Tag: life

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Sunday Morning Prayers-#59. The “Why’s” of Life-

There really is no way that we can predict what is coming at us or for us in this “life’s journey”! The tides that ebb and flow in our life are just what it is to be human.

Dear “Great Spirit”,

This morning, we come to in a state of humility and gratitude for all the beautiful blessings you have graced our lives with, but in our human condition and in light of how we were designed and created, we cannot help ourselves in questioning why things happen in our life that cause us pause and sometimes pain.  We are by our very nature curious and habitually have to know the “Why” – of things.  There is something that surges up in us that can haunt us until we have answers.  When we are entrenched in our discomfort, pain, grief, disappointment, or disillusionment, are faith is challenged and the questions mount up like mountains in our mind.  There is a loss of balance and a feeling that we are wandering around in a maze with no idea of how to get out-and find answers that bring relief.  

Sometimes we have to just sit with the circumstances that challenge us to try to figure out what has transpired and how to approach it with a sense of peace and resolve.  It is in these times that we have to also make a decision if we are going to reach out for your support or if we think that we are so self-sufficient that we can do things on our own.  In this “divine life” we have embarked on we have to at some point make a decision what our relationship with you will be.  How we cultivate that relationship into a partnership, we can have a sense of peace and confidence that you – “Great Spirit”, will be present and available to us.  I for one, cannot live void of your presence and engagement in my life.  Too many things and “big life events”, have left their imprint on the texture of my life for me to have faced things on my own. 

Sometimes even when things seem insignificant and doable, there is always a little residue left that captivates our attention and we search for “Why”.  I am at the point in my life “Great Spirit”, that I have learned that trusting in you and knowing that you see everything, hear everything, and know everything, that you will always walk beside me, at times before me, and always as close as every breath I take.  I have figured out it is not about the “Why”, but about how I respond to the “Why” be it a blessing or a challenge.  Thank you, “Great Spirit”, for handling all the “Why’s” in our life!

Ashe! Ashe!! Ashe!!! Amen!!!!

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Sunday Morning Prayers #54 But For the Grace of God…

Gratitude for all the blessings I have received!
Always given in the timing of “Great Spirit”,
which is always what I need when I need it.

Dear Great Spirit,

I approach you with humility for all have done in my life that has seen me through the challenges that have confronted me, and for being present with me and for me in the joys and abundance that has blessed my life. So often we forget to acknowledge that you are as near as our next breath, and as deeply involved in our life that our souls have access to your Holy Spirit 24/7, from this earthly realm to eternity and beyond! We forget to stop, look, and listen to you, we miss an opportunity for your divine intervention in our life as well as a chance to just be in a state of “being” with you! Those times we open up and surrender to your will for our divine destiny journey, we are blessed with peace, joy, compassion, and an understanding of knowing that all is “well with our souls”!

What a blessing it is to be in communion with you “Great Spirt! I don’t understand how people live without being entrenched in your unconditional love! There is in my mind no feeling like being wrapped in your arms of emotional security! There is nothing like being in connection with you in mind, body, and spirit. Living a life without voids! Living a life where you can share the essence of your being which is a reflection of the God within you is the “good life” a life that has meaning and purpose!

Ashe! Ashe! Ashe! Amen!

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I’m Just Sayin Notes from Beth # 80 My Vision and Understanding of Our Divine Life’s Journey and Divine Identity.

We all have the potential of having and making choices in our life. Discernment is the gift to call on when making decisions.

I thought I would share some of what has guided my life and has helped me meet the challenges life has given me to enhance the evolution of my soul. First, I believe that each of us is a beautiful divine soul energy that was and is created by “Great Spirit”.  I believe that I was created in love, to be loved and to be available to be loving for others. 

My sister Lark, who transitioned at a point in her life that she was making an amazing impact on the world in terms of health services, told us that she “wished that we could see what she sees and know what she knows”.  She told us that all there really was -was “Love”.  She would go outside every night and under the stars have her private conversation with “Great Spirit”.  It was there she got her guidance, protection, and insight to do her “work”- “purpose”.  When she was challenged by the Cancer that took hold of her body, we witnessed the most amazing things that took hold of her “spirit”.  It was through this experience that we learned that we have a contract. A contract you say! Yes, it is a contract that is created for us in collaboration with “Great Spirit”. 

We have lessons that we come here to learn.  We have a divine purpose and a divine identity.  We are, each of us are equipped with everything our soul needs to live the life we have chosen.  We are in the eyes of “Great Spirit”, enough!  We have each of us our own unique gifts that we are to share with the world.  We are each a piece of the puzzle of humanity’s massive work of art.  We all have equal value and we all come form and through the same source.

