~~~ OUR OWN MR. BANKS ~~~

This post was inspired by the Disney movie "Saving Mr. Banks". A story shared with the world first, with a book, then with a movie  as we know as "Mary Poppins".

Little did anyone realize that the book was really an account of a little girl growing up in Queensland Australia with her family and the relationship between her and her father. A movie many of us grew up with and loved so much. Now comes the story of the author of the book. A totally different inspiration than we came to know about Mary Poppins. It is now a story of   the little girl who wrote her feelings about her childhood full of disappointments and tragedies. Mary Poppins in real life was a nurse, not a Nani.  A nurse to save her father, but could not.

I cried more than a few times during the movie as I can identify with my own father and what I went through in my childhood.

Disney was genius! As usual. A champion for children, a child himself, as previous posts reflect

All of us have a "Mr. Banks" in our young life. He maybe a father, a mother, a family member, even a friend. Is it  true that pain does fill the pen with ink. as in the case of P.L. Travers ( the author of the book). She found refuge from her pain by writing about it. It was The making of the movie based on her book that caused her to confront her past. She had become a grumpy hurt soul who was only revived  when Disney tracked her down in London and shared his personal challenging past. Unfortunately  I could not find a video of the full dialog between Disney and  P.L. Travers in this scene. It is such a great dialog. It addresses my message like none other. If anyone finds that full dialog please let me know so I can include it in this post.There are short references made in the Trailer which I added to this post.

Essentially Disney talks about delivering news papers twice a day in icy cold weather. Among other things that were painful growing up. His father was in the newspaper business. The point being that every one has challenges in life and have to deal with them on a daily basis.

Is it not coincidental that I was a newspaper boy who delivered newspapers early in the mornings before going to school? When my bike broke down my parents said I would have to fix it myself. I had to pay for it with the little money I made from delivering papers.needless to say I did not have the money. I ended up carrying them on my back, walking for many months. Had to walk with the papers on my back over 5 miles each morning and then walk to school about another 2 miles each way. I actually slept in the garage the last year or two before leaving the house and my family.

I was sort of adopted by A Lutheran priest and his family in Banning California. From there I went straight to Greece where I lived and studied for six years. I hated my father and the day I left my family was the day I had raised my fist at my father, ready to fight him. My mother separated us and from that moment I left to live my last months in the US with a Reverend  Kecks and his family in Banning, California,  never to see my family again until I returned from Greece. I was 17 years old then. 

When I came back from Greece my father was a changed man. I could and did love him before his passing to the afterlife.

I am in the middle of my own autobiography now.

I am certain we all have such painful experiences with either friends or family. Some of you just naturally will write about your past. I suggest you all set down and write about your pain from the past. Trust me when I say it will be healing.

Below is the video of the movie

   

May you in spirit reunite with your  Mr. Banks and find forgiveness in your heart, if not already done. Free yourself

Love and Light

~~~ HOLIDAY DEPRESSION ~~~

Depression during the Holidays unfortunately is common. ~~  However, the good news is, ~~ that it can be completely curable with our  own energy. All too often we are focused on social structures and symbolism that do not address the spirit. We remember our childhood  which may contribute to how we share our holidays as a parent.

Depression is a sign that the spirit and mind have disconnected and we need to reconnect with spiritual remedies. 

I offer the following remedy for Holiday Depression:

Before I offer the list, ~~  first and foremost ~~ take no anti-depression pills or any chemical medication. It would be like putting a pill in the bark of a tree which is dying. It simply does no good. The tree needs nature made attention as do humans. You do not want to live in a world of chemicals that might give you temporary comfort. In the end you are doing more harm than good

1). Do not think about money.  Whatever a gift may  cost If you  do not have the money  for it ~~~  forget about purchasing it. There is no gift better than a hug and the words, "I love you" to anyone.

2). During the Holidays you may have more time to take walks which can be done every day of the year, not just during the holidays.  Walking is nutrition   for the body and spirit. It makes us feel alive with a purpose in life and that we are not alone.  Every Holiday when my family gets together  we do a "Power walk" in the hills of Redlands California. It is about a two hour walk and some considerable miles before we sit down for our gathering.

3). you can do volunteer work, spending the day helping others as suggested in my previous two blogs on this topic. Helping others helps you!

4). It is a time to also recall our family and friends who have passed on to the afterlife. Do this, recalling all the positive things  and times together. Do not focus on the negative memories. Remember our loved ones are still with us in spirit.

5). Celebrate Christmas all year  around. Regina and I have celebrated Christmas already over this past weekend. There was no gift exchanged, just a lot of Hugs and words of love. We continuously validated that were were having a wonderful Holiday season. Was I concerned about financial issues lurking in  the depths of my spirit? Yes, however I did not let them distract  my focus of appreciation. I remained positive and realized that no matter how challenging my problems seem to be there are many people who have far more challenges in their life then me.

