Spirit – Voices in My Head

Teams and Dreams

This morning at 7:15 as I was peacefully settling into my meditation, I heard the sound of a very large engine idling noisily outside my window. I ignored it for a while, testing my ability to maintain focus on my own business. But when I could no longer stand the curiosity, I had to see if it was an ambulance or fire engine—if perhaps one of my friends or neighbors was soon to be carted off to the emergency room.

On one hand, I was relieved to see that it was only a large delivery truck; on the other, the rules police in me took over and I called a member of the board of directors to report the infraction. No deliveries are to be made through the building lobby. Ever. Period.

The person involved might be a new homeowner unfamiliar with the rules. Or, perhaps a current resident who doesn’t give a rat’s patootie about rules and chooses to ignore them. Or maybe it was all just a massive misunderstanding between homeowner and delivery person. Either way, it needed to be addressed lest it spiral out of control and/or serve as permission for others to go thou and do likewise.

Well phooey. So much for peaceful meditation.

My mind takes me off into the world of conflict, self-doubt, and self-judgment. Did I do the right thing? Should I have done that? Did I rat out a friend or create hard feelings between the parties involved? Was it any of my business in the first place? Do I need to apologize to someone, or ask for forgiveness? How many apple carts did I upset with my seemingly well-intended meddling? Certainly, some apples fell out of my own cart.

Oh but wait! What is wrong with this picture? What thoughts am I allowing to dominate my mind? What am I creating? Oops. I think I’ve got the emPHAsis on the wrong syLABle again. Is this the reality that I want to create? No. I prefer to make peace, not war.

Just prior to my self-inflicted curiosity disruption, my mind had taken me to the wonderful illusory world of the New Age that we are promised. (Some may call this woo-woo thinking, but I choose to think of it as something wonderful that’s waiting for us just around the bend). But alas, the interruption yanked my mind away from the wonder of New Age thinking, and the role that we, the people of the planet, might play in getting us there.

Curiosity satisfied, I am free to resume my dreaming. Ahh. Just imagine…we are part of a team that is building a bridge to span the chasm between humanity and unseen helpers in the spiritual realm. Hands reach out from behind the veil to help those with newly-blossoming soul awareness and open hearts to walk joyfully toward a better life. We walk together with wide-eyed wonder and childlike awe as unfathomable beauty unfolds before us, and we sense a magnetic vibration drawing us toward our destination.

I ask myself what thoughts I have harbored that stood in the way of my willingness to cross the bridge. What took so long? Why did I wait?”? My wondering is replaced with a sigh of relief, gratitude, and a sense of, “Oh, thank God—fear and darkness have been replaced by a world of light, love, harmony, peace, cooperation, balance, trust, and joy.

Each vision, each thought or imagining, no matter how great or small, will move us all one step closer to the dream. We are the designers, architects, and builders. We are fashioning a new world according to our own specifications, one mind at a time. The only building tools required are imagination, an unwavering belief in our ability as co-creators, and a desire to be a member of the team.

Sometimes, when I’m not exactly sure about what I want, it helps to figure out what I don’t. This morning provided a wonderful example along with a reminder that every experience contains a gift, no matter how painful at the time. I don’t want misunderstandings, self-doubt, hard feelings, unfriendly encounters or internal turmoil. I want peace, both inner and outer. As our world crumbles beneath us and serves up unfathomable pain and suffering, I imagine that many others feel the same way. The good news is: it’s within our purview and power to create anew.

Let us join forces and wait no longer. Let us don our creator hats and get busy in our minds creating the vision of a world we’d like to inhabit. Let us rejoice in the miracle that will happen when we realize that together we are a powerful force to be reckoned with. Join the Dream Team and together we will create miracles.

Happy 2023 everyone. May we raise our hearts and souls to a better year and a better world.

BEFORE YOU GO . . . If you’d like to explore more about helping to dream up a new reality, let’s talk! Meanwhile, you may enjoy a look at the websites below.