The equalizer that intervenes in our divine path and sometimes pulls us off track, is the free will and determination we are gifted with as well.  Each of us have different experiences that color the fabric and texture of our life.  Some of us are able to push our way through the challenges and others get trapped into the drama and pain that wipes out their faith and tenacity to stand on their truth, that they are worthy of peace, beauty, love, and joy.  When we are in relationship with people that are racked in so much pain that they inflict pain on others, especially the people they would naturally love to be kind and loving with, we have to realize that they are living their life in and through “pain” and cannot find a way out of their “skin”- “body of pain”.  They greet each new day of their life absorbed in terrifying, destructive, and debilitating pain.  They do not on a conscious level want to inflict hurt and pain on others, but they are at a lost.   Once we know that we are dealing with someone in their pain body, we have to relate to them from a different framework. 

First, we must protect ourselves because we don’t want to take on the effects of their pain and we don’t want to mirror their pain.  It calls for us to secondly, find a healthy way to relate to them that does not put us in harms way.  We can take on their pain and we are not responsible for their pain.  We when figure that out then we can be a grounded in our own truth, our own divine identity, while we infuse love and compassion in the texture of our relationship with them. 

We cannot change who they are or what they have or are experiencing in life that has caused their pain, but being all of who we are might be a liberating choice that they might dare to explore.  We don’t push, we don’t pull, but we let them know that we are not judgmental, and we are open to supporting them if they want to explore how to heal.  It is about healing the pain of their divine soul. Sometimes, it never happens in this lifetime, and they carry their pain into the next lifetime.  We cannot afford to live our life with a soul engulfed in pain.  It is our birth right to have a life experience that gives us joy, peace, and love.

I hope this brings you some things to think about and that it offers you some understanding that you’re not responsible for the pain your grandmother was living her life from.  There is nothing like empathy and compassion. There are times we must give it and times we need to receive it.  Be in your joy!  Be in your peace! Be love and give love!  You are worthy of all that is good and beautiful in life.

This blog is dedicated to my sister Lark Eloise Galloway-Gilliam whose birthday is today-July 21st. She is celebrating the journey she had on earth and is as busy as ever working in the heavenly realm, and in the lives of our family.

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Sunday Morning Prayers-#35 Coasting Through Life Does Not Reap the Life We Deserve

I pray that we live the fullness of our lives and not resort to
 coasting through our divine life’s journey.

“Great Spirit”,

We come to thee asking for your support in helping us stay the course of living the fullness of life that you endowed us with and to not be distracted by the woes and chaos of this uncanny world that seeks to steal our joy and power to manifest our “best life”. We don’t want to “coast” through life, we want all the beauty, grace, mercy, compassion, joy, and peace- a peace that surpasses all understanding that this world could but imagine.  We want to share these precious gifts to bring light and hope to humanity. 

We know what power lies in these gifts and how they can shift the consciousness of all those that have clarity of mind, heart, and soul.  This energetic force of being wholly and intentional about living a full and enriched life is a birthright of every human being.  We must always remember who we are and how you love each of us as your divine creations.  

We know your intention for our life is that we have all that we need as well as the desires of our heart as long as we are supportive of others realizing those dreams and aspirations for their life. We know that with this desire to live the fullness of a good life it requires humility of spirit so that we live our lives from a position of gratitude.  Gratitude impacts all arenas of our life’s journey. Without a grateful heart we are lost to this world that wants to distract us from our joy and fulfillment.  Open our eyes that we might see the glorious promises you have in store for us!  Open our ears so that we might hear the sweet whispers of love you have for us.  Open our minds so that we use the intelligence you imparted in us to know clearly right from wrong, truth from lies, justice from injustice, and compassion from judgment.  We have so much potential to manifest a “good life”, a life of purpose and fulfillment.  Hear this prayer of thanksgiving for unselfishly giving us a life that only our imagination can limit.

Ashe!  Ashe! Amen!

This blog is in honor and memory for my Aunt Pearl, who at the tender age of 103 years of age made her transition to heaven today.  She lived a life engulfed in love. Love of God! Love of self! (which was her secret for living such a long and beautiful life)- Love and devotion to Family and Love of humanity!

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Tiny Tips for Moms and Dads #61 The Village is a Child’s Grounding Cord!

Children are entitled to a “village-community” that supports and guides them through their childhood and hopefully, will be an integral part of mentoring their adulthood. 
We need the voices of our elder’s wisdom to keep us grounded in loving and respecting ourselves.