6). while you may be in a crowd or alone, do controlled breathing. Doing this can reconnect our spirit and mind. It helps our awareness of life and there are great reasons to be happy. This a form of prayer and or meditation. I consider both a valid source of energy. 

May your mind and soul be unified  by feeding it with spiritual nutrition and your tree of life yields fruits of love, and happiness.

There can be no more depression

~~~ HAPPY HOLIDAYS ~~~

Here is my greeting card to my beautiful followers  of this blog

To be perfectly honest, I do struggle sometimes with these holidays. I dislike the commercialism, beginning with "Black Friday" which I like to call "Evil Friday". It has become progressively worse when in the US you sacrifice family gatherings like Thanksgiving so you can wait in long lines from the night before to get discounts on material items for the holidays, etc. etc.   Retailers asking  family members  to give up their traditional family gathering  to open their stores for would be shoppers who hopefully will contribute to the financial salvation of their year coming to a end.

The concept of embracing their spirituality during this time of the year for the most part is ignored.

Below is a link to an older post on the subject:copy and paste it to your browser.

http://ancient-pnevma.blogspot.com/2011/11/black-friday-salvation-for-retailers.html  

What is really sad is that parents and family members feel the pressure of buying toys that the media on TV and  store front widows display which they cannot afford to buy. Credit cards thrown in our faces by banks with the temptation of a higher limits they offer, only to cause financial problems in the near future. We are inundated with images of media, not to find our spirituality, but what we can spend in material gifts.

The truth is ~~  gifts of infinite value cannot be found under a tree or hidden in the house for Hanukkah. They are gifts that cannot be found in a retail store.These gifts can be found only come in  the heart. You do not need a credit card. 

Sharing love and  compassion. Giving to others who do not have as much as you is the Native American belief. Share with those less fortunate as you

Trust me when I say I participated in this ritual when my kids were young. I was as guilty as anyone else.  

There are many beautiful ways to celebrate the Christmas  season. One of my favorite activities is visiting patients in a hospital. I remember going to the Children's Hospital on Sunset boulevard in Los Angeles, California when I was in the service of the church. There is nothing more inspirational than to spend time with Children in a hospital. Getting them to smile  while they may be in pain from the  reason they  are there is magical.  Serving in a soup kitchen for the homeless  is powerful. My kids were trained to donate time to philanthropic activities and belonged to an organization called  Sandpipers in the Southern California area. 

May your Holidays be full of Love ~~  Light ~~ health. The the most important gifts of life.

  

~~~ NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH ~~~

 

On August 3 1990 President W Bush Declared the Month of November as Native Amercan Heritage Month.The Bill read in part that the people of the United States observe this month with approppriate  ceremonies and activities honoring America's Tribal people.

What I found interesting is the choice of the month as November, the time of Thanksgiving at which time the Pilgrims reportedly sat down together with the Native Americans to eat and celebrate in unity and peace and was thankful for their life. You will recall  that I created a post on Thanksgiving when I wrote about the dark side of how the native Americans were treated. 

Below is a link to that post. You will have to copy and paste or browse through the index of this site to see it.

http://ancient-pnevma.blogspot.com/2011/11/thanksgiving-or-prayers-for-native_23.html

Even today I come across people who criticize the first people who   are given money  and land by the government as restitution for the worst genocide known to mankind.   There are still European Americans who are predigest against  our first people. I am pleased, however, that President Bush has made an effect to encourage awareness of our Native American traditions and culture. After all, these are first people. It is my prayer that all indigenous people around the world have such an opportunity.

