Always Embraces All Ways

Archive for the ‘psychology’ category

I AM

September 5th, 2008
No Gravatar

I think it’s time to share this understanding.  I really have been clueless in my lack of Self Recogition and Realization.  Really *clueless*.

I had NO idea that so many of us were not AWARE of what has become for me, a very basic fact of life.  And it hasn’t been till *now* that what I consider as fact, is even beginning to dawn on the Mass of us.

Whenever any one of us says, ” I am” we are invoking in the ‘name of God’, whatever quality follows that decree; it becomes manifest as our reality.   For as a Child of God, a Being of Freewill,  our decrees are the same as God decreeing.  It is impossible for Creator to Create anything unlike Itself.

It is the responsibility of each one of us to invoke into our reality, for the Law of our Being requires each of us use our own energy of life.  We cannot pass this responsibility to anyone else, nor can anyone else’s life energy be of any use to us, when it comes to manifesting the nature of our own realities.

Once we comprehend and assisimilate this awareness, we can see that not only is it possible, it is natural and necessary to transcend all outer activities, laws and limitations.  These were all created by Humanity, in our ignorance and are expressed in our outer activites because we have allowed our Intellect to operate without the Light of our Source illuminating it.

Conclusions drawn from partial information, rather then complete information, quite naturally produce unsatisfactory and unfulfilling results.  Garbage in, garbage out.  It’s known as the “Law of Correspondences”.  If we choose to create with only one spoke rather then a whole wheel, then we are at Liberty to do so.  It is our Right and Privilege to create that experience of limitation for ourselves.

Divine Love embodies every aspect and quality of Source/God.  And as we embark upon a Path of Self Mastery, it becomes clear that everything to be accomplished, can ONLY be accomplished through the Power of Unconditional Love, drawn from the I AM Presence within us.  When consciously expressed, we become invulnerable and invincible to negativity.

Therefore, if we would begin to love ourselves as an expression of Divinity, then nothing untoward could enter our beingness or our reality.

I Am That I Am

Namaste’

No Gravatar

~grinning~

I wrote that title this afternoon, along with another, but first things first. I wrote it while I was waiting for a monthly broadcast of a “Shoud” performed by and for a group called “Shaumbra“. We each gravitate to messages meant for us, in tune with us. This one happens to be the one I enjoy.

Between the duh..duh….duhduh.duh.duh.. of the buffering, I heard most of the message.

I began to chuckle at the mention of dragons, echoing something that I had been pondering earlier. And I was literally rolling on the floor in laughter, after hearing the message that Obama was the reincarnation of Abraham Lincoln.

I mean I was rolling…Truly, Real-ly, Genuinely and Authentically.

GRIN.

I AM A Dragon. (as if you hadn’t noticed *blushing*)

And my name is Puff. It’s my last name.

I come from the Puff family. My full name is Huff N Puff.

I come to blow some houses down.

In terms of consciousness I’m going to exhale. For the purpose of throwing us off balance.

This awful feeling, teeter- tottering, see saw act, where the only “balance” we ever see, is as we run from one extreme to another. Politics. The Economy. The Stock Market. Back and Forth, Back and Forth. The only balance we ever see is in passing. It’s making me see-sick.

Left wing, right wing, a bird with only one wing always flies in circles.

That’s why I have come to knock us off balance. Putting my capacity of Breathe to use, in One very definite direction.

Now…as for Abraham Lincoln, I’m not surprised he got shot. I probably would have liked to have done it myself.

I don’t know what Treason was worse in consequence, the Executive Powers Act, which transferred the decision making authority from Congress, the People’s Voice, to the Executive Branch during times of war.

*naughty naughty*

Or the Act that wiped out the one about the President being the winner of the electoral vote, and the Vice President being the runner up. Not BOTH from the same political party. Thus insuring a majority of the People would be represented when it came to enacting CONGRESSIONAL decisions.

Both such Acts fall under the definition of Treason as defined by the US Constitution. It’s in the Supremacy Clause. Which states that The Constitution be accepted as the Supreme Law of the Land. Liberties can be extended, to be more inclusive, by Amendment, through the Legislative powers delegated to Congress. But there is not at ANYTIME, delegated the power to ANYONE, to negate ANY part of the Constitution Itself. To do so, is called Treason.

BOTH of the above Acts nullified the Beauty of the Checks and Balances System, of the document, and the very Idea of this Nation.

Now back to Lincoln…

The Civil War was never about the issue of Slavery. It was about State’s Rights, about the Representation on a Collective level, the State, reflective of the values, beliefs and cultures of the people living there. After the first battle of the War, the “North” found out it wasn’t going to be any walk in the park. To manipulate the people into support for ‘the war’ effort, an already emotionally charged issue was used. That of slavery.

Slavery was already on its way out. With the industrial revolution taking off and the invention of the cotton gin, manual labor wasn’t profitable in terms of costs and production. Just like all the horse and buggy businesses wore doomed the moment cars began running off assembly lines.

The war was also about profits from resources recently opened up in the West. There were big profits to be had, by a few individuals, and key to the scheme, was to get the People to pay for the cost of the war, itself.

Values were split according to the Mason Dixon line in terms of What was of Value and to Whom. But either side really had the heart for a REAL war, until the issue of ’slavery’ was used, to whip the People into an emotional frenzy of waging a “righteous” WAR.

The tail waging the dog…

*bark bark*

(Wait a minute, I know I have a flea collar around here some place.)

That’s right, its the Constitution Itself. Delegating Sovereignty to each and every single one Of The People.

