each week I would stay overnight in Parkview Hills. Over 20 years of co-writing and collaborative working.

    The furnishings of the office here in Saint Joseph are currently boxed up, and everything has been moved to the new location. Touch therapies are scheduled to be allowed to open again on June 15.

    Choices, choices, choices….

    I have certainly done a lot of meditation and I have certainly practiced patience. I have ordered things I wanted/needed online. I have become acutely aware of the difference between wants and needs. I have been content to make do with what I have. I have been content and known how blessed I truly am, in the stillness of this moment. Groceries have come once a week or so, ordered on Instacart, and delivered to our door by good friends, Linda and Larry.

    Linda told me last evening that she is going to start going to the store again. She has offered to continue to shop for us if we choose. That is so kind.

    Not shopping is my current choice.

    Linda said she likes shopping, and she has been out for a few things the past couple of weeks and has appreciated seeing for herself the appropriate precautions that are in place. She feels it is time for them to start generating a more involved living — of course, with continued wearing of masks and social-distancing.

    Always we are making choices.

    Today, let’s make the choices that create necessary change that’s long overdue….

  • Words – Come from the Heart

    Sacred Stories

    The words had been displayed in their beautiful open space (they called it the lighted room) in the center of the office suite. Moving out of that space, the words knew where they needed to go.

    These words were to be mailed to a friend in Florida…. But the friend lives in a very tiny space. Where would these big words fit? “Well, even a tiny house has a ceiling,” was the suggestion.

    These words are significant and she had brought them to the jam session asking everyone to learn “Come from the Heart” by Kathy Mattea.

    Here are the lyrics:

    You got to sing like you don’t need the money
    Love like you’ll never get hurt
    You got to dance like nobody’s watchin’
    It’s gotta come from the heart
    If you want it to work

    Of course, these words come from the heart!


  • America’s Got Talent

    What do you see? When you look at the world, what do you see? This is not a frivolous question, and it may be one of the most vital choices you make for yourself and our world.

    This morning the Buddhist group that gathered for meditation via ZOOM spoke of the violence that had erupted in Minnesota, and spread from there. One couple shared information indicating the violence likely was done by an international trouble-making group that uses social media to organize. Most (maybe all) of those protesting were genuinely peaceful.

    We, of a certain age, remember all too well the racial tensions from fifty years ago, and many were involved in working toward justice and harmony. What I found almost as disturbing as the news of the violence and destruction was the expressed emotions of helplessness and discouragement and sadness generated by watching the new reporting. If my Dharma brothers and sisters who are committed to lovingkindness and equanimity can lose touch with their light within, what about those who have not practiced access to a balanced world view?

    Last evening, while some were watching the distressing news, John and I were watching the season premier of America’s Got Talent. AGT is not a show I normally watch, but, a friend had been persistent in encouraging me to watch it. I had actually turned it on the night before when I crawled into bed, and I watched a couple who train pigs to do acts like you normally see dogs do in the circus. I fell asleep. I told Linda, but Linda is a friend who knows me well. She simply said again, “It was one of the best we have seen, and I think you will be glad you saw it.”

    Two of the acts I watched show an amazing world view. The first was Archie Williams—a man who was wrongfully convicted of rape. Archie was arrested in 1982, and imprisoned in a Louisiana prison the following year. Archie spent 37 years in prison for a crime he knew he did not commit. Finally, forensic evidence proved he was innocent, and he was released in 2019. You owe it to yourself to search for and watch the entire nine-minute version of Archie’s singing “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me.” Archie told AGT, “My body was in prison, but my mind was not…. Prayer and singing got me through.”

    A person can sometimes let a mind be in prison even though a body is not.

    The final America’s Got Talent act was “Voices of Our City Choir” which was founded in 2016 by San Diego resident. While living downtown San Diego, Steph Johnson, a jazz singer-guitarist, met a lot of talented musicians—people living in shelters and on the street. Today her nonprofit operates several music and advocacy programs, has a choir of over 225 people, and distributes approximately 7,000 pounds of food per week! The group wrote the number it performed on AGT: “Sounds of the Sidewalk.” Another nine-minute video, as my friend said, that is definitely worth watching….

    Tomorrow is the first day of June. I am excited to look at the Magic Eye calendar image for the new month. (See Our True Nature.) My sister, Janis, and I are both excited. Regardless of the news, we get to turn over a new page. We will meet over some device and we will together see what beauty is hidden in plain sight, depending (of course) on your world view….

