Bright Star Studio

yes, I’ll be corny and reference a popular Bee Gees song. I do so love that song. I find it a heartfelt dialogue between God and human. Take a deeper listen and I’m sure you’ll hear it, too.

Now, let’s get to the real nitty-gritty of this article:

The night before last, I felt someone praying for me.

It’s true, I did. I felt the energy of prayer for me from another. It was sweet and amazing. It was from a neighbor  praying for me and asking God to bless me. It was unmistakable and real.

This was a man, just a day or two prior, I heard yelling for help after a loud crash just moments before. I had my home office doors open as it was an unseasonably warm and sunny winter day. I left to explore and caught a glimpse of my neighbor trapped under a pulled trailer that had overturned and pinned him down on a steep driveway.  He was bloody with multiple facial lacerations. Long, long story short, I was there to lift the trailer and help release him. During his nightly prayers, he was sending me love and thanks for helping him.

This was the second time I felt someone’s prayers for me. The first time I had this experience was while working with a Spiritual Teacher a few years prior. I felt his general prayers of love for me one night. I kind of just chalked it up to the fact I was working with this great spiritual person. I mean, I was surprised to feel it, but it made sense and I was happy to have felt it. It made me engage more with doing the same for the people I do spiritual work for, understanding that it does reach them, even if they are not aware of it.

This time, it felt just as great but triggered a whole new spectrum of wonder to consider. What are the variables at play here that are allowing me to feel this now? I mean, I’m not a bad person and relatively certain someone, somewhere has said a prayer or two for me before. So, why did I not feel it?

Why was I able to feel these two prayers?

I started to look at the two components and considered: what is going on with the sender of the prayer and what is going on with the receiver of the prayer.

There must be some type of quality or energetic level which would enable a prayer to be perceived.

Prayers can be a light, general type of thought that passes. Prayers can also be intensely heartfelt and even charged with depth and emotion. We’ve all experienced the difference between lightly thinking a thought and deeply being connected to them with emotion. I believe the man I helped wanted deeply, with all of his soul, to thank me and send me blessings. I believe this added spiritual weight to it, so to speak.

Interestingly enough, around both of the times that I was aware of the prayers of another for me, I had been involved in studying and working with the spiritual aspects of receiving. This time, I was reading Sanaya Roman’s book, Living With Joy, which states that sometimes we are only open partially to receiving love, even as little as 25%. I looked back on several encounters and could see where I was closed off from receiving love.

I was trying to stretch and actively work on being more open and allowing space to receive love.

Recently, another spiritual teacher, had given me the idea of receiving love from the sunlight and moonlight and I had been practicing this.

It was in the quiet moments of receptive stillness that I was able to perceive the love and prayers of another for me.

I felt I caught a glimpse of what I imagine Helen Keller might have felt the first time she associated ‘finger-play’ with meaning.* It was her door to communicating with the outer world.

Feeling the prayer of another for me opened up a whole new realm of the experience of feeling in the spirit world.  I felt the realness of prayer and the real connection which runs between us.

So, how deep is your love?

How deep are your prayers and how open are you to receiving love?

Keep in mind that even the smallest of prayers have great value. But, if you want to expand these skills, try giving it some thought and attention. Really feel the depth when praying for others and allow yourself to be more open to receiving.

Look at the moonlight and feel love.

Be open to receiving love.

And, as always, give yourself love for engaging in spiritually expansive activities!

Keep me posted..

 

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*Helen Keller lost the ability to see, hear or speak at the age 6 due to an illness. Her teacher, Anne Sullivan, would spell with her fingers the names of familiar objects into Helen’s hand. Helen enjoyed this “finger play game,” but she didn’t understand it was related to anything significant until the enlightening moment when Sullivan spelled “w-a-t-e-r” while pumping water over her hand. This had been done hundreds of times before, but there was one moment of connection. Helen Keller later wrote:

“Suddenly I felt a misty consciousness as of something forgotten—a thrill of returning thought; and somehow the mystery of language was revealed to me. I knew then that “w-a-t-e-r” meant the wonderful cool something that was flowing over my hand. That living word awakened my soul, gave it light, hope, joy, set it free! … Everything had a name, and each name gave birth to a new thought. As we returned to the house every object which I touched seemed to quiver with life.”

During my ordination training, it was taught that upon completion of this life we are asked three questions by God,

What did you do?

What did you learn?

What did you love?

This really could be all that is said in this article, as these questions are sure to fill you up with much contemplation and introspection.

So, I’ll leave you with the activity of engaging in the deeper meaning of your life.

For those who would enjoy some further commentary, please read on.

Regarding the questions, my guess here is that God is not asking these of your personality, but of our soul. I mean, God is not inquiring about your profession, as if at a cocktail party. Instead, God is asking about that which filled your life.  What did your soul do and engage in?

What did you do…probably as deep as you can go with it.

A sample answer might start out something like “I went to school, became an accountant, got married, had children, saved for my retirement, lived in a neighborhood, I learned math,  I loved my family….and so on.

However, I think the answers are meant to come from the ‘core’ of your being.

Another way to think about it might be from your soul’s perspective…What did your ‘soul’ do?

