Who left many messages on her answering machine?

Greetings!

Today I cleaned up a drawer.  I saw a business card of a professional healer, and it brought back some memory.

In October 2008, I had a vivid dream of A beautiful pink fish on the back of a white dove .  I went to a holistic store for a free dream interpretation.  Unexpectedly, I ended up holding my first healing workshop in the store four months later (Feb. 2009).

Looking back, the event was more like an introduction to a healing art instead of a workshop.  The manager of the holistic store never talked to me about facilitating a workshop.  I found it out after they printed out their February schedule.  The time on the schedule only allowed me to demonstrate, and those at the event did not get to practice.  Luckily, the fee I set for the event was minimal.  I set a fee because I had to pay rent for the room in the store.  I did not consider myself a healer, and had never thought of holding a workshop.  I totally stressed out before the workshop, but was (made) well the day before it took place.  In the morning before the workshop, I woke up from a vivid dream of the Elders.  I knew then that everything was in Divine Order.

A few days after the February 2009 workshop, my friend*** called me.  She said a woman called her asking about the healing modality.  

***She was a great friend I met at church.  She was an engineer, an Energy Kinesiologist, a long time spiritual seeker, and a channel.  I asked her to come to the workshop to guide us in a meditation to connect with the healing energy.  She had learned Reiki.  Later, she also received the healing energy codes as I worked on her.  I was not comfortable talking in English on the phone, and did not have an email address at that time.  Without any hesitation, She agreed to help me without any hesitation.  We printed out fliers of the workshop with her phone number and email address as the person to contact.  In subsequent workshops, she was the contact person as well as a co-facilitator.  Dear Friend, thank you for your love and support.

Since my friend did not know much about the healing modality at that time, she called to tell me that she had given the woman my phone number.

Over the phone, the woman told me her name.  She was a professional healer (a Reiki practitioner).  She said one of her friends was in my healing workshop.  Her friend raved about the workshop / the healing energy.  The woman wanted to know the difference between the healing modality I demonstrated and Reiki.  At the end of our conversation, she said she might want to participate if I held another workshop.  I did not recall what I said, but at the time I was just very relieved that the workshop was over.  I did not think of holding another workshop at all.

About seven months later, a friend at church asked me to hold another workshop because she and a couple of her friends wanted to know the healing art.  The three of them were Reiki masters.  They met regularly to practice Reiki.  During that time, the friend I mentioned above also encouraged me to hold a workshop at church.  With the permission from the church, we made plan for a 2-day workshop on the fourth Sat. and Sun. in Oct.

Two weeks before the workshop, my friend talked to me about the woman who called after the first workshop.  She said she wanted to let her know about the workshop, but had lost her phone number.  I remembered I wrote down her name and phone number in my journal after talking to her.  My friend asked me to call the woman if I found the phone number.

When I was home, I found her phone number.  I called her.  She was seemingly very upset when she learned that I called about the workshop.  She said we had left many, many messages on her answering machine urging her to go to the workshop!  I was shocked!  I said, "This is the first time I call you.  As far as I know, my friend has not called you.  Now that you hear my voice, is it my voice on your answering machine?" She said, "It is definitely not your voice."  I could sense she regained her peace at this point.  I asked, "Could it be your friend who attended my February workshop?"  She said, "No, it is not my friend for I would have recognized her voice."  She said all the calls came while she was not home.  The caller never left a name or call back number except messages after messages about the workshop.  She was upset because the caller should have called and talked to her when she was home instead of leaving many messages on the answering machine.

After I hung up, I was confused.  Who called her?  The following Sunday, I talked to my friend.  She said she never called her.  When they talked on the phone in March, she wrote down her name and phone number on a small piece of paper.  She put it in her pants pocket and forgot about it.  She said the paper must be lost or ruined during the many cycles in the washer and dryer.  That was why she asked me to call the woman.  My friend also wondered who called the woman.  Why did someone give that much effort to relate the news, but did not try to talk to her?  The woman did not register for the workshop.  Up to this point, we had not met one another.

Anyway, we had a good experience at the workshop.  We were grateful that the church allowed us to use the chapel and practice healing once a month.

