A letter from Chief Arvol Looking Horse

A Great Urgency

To All World Religious and Spiritual Leaders

My Relatives,

Time has come to speak to the hearts of our Nations and their Leaders. I ask you this from the bottom of my heart, to come together from the Spirit of your Nations in prayer.

We, from the heart of Turtle Island, have a great message for the World; we are guided to speak from all the White Animals showing their sacred color, which have been signs for us to pray for the sacred life of all things. As I am sending this message to you, many Animal Nations are being threatened, those that swim, those that crawl, those that fly, and the plant Nations, eventually all will be affect from the oil disaster in the Gulf.

The dangers we are faced with at this time are not of spirit. The catastrophe that has happened with the oil spill which looks like the bleeding of Grandmother Earth, is made by human mistakes, mistakes that we cannot afford to continue to make.

I asked, as Spiritual Leaders, that we join together, united in prayer with the whole of our Global Communities. My concern is these serious issues will continue to worsen, as a domino effect that our Ancestors have warned us of in their Prophecies.

I know in my heart there are millions of people that feel our united prayers for the sake of our Grandmother Earth are long overdue. I believe we as Spiritual people must gather ourselves and focus our thoughts and prayers to allow the healing of the many wounds that have been inflicted on the Earth. As we honor the Cycle of Life, let us call for Prayer circles globally to assist in healing Grandmother Earth (our Unc'I Maka).

We ask for prayers that the oil spill, this bleeding, will stop. That the winds stay calm to assist in the work. Pray for the people to be guided in repairing this mistake, and that we may also seek to live in harmony, as we make the choice to change the destructive path we are on.

As we pray, we will fully understand that we are all connected. And that what we create can have lasting effects on all life.

So let us unite spiritually, All Nations, All Faiths, One Prayer. Along with this immediate effort, I also ask to please remember June 21st, World Peace and Prayer Day/Honoring Sacred Sites day. Whether it is a natural site, a temple, a church, a synagogue or just your own sacred space, let us make a prayer for all life, for good decision making by our Nations, for our children's future and well-being, and the generations to come.

Onipikte (that we shall live),

Chief Arvol Looking Horse
19th generation Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe
(Wolakota.org)

White Wolf Woman

White Wolf Woman

I have been questing for my Crone Native American name and through much prayer and thought filled days and nights, Creator has gifted me with my new name. White Wolf Woman.

                                                White Wolf Woman Video

Let me tell you how this came about. My great great Grandmother gifted me with the name 'Little Bird' It was the name she called me when I was a little girl, and when I went through my Cherokee naming ceremony a few years ago, I chose to honor Grandmother by keeping the name. It seemed fitting for me, as my Spirit Guide is the Hawk, and during the naming ceremony when I accepted the name there was immediately the sound of many birds singing their songs. It was a symphony of bird songs being sung to say "YES" to their accepting of my name Little Bird.

Then, just last year when my drum was birthed, as it dried in the sun, there were birds that appeared in the skin of the drum. One looks very much like a hawk and was the first one to appear.

This year dawned bright with the Blue Moon telling me that it was time for me to be gifted with my Crone name. Being a Crone indicates that a woman is through her menopause years and is now ready to accept walking in Wise Woman's Ways. The ancient Wise Woman Crone archetype is emerging within women all over the world. We are beginning to realize that this third and crowning stage of female life (the one our culture throws away) is more authentic, creative, outrageous, powerful, funny, healing and profound than we ever imagined.(http://www.birthingthecrone.com/). I embraced this knowledge with great joy and looked with great anticipation for my name to be revealed.

First I thought that it would come from my Cherokee sister Ayanvli, who had performed my first naming ceremony. But as I sought direction from my ancestors angels and spirit guides it soon became clear that I was to quest for the name. So the journey began.

One weekend my grand daughter who is 5, came for a visit. She likes to find music on YouTube, so we sat one evening listening to songs she found. She asked to listen to a song that had a photo of a wolf on it as she loves animals. The song was 'Nothing Else Matters' by Metallica. A dear friend was here also and we both cringed because we were not sure if it was appropriate for a 5 year old to listen to. My grand daughter was insistent that we needed to listen to the song about wolves. So, I told her we would listen and see if it was an OK song for children. She stated that this song would be very perfect for all of us to hear. So, we began to listen.

