All Hail, the Witch is Dead!

            The witch is dead, the witch is dead - so they sang with glory and glee in the land of Oz.  And now, in the land of America, they sing because Osama Bin Laden is dead.  The man we feared is no longer alive to hurt us.

            There are so many things wrong with this, how does one begin?  Should we start with the fact that Mr. Bin Laden died YEARS ago?  His image has been kept alive to serve the function of governments and other powers that be.  Now that he is gone, who will they use next?

            As long as there is someone to fear, those who do fear are easily controlled.  So let's move to the next issue.  What power does anyone have over us really?  What is fear but something we create within us and project outside of us and call it by a name other than our own?

            I believe it was Benjamin Franklin who said that those who exchange liberty for the illusion of security will get what they deserve.  But looking at this from Universal Law, we give only to ourselves - so what we fear in others we create for our own experience.

            What power does anyone hold over us when WE are the creators of our own life and death?  If no one has the power to kill us without our consent, who or what can we really ever be afraid of?

            This is not to say we will never die, for there is no body that will not leave this planet at some point in time.  What so many fail to understand is that no matter how awful, scary, or unplanned our demise may look - it is always orchestrated by our Spirit and Self.  Our Will is equal in power to God's.  If God can't kill us, why do we think a wicked witch or an evil man can?

            Really?  How did we get so silly?  The reason is that to understand no one has any power over us is to accept that we are responsible for everything that happens to us.  That is the single most significant reason most don't want to know the truth and so willingly blame and assign responsibility to anyone and everyone but themselves.

            This is a big subject that can't be covered in such a small space, but I couldn’t not comment on the puppet theater that is now playing across the media.  It is always our choice to wake up and go home.  Dorothy did, will you?

Jill

jillelizabeth.net

Saying Good Bye

             Death has been something I have had a lot of up close experience with in my life.  I've lost almost everyone I've ever loved and many I just cared deeply about.  Professionally I have held the hands, looked into the eyes, and cradled the tiny in my arms as they have all left this world.  Personally I have done this also.

             Death is hard.  It just is.  And, there is no escape from it.  It's grip will tighten on everyone's heart someday.

            But I am noticing something different this last year.  Death seems to be speeding up its presence.  And not just in my own life, but in many around me.  As we approach this time of transition in our world, I find myself asking if people are choosing to go because their part is done?  Or, are they choosing to go because they don't want to face what their part may be?

            When I was working in the emergency room and the doctor would be notifying a family their loved one had just died, it was my job to translate and assist and support.  It was a very revealing experience.

            Most doctors didn't want to use the word dead, so they would talk about it in the abstract or just be so vague I would have to look at the family and ask what they just heard.  Or, in worst cases, have to tell them after the doctor ran out of the room that their family member was dead.

            It was also fascinating to watch the children.  The ones under twelve or so were rarely sure what to do or how to react.  They would observe what the adults would do and then mimic them.  To see a five year old child be fine one minute, look around and see others crying hysterically, and then begin to do the same showed so clearly how we are programmed to react to the news of death.

            The worst was when families just went wild.  Since it was an emergency room, there were always many others who were having their own issues and so death was no longer a private experience for just that family.  Some would get violent and angry, others understood, and a host of other reactions.

            Sudden death is often harder.  There is no time to prepare or say good bye or try and do something to make everyone feel better.  It leaves you hanging and all too often filled with guilt over the last conversation or interaction.  There is no closure that the dying process can offer.

            What is the point of all this death talk?  I am not sure.  A friend of our family is dying as I write this.  He was like a father to me when I was a teenager.  I don't see him as much, but he is still very close to my mother.  She is taking it very hard.

            But I also hear in her voice the strain the living feel when they are not doing to well either.  There comes a time, a moment for many when the will to live is just too hard in the face of what it would take to keep going.  She is not ready for death, but I doubt her ability to face the coming losses of those she loves and the amount of change the world will be soon plunged into - if they haven't already found themselves there.

            If I could give advice about death to the living it would be this.  Just show up.  Don't wait for the person dying to ask for help or the people around them to invite you to help them either.  Help with the daily stuff - cleaning, cooking, walking the dog, driving the kids around.  In the trauma of grief it is hard to function and one of the greatest gifts you can offer to someone who is dying or grieving is the gift of functioning so they don't have to.