  • And There is Room for Everything

    Poem
    by Debra Basham 05-27-2020

    “At This Time”

    Right now, where you are, are you aware?

    Breathe in and feel connection to all you love

    Birds fly and view the world from a higher perspective

    Fabulous fruits, decadent desserts, marvelous munchies

    Mundane made sacred by joy

    Sheer silliness, satiating stillness, somber stoicism

    All reaches all, as we relax into All That Is….

    At this time

    This morning, like almost every other morning since the middle of March, I enjoyed practicing yoga with my dear friend, Kathy. Right now, we are meeting via ZOOM, and recording the videos for her YMCA classes. It does not appear likely that our (mostly senior) students are going to be Studio B any time soon.

    Amelia Vogler, Executive Director of HTPA (Healing Touch Professional Association), sent the membership an email message today which included a link to “When Life Is Good Again” which was premiered exclusively on Entertainment Weekly on the 27th of May, 2020.

    Dolly Parton was inspired by the COVID-19 quarantine. She told People of the quarantine in April of 2020, “We will come out on the other side of this, and we’re all going to be better people for it. Take care of each other from afar and continue to send love to your friends, family, and everyone suffering.”

    I resist grasping at social-distancing being necessary for so long that it no longer feels odd. I resist clinging to the ease of hugging those I want to hug when I want to hug them, meeting for hours of sharing over tea, having a house filled with musicians, and doing jigsaw puzzles with friends.

    Dolly’s last stanza says is all:

    God’s the reason for all things
    You want rainbows, you get rain
    We’ll all be forever changed (Forever changed)
    I’ll sell my boat and fly my kite
    Walk in the park, go out at night
    And hold my loved ones extra tight
    When everything is on the mend
    I’ll even drink with my old friends
    Sing and play my mandolin
    We’ll make it through this long dark night
    Darkness fades when faced with light
    But everything’s gonna be alright
    When life is good again

    The next email message I opened was Alan Seale’s weekly newsletter, also dated May 27, 2020. Forwarded by my friend, Roann Altman, moving home today after having spent these past couple of months quarantined with a friend with cancer. Roann’s friend, Richard, transitioned this week. In the newsletter, Alan quotes Etty Hillesum, a Jewish diarist who lived in Amsterdam and died in Auschwitz in 1943.

    Through me course wide rivers
    and in me rise tall mountains.
    And beyond the thickets
    of my agitation and confusion
    there stretch the wide plains of my
    peace and surrender.
    All landscapes are within me.
    And there is room for everything.

    Yes, there is room for everything in your heart at this time….

  • Ageless in this Moment

    This week is the anniversary of my mom’s transition. May 20 is also the date Ursel, the former owner of our home, passed, as well as the date Ursel purchased the home 33 years earlier. Both Ursel and my mom had their funeral/celebration of life on May 23. (See the Sacred Story: May 20).

    My mom passed in 2003. That was also Memorial Day weekend. No picnics, no parties, no plans this year.

    I am choosing to find ways to enjoy the moments.

    The leaves have come out this week! Scrumptius spring greens are silouetted against the sky.

    I continue to wear a mask when I go for a bike ride. I do not feel a need for a mask when I am out-of-doors doing activities on my own, but it is an important reminder.

    Yesterday I made some more no-sew masks, as it looks like social-distancing and safe-sheltering is going to be with us for a while longer. Let me know if you want a couple of easy patterns. One is made from a sock, and another is made from a sleeve. Stretchy fabrics are preferred….

    One of my mask-enhancements (inspired by a Dharma friend) is a photo of my smile! It is a black and white printer-quality paper print that I colored with crayons. Quickest teeth-whitening ever! I used clear packing tape to cover both sides and to adhere it to my sock mask.


