Kindness

 

The Devastation of Loss/The Need For Change

I heard the news yesterday about the school shooting and as a mother, grandmother and teacher it has made my heart and soul ache. I have lost love ones in my life but none have been to tragedy and while the pain was immense it cannot begin to touch the pain that these parents must feel at the loss of their children. That would be a parent's worst moment. I know they are grief stricken, angry, and stunned. We whom have not lost a child cannot begin to understand how they feel.

I have beautiful daughters, three beautiful grandchildren and every school day I look at the faces of fifty-four beautiful children in my three classes. I am so fortunate to know each and every one of these children. I am so blessed to be able to be a part of their lives, so glad that my own chose me as their mother. I would be crushed if something happened to any of them.

I have encountered children whom have lost a parent or another loved one to violent acts. I have encountered children whose parent has committed the violent act and is in prison. There are children with divorced parents, parents that want no part of their lives, and children afraid to go home for fear of their home being shot up. These children hurt. The pain is great in their hearts and they act out because they do not know how to handle it. We adults need to pay attention to our children. We need to talk with them, hold them, notice changes in them before they are lost. We also need to do that for our co-workers, friends, acquaintances and family so that they can get help before it is too late.

Wouldn't it be AMAZING if we could begin to change all of this?

As a nation, I know we feel outraged, angry and we demand that action be taken for what happened in Connecticut. People will want answers and demand them and they should. People will want to take things into their own hands and they shouldn't. We need to pray for the families who lost children, who lost loved ones. We need to collectively work on change. Prayer and mediation are where we need to begin.

Humanity needs to become humane. Not just some of us, but all of us. Not just the rich, but also the poor and the middle class. We need to quit focusing on violence, hatred and fear of each other. Show respect. Show love. Harm none. We need to understand that we are all ONE. We are humanity, we are one race, one collective body, one with Earth, One with our Creator and capable of making great changes.  We must change and change now for if we do not we will eventually destroy ourselves and our planet. We cannot and should not let that happen. We are powerful beings, capable of making intelligent, important decisions and so very,very capable of love.

Feel love for one another instead of fear and join together to make better communities. Race and religion are boundaries created by humans. If we created these boundaries we can undo them. Our Creator made differences in people, not to create fear but to teach us to come together and experience one another. When you really think about it, deep down we are not different inside. We love, we think and we have needs in order to survive.

Remember to LOVE ONE ANOTHER!

"Be the Change you wish to see." ~ Mahatma Gandhi

Today's Meditation

Today my meditation was a praise to the Creator of all. I am thankful for life and love. I am thankful for our wonderous world and all the people in my life.  I am thankful for my purpose and all life's blessings for these things are most important. I am blessed. I understand that my purpose is set and that I will fulfill it. I am at peace, I am happy and content. All people have the opportunity to feel and understand these things, we simply have to take the time look inside ourselves.

I thanked my mother for being my mother and told her I understand her more now than ever before. She was the best mother for me and for that I am so grateful. She built my inner strength.


"I reach to the light, both inside me and above. I get my strength from this, just as the tiny tree gets strength from the sun in the depths of the forest."

Long ago...Excerpt 1

In early summer, in the sparsely populated new country, a small village of five families existed. Janie, a happy little girl was one of the in habitants. Tall, slender, with honey blond hair and hazel eyes, she was quite strong for her build at the age of seven. She adored her parents, especially her father, Samuel and trailed along behind him helping him as he did the chores.

Three of the five homes faced the other two which faced the river that flowed past the village. There was an open common area separating the homes and a barn and pens for the farm animals and the end of the common area. Janie’s family lived closest to the woods and their cabin faced the river. The homes were made of logs and had no windows because getting glass this far west was near impossible by wagon. All of the families were quite large except Janie’s. She was the oldest child of only two because after her little sister was born her mother became barren and they were no more babies. Her sister, Hope, was just a toddler and spent the days near her mother by the cabin.

 Robert was Janie’s best friend and lived in the house across the common area from her. Robert, a young man with blond hair and striking blue eyes, was four years older than Janie. She and Robert had shared all their secrets and dreams of leaving the village someday. Janie’s mother Gwendolyn, having once been a teacher, was teaching both of them to read and write when she had time so they had learned of faraway places.

 One day after Janie’s seventh birthday Robert and Janie sat on a large boulder that was in the common area. Chickens and chicks were scattered over the common area pecking at the ground for food and Janie had been watching them intently as she tried to think of something to do. Janie suddenly jumped off the boulder, ran to the cabin grabbed a basket and headed toward the woods to get to the creek.

 Robert followed her and they only caught about thirty crayfish because they spent more time splashing water on each other like the kids that they were. When they thought they had enough they walked back to the village. Along the way Janie picked the pinks for her momma to put in her beautiful glass vase that had been her grandma’s and Robert and Janie talked about his new friend he called Runs-Like-a-Deer.

Later that day a group of men claiming to be French Traders came to the village. The families of the village were quite generous, feeding the traders and offering them places to sleep clueless to what was going to happen the next morning.

