FOGGY TOP

Life on the mt.

We've been down the hill for the day and are headed for home. As I approach this giant mountain range and if I notice clouds on or near the top of the mt, my stomach does a flip flop and I pray the fog isn't very thick and is just on the very top of our socal ole smokey. One of the unsung 'joys' of living in the beautiful mountains, is fog. Thick, white, swirling fog, playing hide and seek with me, the driver. Fog, hiding the middle yellow line from me, and also, the white line along the edge of the road. I anxiously seek turnout signs when I have a truck behind me with monster lights that the driver keeps flashing at me – hurry up, drive faster or PULL OVER, it says. So I pull over as soon as I see a turnout sign, praying that the fog will thin a little so I can see the turnout perimeter. I just want to make sure I have room for the car and won't end up in a precipitous situation on the edge of some cliff.
Nothing is familiar in this thick fog. Altho I have been driving this mountain almost every week and sometimes more often,for over 20 years, in the fog all landmarks are gone, disappeared in the always moving thick, white stuff.

I pull over safely, I hope, and let the truck go lumbering by, the driver speeding into the fog unable to see the road more than 5 feet in front of his vehicle. If that much.
I don't know why some people insist on living on the edge, so to speak. It probably makes life a little more exciting, but I can do with less excitement and maybe a longer more sedate life.

But life is so precious to me I can't do anything thats possibly self destructive for just a momentary thrill. Every God given beautiful day spent on this planet is a joy and enough of a thrill for me.

ROAD TRIP

As we travel on this road trip called Life, we will meet many challenges. We may be learning about forgiveness, or about service, or it could be a clearer understanding of love and acceptance. Maybe we are learning about receiving Blessings and knowing in our heart that we are worthy of these Blessings. It may be difficult to realize that some of these challenges are necessary for our physical, mental, emotional growth and most important is growth of our spiritual self. Some of the situations are easily confronted and learned and we pass on to the next challenge. Some experiences are difficult and trying and we just want to get thru it and go to the other side, not realizing that it is the difficulty and our reaction to it, that makes it valuable to our growth.

Similar to being in school again, we may study the situation and be able to come to some kind of conclusion or answer, that may help us go forward in growth. Sometimes it is difficult to find a solution that will make us happy and content altho still be propelled in a forward direction. Our ego may say, 'No you don't have to apologize for those words you said in haste, making someone you care about unhappy. They deserved it. They did the same thing to you.' Not a good time to listen to ego. Or at another time our belief about love may be challenged and we have to evaluate again, our ideas about loving another person and our expectations about how that person should show his love for us. And may I add here that expectations will get us in trouble quicker than a wink of the eye.

May the desire to live life to the fullest and best regardless of the circumstance you find yourself in, be your ultimate goal. To live with personal integrity and substance in a life devoted to service is my personal goal.

What is yours?

THE BUTTERFLIES SONG

One of the most beautiful sights in the world is a butterfly, flitting from flower to bush and back to the flowers. Legend mixed with myth has made this little insect a powerful visual influence.

The sheer beauty of a whole flock of butterflies is prominent in the Butterfly Children Legend of the Papago Indian tribe of the Sonoran desert of Arizona and Mexico.According to this myth, the Creator felt sorry for the children of the tribe, when He realized that their destiny was to grow old, and become wrinkled, fat, blind, weak, sick.So He gathered beautiful colors from various sources – the sky, sunlight, leaves, and all the flowers of the world.He put these colors into a magical bag and gave the bag to the children of the tribe. When the children opened the bag, brilliantly multi-colored butterflies flew out and circled around the childrens heads, singing their lovely songs. The children were enchanted, as they had never seen anything so beautiful. The singing of the butterflies was lovely and that further delighted the children.
But the songbirds complained to the Creator because they were jealous. So the Creator withdrew the songs from the butterflies. Now they are beautiful but silent.

The butterfly with its different stages reminds me of my stages of growth – first the egg - knowing nothing, seeing nothing, then the caterpillar, spending its life eating everything in sight. Next, the chrysalis, just hangin out. Then when the time is right, metamorphosis into a spectacular being of brilliant colors and form. My metamorphosis at this time in my life, is into a colorful, healthy, Loving servant of God in human form.

You can focus on images of the butterflies in a meditation or quiet time, and imagine the brilliant colors are healing and calming to you. Picture the butterflies flying around your head and sending you colors of pure Love. Breath in this Love and send all the colors moving through your body from the top of your head to the tips of your toes. Then exhale this multi-colored Love, sending it around the world to heal and to relax and calm all of the distressed people in the world. They need your Love.
To learn more about our beautiful friends:

http://butterflywebsite.com/