The topic of karma came up on PalTalk a couple days ago – a lot of interesting ideas were shared about what karma is and how it works – very little of which felt right to me, so I did a bit of research and a bit of thinking, and this is what I feel is the true meaning of karma.

Like so many expressions we use, karma has been abbreviated – the actual expression is karma phala – meaning ‘fruits of action’ (karma = action, phala = fruit). Essentially, karma phala means cause and effect – action and reaction – reaping what we sow.

So often we hear karma being used in a judgmental sense – as when someone does something we don’t approve of and we see them getting their’s through karmic justice. Actually, karma phala is non-judgmental – it is simply a matter of getting back as you have put out – giving is receiving. We do however judge ourselves, so if we do something we perceive as wrong, very often we will garner punishment for that deed in one way or another (in many cases, merely hanging on the guilt is our punishment).

Every so often, we see someone get away with a misdeed and wonder where is the karmic justice. Well, we humans can’t see the big picture – and it is just possible that that person’s misdeeds were necessary to their own or another’s growth. Nor can we see the past or future – where that person’s karma may have been or will be balanced. Not everything has an immediate response.

In Hindu teachings, karma is often characterized as a wheel – what goes around, comes around – and the wheel may turn in this lifetime, or another. In any case, it is not our’s to judge another’s karmic journey, only our own. Judge lightly .

This is the official first post for this blogsite. My apologies to anyone who has been trying to keep up with my blogs, I know I’ve been doing quite a bit a moving around, but as it was all new to me, had to experiment and find out what works best. For this particular site, having it on the same server as the SoulSpeak website only makes sense – as I will be working them off each other. Plus it cuts down on duplication – Favorite URLs can be posted on the website, leaving only like-minded blog links to be posted here, and so forth.

The remainder of this post will be culled from previous entries (I tried to import the entries from the wordpress site, but apparently the two servers don’t use the same file formats), so if you’ve read all that… Thank you .

(9/6/06)

This post is going to be basically ‘thinking out loud’. Inner Self has been rather busy lately, providing guidance in several ways – dreams, songs, clouds, conversation, circumstances and inspirations and I’m going to try to make sense of it all, see if, and if so, how it all fits together.

I’ll start with the songs. As mentioned in an earlier post [What’s love got to do with it?], the song ‘World without Love’ had been going through my mind almost constantly for quite sometime. That finally all but stopped – was still showing up now and then - only to be replaced in the last few days by ‘Desperado’. I’m sure the fact that I was building a fence is relevant, but not in the way I’m sure many would think (building a fence makes you think of the line from the song "you been out riding fences …"), but the activity and the song reinforcing each other. Metaphorically speaking, fences are about separation, keeping people at a distance – something I’m pretty good at as I value my solitude. ‘Riding a fence’ can also refer to indecision – also relevant as this particular time (deciding whether to stay here in Kansas or head south again for the winter {‘Don’t your feet get cold in the wintertime? The sky won’t snow and the sun won’t shine’} which could also be about loss of faith in hard times).

The second stanza of the song is about money and love {Don’t you draw the queen of diamonds boy, she’ll beat you if she’s able (making it all about the money just makes it harder to come by), The queen of hearts is always your best bet (do what you love and all will be provided)}.

There’s more, but it only reinforces what’s already been said; so far it appears the song is either telling me it’s time to get out of Kansas and/or strengthen my faith – practice the principles – probably both.

For a dreamworker, I don’t recall many of my own dreams anymore. There was a time when I’d wake up 4 or 5 times a night from a dream, record them, then work them out the next day. Trouble with that was that I wasn’t getting much rest, and a lot of the dreams were merely processing recent activities. So I ‘re-programmed’ myself to only remember those I needed to remember for my own or another’s well-being and/or growth. Occasionally I’ll wake up from a dream and make a note or two, but more often they will stay with me until I’m up and about the next morning. This past week there have been two like that.

The first dream was about a key in the shape of an old wooden-handled ice-pick, but with a point shaped like a small isosceles triangle. Someone was holding the key and turning it first with the point to one side and then the other, asking which way it was supposed to go. I told them that it should be turned to fit the lock it was made for, which was in a small wooden casket (the sort valuables are kept in).

