I was home alone for Thanksgiving this year. I sat down at the piano, played the favorite hymns of Daddy, Mother, and Doug, and I cried. I remembered Thanksgiving always at Grandmother’s house and someone always had to go get Mrs. Idy. The women cooked all morning (and several days before) and then collapsed after the meal. The children had to lie down and got spankings if we weren’t quiet. When we finally got old enough to be outside unattended, we were allowed to get up and go out to play, weather permitting, after an hour of lying down.
The food sat out on the table mostly uncovered except the Jell-O salads and maybe the desserts. It’s a wonder we didn’t get food poisoning. Later we came back and picked around at the food. Sometimes we all had to sit down together for supper. After an unwritten length of time, we would pack up and go home – five miles away. It wasn’t like they had anything new to talk about. They saw each other several times a week.
There weren’t any toys so we grandkids had to make up games. I don’t remember any time that was particularly fun – mostly bickering that would evolve into fights. Then the adults would have to come separate us and give someone or all whippings.
Grandmother was diabetic in her later years. Dr. Waters knew she would “just a little taste” herself into too much and so he always upped her insulin for the holidays. There would be turkey with dressing, canned cranberry sauce and whole berry made from scratch, corn bread and biscuits, a ham and candied sweet potatoes and some orange pecan sweet potatoes. There would be some mostly iceberg lettuce with Thousand Island dressing. Sometimes there would be cold slaw, sauerkraut, and boiled cabbage. No, greens were not a popular fall thing in Oklahoma. There would be green beans, green bean casserole, and corn from the garden both on the cob and creamed corn. There was always a plate of home canned pickles, usually several varieties. There were usually some navy beans and baked beans (like we needed more gas) and certainly some sort of squash something. There may have been some noodle or rice casseroles. Biscuits and cornbread weren’t enough bread. They would add brown and server rolls and white bread. There were mashed potatoes, new potatoes, and canned peas. There sometimes was pea salad, carrot salad, and grape/cranberry salad. The Jell-O salads changed from year to year but someone always made orange Jell-O carrot salad that no one every ate or liked.
Then came the desserts. I remember Mother making an apple pecan cake every year. The banana nut cake got replace with a Scotch chocolate cake with pecan sugary icing. That was replaced with an Italian cocoanut pecan cream cake with cream cheese icing with pecans and cocoanut. Aunt Margie would make a cocoanut cake or chocolate cake or strawberry cake too. Mother wasn’t very good a piecrust but that didn’t stop her from making pies. When frozen crust became available at the stores that made it even easier. She made lemon meringue, chocolate, a really good cocoanut cream, banana cream, and one called Jefferson Davis chess pie. Sometimes she made pecan and pumpkin pies too. There were frequently chocolate chip and oatmeal cookies. Aunt Margie brought many of the same kinds. There was ice cream and whip cream (later cool whip).
One year Grandmother decided to make a pie. The sisters said she made them every year but had stopped when the diabetes came on. It was a butter chess pie – butter, eggs, and sugar. It was decadent – and really good. Mother and Daddy had to hand churn butter when they were growing up. They grew to hate the tasted and smell of butter immensely. They didn’t care for the taste of the butter pie so Grandmother never made it again. I was disappointed but it wasn’t like there wasn’t anything good to replace it.
All you can eat buffets have nothing on a Southern Oklahoma Thanksgiving dinner that shows influence of the tribal potlash ceremonies. There was this Italian Yankee at O.U. who tried to claim his Italian family gathering had an unbeatable spread, but he hadn’t been to one of my family’s holiday dinners. The “potlash” ceremony among farming tribes was a “being” by itself. They were such abundant holiday traditions.
So this year Doug was down in Florida with his family. Azure, Kyler, and Miko have moved away and so has Jeremy. I was going to be alone. Azure sent friends. The first came with a plate of food and the second brought a card and arrived while the first was still here. They left and a while later all of Jeremy’s siblings and girlfriends and cousins came bringing me some of Big Mamas Southern Soul Thanksgiving cooking. As they left another young man arrived. I gave him some pie and found out later that he had stayed home and not had any Thanksgiving dinner. I had a smoked breast and some cranberry sauce and the plate from Jeremy’s grandmother had enough for several meals that I could have shared had I known. I had a wonderful day. I didn’t have to cook but I still had a full dishwasher. I was pleasantly full and tired but so happy.
Thanksgiving memories and traditions – sometimes don’t change, but kids grow up, grandparents and parents pass away. The kids grow up and move away following their own life journey. Sometimes couples have to be apart. It’s sad when you spend Thanksgiving thinking about what was. It is more fun to make new traditions. I didn’t cook for days. I received some Thanksgiving dinner from other families without having too much leftover food along with dirty dishes, pots, and pans. I had a wonderful day. And next year? Well, we will see. It will be filled with some more New Traditions!
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Monday, November 30, 2009
Praying When we are Grieving
by Katherine Ari, November 30, 2009
I have a large number of friends who have just lost loved ones in the last few months, especially in November. First, the former editor/owner of the hometown local newspaper passed away the same day as Michael Jackson. Farrah Fawcett, Ed McMahon, and Patrick Swayze died. These were all icons in their own way. Another hometown death was Aunt Dale. Most of us who grew up there know who she was and what she meant to her family as well as hundreds of other people over the many years.
One of my classmates had several ailing relatives dying at the same time. Another’s dad died. At our reunion a beautiful mom in her nineties joined us. She passed last week quite quickly
A couple of Sunday’s ago, a close friend was crying at church. He told me his dad had died the night before. And it has been only 3 weeks since another friend of 20 years out here in Douglasville had his mom pass away. Yesterday, at church again, I hugged a friend, David Michael. I can’t explain what I felt but I knew something just wasn’t right. “What’s going on?” He knew he couldn’t pretend with me. “My dad died last week,” he answered me.
My home girl, Gem, lost her father-in-law Thursday, Thanksgiving night. On Saturday, my class website posted that a classmate’s wife passed away after a battle with cancer. And when I got home from church, I checked the website and found classmate Stanley’s cancer had taken his life too. And a young friend had a break up and 2 deaths in his family, one a suicide. There are a few more that have happened in the last few weeks.
So many people I care about are grieving. I’ve been on that road. My parents have both passed – 10 and 11 years ago. Doug’s Grandmother Nordquist died at age 89. Then his other Grandpa Roy at 95 and Grandma Eva died as 99 in February of 2003. Later that year, the most devastating death of all happened when his 48-year-old sister died the day before Thanksgiving suddenly.
The thing is most of us have some sort of belief in an afterlife. Most of us believe that our loved ones and friends are met by those gone before them and that they are no longer in pain, going to a new and better life.
Many people say to pray for them and pray to get through the sorrow, the hard times, the pain and grief. Prayer, like God as we understand God, means different things to different people. The atheist, and there are some among us, finds no comfort for their grief in the idea of talking to a mythical bearded white skinned man out there in the clouds in the sky. But their pain and grief are just as real as the fundamentalist.
My minister and teacher, Paul, was at a city hall type meeting and was asked to say a prayer. He thought about it. Knowing there were many belief systems represented there, especially traditional Christians, how could he “pray” a prayer for everyone? He started with, “What do I know about God?” So in order to make a statement that is for everyone, I have started with what I know about God or Love.
I know there is a power for Good in the Universe. It is the force behind all of creation, the beginning point of all that exist. It is present everywhere in everything all the time. It is available for us to use in our lives. It does its work through us and how we choose to use it creates our personal experience of life. Even someone who choose not to believe in a supernatural being can see that there is something that is the beginning that sets things in motion. We all know that the stronger our faith and beliefs are that we can create anything. One can say it came from me, it came from God working through me, or it came from God outside of me. I personally call it Universal Energy or God but for me it is not a man God. I believe; therefore I use the power for Good and for Love.
Many of us are sad. Many feel loss. My classmate Stanley was quite a character. A book about him would be funny and inspirational, but I don’t think there would be space enough to say everything and really tell his whole story.
Grief is a personal experience. We are sad because the physical presence of the one who has passed is gone. We lose the moments of sharing time with them, looking at their smiling faces, feeling their love in the same room. A part of us has gone away forever. Life brings us all sorts of changes in our relationships. With death, the physical one on one relationship is over and you can’t get it back. We cry – but that really is okay!
We want to say in our prayer, “God, I miss my loved one so much. I know they are okay but it still hurts me. I miss them. I wasn’t ready for them to go! I wasn’t done yet needing them in my life.” And when you get to this point, you can keep crying, complaining, and lamenting. When you truly believe in this ultimate power for Good we call God, then after you have cried until you feel you can cry no more, BE STILL. Let the Love you know is God, is this Universal Force come into your consciousness, holding you, healing you, cradling and nurturing you, and carrying you through a hard part of existence. And if you are atheist and grieving, you do know love and how it feels, so think of feeling Love. The part of the person who has left us that we long for IS love. We may have to cry a while but the memories of the love and joy will not leave. Love is infinite, unlimited by time and space.
When Mother died and even now, when I open my heart to what I know is God, is Love, in its purest unconditional form, when I feel sorrow and tears flow once again, I can feel both Mother and Daddy with me holding me tenderly. I still miss the conversations about food on Thanksgiving and football discussions. I miss a card and small birthday check on November 22. I do not deny that memories and longing don’t enter my mind because they still pass through at times. And I hear, “I’m right here. Happy birthday!” It’s Daddy’s voice whispering to my inner soul ears.
I am grateful for the love of those who have moved on to another life. I am grateful for their lives and how they contributed to me, to my friends, and classmates. We have all been so fortunate to have each one in our life. I don’t say goodbye. I say, “See ya!”
Thank you for Love. I know I will heal, that I am healing, that I AM healed. God as I understand God is with each of us all the time. Love heals what causes the pain. Love is unlimited. Cry but let go of the anger, the judgments, the fear, any of that with each tear falling down your face. Let go. Let God. Let Love fill you and make you whole. Know that everywhere in your body where you feel some part of you is now missing is filled with Love and always is filled with whole, perfect, complete Love.
And that’s what I know about God and grief and Love. And so it is.
I have a large number of friends who have just lost loved ones in the last few months, especially in November. First, the former editor/owner of the hometown local newspaper passed away the same day as Michael Jackson. Farrah Fawcett, Ed McMahon, and Patrick Swayze died. These were all icons in their own way. Another hometown death was Aunt Dale. Most of us who grew up there know who she was and what she meant to her family as well as hundreds of other people over the many years.
One of my classmates had several ailing relatives dying at the same time. Another’s dad died. At our reunion a beautiful mom in her nineties joined us. She passed last week quite quickly
A couple of Sunday’s ago, a close friend was crying at church. He told me his dad had died the night before. And it has been only 3 weeks since another friend of 20 years out here in Douglasville had his mom pass away. Yesterday, at church again, I hugged a friend, David Michael. I can’t explain what I felt but I knew something just wasn’t right. “What’s going on?” He knew he couldn’t pretend with me. “My dad died last week,” he answered me.
My home girl, Gem, lost her father-in-law Thursday, Thanksgiving night. On Saturday, my class website posted that a classmate’s wife passed away after a battle with cancer. And when I got home from church, I checked the website and found classmate Stanley’s cancer had taken his life too. And a young friend had a break up and 2 deaths in his family, one a suicide. There are a few more that have happened in the last few weeks.
So many people I care about are grieving. I’ve been on that road. My parents have both passed – 10 and 11 years ago. Doug’s Grandmother Nordquist died at age 89. Then his other Grandpa Roy at 95 and Grandma Eva died as 99 in February of 2003. Later that year, the most devastating death of all happened when his 48-year-old sister died the day before Thanksgiving suddenly.
The thing is most of us have some sort of belief in an afterlife. Most of us believe that our loved ones and friends are met by those gone before them and that they are no longer in pain, going to a new and better life.
Many people say to pray for them and pray to get through the sorrow, the hard times, the pain and grief. Prayer, like God as we understand God, means different things to different people. The atheist, and there are some among us, finds no comfort for their grief in the idea of talking to a mythical bearded white skinned man out there in the clouds in the sky. But their pain and grief are just as real as the fundamentalist.
My minister and teacher, Paul, was at a city hall type meeting and was asked to say a prayer. He thought about it. Knowing there were many belief systems represented there, especially traditional Christians, how could he “pray” a prayer for everyone? He started with, “What do I know about God?” So in order to make a statement that is for everyone, I have started with what I know about God or Love.
