Ponderings #46

Dear fellow travelers,

  Thank you again, again for being on this journey called life with me.

 

   I may never know what my true purpose is,  I do my day to day tasks. and then every now and then, something happens, to cause me to really think how life has unfolded and unfolds in unexpected ways beyond my sometimes limited concepts.  How life is this magnificent tapestry, and I haven't been able to fly above this magnificent work of art to view the design from the top,  because  my vantage point has been seeing  just a small section from underneath.  But we are all part of this design, all interwoven.  and maybe someday we will see the entire design.

 

  I heard this true story the other day, it really touched me,    and since it is Memorial Day Weekend,  I felt it appropriate to share it.

 

  I have this very special friend,  who may never realize how special he is.  During his teenage years, he being white, in a very Southern South, befriended a black boy who became his best friend in  Ku Klux Klan country. This obviously was before desegregation.  in the early 60ths. Because of his relationship with this best friend. He was hooded and beaten severely by the Klan.   I wont go into all the details, but he did miraculously survive. 

And he never gave up his friendship with his best friend.  He had the strength and courage to refuse!!  He followed his heart.

, 

Graduation from high school came and he graduated from his white school and his friend graduated from his black school,  the two schools did not mix!

Both were drafted at the same time for Viet Nam. 

His friend passed his physical and was deployed.

My friend did not pass his physical.

 

His friend was killed in Viet Nam. 

What happened from this act of valor to me was the purpose for his life.

He was the first black boy, or white boy,  to be killed in Viet Nam from this town.

The white Baptist church, set aside its prejudice and opened its doors for the closed casket funeral,  to standing room only.

The store owners stopped serving, who they knew to be in  the Klan, and the Klan lost its force. 

Thru this chain of events,  this town became desegregated. 

 

 The country also thru changes in its laws and Martin Luther King  began   desegregation and integration  happened.

 

My friend to me is one of extraordinary courage,  he stood his ground, stating "both of us had red blood".  He didn't cave, or renounce his friendship, when he could have easily done so.  He is a hero.  Strong, with a great sense of purpose to do what he knew for him was right.

 

Both are hero's  to me.

 

Have a wonderful  Memorial Day

Please, remember all who serve and all of those who gave of their lives in doing so.

 

How well do we stand our ground in the face of adversity?

 

Just pondering on doing what I feel is right.

 

Rev Linda Patton  ENTC

http://Ponderings-everyday-spirituality.blogspot.com

 

 

Ponderings #44

Dear fellow travelers,

Happy spring in the North East!!   and to you,  I'm happy to have you as a fellow traveler.  I received many comments from my last Ponderings on heaven.  Very interesting concepts you have.  All good!!

I was also very happy last year when I settled down and wrote out a list of things I had been gifted.  It seemed to grow and grow the more I thought.  Things to be totally appreciative and grateful for.  I admit, sometimes things I just took for granted.

I need not ever to take these things for granted.  Be grateful for everything.

Things like an entire paid for weekend in NY with a friend, dinner paid for by friends, a great partially paid for trip to Mexico by and with a friend,  and on and on it went.   I still have that list.

Currently I just made a new one, and again the more I thought the longer it became.

Some but not all items on my current list are----

Being one of two speakers at a conference last month,  the on going

complimentary tickets plus my own free admission to an area theater in exchange for an hour of saying hello to people attending.  Numerous free art activities in exchange for my docketing at an art museum. Friends gifting me a container of Irises for the yard.  A friend who is using a picture that I had painted of her cat for the cover of her book that she is publishing.  Dinner at my daughters for Mothers day.  On and on it goes.  And how can I not include the friend who I was to take to lunch for her birthday and because of timing, she ended up serving me lunch instead!!!

The fab yoga instructor who always serves ginger tea and figs after yoga.

And the friend whose goodwill bag I intercepted and because of her great style ended up with many new to me items--OK I really didn't need them but---

The prayer beads given to me by a very special man.

The friend who paid for a live streaming conference and invited me and others to view it.---  On and on it goes.  And so grateful I am!!!!

It is a reciprocal world.  Giving comes back in many forms,  and sometimes not in the way we would expect it.   Be grateful and give and give,  and always be open to receive.

Just pondering on gifts and gratitude,

Rev Linda Patton  ENTC

http://Ponderings-everyday-spirituality.blogspot.com.

  

Ponderings #43

Dear fellow travelers,

What a beautiful day!!  For me,worth waiting for, after the gray winter.

And again thank you for your responses.

Yes, Virginia, there is a heaven.

I am writing this to my daughter who just had her favorite dog put to rest, and to me who had her Zoie put to rest last year, same time.

Our animals are as loved as our children, or almost,  or are our children.

and when we feel it is time for them to rest, thru sickness or accidents, it is a difficult decision.  Sometimes we may hold them on too long, our animals are loyal and don't give up too easily.  They all are different in some ways,  they have their own personalities, but they are forgiving, loyal, and loving--sometimes our best companions.

To me, I know all religions don't have the same idea but, I believe heaven is right here,  all around us.  Everything is energy at its very  core.  And energy never disappears,  we, as all animals, even plants, just change.  We and animals shed our animal forms when it is time, but our spirit, energy,  just keeps moving on.

Here and yes, out in the Universe, wherever it chooses to travel and be.

Heaven is,  and  our loved ones are here in spirit.

If  you have a dream or dreams of these resting loved ones,  maybe their energy is not too far away.  just listen.

Where is heaven to you?

Just pondering on heaven,

Rev Linda Patton,  ENTC

Ponderings #42

Dear fellow travelers,

I thank you again for your comments, responses, and concerns. 