So, deeper answers could be, for example, “I helped people with their finances. I overcame obstacles. I learned to walk my talk. I loved teaching/being a parent. I loved writing. I loved watching the sunset. “

And yet, a still deeper response might be “I provided honest financial services for people in their times of need and helped educated them in becoming independent. I faced and overcame alcoholism. I developed resilience.   I learned how to see bad events in a good light. I learned the value of family. I loved caring for another. I loved being gentle.”

My intellectual mind thinks that God does not actually ask us these questions because I believe God already knows the answers…probably better than we do.

But, if these questions are asked, it is to encourage us to engage in fully grasping the value of our life, even though (and maybe especially since) we may not have seen it at the time.

And, by having been given this gift of being presented with these questions ‘during’ our life, we have an opportunity to explore this deeper and truly see now…the divinity that exists now in our life. These are the true pearls, the spiritual gains we will take with us.

The physical and the catalyst will fade away and we will carry with us the lessons learned, the strength gained and the love experienced.

Be open to this now. See the blessings and sacredness of your life now.

Ted Andrews states that insects are the ‘keepers of the unspoken word’ and that crows are the ‘keepers of universal law.’

In addition to our lives being lessons and experiences, we also hold spiritual traits as a group and individually.

Examples of such traits would be Integrity, Endurance, Adventure, Partnership, Compassion, Balance, Strength and Transformation. The scope is vast.

Think about your life. What spiritual traits are you espousing?

Once identified, take pride in holding these qualities in existence.  Honor this within you.

So, again, take another look and ask your life:

What did you do?

What did you learn?

What did you love? 

What spiritual qualities do you hold?

Engaging in thoughtful exercises of evaluating our life helps us connect with the deeper and more sacred aspects of our lives. This expands our knowing of our true self, adds meaning and advances our spiritual development. It also settles the soul as we can better feel our value.

Love your life. Honor yourself.

Enjoy.

 

p.s. If you are struggling with starting, wish to see more or are just curious, send me an email and I’ll send you an example of what I came up with when I first did this exercise.

They say that after you complete this life there is a review period… a reflection time to overview your life. It is said this is done with complete love and without judgment.  We assess our choices, state of being, how we handled things, lessons learned, etc.

I don’t know if this is true, but I believe it to be true.

Many also believe it is prudent to get a head start by doing periodic life reviews.

I’ve done this for the past decade…periodically over viewing and assessing my life in this manner; and I have to say that I have found it not only terribly helpful, but life changing, as well.

In the beginning, it was really difficult. It was hard to imagine doing this without being extremely critical and self-condemning. I wept many times over the thought of having to review and relive much of my life…especially the early years.  This was my human-self reacting.

I kept being reminded that the life review is truly done in a place of complete love and compassion. Although it is hard for my human-self to get there, this concept has stretched my abilities. I’ve learned to practice…just the thought of this. I’ve caught glimpses  of this type of divine self reflection, and each time I can experience more of it. It is an easing process.

The other task is to be able to view your life ‘as a whole’ and see it from a larger perspective.  Seeing your life with love and compassion from a large perspective and gently evaluating it offers rich rewards. It can help you come to peace and understanding about your choices and situations. It can help you see patterns and direction. It can help you better align with that which you want to do and how you want to live.

And most of all, it can help you avoid feelings of regret and remorse upon your end-of-life time. It is truly a sad place to be…one of “I wish I had….”

Review now. Resolve issues now. Make peace with your life. Go through periodic times of evaluation to keep on track.

It can also help to ask yourself “When I look back on my life, I want to see…”

Questions to ask yourself would be: What is dearest to your heart? What is it you wish to do most?  While it is true we have as many lives as we want…why wait? Why experience regret, remorse and sadness?

My own self reflection reveals ‘What I want most is to be proud of my life’. I can’t always say I have been able to do that in the past, but I can say that now. I also want to live a beautiful life. I heard a friend comment that she wanted to live a bold life.

It is so easy to get off track. Whatever type of life you desire, keep it close to your heart and your awareness, and periodically assess if you are on track.

Make only choices that support your ultimate goal.

I try to live not being afraid, loving myself and moving forward.

Keep in mind, there is always a turning point where we may decide to go in a different direction; a turning point of growth, love and understanding, and of living more of the divine life that we are given the opportunity to live.

Each of us has this desire within us, whether it is to be a divine parent, mechanic, teacher, real estate agent, or…..

An earnest life review now can help get us there.

Review you life…where do you need to make amends? Where do you need to experience more joy? Where do you need more love and understanding? Where do you need to live in more balance? What will it take for you to live now, in balance, with the feeling of not owing or being owed? Can you release those you feel are indebted to you..those who you feel owe you? Coming to peace with the situation and releasing them frees you.

Do this several times a year and anytime you feel out of balance.

Assess your current actions and be pure with them to assure that you are not making offerings which, in some way, hold the other person in debt to you. Do things because you wish to do them and you want to offer them. Be clear about this within yourself. Do things only when it is right and feels good to do so. Do not make actions out of guilt or to get something in return. Be clear and honest with yourself about this. This will help you to balance your emotional state and above all, love yourself.

Give yourself credit for engaging in challenging task such as this. Be gentle and loving with yourself.

Fix the things you can in your life…let the rest go.

Follow that which brings you joy.

Many do this review and evaluation in a deeply private state, many work with a spiritual advisor to help with guidance and perspective, and many utilize a type of journaling. No matter your preferred method, engage, review and enjoy.

I’d love to hear your experience and comments on the exercise!