A Tree of Light offers the following programs: Meditations for the Soul and the Community Forum. http://atreeoflight.org/. The Coming One shares a powerful message to humanity from the Spiritual Hierarchy. http://thecomingone.org/

Lost and Found

Tis the season ho ho ho.

Yep—it’s the season of crazy-making, decision-making, cookie-making, of running myself ragged trying to get it all done, of waffling between the gift-giving debacle and the remembrance of the reason for the season. I struggle to find a healthy balance amongst all, but I seem to be losing the battle, most likely because my inner chaos is affecting my outer world. It’s really tough to resist the temptation to take to my bed and hide until it’s all over. Can you relate?

The first clue that chaos rules is that I lost a set of keys. For days I’ve searched. No keys. Then, insult was added to injury with the discovery that a second set has gone missing. It’s a good thing that I have a third set, or I’d be locked out of my life forever.

Clearly, all of this seasonal crazy-making has knocked me off kilter. I have been neglecting the thing that is most important in my life, the thing that keeps me sane, that stirs my heart, that feeds my soul. I have lost myself—my Self—in the holiday fray. It has taken its toll in the loss of both sanity and keys.

A basic tenet of A Course in Miracles is that forgiveness is the key to happiness. Perhaps my keys will miraculously reappear if I can forgive myself for all of my sins (aka my silly stupid mistakes), and refocus on what is truly important. But apparently, before that miracle occurs, there is something I must learn. Or relearn because I forgot.

Now such a notion may seem ridiculous, but trust me—I am quite experienced in the lost and found business. This is not the first time I have been baffled by the mystery of the missing, but I have discovered that as soon as I figure out what the lesson is, lost items simply show up out of nowhere. Sometimes, I think that they become cloaked in invisibility, or slip into another dimension temporarily just to be sure I don’t miss a rich lesson of some sort along the way.

So this morning as I was muttering under my breath about my dual key loss (well, maybe loudly complaining is more like it) it dawned on me. It’s time to stop focusing on what’s unimportant in the overall scheme of things, and start zeroing in on the only thing that truly matters.

Love, hope, peace, joy, faith, compassion, kindness, Truth, beauty, and the awareness that we are more than meets the eye. We are not our bodies, we are not our skills or talents, we are not our personalities, we are not who we think we are at all. We are so much more. We live in dimensions that we cannot see, perhaps where lost keys go to keep company with the part of us that sometimes seem to be missing—our soul.

Sometimes I get lost in the belief that I am something other than who I truly am, and I forget to remember what is important; then I lose my keys along with myself. If past experience serves, they will magically reappear once I get myself back on track and aimed in the right direction.

But what is it that I have really lost? As I gain the willingness to emerge from under the covers and look for the light, I discover that what is temporarily missing in my life is the joy of doing what makes me feel good about myself. It’s the happiness that comes from doing whatever I can to bring light and joy into the lives of others. Instead, I have allowed the hustle and bustle of the season, and the gloom and doom of our current world to blot out the light.

Henceforth and hereinafter, I declare a moratorium on doom, gloom, hustle, bustle, and all things unhealthy to the magnificent human spirit and the soul that dwells within. Henceforth and hereinafter I vow to do my best to spread light and joy to all—each and every one, in whatever form that may take. Today that form is a blog. We’ll see about tomorrow….

Finally, speaking of spreading a little light, I feel called to share something that I recently received that lifts my spirits and gives me hope as we negotiate these dire times. If you wish to check it out, here is a link: The Coming One.

I wish you all love, hope, peace, joy, faith, compassion, kindness, Truth, and beauty at this most blessed time of year—and every year hereafter.

With love , blessings and a PS: Maybe now that I have pushed the publish button, the keys will appear. Ya think? 🙏🙏🙏

Sunny Side Up!