I know there is a power for Good in the Universe. It is the force behind all of creation, the beginning point of all that exist. It is present everywhere in everything all the time. It is available for us to use in our lives. It does its work through us and how we choose to use it creates our personal experience of life. Even someone who choose not to believe in a supernatural being can see that there is something that is the beginning that sets things in motion. We all know that the stronger our faith and beliefs are that we can create anything. One can say it came from me, it came from God working through me, or it came from God outside of me. I personally call it Universal Energy or God but for me it is not a man God. I believe; therefore I use the power for Good and for Love.
Many of us are sad. Many feel loss. My classmate Stanley was quite a character. A book about him would be funny and inspirational, but I don’t think there would be space enough to say everything and really tell his whole story.
Grief is a personal experience. We are sad because the physical presence of the one who has passed is gone. We lose the moments of sharing time with them, looking at their smiling faces, feeling their love in the same room. A part of us has gone away forever. Life brings us all sorts of changes in our relationships. With death, the physical one on one relationship is over and you can’t get it back. We cry – but that really is okay!
We want to say in our prayer, “God, I miss my loved one so much. I know they are okay but it still hurts me. I miss them. I wasn’t ready for them to go! I wasn’t done yet needing them in my life.” And when you get to this point, you can keep crying, complaining, and lamenting. When you truly believe in this ultimate power for Good we call God, then after you have cried until you feel you can cry no more, BE STILL. Let the Love you know is God, is this Universal Force come into your consciousness, holding you, healing you, cradling and nurturing you, and carrying you through a hard part of existence. And if you are atheist and grieving, you do know love and how it feels, so think of feeling Love. The part of the person who has left us that we long for IS love. We may have to cry a while but the memories of the love and joy will not leave. Love is infinite, unlimited by time and space.
When Mother died and even now, when I open my heart to what I know is God, is Love, in its purest unconditional form, when I feel sorrow and tears flow once again, I can feel both Mother and Daddy with me holding me tenderly. I still miss the conversations about food on Thanksgiving and football discussions. I miss a card and small birthday check on November 22. I do not deny that memories and longing don’t enter my mind because they still pass through at times. And I hear, “I’m right here. Happy birthday!” It’s Daddy’s voice whispering to my inner soul ears.
I am grateful for the love of those who have moved on to another life. I am grateful for their lives and how they contributed to me, to my friends, and classmates. We have all been so fortunate to have each one in our life. I don’t say goodbye. I say, “See ya!”
Thank you for Love. I know I will heal, that I am healing, that I AM healed. God as I understand God is with each of us all the time. Love heals what causes the pain. Love is unlimited. Cry but let go of the anger, the judgments, the fear, any of that with each tear falling down your face. Let go. Let God. Let Love fill you and make you whole. Know that everywhere in your body where you feel some part of you is now missing is filled with Love and always is filled with whole, perfect, complete Love.
And that’s what I know about God and grief and Love. And so it is.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
“God is Love.”
[The following is a treatment submitted to Holiday Treatments for the Soul, a small publication by the Spiritual Living Center of Atlanta of Treatments by our Practitioners and Interns and Ministers. It will come out in December probably.]
God is Love. Love is God. Love - God is omnipresent all the time but during the Holidays even the non-religious person turns their focus towards Love as it physically manifest in family and friends. I am excited to embrace the feelings of this season because no other time during the year is there so much potential to feel the Love of God through others. There is only One Love. It’s all One Power. What do I know about the Holidays and Love? I know what I always know. God is Love and it manifests in physical form through me as Love, Joy, Health, Peace, and Prosperity. I see Love in everyone behind the shopping, the packages, and the false stress on the surface. The truth is Love.
Everywhere I go, everyone I see, everything I do has Love, is Love. So much Joy fills my heart I have to give it to others. There is nothing but Love in my heart now through the Holiday Season. I am so grateful for this wonderful feeling in and around me. It fills me up and there is no room for anything else.
With these words, I give their meaning to the universe and walk in a world of Infinite Love. So it is.
Katherine Wheelus Dannels
God is Love. Love is God. Love - God is omnipresent all the time but during the Holidays even the non-religious person turns their focus towards Love as it physically manifest in family and friends. I am excited to embrace the feelings of this season because no other time during the year is there so much potential to feel the Love of God through others. There is only One Love. It’s all One Power. What do I know about the Holidays and Love? I know what I always know. God is Love and it manifests in physical form through me as Love, Joy, Health, Peace, and Prosperity. I see Love in everyone behind the shopping, the packages, and the false stress on the surface. The truth is Love.
Everywhere I go, everyone I see, everything I do has Love, is Love. So much Joy fills my heart I have to give it to others. There is nothing but Love in my heart now through the Holiday Season. I am so grateful for this wonderful feeling in and around me. It fills me up and there is no room for anything else.
With these words, I give their meaning to the universe and walk in a world of Infinite Love. So it is.
Katherine Wheelus Dannels
Why Do Some People Have to Have Someone to Hate?
by Katherine Ari, November 17, 2009
On the Internet news, Ian McClellan, the actor, admitted that he rips out pages in hotel Bibles about homosexuality. His actions are what they are. There are many things in the old testament of the Bible that are really offensive. If a woman is in her monthly menses and sits on a bench or pew in the temple or church, she is to be stoned and anyone who sits where she sat is unclean and also should be stoned. There is something in one of the Old Testament books about divorcing and one shoe – really silly if you are going to take the Bible literally. Then there is the scripture that says if you go into another community and they do not have the same god as Jehovah, you are to kill, stone, and castrate the people. Let’s see how far anyone gets taking that literally.
But it is the fundamental Christians, followers of the New Testament, that are screaming and condemning homosexuality the most. They will even say they don’t like the Old Testament because of the killing and castrating stuff and really don’t spend much time reading those stories. But they pick out this page and interpret as a justification to hate homosexuality.
I am not sure whether this one is old or new – "If thy right eye offends thee, pluck it out. If thy right hand offends thee, cut it off" – but how many people can take that one literally? Not many, because if they did, there would be a very large group of Christians and non-Christians with only one eye and one hand and they would be sent to mental hospitals for hurting themselves. And we can even leave lust and sex off of the offensive actions of eyes and hand. Just eating something that is harmful to your body or drinking alcohol that destroys brain cells are offensive acts.
Jesus says, “If someone comes to your door and you turn them away, you are turning him away. If you turn your back on the prisoner in jail, you turn you back on him (Jesus).” And I believe with my inner soul that if Jesus as I know Jesus were to walk into the jail to see those who have made mistakes and have fallen short of the glory of God, he would not scream at them and tell them they were going to Hell for their mistakes. He would not be ugly, angry, or unloving to them. He would not be going to jail to make a point of their mistakes. The Jesus I grew up loving would show love to them. Even the stories of him on the cross next to the others that were criminals tell us of his love for them and his forgiveness.
I am not sitting in judgment – after all Jesus also said, “Let you among us who is without sin (missing the mark) throw the first stone” because no one is without sin. Even if homosexuality is a “sin” (I don’t think so) it is just another sin and Jesus would NOT act the way the religious right acts. WHY do Christians always have to have a group to hate? WHY?
Why do homosexuals want to get married? They simply want to be treated the same and regarded the same as everyone else.
After World War II, the “hated group” was communist. Society feared and hated Germans, Japanese, and “Commies”. The Klu Klux Klan hated black people and Jews all in the name of Christianity. Then the USSR fell and the wall in Berlin came down. Civil Rights were supported by whites as well as African Americans and the KKK was revealed as what it was.
Then the religious right went after the “New Agers” – a work of the devil. If you went into a Christian bookstore, there was a whole shelf of condemning books about their definition of New Agers full of hate, anger, and misconstrued ideas by people that just looked for something to fault. New Age was just a marketing term and NEVER any one kind of people. Anything that some Christians thought was different or against their beliefs were New Age and the Devils work.
I remember so clearly another parent at the Christian school that my sons briefly attended saying that she wouldn’t ever vote for Bill Clinton because he wasn’t a Christian because he didn’t believe in the death penalty and did believe in abortions. I thought to myself that I know many Christians who do not believe in the death penalty and DO believe in the right to choose. But her definition of Christianity included this slant. So many things in the so-called New Age beliefs were considered as non-Christian by some and not so by others. But they preached and condemned and judged and call names and got ugly. Again Jesus would not act that way. He wouldn’t.
The phase of bracelets and signs and billboards of “What Would Jesus Do?” or WWJD was really a good idea. Unfortunately, people wearing those bracelets justified those judgmental attitudes and mean hateful behaviors. They believed Jesus would do that. I don’t!
The anti-New Agers furor died down as any metaphysical group distanced themselves from the term. The occult groups, the Pagan, or Wiccans, distanced from those terms too. The Christians hating – an oxymoron, don’t you think? – needed a new group to go after. (I just don’t understand why.) Homosexuals are tired of the bigotry and being treated like they are second-class citizens. They want to be allowed to marry and have all the rights of other couples. But the vocal ones that find a passage in the Bible to justify their unkind attitudes and beliefs speak out against them, condemning their lifestyle, acting like someone made them God. But I am not God. And I don’t have the right to judge either. If the Jesus I believed I knew as a girl growing up in the Baptist church, (though Baptist is not my spiritual home today) were standing with me right now, with my gay friends, and my straight friends, we would all feel Love, complete Love, unconditional Love, infinite Love. May each of us think every thought, take every actions, and do anything we do with anyone we come in contact with as if Jesus or God, however we interpret the Divine Presence, is standing with us with every breath we take. For I know we all my heart and soul that Peace would be on earth if everyone lived their lives with this practice in their life.
Take a moment now and imagine that your interpretation of God or the sons or daughters of God are in front of you with open arms and looking you in the eye. Don’t you feel it – Love - too? What Would He/She do if you turned toward another and then gave them hate and condemnation? Personally, I think if you turned back to look in the eyes of the Divine presence you would see tears.
On the Internet news, Ian McClellan, the actor, admitted that he rips out pages in hotel Bibles about homosexuality. His actions are what they are. There are many things in the old testament of the Bible that are really offensive. If a woman is in her monthly menses and sits on a bench or pew in the temple or church, she is to be stoned and anyone who sits where she sat is unclean and also should be stoned. There is something in one of the Old Testament books about divorcing and one shoe – really silly if you are going to take the Bible literally. Then there is the scripture that says if you go into another community and they do not have the same god as Jehovah, you are to kill, stone, and castrate the people. Let’s see how far anyone gets taking that literally.
But it is the fundamental Christians, followers of the New Testament, that are screaming and condemning homosexuality the most. They will even say they don’t like the Old Testament because of the killing and castrating stuff and really don’t spend much time reading those stories. But they pick out this page and interpret as a justification to hate homosexuality.
I am not sure whether this one is old or new – "If thy right eye offends thee, pluck it out. If thy right hand offends thee, cut it off" – but how many people can take that one literally? Not many, because if they did, there would be a very large group of Christians and non-Christians with only one eye and one hand and they would be sent to mental hospitals for hurting themselves. And we can even leave lust and sex off of the offensive actions of eyes and hand. Just eating something that is harmful to your body or drinking alcohol that destroys brain cells are offensive acts.
Jesus says, “If someone comes to your door and you turn them away, you are turning him away. If you turn your back on the prisoner in jail, you turn you back on him (Jesus).” And I believe with my inner soul that if Jesus as I know Jesus were to walk into the jail to see those who have made mistakes and have fallen short of the glory of God, he would not scream at them and tell them they were going to Hell for their mistakes. He would not be ugly, angry, or unloving to them. He would not be going to jail to make a point of their mistakes. The Jesus I grew up loving would show love to them. Even the stories of him on the cross next to the others that were criminals tell us of his love for them and his forgiveness.
I am not sitting in judgment – after all Jesus also said, “Let you among us who is without sin (missing the mark) throw the first stone” because no one is without sin. Even if homosexuality is a “sin” (I don’t think so) it is just another sin and Jesus would NOT act the way the religious right acts. WHY do Christians always have to have a group to hate? WHY?
Why do homosexuals want to get married? They simply want to be treated the same and regarded the same as everyone else.
