Growing old in Grace

Greetings!

In the parking lot of a store, I unloaded bags of grocery into the trunk of my car.  I made a little noise as I tried to lift the 24-pack bottles of water from the shopping cart.  A young woman about 30 feet away immediately asked if I needed help.  She and a man about her age were talking to an older man.  With a joyful smile, I said, "No, thank you!"  Later, I walked over there and thanked her for her kindness.

I met kind people all the time.  

One afternoon, the mail carrier also offered to help me carrying the groceries.  One day, a young woman who happened to walk by wanted to help me too.  On another day, a young man who lived in another building wanted to help me as well.  He was nice and polite.  Their kindness made my day.  On those occasions, I talked to them for a short while thanking them for being so kind, and sent them blessings in my heart as we parted ways.

One day in a store, a man is his 40 s seemed to be following me in a distance.  He dressed like someone who worked in an office.  I kind of looked back at him.  I sensed no ill intention.  On his face was a delightful smile as if he saw something in me.  At one point, I stopped to look at some items on the top shelf.  He quickly walked forward.  I got it he wanted to help me to get what I wanted to buy from the top shelf.  So I asked for his help.  He gladly got it for me.  Joyfully, he walked away and did not follow me anymore.

Years ago, I rarely asked for help to get something that I could not reach.  If I could not get something from the top, I might use another item to bring it down and catch it with my hand.  However, I had learned to allow others to help me was also a service.  (Re   Helping others and allowing others to help you can both be a source of joy  )  

Whenever I needed help in a store, I usually asked someone that looked friendly or cheerful.  One day while I was pondering who I should ask to help me, I saw a man walked past me.  He was tall and slim.  On his face was a look of gloomy as if he was depressed or sad.  I called out to him, "Sir, would you please help me . . ."  He walked back and got me two frozen TV dinners from the top shelf.  I looked into his eyes and said truthfully, "Thank you very much for your help."  We soon came across each other in the next lane.  I was glad to see that the gloominess on his face was gone!  We greeted each other with a smile.

One day, I was on my way out of a store.  I saw a store employee sitting on a bench by the customer service center.  He was a senior like me, and was probably taking a break.  He looked very tired.  He took out a small towel to wipe the sweats on his face.  In my heart, I sent him blessings.  To my surprise, he seemed to hear what I said in my heart.  He stopped in the midst of wiping his sweats.  He looked at me and said, "Thank you, thank you, Madam!  May you have a blessed day too!"  (It reminded me of other occasions where people actually received my thought.  See  Is our thought a secret known only to ourselves )

After the incidents in Who smiles? Who sees? , I allowed myself to smile more.  Recently I had an amazing experience.  As a mother and grandmother, I loved seeing families with children that happily shopped in stores.  I saw a family of three generations (grandparents, parents and two small children).  I smiled at this family.  They happened to notice that.  All of them, young and old, looked at me and let out the most wonderful smiles!  I still remembered the light in their eyes and their total smiles.  Thank you for the gift.

Autumn is here.  Earth / the world is going through many changes.  Take care.

Many Blessings,

Q of D

Oh, I was holding a grudge . . . . .

Greetings!

Some weeks ago I was taking a walk on the sidewalk of the road.  

In a distance, I saw a man walking in my direction.  I recognized him.  I thought of walking quickly to turn into a side road because I did not want to greet him.  Right away, I caught my negative reaction.  Oh, I was holding a grudge against him!  I laughed (at my self), and told myself not to hold any grudges.  I continued to walk on the sidewalk at my normal pace.  As we met, we greeted and wish each other a blessed day.  

He was one of those that walked in the school fields.  I did not go for walks at a fixed time.  It could be any time in the morning or in the afternoon.  Therefore, we only came across each other once in a long while.  When we did, we exchanged pleasantries as most others did.  (I used the word 'most' because there were always a few with their eyes looking straight ahead.)

I loved nature.  I smiled as the light breeze touched my face.  I took pictures of insects, birds, trees, flowers, little animals, rainbows, sun, moon and etc.  One day (not this year) I saw a beautiful cicada on a tree.  It was in the process of shedding its old skin / shell.  I took out my camera to take some pictures.  This man happened to walk by.  When he saw the cicada, he said, "Oh, it is ugly!  It is gross!"  He walked away with a disgusted look on his face.  In retrospect, I must have formed a negative view of him because of this minor incident.

I fully understood we all had things we liked and things that we did not like.  I loved cats and dogs.  The friend that used to live in the neighborhood strongly disliked cats, but we were friends. ( Re A conversation between two grandmothers )  I normally accepted how other people were.  In where I lived, I rarely saw cicadas.  When I saw the cicada, I felt joy.  I must have reacted adversely when I heard the man's 'extreme' comments about the beautiful insect.  It was a good thing that I caught myself holding a grudge because I could then choose to let it go.  It was his negative emotion / judgment toward the cicada, and it had nothing to do with me.

As my spirit guide shared with me in  We don't necessary have to like or dislike someone 

It is alright to react with a certain mood such as happy, surprise or even upset.  Face it, this is what life is all about.  But then, we discern ourselves from the feeling, and observe it with tranquility.

Many changes are going on at this time on earth.  Take care.

Love & Blessings,

Q of D

A Voice Besides Mine was Recorded!

Greetings!

After publishing my last post, another experience came to my mind.  It was an incredible experience that was worth sharing.

