A Gift from the Past...

I am encountering an interesting phenomena.  Books and information that I had never been able to read or understand or even want to read suddenly are becoming must reads for me.  And it usually is through a synchronicity that I become reacquainted with this information.  In the past few weeks I took up a book by Dr. Wayne Dyer on intention because my friend had seen one of his shows on PBS.  Then from Dyer I was reintroduced to Carlos Castaneda which at one time I was not able to get into at all.   I am now learning from both of them.   When another puts words in a certain order I can see a picture and gain an understanding.  From Castaneda’s book, THE ACTIVE SIDE OF INFINITY, Castaneda’s teacher Don Juan describes when they met:  “When we met in Arizona, both of us crossed a peculiar threshold, ‘he continued’. And this threshold was not decided by either one of us, but by infinity itself.  Infinity is everything that surrounds us..... The Sorcerers of my linage call it infinity, the spirit, the dark sea of awareness, and say that it is something that exists out there and rules our lives.” 
continuing Castaneda writes: 
....”He answered that his steps and mine were guided by infinity, and that circumstances that seemed to be ruled by chance were in essence ruled by the active side of infinity.  He called it intent.” 
 “... the active side of infinity.  He called it intent.”     This was truly a gift from the past to me.  Carlos Castaneda died in 1998.  

The Gift...

Hawk had not paid attention to his intuition, his inner knowing.  He had not taken the time to tune in, he was in a hurry and now he was lost....  There were tribal members and family that depended on him and by not paying attention he was letting them down.   Wanting to scream his frustration to the sky instead he calmed himself and pulled his horse to a stop and stepped to the ground.    He raised his eyes to the sky and whispered almost under his breath.  “Hawk, my teacher and guide show me where I need to go and how to find my way. I will pay attention.”  He heard the cry of a hawk high above him and saw its shadow so high it was nearly lost in the sun.    In his mind he heard the soft voice of spirit, “you know the way, you always have.  Let your heart be your guide.”  And  at that moment exactly he saw across the valley the great outcrop of rock that marked where he had to go.     He glanced upward to the hawk that was no longer visible and uttered a heartfelt “thank you”.
As he was about to mount again to resume his journey he glanced down.   On the ground immediately beneath him was a beautiful hawk feather.   He knelt down to pick up the gift with a smile and again whispered “Thank you”.   

A Gift of Spirit....

Popular in the new age community and in some eastern traditions, Namaste is a greeting that says, "The God/Goddess Spirit within me recognizes and honors the God/Goddess Spirit within you.” from (http://healing.about.com/od/n/g/g_namaste.htm)
It acknowledges that humans are flesh and spirit and honors both.  I believe that often we do not see and rarely honor that spark of God that is within ourselves let alone the other.   You can give yourself a gift as well as giving the other, whether it be a family member, a stranger, an animal, a bird, the planet, the gift of recognizing the God/Goddess/Spirit in them.   Think on this and give yourself and another a gift.. A gift of spirit.    Namaste...

Our gift to life...

If you had a gift to give to the world, a legacy of some kind, to leave behind you, what would it be?   I have thought a lot about this very question for myself and I will revisit this in a year and see if it is the same.  But for now:
What I would consider my legacy to be would be my awareness of two things.   My first Awareness that I would tell people about, that I would leave as my legacy, would be that we are all ONE, completely connected, made of the same stuff and despite our separation and differences, humans are really Many parts of One.   I honor and celebrate this awareness by wearing a white plastic bracelet that has the word ONE embossed on it.  This bracelet is from a great organization called One.org that works to eliminate hunger and aids from Africa and the planet.  I wear the bracelet because it constantly reminds me that we are ONE.
The second awareness I would leave with the world are my ideas and understandings of God and the fact that God is so much more, so more beautiful, so much more awe inspiring than we can ever imagine. 
Oh, and perhaps, there really is one more thing... and that is that all is well with my soul and with the world.  In spite of all that happens that we judge good or bad, positive or negative, that all really is O.K.  
What is the gift that you would leave, your legacy, to the world?