After World War II, the “hated group” was communist. Society feared and hated Germans, Japanese, and “Commies”. The Klu Klux Klan hated black people and Jews all in the name of Christianity. Then the USSR fell and the wall in Berlin came down. Civil Rights were supported by whites as well as African Americans and the KKK was revealed as what it was.
Then the religious right went after the “New Agers” – a work of the devil. If you went into a Christian bookstore, there was a whole shelf of condemning books about their definition of New Agers full of hate, anger, and misconstrued ideas by people that just looked for something to fault. New Age was just a marketing term and NEVER any one kind of people. Anything that some Christians thought was different or against their beliefs were New Age and the Devils work.
I remember so clearly another parent at the Christian school that my sons briefly attended saying that she wouldn’t ever vote for Bill Clinton because he wasn’t a Christian because he didn’t believe in the death penalty and did believe in abortions. I thought to myself that I know many Christians who do not believe in the death penalty and DO believe in the right to choose. But her definition of Christianity included this slant. So many things in the so-called New Age beliefs were considered as non-Christian by some and not so by others. But they preached and condemned and judged and call names and got ugly. Again Jesus would not act that way. He wouldn’t.
The phase of bracelets and signs and billboards of “What Would Jesus Do?” or WWJD was really a good idea. Unfortunately, people wearing those bracelets justified those judgmental attitudes and mean hateful behaviors. They believed Jesus would do that. I don’t!
The anti-New Agers furor died down as any metaphysical group distanced themselves from the term. The occult groups, the Pagan, or Wiccans, distanced from those terms too. The Christians hating – an oxymoron, don’t you think? – needed a new group to go after. (I just don’t understand why.) Homosexuals are tired of the bigotry and being treated like they are second-class citizens. They want to be allowed to marry and have all the rights of other couples. But the vocal ones that find a passage in the Bible to justify their unkind attitudes and beliefs speak out against them, condemning their lifestyle, acting like someone made them God. But I am not God. And I don’t have the right to judge either. If the Jesus I believed I knew as a girl growing up in the Baptist church, (though Baptist is not my spiritual home today) were standing with me right now, with my gay friends, and my straight friends, we would all feel Love, complete Love, unconditional Love, infinite Love. May each of us think every thought, take every actions, and do anything we do with anyone we come in contact with as if Jesus or God, however we interpret the Divine Presence, is standing with us with every breath we take. For I know we all my heart and soul that Peace would be on earth if everyone lived their lives with this practice in their life.
Take a moment now and imagine that your interpretation of God or the sons or daughters of God are in front of you with open arms and looking you in the eye. Don’t you feel it – Love - too? What Would He/She do if you turned toward another and then gave them hate and condemnation? Personally, I think if you turned back to look in the eyes of the Divine presence you would see tears.
What’s In A Name?
November 17, 2009
by Katherine Ari
I was named Mary Katherine when I was born. Most of my life I have been called Kathy. I always preferred Mary to be pronounced Marie. A few years ago while doing a regression therapy, I came to recognize that not Marie but Ari was the name I was drawn too. What Ari means is another story.
Over the years I have read about the meanings of names. Certainly numerology is about your NAME more than your birthday like Astrology. I could see myself as Katherine, a renaissance person like the queen. I am a person of many talents and always independent. But the name Mary is the universal mother, the mother of God or Jesus, always the mother. I did not want to be Mary. I resisted the image of “Mother Earth” though often others tried to say that was how they saw me. “No, no, no! I don’t want to be that.” I would answer.
I didn’t marry until I was 29. For most of my twenties I didn’t have any desire to marry much less become a mother. My astrology teacher in my masters degree program taught us to do charts and in my fourth house I either would not have children or have no trouble with children. That was ironic in itself because by then I was married and pregnant with my first child. The spiritual action of marriage had also brought about the biological urge to have children – though even to this day I am not really a baby person. I went on to have three children and we have an unofficially adopted son making it four. I would have had another but Doug said no.
We had our children and made a life in an old house in Douglasville, GA. The house was surrounded by numerous kinds of oak trees, elms, sweet gums, pines, apples, cedars, a redbud and a dogwood, a mimosa, and we tried peaches. I have always loved trees. I spent my childhood having trees as my only friends along with my cat living in the country without any other children for neighbors. I felt a bond and communication with them even when I didn’t understand I was communicating with them and they with me. I do not deny that I have hugged many a tree, cried under many a tree and let them help me with my pain, danced with them, and heard them cry when they were damaged or cut down.
Years ago when the children were young, we were doing some work with a Native American teacher. He taught me that each area of the forest or even our yard has a head tree. There are grandmother and grandfather trees. He challenged me to go around in my yard and determine which was the head tree. The head tree is not necessarily the oldest or the biggest but I would discover that there are different kinds of leaders among the trees. Each tree in a yard has a function that forms a little sub-ecosystem. On my own I learned how to tell the feminine vs. the masculine trees.
I know you are asking, “What does this part of the story have to do with names?” Keep reading.
On one side of my house in the driveway is a water oak, a 110-year-old Grandfather Oak. At that time, there was a red oak, a 200 year old Great Grandmother Oak on the other side of the house, the west side. In the middle of the back yard was another Grandmother oak. The two oaks on each side of my house were guardians of the house and I felt that the red oak was the head tree. I went to the other grandmother oak in the yard and I looked at her. I said you just want to be the tree that provides shade and love. You don’t want to be the “mother” of the yard, the grand - mother. And I felt she agreed with me.
One morning in 1991, I went outside with my little Maltese dog. The sky was very unusual. There was a storm coming in from Birmingham but the sun had just come up from the east. The colors were vivid, strange. Spring flowers were coming up in an area that was garbage when we moved to the house in 1984. Everything looked so pretty. I spoke to the Great Grandmother, the mother tree of the yard where all the baby birds and squirrels lived. “Grand-mother, you are so wonderful and beautiful this morning. I love you so much. I hope you will be with us for another hundred years!”
As clear as if someone were standing right in front of me I heard a voice say, “I’m leaving soon.” A rush of fear passed over me. “Where did that voice come from?” I looked at her and I knew, KNEW it came from the tree. “Oh no, I hope not. We want you around for a long time. We love you so much and you are so important to us!”
“Soon, Granddaughter, very soon.” This internal voice coming to me was so real and sad. I felt tears well up in my eyes but then I went on about walking the dog and returning inside the house.
I went back toward the bedroom to get dressed. It was about 8:30 a.m. and Doug came running through the house. “This storm looks really bad. We should move to the hallway – quickly!” We got the kids up, grabbed the inside dog. The wind was loud and strong. Two tornados were passing over our house and we heard a large boom. The house shook and then we heard rain running into the house. The shaking was over and all we heard was loud rain. We got up to look where the rain was coming in. “Oh my God, the red oak was not there. She had gone down. But when she fell, she went north and wrapped around the back of the house. Twelve other trees went down on our property, all going towards the east, the direction of the tornado. But if she had done that, she would have fallen directly on the house, destroying the house and killing all of us.
“She told me, Doug. She said she was leaving soon,” I told Doug as I cried. Wow, she told me. I heard her. She told me! I felt like I had lost someone dear.
I felt she was the leader of my yard and she was gone. There was a young oak that I thought would be the new leader of that side of the yard some day, but when she fell, he held her until the tree people could get her safely to the ground without hitting the house. He was damaged beyond repair and a few years later fell to another storm.
I was well settled into parenthood and home schooling my children. I loved being their parent and had even gotten to the point of liking other children. I was walking around the yard and I felt that the Grandmother Oak in the middle of the yard had changed. She was clearly the new feminine head tree in the yard. Feeling sure of myself and like I “knew” the truth I said, “Well, Grandmother, I see you have assumed the role of the mother of the yard now since the Great Grandmother is gone.”
With a gentle bit firm voice she spoke to me. “It was not me that was not ready to be the mother, granddaughter. I am now what I was then.” And as if she and I were saying it in unison, the next thought to come through my mind was, “It was me that was not ready to be the mother, the earth mother. And now I am ready. I am ready to embrace being Mary, the eternal mother. I WAS Mary. I am Mary – (but I am even more Ari). But that IS another story and the name means something different.
What does your name mean? Do you embrace it and live the full potential?
by Katherine Ari
I was named Mary Katherine when I was born. Most of my life I have been called Kathy. I always preferred Mary to be pronounced Marie. A few years ago while doing a regression therapy, I came to recognize that not Marie but Ari was the name I was drawn too. What Ari means is another story.
Over the years I have read about the meanings of names. Certainly numerology is about your NAME more than your birthday like Astrology. I could see myself as Katherine, a renaissance person like the queen. I am a person of many talents and always independent. But the name Mary is the universal mother, the mother of God or Jesus, always the mother. I did not want to be Mary. I resisted the image of “Mother Earth” though often others tried to say that was how they saw me. “No, no, no! I don’t want to be that.” I would answer.
I didn’t marry until I was 29. For most of my twenties I didn’t have any desire to marry much less become a mother. My astrology teacher in my masters degree program taught us to do charts and in my fourth house I either would not have children or have no trouble with children. That was ironic in itself because by then I was married and pregnant with my first child. The spiritual action of marriage had also brought about the biological urge to have children – though even to this day I am not really a baby person. I went on to have three children and we have an unofficially adopted son making it four. I would have had another but Doug said no.
We had our children and made a life in an old house in Douglasville, GA. The house was surrounded by numerous kinds of oak trees, elms, sweet gums, pines, apples, cedars, a redbud and a dogwood, a mimosa, and we tried peaches. I have always loved trees. I spent my childhood having trees as my only friends along with my cat living in the country without any other children for neighbors. I felt a bond and communication with them even when I didn’t understand I was communicating with them and they with me. I do not deny that I have hugged many a tree, cried under many a tree and let them help me with my pain, danced with them, and heard them cry when they were damaged or cut down.
Years ago when the children were young, we were doing some work with a Native American teacher. He taught me that each area of the forest or even our yard has a head tree. There are grandmother and grandfather trees. He challenged me to go around in my yard and determine which was the head tree. The head tree is not necessarily the oldest or the biggest but I would discover that there are different kinds of leaders among the trees. Each tree in a yard has a function that forms a little sub-ecosystem. On my own I learned how to tell the feminine vs. the masculine trees.
I know you are asking, “What does this part of the story have to do with names?” Keep reading.
On one side of my house in the driveway is a water oak, a 110-year-old Grandfather Oak. At that time, there was a red oak, a 200 year old Great Grandmother Oak on the other side of the house, the west side. In the middle of the back yard was another Grandmother oak. The two oaks on each side of my house were guardians of the house and I felt that the red oak was the head tree. I went to the other grandmother oak in the yard and I looked at her. I said you just want to be the tree that provides shade and love. You don’t want to be the “mother” of the yard, the grand - mother. And I felt she agreed with me.
One morning in 1991, I went outside with my little Maltese dog. The sky was very unusual. There was a storm coming in from Birmingham but the sun had just come up from the east. The colors were vivid, strange. Spring flowers were coming up in an area that was garbage when we moved to the house in 1984. Everything looked so pretty. I spoke to the Great Grandmother, the mother tree of the yard where all the baby birds and squirrels lived. “Grand-mother, you are so wonderful and beautiful this morning. I love you so much. I hope you will be with us for another hundred years!”
As clear as if someone were standing right in front of me I heard a voice say, “I’m leaving soon.” A rush of fear passed over me. “Where did that voice come from?” I looked at her and I knew, KNEW it came from the tree. “Oh no, I hope not. We want you around for a long time. We love you so much and you are so important to us!”
“Soon, Granddaughter, very soon.” This internal voice coming to me was so real and sad. I felt tears well up in my eyes but then I went on about walking the dog and returning inside the house.
I went back toward the bedroom to get dressed. It was about 8:30 a.m. and Doug came running through the house. “This storm looks really bad. We should move to the hallway – quickly!” We got the kids up, grabbed the inside dog. The wind was loud and strong. Two tornados were passing over our house and we heard a large boom. The house shook and then we heard rain running into the house. The shaking was over and all we heard was loud rain. We got up to look where the rain was coming in. “Oh my God, the red oak was not there. She had gone down. But when she fell, she went north and wrapped around the back of the house. Twelve other trees went down on our property, all going towards the east, the direction of the tornado. But if she had done that, she would have fallen directly on the house, destroying the house and killing all of us.
“She told me, Doug. She said she was leaving soon,” I told Doug as I cried. Wow, she told me. I heard her. She told me! I felt like I had lost someone dear.