NOT to the State, or Federal, or Local branches of government.

So I suggest We ALL, “We The People” start picking the Constitution up and waving it like a flag signaling our government.

SOS.

Breathe…

You see, if Lincoln had never emotionally manipulated the strictly Northern excuse for a Congress into passing the Executive Powers Act itself, then Bush wouldn’t have had a leg to stand when it came to repeating the same exercise.

Isn’t Justice Divinely Humorous? The very idea that Obama, in another life made the mess and now he’s asking to clean it up, is funny. And he’s part *black* & part *white*, too. Facing issues of resources and who gets to profits from them. I bet he gets the job.

Isn’t “karma” interesting?

And then there’s the issue of Union. What’s been masquerading as one ever since the end of the war, doesn’t even come close to what the concept of a Union is fundamentally all about.

We’ve been living versions of a “union” caveman style. Caveman takes his club and hits cave woman over the head, then drags her back to his cave and says, “We’re married. From now on we act as one.” Anyone trying that act with me, personally, would most likely be flattened on the spot. Like a balloon, robbed of all its hot air. You can just ask any of my ex-boyfriends. For I am the Dragon Huff N’ Puff. I can Huff AND PUff.

The very idea of a “Union” in the first place rests on the concept of WILLINGNESS. Once WILLINGNESS is negated, no “Union” is possible. It is the fundamental Principle underlying the basis of all contradictions: conflict.

A “Union” can ONLY be created when and where there is WILLINGNESS on all parts. NO conflict of Wills or interest. All are Served or None. “One for ALL and ALL for One”. This Willingness can not be had, or manipulated, or forced in ANY way, for then it would not be FREELY given. It would be coerced. Extorted. Therefore, an Illusion, since it would have no foundation or Substance, of Reality. It would be a lie, an Appearance only. And maintaining these appearances takes energy, doesn’t it? LOTS of energy.

According to OUR Constitution, We are a government OF the People, BY the People and FOR the People. There is NO way we can divorce or separate ourselves from our government. They are accurate reflections of Us. If we don’t consider the ethics of our values, and the means of force we use in the pursuit of them, how could we expect a group of us to miraculously manifest those Virtues?

What our government has done has been in Our Name. If We, as a People, didn’t support conflict, and it wasn’t in Our Nature, then Our government would not behave that way, either.

Isn’t the ‘”karma” of Nations interesting? In pursuit of the goal of Domination, we lost it.

We went out of Our EVER LOVING MINDS.

Now it’s time to Resolve our mess. Starting where it all begins, for *shit* only runs downhill. Running around at the bottom of the hill cleaning it up isn’t cost or labor effective. There’s no Economy of motion in it. We’ve got to stop it where it starts.

In our religious beliefs.

It is by and through our religious beliefs that we define our Philosophy of Life. Our choices define what we deem of Value and the means we choose in pursuit of those Values. Freedom of Religion is a Constitutionally dictated Liberty.

L I B E R T Y

Which is the Freedom of choice while being RESPONSIBLE and ACCOUNTABLE for all the costs and consequences of those choices.

What’s been going on is called “License”, not Liberty. For there is no Accountability nor Responsibility being claimed for the costs and consequences of believing in ideas that are not only un-LOVING and exclusive, but make no sense. Thus having disastrous and destructive psychological costs and consequences. Especially in the areas of social skills and emotional coping skills. With bucket fulls of self worth and self esteem issues.

What kind of idiotic Value system is it that would choose to value a lack of it? To Value means to Love. Exactly how much Love is in ANY Conditional Value system? Only as much as the conditions allow. The basis for Self Denial are Legion.

And are at the foundation of our Economy. Where the Worth and the Value of the breathe and sweat of our lives has slowly been eroding away to nothing in terms of trade units: our currency. We work more and enjoy less. A Value system that Values a lack of it. Where is the cents in that? *Gotcha* There is none. How much less then zero can we be worth? The answer is our National Debt.

Aren’t the workings of the Quantum Field Interesting? We really do reap as we sow.

It’s time for a new idea of God. One that isn’t modeled after a caveman or a fossilized fool. As Neale Donald Walsch would say, “Because the God in whom you believe isn’t real. The God in whom you believe is made up. It is a God you created out of thin air, having nothing to do with Ultimate Reality.”

What’s important about the Idea OF God, is that it represents our chosen Ideal. And whatever Ideal we choose to strive for, we eventually become. So let’s choose a different Ideal.

One of Principle. One of Peaceful Responses. One that is not limited when it comes to Understanding, Accepting, Tolerant, Merciful, Compassionate and Forgiving. One of Genuine Substance of character, rather then one displaying all the mental and emotional problems of one lacking it in. One that is Lovable. One that is Adorable. Thereby easy to Love and Adore and Emulate. One that considers each and every single one of our lives as Precious and of great Worth, no matter how we choose to spend them.

I don’t know about you but I’ve outgrown the worship of a lessor God.

A Whatchamaycallit

July 22nd, 2007
No Gravatar

I was doing a private whatchamacallit. It came to me as I was finishing it up that it may very well be something other people could benefit from reading, too. Anything that would identify the person I was writing to, has been edited out. You know who “I” am.

“First thing this morning, I started writing to you. As I sat looking over the 3 pages I had written, I didn’t like it. It was like I was rambling, trying to say a whole bunch at once. So, I’ve started over and I’m going to write something a bit different.The best way I can convey understanding to you, is to share with you the way I used to be. Before I recovered myself. Before I healed my inner wounds. Because I see we’re a lot alike.