I usually associate the triangle with the Greek ‘delta’, the fourth letter of their alphabet. A delta is where a river meets the ocean – in metaphysical terms where our personal stream of consciousness meets the collective consciousness. And an ice-pick is used to break large blocks of ice into smaller ones. Thus the dream is saying to break up the current blockage and release what’s inside by going to Spirit.

The other dream was very short. I was trying to call Ford (Motor Company) – (why, I don’t know – that wasn’t part of the dream) but the call was blocked by Unity (the church I used to belong to and work for). And I was surprised, amazed and a bit amused that Unity would block those calls. It’s taken a while to work out what Ford represented, but obviously something I learned at Unity was blocking that. If I were doing a word association and the word ford came up, I’d probably answer either Henry or pickup – both of which are relevant. A pickup is a work vehicle, thus representing job or career. Henry is relevant because his quotes show up now and then on one of my newspages – one in particular just lately was, "A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business." So again we have an admonishment that working for the money is at odds with the spiritual principle of abundance and blocking the flow, which I learned at Unity (didn’t this come up in the piece on Balaam? I think I’m seeing a pattern – lol).

Something else that has come up that I haven’t worked out yet is the message delivered through a very gifted friend that it was time to move on and go to the place where a cross rises above a tepee. The cross, she said, was mainly just a signpost to help me know when I’d found the right tepee.

I associate tepees with Oklahoma, probably because that’s where I first encountered Native Americans while visiting Dad’s sister and her family. And I’ve just discovered that there is a large portion of Oklahoma (as well as parts of Texas and Kansas – a corner of the county I’m in now, in fact) which is known as the Cross Timbers. However, my friend said it would be a long drive and that it would be warm there, so we’re probably talking about the Texas portion of the area and the southern-most part of that – which would be either Waco or Comanche.

However, it occurred to me that in two dimensions, a tepee looks like a triangle, and the cross is another symbol for the integration of ordinary and spiritual consciousness. As is often the case, this is very likely a dual message, partly about relocating and partly about spiritual growth.

To sum up – it looks to me like I am being encouraged to head south. More importantly, I’m being reminded to keep working on psycho-spiritual integration with more emphasis on the spiritual and less on the physical. So be it.

(8/27/06)

Funny how you can start to do one thing and wind up doing something totally different. My intention when I sat down to write was to address the topic of ‘practicing the presence’. Next thing I know, I’m telling the story of Balaam.

Balaam came up in a conversation several weeks ago and has been on the back of my mind ever since. I talked about it at the time with Mike, brought it up to his minister, did a bit of online research, and even went and listened to a sermon about donkeys that touched on Balaam – and yet the matter is still there – possibly because no one has touched on the metaphysics of the story.

The story (from Numbers 22-24 and 31:15-16 of the Holy Bible) goes like this:

Balaam was a prophet in the days of the Israelite exodus. Though not an Israelite himself, he believed in the one God and was gifted with not only the power of prophecy, but also the ability to exert influence over others merely by his word. As King Balak put it, "what you bless is blessed, and what you curse is cursed."

Balak had seen the horde of Israelites coming toward his kingdom and had heard of all the lands they had conquered along the way. He was filled with the fear of his land being overrun by them. So he sent for Balaam to come and curse the Israelites so that they would be rendered powerless against his own forces. Balaam told the delegation sent for him that he would have to ask God for guidance on the matter and had them stay overnight. God came to Balaam in the night and asked him who these men were. Balaam told him why they were there and God told Balaam not to go – that the Israelites had his own blessing and protection and were not to be harmed. Balaam relayed this information to the delegation the next morning and sent them on their way. Balak sent another team, great in number and rank and promising great wealth and renown if he would come. Balaam told the delegation, "it doesn’t matter if you offer me Balak’s house full of silver and gold, I can only do what God tells me to do. But you spend the night and I will see if God has more to say on the matter." God came to Balaam again that night and said, "if these men came to summon you, you can go, but do what I tell you to do." So when Balaam got up the next morning, he saddled his donkey and rode off toward Moab.

Now, you have to kind of read between the lines at this point, because the scripture says that God was angry at Balaam for going, in spite of having just told him he could go. We have to assume that in this instance God is a bit like a frustrated parent – "I told you no, but you persist in asking, so have it your way, but you’re going to get your comeuppance."