And that was the beginning of a profound change in me...down to my cellular level I could feel this sound resonate with my spirit. My friend felt the same. My granddaughter in her simple childlike way had listened to Spirit and led us to this awesome song. We listened in silence, and we wept. And we watched the wolves in the photos. The only glitch was that whoever made the video had put in an advertisement which stayed on through the whole thing. Yet the wolves spoke to me from the screen.

The name came that night in a dream. I saw myself running with wolves. We were running through a forest, with the beautiful Full Blue Moon shining down upon us. I looked down and at first I saw my own body and legs and feet. Then slowly as I was running my feet changed into a Wolf's feet, then the legs changed, my torso changed, and I was running with the wolves as a wolf. I was a beautiful silvery white color, majestic in stance and running with power and freedom. I heard a howl in the distance, which changed into a clear voice "White Wolf Woman". Soon I ran into a glen, all the wolves stopped and formed a circle around me. They began to howl my name in the moonlight...White Wolf Woman. I stood in the glen and was showered with the moon glow, accepting the name and howling with the wolves.

When I awoke in the morning, I knew what my new name was, yet felt this tremendous fear at the same time. How could this be? The White Wolf Woman is one who is extremely powerful and wise. She walks in her own power with head held high and with arms outstretched to bring love and knowledge to other women and to the children of earth. I felt this was too high a responsibility and that I could not possibly have heard right. Who was I to be called White Wolf Woman?

As the days passed into months, there have been many confirmations that this is my new name. My own dog Ebony, who we believe to be a Chow/Wolf confirmed the name one night by coming and jumping into my lap while the song 'Nothing Else Matters' was playing. I began to look for photos of white wolves and other wolves on line. Each one spoke to my heart. I found photos of Hawks and Wolves together. The signs began to come every day until I finally bowed in reverence and accepted this name.

I thought we would have ceremony for this naming, yet realized that the naming was done by Creator and Spirit in a very powerful way. At some point I will have a gathering of friends to drum and celebrate with me my entering into my Crone years and have them bless me with my new name. But for now...I have accepted the name, and the mantle that comes with it. To walk in wisdom and truth. To love and protect.

I AM White Wolf Woman
https://www.facebook.com/arizonahealingpeace/
Healing Peace

Let Them Go

By T. D. Jakes

There are people who can walk away from you.

And hear me when I tell you this! When people can walk away from you: let them walk. I don't want you to try to talk another person into staying with you, loving you, calling you, caring about you, coming to see you, staying attached to you. I mean hang up the phone. ... See More

When people can walk away from you let them walk. Your destiny is never tied to anybody that left.

The bible said that, they came out from us that it might be made manifest that they were not for us. For had they been of us, no doubt they would have continued with us. [1 John 2:19]

People leave you because they are not joined to you. And if they are not joined to you, you can't make them stay.

Let them go.

And it doesn't mean that they are a bad person it just means that their part in the story is over. And you've got to know when people's part in your story is over so that you don't keep trying to raise the dead.. You've got to know when it's dead.

You've got to know when it's over. Let me tell you something.. I've got the gift of good-bye. It's the tenth spiritual gift, I believe in good-bye.. It's not that I'm hateful, it's that I'm faithful, and I know whatever God means for me to have He'll give it to me. And if it takes too much sweat I don't need it.. Stop begging people to stay.

Let them go!!

If you are holding on to something that doesn't belong to you and was never intended for your life, then you need to......

LET IT GO!!!

If you are holding on to past hurts and pains .......

LET IT GO!!!

If someone can't treat you right, love you back, and see your worth.......

LET IT GO!!!

If someone has angered you.

LET IT GO!!!

If you are holding on to some thoughts of evil and revenge.....

LET IT GO!!!

If you are involved in a wrong relationship or addiction... ..

LET IT GO!!!

If you are holding on to a job that no longer meets your needs or talents

LET IT GO!!!

If you! u have a bad attitude.... ...

LET IT GO!!!

If you keep judging others to make yourself feel better......

LET IT GO!!!

If you're stuck in the past and God is trying to take you to a new level in Him.........

LET IT GO!!!

If you are struggling with the healing of a broken relationship. ....

LET IT GO!!!

If you keep trying to help someone who won't even try to help themselves... ....

LET IT GO!!!

If you're feeling depressed and stressed .............