Occasionally I am jolted awake by the sudden realization that I have been sleepwalking through my days in a full-blown funk attack. Yesterday, for example, I suddenly woke up from my somnambulism and saw that I had been duped by the voice of fear again! This time, guilt was the culprit that managed to con me into a false belief that I am a worthless, useless slug. Drat. I hate it when that happens. It always gets me when I’m not looking—when I relax the vigilance necessary to protect myself against the sneaky chokehold of fear. Ah, the human condition. When will I learn?

Last night as I was trying to drift off to sleep, the unrelenting voice of the untamed ego reared its tricky head to remind me of my many shortcomings and the things about myself that I think of as unlovable and unworthy. As a final zinger to my self-esteem, it also refreshed my memory about the plethora of undone things that I promised myself that I would do and haven’t—which, as it happens, turns out to be the source of the guilt du jour. Heaven help me!

As I wrestled with this unholy, unhealthy state of mind, I was reminded of the horrendously negative aspects of guilt. Then it dawned on me that when I allow myself to succumb to it, I am actually doing something—but what I am doing is the exact opposite of what I want to do. I am sending ever-expanding ripples of negativity and fear out into the world—and that is not the job that I signed up to do! Oops—I got it bass-ackwards again. Where is vigilance when I need it?

By allowing guilt and fear to take up residence in my head—even for an instant—I am defeating myself before I ever take my first step onto the path of good intentions. And if guilt, fear, and every other negative feeling and emotion known to humankind had an agenda, that would be it—to prevent us from gaining a foothold into a healthier direction.

Miraculously, in the space of just that one instant of recognition, guilt evaporated and the void was filled by a powerful desire to exchange a negative attitude for a positive one by flooding the Universe with light and love rather than fear and negativity. If I do nothing more than that, I have done the most important job possible. And with that thought, I drifted off to sleep in a blissful state of gratitude, and awoke this morning inspired to write a blog.

It isn’t easy to keep one’s spirits up in the face of such dire world circumstances, is it? No wonder so many are in such a funk. If left unchecked, fear and negativity spreads like a virulent cancer and silently destroys any hope of peace on earth—or within oneself.

We do ourselves and others a serious disservice by succumbing to the temptation to fall into fear, or the belief that we are less than who and what we truly are. Our TRUE service comes from finding the love and light within ourselves and each other. One light shone upon another casts the awareness that we are One, and we are Divine.

We can do it. We can create peace on earth, but first we must find it within ourselves. All we need is a little willingness, a bit of awareness, and the desire to wake up. It’s a beautiful world when we see it right-side-up—and how we choose to see it is up to each one of us.

Please add your light to the war against darkness. We can change the world—one mind, one light at a time.

Peace and love to all. Sunny side up!

Speaking of doing more, I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t give at least one quick little mention of my book, Voices. It’s chock full of them—mine, yours, ours (we all seem to have many of the same ones, have you noticed?) Please pop in here and have a quick look . Thank you! Happy voices everyone.

Friends in High Places

I went to visit my friend Cathy and her husband Bill, a hospice patient, in the final few hours of his life. When I returned home after my visit, I texted Cathy and asked her to promise that she would call immediately when Bill passed into the unknown because I wanted to be sure that she would have a friend when she needed one. Knowing Cathy, I would not hear from her if Bill departed in the wee hours of the morning because she would not want to disturb me, and does not like to impose.

At 5:15 am the following morning, I was awakened by the vibration of the Apple watch on my wrist. The ringer on the phone was muted, as sometimes happens without my knowledge. I jolted awake and thought “Oh my God—I wonder if that was Cathy.” I squinted in the darkness to look at the face of the watch and without benefit of eyeglasses, I could see Cathy’s name on the face of the watch.

I bolted out of bed and dashed into the other room to check my phone for a message. There was no indication of a call—no voicemail, no missed call, no text. Nothing. I texted Cathy and asked if she had tried to call. Her response was, “OMG no, but Bill passed away at 4:20 am.”