Parents have an unspoken responsibility to formulate a “village-community” to interface and engage in the life of their children.  In some religious and cultural practices, parents choose what is known as “Godparents” for their children.  In some cultures, family and extended family are brought together in a traditional ritual routine to be an active part of a child’s life.  Family gatherings, and special occasions in that child’s life are shared with the family.  The child looks for those people to participate in their life.  In some cultures, the grandparents are held in high esteem and what they think and say are considered vital to the child’s development.  If there are aunts, uncles, and cousins that are active in a child’s life, these can develop into important loving relationships.

 I can remember how important my Nana Marie- my grandmother, was in my life.  I had my favorite grand aunts and grand uncles, aunts, and uncles, and most definitely favorite cousins that I am still connected to and participate in my life.  My parents designed the context and structure of these relationships for our family.  Sometimes people do not have access or the logistics to be in close relationship with family and then are called to find other people they honor and trust to be members of the “village-community” that supports the life and welfare of their children.  What is most important is for a child to have a strong and vital support system that is in alignment with the values, ethics, and moral standards of the family. Continuity and consistency is critical in the raising our children. 

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I’m Just Sayin- Notes from Beth #65 Believe Me- What We Are Living-and How We Are Living- Was Not Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s Dream for Our Lives and This Planet!

Celio, like so many of our children today, are keenly aware
And sensitive to the conditions of the world they have inherited.

I know emphatically that the world is nowhere near the “Dream” Dr. King had for our humanity! He was a man that ascribed to the principles of –

Peace

Love-unconditionally without judgment

Compass

Justice

Integrity

Ethics

Righteousness

Inclusion

Equity

“My Brother’s Keeper”

Care for the poor and underrepresented.

He did not expect us to be a world engaged in 23 wars.

He did not expect that there would be 582,000 people in the United States that were homeless living on our city streets.

He didn’t expect that there would be over 1 billion homeless people world wide.

He did not expect Affirmative Action to be dismantled and trampled on when it opened the doors for inclusion of all the disenfranchised to have an opportunity to compete and strive for success in their lives.

He didn’t expect Roe vs Wade to be torn apart and destroyed. He would never dream that women would lose the right to make decisions that impacted their body and health.

He didn’t expect that immigrants in droves would have to leave their homelands to risk their lives to find freedom. shelter, and escape death.

He didn’t expect all the “isms”, entrenched in hatred would infuse itself into every aspect of our humanity and tear it apart. 

He didn’t expect our educational systems across this nation would fail our students in developing students that are prepared for the world they have inherited. He did not think that teachers would still be de-valued and not earn a living wage.

He didn’t expect us in this country to still be stuck on providing universal health care for all the citizens in this country.

He never dreamed that we still are fighting for gun reform and that there were 42 mass shootings in the US in 2022. He never dreamed that as a result we would have kids going into schools and killing other kids and educators and consequently many times end up killing themselves.

He never dreamed that in the year 2024 we are still trying to figure out how to accept people’s choice of sexual identity.

He never dreamed that we still have not figured out how to not only cure Cancer but prevent Cancer, but we spin our wheels and finance reaching for the stars and other planets as a priority.

He never dreamed that we would not be fighting Climate control and saving our planet so that we could give our children a sustainable planet to live in.

He never dreamed that families would be in such a dysfunctional state of being that society and its chaos would have more of an influence over our kids and children then parents and the community that is called to be part of a child’s life. 

Dr. King’s dream is still alive in the “Spirit World”, and for many of us in the earthly world, we are trying to keep the context, content and fabric of his dream alive in the work that we are doing.  We need to take hold of his “Dream” and embellish and expand it to turn this world around till it is back on its axis and the “Dream” becomes a reality- a way of life- a given for our behavior and interactions with one another.  We can and we do have the power to put the “Dream” in action. The groundwork was done!  The sacrifices were made! It is up to you and me! It is an “US” thing! One challenge at a time!

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I’m Just Sayin-Notes from Beth #50 -Re-posted The Man-The Legend -The Legacy

This was Celio in 2018 at age 4 when he woke up and found out it was Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday.  His grandpa asked him if he was going to church and he replied, “No, Grandpa! Don’t you know it is Dr. Kings’s Birthday?”
Well, I guess this is proof that-
“The Man, The Legend, The Legacy, will prevail throughout the test of time!

This is going to be a short and to the point blog.  Today we are celebrating and acknowledging the life and “work” of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. There is a lot of activity today across our nation and even in other countries that have subscribed to the principles of his “Life’s work”.  what we must realize is that as others did who worked side by side with him, is that we are intricately connected to his work.  It is about bringing to mankind’s consciousness that equity, racial, religious, political justice, is the core element of a functional humanity. 

