Sharing the beauty of the human spirit

The Beauty of the Human Spirit

I am starting a new series of posts called The Beauty of the Human Spirit.  Its creation is inspired by two things.

  • These words which I don’t know if I wrote or found. “When we share the beauty of the human spirit, we plant a garden of hope within every life we touch.”
  • My profound belief that we humans need to see reminders of our loving kindness and grace. We need to see and hear examples of our light and what a miraculous gift it is to the world, and we need it as much as we need air to breathe.

So, I will post pictures that show us at our best as we choose to love, honor, and respect one another.  It is my prayer that these posts will touch your heart as they do mine, and you will begin to feel, and choose to feel, the light and love that is the center of my being and yours.

This first photograph is of my sister and her grandson, Walter.  My sister often cannot walk with any assurance of staying upright.  Her grandson has taken her hand so that he can help her walk to the river with him.

 

 

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Rise and Shine: Woman with Arms Outstretched at Sunrise - Ready to Take on the Day
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RISE AND SHINE – ON A FRIDAY MORNING AT 5:17

At 5:17 AM on Friday, January 2, 2023, I heard God talk to me…and it was loud, and it was strong.  His words exploded into my soul with a wonder and a light that filled it to bursting.  IT BROUGHT ME HOME to the realization that I could fulfill God’s plan for me in this earthly journey.

Long ago I answered God’s call to be one of His healing resources for His hurting children.  Yet, I have been haunted by an awareness that I have never quite understood or fulfilled that promise.  I kept trying, but I ran into wall after wall until I was often broken, bleeding, and exhausted.  For some reason, no matter how hard I tried, I was failing to keep my word.  Yet, this morning at 5:17 AM central time, I finally understood why.

The truth is I always had the answer.  That answer is a natural part of who I am, but I had lost it with the toxic struggle to be seen and heard in the material world.  I am a licensed professional counselor and a spiritual being on a God-ordained human journey.  With this simple question, I offer all that I am.

HOW CAN I HELP?

 

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Rise and Shine: Woman with Arms Outstretched at Sunrise - Ready to Take on the Day
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Rise and Shine 15: A Blessing from St. Therese

ST. THERESE

 

        She said, “May today there be peace within.  May you trust that you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith in yourself and others.  May you use the gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you .  May you be content with yourself just the way you are.  Let this knowledge settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love.  It is there for each and every one of us.”

 

Close your eyes for a moment and imagine a world that reflects St. Therese’s words.  Can you see it?  Can you see yourself living in a world that honors you as exactly who you are — a world that allows “your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love?”

Keep your eyes closed and experience this place.  As your mind embraces the beauty and wonder of a world of light and love rather than a world of darkness and hate, your body begins to experience a lightness that it can only vaguely remember.  You see yourself as the joyful child you were before the world blew holes in you and locked you in a prison of pain.    Suddenly, miraculously,  the fear of being “less than” and of enduring the excruciating pain that you believe the world inflicts on you because you are “less than” vanishes.  You are free!  The wonder of being free fills your eyes with tears of joy.

Open your eyes!   The picture of the life and the world that St. Therese paints is exactly what God intended for you all along.

Freedom or fear?   You have the God-given free will power to set yourself free.  CHOOSE!

 

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Rise and Shine: Woman with Arms Outstretched at Sunrise - Ready to Take on the Day

Rise and Shine 14: Choosing to Shine

PHENOMENAL WOMAN

By Maya Angelou

 

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.

I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size

But when I start to tell them,

They think I’m telling lies.

I say,

It’s in the reach of my arms,

The span of my hips,

The stride of my step,

The curl of my lips.

I’m a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,

That’s me.

 

I walk into a room

Just as cool as you please,

And to a man,

The fellows stand or

Fall down on their knees.

Then they swarm around me,

A hive of honey bees.

I say,

It’s the fire in my eyes,

And the flash of my teeth,

The swing of my waist,

And the joy in my feet.

I’m a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,

That’s me.

 

Maya Angelou chose to shine as herself rather than as the person the world told her she had to be in order to be accepted…and it made all the difference to her and to the world.  Who would you be if you chose to shine as yourself?  Your light just might transform the world…and you.

 

 

 

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Rise and Shine: Woman with Arms Outstretched at Sunrise - Ready to Take on the Day

Rise and Shine 15: A Blessing from St. Therese

ST. THERESE

 

        She said, “May today there be peace within.  May you trust that you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith in yourself and others.  May you use the gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you .  May you be content with yourself just the way you are.  Let this knowledge settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love.  It is there for each and every one of us.”

 

Close your eyes for a moment and imagine a world that reflects St. Therese’s words.  Can you see it?  Can you see yourself living in a world that honors you as exactly who you are — a world that allows “your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love?”

Keep your eyes closed and experience this place.  As your mind embraces the beauty and wonder of a world of light and love rather than a world of darkness and hate, your body begins to experience a lightness that it can only vaguely remember.  You see yourself as the joyful child you were before the world blew holes in you and locked you in a prison of pain.    Suddenly, miraculously,  the fear of being “less than” and of enduring the excruciating pain that you believe the world inflicts on you because you are “less than” vanishes.  You are free!  The wonder of being free fills your eyes with tears of joy.

Open your eyes!   The picture of the life and the world that St. Therese paints is exactly what God intended for you all along.

Freedom or fear?   You have the God-given free will power to set yourself free.  CHOOSE!

 

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