Debra Basham

Living and Loving

Tag: synchronicity

  • Angel in a Laundromat

    Sacred Stories

    After her young husband had died, almost 25 years earlier, she had sold their home. Preparing to leave, she looked back into their now empty living room. A folded piece of paper was lying in the middle of the floor.

    She was feeling so lonely, broken, and lost.

    She picked up the paper and unfolded it, and read, “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.”

    She never knew where that folded piece of paper came from—it was just lying there in the middle of her empty living room floor. She knew that message was meant for her.

    Twenty five years later she writes about another experience:

    Today, my husband and I were in a laundromat. There was a young boy, dressed in a suit, doing his laundry. He and my husband began to talk. The young man told my husband he had gone to church and was washing and drying his clothes because their dryer had broken. That is the same reason we were there.

    The young man’s dad is was in a wheel chair.

    The young man was such a happy guy, just smiling and doing his laundry.

    I told my husband what a great kid he was, and I wondered aloud how old he was.

    As I was on the other side of the wall folding blankets, and I could hear my husband talking to the young man again. My husband said, “My wife commented on what a nice young man you are, how old are you?”

    I heard the young man say he was 14. He and my husband were still talking as I went out and loaded blankets in the car.

    When I came back in to get the rest of our clothes, my husband said the young man had told him he had a message for me.

    The message was:”God has a plan for you.”

    I almost fell over.

    To my husband, that was just something very nice that young boy said to me, but to me it was another direct message to me. I was familiar with the message.

    Thank you, God, for always reminding me you’re in control and have a plan for my life. And thank you to that beautiful angel in that young man whose words touched my heart.

    Angels are always around us if we just listen.

    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.

  • Surrogate Bubble

    Sacred Stories

    She was attending a workshop on the healing power of meditation. During an exercise, she was asked to place in an imaginary bubble something that she saw as a problem or a difficulty or an uncomfortable situation or experience. When the bubble popped, she had an immense feeling sensation of energy leaving her body.

    Later in the workshop she asked if it was appropriate for her to use some of these tools with her daughter. As the facilitator spoke of doing surrogate healing meditation with her daughter, the woman received a text message of apology from the daughter.

    The woman told the group that she had placed a painful text message received a few days prior to the workshop into the bubble… The text message had come from her daughter.

    What an instant confirmation of the surrogate bubble!

    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.

  • Power of Choice


    Some days are so humbling…. women I know are going through so much. I am not saying men are without their challenges, too, but women I KNOW are going through so much.

    Three precious women friends are stepping up to work in businesses created by the men in their lives. Two of the businesses came from fathers, and one from a husband. The stepping up is a result of these men having transitioned into spirit.

    The precious woman friend who posted this photo on Facebook is herself a widow, doing a remarkable job raising a child amidst challenging financial circumstances:

    I love the truth of these words about difficult circumstances meaning you are in a powerful place of transformation and transmutation. I wondered if there was a difference of meaning between these two states. Transmutation is the action of changing or the state of being changed into another form (or into another species), and transformation is a thorough or dramatic change in form or appearance.

    It seems these women are representative of something that is capable of happening to all beings.

    I stumbled onto an interesting webpage listing a timeline on the History of Women’s Rights in America. The first two entries were shocking!

      1769 – The colonies adopt the English system decreeing women cannot own property in their own name or keep their own earnings.

      1777 – All states pass laws which take away women’s right to vote.

    Gary Zukav’s were the first words I remember having heard describe authentic power. I hope you will take time to look over the ‘Authentic Power Vocabulary’ from the Seat of the Soul.

    Savor these first few definitions from that list and let their energy inspire your own authentic power:

    Authentic power is alignment of the personality with the soul (with harmony, cooperation, sharing, and reverence for Life).

    Characteristics of an Authentically Empowered Personality include humbleness, clarity, forgiveness, and love.

    Clarity allows you to see the world of physical matter for what it is—a learning environment that is created jointly by the intentions of the souls that share it.

    Authentic power evaporates fear.

    Co-creation occurs as individuals bring all that each can offer to a joint effort and at the same time, open themselves to a larger, or higher, idea that may not have previously occurred to them….

    Women (and men) who are capable of living from authentic power might just hold the keys to the kingdom!

  • Shaman Woman

    I got to join my friend, Carol L. Myers, artist extraordinaire, for a gallery walk. Carol’s work is being featured in a one-woman show at the Box Factory for the Arts. Here is Carol:


    Carol’s Solo Art Exhibition, which is titled Embodied: Embracing Spirit, is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.

    Here I am in front of Carol’s “Shaman Woman” quilt, which lives on the massage table in the office at 815 Main Street:


    Today like every other day
    We wake up empty and scared.
    Don’t open the door of your study
    And begin reading.
    Take down a musical instrument.
    Let the beauty we love be what we do.
    There are hundreds of ways to kneel
    And kiss the earth.

    Rumi

    Having witnessed Carol’s finding her voice and being able to articulate about her art has been a great honor.

    Wayne Dyer said, “Don’t die with the music still inside you. Listen to your intuitive inner voice and find what passion stirs your soul.”

    Carol L. Myers is a woman who is doing that….

  • Aromatherapy Bracelet

    Sacred Stories

    She had purchased aromatherapy bracelets for Christmas gifts but she didn’t have any essential oils to go into them yet.

