Lightning strikes a Tree

“Lightning is good.  When Lightning strikes a tree, people say that tree has been blessed and they go to gather that wood for special purposes.”  -  Apache Tradition

Last week, lightning hit a tree on Poplar Island, an island in the Bow River, and part of Fish Creek Park.  The tree burned for a long time, for it was a large tree, and had lived a long time.

I began to think about the tree.  One of my thoughts was that the Elementals had decided that this tree was special, and that it should not suffer the fate of being chewed down by beavers, and then becoming part of the next beaver dam.  

Instead, the Elementals decided that this tree would be transformed from tree to charcoal.  It then becomes a wonderful instrument of cleaning and healing for all the animals that ingest it.  As it washes into the river, it becomes a natural filter.

It seems to me that this is how humans may transform – with one flash of great light they become less than they were before and then so much more.

I wish you a flash of inspiration!

Blessings,

Judy

Feeling Pain Together

Direct Seeing -  With direct seeing, we know that we are not alone in our suffering and that no one need feel alone when in pain. Seeing our oneness is the beginning of our compassion, and it allows us to reach beyond aversion and separation.

-Sharon Salzberg, “A Quiver of the Heart” 

When I read this passage, I am reminded that not all of us see the same way.  I realize that many people judge others’ pain to be lesser than their own.  I wonder why we seem to feel aversion, or even jealousy, about other people’s pain.  A scene from the movie, “Grumpy Old Men” sticks in my mind.  Jack Lemmon’s and Walter Matthau’s character each competed to see who had the biggest hurt!  It was funny, and sad, at the same time.

I confess, when I see other people in pain, I most often seem to hurt for them.  It quickly goes away.  The pain lets me see/feel how they are feeling, and, I empathise with their pain.  I typically respond the same way to tears of grief or sadness.

I think most people are like that!

Many blessings,

Judy

The Angels Talk About The Passing of Time

 

I love flipping through my writings from years gone by because much of the information from Spirit and the Angels is timeless.  Here is one of those writings.

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Thirteen years ago, we celebrated my mother-in-law’s eightieth birthday.  It was a wonderful time!  Friends and family gathered to pay tribute to her eighty years.  The stories were funny and often, touching.

Later, when everyone was gone, the Angels tapped me on the shoulder, and said that it was a lovely gathering.  I had been thinking what it must be like to live to eighty years old, and I guess I formed it as a question because the Angels were coming in to answer.

The Angels told me that humans were getting longer lives so that they had the opportunity to finish all the lessons and to have the chance to get to the place of “no illusions”.  This means that people are getting to see through the illusions and to see the perfection of all beings.  To me, this means being without expectations of how things should be, or, of how things are.

They went on to say that there are other reasons, and that I could sit in meditation and talk about them, soon.  The hint being that I need to do more meditations.

Of course, the Angels can see the complete picture, and we cannot.  Still, I think that I like this explanation!

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Many blessings,

Judy