Calling for Help

Emmanuel

If you were to climb the highest mountain

and look at your world,

you would see

much more Light than Darkness,

much more love than hate,

much more kindness than violence.

It is only that these negative areas

are more vocal.

They are calling for help.

They are like small children, lost and fearful.

Knowing not what else to do,

they shout and scream and strike out.

Pray for them.

Pray for all of them.

and do not fear.

Emmanuel's Book

Compiled by Pat Rodegast and Judith Stanton

I would like to believe 'there is nothing to fear, but fear itself'. Yes, there is darkness in our world, but it is a teacher just like the light.  It can be an opportunity to learn for ourselves or to reach out to another. 

I must admit, I very rarely watch the news or read newspapers unless I am searching for something in particular.  I do not like the way I feel after I have been exposed to overwhelming negativity, rarely balanced by the positive.  All of the crime, violence, death and sad stories make me feel anxious, vulnerable, and disconnected from the source of love.  I don't like to feel this way.

At the risk of sounding like a Pollyanna, I much rather focus on all that is good.  I do not believe I hide my head in the sand as I am well aware of all sides of human nature, but I would rather place my attention on the goodness of my fellow human beings.

There are many authors who encourage readers to place their attention on what they want to 'grow' in their lives.  If our thoughts create our experiences or perceptions, it makes perfect sense to me that we are better off focusing on the light while being aware of the dark.

To be aware of the dark we are much more prepared to help, to bring our light out to shine.  Our light can be a beacon to someone who is stuck in the darkness. 

In many instances life is like the book and movie, Pay It Forward.  There are so many instrumental people who have helped us along our career path that we may never be able to go back and thank them.   There may have been unknown people during an emergency situation who assisted us or our family, but will always go unrecognized.  Of course there have been friends along the way who have helped us countless times.  So we can extend the same generosity to some one else or Pay It Forward!

There is extreme power in prayer, so we don't even have to leave our homes or spend money to reach out.  We don't even have to know the people personally.  We can pray for the children who go to sleep hungry at night.  There are families who have members being murdered in broad day light.  There are soldiers who are protecting our country.  There are those who are fighting an illness fearing death will leave family devastated.  The list is endless. 

Like attracts like, so be positive thinking and generate kindness.  Let fear fall away.  Just for today, see only goodness in the eyes of others and let them see the same in yours.   

  

The Road Less Traveled ...

Two roads diverged in a wood,

and I .......

I took the one less traveled by,

And that had made all the difference.

Robert Frost

Traveling down a darkened path, I came upon a fork in the road.  In this dream, there was also a tree plumply filled with birds as though it were a sacred symbol deliberately placed to gain my attention. I looked to the path leading to the right, and it was a well traveled straight line to my destination.  The other path was not well lighted nor was it very well groomed.  Some how I understood this path would also take me to where I wanted to be, but that it would be the long way, not the easy way.  The choice I made in the dream seemed to govern my choice of passage in real life.

We all wonder how we will be called to serve others.  It can be through teaching, social services, fire fighting, police, military as there are many areas available.  The career chosen is simply the vehicle we use to serve and we individually choose if we will serve with integrity or deception.  Frequently we are faced with the decision whether to take the easy route or the longer less defined way.

In many ways my life has been challenging, but in my heart it is very clear to me that I have best served others by taking the less traveled road.  It has offered me more opportunities to walk upon a path meeting others who have been teachers for me or those in need of who I am.

My identity ebbs and flows based upon my confidence, awareness, compassion, and connectedness to the whole, especially through nature.  When I am at my best, my energy and light touch the lives of others just by my presence.  By offering loving kindness whether through a smile or a thorough discussion, I have the choice to help someone in need. 

There is no intention for reward or recognition, but a simple hope to have cleared the way for someone else's understanding.  Perhaps I have lifted the veil to greater understanding or planted a seed that will produce food for thought.  It does not matter what profession we claim, but how we use our loving kindness to enable the 'wounded' to be brave enough to heal themselves.

Mark Nepo in THE BOOK OF AWAKENING uses the term "spiritual hospitality."  He describes this as helping kindred spirits by offering and receiving "...guidance

and comfort on the way --- without imposition, design, or thought of reward." 

By offering compassion to those who struggle, a sense of comfort is created where healing can begin to take place.  In many ways, the action of "spiritual hospitality" is like the book PAY IT FORWARD.  By experiencing loving kindness from others whom we may never have the means to repay, we extend learned compassion to those we eventually come to meet. 

I truly believe whenever we extend a helping hand, a gift is left in the palm of our own.  We must extend our hand, one to the other, rather than raising a fist or building a wall.  Allow the hand to remove the wall or to relax into a gesture of kindness. 

By joining hands, we can make a difference no matter which road we decide to travel.  We can reach out emotionally or physically, silently or actively, receiving or offering, but reach out we must.