How did that happen? Did her people call my people? Are there people? Did Bill announce to his escort that he wasn’t leaving until I got the message and would soon be there for Cathy? Are there escorts? Was this evidence of a soul connection to a loved one, or perhaps a reminder that we are connected with everyone on the planet? Was it some sort of strange coincidence? I don’t think so.

I have never doubted the presence of guardians, angels, helpers, friends in spirit, guides, and teachers, but how affirming to have the experience of a tap on the wrist to let me know that a friend is in need. How comforting to know, sense, feel, and imagine that friends and helpers are near, present in real time, watching, guiding, helping, loving us even in spite of ourselves, even if we deny their existence, even when we do not listen, pay attention, or heed their guidance.

I cannot imagine that there is one person alive today who has not had an otherworldly and amazingly unexplainable experience, perhaps gone unnoticed or written off as coincidence. But sadly, many are asleep to the awareness of what exists beyond that which they see with their eyes, and they miss what the awakened see.

I don’t want to miss anything! I don’t want to sleepwalk through life and cheat myself out of seeing the wonder of all that enfolds and surrounds me. Life is a treasure hunt and I intend to find what lies hidden in plain sight, placed there lovingly by those who encourage me in my quest of self-discovery.

I am grateful for all blessings no matter how great nor small—most especially for friends in high places–those who are always and ever there, by and on my side.

Stay on the light side my friends, and set your sights on the miraculous that hides in plain sight for those with eyes to see.

Note: The photo above is courtesy of New Waves of Light, a website designed by anonymous individuals around the world who share the intention of bringing light and love to a world of darkness and chaos. (newwavesoflight.org or NWOL.us)

The Wonder of a Little Nap

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Yesterday was a two-nap kind of day with a whole lot of nothing in between. Some days are just like that, I’ve noticed, and I usually wind up judging the state of my mind by how I feel at the end of one. Sometimes, a nap offers a welcome relief from the craziness, and sometimes it serves up a little depression cocktail with a dollop of guilt on top. Yesterday was the latter. Not my favorite kind of day.

It started out well enough with a pleasant walk and all and good intentions, but early on it began to deteriorate starting with the discovery that something was seriously amiss with my blog site. Great. Now I have to face a frustrating and lengthy online fix-it chat with a well-meaning faceless helper—you know what I mean, right?—like having to gird your loins to work your way up to a call with the cable or computer fix-it guy.

After an hour and a half of restating the answer to the same questions three or four different ways, the problem was finally resolved. Whatever energy, brain power, and coherence I had started with was sucked down the drain along with the energy to write. So much for the blog du jour. (Note to fellow bloggers: we never did resolve the inoperative like button problem.)

So I wonder—what makes a two-nap day perfectly fine one day, and a depressing guilt trip the next? Why was I happy yesterday but not today? What is going on in my head that makes the difference? And in case you might be wondering, no, I have never been diagnosed as bipolar.

After an extended night-long nap, I awoke with an aha. The scientific study of quantum physics have proven that there is a connection between the animal, plant, mineral, and human kingdoms. Everything has an impact on everything. Bear with me here—I’m getting to it . . .

The theme of many of my blogs relates to the impact of our thoughts, not just upon ourselves, but also upon others. If my thoughts ripple out and touch others, it is also true that in a reverse process, the thoughts of others ripple out and affect me. In my effort to monitor my thought process on behalf of others, I forget that I am just as vulnerable to the fearful thoughts and energies of others as they are to my positivity.

What this says to me is that I need to buck up! I need to gird my spiritual loins to protect myself against the negativity and fear unwittingly projected by others and do what I must in order to preserve a healthy state of mind and a positive world view. If I am to maintain my own peace of mind and be of benefit and service to myself and others, I need to be more vigilant about keeping myself in proper working order. I’m on it. Please join me and the growing army of loving hearts and positive minds that march toward a world transformed into one governed by love rather than fear.