Anyone ever call you bull headed? How about ‘stubborn’? Hard headed? Obstinate?

People can’t push you around, can they?

But you can be led by the nose.Any of this sounding familiar?

If you think about it, ‘determined’ and ‘stubborn’ describe the same energy of Willpower. We’re very Willful, which means we’re conduits for the energies of Willpower. We know how to ground it, anchor it and use it. Which adjective is used to describe us, depends on whether the person describing us, happens to agree with where we’re going or heading. So forget the labels and simply celebrate your Willpower. Concentration and our ability to focus that concentration, is a Gift. Especially when we start focusing that concentration within. The Gift of Clarity comes with it.

We bring the Light of Understanding into worlds of darkness.

We’re not sports cars. We’re trains. We may not be quick out of the starting gate but once we get going, there’s a lot of focused momentum behind us. If a sports car hits a brick wall, the brick wall wins. If a train hits a brick wall, it goes right through it.

Choo-choo, I’m the engine that could! How ‘bout you?

My daughter accuses me of never being a child. Because I focused so much on being responsible. Accountable. Sensible. And Practical. Especially when it came to money and assets.

For many years money, assets and other things money could buy, achievements and awards were my placebos of Worth. See what I had accumulated? See what I had accomplished? Aren’t I a worthy person? It was what I had been taught ‘worthiness’ looked like.

You see, I counted on these things and the appearance of these things, so other people would approve of me. Because deep down inside, I was exceedingly insecure. I really had some doubts about myself. I doubted whether or not I was ’ok’. Whether I was ’good’. Whether I deserved to be loved.

As an adopted child, I had abandonment issues. Galore. What was so ‘wrong’ about me that my own Mom didn’t want me? And since I was rejected once, it could happen again. I better not mess up with these people or they’ll give me back as defective merchandise.

Oh, I needed to feel loved and had doubts about whether I was deserving. I always had doubts about myself. Crippling doubts. I was never sure of what conditions I was suppose to fulfill to be loved. The conditions changed depending upon each person.

The only thing that didn’t change for me, was the fact that I was going to be whatever the person wanted or liked, because I needed them to like me and approve of me. I would willingly sacrifice and negate whatever part of myself required, in order not to be rejected or abandoned.

In terms of my soul, I had a garment alright. A holey garment consisting of a bunch of holes I had created by symbolically taking a pair of scissors and cutting out parts of myself other people didn’t like. Holey, holey, holey. That was me.

This is the way I was taught to relate to myself.

And it’s the way you’ve been taught to relate to yourself, too.

It’s called the Creed of Sacrifice.

The greatest act we can make to express our Love of others, is to negate the Value of our own lives. Martyrdom. It is to volunteer to be the sacrificial animal on the altar of other people’s needs. Forget our own. It is to hold the value of our own lives as inferior to others, otherwise be branded ‘selfish’.

In order for the sacrifice to count, we have to cherish whatever we’re sacrificing, of course. We have to love it, whatever it is, so the pain of denial will really be excruciating. Our road to the cross has to be slow and tortuous, if we want our sacrifice to count in moral brownie points.

For it is no sacrifice, under this definition of the concept, for a Mother to sacrifice new clothes for herself in order to buy milk for her baby. So long as she’s the kind of Mother that loves the baby more then the clothes. But it is a sacrifice, to the kind of Mother that loves the clothes, more then her baby. It is no sacrifice for a man to die fighting for his freedom, unless he’s the kind of man that would rather live as a slave.

See what I’m getting at?

In order to count it has to hurt.

There better be plenty of suffering in it.

The only way it’s easy to play the martyr and, negate ourselves for others, is if we think of ourselves and our lives…our interests, our dreams, our hopes and our joys, as worthless. I had such an inferiority complex that the only way or idea I knew to rectify it, came by imagining I could somehow gain some semblance of value, from the grave.

I used my concentration and Gift of Insight, like you have, too, to deeply contemplate this code of sacrifice.

As much as my Honor and sense of person came from it, I came to revile myself when I saw it for what it was. I didn’t love Life. How could I? I didn’t even love mine. The code I caught myself serving with every fiber of my strong willed being, was a code that served Death. On a silver platter no less.

A martyr is someone who seeks their own death. Obviously.

Isn’t that sad?

The greatest worth or value that I could imagine for my own life, was not only my own death but death by slow torture. Once I chose that as the goal I was going to pursue, it didn’t really matter how I got there.

I almost drove myself into an early grave sacrificing myself for others. Always feeling like I had to serve those in need, doing and providing whatever it was they said they needed. And forgetting about my own needs at the same time. Trying to pretend I didn’t have any.

Me and my righteousness would really holler at other people, too. I was quite sanctimonious in decrying their lack of virtue as I saw it. Their lack of willingness to sacrifice their lives, too. In short, I’d use my willfulness to beat other people over the head with all my own self judgments.

You see, raised a Catholic, all I had ever been taught was conditional love. Obey the rules and be embraced. Don’t obey all the rules and be rejected. With Guilt being used as the whip of rejection.

In God’s Kingdom there were limits. Limits on what was Accepted. Limits on what was Tolerated. Limits on what was embraced in Understanding. Limits on what was Forgiven. Limits on Compassion. And limits on Mercy.

I was so needy, so emotionally needy, as a result of being fed all these conditions on being Loved, that I was an abject failure when it came to loving relationships.

I felt I really couldn’t sink much lower. It must be True. For reasons unknown to me since I was born, I was damned.

That’s when my search turned inward.

