A New Years Prayer

 I belong to a private group and it is our custom to pray together for the new year.  This year I am sharing some of that, my New Years Prayer for 2022, with you.

Happy New Year!  I am grateful we each made it to 2022, and I hope life is going well for each of you my friends.  Last year we lost my father in law, who was 100.  It is especially sad we could not see him on his 100th birthday, due to Covid precautions.  We also lost my 56 year old cousin, who was a mom and a grandma.  I thank you again for joining me to pray for her.  I once read that certain people/religions pray each day for the sun to rise and the grass to grow, for the world to do what we expect it to do.  They believe in prayer as an acknowledgment to God that He causes these things to happen, and their prayer is as much a spoken word of gratitude as it is a request.  This year, I want to acknowledge and thank God for the life, the joy, the love and countless blessings we have with each new day.  All the people in our lives, our pets, our homes, our world all we have because God has given us and this planet Life.  May the Life and the Joy be with you and your families, and May it embrace our world in this new year.  Giving thanks to God.  Amen.

The Truth of Jesus

Nothing but Truth lasts forever. Life is ever changing and full of beginnings and endings. This is what Jesus meant when he said ‘Heaven and earth shall pass away; my words will never pass away.’ He spoke Truth. The point is not a Bible lesson. You are here for a reason. Each ending is a beginning, because in truth life is endless. You are here in this world of temporary realities - relativity - to find Truth. Learn what lessons are real. Use your time wisely.

Presenting Time

We remember things.  But the memories are different because the mind sees what it will.  We want some thing we had.  But do we recall what it really was?

Time distorts and fades memory.  As for its practical impact, the distorted memory is what is real.  At least for the moment.

The mind engages reality in this and other manners, co-creating the universe.  Awareness changes reality.  

We dream of the future.  Sometimes we fear it.  This too affects reality.  Thoughts craft the world.  Let there be light.  And there was light!

Thus imagine if you will what the most powerful mind can do with thought.  Yet he will not interfere with your thoughts.  That is free will.  That is the Law of God.

Recognizing reality is actually relativity, helps one understand this pivot from mind to mind as perspective changes infinitely.

Not just in space but in time does relativity reign.  But time and space are all concepts, not constant and not real.  The mind has crafted all of it.

It is the greatest illusion of all time.  You cannot see past it, because past and future are all concepts.  Only now is here.  You are always here and it is always now.

Managing your Mind

I’ve noticed that people with mental illness see the world from exclusively their own perspective.  Not a thought about how their needs, decisions, actions affect others.

Their families have a great burden dealing with the disruption to their lives, and not a shred of thought or glimmer of awareness goes toward this.  The spouses must shoulder the burden of trying to provide a stable environment for their families, and the children can be scarred for life by the unstable parent.  Even siblings can be traumatized as well as friends and other family, work associates, etc.

The successful adult navigates life by working with people, and crafting a win-win for themselves and others.  A good salesman always sells what you want, not what he wants.  

Many people fall into the pattern of self-absorption and forget that other people share this earth.  When you think of them and look out for others, you become someone who works with people.  Maybe we’re not being as extreme in our selfishness as those with mental illness, but we can all improve in this respect.

Those in treatment would do well to focus outside themselves as well.  It may be the first step in healing to recognize the world outside and the people in it.

It is not good for man to be alone, not even in his mind.

Mary

 I see her now.  She was 13, my little cousin.  Come to visit us from Florida.  She was sweet, reserved.  I wanted to spend time together, but her older sister said no, she was not interested.  So we older girls went off together to explore the trails and hills near my mother’s home.  

I would see them every summer when they came to visit and it took many years before I understood she did not get along with her older sister.  That is why we missed out on that time we could have spent together.

Many years later I came to visit them in Florida, and I met her husband and little girl.  She met my son and husband.  Over the years we slowly built that bond we should have had earlier.  

She was bright, kind and the glue that held our family together.    When she got sick, I took another trip to see her and she told me she would fight to live.

I believed her and together my friends, my family and I prayed for a miracle.  We did not get one.  We already had one.  

She has passed and will join her mom and dad in heaven.

Looking back over the years, I realize again what I missed.  Life is never long enough.

Mary was beloved by all, and in the end even by her older sister.  You can’t replace someone like her.  You just have to keep her in your heart and carry her with you.

Until we meet again cuz…

The Spirit of Joy

 Sometimes our problems in life are overcome when we begin to notice what we have, rather than seeing what we want.  Sometimes the things we have are what we need.  It is human nature to want more.  And so whatever we attain, it is never enough.  Look around you, notice what you have.  All things in this world are temporal.  They are here for you to enjoy, now.  

The spirit of joy beckons the nature of abundance, just as the nature of want manifests lack.  Look around you, and appreciate the beauty.

One day, your soul may manifest the desire of your heart.  Lock it in your mind, as that which you love and treasure.  Make it yours in spirit.  So it will come to you.

Queen Me

In the game of life, sometimes a player is removed before their time.  In chess, perhaps a pawn is sacrificed to gain position on the board.  Perhaps a bishop or knight is taken by the opposition.  This can be an unseen loss or a willing trade-off as players swap pieces.

The Queen is the most powerful piece on the board and its loss is a serious blow to a player’s winning chances.  However, a lowly pawn can make its way to the other side of the board and become a Queen.

As you play the game, sometimes you sacrifice one of your pieces, your mind, your body, your security, sometimes it can be your social network, your home, friends or job.  There are losses and gains.  If you gain better position in one area, you may have lost power in another.

But play the game wisely, and maybe, just maybe, you get a chance to be a Queen.  Not just any piece or player on the board of life, but a valued, powerful and protected piece.

The key is to know its a game, and the stakes are high.

Guard your pieces.