LET IT GO!!!

If there is a particular situation that you are so used to handling yourself and God is saying 'take your hands off of it,' then you need to.......

LET IT GO!!!

This past week I noticed that the doves who usually make their nest each spring in one of our hanging baskets on the back porch had given up hope that the baskets would ever be back out there, so they made their nest in the crook of the bottle tree.

Now those of you who have seen the tree know that it does not provide prime nesting conditions. There are no leaves to shade it from the sun. There is nothing overhead to keep out the various weather conditions that will occur during the nesting season. Plus, any predator birds flying overhead have a full view of the eggs if one of the parents is not sitting on the nest.

Today as it snowed, rained, and sleeted...there was Momma and Poppa Dove sitting on the nest, protecting the eggs as good parents do. And as I watched them through this day, I felt sorry for them and tried to put a couple of boards over the nest for a little protection, yet it really was more my attempt to feel better, for truly there is no way to protect the nest now that it has been built where it is.

It is really a sad situation, and I found myself saying, "You poor things, you did the best you knew to do, with the information you had at the time, not realizing what was up ahead and the perils that awaited you and your babies."

Then I remembered how many times I have said that to myself as a parent (or Marty has said that to me), or I have reminded my friends using those words, or counseled someone going through a rough parenting time, and even used those words with people who were facing their own death as they tried to figure out how they could have been better parents.

For those of us who are parents it is a no brainer to say that we could have all done things better looking back. Hindsight is really good at pointing out how much better we could have raised our children.
Yet the real heart lesson is not how much we could have done better, because those thoughts only lead to misplaced guilt and not forgiving ourselves for, after all, being human and NOT having all the answers.

Honestly, none of us have the answers. When we have children there is no user’s manual that comes with the baby when he/she is born telling us exactly what the child will need to be raised perfectly. No, we as parents do the best that we can with the knowledge we have at the time, and we make lots and lots of mistakes along the way.

Just like our little doves, we don't always make the nest in the right place.
We don't always protect our children from the things that can hurt them.
We don't always say the right things.
We don't always do the right things.
We love our children, there is no doubt about that...yet they don't always feel it, or see it.
We read books, we go to counselors, and we pray for help yet sometimes those things don't seem to help.

Yet we try. We do the best we can, with the tools and knowledge we have...and we must remind ourselves of something very important.

None of us is perfect. Our parents were not perfect. Our grandparents were not perfect. We as parents are not perfect. And last but not least, our children are not perfect either. We are all simple human beings on a journey through life doing the best we can. Let the judgments go.

We love each other, we forgive each other. We let the judgments go. Those are the key ingredients to being a parent, and being a child. Love and Forgiveness. The dance of Parent/Child. As old as time itself...

May is about here...Mother's Day.
June follows behind...Father's Day.

When was the last time you told your children how much you love them? Have you forgiven them for not being perfect? Have you forgiven yourself for not being a perfect child?

When was the last time you told your parents that you love them? Have you forgiven them for not being perfect? Have you forgiven yourself for not being a perfect parent?

We, like the dove, who represents Peace, do the best we can, and in the end, what really matters is that we open our hearts and love, forgive and dance together without judgments.

Enjoy the dance...

Peace Passed On

I was thinking today about my Dad. He was a man of Peace. Always the Peacemaker. He moved through the world in a calm and gentle manner. Now I don't know what he was like in his younger years, because when he and Mother adopted me he was 35, so by the time I really came to know him he was in his 50's, and had a little bit of that wisdom which comes from having lived your first 50 years on this planet.

He had that way about him that if you were around him long enough you talked softer, your attitude calmed and you breathed deeper. He laughed a lot too. He enjoyed his life, his family and his friends. He played the harmonica, the autoharp...and when I would hear him play there was just something that brought immediate peace to my soul.

When Dad spoke, he spoke in gentle words, even if he was angry. I really only saw him angry three times, once when I was an adult and we had gone to an antique show out in the hill country around Austin, Texas. He had parked the car in front of a business (which was closed) on a Sunday afternoon, and when we came back after looking around, the car had been towed. A woman came out of the business and asked us if we had seen the no parking except for patrons of the business sign, and explained that she had called to have the car towed away. Daddy asked her if the business was open on Sunday. She replied no, but still retained the right that no one was to park in front of the business even in off hours. Daddy got angry and raised his voice to the woman. I had not seen him do this ever before, so this was a new experience for me. To make a long story short, Daddy got a ride from another nice man to get his car, came back and we all went home to Austin.