By the way, I might add that at my age, there should never be guilt associated with a nap. I’ve earned every one of them. Hmm. Is it too early for the first one? Well, maybe a little walk first . . .

The Lone Rainbow

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This morning I opened an email that sent me straight up and out of my Lazygirl off into the heat and humidity to have a walk through the wilds of the neighborhood and a little talk with myself in the hope of getting my head straight and finding a bit peace and serenity along the way.

Trust the good old Universe to present the perfect opportunity to learn a lesson at just the right time. Heap it on, I say. Let’s see how much I can take before it all crashes down around my shoulders and crushes the life out of me. Okay, so the pedal is to the metal. Can I put my money where my mouth is and practice what I preach? Good question, I say to myself, as I try to claw my way through the clutter of my mind in search of a bit of daylight. It’s all well and good to carry on like the rainbow unicorn that I like to pretend that I am, but are unicorns really real? Is this another test?

I walk to the lake and park myself on a shady bench to meditate and cogitate for a while in hopes of getting what I came for. I watch as my mind bounces me up and down like a yoyo traveling at warp speed. It’s all too much to sort through. Too many twists and turns, too many complications and complexities, too many emotions coming from too many directions, too much at stake, too many possible outcomes, not all of them good.

I hear a slight splash that calls my attention to the water’s surface and watch as ripples spread in concentric circles from the point of center. It dawns on me that my thoughts and feelings spread out from my own point of center and wash over everything and everyone within range, and that the range is infinite.

There is something within me that wants to hang on to anger and gnaw on it like a Doberman with a juicy bone, to not let go until I’ve sucked the essence out of it. A saying from Eckhart Tolle flashes across my mind: Sometimes letting things go is a far greater power than defending or hanging on. Now if I could just convince my mind about that. Would that I could just practice what I preach about the power of the mind. It isn’t easy, but at least it’s a goal. Goals count for something.

So I have another talk with myself between the yoyo bounces and try to talk myself into shifting gears from anger into forgiveness. I try to remember that the ripples aren’t mine alone, but that they reach into infinity and therefore affect everyone else in their path, even those who are innocent bystanders.

This morning’s ripple effect reminds me that thoughts matter and that what I choose to think makes a difference. In my quest for peace, I realize that it’s a lonely endeavor, an inside job. No one can hand it to me; I have to find it within myself. It looks as if I’ve fallen a little short of passing the test today. I haven’t made it to total forgiveness yet but I’m working on it—maybe tomorrow. Like yesterday’s pony in the manure, somewhere, there’s a rainbow, and I’ll find it eventually. After all, what’s a unicorn without the rainbow?

Grace Under Pressure

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Writing yesterday’s blog was hard, like trying to pour caramel sauce over ice cream in an igloo. Today, I’m telling myself that it’s going to be easy. I’m going to just make up my mind that writing today will be a breeze, ideas will flow, words will pour forth and fill up the blank space of my computer screen like gently nuked caramel sauce on a warm summer’s day. Well, that’s what I’m telling myself. Whether it works or not is another story. I’ll just have to wait to see how long it takes me to get to the finish line today. It will be a test of how well telling myself what to do works. I can be pretty bossy sometimes, so maybe there’s hope.

Today has to be easy, because this morning I suddenly realized that in addition to writing Voices, the monthly newsletter that I publish monthly for my condo building is due tomorrow, and somewhere in between that, there’s a lengthy board meeting. Well, now there you go—a cause for panic if ever there was one. But no. I’m not giving in to panic. I’m going for grace under pressure.

I’m not sure yet what the theme of the day is, but it might be procrastination, or faith, or doing my best work under pressure, or perfection, or check all of the above. I’m experienced in all. I guess it’s a little like making my way through life—I’m not always sure where I’m going, but it’s a pretty darned good bet that if I have a set destination, I’ll get there eventually. Oh, there may be a few futile side trips along the way, but there is value in everything, even the wrong turns.

