Knitting the Mystery

I so like this comment from Betsy ( www.betsybaumgardner.com ) that I’m reposting it below. Check out her website for some nice classical music/chorale clips: she sings and plays the Organ, graduated from Juilliard and teaches music etc.

“Hello -- I found your website through a mention on a newsletter I receive from Ann Albers every week. I have enjoyed reading your site and looking at the photos! Amazing photography. I love the way you capture the spiritual essence and beauty of your "client" be it animal, human or nature. Your comments on wanting to help the suffering, but not being able to for various reasons or situations does strike a chord in my heart too. Being an ex-New Yorker I found myself constantly immersed in the extremes of human existence. Its one of the reasons I left NYC -- my heart was becoming calloused and hard -- something I did not want. I also smiled at your comments regarding "The Secret"!. Yes, the truths presented are ancient -- but the focus on just simply getting a better material life leaves out a lot of depth. There is nothing wrong with having a comfortable living and roof over one's head etc. There is nothing wrong with abundance either. But in my opinion the real goal is to get to the point where you can see the Divine Presence in everything. And this "seeing" blesses one and all. I remember walking past a woman on the street who had been injured (NYC) there were folks around assisting her, so she didn't need my human assistance. But I felt this call "for help", and I didn't know what to do. Pray - was what came to me. A passage by Mary Baker Eddy came to thought: "there is no lapse from, nor return to, harmony..." Science & Health... I just prayed with that thought until I felt a sense of peace. I don't know if it blessed the woman on the street, because I kept on my journey as I prayed. But it certainly has blessed me many times over the years, just recalling that "prayer work". So oftentimes we think that we are not "doing something" for someone and well, maybe we really are!” (Betsy Baumgardner)

Betsy mentions Anne Albers-- a really sweet lady whom Sheryl and I got in touch with online after seeing her one and only video post on You Tube. Here’s how we happened across her: On Valentines day a friend sent us a link to the “Free Hugs” campaign video. I watched it and then visited the website. There were a dozen or so video clips there-- I only clicked on one and it was this charming woman who starts out saying “I have an unusual Job, I talk to Angels.” Of course! So I went and found her website http://www.visionsofheaven.com/

There I discovered a really extensive web page and noticed that Anne is so busy doing Angel communicating that she has a waiting list at least six months long for an appointment. Holy crap! So we sent her an email and asked her how she got so successful. She wrote back immediately with some helpful tips, mostly having to do with gratitude and praying that the people you can help the most find you. She’s right too. We had been asking to see some examples of other spiritual practitioners who were professional, successful yet sincere and accessible (that’s what we strive to be). Our prayers got answered. That’s happening a lot these days.

Thanks for the compliments about my photos, Betsy. I’m glad that the way I feel about my subjects shows in the work.

On the issue of helping those in need, I totally agree with you-- you do what you can and what you feel called to do. It varies a great deal depending on the circumstance. I won’t say that I was “in need” exactly, but I did just say to Sheryl how nice it would be to get a comment or two on our Blogs, and kazaam, here’s Betsy, same day.

“The Secret” video keeps coming up in our lives, people mention it to us. We just heard that Oprah featured it on her show, and she’s got a huge viewing audience. I’m really glad that it’s introducing people to the reality of the “Law of attraction” (it’s no “secret,” just Google it) but I concur with Betsy that there’s more to it than the simple, often materialistic examples given in the video. We’re hearing however, that this film is convincing people to turn their lives around for the better though, so Sheryl and I aren’t knocking it.
Craig Ferguson on the Late Late show had a pretty funny take about the kid in the Vid who “manifests” himself a new bike, apparently by staring at a picture of it until it magically appears. Yeah, well, mom and dad bought it didn’t they? Little Jimmy had them all creeped out, wouldn’t stop staring at that picture.

Sometimes what you need to manifest is to know what to manifest. Sheryl and I have a favorite manifesting prayer, “For the highest benefit of all concerned.” We pretty much stick to that one every day. Sheryl introduced me to that particular wording of the intention because that’s what she uses in every session. It’s helpful because it acknowledges possibilities beyond what our conscious minds can envision in the moment. Why not open the door to some truly astounding miracles? A new bike is chump change. Transform yourself.

