In my last post A beautiful red heart on the TV screen, I connected my dream to the Sunday service because both had a beautiful red heart on the TV screen.
The church videotaped all the Sunday services. We could borrow any DVD and watch it at home. It was free.
I spoke at church for the first time in Jan. of 2010. When it was over, I was very relieved that I had finished the assignment, a self-set assignment. I did not borrow the DVD to see how I did that Sunday. All I wanted was to connect with my brothers and sisters through sharing the lessons I learned, and I had done that. After I spoke on Feb. 13, 2011, I did not think of borrowing the DVD too. If the kind pastor had not given me the DVD, I would not have seen the last scene of a red heart on the wall and understood my dream of a heart on the TV screen.
Though the church I called my spiritual home was small, we had ten pastors. They gave their time and money to support the church. They had been on their spiritual journey for a long time. They were wonderful speakers, musicians, healers and teachers. On most Sundays, we also had speakers that came from other places and countries. They were known spiritual teachers of all faiths, musicians, workshop facilitators, psychics / mediums and healers. As far as I knew, they drove or flew to our church on their own expenses. Their loving presence was felt and greatly appreciated by all.
I mentioned my talk at church was a self-set assignment. Indeed, it was. One day after service, my friend urged me to consider holding another healing workshop. I was very hesitant to do so. I knew healing energy flowed through me to others as I sat among people. However, I did not feel I was qualified to hold workshops***. As my friend tried to convince me, I blurted out that I wanted an opportunity to talk to my brothers and sisters at church. My friend who was on the board of directors looked at me. Then she said, "I'll talk to the church about it." Therefore, it was a self-set assignment for the church had not asked me to speak.
Since I was not comfortable speaking in English, why in the world did I ask to speak at church?
A while back, the church had invited some old members to come back and share with us their stories on their spiritual journey. They were now guides and workshop facilitators to help others on their spiritual paths. They were all loving, humble and truthful. Their personal stories were amazing. Their courage to following their callings was inspiring. After listening to their talks, the urge within to follow their footsteps sounded loudly at night. In time, the urge began to wane. I told myself, "They are doctors and professionals. They are highly educated and wonderful speakers. I can't even speak English correctly. I should forget about what I want to do (i.e. to share with my brothers and sisters about the lessons I learn)."
As I put it behind me, my guides and angels had their way of inspiring me. One night, I could not sleep. I grabbed a magazine from the night stand. It was an old spiritual magazine. This monthly magazine was published in the state* we used to lived. After we moved, my older son paid for a year subscription as his Christmas gift for me. He renewed the subscription a year later. However, two months into that year, the editor decided the magazine had served its purpose. There was no more publication after that. Anyway, I opened the magazine and saw the name John St. Augustine. The ignorant me had never heard of such a last name. Out of curiosity, I began to read his story. What he said touched my heart deeply. It was his words that caused me to blurt out to my friend that I wanted an opportunity to speak and connect with my brothers and sisters at church.
In the interview, John St. Augustine, a well known inspirational speaker, radio talk show host and author, was asked if there was a story or a person that really stood out for him. He said first and foremost was John Denver, a famous musician and singer.
Below were his words in the magazine.
Years ago in Boston, I was backstage with John Denver. ... We'd been friends for a while. He put his hand on my shoulder and looked me in the eyes and said, "Do you have any idea how much your voice matters in the way things go?" . . . He reminded me of something that I'd forgotten or that had been buried within . . . Had he not said those words to me, I don't know what direction my life would or wouldn't have gone, but I think it was a precursor to getting on the air. I think our voices all matter. John did it in song. I do it on the radio. Oprah does it on TV. We all do our own thing, but you have to remember that your voice matters first, before you ever use it.John St. Augustine said, "I believe we've forgotten that our voices matter, or that we should be using our voices for creating or giving aid to a problem or challenge, as opposed to just talking about reality television or something. We only have so much time here. So what you put your voice to while you're here is pretty much of paramount importance."
Let us take in this brother's words of wisdom and remember Our Voices Matter.
Love,
Q of D
*We had moved back to this state five years ago.
*** I went to a 2-day healing workshop in March 2007. The teacher told us she would come back to hold a class for teachers of the healing art in Oct. / Nov. However, I had to move to another state in August. Therefore, I never took a class for teachers. With no qualification and little experience in healing, I did not see myself as a healer not to mention to hold a workshop. However, a holistic store printed out their calendar with me holding a workshop in Feb. 2009 without asking me. (Re A beautiful pink fish on the back of a white dove ) Eventually, I understood going to the Mar. 2007 workshop was but a process to remember what was within.
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