I felt she was the leader of my yard and she was gone. There was a young oak that I thought would be the new leader of that side of the yard some day, but when she fell, he held her until the tree people could get her safely to the ground without hitting the house. He was damaged beyond repair and a few years later fell to another storm.
I was well settled into parenthood and home schooling my children. I loved being their parent and had even gotten to the point of liking other children. I was walking around the yard and I felt that the Grandmother Oak in the middle of the yard had changed. She was clearly the new feminine head tree in the yard. Feeling sure of myself and like I “knew” the truth I said, “Well, Grandmother, I see you have assumed the role of the mother of the yard now since the Great Grandmother is gone.”
With a gentle bit firm voice she spoke to me. “It was not me that was not ready to be the mother, granddaughter. I am now what I was then.” And as if she and I were saying it in unison, the next thought to come through my mind was, “It was me that was not ready to be the mother, the earth mother. And now I am ready. I am ready to embrace being Mary, the eternal mother. I WAS Mary. I am Mary – (but I am even more Ari). But that IS another story and the name means something different.
What does your name mean? Do you embrace it and live the full potential?
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
RANDOM THOUGHTS AND LESSONS FOR TODAY by Katherine Ari
RANDOM THOUGHTS AND LESSONS FOR TODAY
Today is Wednesday, October 28, 2009 and I have not blogged since Oct. 15. The reason is Life got in the way – We had some pond improvement work. It was a challenging job and the customer seemed to be expecting us to rip him off or not do what we promised. By the time we finished, Doug and I had worked for little more than minimum wage. Something we usually find to be rewarding work became tiresome and dreaded. But it is my policy to look for the good in everything and for what was learned.
I learned that no matter how much someone likes to go on verbal word that you need to have things in writing and with lots of details. No matter how much you need some work and income, make sure there is a written lists of exactly what is expected. Inform customers of your company policies and maybe why you have them. Every time we have cut corners to please the client, we have regretted it. People get confused. They think they have said everything that is on their mind but that is not always the case. If you have it in writing, then they can look over the list and add on BEFORE you begin. If they want more, write it all down and just what is involved in their requests.
There is no doubt that as we “mature” our brains get filled up. I won’t say Senior Moments but that we just have minds full of lots of facts and figures. Sometimes things get pushed to the back of the pile. The next thing you know you are doing a lot of things that are not included in the bid. We don’t like to add on to estimates and I usually estimate a little high to account for unexpected issues. When you work with nature, it is really hard to predict just how long it will take to do something. People who are used to working with manmade materials and supplies don’t always understand that part of a job.
It all made us realize that we need a better idea about how to produce income. I want to work one on one with people seeking to improve their lives. I love people and seeing them unfold in their own empowerment. I have a wonderful office in our garden and no matter how much Doug complains about all the work, he really enjoys using his restlessness or hyperactivity to work on our garden. It is NOT about getting money but working doing the things I love most.
I also love writing – not just these blogs but writing my stories. I love painting. While we were finishing the pond job, the local Cultural Arts Center representative called to ask the Dannels family to produce an art show sometime next year, maybe April. Kyler, my son, and Doug, my husband, were in their National Juried Show last year and Kyler won the trustee award. My other children and my mother-in-law are also artists. We will put our best work together to show in the spring. Kyler also encourages his dad to put together his sculpture in bodies of work to present to galleries in Santa Fe. It is time for Doug Dannels to do what he really loves most – claim his incredible art and let the world see it.
I know we did a good job this week. I know that we did more than what we were paid for and that is okay. The customer seemed to be expecting to get ripped off and didn’t trust us but we did everything we thought he wanted with limited materials. It’s all good!
Today is Wednesday, October 28, 2009 and I have not blogged since Oct. 15. The reason is Life got in the way – We had some pond improvement work. It was a challenging job and the customer seemed to be expecting us to rip him off or not do what we promised. By the time we finished, Doug and I had worked for little more than minimum wage. Something we usually find to be rewarding work became tiresome and dreaded. But it is my policy to look for the good in everything and for what was learned.
I learned that no matter how much someone likes to go on verbal word that you need to have things in writing and with lots of details. No matter how much you need some work and income, make sure there is a written lists of exactly what is expected. Inform customers of your company policies and maybe why you have them. Every time we have cut corners to please the client, we have regretted it. People get confused. They think they have said everything that is on their mind but that is not always the case. If you have it in writing, then they can look over the list and add on BEFORE you begin. If they want more, write it all down and just what is involved in their requests.
There is no doubt that as we “mature” our brains get filled up. I won’t say Senior Moments but that we just have minds full of lots of facts and figures. Sometimes things get pushed to the back of the pile. The next thing you know you are doing a lot of things that are not included in the bid. We don’t like to add on to estimates and I usually estimate a little high to account for unexpected issues. When you work with nature, it is really hard to predict just how long it will take to do something. People who are used to working with manmade materials and supplies don’t always understand that part of a job.
It all made us realize that we need a better idea about how to produce income. I want to work one on one with people seeking to improve their lives. I love people and seeing them unfold in their own empowerment. I have a wonderful office in our garden and no matter how much Doug complains about all the work, he really enjoys using his restlessness or hyperactivity to work on our garden. It is NOT about getting money but working doing the things I love most.
I also love writing – not just these blogs but writing my stories. I love painting. While we were finishing the pond job, the local Cultural Arts Center representative called to ask the Dannels family to produce an art show sometime next year, maybe April. Kyler, my son, and Doug, my husband, were in their National Juried Show last year and Kyler won the trustee award. My other children and my mother-in-law are also artists. We will put our best work together to show in the spring. Kyler also encourages his dad to put together his sculpture in bodies of work to present to galleries in Santa Fe. It is time for Doug Dannels to do what he really loves most – claim his incredible art and let the world see it.
I know we did a good job this week. I know that we did more than what we were paid for and that is okay. The customer seemed to be expecting to get ripped off and didn’t trust us but we did everything we thought he wanted with limited materials. It’s all good!
Thursday, October 15, 2009
The Faith of Tim Tebow by Katherine Ari
Readers who follow football, especially college teams, will know the name Tim Tebow. Mr. Tebow is a senior at University of Florida. Two seasons ago, Tim won the Heisman Trophy and almost won it again last year. Watching him, he didn’t think Sam Bradford of Oklahoma would beat him and watching him this fall season, he wants to win it again this year.
Tim is also on the number one college football team in the nation and it looks pretty definite that his team will be in the BCS or national title competition again this year. Personally, I think that it was the University of Tebow that beat Oklahoma in the BCS the first of this year – not the University of Florida. Tim leads the team and pushes himself and the team hard to play smart football and defeat all of their competition. It’s working again this season.
I am an alumnus of the University of Oklahoma and Sam Bradford. I hate to see Florida win – over and over. Sam won the Heisman last time and people think he is a bit arrogant but it goes with the trophy and being that good. No one but other winners can tell them how to handle that much fame. So I try to dislike Tim Tebow. The harder I try, the harder it is to find fault in him. He is strong and a good player in all respects. He is a leader on the team and according to the media, off the field too.
Tim is the son of a missionary family. Tim gets a lot of press traveling with his religious family and ministering to people in foreign places. It isn’t that I want to follow his religion. I don’t. It isn’t that I believe that he is favored by God because of his faith. It is his faith, his absolute belief system that carries him all the way.
I don’t believe in a God in the sky or a white bearded man that judges and picks favorites. I believe that the Universal Force that is called God acts impersonally. Whatever we put in our minds is what we get. All thought is creative because it goes into the mind of God that is in all of us. Tim Tebow believes so strongly in his religious beliefs without doubt that he creates that which is in his mind. I will be totally surprised if he does NOT win the Heisman again this year. He had a concussion two weeks ago and everyone prayed for his swift recovery. He believes in those prayers and those prayers got him ready to play again last Saturday.
He does not inspire me to change religions. He DOES inspire me to believe in what I want to create in my life. He believes so strongly, so completely with no doubt, in his beliefs. There are no doubts. He creates exactly what he believes in. We all have that ability. We can all show that kind of faith. There is no place for doubt because if we think doubt, that is what we will create. I strive to have the absolute faith and belief that creates what I want in life. “Tim, you are a fine example of faith helping you to create exactly what you want. It isn’t that I have to believe the same dogma you believe.” It is that I need to believe in my own beliefs with that same amount of unfaltering conviction. I declare that I put into my mind what I want to create and nothing else. And that is what Tim teaches me and everyone else.
Tim is also on the number one college football team in the nation and it looks pretty definite that his team will be in the BCS or national title competition again this year. Personally, I think that it was the University of Tebow that beat Oklahoma in the BCS the first of this year – not the University of Florida. Tim leads the team and pushes himself and the team hard to play smart football and defeat all of their competition. It’s working again this season.
I am an alumnus of the University of Oklahoma and Sam Bradford. I hate to see Florida win – over and over. Sam won the Heisman last time and people think he is a bit arrogant but it goes with the trophy and being that good. No one but other winners can tell them how to handle that much fame. So I try to dislike Tim Tebow. The harder I try, the harder it is to find fault in him. He is strong and a good player in all respects. He is a leader on the team and according to the media, off the field too.
Tim is the son of a missionary family. Tim gets a lot of press traveling with his religious family and ministering to people in foreign places. It isn’t that I want to follow his religion. I don’t. It isn’t that I believe that he is favored by God because of his faith. It is his faith, his absolute belief system that carries him all the way.
I don’t believe in a God in the sky or a white bearded man that judges and picks favorites. I believe that the Universal Force that is called God acts impersonally. Whatever we put in our minds is what we get. All thought is creative because it goes into the mind of God that is in all of us. Tim Tebow believes so strongly in his religious beliefs without doubt that he creates that which is in his mind. I will be totally surprised if he does NOT win the Heisman again this year. He had a concussion two weeks ago and everyone prayed for his swift recovery. He believes in those prayers and those prayers got him ready to play again last Saturday.
He does not inspire me to change religions. He DOES inspire me to believe in what I want to create in my life. He believes so strongly, so completely with no doubt, in his beliefs. There are no doubts. He creates exactly what he believes in. We all have that ability. We can all show that kind of faith. There is no place for doubt because if we think doubt, that is what we will create. I strive to have the absolute faith and belief that creates what I want in life. “Tim, you are a fine example of faith helping you to create exactly what you want. It isn’t that I have to believe the same dogma you believe.” It is that I need to believe in my own beliefs with that same amount of unfaltering conviction. I declare that I put into my mind what I want to create and nothing else. And that is what Tim teaches me and everyone else.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Racism - Jesus was NOT a White Man
Racism – Jesus wasn’t a White Man
October 14, 2009
Katherine Ari
I grew up in a traditional Baptist home in a small town in Oklahoma. For the most part, the Choctaws and other native people were respected but people of African descent were treated unfairly and a few other words much worse.
We sang, “Jesus loves the little children of the world. Red and yellow, Black and white, they are precious in His Sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world.” I believed that and when my love extended to the African American fellow students, my mother and dad got upset. I felt I knew Jesus, that I had a personal relationship with Jesus. I believed then and I believe now that if he walked among us he would be loving to everyone.
The idea of being unkind and hating someone because they have skin that is a different color or different hair or different anything is absurd to me. To hate someone whose ancestors came from a different country is even more ridiculous because Americans ALL came from different countries and continents.
The fact that this intolerance is carried on in churches, in people who act all religious, righteous, and pious while practicing racism or other intolerance, like towards gays, toward anyone different with different beliefs is incomprehensible. Jesus would not do that. A friend once said you could take the Bible out of many churches and they wouldn’t know it was gone. Jesus would not preach hatred and bigotry. Jesus would love everyone. Jesus is humble and kind. If someone walked in and said he was Jesus and then acted angry and hateful, he would be kicked out of the church as a pretender.
I do not believe I am better than anyone else. It seems so many fundamental groups and individuals need someone to hate, someone to judge, someone they think is not as good as them.