I ran across new information on magnetic fields, quantum physics, and the adage that ‘we all create our own reality’ at the same time. Coincidence? No. Synchronicity. And everything this new information pointed to, was the same thing all scriptures had always said about ‘reaping and sowing’. But happening on an altogether different level then anyone of us had ever imagined.

If I imagine myself and feel myself to be damned, then Presto! That’s exactly what reality I created to be mirrored back to me in experience. If the only value of my own life was to serve the needy, then my life was destined to be filled with the needy. In the Play of Consciousness, some jerk was going to be required to do some horrid thing to someone else, making that someone else end up in need. All so I could feel good about myself.

How I really undermined myself was that so long as I needed needy people, I really couldn’t say that helping them ‘not to be needy anymore’, served my self interests. So whatever I did made them into dependents, so they would always be dependent upon me. People who needed me weren’t likely to leave me. See where I was coming from?

This particular self realization made me feel sick. Here I thought I was being a hero. And all I had really been doing is stopping other people from finding out they were heroes, too. So long as I always did things for others, those others never learned how much they could do themselves. They never learned self confidence. They never learned how to make choices. Since they never had to live with the results of most of those choices. I saw to that.

Ms. Fix It. I was a control freak. Insecure down to my very bones.

I was the road crew that quite dutifully went around filling in potholes, so other people’s lives would flow smoothly. And putting barricades around the ways I couldn’t get to.

As afraid as I was in screwing up, so was I afraid for those I loved and cared about, when it came them screwing up, too. Through the use of our dependencies, I would reach out to control other people and the choices they were making. I would quite genuinely swear my intentions were because I was afraid for them and I would be believed but, like any good salesman, it was only because I believed it myself.

I was really afraid of them. I was afraid they would make some choice that would lead to some experience, that I couldn’t’ “handle”.

Handle physically, in terms of manage and control. (Minimize loss.) Handle emotionally, in terms of coping skills. (Will it upset my precarious and insecure cart?) Handle mentally, in terms of ‘things I don’t want to see’. (Will my mind go blank as I attempt to wipe out a reality that I’m afraid to face?)

I was a Victim of my own imagination and beliefs. Send out a signal of ‘victim’ and attract being ‘victimized’. Send out self judgment, get back self judgment.

I did it.

To myself.

So that when the time came for me to stand before the ‘pearly gates’, I had a pocketful of suffering to show for myself.

My first instinct upon self realization, was to curse myself for being ten times a fool. Cursing myself for imperfections being the way I was taught to relate to imperfections. Perfect = good. Imperfect = Bad. Love good. Reject bad.

Following this procedure over and over through many decades was how and why I dug myself into a pit. The last thing I desired to do was dig my pit deeper.

So I changed.

There were skeletons in my closet and it was time I faced them. I began the journey through the valley of the shadow of death, in order to bring all the abandoned parts of myself out of there.

The only sensible thing to do when we find ourselves in the middle of hell, is keep going. It’s equal distance out, either way. At least by moving through it, in search of all the parts and things about myself I didn’t like and, had tried to abandon, I would be able to put it all behind me.

Sense.

Something just nagged at me. Something just didn’t make sense. Then I found it.

There’s no way the Whole, can BE whole, through the negation of any part. Even if that part is just “me“. Smucky, imperfect, human, me. I went to research the concept I had been taught and found out that the word ‘sacrifice’ comes from Latin. Sacre, meaning sacred. Facere, meaning to make. ‘To make sacred.’ ‘To uplift.‘ There’s no loss implied. No suffering, either.

Then I thought about it, deliberation and contemplation being a habit. I wondered what else I had been taught that was screwed up and didn’t make any sense. I thought about ideas like “All“. And Absolute. Where ever I looked within myself, there were beliefs nullifying any and all such concepts, as ALL. As Unity.

In place of “All That Is, Was and Ever Will Be”, was “all that is, was and ever will be, except for this and this and this and them and them and them.” Similar to the rendition The Pope, you know the person I mean, similar in its tone of bias, prejudice, partiality, bigotry, discrimination and arrogant superiority.

What my beliefs represented and expressed about myself, was that I was a completely unprincipled person. Same as the Pope is saying about himself.

When it came to values I served, my inner inventory wasn’t in all that great of shape. My Love was Conditional, therefore, limited. My Acceptance was Conditional, therefore, limited. My Tolerance was Conditional, therefore, limited. My Understanding was Conditional, therefore, limited. And what was lacking most of all, was Compassion.

And it was this inner scarcity, that was the reason I felt so needy in the first place. Why I felt rejected and abandoned. Where ever there was a limit, I had cut myself off.

I didn’t know how to be nurturing, self nurturing, in what I believed about myself, because it was the pattern I had been taught. At home. At church. And by the World.

It’s a pattern of Conditional love. Like ‘god’ was a whore who only barters for favors. A limited unlimited. An impotent omnipotence.

Notice how none of this makes any sense? Notice all the contradictions?

Is it any wonder most of us are screwed up mentally and emotionally?

I began my journey out of hell equipped and empowered by Unconditional Love. I devoted my concentration on seeking to Understand. That meant I was going to have to start suspending my judgments about ‘bad’ and start asking ’why’, instead. Always delving deeper inside myself, discovering layers of old wounds I had tried to banish.

If I was creating my own reality, if I was reaping what I sowed, I wanted to understand what I kept doing to myself. So I could stop.

I made the most selfish decision of my life.

To save my own ass.

And what I found out, was that by learning to Love my own Humanity, I became a Humanitarian. By finding out what it took to transform me and my life, I found out what it takes to transform the rest of us and our World, too.