    Ageless in this Moment Debra Basham May 22, 2020 (WC 250)
    Hiking in the western US for the first time we were
    stepping on rock beneath our feet instead of soil
    nothing seemed familiar except the sun overhead

    A small pool of water caught the sun’s light
    and I kneeled down to take a closer look
    myriad life forms were swimming together

    Precious life-giving water is at a premium here
    nature taking full advantage of resources
    as they present themselves

    This modest puddle is teeming with activity
    but I feel like a voyeur as
    I silently watch closely in awe

    Tiny minnow-like swimmers
    unnamed bugs skating on the water’s smooth surface
    a small lizard lounging

    In the distance I hear others approaching
    I notice a sudden feeling of protectiveness
    hoping those coming along will also be mindful

    A young girl—perhaps six or seven
    wordlessly asks permission to join me
    we peer together into this pool of possibility

    We both have a zillion questions but
    only our eyes give hint to the intellectual activity
    our lips remain still as we keep vigil

    She is motioned to rejoin the others
    reluctantly she leaves our shared perch
    glancing over her shoulder as she obeys

    Many times I’ve abandoned my delight
    when beckoned by some outer call
    wishing I had been able to stay where I was enjoying myself

    I am no longer I but she and all children and adults who can remain ageless in this moment in time and space if we take full advantage of the resources as they present themselves

  • Privet Promise

    Sacred Stories

    It was not unusual for their dog to look out toward the deck and bark. The dog obviously could see people walking on the path to the beach, or a squirrel in the yard. This day was different.

    Walking to the patio door and looking out, she saw nothing that would invite the barking.

    What did catch her eye was one lone privet branch sitting up about a foot above the deck, twirling around like a whirlpool. Just spinning round and round.

    Looking at the branch, their dog continued to bark.

    There was no wind this day — no lake breeze was moving this branch. It was totally still. So still that not even a single leaf was waving in the highest branch of the poplar trees.

    Four months today her husband passed.

    Suddenly she realized the manifestation! Standing for about ten minutes in silence, she watched in gratitude knowing he was still with her….

  • A Time for Cherishing

    When you are in complete alignment
    with your authentic self,
    you will attract everything
    you desire in life.
    ~Brahma Kumaris

    Last week I heard again the message from Aaron, “If you were not ready, you would not have taken birth at this time…. You did not come to fail…. Are ready to trust your heritage as deeply loving?…. You cannot fully express light until you live in darkness…. You and the earth are inseparable…. Be a lamp until yourselves…. It takes your human vibration to co-create the future earth…. You are ready…. You are not alone.”

    I have been living in the darkness. I confess to have been struggling with Stacey’s choice to continue to move about during the pandemic. I opened my journal and let myself be honest: I did not agree and I was mad. In Heart of the Soul, Gary Zukav, encourages us to continue again and again to challenge our anger. First comes the pain, then the fear—the terror of realizing you cannot control all that you feel is essential to your safety and well-being.

    I was making dinner when I looked out on our front porch and saw John and the guy who does maintenance here on our home for us shoulder-to-shoulder with one another! I shot across the great room like a stone out of a slingshot, flug the storm door open, and yelled at them both through gritted teeth: “What the hell are you two thinking? Kissing distance is not social distancing!” It was awkward, painful, embarrassing, and maddening. For all of us.

    It got more painful when Stacey called and asked me how it was going. I shared the experience and felt the pain of the gaping whole in both of our hearts when she asked me what it would take for me to be willing to risk her dad’s being with someone. I told her I was mad at her. I asked her what she would be willing to do to help keep her dad safe. We both cried—the distance between personal viewpoints was a lot wider than six feet.

    The following morning I again wrote in my journal: Some awkward exchange with Stacey about COVID-19. What would you have me know?

    V: Fear is fear, Dear One. Your fear is not helping you. What are you afraid of?

    D: Being on a vent! Being ill in a hospital without my friends and family. Dying in fear.

    V: It is any worse to die in fear than to live in fear? No one is ever alone. You are giving up so much false belief.

    Later that evening, playing ZOOM dominoes with good friends, I tearfully confessed that while extra caution is warranted because of John’s comorbidity risk factors (diabetes, hypertension, and on steroids for Polymyalgia), the anger was covering up my fear. Fear which had been my companion for a long time: I was hospitalized in isolation diagnosed with polio at age five, and I experienced post-surgical complications and ended up in the cardiac intensive care unit due to aFib related to having had a nasal gastric tube in 2012.

    It has been such a tender process, realizing we are incapable of fully expressing light until we live in darkness, but I am willing to trust our true heritage.