No one has my skin color, my hair, eyes, lips, and genetics. All humans have blood, bones, muscles, and similar parts but there is one thing we all have in common. Everyone wants love. Loves takes many forms. We desire it. We seek it. When we feel it, we know it. Real Love is the same for everyone – even atheist. They may not believe in a man-God out in the sky, but they believe in Love. This One Power, Love, is God. And if Jesus is the son of Love and we are the sons and daughters of Love, then we must Love. If you hate, you are not living God or Jesus in your life. People who feel insecure in their own lives look for someone to put down. “Well, at least I’m smarter or prettier or something better than that person, that kind of person.” If Jesus were standing before me right now, he would love me. He would love my neighbors, black or white or Mexican or Gay – everyone. “What would Jesus do?” What would Love do? - Love. Remember, if you are really honest, Jesus was not a White Man. If you turn your back on dark skin, you may be turning away from him.
October 14, 2009
Katherine Ari
I grew up in a traditional Baptist home in a small town in Oklahoma. For the most part, the Choctaws and other native people were respected but people of African descent were treated unfairly and a few other words much worse.
We sang, “Jesus loves the little children of the world. Red and yellow, Black and white, they are precious in His Sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world.” I believed that and when my love extended to the African American fellow students, my mother and dad got upset. I felt I knew Jesus, that I had a personal relationship with Jesus. I believed then and I believe now that if he walked among us he would be loving to everyone.
The idea of being unkind and hating someone because they have skin that is a different color or different hair or different anything is absurd to me. To hate someone whose ancestors came from a different country is even more ridiculous because Americans ALL came from different countries and continents.
The fact that this intolerance is carried on in churches, in people who act all religious, righteous, and pious while practicing racism or other intolerance, like towards gays, toward anyone different with different beliefs is incomprehensible. Jesus would not do that. A friend once said you could take the Bible out of many churches and they wouldn’t know it was gone. Jesus would not preach hatred and bigotry. Jesus would love everyone. Jesus is humble and kind. If someone walked in and said he was Jesus and then acted angry and hateful, he would be kicked out of the church as a pretender.
I do not believe I am better than anyone else. It seems so many fundamental groups and individuals need someone to hate, someone to judge, someone they think is not as good as them.
No one has my skin color, my hair, eyes, lips, and genetics. All humans have blood, bones, muscles, and similar parts but there is one thing we all have in common. Everyone wants love. Loves takes many forms. We desire it. We seek it. When we feel it, we know it. Real Love is the same for everyone – even atheist. They may not believe in a man-God out in the sky, but they believe in Love. This One Power, Love, is God. And if Jesus is the son of Love and we are the sons and daughters of Love, then we must Love. If you hate, you are not living God or Jesus in your life. People who feel insecure in their own lives look for someone to put down. “Well, at least I’m smarter or prettier or something better than that person, that kind of person.” If Jesus were standing before me right now, he would love me. He would love my neighbors, black or white or Mexican or Gay – everyone. “What would Jesus do?” What would Love do? - Love. Remember, if you are really honest, Jesus was not a White Man. If you turn your back on dark skin, you may be turning away from him.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Find Your Own Ceremonies
Today is October 12, officially Columbus Day, a holiday for banks and the mail. Columbus did NOT discover this country as he never set foot on North America and how can you discover a country populated by over 20 million people? But it sedgeways into another topic - that of Native Americans or the people that met the boats and the Spirituality of their lives.
In the news this weekend, there was tragic news of 2 people dying an a pseudo Native American sweat lodge ceremony. No one should ever die in any kind of sweat lodge ceremony. Ego, personality, carelessness, irresponsibility, sexism, and other such human errors can enter any sweat lodge whether it is an elder or a non-native pouring the water. I was not there and so I am not going to get into judgments, but I do KNOW that something was out of balance.
This ceremony to me is about going into a rebirth situation and the experience is between the individual and Spirit. It is for Spiritual healing of the person's soul. It is the job of the leader to pour water AND pay attention to everyone in the lodge. If he or she wants to sweat for their own "stuff" they should not be leading. When the leader is totally turning it over to Spirit, Spirit or God will tell them that someone is having a hard time and needs assistance - and I have been in many lodges and every leader I have had ALWAYS knows. Their outside ego may have been ass holes or a mess but inside they turned it over to Spirit.
Many ideas float around about what the rules are. One time, a woman came to a lodge of another elder I know and pitched a fit because the lodge wasn't built out of willow. But in Georgia, most of the red willow has died out because of some kind of disease caused by pollution. My own understanding of the ceremonies was that the people of a particular area developed it in tune with their particular circumstances. That's why, the people in this area did not do above ground sweat lodge ceremonies. The inipi hut made of red willow was not called for here. Spirit did not lead them to do that. When the lodge is built that way it is a Western lodge used mostly on reservations.
There were ceremonies that developed over time and done the same way but they had to be flexible because sometimes Spirit would say - do it this way this time. As a way to express this, three summers ago, we were hit by a drought. We had water shortages and had to adapt to the situation. Today, we were awakened all night to rain, rain, and more rain to an area that was hit by a flood in September. Rain dance ceremonies were more than successful - too much so. The elders would not continue to do a rain dance for more rain if it was flooding because they always did a rain dance.
Several years ago, we wanted to build a lodge on some land owned by a friend of ours. We wanted to do it Cherokee style and put it in the ground. There were books out then about a couple of celebrities that built houses out of discarded car tires. They packed them inside with clay and then covered them with adobe mud. The days came when we were about to create our own style of lodge - down in the earth and someone dumped a whole load of tires along the side of the road. We don't have the same kind of clay as New Mexico or Arizona, but we have Georgia red clay. Doug collected the tires and put them in a circle around the chosen area and as he dug the red clay he packed it inside the tires and then outside - adobe style.
We listened to the land and the other world spirit helpers that showed up to help us. We built it totally unique to the needs of the land around us. It actually was the second one we built there. The first we did Western style and had to use poplar saplings. It didn't work very well. But the one in the ground that was three feet high at the highest point with an almost flat roof was powerful. You crawled on your knees into it like a birth canal. Over the time we used it, we had several water pourers. No one ever died or got burnt but one woman insisted there was a scorpion in there that stung her. I kind of think that the difference of the lodge for that land instead of a traditional red willow Western lodge was too much for her. But the leader was a Native American elder and he did not have any complaints about our lodge.
I have gone the route of teachers and I honor and respect their ceremony. It isn't that I do not believe in the old ways. What I believe in is listening to Spirit and I believe in helping others listens to their own inner guide. As some people find their most rewarding Spiritual food a traditional Christian church, some people find God in other ways. One friend sat in my private garden and said to her it was such a Spiritual experience that it was a cleansing ceremony. "This is a lodge!" She said. So I believe in praying and listening to Spirit and letting Spirit tell me what ceremony to use. Maybe it will be the same as the indigenous people because Spirit is Spirit - all the same Power and maybe it will be different. A Cherokee man by the name of Chief Two Trees said being Native American is believing that God is in everything and being in tune with nature.
There are many "elders" and traditionalist that would disagree with that. They expect their students and followers to follow their rules. But that's like saying that there is only one set of rules for worshiping God and anyone that does not believe THAT set of rules will go to hell.
Elder Jeni Pearlsong told me if any elder pressured me to take peyote to speak firmly and say that is not my truth. Every elder that poured water in a sweat lodge I was in did it differently. That does not mean that anyone was wrong. But a lodge where people died and others were sent to the hospital - that was beyond personal differences. Mistakes were made.
But I wasn't there and it is not my place to lay judgment on what happened. I am sorry for all involved.
I spend time daily within my own ceremonies. Many times the wild life in my area talk to me. I listen to their calls and sometimes my personal Spirit guides take me into ceremony. I have not been led to a sweat ceremony for many years now. I believe it is because I spend so much time in ceremony in my own way. I do highly encourage anyone that considers going into a sweat ceremony to ask many questions. It is a good idea to learn with an elder or two first, one that HAS been taught by Native American tribe elders that really, REALLY knows what a sweat lodge is about. It isn't about seeing how much heat you can take - if that is what you want go to the gym to the sauna. No one should ever go into any kind of ceremony without knowing what it is about. If they can't tell you, maybe they don't know. And the participant should know what is in integrity. You go in to have a personal connection with the earth and Spirit but it is really important to have that before hand to know when it is safe and when it is not, when the water pourer knows what they are doing. Beware of water pourers looking for followers and supporters. Their motives may be less than altruistic.
And here is another caution. Just because you have sweated with someone before does not mean that today, if it is a sweat lodge day, that person IS in integrity. Ask questions or check out your inner feelings and pay attention to those inner red flags. I am not going to call a name but here is why I say this. There was an elder who poured water in our earth lodge. He was in integrity and did a powerful lodge. A few years later I heard that the local Native leaders had to put him into the VA hospital or else have him prosecuted for molesting young girls in his lodges and giving greenhorn wannabes peyote. His own personal ego issues had interfered with the integrity he had when he lead our lodge. He has not been heard of around here since.
Find your own cermonies you do in your own private home. Don't let anyone make them wrong. Believe in yourself but it is okay to learn from others. One man can say oh no, do it this way - my way. The next will tell you something different. You have your own understanding of say a dream and what it means to you. You feel good about it. Then that elder or man that wants you to follow them comes along and says No, this is what it means. If you learn to Trust your own inner guide you probably won't even discuss it with a teacher or guru.
And that is what is on my mind today.
In the news this weekend, there was tragic news of 2 people dying an a pseudo Native American sweat lodge ceremony. No one should ever die in any kind of sweat lodge ceremony. Ego, personality, carelessness, irresponsibility, sexism, and other such human errors can enter any sweat lodge whether it is an elder or a non-native pouring the water. I was not there and so I am not going to get into judgments, but I do KNOW that something was out of balance.
This ceremony to me is about going into a rebirth situation and the experience is between the individual and Spirit. It is for Spiritual healing of the person's soul. It is the job of the leader to pour water AND pay attention to everyone in the lodge. If he or she wants to sweat for their own "stuff" they should not be leading. When the leader is totally turning it over to Spirit, Spirit or God will tell them that someone is having a hard time and needs assistance - and I have been in many lodges and every leader I have had ALWAYS knows. Their outside ego may have been ass holes or a mess but inside they turned it over to Spirit.
Many ideas float around about what the rules are. One time, a woman came to a lodge of another elder I know and pitched a fit because the lodge wasn't built out of willow. But in Georgia, most of the red willow has died out because of some kind of disease caused by pollution. My own understanding of the ceremonies was that the people of a particular area developed it in tune with their particular circumstances. That's why, the people in this area did not do above ground sweat lodge ceremonies. The inipi hut made of red willow was not called for here. Spirit did not lead them to do that. When the lodge is built that way it is a Western lodge used mostly on reservations.
There were ceremonies that developed over time and done the same way but they had to be flexible because sometimes Spirit would say - do it this way this time. As a way to express this, three summers ago, we were hit by a drought. We had water shortages and had to adapt to the situation. Today, we were awakened all night to rain, rain, and more rain to an area that was hit by a flood in September. Rain dance ceremonies were more than successful - too much so. The elders would not continue to do a rain dance for more rain if it was flooding because they always did a rain dance.
Several years ago, we wanted to build a lodge on some land owned by a friend of ours. We wanted to do it Cherokee style and put it in the ground. There were books out then about a couple of celebrities that built houses out of discarded car tires. They packed them inside with clay and then covered them with adobe mud. The days came when we were about to create our own style of lodge - down in the earth and someone dumped a whole load of tires along the side of the road. We don't have the same kind of clay as New Mexico or Arizona, but we have Georgia red clay. Doug collected the tires and put them in a circle around the chosen area and as he dug the red clay he packed it inside the tires and then outside - adobe style.
We listened to the land and the other world spirit helpers that showed up to help us. We built it totally unique to the needs of the land around us. It actually was the second one we built there. The first we did Western style and had to use poplar saplings. It didn't work very well. But the one in the ground that was three feet high at the highest point with an almost flat roof was powerful. You crawled on your knees into it like a birth canal. Over the time we used it, we had several water pourers. No one ever died or got burnt but one woman insisted there was a scorpion in there that stung her. I kind of think that the difference of the lodge for that land instead of a traditional red willow Western lodge was too much for her. But the leader was a Native American elder and he did not have any complaints about our lodge.
I have gone the route of teachers and I honor and respect their ceremony. It isn't that I do not believe in the old ways. What I believe in is listening to Spirit and I believe in helping others listens to their own inner guide. As some people find their most rewarding Spiritual food a traditional Christian church, some people find God in other ways. One friend sat in my private garden and said to her it was such a Spiritual experience that it was a cleansing ceremony. "This is a lodge!" She said. So I believe in praying and listening to Spirit and letting Spirit tell me what ceremony to use. Maybe it will be the same as the indigenous people because Spirit is Spirit - all the same Power and maybe it will be different. A Cherokee man by the name of Chief Two Trees said being Native American is believing that God is in everything and being in tune with nature.