            And then, just listen.  No one wants advice, trust me.  There are no words that have any real value.  Just sit there, be quiet and listen.  No one who is grieving cares about what ever you think is important to you - and I promise you it is not important at that moment.  However, I fear the ability to listen is a lost art in today's world.

            Lastly, when you leave or get off the phone, go outside and feel the sun, breathe the air, smell a flower.  Grief is heavy energy and you need to discharge it.  Feeling sad or sorrow is of no assistance to anyone.  But it is hard to avoid the heaviness of grief and it is vital to let it go from your own energy field.

            I write this also because I have a feeling there will be a lot more death coming to our world very soon.  I have not been up close to the natural disasters or the wars, but I am very aware of the number of others choosing to leave this world behind.  Soon I believe, the numbers will be so catastrophic that those who live will be numbed beyond their ability to cope.  It is good to begin to prepare now.

            Death is scary for the living because they lose something they want.  But death in and of itself is not a problem for those who have died.  Death is not something that can happen to us by chance or randomly - and death is not anything but letting this body go and remembering we are only spirit.

            Death is hard.  It just is.  But it is a wound that will heal when you choose healing.  And death is an opportunity to be a friend as friends were meant to be - that means showing up not to see what you can get from someone, but only what you can give.  

Jill
jillelizabeth.net 

The Best of Times

            There's something I've been noticing more and more lately.  It's the idea that everyone seems to want something from me, all the time.  Hello is not just hello, it's waiting to see if there is an opening to ask for more.  An email is not to say hi, but to sell or "network" or scam.

            I had to go and run errands today and as much as I dislike entering into the thick of the "city" to do this, I try and remember my purpose is to see the good in everyone.  I saw an older gentleman sitting on a park bench with an oxygen tank on my way to enter a store and I looked him in the eyes and said hello.  That's another thing, eye contact has been replaced by screen contact on the various tecno devices.

            Anyways, he said hello back and then launched into his story and could I give him money on my way out.  Deep sigh.  Now I would have to pass him on the way back to my car and make a choice, give money or say not today.  The Course says give your brother what he is asking for as long as no one gets hurt, but everyone seems to be asking all the time….

            On my way out, after having shopped for longer than I would have liked, I could feel that clutching in my chest, the hope he would be gone by now and I could just walk to my car.  But, he saw me and I just looked at him and told him I was sorry, not today.  Then guilt plagued me for the next ten minutes, and even now as I write this, but isn't the greatest gift I can give my brother to see him whole and happy?

            I wondered as I drove away if I had gone up to him and asked if he would like me to assist him in healing his body right then and there.  But I've worked with so many like him, that is not a choice that even gets considered.  He would have just assumed I was crazy or, like many I've also known, gotten angry that I didn't give him what he wanted instead of what he needed.

            That's the problem with miracles and healing - you can't get one unless you want it.  And, for so many, the miracle would create a level of personal responsibility and identity that is in contrast to the way humans have learned to see themselves.

            I know that as the economy continues to shrink and money becomes harder to get and worth less, this trend will continue.  I can feel the panic growing more intense every day.  Sell, sell, sell - I don't have time to talk or listen, if you're not going to buy what I am selling, I need to move on and quickly….  That's the message that is being given.

            But if we are all drowning in the same problem, how will stepping on each other to climb up really solve anything?  Won't it just buy a little more time in the game?

            God did not create us to buy and sell to get things.  The buying and selling is really just an excuse to be in relationship with each other.  We've lost the point and made money our god, and not God our Source and provider.  How does anyone really think this is going to end?  God loses and money wins?

            There is a song that has been playing on the radio lately, I think it's called "The worst of times" or something close to that.  But in it the man and woman are struggling with the outside world of work and money, but eventually they find their way back to each other and discover how much love they have to give - abundantly.

            Doesn't this seem like the more likely solution?  To discover that we need each other more than we need to have more money than we can really use?  Yes, this lesson is hard and yes, many of us are doing with much less - I know I am.  But, I have also never been happier, more content, and felt more powerful.

            Money is not my God, nor is it my Shepard - it is just a tool that will be provided when I need it.  And you my dearest brother and sister, it is you I came here to be in relationship with - not your money or what I think you have to give me that I lack. 

            This will soon be for many, the best of times as we remember who we are and why we came and find each other as we lift up our eyes and open our hearts.

Jill

jillelizabeth.net