    This message came with Darshan yesterday (Darshan is an opportunity or occasion of seeing a holy person or the image of a deity):

    You are so radiant. So beautiful. I am saying this to the one present before me, but to all of you. You are all radiant and beautiful and I love you. Sometimes your forget how beautiful you are. Imagine a very lovely silver pitcher — radiant. But here is a spot of tarnish (just a little one). Does this make the pitcher any less? When it is appropriate, it can be polished a bit, but the form of the pitcher and the radiance and the quality of the water that the pitcher holds is not diminished by the spot of tarnish. And, remember that when you get that spot cleared off, you are go to say, “It’s perfect. NO…. there’s another one!” So relax. Focus instead on the radiance of the entire pitcher, the entire being that you are — mind, body, and spirit — with great appreciation. Pride is not going to come up and destroy your radiance. You’re past that. Now is a time for relaxing and cherishing. I love you.


    Deep Spring Center
    Thought for Today

    Watch what pulls you out of balance and
    add what’s needed to bring you back again.
    This is a dance which you learn,
    swaying to the movement of the winds of the world,
    deeply rooted in your true being.
    This essence of being knows what is needed.
    Trust this innate wisdom and goodness in yourself.
    Trust that which I call the angel.
    ~Aaron

  • The Bud’s Undoing

    “I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo.

    “So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

    ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

    The rhythm of this social-isolation is having it’s way with me. Today is Friday. Meditation with a handful of others via ZOOM, at 6:30 am, then ZOOM yoga with Kathy at 7:45. My fingers on the keyboard now, writing with the Southern Circle of Poets, who will meet at 11:15 to share—also on ZOOM!

    I find myself wondering what the metaphor of a platform called ZOOM has to say about this time of virtual living when I feel like both Frodo and Gandalf….

    This is the current view out my front window.

    This morning’s musing:

    Life is moving from the inside out
    Paying attention to an inner sense
    Dancing to music unheard that blows through the breeze and falls on some deaf ears
    Birds fly overhead, beads adorn our bodies, beach glass lands at our feet

    I dreamed of breathing under water
    Gold chains; rubies, emeralds, sapphire
    Adorned with abundance and beauty
    Moments rise up and move out into the world

    Each day Anne Frank’s spirit reminds me she
    Endured safe-sheltering for over 700 days
    Khanti—one of the paramitas—the mixture of endurance and perseverance
    To keep going (out of love) even though things are uncomfortable or difficult

    “The flower is always the bud’s undoing”
    Each new day evidence that the previous is no more
    No more do we cling, it is futile to hold onto the illusion
    It is now our true nature to surrender

    Surrender to the way things are without abandoning the dreams planted in the heart

    Holding him in my arms for the very first time, whispering a made-up name
    “I am your Gammie”

    I went kicking and screaming into grandparenthood
    At 39, too young to be a grandmother
    Too busy to take on another
    Role

    But the role fell away as I held you
    Watching your beautiful face
    Feeling your breath
    Smelling you

    30 years
    Now watching you from a distance
    Recalling your breath
    Imagining the fragrance of your being

    I am your Gammie; a role I find much peace in

    The bud is being undone yet again all of our roles dissipate like dew in the morning sun

    The Bud’s Undoing Debra Basham 05-15-2020 (WC 260)

  • Hot Tub Visit

    Sacred Stories

    She was alone in the hot tub praying and having awareness time.

    She was thinking of him.

    Today was his 53rd birthday.

    Twenty five years ago, her husband had been 28-years-old when he passed.

    All of a sudden, the hot tub jets turned on!

    Just like someone had pushed the button….

  • Satellites!

    Sacred Stories

    He is not very religious. He grew up Roman Catholic, and even went to Catholic School, but by college he says he was done with the Vatican.

    Every evening he goes out to look for satellites and when he sees one, he prays gratitude to God who gave us the intelligence to put huge pieces of junk in orbit.

    She always thought this was crazy.

    Since they had moved from Southwest Michigan to Detroit, he had not seen a satellite, although he would watch every night.

    She passed away….

    She was Seventh Day Adventist. She was taught to believe once you die you go to sleep until the second coming of Christ. If you lived a good life, you wake up with Him. If not, then you would stay asleep.

    Three weeks after she passed, he went out looked up into the sky. He prayed and asked her that if her “dirt nap” theory was wrong, and that she was actually looking down on him from heaven, to please allow him to see a satellite.

    At that moment, he saw one… then two, three, four, five….

    He saw a total of 17 satellites in consecutive order, spaced about 4-6 inches apart to the naked eye. It took all of about five minutes.

    It was so incredible! He called one of her best friends and he called her brother, telling them what he was witnessing.

    He says, “Just way too cool!!! She knew that would be what I was looking for.”

    She made sure he had no choice not to know!