There are many "elders" and traditionalist that would disagree with that. They expect their students and followers to follow their rules. But that's like saying that there is only one set of rules for worshiping God and anyone that does not believe THAT set of rules will go to hell.
Elder Jeni Pearlsong told me if any elder pressured me to take peyote to speak firmly and say that is not my truth. Every elder that poured water in a sweat lodge I was in did it differently. That does not mean that anyone was wrong. But a lodge where people died and others were sent to the hospital - that was beyond personal differences. Mistakes were made.
But I wasn't there and it is not my place to lay judgment on what happened. I am sorry for all involved.
I spend time daily within my own ceremonies. Many times the wild life in my area talk to me. I listen to their calls and sometimes my personal Spirit guides take me into ceremony. I have not been led to a sweat ceremony for many years now. I believe it is because I spend so much time in ceremony in my own way. I do highly encourage anyone that considers going into a sweat ceremony to ask many questions. It is a good idea to learn with an elder or two first, one that HAS been taught by Native American tribe elders that really, REALLY knows what a sweat lodge is about. It isn't about seeing how much heat you can take - if that is what you want go to the gym to the sauna. No one should ever go into any kind of ceremony without knowing what it is about. If they can't tell you, maybe they don't know. And the participant should know what is in integrity. You go in to have a personal connection with the earth and Spirit but it is really important to have that before hand to know when it is safe and when it is not, when the water pourer knows what they are doing. Beware of water pourers looking for followers and supporters. Their motives may be less than altruistic.
And here is another caution. Just because you have sweated with someone before does not mean that today, if it is a sweat lodge day, that person IS in integrity. Ask questions or check out your inner feelings and pay attention to those inner red flags. I am not going to call a name but here is why I say this. There was an elder who poured water in our earth lodge. He was in integrity and did a powerful lodge. A few years later I heard that the local Native leaders had to put him into the VA hospital or else have him prosecuted for molesting young girls in his lodges and giving greenhorn wannabes peyote. His own personal ego issues had interfered with the integrity he had when he lead our lodge. He has not been heard of around here since.
Find your own cermonies you do in your own private home. Don't let anyone make them wrong. Believe in yourself but it is okay to learn from others. One man can say oh no, do it this way - my way. The next will tell you something different. You have your own understanding of say a dream and what it means to you. You feel good about it. Then that elder or man that wants you to follow them comes along and says No, this is what it means. If you learn to Trust your own inner guide you probably won't even discuss it with a teacher or guru.
And that is what is on my mind today.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Wrinkles are Magnificent
Wrinkles Are Magnificent by Katherine Ari, September 30, 2009
It’s still so unbelievable Michael Jackson died even though I feel I understand why. He hated aging – I hear that – but when you don’t get to the point of accepting where you are now and loving where you are, you just don’t live. The media does more to foster eating disorders and premature deaths than people realize. Aging gracefully – rather than beautifully – is the catch phrase. Wrinkles, age spots, gray hair or no hair, and weight redistribution are considered unattractive. Certainly, they are rather annoying. But an old tree or a huge old rock are magnificent because they have endured. The bigger the tree the older it is. It is honored. Why then can’t humans be honored for their ability to endure as they age rather than shunned and put down. Our priorities are mixed up. And as we age, we get caught up in the imbalance as well. We get discouraged and frustrated that our bodies, our faces, and abilities are not what they were when we were young. No one else seems to believe we have more now than in the past.
The old oak is stronger and gives more to the environment. We do too. We are the “rocks” of society. We have stories to tell. Our age characteristics are like the layers of bark on a tree or sediment on a rock. The whole of who we are and what we know lies inside. A tree or a big ancient rock has much to tell us if we listen. So too do the elder humans. But the trees stand in their place, quietly storing more layers, more stories, more history, more wisdom. If someone comes along and asks them, they will share – if the seeker listens with their heart. And we humans will share also. We know things. As my husband Doug Dannels said in a video about his sculptures of old people’s faces, “The wrinkles are marks of our experiences.” They are good things. They are beautiful.
If I were standing near MJ when he said aging sign were ugly, I would have taken him outside to my own garden. “Look at this oak tree and look at this small pecan seedling. Which is more beautiful, more magnificent, more important for the earth?” Would anyone choose the seedling? No, I think not. Everything in nature is connected. Everything has a season and increases in importance as age increases. Humans should become more valuable as they age – not less valuable.
I suppose a stag deer that lives beyond the normal age in the wild might be tough to eat. An observant hunter would see its maturity. He might still pull the trigger for the prize of the beauty of its antlers but not because the meat is desirable. But do we want to be eaten and mounted on someone’s wall as a trophy? If the buck has dropped his antlers and the hunter recognizes his age, he won’t shoot him even if it is still in hunting season – but most of the time when antlers have dropped it is NOT hunting season.
On the PBS series about the history of the National Parks, people came in and started cutting down the ancient Sequoias. Through the efforts of John Muir and others, they are protected. Signs of age in a tree, a giant rock, or a human are notices in big letters – Behold, mature age. Stop. Listen. They have so much to give and are beautiful. They are wise and contribute so much to the strength, stability, and health of the earth. Honor them. Respect them. Marvel at what they have endured and accomplished and be proud they have blessed you with their magnificent presence in your life!
Monday, September 28, 2009
Flood 2009 - in Douglasville, Ga, my home
I haven’t written on the blog for the past week or so. My mind and energy have been wrapped around the flood in my area last week. There is a lot to say readers and I encourage you to take some time to read the longer than usual post.
Today is September 28, 2009, one week after the floods that hit the Atlanta, Georgia area. The floods hit several areas but Douglas, Carroll, Paulding, and Western Cobb Counties were the locations where the most people died and homes were destroyed. I live in Douglas County. A man on the news said he was able to save his dogs but not his cats. He didn’t say whether he found them or just that he had no way to take them with him when he fled for safety. The background pictures of his mobile home and cars were covered in mud, which means the water covered his home, his belongings and probably his cats.
In 1991, a couple of tornadoes came through Douglasville – the county seat of Douglas County, west of Atlanta. Officially there was one recorded but I know that there were two that merged into one because my family we in the path. One went over the top of my house and the other at the back of my yard. We lost thirteen trees and one was a 200 year-old red oak tree. The tornado got down in the hollow of the old tree that was the home of the babies – baby birds, baby squirrels, baby chipmunks, and various insects. But the wonderful great-grandmother oak would not fall on the house. All the other trees went east, the directions of the tornadoes but she went north and wrapped herself around to the back of my house hitting only the roof of the kitchen.
When the final bills were in to the insurance company, we had almost $30,000 damage and $14,000 was that one tree. The tree specialists had to get her down to the ground because she was resting against another tree. One wrong move and she would have fallen toward the house and destroyed it and us. We also lost the majority of our monthly business and income but the insurance company for the business wouldn’t pay what we lost.
In the days following that natural disaster, we were confused and scared - and thankful. But we did not know how to deal with the people coming around and the contractors and insurance companies. Our next-door neighbor had had the same insurance for over 40 years and had never filed a claim. That insurance company was not going to pay for her roof to be replaced because there was some rotting on the trim boards and because the city required the roof to be brought up to code. She was an elderly lady and her adult children had to get attorneys and fight the company. The adjustors treated the woman rudely and just didn’t care.
Last year, our area had two really big hailstorms with grapefruit size hail. We called our insurance company and roofers in August. It took until May and three different roofing companies to get things worked out. Meanwhile, all those different people walking on the roof caused it to leak in places that it hadn’t leaked before. So that had to be fixed also. I am grateful to the company that eventually did the job because they went to the courthouse and city hall and went to bat for us to get the insurance company to do what needed to be done as well as comply with the historical society rules because our house is 120 years old and in the downtown historical district.
Are you asking now if we had damage during the flood? At this time we do not know of any structural damage. Business in the current economy was non-existent and the flood has not improved that situation. We have pressure washers, wet vacs and pumps and do yard clean up all the time. We are reducing our rates and making the contacts we can find to help people however we can. We have to prove we are local & will be here in the future.
But the real reason I am writing this is to address the emotions of being in a natural disaster. According to the predictions, it is just the beginning for the next 3 years. When the rain was coming down and falling and falling and not stopping, it was frightening. My dog is afraid to sit in her chair in the room by the door where she could see raging water running by the door while sheets of rain and thunder and lightning were happening. I had a cat outside and I had to stand outside for about an hour trying to get her to come out from under the cabana in my yard. It eased up a little and she peaked out the edge of the building when I grabbed her. She was so frightened. Today is the first day I have allowed her to go back outside.
It rained again on Saturday. I felt scared reminding myself, it is just rain. It is just rain. We lost our water for 2 days and when they got it back on, it wasn’t fit to drink or wash clothes in – well, they said we could wash clothes and after three days added we could wash clothes in hot water. They didn’t put that in the first messages.
They post to only hire local contractors but not to pay anyone up front. The first part is good because people from South Carolina and Alabama and other states are showing up – and they won’t be there after the work is done is they stay around to do the work. But that admonition not to pay anyone up front is really hard on honest small businesses. There have been problems with contractors taking the money and disappearing. But only big companies can afford to buy materials up front. Small companies in the current economy especially do not have the capital to buy things especially when the customer might not be honest. The customer may have no intentions of paying the contractor or perhaps their “damage” is not flood damage and they are taking advantage of the situation. The dishonest on either side hurt the ones – like during Katrina – that really need the help.
The local FEMA programs are doing everything they can to protect the ones who really lost and they need to protect the contractors as well. My husband had all sorts of anxieties about going to clean up the smelly messes and being taken advantage of after taking risk with his health and equipment.
It is all scary. Mother Nature can be fierce when things are out of balance. And you get scared. You don’t know whom you can trust but you have to trust. When the tornado hit, there were hundreds of houses damaged and destroyed. But things were different afterwards. We got a new roof over my kitchen and we needed that. A few years later, a tree that died because of the 200 year-old red oak tree had died. A big wind came through and broke off the trunk of the tree and landed it on our back porch. The washer and dryer were not damaged. We needed a new porch and used some of our own money to fix the foundation at the back of the house and build a patio with good drainage that pulled the rain water away from the back of the house and down hill to the front of the house. What we did because of that storm damage kept the flooding water from running inside the house this time and kept water away from the whole foundation at the back of the house which is low and on the ground – downhill from the entire back yard.
For anyone in a disaster such as a flood, hail, or a tornado, it hurts to lose your belongings and pets and homes and vehicles. But things will get better. Good will come from it. You must keep your faith strong. Know that the God in others is going to be there to help you. People will help. You must keep calm and let go of your anger, your pain, your fear, and let your understanding of God help you through the difficult time. Chaos always precedes growth. Find the good in your situation and what you can learn from it. If and when there is a next time, you will know how to keep your sense of humor, riding the waves if need be. Go to the Internet when you can and find what FEMA says to prepare for your pets for instance. Don’t try to drive through floodwaters. And maybe we all need to reduce our material possessions and spend less money on “things”. And there are basic things such as what to look for when you buy or rent a new house. Many of the places that went under water should never have been built in those areas. But that doesn’t take away the feelings you have about the things you lost. I know myself that it hurts. I have been there. I also know that the longer you dwell on the pain, that the longer you will feel the pain. When you start to look for the ways you can grow forward, you are making a choice to live in the now and let go of the pain. You will heal much faster and find some really wonderful things in your life ahead. I know this is true. I have been through it and looking forward to the new part of my life.
My children, now all grown, went through the tornado also. I know how scary it can be for them. I can help and if you find yourself or someone you know in the aftermath of a natural disaster, refer them to me. I want to assist others. I don’t have a lot of money but I have a big heart and I will share.
Katherine Ari.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Mistakes and Moving Forward
MISTAKES and Moving Forward
Everyone makes mistakes. That is called being human. Many things others do are regarded as mistakes when there is just lack of understanding. Unless any of us are as famous as Michael Jackson, no one can know what his life was like. I remember a person once that told my parents all sorts of things about me that were nonsense because the person did not understand what we were doing.
