The Joy of Receiving

Joy is a commodity we all want to experience...and we go to great lengths to find it.  

Often we orchestrate the joy by deciding to DO something that we passionately enjoy. 

And  this is a beautiful avenue of entry into this glorious state.  It is a direct path...one we consciously choose to experience.

There is, however, a path to Joy not so ordinarily accessed.  But it holds the promise and opportunity for tremendous happiness...the path of Receiving.


When we open ourselves to what is flowing INTO our lives, we intersect with a myriad of energies surrounding and moving through us.  Each of these energies holds the opportunity for us to give to and receive love from others and ourselves and to address issues that need to be felt, accepted and released. 

A single phrase uttered by someone nearby...the realization that we cannot bring ourselves to do a certain household chore...the inspiring email we receive...the tears that keep appearing when we remember a moment of our defensiveness or reaction...

EVERYTHING that comes into our path...into our consciousness... is a message flowing in from the Divine Universe to help us on our path of healing.

 
Spiritual author Gary Zukav says 

You cannot, and will not, encounter a circumstance, or a single   moment that does not serve directly and immediately the need of your soul to  heal.



What an inspiring and soothing thought that is...the belief that
 EV-ER-Y-THING that comes into our lives is there to guide us!  

Our work is to pay conscious attention to the guideposts and  open ourselves to the lessons. 

Now THIS is the Ultimate Heavenly University.  We don't even need to apply.  We're already accepted.  And the studies we need to undertake AND the  guidance we need to master them just magically appear for our consideration every single day.
 
But...we have to be aware that all of this beautiful support is there.  We need a generous supply of FCB...faith, confidence and belief in how deeply loved and cared for we truly are.

With that strong and steady faith... and that vibrant confidence...and that unwavering  belief...we are poised to experience the glorious Joy of Receiving what is continually being created to help us heal and,..to ultimately ensure our happiness.

  

                                                                                   Marie Helena
 


image from Facebook.com

Secrets of the Rain Stick

 Some time ago while wandering through a small, quaint shop filled with Native American art and artifacts I came across a majestic RAIN STICK resting quietly against a shelf. 

 It was a VERY large rain stick...the biggest I had ever seen...and it was definitely calling my name.

I was very taken with the energy of the rain stick which I clearly perceived but found there was much, much more to discover about its magic.

Of course I could not leave the shop without it and so began the journey which  has led me to writing this blog post today.

A big part of the beauty of this rain stick is that it is totally unassuming.  It rests happily in the corner of a room...leaning against a wall...softly blending in with its surroundings.


But...when we  hold the rain stick in our arms...it reveals its incomparable beauty.


The important aspect of this gesture has to do with the WAY we hold this precious object.

If we gently cradle it...intensely aware of its presence and texture...and then ever so gently tilt the rain stick...we will receive the honeyed, mellifluous resonance and vibration of rain ever so slowly beginning its earthward journey. 

And, if we almost imperceptibly and with great patience, continue to move the rain stick in an upward direction, it will gladly release the precious and continuing outpouring of its exquisite melody.

Shortly after the last time I experienced this amazing occurrence I realized that I was being gifted with a beautiful wisdom about how to hold the rain stick's beauty forever in my heart.

And here is that message.

The rain stick is a metaphor

...an image representing the people and circumstances and events of our life and, if we "hold" their presence with the same admiration and esteem that we give to the rain stick...and if we "cradle" them with our loving attention and compassion and understanding...they, too, will gift us with the beauty of their song.

What an important lesson the rain stick just waits to reveal in the perfect moment when we are ready to listen!

Our curiosity and approach and the strong intention to enter into the beauty of each moment will ALWAYS bring us the blessings of this beautiful and loving RAIN.

                                                                                   Marie Helena

Image from achildrenspoemaday.wordpress.com

A Little Child Shall Lead Them

Quantum physics tells us that we CREATE our life...that what we focus on manifests itself for us.  So, as creators, it is imperative that we know the foundation  from which we are creating.

Are we creating from old subconscious energy that is stuck...mired in unhealed pain, past hurts, unresolved issues?  Have these become our default engine?  Are we repeating patterns that have clearly not served us well...and yet falling back on the familiar (and, in an ironic twist, the comfortable)?


