Step 5: Celebrate

Step 5: Celebrate

    Yesterday we celebrated the 4th of July. We celebrated the birth of our nation. Some people celebrated family and friends, while others celebrated the fireworks. There were picnics, canoe trips, swimming pools, sunshine and laughter. The entire country was making noise and cheering for the USA. Even if the political views were different and the social economic backgrounds were different, everyone celebrated.

We celebrate holidays, birthdays, anniversaries and other important dates. We should approach every day with this much cheer. God has given us many blessings and we should rejoice daily.

 The other day I was telling my friend about something wonderful God had done for me. At the end of my story I clapped my hands and giggled “Yay God” (mimicking a pre-teen show the younger children watched when they were pre-teens) She laughed and said she never thought of cheering God. I cheer God whenever I see something amazing and know that only with His hands could this thing happen.

 I read a story about a man that gave such a display of outwardly verbal celebration for a sunset that his neighbors came out to see what was going on. Wouldn’t it be great if instead of hearing people yell at each other for things done wrong, we hear people shouting words of praise to God for things gone right?
Be Blessed and Celebrate!
Cathy Hayes

Step Four: Remember

Step Four is about remembering your past:
 As you age people will come and go in your life. The ebb and flow of love from friends will match the tides of time. Some people will always be part of your life and continue being important throughout the years, while others will flow in quickly and ebb out just as fast.

I went to a high school reunion this weekend. It wasn't mine and I only knew three other people that were there. This "anonymity" gave me the opportunity to watch the people and imagine the social dynamics as they might have been 30 years ago. The class president still has a strong presence and holds command of the crowd with a warm sense of leadership. The cheerleader still looked good and obviously took her health serious over the years. The guys that ran around taking pictures during school for the yearbook were still chronicling life on film.The party guys are the first ones at the bar and the loudest conversations.Since I didn't know any of these people this weekend I was able to develop and idea of who they were by who they are now.

I wonder how much of our personality changes over time or are we who we always were? I never really knew how people saw me when I was young. Those that knew me well might have a different opinion of me from those that didn't know me as well. I never felt like I was part of any clique or group, but I never felt unwanted or unaccepted by any of them either. Today I see myself as getting along well with most types of people. I traveled a lot when I was in my twenties and realized back then that people are the same where ever you go. I have always cherished the people in my life because I knew that someday our paths would no longer cross. I wrote a poem about it back in middle school. I don't have that poem now and don't remember the whole thing only this part:

Friends are like the new fallen snow
Shining like diamonds when present in your day
But soon melt away.
Making room for more to know
'77- poems book

I still think this holds true. We are blessed by the people we knew and should cherish the memories of our walk together no matter how brief.

Be Blessed- Cathy Hayes





 

NVC- July2012

The July entry for the NVC Messenger:

                                                                              Storms

 

During the month of July I am always reminded of a story told to me each summer since I can remember. It is a story about a young couple, four girls and an expectant wife. They were a farming family in 1945. She was busy raising the 4 daughters, the youngest just a baby and he was a hardworking farmer.
She saw the storm clouds roll in from her kitchen window and the funnel start to lower. She rushed to get her baby girls in the shelter in time. She called out to her husband and waited to see if he was coming to the shelter. They didn’t make it in time.
 

The pregnant woman was thrown, all 4 girls were tossed around, and the husband could not be seen. By the time the neighbors arrived to help it was too late. 3 little lives were whisked away with the storm winds. The baby was tossed about but survived. The woman was injured but barely, the husband was in very serious condition and they weren’t sure he’d make it.
 

The man survived. The woman and unborn child survived. The baby girl survived, she needed braces on her legs for many years but she made it. The family rebuilt. They tried to farm again but it was too much for him. They opened a small café along a quiet highway and began a new life.
 

He walked with a cane from that day on. He held his head high and always had a smile for anyone he met. It was easy to tell that each time he leaned on the cane he was leaning on the Lord. He carried around the kind of joy in his heart that only comes from knowing how fragile life is and how quickly it can be taken away. Whenever anyone would ask him “ how are you?” he would answer, “ I woke up this morning, that’s a good start”.
 

She was a strong woman, the kind of strength that only results in overcoming insurmountable odds and having the resolve to push forward no matter what happens. She was known for making the most beautiful birthday cakes and wedding cakes for the people in the county. She would put so much love and care into her work; I often wondered if, when she made those cakes if she thought about her three little girls, and the weddings she would never see.
 