The next day I talked to Mom, she told me that Dad felt so bad about having gotten so angry at the woman that he had gotten up early, gone to the florist and bought flowers, drove all the way back to the small town and hand delivered them to the woman, apologizing to her for his conduct.

This was my Dad...he believed in owning your behavior, and making peace.

As I grew up, grew older, and grew wiser...I also saw and still see the benefits of being a Person of Peace. Really seeing my Dad I believe was a constant motivator pulling me towards the awakening in me to become a Spiritual Peacemaker...and to be a person who believes in the power of Peace...true Peace.

Thanks Dad...for passing the torch of Peace. I have it, and may I pass it on to those who will listen.

Peace is the only way this world can survive.

The Awakening (Author Unknown)

The Awakening
(Author unknown)

A time comes in your life when you finally get…when, in the midst of all your fears and insanity, you stop dead in your tracks and somewhere the voice inside your head cries out…ENOUGH! Enough fighting and crying and blaming and struggling to hold on. Then, like a child quieting down after a tantrum, you blink back your tears and begin to look at the world through new eyes.

This is your awakening.

You realize it’s time to stop hoping and waiting for something to change, or for happiness, safety and security to magically appear over the next horizon.

You realize that in the real world there aren't always fairy tale endings, and that any guarantee of “happily ever after” must begin with you…and in the process a sense of serenity is born of acceptance.

You awaken to the fact that you are not perfect and that not everyone will always love, appreciate or approve of who or what you are…and that’s OK. They are entitled to their own views and opinions.

You learn the importance of loving and championing yourself…and in the process a sense of new found confidence is born of self-approval.

Your stop complaining and blaming other people for the things they did to you – or didn’t do for you – and you learn that the only thing you can really count on is the unexpected.

You learn that people don’t always say what they mean or mean what they say and that not everyone will always be there for you and everything isn’t always about you.

So, you learn to stand on your own and to take care of yourself…and in the process a sense of safety and security is born of self-reliance.

You stop judging and pointing fingers and you begin to accept people as they are and to overlook their shortcomings and human frailties…and in the process a sense of peace and contentment is born of forgiveness.

You learn to open up to new worlds and different points of view. You begin reassessing and redefining who you are and what you really stand for.

You learn the difference between wanting and needing and you begin to discard the doctrines and values you’ve outgrown, or should never have bought into to begin with.

You learn that there is power and glory in creating and contributing and you stop maneuvering through life merely as a “consumer” looking for you next fix.

You learn that principles such as honesty and integrity are not the outdated ideals of a bygone era, but the mortar that holds together the foundation upon which you must build a life.

You learn that you don’t know everything, it’s not you job to save the world and that you can’t teach a pig to sing. You learn the only cross to bear is the one you choose to carry and that martyrs get burned at the stake.

Then you learn about love. You learn to look at relationships as they really are and not as you would have them be. You learn that alone does not mean lonely.

You stop trying to control people, situations and outcomes. You learn to distinguish between guilt and responsibility and the importance of setting boundaries and learning to say NO.

You also stop working so hard at putting your feelings aside, smoothing things over and ignoring your needs.

You learn that your body really is your temple. You begin to care for it and treat it with respect. You begin to eat a balanced diet, drinking more water, and take more time to exercise.

You learn that being tired fuels doubt, fear, and uncertainty and so you take more time to rest. And, just food fuels the body, laughter fuels our soul. So you take more time to laugh and to play.

You learn that, for the most part, you get in life what you deserve, and that much of life truly is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

You learn that anything worth achieving is worth working for and that wishing for something to happen is different than working toward making it happen.

More importantly, you learn that in order to achieve success you need direction, discipline and perseverance. You learn that no one can do it all alone, and that it’s OK to risk asking for help.

You learn the only thing you must truly fear is fear itself. You learn to step right into and through your fears because you know that whatever happens you can handle it and to give in to fear is to give away the right to live life on your own terms.

You learn to fight for your life and not to squander it living under a cloud of impending doom.

You learn that life isn’t always fair, you don’t always get what you think you deserve and that sometimes bad things happen to unsuspecting, good people…and you lean not to always take it personally.