Compassion.

Overflowing from our Hearts because we have given it to ourselves.

I introduce myself as a Complete Idiot. Made perfect by and through my own imperfections.

Care to be one, too?”

For Lucy

June 29th, 2007
No Gravatar

Saturn

Authority

Truth & Consequences

So far in my story, I have told of those parts of myself everyone’s stories include. There is Authority in everyone’s stories, too. But whether we ever become aware of any of the other aspects of ourselves depends on this particular one. There is a big difference in always deferring to outside authorities and claiming to be one’s own. That difference is the foundation for being self governing. Being self governing is the foundation of civilization, for civilization is a consequence of people responding to others in a civil and respectful way.

When we’re not self governing, when we deny claiming responsibility and accountability for our own Volition, when we rely on outside sources to discipline and control our choices and responses, it results in misnomers and illusions such as ‘peacekeepers’.

Far be it for me to question why something that doesn’t exist needs to be kept. Like Peace. But in my story’s Society, we spent a lot of money and time doing it.

But that isn’t the worst part about denying our personal and individual responsibilities. The worst part is the self destruction and sorrow that comes with it. The waste in human potential for experiencing such states as fulfillment and bliss. The squandering of our planet’s most precious resource, it’s people.

Like my Mother and Father’s potentials were limited. Like my Brother and Sister’s potential were limited. The reason why I was asked by both my Father and Mother to do what I could to rectify the situation for future generations of the Family. Hearing my story may give my reader insight into what fuels my Courage. The Courage to express what we don’t want to hear. The Courage to bring to Light what a lot of us would prefer remained hidden in the Dark.

I was taught from a young age, by example of my Father, about ’responsibility’, ’stewardship’ and ’custodianship’. Responsible meant making decisions that were based on the welfare of the whole family, not just one person in it. There was one exception: Mom. But I’ll get to that part of my story, later.

I didn’t realize it at the time but, I was extremely lucky. My Father had been raised according to the tradition of the Freemasons. He was an Nth generation German Freemason. Even though he converted to Catholicism to marry Mom, there was quite a bit to his value system and, the Value system he taught me, that was not a result of Catholic dogma.

Little did I know it, for he didn’t ever speak of these things. He had made a promise to raise me Catholic and, he was a man of his Word. It would be decades after his death, that I would discover the Freemasonry heritage of the family. It was then I came to understand what all the lectures had been for and about.

Like I said, there was one exception to his rule. Mom. Upsetting Mom was the quickest way to get into trouble with Dad. Dad was usually a good natured fellow but had a temper when riled. Mom got her way.

I found out why years later, one afternoon as I sat in the backyard with my Mother, as I often did as her Alzheimer’s progressed, listening as she expressed herself, before she totally forgot who herself was. That afternoon her attention turned to my Brother. My self absorbed, self indulgent, irresponsible older Brother. Who had decided to move in with her just as soon as our Dad had died.

My Mother talked about how guilty she felt for him growing up to be the kind of man he was or was not, as the case may be. She said her strongest feelings were of regret. She regretted she hadn’t realized her mistake before Dad died, so she could have apologized to him.

She poured her heart out to me in tears. She described how she had treated my Dad, whenever he attempted to discipline my Brother, when it came to being responsible. She’d weep, she’d cry and when that didn’t work, she used the silent treatment for days, until Dad would cave in and comply with her request. Now that she saw what kind of person my brother was, she understood what she had done. It was her mistake, that she was now having to live with. She saw the Truth when she had to live with the Consequences.

I assured her that Dad understood. He wouldn’t want her to suffer so with guilt and remorse.

Then she turned to express her regrets to me. I asked her why and she responded by saying she was asking me and, counting on me to take care of ‘the problem’ for her. She knew in her mind she would soon be past all caring or knowing and, that would leave me face to face with him, as her Power of Attorney. She asked me to do what she had recognized she hadn’t been wise enough to do.

I gave her my Word, I would. And she knew she could Trust my Word, I had been trained well by Dad. He and I had spent many hours over the last months of his life, preparing me to take over as Steward for Mom. One of the strongest things about my Dad, was his Faith. He knew I could carry the load, he had Faith in me. I had proved it many times over.

Like the afternoon he lay in his hospital bed, just waking up after exploratory surgery, to find me beside his bed but not Mom.

“Well, what did the Doctors find out?”

“The tumor is inoperable Dad.”

“How long do they give me to live?”

“6 months, Dad.”

I remember he took a big sigh and laid back down in his bed. “How’s your Mother taking the news?”, he asked.

“Not very well,” I said. “I called her Doctor and explained what was going on and had his office phone in a prescription for something to calm her down. Then called her friend to come pick her up, get her prescription and take her home, while I waited here for you to wake up.”

“She’ll be fine, she has you. Now, at the time of my death, my Faith has been proved. I’ve always desired to be the one to die first, I just know I couldn’t live without her. And I wanted some time to prepare. It is Gift you bring me.”

“It sure doesn’t feel like it, Dad. Mom crumbled and I know that my heart aches at being the one to deliver the news. I love you, too. You‘re my Daddy and you‘re going away.

But you know me. I won’t show it. I won’t express it. Because I have to stay strong in order for all of us to get through it. I‘m the anchor of stability for the family that you‘re counting on. “

“Because I know you can do it.”

“You also know I’m not tough. I just act tough. There’s very much a part of me that would have liked to go home with Mom, with pills to help me escape from reality, too.”