Some months later, two participants in the second workshop asked me to hold a workshop in another city.  (They were the Reiki masters.)  One of them had been a spiritual teacher and a professional healer for many years.  She owned a spiritual center in that city.  I told them that they could hold a workshop by themselves since they were channels of the healing energy like me.

Other than driving to church and a few places by myself, I depended on my husband to do the driving.  I was not good in directions.  Many times I lost my directions walking in a mall.  It was hard for my American friends to understand since driving to them was as easy as ABC.  Besides, I really felt my friends could hold the workshop without me.

However, my friends insisted for me to facilitate the workshop.  I finally agreed.  I asked them to be co-facilitators.  In June 2010, the three of us facilitated the workshop.  I met some new wonderful sisters.  Thank you for your presence in my experience.  (Re my post Giving and Receiving Love Must Be Balanced .)

Originally, a friend offered to pick me up on the first day of the workshop to show me the way so that I knew how to drive over there by myself on the second day.  She did not live close to where I lived.  I thought it was too much trouble for her to do that.  I asked my husband to drive me to that center twice before the workshop.  Thank goodness, I had smooth rides back and forth during the 2-day workshop.

In September 2010, I began going to a monthly Peace Circle.  It was held in a room inside a big spiritual research center.  The facilitator was a very good spiritual teacher.  She played amazing music too.  I attended the monthly meeting the best I could, but there were times I did not go.  Other people also came to the meeting when they could.  We had new faces all the time.  The facilitator always asked each one of us to share something about us in the beginning of the circle.  My self-introduction was usually brief.  I said my first name and a sentence or two such as "I am glad to be here" or "I come because peace of the world is important to me".

In one of the monthly meetings (might be in 2011), a woman came.  She said she was a healer.  When she said her name, I immediately realized she was the woman who called me about the healing modality.  She was very out-spoken.  Whenever she came, she had many stories to share.  Some of her life stories were quite interesting. She did not come to the circle regularly.  During the times she was in the circle, she did not seem to realize who I was or that we had talked on the phone.

One day at the meeting, people talked about healing modalities.  This sister said she did not understand why there were many new healing modalities.  In her view, Reiki was the most powerful healing energy.  I did not say anything.  I looked at her with a smile.  In another meeting, she said she always wanted to take a walk on the beach with a friend.  However, many of her friends did not have the time because they worked.  (She was in her mid 70 s.)  She wished to have a friend who would walk with her.  When the circle was over, I went to her.  I told her I would love to take a walk on the beach too.  I gave her my phone number, and she gave me her business card.

We talked on the phone once.  I did not remember if I could not go or she could not go.  I worked three to four days a week.  It would be perfect if she came for Sunday service.  We could go to the beach afterwards.  However, I did not see her at church.

Later that year, my friend talked to me about holding another workshop because a brother who lived in Florida wanted to come.  This brother was a wonderful teacher and speaker who was greatly loved by all at church.  Knowing the brother was coming, another friend (the Reiki master who participated in the second workshop) wanted to be part of the event.  I asked both of my friends to be co-facilitators.  A kind pastor donated three scholarships for people to come to the workshop.  (In all the workshops, I never turned away anyone because of money.)  Together, the three of us began the 2-day workshop right after Thanksgiving Day.  The workshop was over on Saturday.  On Sunday, many at church remarked that we were radiating.

The workshop was an exceptional experience.  At the time, I did not know I would leave that state soon.

Holding the business card in my hand, I wonder how the sister is doing.  I hope she has since taken many walks on the beach with not just a friend but many friends.

Love,
Q of D

P.S.  A few months ago, I was in a spiritual gathering.  A man stood up.  He said he was an energy healer.  He had learned many spiritual energy healing modalities.  He found this particular healing energy to be the most powerful (FYI it is not Reiki).  He said it had been scientifically proven in a lab.  People listened, and moved onto other spiritual subjects.  The man was disappointed.  He left before the gathering was over.

Personally, I saw no point of arguing over which healing modality was the most powerful.  It was not any different from an argument over whose religion was the best religion or whose god was the true god.  I would like to quote some words from my post  My journey as a channel of spiritual healing energy -

I eventually understood going to the (spiritual energy healing) workshop was a process to uncover what was within.