[Since Balaam steadfastly avers that he must do the will of God, one wonders why he didn’t dismiss the second delegation out of hand having already been told not to go, that the Israelites enjoyed God’s own protection. Some scholars believe it was Balaam’s greed that led him on – or he might have been afraid that Balak would turn against him. The only thing we know for sure is that he is not as obedient to God’s will as he makes out to be.]

So Balaam is heading toward Moab when an angel with a sword appears on the road before him. Balaam can’t see the angel, but his donkey does and tries to avoid harm by stepping off the road. Balaam beats the donkey and gets it back onto the road where the angel has pulled back to a narrower passage between two walls. The donkey again tries to avoid the angel and in so doing crushes Balaam’s foot against one of the walls at the side of the road. Balaam again beats the donkey and gets it back onto the road. This time the angel moves to a place where no passage is possible, so the donkey just lays down in the road before it. Balaam again beats the donkey – but this time the donkey speaks up – "why are you beating me? Have you not ridden me all your life, and am I in the habit of treating you this way?" Balaam admits that this is unusual behavior for the donkey and at that moment his ‘eyes are opened’ and he sees the angel. The angel also asks, "why are you beating your donkey? She is only trying to save your life, for if you had come further, I surely would have killed you because your way is perverse before me, though I would have let the donkey live." Balaam, properly chastised, says, "I have sinned, for I didn’t see you there. Now that I do see you and know that your are displeased with my mission, I will return home if that’s what you want me to do." The angel replies, "go with the men, but only speak what I tell you to speak."

[The message here seems to be ‘now you know what can happen if you don’t play by the rules – go, but mind your Ps and Qs’]

To make a long story a little bit shorter – when Balaam gets to Moab, King Balak takes Balaam to 3 high places where they can see some of the Israelites and in each place Balaam makes sacrifices and asks God for guidance. Each time he is given a message to relay to Balak, blessing the Israelites and warning Balak not to mess with them. The end result is that Balaam is unable to curse the Israelites, thus depriving Balak of a certain victory over them and Balaam of his rewards. [However, Balaam apparently does suggest that Balak send Moabite women out to the Israelites and tempt them with sex, then lead them to idol worship – a move that brings a plague upon the Israelites and costs them 24,000 people. (see Numbers 25:1-3 and 31:15-16) Naturally, the people of Israel weren’t going to let that continue, so when the dust settled, the Israelites had wiped out Moab and slain Balaam.]

The primary message here is obvious – when God (Creator, Source, Spirit – insert your favorite appellation) tells you something in no uncertain terms – consider it a done deal; ‘practice what you preach’ – if you say you can only do what God tells you to do – make sure that is all you do. Also, if God is on their side, how smart is it to hobnob with the opposition? Just asking for trouble.

Weighing into the metaphysical aspects of the story, we find one element in particular that is much more significant than first appears. That of course is the donkey (else why would the author have spent so much time describing that event?).

Donkeys often get a bad rap for being stubborn and cantankerous when actually they are very intelligent, docile, and willing beasts of burden. They are sure-footed and have the stamina to cover long distances under a heavy load with no complaint. They are also sharp-eyed and often keep their owners from harm by balking or attempting to go around a risky situation.

In this case, I relate the donkey to the conscience. Balaam knew he wasn’t supposed to be doing what he was doing, but the promise of material gain was too much to resist. Thus, while his conscience bothered him and put up stumbling blocks to impede his journey, he had to make a conscious effort to stay on task. First he wanders off his path – that hesitation most people experience when they are engaged in something they know they shouldn’t be. Then his foot is injured – I’ve seen and even experienced countless times physical difficulties rising when one is not acting in their own best interests. And finally, he’s confronted by the angel with a sword – the fear of divine retribution if he persists in his misadventure.

He manages to overcome all these though, by rationalizing that he will only do good – probably hoping he will get something out of Balak just for showing up. And he almost pulls it off – when he pronounces his oracles they are all in praise of Israel’s strength and divine protection – strong words that discouraged Balak from attacking the multitude. If only he’d left well-enough alone – he could have gone back to his prophecy and divining, Balak would have trembled in fear until the Israelites passed by, and all would have ended well for everyone. But he tried to make an end run around God’s directive ("you wouldn’t let me curse them, but you didn’t say anything about making a suggestion to undermine them") – and you could say it was all over but the crying.