People read things that are assumptions by a reporter in the newspapers or magazines and then gossip about what they read – not knowing the whole story and what really happened. They tell others and they tell others and each time the story is repeated, it changes – we all like to tell a good story. Do we all remember playing the game of Gossip when we were kids? The end story was always different .
The story may have been years ago but these talkers keep talking about what they think they know wanting to sound important not thinking how their words are hurting others and in turn hurting them. But these are mistakes also and we all make mistakes.
I think about some times when I lost it, or had a meltdown. I don’t like myself very much for being so over the top. Of course, in a heated argument we justify our behaviors and say that the unkind things we said or did were justified or provoked. But is it ever okay to spew hurtful words or do anything to invade the space of another being? [It doesn’t have to be another person as it could be a pet or even a plant.]
We are tired or stressed out. We don’t think clearly and do something unkind or inconsiderate. Sometimes, the act is so bad that the consequences are major, even life changing. But life goes on and one has to move on. It isn’t easy to forgive yourself and then there are those pesky gossips that just won’t let it be in the past. I want to yell at them – let the PAST go people – see me or see us as we are now and see how much I have changed. I know I have grown. I know what I did wrong and I am committed to not repeating those errors again. But if I bring up the past trying to get them to let it go, then I am guilty of living in the past. I am whole, perfect, and complete and I live in the now with love. I learned from my mistakes and grow. Today I am loving and kind and artistic. I move on!
Friday, September 11, 2009
Look at the One in the Mirror and Make a Change
It's 9-11-09, eight years after the terrorist attacks on New York. So much has happened since then. It was so surreal and you kept asking "Is this really happening? It just can't be real, but it is real. And what's going to happen next?"
We mourned. We came together and helped each other. And many, many good things have happened since then as well as many not so good. Many changes have come about because of it but it wasn't necessary to kill innocent people to bring about those changes. But people still don't get it.
Hatred never is necessary, but yet people still choose to hate, to be intolerant, to hold on to bigotry, racism and judgments, to work for separatism, to destroy, to act like they can tell others what to believe, what to listen to, who to love. But it is not just the "other" places. It is just as prevalent here in this country - in some cases more so. Can't they see that the very hatred they are angry about is their own hatred reflected back to them?
One of the Michael Jackson songs I continue to hear is the "Man in the Mirror". The best way to make a change is to change yourself. I personally like President Obama and I think he really is sincere. The medical system needs change and I ask readers, what are you doing to make the change? Fighting these new ideas is not helping unless you can suggest something better.
What are you doing to make the change about hatred and intolerance? Are you still being judgmental about people being judgmental? Am I? Are you giving love and respect because you want to be loved and respected or are you expecting it without giving it out? Do we stop anymore 9-1-1 attacks by war and more hatred or do we stop them before they happen by opening our eyes and making changes inside?
I hear people on Facebook looking for every reason they can to put our President down. I guess I was guilty of that with President Bush as I did not like his politics. (Although I would NEVER have been disrespectful if I had met him. He WAS the President of the United States, an honor.) These people who find loopholes in the health care ideas are the very ones that have suffered many health problems because the health care was not adequate for their problems.
I think of it like unions. There were these big companies that followed big plantation owners that got big and powerful by using/abusing the laborers. The unions came into power to protect the laborers. Then the power structure swung the other way. The unions became corrupt and too powerful. Either way, the government has had to step in. On the plantations, slave labor was wrong and eventually the society and the government stopped it - for then.
Big corporations and big medicine and big pharmaceutical companies have been making their money and the individual has suffered. The government is having to stop the Bernie Madoff's and the insurance companies but they aren't attacking the drug companies. Some effort to stop the current cheap labor also known as slave labor is coming around in the effort to stop illegal aliens from taking away the jobs of natural born Americans - but the real issue is SLAVE labor! But the media isn't saying let's stop slave labor because the politicians and lawyers and people with money like their cheap - slave - labor. They defend their rights to only want to pay a grown man $60 a day for hard work when they are getting $250/hour or more.
We are spending over $18,000 a year for insurance. The deductible is very high. Benefits have been reduced because our children are not in college and over the age limits. And we are healthy and spend less than $200 a year on health matters. But we have to keep the insurance because we might have an emergency even though we don't go to the doctor because we can't afford it because of the high deductible.
The corporations and high medical care have gotten us into these problems because of their greed. The government is stepping in to try to help the whole of society. You can label it socialized medicine or attack it because you are a Republican or a downright bigot. Maybe you talk a liberal talk but just plain walk a path of intolerance and fixed ideas you don't want to change. Your life is unhappy and unhealthy but you don't want to let that Black president come up with a new idea. It doesn't matter. You and I are all entitled to our own opinions.
But then that is a big part of why 9-1-1 happened. We ARE allowed to have our own opinions. We have so much to be grateful for. We have the government that will step in and try to do what it takes to protect the people of this wonderful country rather than continue to allow the government to suppress, control, and deny individuals their right of birth to choose and control their own destinies. We have all heard that, "You can't fight city hall - they make the rules and only they can change them." Well, that is the bottom line. City hall or the government itself is the only way that the government can change BUT we do have the way to get the government to make it change itself. It is NOT by hatred, more judgments, narrow-mindedness, and terrorist attacks. It is not by disrespectful behaviors liking screaming out at President Obama or teaching our children that is it okay to be rude to the President of the United States. It is not by telling more lies and undermining all attempts to make some changes by manipulating the media and the American public.
I'm looking at the one in the mirror. If you want to make a difference, look at the man in the mirror and make a change in what you see. Thank you, Michael, for reminding me what I NEED to DO.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Story - I sit under my trees and Attract others to Me
Many years ago, over ten in fact, I had a meeting with an elder named Grandfather Jerome. He would go into his kind of meditation or trance burning the sacred herbs and then tell his visitor what his inner voice told him to say about the person. Grandfather said, "I never do anything to get people to come to me. I just sit under a tree and they come." That was the message.
I have said to many that I have the tree and I am sitting under it. When are THEY going to come?
When am I going to get followers and supporters of the blog? When am I going to see people in my garden office where I can share my love, energy, talents, knowledge, and experiences to help people realize what is inside of them and how to manifest it in their lives?
A couple of weeks ago I did the Aura Feel Good Day at Inner Space in Atlanta. I was pleased and saw several people. The day is set up for the Healers to see people for 15 or 20 minutes and in that short time I found the most effective way to show them my work was to use Soul Cards by Deborah Koff-Chapin. Soul Cards do not have any set story or meaning. The picture drawn has YOUR story and interpretation. I felt really good about using them. The short time was enough but longer time is even better.
I came home and after resting from the big day, I did my own cards - a past, the present and the future. My present had me sitting petting a small lizard like dragon. The future card had me releasing a person like dragon through my words - releasing the fire dragon of creation from me and for anyone who comes to me. I am ready for the future card. I have petted the dragon within my "cave" long enough. It IS ready to be released into fruition.
This morning I asked What Do I do Next and again pulled out the cards? How do I bring people to me and make income? I asked for two cards. One card pulled me to pick it first. I turned it over and there she - I was sitting under that tree with a Higher self face coming from my hand reaching out to many hands in the tree (of Life?). It is amazing - there is the same image of me sitting under the tree helping others.
But one of the things I realized as I pondered this message is that I have always turned to the oaks in my garden but have somewhat ignored the other trees and shrubs. Outside my office door is a Grandfather Elm, several sweet gums, a pine, a red bud at the foot of the elm, cherries, azalias, honeysuckle, Nandina or heavenly bamboo, maples, and a palm tree.
I take the messages from ALL the trees. I sit under them especially the elm with my hands open and the next card is a beautiful woman - light being or angel - giving out wonderful, loving, healing energy, a picture of who I want to be and who I am. I love what I can do and I want to share it with others.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Do You Need a Guru to straighten out your LIFE?
Today's subject - When to look for a teacher or guru.
Throughout our lives we are learning. We are gathering facts and if we are awake, we take those facts and experiences and integrate them into who we are - a compilation of those events, beliefs, ideas, and situations. Sometimes it is appropriate to find a teacher, someone who has gone before us or studied more than us willing to share their knowledge so that we don't have to re-experience everything. Teachers are good when from their heart they share their life experiences just because they want to. They sometimes can put into words things we know but can't express.
Now I am definitely not one of those people that believe that if someone is spiritual that they shouldn't get paid for what they are good at. Spiritual people do their best work when they can stay in the spiritual place all of the time but they have to pay bills and eat just like the average person that is just bringing home a paycheck - or not. And spiritual people can live comfortably and still be loving and real and "Spiritual". They don't have to be paupers!
The issue I have is the "teacher" or "guru" that doesn't do anything without an agenda. I'll help you if you promise to follow me, pay me this amount of money, be in my circle and do as I say.
The guru pulls in the person looking for new lessons and experiences and convinces them that they can't do anything for themselves unless they follow the guru's instructions. They tell the followers that there is only one way to do things and it is theirs. And if the participant questions the instructions, the guru and other members guilt this person who dares to question with all sorts of mind trips. This vulnerable, insecure person doesn't believe in their own abilities and this person takes advantage of it and convinces them they NEED to follow this group.
If your body says to eat, the guru or leader says no, you can't eat until I say so. No, you must do exactly what I say when I say it and by the way, have you paid your money so that I can fly back and forth across the country chasing women, I mean to do my work? How many such groups have women with money that are attractive but don't have any self-confidence?
There are all sorts of people doing sweat lodges. And I hear, "my leader has helped me so much!" It isn't the leader that helps you. It is what you find inside yourself when you enter the sweat lodge BECAUSE it is in YOU. And any water pourer that wants you to praise him or her for what a great lodge they did is on a major ego trip. If they are really letting spirit run the show, then the experience you have is between you and your understanding of God.
I heard recently how on some reservations when someone from the outside comes that the leaders make special effort to torture the outsiders. That is not what the sweat lodge is for. It is for cleansing and making contact with the higher power. If you need to purge some crap, it is not for the water pourer to decide. He/She is just there to pour water and do what spirit says.
I had a dream last night where this leader, a former person I associated with, was really determined in the dream to make it hard on me. He didn't like it that the first part of the "journey" did not give me any trouble. So he was going to make it harder for me to do the next part of the "test". I was further told that I couldn't eat until he said so by the others in the group. And then I woke up. I find that pretty profound. I WOKE UP!
It is my sincere goal to work with people to help them find their inner guru, their inner teacher to help them as they WAKE UP. I am not the final know all. I don't want to be. I don't want to take responsibility for your life. I want you to find it inside you - it is guaranteed at birth. You have the knowledge inside you to find your own way. I am just a guide, a helper, one who has traveled down the road at my own pace and found the beautiful clear lake at the end of the walk. I decide whether to jump in and when. I share love, experience, enthusiasm, energy. If my inner guide tells me to pick up oracle cards or pick up an animal book, it isn't for my benefit or glory. It is for the person seeking some answers, some direction. It isn't for me to judge or control.
I need income just like anyone else. A wise therapist told me once that most of the people that come in to her office she can "fix" in one session. And she did, but it didn't keep her in business. But she just couldn't keep people coming back just to pay her bills. In management organizations, they spend a lot of time teaching you how to get customers to come back over and over. So the full time guru is doing the same thing - keep people coming back to keep steady income. It is capitalism. I understand all of that. There just has to be a better way! I mean, is capitalism working for us these days in the current economy?
Seek your teachers who share knowledge, but be careful not to become dependent on them. If they foster that pattern, they may not be sincere. If you find a spiritual center that makes you happy, make it about the teachings - not the preacher/minister. I love this well liked spiritual lady in Atlanta who answers the doctor that tells her things she doesn't want to hear, "That isn't my truth." Know your own truth. KNOW YOUR OWN TRUTH!
Katherine Ari
Monday, August 24, 2009
Time for Woman to Come Together by Katherine Ari
Today is Monday, August 24, 2009. Yesterday I did an Aura Feel Good fair at Inner Space in Atlanta. I loved it. I saw quite a few people and feel good about how it went. I know I really want to see clients every day for half of the day and write my blog the rest of the day. I also want to pursue organizing a Wise Women Society of mature women who use wisdom to work with other people - not ego.
In the years to come, there are going to be lots of changes. I am not really hung up on the fear of 2012 but there are changes happening everyday. I believe strongly that the Wise Women play an important part of what is going to take place in the societies as they will exist.