“But you’re here.”

“Yes, I’m here. As you knew I would be. I’m the trashcan child. Whenever there’s something awful, something unpleasant to deal with, I’m the one it’s dumped on.”

“Because you can carry it. Because you can deal with it. Responsibility is never placed on shoulders that can’t handle it. You know that. You’re all I’ve got and thank God I‘ve got you.

I know you’re not tough but you do know how to govern your self expression. You claim authority over it. Your stable, mentally and emotionally. In any crisis, you’re a rock for other people because of how much you love them. You know how to make and enact decisions that would be difficult for most people.

You also guard yourself very well, so as never to give even the slightest appearance of weakness. My hope for you is that one day you won’t feel like you need to.”

“It’s hard to be an anchor for others while drowning in the waters myself.”

“Exactly.”

“You’ll excuse me for sounding ungrateful but exactly what do I get out of all of this? I get responsible and accountable, the rest of the family gets self indulgent and emotive.”

“You get to be the One Chosen to share the most precious Gift of my lifetime with me“, he said with tears welling in his eyes. “My Faith has been proved to me beyond a shadow of doubt. And you have been the one to not only deliver that Gift of Faith but, to also share in the revelation of it, with me.”

That was the first and last time we ever talked of his death. From then, until the day he died, more then 6 months later, our conversations were about business and family responsibilities. I knew when he died, he died feeling like a winner. He had lived more then the 6 months. That had been his last desire.

By the time I was 30 years old, both of my parents had delegated their Authority to me, in Trust. Dad asked me to take care of Mom and Mom asked me to correct what she saw as her mistakes.

My Authority figures asked me to become my own Authority, Mother and Father for the Family, carrying with it all the responsibility and accountability that went with it.

I knew both had done the best they knew how and, counted on me to make improvements. Their shoulders were my foundation in Life. They wanted me to reach as far as I could, for the next generation to use as their foundation. That’s how I was taught. That we are custodians of Life, seeking always to improve it and passing on those improvements to further generations.

My first challenge came in the form of my brother. He was a result of self doubt. He had always preyed on Mom’s doubt as to whether she was a good Mom. He’d throw his fits and hurl accusations at her, (all the while Dad wasn’t there), when ever he didn’t get his way. He’d threatened to leave and would. Leaving Mom in emotional torture for years at a time, not knowing where he was or if he was even alive. And feeling Guilty every minute that she didn’t hear from him, blaming herself for not loving him enough.

Since I had been a witness to all this, empowered by the Authority given me, I let him know I didn’t care if he left and never came back. Dad had paid for him to get two degrees, one of them in Chiropractic medicine and at age 46, he had never held a job in his life. He had always sponged off the family and other people. We did without, Mom did without, in order for him to get an education. And all he’d ever done is continually ask for more and throw a fit when he didn’t get it.

I decided it was time he learned how to support himself. Mom wasn’t around to manipulate anymore, leaving me in charge. I didn’t have any doubts about being a good Mother to him. I wasn’t his Mother. I was his little sister who had been witness to the games he played with Mom and Dad. Trained by Dad, who he never did get along with. It was when Dad told him to go out and get a job, that my brother always threw his fit, triggering Mom’s insecurities. I stopped his game at the start of it by not having any insecurities for him to prey upon.

I decided he could develop his own resources instead of always draining others of theirs. Seeds had been planted and the field watered, I was ready to see something harvested from all of it.

I also had my older sister’s welfare to consider. As handicapped as she was, she had always been responsible and accountable, using all the resources she possessed at least trying. She was my Brother’s next target. But he could only get to her through me. And none of the previous tactics he used on Mom, worked on me. I didn’t seem to care about being called a Villain.

In the days between me enacting this new family policy and him finally choosing to leave the family home of his own will, in one of his lucid moments, he actually thanked me. We’d had a fight and in his words, I’d crucified him. I nailed him to his cross with the nails he provided. It was what he needed in order to face that he didn’t know what a man his age should know. He said Mom and Dad hadn’t done him any favors giving in to his fits. After saying that, he quietly went back to his room and the next day, went out to get a job.

While he may have been living in the family home and, calling it his, I was the one responsible for it. I had simply told him his free ride was over. It was time he learned how to create abundance instead of living off other people’s. Alzheimer’s was expensive and that‘s where Mom‘s funds were going, to take care of her. I had children of my own. My resources were going to take care of them, not him.

And our Sister’s resources, well…she was doing a fantastic job in supporting herself. He wasn’t going to sponge off her. I even pointed out the ridiculousness of his wishes. He had two college degrees and my Sister, barely a high school diploma from attending special education classes. HE couldn’t stand on his own two feet but SHE could. He would get no sympathy from me. A lesson long denied him hit Home.

He told me once when people are of no use to him, he leaves and doesn’t speak to them for the rest of his life. In that statement alone, he told me what value ‘family’ had always been. I had suspected his values in life were skewed ever since I heard him describe a girlfriend as just like Mom. She had big boobs and great looking legs. I remember it took great restraint for me not to pound him into the ground for that remark, in full denial of Mom’s Virtue of character.

The last thing I offered him was a niece to hold in his arms, someone to call him ‘uncle’. But since that’s all I had to give, I had no money to spare, I haven’t heard from him since. Neither has my Sister. And that was 13 years ago this month.

Do I judge him? No. I understand him. I understand how he got to be the way he is. Or maybe was, I don’t know. It hurts to wonder.

I got to witness the whole dysfunctional play. With the last act of the play being all the players recognizing it was a dysfunctional play. And me giving my Word to ‘make it right’ for the next generation.