I see several morals in this story, not the least of which are:

(and remember, your conscience doesn’t always ‘speak’ – it often acts on you – emotionally and physically)

(8/19/06)

Wednesday evening I watched the last of a 7 disk series on creation versus evolution by Kent Hovind. To be honest, this is not a topic I’ve given a lot of thought to in the course of my life. Having been brought up in several Protestant religions, I am of course familiar with the story of creation in the Book of Genesis. However, from the beginning, I had difficulty accepting creationism as a viable explanation for the existence of our planet and all that’s on it. (Even so, as a metaphysician, I believe the first chapter of Genesis to be one of the most important passages of the Bible. More on that later.) Later, when the principles of evolution were introduced to us in school, I found those a bit easier to swallow, but still leaving many questions unanswered. Thus, not having a wholly satisfactory theory to explain our presence here, I set the entire matter aside and pretty much left it there until the Hovind series was loaned to me.

[A word of warning – if you have any interest in creationism, creation science, creation vs evolution, etc – I do not recommend the Hovind DVDs. Many in the creation science movement at large consider him an embarrassment to the cause as a number of his arguments are based on disproven or unprovable theories and/or ‘evidence’, both pro and con (which is to say he counters evolutionist arguments that even evolutionists don’t use anymore – among other misrepresentations). His ‘science’ is badly flawed – a fault he frequently accuses the opposition of practicing. He repeats himself far too often – the whole seminar probably could have been presented on one or two disks – four hours instead of fourteen – and would have been much clearer. He also tends to espouse personal beliefs that have nothing to do with creationism or evolution – for no purpose other than ego gratification, as far as I could see.

For more honest, lucid and relevant information on creation science, I recommend www.answersingenesis.org.]

The first question that came to mind after watching the seminar and reviewing various websites on the topic of creation science was ‘what does it matter how we came to be?’ According to Hovind, it’s important because if you believe in creation then you believe that God made the world and He makes the rules. If you believe in evolution then man makes his own rules and they don’t always comply with God’s rules. Well, isn’t that pretty much what’s happened anyway? How many professing Jews and Christians can honestly say they have never broken even one of the ten commandments? Our own government, supposedly established ‘under God’, kills (capital punishment and waging war) and steals (taxation). [OK, I admit – that last one is a personal peeve – but if someone takes nearly half your income without your consent, and threatens you with punishment if you don’t comply – I consider that thievery.] So even though all these people believe God created the world and made the rules, they aren’t paying a whole lot of attention – and those who are probably feel a lot of guilt for disobeying.

As for the evolutionists, their reasons for believing as they do seem to be based primarily on the search for knowledge. Granted, there are some who have rejected creationism and God for the same reason I did as a child– it’s just too big a pill to swallow that one entity could put together a universe such as we live in at all – much less in 6 days. Some have rejected it in favor of humanism – man as a self-governing entity – no God required. But many evolutionists are trying to reconcile evolution and creation because it all had to start somewhere and a happy accident of certain molecules meeting at just the right time and in the right manner to spark life into existence sounds as much like a fairy tale as the 6 days story.

My problem with creationism is – if you are going to make a world and populate it, why would you build it so full of misery? (The counter-argument of course is that it was created perfect in the beginning, then man sinned and was thrown out into the cruel hard world and forced to struggle to survive. HUH?? Hey, Eve ate an apple – she didn’t get drunk, kill Adam and fornicate with all the animals in the garden!! How does the punishment fit the crime? If your son or daughter chose to experience sex at the tender age of say 10, would you throw him/her out on the street?? I should hope not – rather, you’d try to educate him or her of the risks involved and convince them not to do it again until they have matured enough to be responsible.)

My problem with evolution is as stated before – the happy accident – which also begs the question, where did those molecules come from? This is the biggest problem with both creationism and evolution – something had to be there before there was anything – the ultimate paradox.

While I’m not totally dismissing either theory – there does seem to be evidence of intelligent design and there is obviously evidence of micro-evolution (more properly called adaptation, imo) – neither theory totally fills the bill.