In my opinion, there may seem to be many different healing modalities, however, the Source of healing is One.  The one who channels healing and the one who receives healing are labels only.  In the truth of oneness, who heals or who is healed?

Let Us Start from Ground Zero

Greetings!

In January 2015, I published Race and Discrimination Post 1 ,Post 2, and Post 3

Today I want to share with you another personal experience.  It is not a story of discrimination, but a story of misunderstanding.

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Before I share with you the experience, I want to tell you something about me.

I was very sensitive to people's feeling since I was small.  When people walked in, I knew right away if someone was sad, happy, angry, or not feeling well.  As I grew, I was more into living my life than paying attention to other people's emotions.  Still, there had been times others strong emotions such as deep hidden sadness and hopelessness affected me greatly.  (Re my posts Is it time to let go of your pain now? and To forgive is most of all for the good of ourselves )

In elementary school, I did not join small groups as most little girls did.  I was more like an observer among my friends.  Whenever there was a conflict between groups, the girls usually came to me for my opinion.  They listened to what I had to say.  In different schools, my classmates voted for me to be the class captain, and sometimes the teacher chose me.  It bothered me because I knew some of my classmates wanted very much to be the captain while I did not.  My mother understood me.  She said, "They vote for you because they respect you and like you.  You may not want to be the captain, but I am sure you are going to be a good captain.  You care about your classmates, and always treat everybody fairly. "

My sensitivity to people's emotion and how I regard all people help me a lot in handling the incident that I was about to share.

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Before we opened for business, my husband talked to me about his experience with the restaurant business and what he learned from other restaurant owners.  He said most of the customers were honest, but as with any service business, there would be a few who were not.  The common story was people ordered a shrimp or beef dish, and later called back to say the restaurant had given them a wrong dish.  Most Chinese restaurants did not want to argue with the customer, and chose to give the customer a new order of food.  The restaurant owners eventually learned from their experiences.  They asked the customer to bring back the food in exchange for what they said they had ordered.  After hearing that, sometimes the customer said he would just try the food he had brought home.  If the customer did come back with the food, the restaurant often found that the beef or  shrimps were mostly gone leaving only some vegetables in the carryout boxes.  Some restaurant owners instructed their servers to open the container of food in front of the customer (without saying anything) so as to dissuade the customer from doing it again.  The restaurants threw away the food that a customer brought back, but it was a way to know the truth.

My husband said he used beef tenderloin / beef flank steak for the beef dishes, and large / big size shrimps for the shrimp dishes.  Beef and shrimps were expensive.  He put almost half a pound of beef or shrimps for each quart size orders.  He said we were not the big restaurants that could afford the loss.  He knew that I might not be comfortable in asking a customer to bring back the food for exchange, but he said I must do that.

In the restaurant years, I found most of the customers were nice and honest.  I did encounter similar incidents as mentioned above a few times.  One afternoon, a teenager walked in.  He said his aunt ordered a big carryout for lunch.  She told him to come and pick up a quart of sweet and sour pork because it was missing in the bag.  I stared at him for a while.  I said, "I am the only one who answers the phone. Nobody calls in a big order for lunch today.  You are lying!"  He walked out of the restaurant laughing.  He said he was hoping he could trick me!  On another occasion, a young Asian woman placed a small order, and stole two bottles of soy sauce from the tables when I went inside the kitchen.  There were other minor incidents such as people used fake money, paid for their orders with stolen checks, and ran out of the restaurant after dining in.  However, these were not out of the ordinary in the restaurant business.

Now let me get to the incident I want to share.

One late afternoon, I got a call from a woman.  She said she picked up a carryout order for lunch around noon.  She said one of the items she ordered was not in the bag.  Instead, she found an extra container of food that she had not ordered.  I asked why she did not call us right away.  She said she did not realize the food was not there until later.  She did not call us sooner because she had gone shopping for a couple of hours.  She thought it was all right for her to come and pick up the food later in the afternoon.  I asked if she still had the food that she had not ordered.  She said yes.  I asked her to please bring it back when she came to pick up her food.  She said she would.

I told my husband about the call.  Immediately, he said it did not make any sense to him that a customer called three or four hours after she picked up her order.  He asked if she was a regular customer.  I said I did not recognize her voice or her name. My husband said he would only cook the food if she brought back the food that she had not ordered.