I am blessed to have so many native American friends

Be well in light and love

~~~ A CHILD SHALL LEAD US ~~~

I was inspired to right this post by one of our beautiful followers of this blog when she sent me these two images


The above title of this post is a parallel of a quote from the Bible from  Isaiah 11:1-10

Isaiah was prophetic who had a clear understanding of the significance  children have in our spirituality. Contrary to biblical scholars of his time and even among today's scholars who  view this statement as naive and misdirected. I disagree! The best observation point in  viewing how we can reach a level of spirituality that will sling us to the afterlife is to look at our children. 

"In the new testament, Mark 10:15 Jesus said the kingdom of God is like a little child, that those who wish to enter the Kingdom must do so as children." 

Is it not interesting how we come into  this realm as a child and as we age we seem to revert to our childhood. We become child like even physically. We wore diapers as a child and then as an adult.  We just call them "depends" for adults.  We become the children of our children. They can nurture us to the afterlife. 

Perhaps the best example of  man becoming a child in adulthood is Walt Disney. I have dedicated a post to him and his spirituality in this blog.  

Below is a link to that blog 

http://ancient-pnevma.blogspot.com/2012/04/disney-and-sprituality.html

Ask my family, they will tell you I still act like a child and even speak like one when among them. In today's social environment it is not conducive to act childish. Unfortunately some People tend to not take you seriously because they are too serious themselves.  

Believe or not, I give goofy nick names, like when I am ordering a coffee drink or anything over the counter. They will ask for my name for the order and I will tell them I am Baba or Toustie and they laugh or give me a big smile which was my objective to begin with.

Our minds can be a traffic jam, an accident, waiting to happen. Clear your mind from the every day challenges with meditation or just by sitting somewhere quietly and take deep breaths and focus on the positive, remember the great times as a kid  

Do not lose your childhood ~~ Be a Peter Pan

If you cry over love stories, animated movies or over documentaries about animals  ~~~ and you love animals, then mostly you still have the child inside you. Do not lose that child.

Love and Light to you!

And thank you Stella for the inspiration!

                                      

~~~ THE LOSS OF A FRIEND ~~~

I recently experienced the loss of a long term relationship which in my heart and spirit I thought would take me to the afterlife. The cause of the termination was due to a complete misunderstanding and no real opportunity given  to clarify the message that provoked the breakdown.

My immediate reaction to this confrontation was anger, not so much what the misunderstanding was all about, but the treatment received. It was as if I were a stranger. You would think that after 30 plus years there would be some trust and credibility in my words. Sometimes friends become enemies, but what is worse is when is when they become strangers.

As most people would react in shock, so did I. I had to meditate on the matter and then realized that the best solutions rarely come to surface immediately. Are time and distance the remedy? I have always believed that events happen in our life for a reason. We may not know what that reason is as the greater good is revealed through adversities in our life. Be patient, allow the tide of life to bring you to shore. Allow the universe to unfold with divine  enlightenment.

The loss of a "Filos" in Greek  ~~ friend ~~  can be as painful as the loss of any kind of love.

Friendships are very important in our life.They may be a cornerstone of our life which supports the foundation of our being. As said many times before, they may be our angels on earth.

Do not imprison your spirit with trying to relive the past.  Do not have conversations with yourself like ~~ what if this or that was said ~~ could that have changed things? We only have the NOW, the past is  gone. Do not try to live in the past. Allow divine providence in it's own time to place things in the order that is best for you.

Sometimes life gives you two options: losing yourself or losing the one you love. Whatever it is, do not lose yourself. Remember you have not lost value in life because of a broken friendship. There is no depreciation as time goes by like an object, such as an automobile.   You are still the beautiful person you were born to be. Allow me to give you a visual: Have you noticed that while the body ages the eyes do not? They are as you were born with. No wonder they say that the eyes are the windows to your soul. 

Take the beauty you have and share it with those who will appreciate it. Take your ship of life and endure the sometimes overwhelming waves that toss and turn your ship and embrace the  horizons that you have yet to experience.

Be well in Love and Light!

 

~~~ OUR TWIN OF LOVE ~~~

We all have an innate desire to find our soul mate in this realm. I do not infer to a relationship based on anything other than a spiritual attraction to another. By today’s standards this is indeed a rare accomplishment. In a very subtle way we are actually searching for ourselves in someone who is like us.

I argue that a couple who seems to be the opposite of his love interest is not better off as one does not necessarily balance the other in behavior. For an example: One is introverted and the other is extroverted. One likes to be outdoors and the other is happy staying in the house.

Regardless It is my feeling that to connect with your “twin” your relationship needs a frame not based the following:

1) Material things on Earth

2)The External shell, or body which contains the soul and spirit.

One needs to be attracted to what is inside of the body. This may be a challenge when we are gifted by the Creator such strong senses which cause us to respond to the visual and be blinded by superficial beauty. A double edged sword. It is my feeling that visual beauty can  bring you to the well for a drink, however, effort is needed to extract the prize in the well which is the water it contains.

3)Selfishness. Too many times we do not reach out to those in need of the basics in life whether ,  food, spiritual support. Love etc. The desire to share what we have inside us by both in a relationship is truly powerful.

The connection with your “twin” in love may not be in this lifetime. It may be a work in progress in the   moment we are in  now.

Below is a video I came across long after this concept came to my consciousness. I said to myself Wow! So this revelation is shared by many people. It is real. We all have a “Twin” of love.  

 We all can find our "Twin" of love, he or she maybe just around the corner. Place yourself in a spiritual environment and it will happen. Find the inner beauty in people and share your own beauty and you will find your "Twin" of love!

Love and peace be with you!