They taught me an important lesson in life. No matter what storms rage in our lives and no matter how devastated and tragic the result, with God’s help we can rebuild and move on. I will always be so grateful to God that my family had the courage to overcome the storm.
Cathy Hayes

NVC-June 2012

This is the June entry for NVC Messenger

 

 God Changes Everything

As we approach the change this month from Spring into Summer I was thinking about how everything God touches changes. The buds become blossoms, the eggs hatch into songbirds, grass grows, trees fill out and become green. What a wonderful world we live in to witness all the changes God creates. Nothing is ever the same.

But we as humans are creatures of habit. We like consistency. We worry when things change, and we feel like we have no control over the changes. The truth is that we do not control the changes, God is in ultimate control and He changes everything. This is perhaps the most fundamental difference between the human ego and the Holy Spirit. Our ego tells us that we have control over changes, our choices and free will give us power. How easily we forget that God has the power and will make the changes to fit His will. He makes the cocoon turn into butterflies and makes the tides rise and fall, He makes the sun shine and the rainbows in the sky. We need to relax and give our egos a break. Let God change our world each and every day because His changes are always beautiful, perfect and at the right moment in time.

Be Blessed my friends with all the changes this season.

Cathy A Hayes

NVC -May 2012

The church newsletter had asked that I write something for the month of May to be in the New Visions Community Messenger. This was May's entry:

It's About Time

We are all given the same number of hours in a day. We all have the same number of days in a week, weeks in a year and years in a decade.

How often do we wish for more time. More time to do things we want to do. But if we are given more time we tend to waste it. I witness so many people wasting hours staring at electronic boxes, just sitting and doing nothing with the gift of time they were given, yet still complaining that there isn't enough time.

We spend time shopping. We waste time watching tv. We use time like a commodity. We try to put more things into our time so we can waste time elsewhere. We eat while driving, text while walking, eat while watching movies, make phone calls while people stand near us waiting for our attention. We rush ourselves so that we can have more time to waste.

My thought is why don't we GIVE time away? Donate time to those who need it. Sometimes just being there near someone and giving them our attention is all it takes to show God's Love. When was the last time you gave to someone? Just sat across from someone looked them in the eye and asked how they were, and waited for the reply? As our world changes to more technology we are losing the face-to-face contact that makes being human a joy. How can it be possible to pass the Peace of Christ if we don't even pass a glance at each other?

I say "put down the remote, shut off the cell phone, turn off the computer, Put dinner on the table and look your family in the eye and smile". Count the time you give to someone as a blessing.

Be Blessed my friends.

Cathy A Hayes

Step Three: Kindness

Showing kindness to people that are strangers is a great way to boost your own spirit.
  Open the door for someone whose hands are full, let someone go in front of you in line at the store, just any simple act of kindness can make a big difference in someone's day. A small act on your part can have a big impact on your day. You don't have to be annoying about it, just pass a little peace.

Sometimes letting someone do some small act of kindness is important to them. Just say "Thank You" and smile. I am thinking of your sister wanting to bring you a drink, just say yes and thanks, let her be kind. You will teach her so much about herself.

Give compliments when they are sincere. Don't add the "I" statements. Just give the compliment.
For example:  you -" I noticed you've lost weight"
                     friend- " Thanks, I lost 40 lbs"
                    you-  " I've been trying to........... scratch that. Just give them a nod and a smile, let them know the hard work paid off and that you are happy for them.  It's so easy to try to turn the conversation back to oneself instead of letting it be about another.

Be kind to animals. Rescue the snake that got in under the door, or the bee that terrorized your sister. If some poor creature is suffering in the heat bring it water. You don't have to hang around and make it a pet just help one of Gods lesser creatures.

You will be amazed at how good you feel inside after showing a little kindness.Remember that feeling and carry it with you. Call upon that feeling during times of stress.
Be Blessed.
Cathy Hayes

Steps that were missed

I must, once again, ask you to forgive my absence from writing. Circumstances arose that I thought would not fit into our journey as I had planned. Then after some thought I realized that the distractions of life were, in fact, part of that very journey.

So I missed writing about the steps that we should be taking together. I didn't write about the end of the school year, your graduation from high school ( of which I am very proud). I didn't write about the end of the after school program or the friends that had moved away. I didn't write about the illness that plagues a family member or the family dynamics that changed. I wanted to keep this simple and list the steps in the books I was reading. It occurs to me now that all that happens in life are all part of that walk with God that we both want.