    She went to a neighbor’s for a visit. Sitting down on the couch, she pushed a small box out of the way.

    The neighbor said, “I’d like you to have that if you would appreciate it. I ordered two by mistake.”

    It was a sampler set of essential oils….

    These are sacred stories. Notice the way your wants and needs are being met. Do you have a story to share? Send email to debra@scs-matters.com.

  • Mulling About the Mundane

    I am working on the theme of Mundane Made Holy for the Mother’s Day service at Pilgrim United Church of Christ. That had me checking online for antonyms for ‘mundane.’ Here are just a few:
    One rainy morning this week, I was moved near tears with gratitude for being able to walk over to the little community center and ride the stationary bicycle. It is not always possible to do what you really desire, but life continuously provides us with wonderful options. I could have grumbled about not being able to ride outdoors in the warmth and sunshine.

    Walking home, as I went past the home one of our neighbors, Mark, I was again awash with gratitude. Shortly after we moved in, Mark came over and helped John with the demo and construction of our new deck. It was hot. The work was hard. We did not know Mark, and he certainly did not owe us anything. Some internal sense of willingness moved him to this generosity of time and energy.


    I hope you can see the list of opposites to the word mundane and find yourself inspired.

    Mother Teresa is given credit for having said, “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”

    This is how you make the mundane holy….

  • Wallet!

    Sacred Stories

    Reaching in to place some out-going mail inside, she saw something in the mailbox at the end of their driveway. She pulled out her husband’s wallet.

    He had lost that wallet almost 3 years ago!

    He had already stopped carrying credit cards and money, so they didn’t worry much at the time he lost it. They figured it would turn up at home in some crazy place at some time.

    The wallet was in good condition. His driver’s license and a couple of notes were still there.

    Her husband was now in a facility with advanced Alzheimer’s Disease. She had recently been feeling quite nervous about plans for her to be out-of-state for a few weeks.

    As she pulled his wallet out of the mailbox, holding it in her hand, the smiley face he had put on it years ago was looking up at her.


    She knew it was telling her to not worry about him and to go and fully enjoy the time with kids and grandkids!

    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.

  • Ambiguous Loss

    Last week was a week with loss. Good Friday, the husband of a client/friend/colleague passed. Holy Saturday, the father of a business acquaintance passed. Easter Sunday, a loyal member of Saint Joseph Buddhist Sangha passed. A Buddhist teacher invited me to use the 49 day ceremony.

    49 Day Ceremony

    When someone passes away, in addition to a funeral service that usually occurs three or seven days after the death, we have a ceremony on the 49th day. Traditionally, the period of 49 days after someone dies is seen as a time for that person to check their consciousness and digest their karma. According to Buddhist teaching the bodhisattva Ji Jang Bosal helps the deceased during these 49 days to perceive their karma so when they return they are reborn to help this world, rather than continue in the cycle of birth and death. Buddhism teaches that there is a life in this body, then a time of investigation or consideration, and then a new life …

    Loss is such a raw part of human life.

    Listening to a TED talk by Nora McInerny, I was moved to laughter and to tears. McInerny is the author of The Hot Young Widows Club: Lessons on Survival from the Front Lines of Grief.

    McInerny said something members of our Grief Journey Group have said to one another over and over for over twenty years: We don’t move on from grief, we move forward with it.

    The next day, opening the May 2019 Guideposts, I see, ‘A Different Kind of Grief’ by B’ette Schalk. Schalk felt she lost her husband to anxiety and depression, writing, “Gone was the vibrant man I’d fallen in love with 24 years earlier, the man who liked going to parties and playing cards.” The article closes with a single page with 5 headings of great wisdom for caregivers: How to Cope With Ambiguous Loss.

      How to Cope With Ambiguous Loss

      Put a name to it.
      Use “both…and” thinking.
      Accept that good enough is enough.
      Manage your mixed emotions.
      Imagine new hopes and dreams.

    Ambiguous loss is what my friend is living as her husband is in a facility for those with Alzheimer’s disease.

    Ambiguous loss is felt by students afraid to be at school for fear of a mass shooting.

    Ambiguous loss is felt in the aging and staging of life.

    On the light side of 40, she recently shared with me she had read on a website about cancer that having cancer was like living with a loaded gun pointed at your head. You did not know when it would go off, but you knew it would.

    Ah, ambiguous loss….

    Whether it is our youth, our goals, our jobs, our homes, our health, our strength, our courage, or our loved ones, or our memories, we all navigate the waters of ambigious loss.

    The best way I can think to close this post is with this Deep Spring Center Thought for Today:

    “Your loved one is not dead, only he has left his human form. He is now expressing himself through you, through your growing open heart that can allow itself the experience of grief and allow that grief to become a catalyst for compassion. He is expressing himself through you in all the ways he spoke to you in your life, the joys and the sorrows. He is expressing himself through every human that he touched in this lifetime. And he is in the soil and the stars and the rain and the sun. You cannot lose him.” ~ Aaron

    Whatever has the nature to arise has the nature to cease and is not me nor mine.

  • Outlet Growling

    Sacred Stories

    After her son passed, she noticed the electrical outlet in her bathroom would make a sort of “growling” sound.

    She was so surprised to learn that electricity is one of the easiest vehicles for those in spirit to use.

    She knew instantly that was exactly what she was experiencing!

    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.

  • 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.