You learn that nobody’s punishing you and everything isn’t always somebody’s fault. It’s just life happening. You learn to admit when you are wrong and to build bridges instead of walls.

You lean that negative feelings such as anger, envy and resentment must be understood and redirected or they will suffocate the life out of you and poison the universe that surrounds you.

You learn to be thankful and to take comfort in many of the simple things we take for granted, things that millions of people upon the earth can only dream about: a full refrigerator, clean running water, a soft warm bed, a long hot shower.

Then, you begin to take responsibility for yourself by yourself and you make yourself a promise to never betray yourself and to never, ever settle for less than you heart’s desire.

You make it a point to keep smiling, to keep trusting, and to stay open to every wonderful possibility.

You hang a wind chime outside your window so you can listen to the wind.

Finally, with courage in you heart, you take a stand, you take a deep breath, and you begin to design the life you want to live as best as you can.

Blue Moon Welcomes 2010

Tonight there is a Full Moon, which is a Blue Moon and an eclipse moon also. In my meditation time which I spend as each old year comes to a close and the new year is on the horizon, I keep hearing the words "It portends something new." Portends means the giving of an omen or an anticipatory sign of something new. So on this night the blue moon gives me an omen of something new.

I also am being surrounded today with messages to lay down my work with hospice in order that my hands and heart be free to receive something new, something that will fit with my 'true, real, authentic self'. This is not an easy thing for me, as anyone who has known me over these past years would guess. My connectedness to those crossing over has been such an intricate part of my being these past 5 years. I feel my guardian angels Gabrielle, Michael and Uriel covering me with their wings even as I type this, and I feel immensely protected and encased in this almost chrysalis type of womb. Something new is happening.

Been a while

It has been quite a while since I last posted something here. Life has gone by very quickly it seems, like a swiftly moving river flowing ever so unnoticeable to the people who live near it's banks.

I am on new meds for the migraines. They are working and I have more energy than I have in years! Yeah! I have been able to share with people the message that Migraines are not just bad headaches, they are a disease process, and that has been a blessing. To be able to help others deal with their pain issues is my goal in this area.

As many of you know I took a sabbatical from actually working as Spiritual Counselor at YRMC Hospice at the end of last Year (2008). It has not been the year I expected, all full of meditation and renewal and such. It has been a year getting control of the Migraine disease, and I can only be grateful for Spirit's guidance into knowing that I needed this year. I cannot imagine what shape I would have been in had I been working and gone through the stroke symptoms I had during the summer. So once again, I look at the synchronicities that come into life and know that they are from someplace higher than myself and I say "thank-you".

I am grateful also that my work continues with hospice as a volunteer. I love being able to help families by providing respite and spending time visiting with patients, laughing with them as they talk about their lives and things that have brought meaning to them. To see a smile on their faces is a gift to my soul.

I also have still been able to officiate at some memorials through local mortuary and as strange as it may seem to some, I feel a special call to this ministry as well as to hospice. It is an honor to be called upon to speak about someone who has made their transition into the next life, and to allow for their family and friends to celebrate their life in a way that brings out the best in their life is a joy to me.

Fall has come and gone here in the high desert. It was beautiful this year. Lots of colorful trees around town. Now we have two cords of wood stacked and ready for winter, we have used the wood stove twice already with nights getting down into the mid 20's.

I will try to post more often...maybe with the new year, more postings will come from my heart to yours to encourage you in your journey.

Love to you,
Peace and Blessings,
Charlotte

Ch Ch Ch Changes

Life is full of changes. Once we think we have an inkling of how our blocks are stacking up, they can topple down any moment. That has been my experience in the last six weeks. We set out of an journey to go and 'rescue' our youngest daughter at her request, and after making sure that this was something she really and truly wanted, we set out to drive across the country. From Arizona to Maryland, to get her, then to make a trip to Minnesota to see family and our Great Aunt Velda who is now in a Skilled Nursing Facility, and then back here to Arizona.

The trip did not go as we thought it would.