We cannot live in isolation from one another.  We cannot think we are immune to the critical issues that people in this country and globally are facing every day. We must be truthful that being connected to the conditions of humankind and the other species that we share this planet with is now more critical than it might ever have been. We don’t have the latitude of just passing the responsibility on to others. Each of us are born with an ingredient that is like an invisible umbilical core that connects us spiritually to each other.  It shows up as love, compassion, empathy, and understanding.  Sometimes these ingredients are stifled, buried, or tainted by our life experiences but we can always regain these elements when we are awakened to the relevance they play even in our own existence.  So today I say my friends,” Wake UP”! Let us, each of us look within our souls and recapture the essence of this important ingredient that connects us to the core of our humanity.  We can with this level of consciousness change the whole texture and conditions that are plaguing and dissembling our world. 

I grew up in the times of Dr. King. My father who also an activist, knew Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King.  I grew up knowing the sacrifices my father made throughout his career as a minister and how that impacted us as “preacher’s kids”.  I was taught how to protest and to stand up for myself and others from childhood.  I remember all my father’s stories of the dangerous encounters he had from his youth and even after he retired.  You see, once you are known as a “troublemaker”, it stays with you your whole life. I am proud of him being the “non-violent, liberation doctrine-based theologian that he was. 

We must make sure that our children know the history of the people that sacrificed their lives for us.  Yes, for us! If the stories are not infused in the history of this country then we as parents, family members, and educators must take on the responsibility.  We have to go back to the old fashion culturally based ritual of “telling story”. If we don’t start sharing our “Truths”, our children will not be able to move forward and complete their individual “assignment”, that completes our forefathers’ dreams! 

Don’t worry Martin!  We see your dream and have awaken from our slumber!

Oops! I thought this was going to be short and to the point! I guess I am wide awake!!!

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Sunday Morning Prayers-#26 Embarking on the Promise of “New Beginnings”! Setting Our Intentions for the New Year- Family First

Shifting through the corners of our mind, we need to establish in our intentions for our life experience those things in our life that give us meaning, fulfillment, joy, peace, and love.

Dear “Great Spirit”,

I really feel, as I navigate through the cinders of this “new illusional reality” that has been crafted for us, that it is important for each of us to awaken to the understanding that we can live our life “in the world” and not be “of this new world order”.  I feel that humanity is engaged in a “spiritual birthing process” so that we survive the current “spiritual warfare” that has consumed so many corners of the world, our governmental leaders and their policies, and most dangerously, “our families”.  We know that the last horizon to impact the structure and functionality of humanity, is to dismantle the elements that hold our family units together.

We are called to be on “high alert” to protect the sanctity, relevance, attachment, love and respect for our family as a whole, and for each member of our family. We realize that nothing in life is by coincidence, but has been created by divine design, and if anything demonstrates this principle it is the “family unit”. It really is not about how functional or dysfunctional a family is, because the dynamics of a family unit does not come with a architectural design, but it does come with a spiritual purpose.  The characters in each family’s unit-tribe- are created by divine design.  It brings together the unique characters that create the storyline for the legacy of that family, from generation to generation. 

Challenges will be presented, and because we are a family-tribe, we have the ability to resolve, solve, and overcome whatever we are faced with.  The keys are love, patience, faith in you “Great Spirit”, and the ability to grasp that no matter how the world tries to destroy and dismantle our families, ultimately, “Great Spirit” is in charge.  We have to invest the time, we have to invest the faith, we have to utilize the tools of non-judgement, unconditional love, forgiveness, and grace.  If we look in the tool belt that “Great Spirit” endowed us with, there is really no way the world will be get the upper hand in this battle for the souls in our families. 

“Great Spirit”, I often think of those families that are faced with real challenges such as living in a war zone, countries that are not caring for their homeless, those families that don’t have health care, food, clothing, education, surrounded by neighborhoods entrenched in crime, and I have to admit our grateful I am and how fortunate I am.  So “Great Spirit” I am asking you to support us in protecting, healing, guiding, providing for all of our families so that the world of this “illusional reality” is never able to infiltrate our families and damage our tribe as a whole or any of the members of our family-tribe”.

We know that protecting the sacred fabric of our family is not ease, and that sometimes we have to “release and let go”, but we know that when we do we are releasing the challenge in good hands- “Great Spirit” -Cause “Great Spirit” always has our backs!

With “Great Spirit” in the mix, all things are possible!

Ashe! Ashe! Ashe! Amen!