Oops, don’t want to leave anyone out. There’s a third faction – people who believe it’s all an alien experiment. That beings from another planet – another star system – came to earth and manufactured a bunch of plants and animals and humans – and then turned them loose to see how they would fare. And they come back now and then – grab one or two and probe them to see how things are going before throwing them back into the pond so to speak. Which is about as reasonable an explanation as the other two – but still leaving the question – whence the aliens? Where is the actual beginning?

You see, it really doesn’t matter whether you believe in creation or evolution – or alien intervention – if you can’t establish a provable source, they are all fairy tales. As all are based on commonly held beliefs, they could also reasonably be called religions.

Allow me to toss one more possibility into the mix. There is a small, but it seems growing, contingent who believe the universe began with a thought. At first glance, this looks like a fairy tale too – who had the thought? Obviously no one or we are right back at square one with the other paradigms. But let’s suppose a thought could come into existence on it’s own. And this is not too much of a stretch of the imagination (pardon the pun) if you stop to think about it. How many times has a thought come to mind out of the blue, with absolutely no reason for it to have come to you? It has nothing to do with anything, yet there it is. Hmmmm

As we all know – one thought leads to another – so pretty soon you have all these thoughts floating around. All of a sudden one thought becomes aware that it is thinking. And thoughts being interrelated (having all come from the first thought), all the thoughts come to this realization at the same time. Wow!! I am!!! We are!!! It is!!!

All the thoughts are creating more thoughts and space is filling up real fast with thoughts/energy (thoughts are energy btw – something else to think about). Then the thoughts think – ‘wonder what else we can do with this?’ One/all speaks up and says – ‘well, floating around out here in the void is pretty cool, but what say we brighten things up a bit?’ So they make light. Except they didn’t just make light, they became light. ‘Heyyyyy – way cool!!’ /all say. Another one/all speaks up – ‘whaddya say we make a ‘place’?’ Except they didn’t just make a place, they became a place. They pooled their thought/energy into the orb we call planet earth, then into a sun, then into a moon and so on. All the time expanding as consciousness and as physical entities.

I said before that I believe the first book of Genesis to be the most important part of the Bible. Going hand in hand with that is the first four verses of the Gospel according to John – ‘In the beginning was the Word…’. (more on this at www.soulspeak.bravehost.com – if you want to follow the entire reasoning go there – my only intent here is to present an alternative to the creation/evolution question.)

What we have now is ‘evolution of consciousness’. As MIND (self-aware energy) becomes more self-aware, it manifests in new and different forms. In order to fully experience and appreciate the creation – the creator has to separate itself from the creation(s). So even though we are part and parcel the essence of the thought/energy – we have little or no awareness of that fact. (some do have a fleeting awareness but to be in full awareness would zap us right out of the earthly plane.) Thus, to our perception, all this creating has taken years (6,000 or billions, depending on your earth-plane world view) while on the source plane, it’s all been done in the blink of an eye.

In the end, creation, evolution, alien intervention, and evolution of consciousness are all merely constructs we use to explain the presence and properties of the physical universe. There is a major difference though in that the first three happened to us. Evolution of consciousness is us happening – and it reminds us who/what we really are. Taken full measure it can help us evolve even further – something none of the other three can even pretend to.

(8/15/06)

For well over a month now, a line from a song has been repeating itself over and over in the back of my mind. From time to time, I’ll become aware that’s it’s there, even though I’ll be busy doing something and giving my thot to that. The line is ‘I don’t care what they say I won’t stay in a world without love’ – from World Without Love by Bobby Rydell.

As would be the case with most folks I think, my first impulse is to think it has to do with where I am. In spite of the fact that this is the second year for me to spend the summer here, I have to admit I’m not real fond of the place. It’s hot as blazes, employment opportunities are few and far between, and the work I do get is mostly hard labor and not very profitable. The only redeeming qualities are that one, there are some fine people here whose company I enjoy quite a bit - but I could say that about just about every place I’ve been – and two, the work keeps me in shape .

Believing as I do though that everything comes from within, I’ve come to the conclusion that I’ve put myself in this situation to prove – once again – my beliefs. As often as I have seen how it works, the FUDs (fears, uncertainties and doubts) still come crashing in when things get a bit tight.

