selflessness
Forgiveness As A Spiritual Life Lesson
I remember telling my friend Audrey many years ago how well she was handling an upsetting situation. The matter related to a mutual friend who had borrowed a significant amount of money, and even though swift repayment was promised, the promise was not kept, nor acknowledged by the borrower.
Audrey seemed to take a really spiritual approach towards the situation and said to me, “I don’t lend money without first considering that I may well have to write it off in the end.” This was ironic, since he wasn’t exactly well-off herself.
“Why should I choose to be a victim, and to carry that huge load of resentment around on my shoulders, when I do have a choice to simply put it down? To carry that heavy knapsack of anger and resentment would only be draining to my health and peace of mind,” she explained. Continue reading
Giving Of Yourself Is A Win-Win
One of the best ways to feel better about yourself, while making a difference, is to get involved in your community. So many worthy organizations need help year-round, even though the obvious time people think to give is during the holidays.
Think of the Marine Corps’ Toys for Tots program. You can certainly donate toys any time of year, or else participate in a fund-raiser in your area. Likewise for St. Jude’s Hospital, which provides medical care at no cost to children with life-threatening illnesses or injuries. Taking part in a fun walk or run, or donating time or goods, is a great way to raise money for a wonderful cause. Continue reading
Life After Life (Part 2 of 7) – Near-Death Experience
Some physicians and scientists have attempted to discount the near-death experience (NDE) phenomenon as misfiring synapses of the brain during trauma. However, I believe that as more and more evidence is becoming available, the near-death experience will be opened up as a genuine spiritual phenomenon.
In 1999 I was hit by a car and severely injured. I was 19 years old at the time, and had absolutely no interest in spirituality of any kind. I grew up in a very religious household, and noticed how damaging religious ideology could be on both society and the microcosm of families and tribal units. In many ways I was angry with systems that promoted any kind of dogmatic spirituality, and discounted any kind of spiritual experience. Continue reading
My Grandfather’s Gift Of Love
Cherubic looking, my grandfather had a round face that was quick to reveal his kindness and sense of empathy. He was just as fast to express humor, which he frequently did. His tummy shook a bit when he laughed… like Santa Claus. He was a little, round Irish man that doted on me when I was deeply in need of this level of nurturing.
It’s not a bad story, as stories go. I was simply born to a couple of kids. My mother and father were naive country folk, and very young. I think that children back then, especially at those tender ages, were even younger than their years, as compared to today’s off-spring. The world was also naive then, compared to now. In any case, when I was an infant they left me with my grandfather to raise, due to his insistence. Continue reading
Romancing The Zodiac
For many years I wrote a weekly horoscope for a local newspaper. It was a fun and funky paper with a demographic core group of loyal readers aged 23 to 33, and a 70% female to 30% male readership.
The editor asked me what type of horoscope I thought the newspaper needed, given that the male readership ratio was so much smaller compared to that of women. I told her that we needed to do a horoscope for males and females of each sign. We needed to break down the walls between men and women, because the newspaper’s advice column seemed to suggest neither sex had a clue about what was going on in the others’ head.
My plan was to write the horoscopes combining elements of Astrology and Numerology, but the meat and potatoes, the predictions within each horoscope itself, would come from me using a different Tarot deck each week. I did an overview for the week ahead, one for males and one for females, in which lot of the astrological elements were taken into account. This was followed by a male and female horoscope for every sign of the Zodiac. Continue reading
It’s Lucky I’m So Tough
In the area where we live the government has a program called Homeshare. What that means is people like my husband and myself will take in an individual with some type of disability. We are paid to have them come and live with us as part of our family. After our daughter passed away, we thought we might enrich our lives and help with our grieving by helping out someone else. We did not want to look after children or someone with extreme difficulties, as we are seniors and felt someone of that nature would prove to be too much of a burden for us. Continue reading
Grounded In Spirit When Caring For Elderly Parents
I have a friend that is going through the challenging process of watching her aging mom dwindle away. Her mother is losing her memory and the ability to take care of herself the way she used to. So, I try to help when I can. For most of us it’s an issue that we will all most likely face one day.
The spiritual connection to our parents is often a relationship with a history that is very complex. Not everyone has a wonderful, loving relationship with their parents, right? Those of us who do, should never take it for granted. We are truly blessed. Continue reading