What my Sister and I learned from Dad was being self governing. What my Brother learned from my Mom, was a lack of it. Both taught the power of Faith. They simply each had Faith in different things. My Dad believed in Forgiveness, while my Mom believed in Guilt.

Dad had been a balance for Mom but when he was gone, she found herself alone with her Guilt. And it’s Guilt, that sabotaged both my Mom’s life and my Brother’s.

Mom had been taught from an early age that to be less then ‘perfect’, meant being rejected and punished. Her Authority in life during her early years was The Church. As any Catholic knows, it’s a whip of Guilt, applied often and generously, that leads to Heaven. That’s the cost of imperfection.

Most of my Mom’s life was lived in fear and insecurity about whether she was a ‘good‘ person as a result of such teachings. And seeing her terrorized by her fears in the depths of her dementia, was my ultimate sorrow.

That’s why I really don’t care how many toes I step on Now. Or how many may choose to be appalled by my story. Both my Parents had been taught to believe through threats of dire consequences if they didn‘t, in a God, an Ultimate authority figure outside of themselves, that was nothing more then an over bloated and emotionally insecure farce. God the Asshole.

And after all I’d been through and seen, I certainly wasn’t going to be afraid to go tell any such ‘god’, or any of his minions, to shove it. Especially since I hadn’t seen nor heard ANY responsibility or accountability being claimed for shoveling these kind of beliefs into the minds of people, through the use of force.

It didn’t work on me. For unknown to either Mom or Dad, I was sexually molested by two Priests at a very early age. They had been left as Trusted babysitters. I learned from these men, not to believe in anything they said or represented. I considered it stupid to accept known liars as any kind of authorities on Truth. And the one thing my Mom and Dad never raised me to be, was stupid.

It was because Dad was emotionally insecure that he denied and sacrificed himself to Mom. It was because Mom was insecure that she denied and sacrificed herself to my Brother. It was because my Brother was insecure that he expected me to deny and sacrifice my self for him. And I was just mean enough not to do it.

It was because I wasn’t emotionally insecure that my family asked me to deal with the issue.

The issue of emotional manipulation and of what kind of person or being, that has any use for it. The only ones that fit the job are those of us who are limited when it comes to understanding and embracing Humanity. Starting with our own.

It was what my Mom didn’t know how to do. But my Dad did. Because Mom believed in a mean spirited God and, my Dad didn’t. My Mom’s last days were spent in a personal hell of guilt and remorse. My Dad’s last days were spent in a celebration of his faith.

Turns out both were the ultimate authorities over their own lives and how those lives were going to be experienced.  They empowered me to choose for myself.  So I chose Unconditional Love.  I choose the Lily, not the thorns.  MY Mother cried enough because of those thorns.

I Love you Mom.

You were a wonderful person and Mother.

And model of my own imperfection.

Thank you for adopting me.

Trust

June 2nd, 2007
No Gravatar

Trust

 

“Jason, what did I tell you when you were little and didn’t know whom and what to Trust?”

“You told me to Trust in my own Heart. You told me that my Heart would show me what was True. And it did. You told me to listen to how I felt. Things that were Loving and True, would feel Loving and True. Things that weren’t, like lies and illusions, would feel some flavor of awful. OWN my feelings and to my OWN Heart be True.

Now that I‘m grown, I can see the difference between what you said and what my father was saying.

Allan always wanted me to trust him. Not you. Not myself. You said to trust in my own Heart. You guided me to the part of myself I could Trust, Always. You didn’t create any conflict over my way or your way. My will or your will. My interests or your interests. You told me I was in charge of choosing my own interests and told me you expected me to tell you what those interests were, so you could be supportive.”

“He asked for you to surrender your Sovereignty. I told you not to forget it. He asked you to sacrifice yourself and I asked you to share yourself. He asked for a relationship of competition. I asked for a relationship of cooperation. He wanted you to be an emotional dependent, while I knew your Heart longed for the Freedom of Sovereignty. Your own Heart told you betrayal was not in your best interests and you chose to listen.

Why?”

“Because with him I always felt afraid. Tense, like I never knew when the next mental or emotional blow would fall. He spent his time with me telling me in how many ways I wasn’t ’right’. Blaming you all of the time. He was always saying mean things about Bill and, telling me I didn’t have any real brothers or sisters.

I never will forget the time when I was 9 and sitting on the edge of my bed undergoing another one of his emotional tirades. He heard me mumbling ‘god help me’. He really blew then and started pounding me over the head about why would I expect God to listen to me? I didn’t even go to church.

Being around him was horrible. I felt awful about myself most of the time. And when I didn’t, he was quick to point out reasons why I should.”

“That’s why I told you to Trust your own heart, Dear. I knew what kind of man he was. I found out the hard way. The things he said were lies. That’s why they felt like lies when you imagined them. Lies can’t be lived. And the result of trying, is misery, emptiness and loneliness.

I’m a Mother. Like every Mom ever born, thoughts of insuring my child’s security were on my mind since the day you were born. I knew your father was mentally and emotionally abusive, however, our Society recognizes that as appropriate behavior. What was I, could I, do?

I knew that no matter how effectively I managed to control and manipulate your choices in Life, there would come a day when I wouldn’t be there for you. ‘Then how would I see to the safety of my child?’, I asked myself. The answer I got was to guide you to where you could Always find Loving Wisdom. Within your own Heart. You were a Child of God before you became a child of mine.”