Step two:
 Foundation:
 You need to start your spiritual journey with a good belief structure. Like building a house, you must start with a strong foundation. I have a strong foundation in my Christian beliefs. I believe in One True God, a creator of earth, Heaven and all that exists. I believe in Jesus the Messiah, God incarnate walking with mankind to teach. I believe in the resurrection of Jesus, that he died and rose again to walk among his followers. I believe in the Holy Spirit, as it touches our lives and brings us closer to God.

I know that you were raised in the Catholic Church. Your father wanted you to have that foundation. My son,  we have spoken on this many times and I know you can easily find where your core beliefs exist.

Search in your soul for the answers to where you want to start building . Find your foundation.
Be Blessed my son.
Cathy Hayes

Step 1: Awareness

The first step is to become aware of your spirit.
The human experience is comprised of three parts Body Mind and Spirit. The Body houses the mind and spirit both.

Typically the mind is in control or at our conscience level. Some refer to this as the Ego or Self. This part of us is what operates our thoughts of daily living.

The Spirit typically resides in our sub-conscience. This is the part of us that takes and instant like or dislike to a situation without cause or reason. When you somehow "just know" something is wrong or right. This is what we are trying to bring to the conscience level and then build up from there. All through out the Bible it talks about living in Spirit and not of this world. This is what they are talking about. Living with the Spirit  and not a "flesh" or "world" or in other words the ego.

You need to become aware of where  your spirit is as we start the journey so you know how far you have to go. Find a quiet place where there are no distractions and relax. See how you are feeling and thinking in that moment. Are you at peace, do you feel joy, are you relaxed  or are you feeling like life isn't fair, feeling depressed, sad or bored. Wherever you are this is the starting point of your journey. It's okay to feel and experience the negative emotions. They are part of you as a whole. Feel them and recognize them.

This is where the one book says to start a chart or graph of some kind. Something to help you track you progress. There will be "up" days and "down" days. I choose to journal my journey here on my blog but you may choose  what you have learned in Statistics class to monitor your progress. This is totally up to your own discretion as to how you want to log your process.

Today my Spirit is full of Joy and Gratitude. 

Step One: Awareness

You need to be aware of your spirit. There are three parts to the human experience.
Mind Body and Spirit. The three are connected for the whole. We are focusing on Spirit but I hear that when one is strong the others follow suit. 

Let's Get Started!

First my dear son you need to be aware of a few things:

Forget what you have heard about God being vengeful and vindictive. Some of what you have heard would lead you to believe that God only loves certain people. This is so far from the truth. God is Love. Whatever is good is of God. Whenever someone says they love you they are saying God is with you. God sits at the throne in Heaven and in Heaven there is no negative emotions. It is impossible for God to be anything more than love.

so lets talk about love for a minute.
There are many forms of earthly love.

 The love of a parent for a child. This love is unconditional. If a parent truly loves their child they will not forsake them. Whether the child is born deformed, disabled, or if the child grows to make bad decisions the parent will always love the child.

The love of a child for its parent. This love comes from a sense of security and trust. A knowledge the child has that no matter what happens they will always be cared for.

The love of a man and woman. This should not be confused with lust. When one persons whole desire is to make the other happy. That is love. Not a fear of making the other angry but a willingness to make the other person happy. ( you may learn this lesson the hard way, so many of us do)

Christian love. The love of God. This transcends all other types of love. It is unconditional, it gives security and it is a willingness to make others happy. This is the kind of Love God has for you. and the kind of love you need to share with others.

Come and Join Us

The other day my son noticed some books on my coffee table that I had just received. One was about raising spiritual awareness and the other was about contemplative spirituality. He had asked me to take notes on what I read and let him read them. This is the format that I have chosen for the notes to my son.

I will be writing to him specifically, but I invite anyone willing to go on this spiritual journey with us to read along. Feel free to leave comments if I forget anything, if you have questions ( I am learning along the way and don't pretend to know everything) or if you disagree, other opinions are always welcome.

You will notice a strong Christian sentiment because that is where my heart lies. I believe in God the great creator of all that was, is, or will be. I believe in Jesus that died and rose again. I believe in the Holy Spirit.
Some of my learning is not necessarily Christian based but it is so easy for me to see One True God in everything.
Come along and join us in our spiritual journey and Be Blessed

A note to my son.

I have begun