 

Very early the next morning as the sky lightened before sunrise, Janie's father sent her into the woods before breakfast to get morels for the eggs her mother was going to fix. Janie wondered why she was going to get the mushrooms for eggs since they never ate them that way, but she was an obedient child and knew better than to question her father.

 She skipped down the half-mile long dimly lit path through the forest happily with the empty basket. The little girl in her was side tracked by the sights and sounds in the woods along her way. She listened to a woodpecker drumming on a tree and searched the trees to see if she could spot it. She caught a glimpse of it flying and smiled before starting on her way. She finally started looking for the morels about a quarter-mile down the path. Suddenly she heard screams and gunshots in the distance coming from the direction of her village. Then she smelled smoke, which was much stronger than the fires in the hearths. Janie dropped the basket running back up the path toward the village. Once she was close she crouched down peering cautiously between trees and shrubs at her home. The houses were burning, thick black smoke rolled up toward the sky. She saw the bleeding bodies of several people, including her parents and baby sister in the common area. She saw one of the traders run after Robert who was running toward her. The man knocked Robert down and used his knife to scalp him. Janie was horrified beyond belief when the man then repeatedly plunged the knife into the Robert's body. She opened her mouth to scream.

A hand clasped tightly over her mouth, someone picked her up and dragged her away from the path deep into the forest. Janie struggled bravely at first and finally gave up figuring that her rescuer was not going to hurt her. Thirty minutes from the path she was set down and a deeply tanned face with beautiful dark eyes stared into hers shushing her before uncovering her mouth. The young man was only about fifteen and was dressed only in a loincloth, leggings and moccasins his chest was bare showing him to be lean and muscular. His long hair was braided into to waist long braids and his smile showed beautiful white teeth. He spoke to her softly although she had no idea what he had said and he motioned for her to come. Janie's tears streamed down her cheeks as she nodded and followed him. She knew what had happened to her parents and friends and knew there was no going back.

Paths

Be Positive

Be positive and your day will be better. Be content. All things happen for a reason. Sometimes those reasons are beyond our immediate understanding and we feel let down, lost and broken. I have realized much about the events that have come to pass in my own life. I lost 3 very special people in the span of nine years. I felt like an orphan, lost and unconnected to anyone. Since then, I have discovered that it was what I needed to continue my soul's growth and to reconnect me with our creator. I know that my loved ones watch over me and they continue to be treasured in my heart. I am thankful that they participated in my life and that they helped mould me into the person that I am. I am now embarking on a most exciting part of my life where I am learning more about the me I have kept hidden and protected from others. My family grows with loving and special people and I am excited for them. All is as it should be.

Her Space

The forest path was narrow and worn. The canopy was thick giving an intense greenish cast to the ground below. Ferns, mosses and other small plants grew amongst the trees and along the path. She traveled the path often and always veered off to the right before climbing the set of steps. At the veer in the path there was always a large black bear nearby. The bear always stopped to watch her but never tried to harm her. The big thick stone block steps were gray limestone and slightly worn. There were seven steps that led up to a small stone landing with a door. On either side of the door was the forest, looking the same as one would expect if the door wasn’t even there. The door was heavy with a deep weathered charcoal gray color. The door knob was a rusty oval.  In spite of the aged look of the door it always swung open and closed easily for her.

Once inside she would continue on a path that ran uphill a distance with a gentle slope. The trees seemed to allow more light through their leaves just inside the door. There was a river just to her left that produced gentle bubbling sounds as it worked its way downhill. As she neared the top of the hill the forest thinned and opened up to a beautiful meadow. Her face felt warmed by the kiss of sunshine. She gazed up at the magnificent blue sky that was blessed with a dabbling of fluffy white clouds. Sunlight always shone down upon the meadow brightly but was never too hot. The river had spread out and appeared to not be moving at all. The surface of the water mirrored the trees and purple mountains in the distance on the other side. Colorful ducks swam lazily near the bank cutting v-shaped wakes that glittered like diamonds in the serene waters. She turned toward the meadow full of cheery flowers displaying a wide variety of yellows, oranges, pinks, whites, purples and blues. She loved the explosion of colors impressed by how vibrant her favorite flowers seemed on this side of the door. She admired them and smelled them but she never picked them because she couldn’t bear to hurt them. She traveled down the dirt path to a very large gnarly oak tree. Some days she would be greeted by animals as she walked the path. Often those were animals that had been near and dear to her heart. Sometimes they were wild animals that greeted her, but they never scared her and they always spoke.

In the distance beyond the tree there was more forest, but pine this time, covering the foothills and mountains in the distance. She would arrive at the tree that provided a cool green shade most of the day. Here under the oak’s umbrella she would sit and wait. Some days loved ones would visit her. They would talk and often she cried because she had missed them so. On other days, people that she had no recollection of before coming here, would visit with her. They would answer her questions and advise her. They were always kind, gentle and calming. Once in a while she would just sit here and soak up everything that she could see, hear and smell.

Some visits were longer than others, but inevitably she would always have to go back through the door. She always saw bear at the bottom of the stairs waiting, guarding her path and she thanked him. Her cheeks would often be damp with tears as she left, not because she was sad but rather her heart was filled with love and her mind with new information. She always felt stronger and more empowered after being on the other side of the door.