THIS may be the reason why it is so very hard to change habits and so annoying that we can't.  The old "stuff" is driving our behavior and it's been chauffeuring us around for a long  time.  And we don't like the destination we are delivered to.  It's not what we want, but it is what we get...

Unless...


we make a conscious, fully committed decision to RELEASE the hurts...the pain...the angst...we have been carrying.  At the time these injuries occurred, we were unable to transcend them...that's why they are still here.  But now, as we learn more, we can CHOOSE to free ourselves from the layers of suffering.  What felt to us like insult and injury can now be recognized as life journey decisions of others that had NOTHING to do with us (though our ego would argue otherwise).  Their behavior was all about them...their conditioning, their influences, their pain.  But, because we, too, were life journeying and filled with our own ego struggles, it seemed to be coming directly AT us.


And the cosmic plan becomes even more fascinating. Although what people do is truly about them, paradoxically, their actions function FOR us.


As we grow spiritually, we begin to sense the soul view of how life operates to bring us circumstances and people who will trigger our Insecurities and, thereby, provide us with the perfect opportunity to recognize our own issues and honor them as gifts to help us grow.  


It seems the very best way to advance spiritually is to intentionally release the layers of old conditioning that have caused our reactions through the soul knowledge that all things in the universe operate FOR US.  As Reverend Linda DeCoff says, when we receive the message through our intention (the higher consciousness awareness that we truly want to learn through any situation), the baggage we have been carrying around disappears.


Once we have released our old conditioning through our awareness of the value of the lesson, we are free to create our lives not from the shackles of the past, but rather IN
THIS MOMENT as a young child looks at life with freshness and curiosity and wonder.  This is the way we enter our earth life...with purity and simplicity...untainted by the values of others and trusting always in what feels right to us.  


Through our dedication to gaining self-knowledge we are FREE
 to make choices and decisions based on what feels "wonderful" (little child wonderful) to us NOW...not because we are in pain..not to "get back" at someone we feel has hurt us...and not to comfort or console ourselves during a dark or difficult moment.

                                                                
The beauty of the CHILD emerges...the child who so unselfconsciously recognizes love in each moment and appreciates so gratefully each gift of the universe...and it is this awesome, precious "child"  who leads us to the person we want to be.  



"A Little Child Shall Lead Them" Isaiah 11:1-10

                                                                          

                                                                                      Marie Helena

images from http://sujitheie.blogspot.com/2011/10/amazing-pencil-sketches.html
Golden childhood remember painting moments image

Mother's Day

Divine Feminine Energy

As we celebrate the beautiful occasion of
Mother's Day, my thoughts are drawn to the power and beauty and significance of Love as it is expressed in Divine feminine energy.  This beautiful Grace which streams so elegantly from the hearts of women.  Such an exquisite blessing.  It seems to be their birthright . . . their gift to the world.

Somehow, women intuitively know that when someone is experiencing pain, in that moment there is nothing more powerful, more healing than for that person to feel understood. To have someone mirror back to them an understanding of the intensity of their pain or distress and how it is affecting them.

This essential longing to be understood is a vital part of the human condition.  Without this loving kindness it is difficult for an individual to move forward into an acknowledgment of what is transpiring.  And, without that acknowledgment, that acceptance, it is impossible to move through the experience to the other side. . . . to the peace that comes through Surrender.

The feminine heart holds the key to the unfolding of this process. We are all so in need of this exquisite form of compassion. When we receive it, we find the energy to lead ourselves through the dark night of the soul.  This precious feminine offering is the antidote to loneliness, to abandonment. It promotes caring, a sense of safety, connection.

Because our world is changing and evolving it is wonderful to note that feminine energy is now being expressed by males as well. And, in return, masculine energy is leading by example the demonstration of the importance and value of steadfastness and devotion.

How wonderful that we an all minister to each other, sharing the precious and pleasing endowments of our earthly lives!


                                                                  Marie Helena

                                                             
image on Pinterest
Joyce Hicks watercolor