Too much of society has been dominated by the patriarchal or men. The pendulum is swinging back to the feminine but we women have to consciously choose to create balance in the next worlds - not one dominating the other but equal authority. It is really important for the women to support each other AS WOMEN - not women acting like men. The calm wisdom of the older woman that keeps a clear head is critically important to big changes. And we women ARE calm and level headed. That also means that women as they reach maturity - usually after age 50 - do not listen to TV and Movies and other mass communication dominated by men that portray women as scatterbrained idiots that can't think for themselves.
As we come together and form a bond across the country and around the world, we gain confidence and support each other. Down deep inside we have always known these truths but the vocal dominant part of society tries to tell us that what we know is NOT true. Now before my readers think that I am down on men, that is not the case. I just know that it is really important that women have a voice because that voice is so important in these times ahead.
I believe it is time to come together. When two or more are gathered - I know what I know as a mature woman and if I am in communication with other women and we find out we know the same things, that makes what I know stronger. Even if I step forward and speak my truths without anyone physically standing beside me, I know that they are there in spirit. And we have to know about spirit. It is One.
Katherine Ari
Friday, August 21, 2009
Dreams and how to interpret them
Friday, August 21, 2009
On Sunday, I will be at the Inner Space at 185 Allen Rd., Atlanta, GA to participate in the Aura Feel Good day with other healers from 12 noon to 7 p.m. Last night I dreamed of both a heavy snow and then of the ocean. These are positive symbols, but I am not going into specifics just yet. The point I want to make is that any dream can have general symbols, but each book on the market about dream meanings is subjective to the person writing the book.
For example, in one of my many books the color purple in a dream is regarded negatively. But purple is a power color for me as it has always been my favorite color. In my studies of astrology, I found that the color lavender, another shade of purple, is my soul actualization color. I could never regard it as a negative occurring in my dreams.
A dream symbol that is interpreted as a bad omen by one writer may be good by another school of thought. And neither of them may mean to you what your subconscious is trying to tell you. I may dream about flowers and gardens and "maybe" I am dreaming about my inner garden of Eden - but maybe, since we build gardens, I am just dreaming about my work.
On Sunday, I am presenting myself as the Wise Woman Healer. I look at the list of the other healers who are focusing on one or two modalities and think about it. Perhaps it could be a better way to attract people that are familiar with their speciality - but that just isn't my way to work. My way is to work in whatever way my inner guide and inner "God" light tells me is the best way to work with someone. It may be dreams or animal messages or guided visualization or something else. It starts with me finding out what the person I am talking to is seeking and then taking them in whatever direction their inner guide calls needs to explore.
My dream, which had other significant symbols said to give joy and energy but also inner peace and quiet, to be creative, to follow my own unique spiritual path, and to show others how NOT to be afraid to take the inner journey. I am beginning a new, busy and useful time leaping into the unknown. I am really excited, but a little nervous. I know I will do well.
I invite you my readers to come along on this journey with me - call, write me, or come to Inner Space - or even better yet, come to the Garden.
Katherine
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Announcement and Dream and Affirmative Prayer
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
First – An Announcement:
Inner Space in Atlanta is having an Aura Feel Good day next Sunday, August 23.
I, Katherine Ari, am participating as one of the Healers. The way it works – people come from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. and pay only $15 for 3 - 15 minute sessions with one of the Healers. There are many different kinds of healing workers that day. There will also be 30 minute talks by the healers. Since this is my first time I opted not to speak – but please come and request a session with me. Everyone who attends will fill out information forms and then the healers can contact you.
My work includes time in our private garden and is part of the treatment or session.
I am excited and hope to see you.
DREAMS
I dreamed about a row of evergreens the other night. The message of evergreens is to adapt to the situation whatever it is. In today’s economic challenge, it is time for each of us to adapt – to adjust how we do things and when we do things. Many occupations that have in the past been secure are not so secure these days. The thing is that prosperity and money still exist and we have to believe in prosperity – not lack. God made us all in the likeness of God. God IS prosperity and abundance. Everything we see is evidence of that because God made everything and continues to make everything. God made us and therefore we are also prosperity and abundance. It is REAL. Anything else is a false and temporary condition. But we must watch our thoughts. We create what we think about. Consciously, we must think about what we want to create – not what we don’t want – in our lives. And don’t forget to say thank you to others, thank you for the money we have and thank you for our abundant prosperity, thank you to God. These are the thoughts I choose to think today. And as they are a treatment I end my thoughts – and so it is!
Katherine Ari
First – An Announcement:
Inner Space in Atlanta is having an Aura Feel Good day next Sunday, August 23.
I, Katherine Ari, am participating as one of the Healers. The way it works – people come from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. and pay only $15 for 3 - 15 minute sessions with one of the Healers. There are many different kinds of healing workers that day. There will also be 30 minute talks by the healers. Since this is my first time I opted not to speak – but please come and request a session with me. Everyone who attends will fill out information forms and then the healers can contact you.
My work includes time in our private garden and is part of the treatment or session.
I am excited and hope to see you.
DREAMS
I dreamed about a row of evergreens the other night. The message of evergreens is to adapt to the situation whatever it is. In today’s economic challenge, it is time for each of us to adapt – to adjust how we do things and when we do things. Many occupations that have in the past been secure are not so secure these days. The thing is that prosperity and money still exist and we have to believe in prosperity – not lack. God made us all in the likeness of God. God IS prosperity and abundance. Everything we see is evidence of that because God made everything and continues to make everything. God made us and therefore we are also prosperity and abundance. It is REAL. Anything else is a false and temporary condition. But we must watch our thoughts. We create what we think about. Consciously, we must think about what we want to create – not what we don’t want – in our lives. And don’t forget to say thank you to others, thank you for the money we have and thank you for our abundant prosperity, thank you to God. These are the thoughts I choose to think today. And as they are a treatment I end my thoughts – and so it is!
Katherine Ari
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
My Feelings about Past Lives
My Feelings about Past Lives
by Katherine Ari August 11, 2009
The idea of Past Lives is in many religions and spiritual philosophies. Even in the early Christian religion, it is told, the concept was voted out of the Bible at Constanople in 533 A.D. What I personally have found working with both adults and children and in my own personal journey is that it is possible. It is also possible that there is a Universal Thought out somewhere in the ethers that for reasons unknown, we as individuals tap into for our own growth.
The lesson of someone else’s life is sometime a lesson for my life today, here and now. Sometimes this “memory” seems to be a genetic memory. People feel they are related to someone now that was a relation in a previous lifetime.
To me, it doesn’t matter if it is a stream of Universal Thought or we are actually living another lifetime using lessons from a previous life. I believe the importance is what comes up when I am regressed or if I hypnotize someone is something pertinent to the now consciousness. But it has frequently been more though the bigger picture may take a few years to understand and manifest.
According to some laws of karma, easy past life recall is a sign of good karma – you get to remember these things. I guess I have some good karma because it comes to me like something that happened five minutes ago.
My first experience with past life recall was in 1979 shortly after Doug, my husband, and I became a couple. He knew an elder woman with a traditional Pentecostal background who did psychic past life regressions. Midge would hold a personal object of the people she was working with. She held a silver bracelet of mine and something Doug had made like a small sculpture.
As soon as she closed her eyes, she saw an ancient village. I was the matriarchal leader and Doug was my husband. I had died and his love for me was go great that he would not allow anyone to touch my body. He was slowly pulling a ceremonial platform through the crowd of sad people to a burial location. The platform was heavy and my body was lying on it as he pulled it by a rope. She started crying because she saw such devastation.
When she began to describe her vision, I saw it too. I was tall and thin with long fingers on graceful hands. I say my husband, my daughter who would take over for me, and my people. For a long time I carried this vision of a place before recorded time, but it also may be a future village after our earth, as we know it goes through some major changes. It doesn’t matter. Time is NOT linear. It is circular.
I remember many things about that life. When I focus on it, I remember more details. One story is about my daughters. They were both beautiful. One was strong and would become the leader after my death. She was healthy, confident, and very fair with her decisions. The people would follow her guidance.
The second daughter was delicate and beloved by all. She needed extra care and attention all of her life and protection. Her older sister loved her as much as everyone else and understood. There was never any jealousy because she received so much attention. She was an angel and was only allowed to be on earth in the family for a short time, dying young. We mourned her passing for a long time because at the time we didn’t understand why she had to leave so soon nor why she was so special.
The young girl has returned to a human existence many times. It is her job to bring special lessons to a family and friends. She never grows old enough to live as an adult, dying young each time.
Two years ago at the International Centers for Spiritual Living Youth Seminar in August 2007, we did an exercise called “Finding you Perfect Partner”. Caitlyn was my perfect partner. We only had about 20 minutes together but she touched my heart so deeply that we were forever connected.
The following Easter morning, Caitlyn died in a car accident. I cried desperately over and over for a long time. How could a 20-minute connection to a beautiful young girl be so profound? Why did it hurt more than I could explain?
One day, I knew. Caitlyn was my angelic daughter. Once again, she had come to earth to experience a brief human life, touching everyone in her life. Somehow knowing this bigger picture about the special angels eased my grief for both lifetimes. I am so blessed.
by Katherine Ari August 11, 2009
The idea of Past Lives is in many religions and spiritual philosophies. Even in the early Christian religion, it is told, the concept was voted out of the Bible at Constanople in 533 A.D. What I personally have found working with both adults and children and in my own personal journey is that it is possible. It is also possible that there is a Universal Thought out somewhere in the ethers that for reasons unknown, we as individuals tap into for our own growth.
The lesson of someone else’s life is sometime a lesson for my life today, here and now. Sometimes this “memory” seems to be a genetic memory. People feel they are related to someone now that was a relation in a previous lifetime.
To me, it doesn’t matter if it is a stream of Universal Thought or we are actually living another lifetime using lessons from a previous life. I believe the importance is what comes up when I am regressed or if I hypnotize someone is something pertinent to the now consciousness. But it has frequently been more though the bigger picture may take a few years to understand and manifest.
According to some laws of karma, easy past life recall is a sign of good karma – you get to remember these things. I guess I have some good karma because it comes to me like something that happened five minutes ago.
My first experience with past life recall was in 1979 shortly after Doug, my husband, and I became a couple. He knew an elder woman with a traditional Pentecostal background who did psychic past life regressions. Midge would hold a personal object of the people she was working with. She held a silver bracelet of mine and something Doug had made like a small sculpture.
As soon as she closed her eyes, she saw an ancient village. I was the matriarchal leader and Doug was my husband. I had died and his love for me was go great that he would not allow anyone to touch my body. He was slowly pulling a ceremonial platform through the crowd of sad people to a burial location. The platform was heavy and my body was lying on it as he pulled it by a rope. She started crying because she saw such devastation.
When she began to describe her vision, I saw it too. I was tall and thin with long fingers on graceful hands. I say my husband, my daughter who would take over for me, and my people. For a long time I carried this vision of a place before recorded time, but it also may be a future village after our earth, as we know it goes through some major changes. It doesn’t matter. Time is NOT linear. It is circular.
I remember many things about that life. When I focus on it, I remember more details. One story is about my daughters. They were both beautiful. One was strong and would become the leader after my death. She was healthy, confident, and very fair with her decisions. The people would follow her guidance.
The second daughter was delicate and beloved by all. She needed extra care and attention all of her life and protection. Her older sister loved her as much as everyone else and understood. There was never any jealousy because she received so much attention. She was an angel and was only allowed to be on earth in the family for a short time, dying young. We mourned her passing for a long time because at the time we didn’t understand why she had to leave so soon nor why she was so special.
The young girl has returned to a human existence many times. It is her job to bring special lessons to a family and friends. She never grows old enough to live as an adult, dying young each time.
Two years ago at the International Centers for Spiritual Living Youth Seminar in August 2007, we did an exercise called “Finding you Perfect Partner”. Caitlyn was my perfect partner. We only had about 20 minutes together but she touched my heart so deeply that we were forever connected.
The following Easter morning, Caitlyn died in a car accident. I cried desperately over and over for a long time. How could a 20-minute connection to a beautiful young girl be so profound? Why did it hurt more than I could explain?
One day, I knew. Caitlyn was my angelic daughter. Once again, she had come to earth to experience a brief human life, touching everyone in her life. Somehow knowing this bigger picture about the special angels eased my grief for both lifetimes. I am so blessed.
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