I myself, have no memory of past the point of dropping our beloved dog Jake off at a friend's house Saturday morning, until we got to some place in Wisconsin, and I only knew it was Wisconsin because of the roadsigns that said so. I sat there in the car, wondering why we were in Wisconsin, and the only thing I could come up with was that we must be there to take Sarah to Winona, Minnesota to go to college, as she had been wanted to go there. I also noticed that my left arm was feeling heavy, and my whole left side was weak. I had a really bad headache also. Marty drove us straight through to the Winona Emergency Department. They treated me for the migraine, did a CT scan, which showed brain swelling linked to the migraine and said the the amnesia was also from the migraine, something called transient global amnesia. The radiologist also said he saw an area of an old infarct (an old stroke) less than 1 millimeter. There was no way to tell when that had occurred, maybe last year when we were in California. At that time I experienced one pupil being much larger than the other one and it would not dilate right even when Marty used his pen light on it. They gave me some meds for the migraine and I left the ER walking and talking almost normal one again.

There were other issues going on at the time with our daughter, the normal ups and downs that we have gone through with her for years, dealing with someone who has a mental illness and who refuses to get counseling. This is not the place to talk about that although it is our belief that these issues and stressors may have brought on the migraines on the trip which caused the neuro episodes.

The rest of the trip was just as stressful. It is very fuzzy to me, memories fade in and out like shadows around a flame. I did have another neuro episode on the trip, trouble walking and talking.

Once home I went to see my primary care PA. She was wonderful. She put me through about an hour and a half worth of neuro tests and set me up to see a neurologist two days later. Well, we walked in and I felt like we were back in the 1950's. He had a long white doctor's coat on, all starched with his name embroidered on the pocket, his stethoscope around his neck. He asked me a few questions and when I was taking too long to answer he asked Marty to explain everything because I was talking to slow. He then looked at my form and asked me in a very condescending manner,"You have a Master's degree?" I felt very degraded. He had me walk to the wall, which I stumbled a few times and Marty had to stand up and catch me. Then he had me follow his finger with my eyes. That was the extent of his neurological exam. He informed me that he thought it as all psychological and I could have an MRI only IF I wanted one.

The only good thing he did was put me on Topomax, a seizure med now used for migraines, and he ordered the MRI.

I ended back in the ER the next week, and that the Infinite Being that watches over us all, the doctor was one who Marty knew and once he heard about all I had been through, he got a hold of one of the good neuro doctors in Prescott and I have an appointment to see him tomorrow.

Now that is the nuts and bolts of what I have been through.

My brain is tired of writing, and going back over each sentence to make sure it makes sense. I will write more about what all this has meant to me and what I have learned having experienced stroke like symptoms, whether these have been TIA's or just massive migraines which have restricted blood flow to the brain (yes that is what migraines do).

Waiting

As many know we set our intentions and directed our prayers so that we would be able to move back home to Minnesota or Wisconsin last November. Marty interviewed with an ambulance company and was hired, we put the house on the market. At the end of December I quit my job, to go on Sabbatical. And we waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

We are still waiting.

We have become comfortable in waiting.

During these months of waiting, all manner of suggestions have come to us from all directions, on what we can do to hurry up the sale of the house, to get the energy moving, to clear out any negative things that may be holding us back. And all the suggestions have been given to us because of the love of our friends whom we cherish, and are deeply grateful to in trying to help us get back home.

Yet, we have done all, and are still waiting.

It occurred to me the other day, when I was wishing that Spring would get here and there would be no more cold weather sneaking up on us, that truly there is nothing we can do to make Spring arrive any sooner. There is no prayer, no ceremony, no ritual that will make Spring get here to stay. We have to wait patiently through cold snaps that come and go, until finally there are no more, and the days are filled with warm sunshine and we can finally say that Spring has arrived in all it's glory.

I have watched as the plants are in the same waiting room that we find ourselves in...they begin to sprout, they bloom, then the cold hits, and blossoms are frozen, leaves curl in and I imagine they do not like the waiting for Spring to finally arrive than Marty and I like waiting for our house to sell. Yet, they wait patiently, as we do, until Spring does arrive, and they can grow and grow and grow.

We as humans like to think that we can control things. We think if we pray enough, if we set our intentions and think only on those positive thoughts, that we can make things fall into place for us. And yet, as important as being positive and staying centered...it is just as important to say these simple words of truth: Thy will be done, not my will, but yours Creator.

For there is a higher knowledge that we have about perfect timing, and for us, for Marty and I, we know that whenever our house sells, whenever we get back home, it will be in God's perfect timing. We can trust because everything else in our lives has worked on this principle.