On March 21, 2022, I received an email from a spiritual society.  Other than a list of upcoming events, it was suggested for us to consider adding an invocation to our meditation practice and/or prayers.  At the time, many people around the world were concerned about the Russian's attack on Ukraine.  The small church that I called my spiritual home had asked us to pray for Ukraine, and some spiritual groups / societies held prayers for peace services as well.

Below was the invocation in the email.

Invocation for Harmony

May the Forces of Light bring illumination to humankind.

May the Spirit of Peace be spread abroad.

May the Law of Harmony prevail.

May people of goodwill everywhere meet in a spirit of cooperation.

So let it be and help us to do our part.

As I read it, something seemed amiss.  I wondered if the source of the invocation was from a book or someone had channeled it through meditation.  Meanwhile, there was this strong, strong prompting from within to create a spiritual ideal with this invocation and make it into a song.

For the following days and weeks, I was totally into doing just that.  It was hard to explain.  I did not know how to read music.  All I did was to sing the words again and again until I felt that it was good.  When my son was not home, I sang the words.  At night, I quietly sang it in my heart.  I was fine with the first sentence of the invocation.  I felt the second sentence 'May the spirit of peace be spread abroad' seemed to indicate peace spread from USA to other places.  I changed it into 'May the Spirit of Peace spread throughout the world.'  I also felt the song was more in flow with 'May the Law of Harmony prevail on Earth' than simply 'May the Law of Harmony prevail.'  I made some minor changes for the rest of the invocation according to how I felt what a spiritual ideal for humanity is / could be.  I could sing in a normal tone, and could not sing high notes. 

When I was alone, I stood in the center of the family room trying to sing the invocation as a song.  Whenever I did, I could feel lots of energy around me especially above my crown.  When I felt I was ready, I used the computer recorder app to record the song.  As I listened, I realized I had to make some adjustment.  For examples, I might pause too long between words (i.e. it had something to do with my breathing), or my voice cracked when singing high notes.  Day after day, I continued to perfect the song of invocation for harmony.  Finally, I was satisfied with the song.  I sang the following version of invocation a few times and thought I did not have to record anymore.

Invocation for Harmony

May the Forces of Light bring illumination to humankind.

May the Spirit of Peace spread throughout the world.

May the Law of Harmony prevail on earth.

May people of goodwill everywhere meet in a spirit of cooperation, 

   and work toward * the good for all.

Let it be so and help us to do our part.

* With my limited understanding of English, I thought the correct grammar was 'work for the good for all'.  I did not want to use 'for' twice, and replaced it with the word 'toward'.  

 

A while later, I thought "Would it be better if people everywhere meet in a spirit of cooperation and work toward the good for all.'  I  thought it would be heaven on earth if all of us meet in a spirit of cooperation and work for the good for all.  Besides, I found it easier to sing 'May people everywhere meet . . .' than 'May people of goodwill everywhere meet . . .' 

So I joyfully sang the final version (at least that was what I thought) and used the recorder app on the computer to record it.  When I listened to the recording, I was puzzled because there seemed to be some static or voice somewhere in the recording!  As far as I knew nobody was in the apartment across from us.  I listened to the recording again.  There really seemed to be a voice besides mine!  I listened again and again, but could not figure out what it said.  I usually set the sound volume of my computer at 33%.  I turned the volume to 100%.  I was stunned.  It was a woman's voice.  It was barely audible, but she seemed to be saying 'No, no, not everybody' in an urgent tone while I was singing 'May people everywhere . . .'

In disbelief, I ended up listening to all the recordings since I began recording this song.  In one of the recordings in the earlier days, there seemed to be some static about the verb 'spread'.  However, that was the only time and did not happen in later recordings.  As I sat there contemplating what had happened, it came to me the human I might think it would be heaven on earth if everybody in the world worked in a spirit of cooperation; however, people on earth were of many different levels / agenda / focus, and not all were of goodwill; thus there was this saying that when a certain number of loving spiritual people came together, they could change the world.  As for the word 'spread', I could not come up with another word.  It might be the being(s) that was (were) watching over the co-creation process felt the word 'spread' was alright too.

I went back to the version 'May people of goodwill everywhere meet in a spirit of cooperation'.  There were no more static in the recording.  Then one morning I woke up and 'got' the words 'work for the good of all'.  I looked it up online, and was so happy the information was correct.  With all my heart and soul, I sang the Invocation for Harmony.  The energy in me and around me was phenomenal.  I asked the angels to join in and sing with me.  Since then, sometimes I woke up hearing the music in the air in the middle of the night.  During the day, the song would come on every now and then too.  If I simply listened, the sound / voice of singing was different from mine.  When I joined in even not by voice but by intention, I heard my voice among the singing.  

Below is the song I sang.

Invocation for Harmony

May the Forces of Light bring illumination to humankind

May the Spirit of Peace spread throughout the world

May the Law of Harmony prevail on earth

May people of goodwill everywhere meet in a spirit of cooperation and work for the good of all

Let it be so and help us to do our part.

Indeed, Life must be experienced .  I began to write this post yesterday, and finished it today.  To me, that is fast / unusual.  Incidentally, I received this Thought for the Day from the Edgar Cayce's A.R.E. org.

Sunday, June 18

"Hence as ye gain in the outpouring of thyself in song, ye not ONLY give praise and service and obedience but bring help and hope, and an awakening to those ye contact IN the very act!"    

Edgar Cayce reading 1158-14

Life is full of coincidences.  I hold the pure intention to be of service, and may it ever be so.

Many Blessings,

Q of D

P.  S.  On Sat. June 17, around 9 a.m., I woke up hearing Sukiyaki again.  (Re Why did I wake up hearing a song of Japanese food? )