A few examples: Back in the mid-eighties, I was in real estate and doing rather well. In addition to my sales income, I’d bought a few rental properties, and even built an A-frame on an empty lot I’d bought. But then I got worried. Realty is an uncertain income and I’d invested a lot into those properties, and borrowed even more – I became concerned that I wouldn’t be able to keep up with the debt load. And guess what? My fears bore fruit – contracts started falling through, renters stopped paying their rent, unexpected expenditures came up – and I fell deeply in debt. So much so that I eventually had to declare bankruptcy.

After losing five contracts in a row, I could see that I was going to have to find another source of income and started looking for a job, without much success. I had pretty much given up. When creditors called, I simply told them "I don’t have it, and have no idea when I will." I turned it all over to the bankruptcy lawyer and quit worrying about it. (Funny thing about that – I couldn’t come up with $40 to pay a guy for some dirt work he’d done for me, but the $900 retainer for the attorney practically fell into my hands.) Then one evening my wife looked up from the paper and said, "here’s just the job for you," and showed me a want ad for church secretary. She was kidding and it was hardly a position I would ordinarily have considered, but something inside said ‘go for it’. So the next day I called and got an appointment for an interview. It was all wrong – it was only a part time job (about 20 hrs a week), the minister I would be working for was a woman (at that time I had difficulty working for women), it was a church (I smoke, occasionally have a drink, my language often has a blue tinge), and the minister told me later she’d already had one male secretary who didn’t work out and she swore she’d never hire another. And yet she hired me. I went to work for Unity Center of Columbia, MO on May 28^th, 1990 – my 43^rd birthday.

[Any numerologists reading might find this interesting - 5/28/1990 = 34/7 and 4+3=7.]

Over the course of the next three years, the job expanded and I grew. Within a couple of weeks, I was offered the bookkeeping duties – by the time I left the church in ’94 my responsibilities included bookstore manager, lending library manager, volunteer coordinator, teacher, counselor, and newsletter editor. The job had grown from part-time to full–time and then some.

More importantly though, is the growth I experienced there. Unity is a metaphysical Christian or ‘new thought’ church. I had already been to the School of Metaphysics and learned much there, but the principles I learned at Unity far surpassed anything SOM had offered. One belief is common to both though, and indeed is common to many religions and philosophies – ‘as we believe, so shall it be’. In other words, faith rules.

We all have faith, lots of faith. It’s only a question of what we have faith in. I could cite many examples like that above, of hitting rock bottom and bouncing right back up. It would appear that my faith seesaws a lot – from belief in lack, to belief in abundance, and then back again.

Actually, what I have discovered is that when I quit trying to make things happen, things happen – not necessarily what I wanted to happen, but something good none-the-less.

Which brings us back to the title of this blog – what’s love go to do with it?

Well, what is love?

I won’t go into all the ways I feel the word ‘love’ is misunderstood, misused and abused – this post is long enough already . Suffice it to say that ‘love’ is seldom used as it should be used.

In my book, love and faith are practically synonymous. Both words convey a sense of oneness and fearlessness. From the evidence presented by the events of my own life, I’d have to say fearlessness is the key – get rid of the fear and you become one with spirit. When I get caught up in the FUDs, things start sliding downhill, sometimes with disastrous results. When I let go of the FUDs, things turn around and get right again – love flows. As Franklin D. Roosevelt said, "we have nothing to fear, but fear itself."

The bottom line is that a world without love is a world of fear. Can’t live there.

(8/7/06)

This one makes the email rounds now and then - haven’t seen it for a while tho so thot I’d pull it out and share it.

SYMPTOMS OF INNER PEACE

Be on the lookout for symptoms of inner peace. The hearts of a great many have already been expose to inner peace and it is possible that people everywhere could come down with it in epidemic proportions. This could pose a serious threat to what has, up to now, been a fairly stable condition of conflict in the world.