Unraveling the Mysteries

The article in the Good Times came out today. We got a preview of it last night and it’s a pretty damn good representation of us. There’s a different photo online than the one in the paper. I think we like them both, but the one in the print edition is a bit better, also it’s huge! All things considered it’s even flattering. I had been worried that the photographer wanted to shoot us from below, but it came out fine. The only real error is a quote attributed to Sheryl stating that we strictly work with health issues. In fact we work with many different issues. Chris Magyar did a good job on the article and he strikes me as a really nice guy too. Jen Walters took the photo and she may have photoshopped the background in as well, really nice work.

here’s a link to the article:
http://www.gtweekly.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=194&Itemid=1

There are several other alternative health people featured in related articles. We know one of the acupuncturists, we even had dinner with her once to discuss marketing several months back. It’s funny, we’d seen her ad drop out of the GT section called “mind body spirit” and she had claimed that it wasn’t working very well for her. Since then she teamed up with three other acupuncturists and opened a “clinic” working for a very low sliding scale fee. I’d like to check in with her and see how this new arrangement works out.

In another part of the same issue, there’s this thing called the “Vibe Machine”. I have to admit that I’m assuming that it doesn’t work, doesn’t really do anything. As a former electronics tech I have to say; these electronic healing devices have been coming and going since the turn of the century. What’s my problem, why am I being such a humbug about it-- because for years I had to hear all about EMF pollution and endure seeing numerous devices flooding the market claiming to protect you from it: mostly these are copper bracelets or the like. Now somebody has invented a device which purposefully radiates people with EMF. I just read the “white paper” on the device, such as it is, and discussed it with Sheryl, and Sheryl brought her guides in on it. So, let me just say this. No matter what the secondary value, let us not bring people downward into ignorance. Sheryl tells me that it's easier for some people to have faith in an electrical device than something else. I don't know, I used to design and build loudspeakers to some pretty exacting specifications: they did what I said they'd do. There's just something about a device which includes a tesla coil and claims to be a cure which bugs me. Tesla coils make really pretty sparks. Even Nikola Tesla didn't claim his device would cure your cancer.

I haven’t been keeping up on this blog, and things have been piling up. A little bit ago I wrote about what can happen when the ego, having been subdued (usually through meditation but sometimes through illness, injury or other extreme stress) allows an enlightening experience to occur: one of expanded consciousness. I believe that the ego tends to snap back into place and can tend to identify itself with the experience of the numinous. I didn’t say so in the article, but it did come up in a recent video interview, that in extreme cases the ego decides “I am God” or depending on your religious background it may be, “I am Jesus.”

Well, in a certain sense, that’s good, especially if you then recognize the divine spark in every other person, in plants, animals, inanimate objects, in space etc. It’s a problem if you go around telling everybody that you’re Jesus and they need to get on board with you. I mean, it’s your choice, but like any unlikely claim, you may be asked to prove your case. Bear in mind that I am treading on dangerous ground here whenever I get skeptical of others: I’m a spiritual counselor and healer with my partner, Sheryl, who is a conscious channel. Plenty of people may be skeptical of us. What I’m trying to do is explain that there are quite a few reasons why person might think they’re Jesus, but as far as the rest of the world is concerned, a whole lot of reasons why you’re not. Guess who wins? Sometimes the measure of whether a person is considered delusional, or simply religious, in the eyes of society is only a matter of the vocabulary used. You can tell people that you’re “embodying Christ consciousness” and they won’t lock you up. If you’re Jesus, you’d already know that and I wouldn’t have to tell you. Jesus, by reputation was a miraculous healer, so maybe we'd be better off if more people were Jesus and were willing to prove it:

John 14:10 - "Dost thou not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me? The words that I speak to you I speak not on my own authority. But the Father dwelling in me, it is he who does the works. 11 - Do you believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me? 12 - Otherwise, believe because of the works themselves. Amen, Amen, I say to you, he who believes in me, the works that I do he also shall do, and greater than these shall do, because I am going to the Father. 13 - And whatever you ask in my name, that I will do, in order that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 - And if you ask me anything in my name, I will do it."