“I remember you telling me to listen to my heart. You even told me whenever I was away from you and, missing you, to look into my own Heart and I would find you there. You know Mom, that’s exactly what I’ve done whenever I’m scared and you know what?”

“What?”

“The Voice in my heart sounds like your voice, Mom. That’s how I know you’re always with me.”

“That’s about the Greatest Honor you could ever give me, Honey.

It took Courage to walk such a path when you were so young. The kind of Courage that can only come from our Hearts. That’s why I guided you there.

I taught you to Be Sovereign. So you weren’t fooled by anyone’s denial of it. You knew Allan’s feelings were his own, just like you knew yours were yours. Knowing this, it didn’t matter how many tantrums he pulled, you weren’t about to accept the Guilt for him being filled with doubts about whether he was Loved. You knew the sooner he took accountability for feeling those doubts, the sooner he wouldn’t be filled with doubt.

You knew what Love felt like and what he expressed, wasn’t it. It was need. But I always said to you to Be Understanding in your consideration of him. He had never experienced Love himself. He just knew need. He had been taught that this feeling of need, was Love. That’s the lie his whole life has been spent living. And he simply wanted you to live that lie, too. Misery loves company.

For the longest time you looked to him for some kind of approval, some kind of indication or expression that he Loved you. It took a while but it finally dawned on you that you weren’t going to get anything from an empty bucket. Love, Respect, Approval and Consideration aren’t things he gives to himself, much less anyone else. He can’t give what he doesn’t have.

When you quit looking to him for it and, decided to Love yourself, Respect yourself, Approve of yourself and be Considerate of yourself, you found what you’d been missing.

But it didn’t come from his Heart.

It came from your own.

You discovered the Well of Life, the Living Fountain of Life, within you. You need never feel needy again.

Now you understand the personal hell of all of us that live in a constant state of denial. We feel needy. And you also understand why. Now you know your purpose.

You’re interest is in Engineering, just like mine once was. We’re builders. Building bridges.”

“I don’t understand Mom. Building bridges?”

“Bridges from the old to the new. Bridges from one train of thought to another. Imagine we’ve accepted a contract to build a bridge across a river. What’s one of the things we’re going to need to do?”

“Determine the conditions on the banks of both sides of the river.”

“OK, say we’ve already secured a foundation on the near side of the river.”

“Then we have to cross the river and see what the conditions are like there.”

“Why?”

“Because we‘re going to have to see what materials are available on the farthest shore in order to determine what kind of bridge we build.”

“Well, we’re there now and have determined there is an ample supply of nails and wood.”

“How do you know that Mom?”

“Because of all the crucifixions. Oh, didn’t I tell you? Guess not. We’re building a bridge spanning the River of Tears. One bank is called Heaven and the other, Hell. The majority of the World’s population lives in Hell but desires Heaven. Just isn’t sure how to get there. We’re blazing a trail, as well as, bridging the gap..

Without the experience of Hell, which Allan played a great role in delivering to you, you would not have learned the conditions on the banks of this river. Without knowing the conditions, you would not have known what you had to work with, nor had any ideas in mind, of what to do with it. Curse not your guide to Hell. Unlike him, you’ve had me to remind you of Heaven.

Hell, by definition, it is where the Love of God has not entered. It’s made up of the parts of ourselves we never liked. The parts we’re scared to face. The parts we’re ashamed to face. The parts we feel guilty about having. That’s Hell, rejected parts scattered all over. It’s where we nail our humanity to a cross until its dead.

No wonder we feel like we’re missing something but aren’t sure what. We’ve simply been looking in the wrong place. We’ve been looking to Heaven instead of to Hell. What we’re missing, what we feel we lack, what we feel we need in order to feel whole, fulfilled and complete, are all the parts of ourselves that we have rejected. It’s the Love of our Hearts that we’ve denied giving. To ourselves.

Nobody else nailed us to the cross. We’ve been hammering at ourselves every time we didn’t meet one of our imaginary conditions. When we begin climbing down from our crosses, all our dis-eased parts find solace and comfort. We quit hurting. We quit needing so very much, so very often. For when given Love, we discover we ‘have’ and no longer ‘need’ from others. And when this Love is extended freely, without conditions, there are no fears of it being withdrawn for reasons unknown. ”

“Then we use the wood and nails to build the bridge?”

“Then we remember how to walk on water. We use the nails as weights to fish and the wood to build a fire for warmth and cooking while going through the re-membering process. Turns out crossing the river is not the problem.”

“What?!”

“The problem is the gate.”

“What gate?”

“The gate to Hell. The gate to Heaven. Same ‘damn’ gate, just swings both ways. It’s the gate we’ve erected across our Hearts. The gate that keeps the Love of God from flowing freely into our lives. We’ve got to take down the gates and Allow Love to flow Unlimited, flooding the realms of our own personal Hells.”

“What did I tell you long ago I was here to do?”

“You said you were here to raise Hell. It sure sounded funny at the time. Hearing your Mom say she was going to raise Hell.”

“To ‘raise Hell’ is to lift it out of Darkness. To Love, what has been denied Love.

For an Unconditional God doesn’t create gated communities.

Always embraces All ways. But raising Hell takes Courage. It takes Loyalty. It takes Devotion. It takes Dedication. And these qualities can only come from our Heart. Sovereignty of our own Kingdom is what we have betrayed, so it is essential We take it back.As you learned, there are no issues of Trust, if we do not misplace our Trust to begin with.”

Proudly powered by WordPress. Theme developed with WordPress Theme Generator.
Copyright © Always Embraces All Ways. All rights reserved.