One thing I’ve learned along the way is that if something is hard, I might be headed in the wrong direction. If I set my feet upon a path that is not in my best interest and find obstacles at every turn, it may be a warning that I’m headed for disaster. I once observed as a friend launched into a dogged effort to fight the obstacles that were thrown in her way in her attempt to facilitate the purchase of a business for her husband. Her struggle was rewarded with a resounding failure. Had it been right, the road would have been smooth. We need to listen to the whispers.

Wow! I told myself it would be easy and apparently, I listened. I’ve passed the finish line with hours to spare, the hair on my head is still intact, and there is still coffee left in my mug. Maybe I’ve turned a corner—I hope so. Maybe it’s because I exchanged hard for easy, or because my new mission of spirit guide communication is working, even after only two days of practice. Whatever the reason, however it happened, I am truly grateful. May it be a harbinger of things yet to come. Grace under pressure. I’ll take all I can get. Grace, not pressure, thank you very much.

Fixing What Isn’t Broken

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There are some pretty powerful energies swirling around in the galaxy these days, have you noticed? It feels to me as if we’re living in the middle of a tornado, with all that is known and familiar being torn asunder. To call unsettling would be an understatement, wouldn’t you say?

Extreme energies shake us up and upend us from the outside in, and the inside out. They rattle our foundation; they make me realize that there is not a lot that I can do about a lot, but I can do a lot about a little. I can’t fix the world, but I can fix my head.

Every so often while tripping blithely through my days, I am stopped in my tracks by the blinding light of a warning sign that flashes across my forehead and alerts me that there is a glitch in my operating system that needs immediate attention. Ugh. Really? Again?

Apparently, the Universe and I have something in common. We’re both trying to shake off the dross of old, worn out, destructive, counter-productive energies to make room for a shiny new existence. There doesn’t appear to be much that I can do to fix what needs fixing on a global level—the dysfunctional government, racial injustice, a pandemic, self-serving politicians, melting ice caps, the national debt—you know—the big stuff.

The most I can do is take responsibility for myself and manage my own energies as best I can, and be vigilant about taking whatever steps are necessary to fix the stuff that needs fixing in my own world—mostly, my own head. It’s not always fun, but it is always certainly worth it.

Oh but wait—maybe I’m adding energy to the problems of the world by thinking of it as broken. Maybe we just need some reorganization, readjustment, some correction, reevaluation, some tender loving care. Maybe we just need to see the world differently. Well, I can do that. While I’m at it, I give myself a little tender loving care too.

I always take comfort in the words of the horoscope writers who often remind us that it is necessary to tear down in order to rebuild. On both global and personal levels, we are being torn asunder and shaken to our foundation. But have faith! The roller coaster ride will come to an end and we will emerge safely, wipe our brows with relief, and stare in wonder at our triumphant victory over fear.

We will make it through the turmoil of these times by turning within to find our safety, and trusting the presence of loving wisdom from unseen Wise Ones to make smooth our way to new beginnings. If all else fails, we need only ask for help.

Two Birds, One Feather

This morning I found a box of Hot Tamales and a nine-inch feather at my front door, deposited perhaps by a big bird with a sweet tooth? Or by a friend who knows that I have a fondness for Hot Tamales and finding feathers?

This unusual way to start a day sent me off on a Google search to remind myself about why I so am intrigued by finding bird feathers, whether during a walk or at my front door. I’m not picky—I’ll take them wherever I can find them. My search rewarded me with a fascinating article (http://www.nataliakuna.com/feather-signs–colour-meanings.html) that sent my imagination off into overload and gave me more featherly information that I ever dreamed possible. No wonder I am feather intrigued.

If I am to believe what I read, feathers represent a sacred connection to God, the Creator, the Divine. They are Spirit sending us signs and messages. When they fall at our feet, angels are near; their connection to wings is a spiritual metaphor, representing a strong, celestial connection to Heavenly realms.