Some signs and symptoms of inner peace:

A tendency to think and act spontaneously rather than on fears based on past experiences.
An unmistakable ability to enjoy each moment.
A loss of interest in judging other people.
A loss of interest in judging self.
A loss of interest in interpreting the actions of others.
A loss of interest in conflict.
A loss of the ability to worry. (This is a very serious symptom.)
Frequent, overwhelming episodes of appreciation.
Contented feelings of connectedness with others and nature.
Frequent attacks of smiling.
An increasing tendency to let things happen rather than make them happen.
An increased susceptibility to the love extended by others as well as the uncontrollable urge to extend it.

WARNING:

If you have some or all of the above symptoms, please be advised that your condition of inner peace may be so far advanced as to not be curable. If you are exposed to anyone exhibiting any of these symptoms, remain exposed only at your own risk.

(8/6/06)

From time to time, I like to open this little book at random and see what message is revealed (a practice known as bibliomancy). Reading that passage this morning reminded me of something that happened several years ago at the church I used to attend and work at. After the Sunday service, some of us would gather in the sanctuary for a time of sharing. On this particular morning I had a situation I needed help with, so I shared my concern with the group, expecting only their prayers and support. After I finished my tale of woe, it was quiet for a moment then one of the woman spoke. She said, "As you spoke, I saw you standing at the edge of a high cliff. You’re worried and dejected, head bowed and shoulders slumped. You’re at the very edge of the cliff, looking down and the ground beneath you is giving way. Pebbles are loosening right out from under your feet and rattling down the cliff face. My vision then took me to the base of the cliff, among the rocks that you would land on if you fall. But what I saw there was you again, standing with your feet apart and securely planted, looking up with your arms outstretched, ready to catch yourself when you fall."

I went home that afternoon with her words echoing in my mind. I realized that if anything was going to change, I was going to have to be the one to change it. And the mere acceptance of my responsibility for making those changes, choosing to face the challenge head-on, made all the difference. When I went back into that situation, that very evening in fact, the crisis was resolved - there was no problem - it had simply melted away as if it never existed.

I’ve seen this principle work time and time again (and yet still need to be reminded now and then). This is an especially appropriate time for that reading, because as I contemplated Hadfield’s words I realized how many fears I’ve let spring up around me. And yet I know that fear feeds the situation that brought on the fear in the first place. To eliminate the situation, all I need to do is eliminate the fear, to stand firm in my faith that all will come out well.

So what I am going to do now is identify the fears (sometimes, often even, they are not what we think they are) and just what I need to do to face up to them. My next post will be about finding and eliminating those fears and the results.

(8/6/06)

I used to see lots of things in the clouds, messages really, that often helped me along the way - but there hasn’t been much of that for over a year now - until last Wednesday evening. I went out on the porch at about 8:30 to enjoy the evening breezes and looked up to find clouds in the forms of a man and woman. The were both horizontal and facing each other, but separated somewhat. He was extending his right hand down toward her and she was reaching up to him. His left hand was extended out past his head and at the end of his arm was a mass of whirling clouds going in all directions. The woman’s hair was flowing out away from her head as if she was under water. Those clouds began dissipating so I went back to watching traffic and thinking about what I’d seen - wondering what it meant. When I looked up again, new formations were visible: the first was a swirling mass of clouds with a long ‘arm’ extending from the top toward the east a good ways then bending sharply to the north. Near that was a long arrow pointing more or less north - a ‘v’ head and a long shaft with a bit of a bend in the middle and a sharp bend at the end forming a sort of tail. Between those two formations was a very large ‘V’ pointing south. The first formation stopped swirling and took on a humanoid form but with first a cat’s head, then a bulldog’s, then what I would call an ogre - deep set dark eyes, heavy brow and a broad nose with steam flowing out of both nostrils. These formations were all white clouds but there were a lot of gray clouds around and below. The first formation eventually dissipated and I noticed as it disappeared that the large ‘V’ was gone. The arrow tho stayed in place and held it’s shape until a small mass of gray clouds passed under it. When the gray cloud moved away, the arrow was gone too.
I feel the man/woman formation had to do with a man I ran into Thursday night on my way into the monthly consignment auction. He had some questions about visions he’d been seeing in reference to a young woman who’s acquaintance he’d made. He didn’t have to say much about her before I realized that she needed help and he was the one to supply it - to help keep her from drowning in her problems.
As yet I haven’t worked out the meaning of the other formations - but to be honest, I haven’t given it a lot of thot yet.