The woman came.  She did not bring back the food as she had promised.  I asked about it.  She said she did not go home.  She came to our restaurant from a store.

I went into the kitchen.  I asked my husband to cook the food, but he refused to since she did not bring back the food.  I said I believed the customer was telling the truth.  I said that we all made mistakes.  It was possible we had made a mistakes in packing the order.  I said in the restaurant business, the customer was always right.  I said, "We will throw away the food she brings back anyway.  Would you please cook the food?"  Reluctantly, he cooked the food.  He said it would take a while.  (It should be ready in a short while, but I understood he was not happy.)

I came out of the kitchen to talk to the customer.  I apologized for the wait, and said the food would be ready soon.  I tried to explain why we asked our customers to bring back the food.  (Oh! My mistake!)  The woman never looked at me while she listened. Her eyes were on the floor.  My husband called from the kitchen that the food was ready.  I went in and came out with the order.  I handed the bag to the customer.  It was then she raised her head and looked at me.  In her eyes, I saw indescribable hurt, pain, and anger!  I stood there in shock while she walked away.  When I came to, she was gone.  I realized she (a black woman) thought I had judged her by her race, and discriminated against her just liked many did.

That night I prayed long and hard.  I imagined talking to her higher self face to face.  I told her I had always looked at all people as equal.  I never intended to hurt her. However, from the expression on her face, I knew I had hurt her.  I asked for her forgiveness.

Two days later, a black man walked into the restaurant.  Right away, he angrily said that I had hurt his wife deeply.  Looking into his eyes, I immediately said, "You must be the husband of the lady who came two days ago..."  I told him how sorry I was that afternoon seeing the hurt and pain in his wife's eyes.  I related to him what had happened.  When I tried to explain why we asked our customers to bring back the food, his wife could have taken it as an accusation that she was lying.  However, I believed her.  At the end, I told him truthfully that I was sorry, and that I should be more sensitive and mindful of what I said.

He listened.  Obviously, he had not expected to hear what I said.  After I finished talking, he was no longer angry.  He was quiet for a while.  Then he said, "Let us start from ground zero!"  I eventually came to know this wonderful family who continued to order from us regularly until we sold the business.  One day, I went to the library.  A young woman who worked there greeted me with a beautiful smile.  She said her family missed our food, and they could not find the same quality of Chinese food anywhere.  She was the couple's daughter.

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In any relationship, it takes time to truly know one another.  It is especially so when people of different backgrounds and races come together.  Occasionally, we may feel others dislike us because we are different from they are, but it may not necessary be the case.

I always remembered what my older son said to me one day long ago.  In high school, he worked part-time in a fast food restaurant and a store to support the family. One day, I talked to him about a cashier who was often rude and mean.  I said the cashier must be a racist.  My son said, "Mom, it is easy to assume someone is racist when he treats you meanly.  At work, I have met a few people who are grumpy all the time.  They are not just mean to some people, but mean to almost everyone. The cashier may be like that too.  They are those who are unhappy with their lives, and may not necessary be racist.  If we don't take their grumpiness personally, we will find that they are all right."  (Thank you, Son, for sharing with me your wisdom.)

Indeed, we have to accept who he or she is* before a harmonious relationship can begin.  (*i.e. the state of being he or she is at)  As humans, it is in our interaction, we come to know each other.  No one is perfect.  With this premise, we can look at others shortcomings with patience and forgiveness as if they are our shortcomings.

Let us give ourselves and others the grace as the brother has given me.  Let all of us start from ground zero.  Let us look at one another with love and acceptance.  Amen.

Love,
Q of D

P.S.  One night years ago, I also learned It is not about how others treat us, but how we choose to treat others (published on 5/1/2011).

I am grateful for the warmth and kindness

Greetings!

Our daughter-in-law's grandmother, Joan, moved into a new nursing home a short while ago.  Last Sunday, I asked my daughter-in-law to bring us to see her.

Joan is ninety years old.  She is very sweet and considerate.  We are always happy to see her.  She now lives in a nursing home with gorgeous scenery of nature.  On Sunday, three of her great-grandchildren (or our grandchildren) had lots of fun picking yellow Dandelions in a big field of grass.