Feathers come in many colors, each significant. Mine is brown, representing earth, grounding, stability, enduring home life, friendships, respect, and grounded balance between physical and spiritual. Interesting—the last one is exactly what I’ve been working toward for the last week. Perhaps my feather gift is an affirmation that I’m making progress.

The article suggests asking yourself a few questions when you find a feather. What was your state of mind when you found it? How were you feeling? What were your first thoughts or impressions about it? What might it be telling you?

Just as I was in a muddle over what to write about today, I received a text telling me that a little birdie left a message at my door. The message gave me the answer, and tells me that Spirit knows exactly what I need and that God will always provide. It tells me that I am, guided, watched over, cared for, protected, and loved.

I suppose that technically, since my Hot Tamale friend is the actual feather finder, she would be the primary beneficiary of the gifts as a result of her find. On the other hand, I am a secondary beneficiary, having found the feather at my front door. I marvel at the spiritual efficiency of it all. Two birds with one feather.

Spirit works in wondrous ways. The special delivery of Hot Tamales and a bird feather is just one way. If we close our eyes and feel the wind beneath our wings, we will soar to the heights of awareness that assure us that behind the veil of “reality” there exists a realm of the miraculous, populated by Those who have our bests interests at heart.

God bless the messengers, the feathers and friends.

Body by Design

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Here we go again, with the blank page and blinking cursor taunting me, coupled with a cacophony of voices clamoring for attention, “Me, ME, no, me!” Everybody wants to get into the act. Which “me” will it be today? My muddled mind considers the possibilities. It could be a long morning. Hmmm.

The loudest voice today is the “me” that comes with a body attached—you know, the one that requires a lifetime of food, shelter, and clothing?

Have you ever thought about how much time, effort, energy, and work we must expend simply to maintain our physical selves? A third of our lives? Half? More? It boggles the mind. I keep thinking about how clever God is to have set us up with this dense, physical contraption that we walk around in all day, the vehicle that transports us through a lifetime of providing for its varied myriad of needs.

Donald Trump sometimes blames a “rigged system” for whatever it is that happens to be displeasing him at the moment, and I wonder—are we living in a rigged system set up with bodies designed as textbooks to teach us what we need to learn?

I use my own life as an example, typical of so many others. I begin my lessons by being born into a family populated with people who can try and test me on every level. I live under the same roof, breathe the same air, and deal with the assorted personality quirks that come with the territory. There I are stuck until I am well educated and mature enough to move out and move on.

In case I have not learned from family relationships, Part 2 of my learning thrusts me out into the next phase of my life into survival mode where I must work to earn a living to support my physical body to survive. Rent, food, and shelter is expensive, even before adding in the rest of what’s needed for the living of life. Eventually, I get married, start a family, and in the process, up the ante of relational challenges.

It seems to me that a very brilliant God has rigged the system to make sure that we will be given every opportunity to learn what we came for. The good news is that it is rigged in our favor. If we don’t get the lesson one way, we will get it another.

Our bodies serve as teachers, purveyors of endless possibility for physical and spiritual growth. If we haven’t aced Relationship 101 in our family classroom, we are given another opportunity in the workplace, where once again, we are tried and tested by other characters on the stage of our life.

This all makes me wonder—once we leave these bodies, will we find ourselves walking around in an afterlife as etheric beings without need for food, shelter, and clothing? Will we still have lessons to learn but without need for the care and maintenance of dense physical bodies? Whoa. What a concept. No need for spending a huge percentage of existence walking around in survival mode. To imagine the freedom is mind boggling.

The very idea of that much freedom makes me want to work harder to do whatever I must in order to earn my way into the next phase, whatever that might be. It makes me ask myself what percentage of time and energy I spend on my spiritual growth compared to my physical survival. It makes me want to work harder while I’m here.

Body by design. What a clever plan. What an amazing gift.. What a brilliant God.