Wow, and I'm not even Christian. But I've always liked that quote. I'm not even going to put my metaphysical stamp on it either. Lest anyone get confused: I don't validate any one religion over any other. Oh, I am so tempted to interpret the above quote, but no. I like it because it's empowering, and it's about recognizing the divinity in all of us. It's more inspiring to me than sparky devices, much as I love things that go "zap".

On another note I’m getting my heart broken lately by the guy on the street who told me he just got out of jail, spent two weeks there just for having an open container of beer. I don’t know the whole story, maybe he was driving at the time and maybe I’d better keep my compassion in check. More heartbreak by another person who called and Sheryl and I just didn’t have answers for him on the spot, and we couldn’t do what he wanted us to do. It wouldn’t have been appropriate for us to book an appointment with him, and also we just aren’t a referral service for other agencies who might be able to help. Still, we’re going to try to have a few phone numbers handy if we get another call that we need to refer out. It haunts me when somebody calls and I can’t help them, but there is something I need to learn there and it seems I haven’t got it yet.

I know damn well that I can’t do it all, and I’m not responsible for everybody who comes along. But I’m not over wanting to help anybody and everybody who comes along. I’m just not over that, nor have I entirely come to grips with the disparity of suffering in the world. You don’t talk to somebody about Karma when they just discovered that their child has a serious impairment which medical science can’t address. From a metaphysical point of view, it’s useful to assume that all of our life challenges are chosen by us, if not individually, then at least collectively as part of the human experience. In truth it’s better to assume responsibility for all of your life than to assume a “poor me” attitude (victimhood can be a miserable, yet addictive way of life). But sometimes the bigger truth is to keep your mouth shut, make a cup of tea and bring a blanket for some one who is suffering. Cry with them and hold them, sort out the metaphysics later.

Peace on Earth

Ok, so “Pan’s Labyrinth” is not the movie to see if you think you’re getting “fantasy.” It’s an intensely violent film. It got great reviews. I wish I hadn’t seen it, but I do know that I had concerns about putting out some really light hearted stuff in a recent article. As a healer I do take the suffering in the world seriously-- but that’s not all there is to see. We watched “The Secret” recently, and I thought it was too simplistic. Positive, yes, but not to be subjected to much critical thinking.

Got a call tonight from a person we probably can’t help, we’ll be offering referrals out. And an incoming email referral regarding another person we may not be able to help, but then again we may. We’ll see how it turns out. We’re very careful with our ethics, and also if a person is saying “I won’t do this” or “I won’t give up that”, we’re blocked. We don’t have permission to help. I have to learn to draw the line better between caring and letting go.

On another front we got our materials in to the Good Times for an ad next week. Also we were interviewed a couple days ago by GT and we went in for a photo shoot. One of the most unflattering ways to shoot a human is from a low angle with a wide angle lens at close range. That’s all the photographer seemed to want to do today, so Yikes! We’re letting go of the idea that we might look good in the photo, but on the bright side there may be an interesting and artistic shot of us in the GT next week. Our photographer was an artist and that counts. Also we felt really good about the interview and the guy who did the interview. Not to mention the fact that Rya Holloway at the ad desk definitely went the extra mile to make our ad look good.

We were able to make a suggestion so that future customers can avoid “pixelated text”. Another publication, The Connection, had detailed notes online about how to make your ad come out well, so we referred the GT to that web page. Lots of referrals today. Sheryl and I truly co-wrote the 200 word ad for the GT and I feel really really good about that: it’s got earmarks of both of us in the ad and I believe it’s OUR voice this time. I’m simply amazed that we can co-author something and have it work. We do joint counseling with no problems at all. So I shouldn’t be surprised. Maybe we’ll co author an actual article next.

Pan’s Labyrinth does one thing well; makes you really want peace.