So, we wait, and while we wait, we enjoy this moment, this hour, this day that we have together, to love, to laugh, to enjoy friends, to bring healing to those around us, to give of ourselves as Christ gave of himself. Knowing we are exactly where we are supposed to be, for such a time as this.

If you are waiting for something, remember things always work out for good, in perfect timing. Enjoy where you are at, be happy with the simple pleasures of life and smile...it will pull up your heart strings and you will hear the melody of life flowing through your soul.

Floating on the River of LIfe

Today I was reminded of an experience I had when I was much younger, living in Texas, and going to the San Gabriel River a lot to float down it with our inner tubes. I was headed home from church and felt impressed to stop and watch the river flowing, so I did. Once I reached the water's edge, Spirit led me to take my shoes off and stand in the middle of the river, which was about knee high. I could feel the current pushing against my legs and it took a bit of effort to keep standing upright. It wasn't too long that I felt Spirit nudging me to lay down in the water, at which I did protest, I was in my Sunday clothes after all. Yet, I knew there was some meaning to this event, so I did sit down, and as I leaned back into the water, the swift current took ahold of me and I began to float on the surface. Down stream I went, miraculously flowing with the main current, staying away from trees and boulders in the way.

I noticed that if I tried to steer myself or if I stiffened up and tried to make my own way downstream, I would drift to where the rocks scrapped my body, or I would run into overhanging tree branches. But if I lay very relaxed and allowed the natural current to pull me along, I was unharmed.

It did not take me long to get the lesson.

My life was like that river...a journey through beautiful landscape to be enjoyed and to relax and have fun with. As long as I trusted Spirit to guide me, as long as I did not try to make my own way, I was protected, I was nurtured, and I was in that perfect place of allowing whatever to come into my life knowing that I would be all right.

That still holds true today. There are a lot of things I may not understand about what life has brought my way. But one sure thing. I have traveled down the rapids no worse for wear, and I am a more peaceful, more beautiful, more confident soul for having the faith to trust in God, to know that Spirit's guidance is always there... no matter what.

May you know that no matter what may lie ahead... you are loved, you are protected, you are peace.

Books to help on the Journey toward Death

Sacred Dying: Creating Rituals for Embracing the End of Life, by Megory Anderson.

Final Gifts: Understanding the Special Awareness, Needs and Communications of the Dying, by Maggie Callahan and Patricia Kelly.
These two hospice nurses have 20 years of close and comforting work with the dying. They share insight into the special awareness that they have termed Nearing Death Awareness. Unlike near death experiences, the Nearing Death Awareness is part of the dying process Itself and serves a very vital purpose. *Excellent chapter on what a person needs in order to die peacefully.

The Wheel of Life, by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross.
Ms. Ross shares with us her life story as she herself faces death.

Graceful Passages, A Companion for Living and Dying, (book and CD)by Michael Stillwater & Greg Milkin.
Provides life-affirming music, with messages from celebrated leaders of personal development, guides us to examine what matters most, transforming fear and pain into a pathway of healing, compassion, and understanding.

Death, the Final Stage of Growth, by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross.
Offers a spectrum of viewpoints about death including cultural differences.
Living with Death and Dying, by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross.
Compassionate guide to communicating with the terminally ill.

Advice on Dying, and Living a Better Life, by the Dalai Lama.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama draws from a wide range of traditions and beliefs to explore what happens when we die.

Parting Visions, by Melvin Morse.
Dr. Morse shares insights from his research into near death experiences.

Life After Life, by Raymond Moody.
Accounts of Near Death Experiences.

The American Book of Dying, by Richard Groves and Henriette
Klauser.
Lessons in Healing Spiritual Pain.

The Sacred Art of Dying, by Kenneth Kramer.
How World Religions Understand Death.

Home With God, by Neal Donald Walsch.

If I Should Wake Before I Die, by Lamont Satterly.
Healing words for dying people .

Facing Death and Finding Hope, by Christine Longaker.
A Guide to the Emotional and Spiritual Care of the Dying.

The Grace in Dying, by Kathleen Singh.
Very deep, more through provoking and presents transpersonal psychology approach to dying.

The Place We Call Home, by Robert Grant.
A look at the death experience through the Eyes of Edgar Cayce.

The American Book of Dying, by Richard F. Groves and Henriette Anne Klauser.