I met Joan for the first time about eight years ago.  Joan hosted a bridal shower for her granddaughter who would soon be our daughter-in-law.  There were many people at the party.  I was somewhat nervous because I did not know anyone except a young woman* who was married the month before.  (*Re my posts The Hot Coffee Incident and The Healing in the Washroom.)  Firmly and warmly, Joan held my hand and introduced me to everyone in her family.  She asked me to sit next to her, and talked to me as if we already knew each other.  Her gentle, loving presence really eased my discomfort of sitting among strangers.

Joan lived in her own house until her early 80 s, and her loved ones visited her almost daily.  With old age, it was easy to lose our balance and fall down.  After falling down a couple of times, she moved into a senior housing complex where an assistant stayed in her room to take care of her throughout the day.  She had moved a couple of times.  She took life in stride, and was always nice to those who took care of her.

Joan says she is content with where she is.  She enjoys the beauty and peace of nature surrounding the nursing home.

On the journey of life, I am grateful for the wonderful people such as Joan who have extended to me their warmth and kindness.

In gratitude, I have lived through many stages of my life.  When I was small, I looked up at my mother wondering when I would be as tall as she was.  I wanted to grow up fast and love her back as how she had tenderly loved me.  Years later, I was myself a mother blessed with two sons.  I was the youngest of three.  My siblings and I were very close in age.  My older son was my mother's first grandchild.  My siblings told me that our mother could not stop smiling whenever she looked at the pictures of my sons.  Time flies.  Now, I am a grandmother of three wonderful kids.

Gratitude helps me to see the beauty of life and the good of those around me. Gratitude opens my heart to feel, connect, receive love and embrace others with love.

I am grateful to connect with you through this blog.  We may never meet in life, but spiritually speaking, we are no strangers to one another.  

Many blessings,
Q of D

He pointed a gun at her, and she said 'I forgive you'

Greetings!

I had intended to include this amazing story in my last post Life is not how it seems, but I did not.   I knew it would take some time for me to write about the story because I had to go online for more details of the incident.  Meanwhile, yesterday was the last day of April.  I wanted very much to publish the last post on sons and daughters before a new month began.

Well, I guess that is part of being human.  Many times, we feel the pressure of life not realizing it is our own doing.

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One morning, my husband turned on the television as he normally did.  At first, I did not pay much attention.  Suddenly, I turned to look at the TV.  On the screen, a woman was interviewing a woman who was shot in the head in a road rage incident.

The woman who was conducting the interview asked the victim***, "Do you hate the man who shot you?"

Immediately, the woman answered, "No!  I forgave him right away!  When I looked into his eyes, I knew there was something wrong with him."

Wow!  I said in my heart.

In the interview, the woman explained her reaction.  She was shocked to see the man pointed a gun at her.  However, she saw from his eyes that there was something wrong with him.  Instead of fear, she looked at him and said 'I forgive you' right away.

The incident happened in March.  If you want to learn more about the incident, please go googling on "Houston Woman Shot in the Head During Road Rage".  She was listed as in critical condition when she was admitted to the hospital.  Within 48 hours, she was released from the hospital after the surgery.  She was expected to have a full recovery.

In an interview outside of the hospital, her husband said her quick recovery was a miracle.  I believed her immediate truthful, compassionate, and unconditional words of forgiveness had saved her.

In April, the police arrested the man who shot her.

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I tried to look up the actual video of the whole interview online to no avail.  I saw part of the interview during which she described her terrifying ordeal.

Many of us carried 'I love you', 'I am sorry', and 'I am grateful' on our lips, but we did not say them from our heart.  There was no power or truth in what we said.

A man in a van next to her car pointed a gun at her.  He looked at her with malice. She was more alarmed of the 'wrong' in him than her own safety, and she said right away from her heart that she forgave him.  That was power no matter she was saved or not.


Peace,
Q of D

*** I used the word 'victim' to relate the story.  However, many spiritual teachers had said everything happened for a reason, and there was no victim since we went through what we chose to go through.  Some of us found some truth in what they said.  However, we should not force on others what we believed or not believed.  We should be sensitive to people's feeling when misfortune befell them.  Oftentimes, a sympathetic ear was all that people needed.  We all learned what we needed to learn when the time was right.