I received one that said to "pass it on" and it is  so good, I decided to do just that.

I usually write the Ponderings but this is written by someone else and I don't have the writers name. 

The Layman's Ten Commandments

1.  Prayer is not a spare tire that you pull out when in trouble, but it is a  "steering wheel" that directs you on your right path throughout your journey

2.  So why is a car's Windshield so large and the Rear View Mirror smaller?

Because our past is not as important as our Now and our future. Keep looking and moving ahead.

3. Friendship is like a book.    It may only take a minute or so to destroy, but takes much longer to create.  Treat it with care

4.  All things in life are temporary,  If going well, enjoy it,  and if going in a different direction, you may have the choice and can decide to change the direction,  but all things and situations don't last.  Everything at some time changes.

5.  Long term  friends are  Gold!  New friends are Diamonds, but never forget the Gold,  Because to hold a Diamond you may need the Gold support.

6.  Often when we lose hope and think this is the end.  You can relax, because it may be just a valley,  never give up.

7.  When you think that the creator has solved your problem,  you have faith in its ability, when you think you have solved your problem,  you have faith in yourself.

Both are important. 

8.  A blind person asked St Anthony.  "Can there be anything worst than losing your eye sight?"   He relied "Yes, losing your vision".

9,  When you pray for others, you bless and honor them. and when you are in need or support and then feel good,  someone has prayed for you.  Its a reciprocal universe.

10. Worrying does not take away tomorrows challenges, it take away today's peace. 

Just Pondering on concepts

Rev Linda Patton  ENTC 

http://Ponderings-everyday-spirituality.blogspot.com

Ponderings #41

Dear fellow travelers,

Thank you again for being you. What a gift you are.

I have been reflecting on a class in which I am involved.

Its focus is on being real, this translates into being your real self, feeling safe to express your real feelings, allowing yourself to say, with love, what you really think and feel. To express your real emotions with appropriate.

Just think how great that would be in all situations, to be able to say:

I don't like this or that, or I don't really want to do this or that.

How freeing!!! It would be for me anyway.

Even thru I think I do that,

When I really think about it, I find myself still avoiding being totally honest in some situations, and what's that from?? Feeling I wouldn't be accepted or liked or causing people to talk. or thinking that its not that important anyway.

---

Thinking more into it. People are going to talk anyway if they choose.

Wow, this isn't that easy for me. A lot to digest.

We as women were trained to be giving, and accepting and .

ignoring our own wants for others: and maybe not even knowing what our wants are.

Wow again.

I know sometimes when I say what I think, guilt creeps in that I may have upset someone.

even thru I intellectually know I cant make anyone feel a certain way.

I really have some stuff to work on.

Freedom is what I want.

How is this for you, how often do you say or do what you truly want to say or do?

Just pondering on being real

Rev Linda Patton ENTC

http://Ponderings-everyday-spirituality.blogspot.com

Ponderings #40

Dear Fellow Travelers,

Thank you, thank you for all your comments and suggestions and letting me in on your some of your own challenges.

I had the honor of hearing Maya Angelou speak last week, what a treasure, to me her emphasis was being the rainbow in someones else's cloud.

A great way to state the support we give each other. The sun is always, always shinning; our world, just for a few hours, may be turned in another direction, or when it is turned back toward the sun, clouds may still be  covering  it up.

We just always need to truly know it is there. Always there.

And what we can do for one and another is to know this truth.

There is always a hill after a valley. If you are in a valley, just keep going thru the valley, don't set up camp-- just keep on moving. and then the hill appears and your upward climb effortlessly begins.

And the sun does shine.

And if someone else along your path is experiencing those clouds,

Be the rainbow!! peeking thru!!

Make someone's life better. Be love, be compassion, be a listener.

Just be there. Be a rainbow of color and light.

Just Pondering on support to others

a newbie Rev Linda Patton ENTC

http://Ponderings-everyday-spirituality.blogspot.com

Ponderings #39

Dear fellow travelers,

Thank you again for your responses. Gladly, I am back!! Almost adjusted to the cold, I know its not as cold here as in some places, and I do have it good!! Agreed!!

One thing that I have always marveled about is LIFE itself.

From my limited knowledge of physics etc, what I have gleamed is that ALL LIFE is made of the same elements. I find this fascinating. Interesting..

Element # Abbr. Name

1 H Hydrogen

6 C Carbon

7 N Nitrogen

8 O Oxygen

15 P Phosphorus

16 S Sulfur

For we novices, An Element is also called an Atom, or a Particle. It has been stated that in this

"." dot, there are as many atoms as there are seconds in 10 billion years!! Now, I cant actually wrap my mind around that. You scientists, is that true??

The shadow of an atom was actually photographed in 2012. Much process to do this.

Now since we as alive humans are made out of the same elements as animals, and yes those insects, the only difference is in the number and arrangements of those elements. And yes to go a step further, plants being living entities are also made of the same six elements. They just have a different molecular structure from humans and animals.

Now to even go a step further, the question to me is? Is the upholstered cotton couch, made from once alive cotton plants, the wooden desk, the table and chair, made from once, alive trees, and those baskets made from once alive vines, could they still be alive in some fashion? Could their billions and billions of atoms still be spinning around in their tiny universes?

Is all interconnected in some mystical integrated way?

Does this awareness tend to make me more conscious of all that is around me.

Do I treat my possessions a little better. Thinking they could still have some form of life. Just really pondering.

Is this tooo much pondering??

What do you think??

Just pondering on the possibilities of Life

Linda Patton, ENTC

http://Ponderings-everyday-spirituality.blogspot.com