The Many Faces of God

The Many Faces of God:

One glorious late afternoon krish and his mother sat cuddled together on the porch swing as they welcomed the serenity of dusk. The air was crisp and the sky was ablaze with the extraordinary hues of nature's palate. This was a special time they shared together. On this particular night krish was filled with wonder and curiosity as he turned to his mother and asked, "Mommy, what does God look like?" His mother looked at him and said, "The faces of God are many my love."

The night I met your father; The day we married and our souls became one; And the morning I held you as a newborn in my arms and gazed upon your angelic face; I knew what God looked liked.




The moment I watched a double rainbow emerge from the violent storm clouds; The daybreak when the morning sky was filled with magnificent shades of magenta, lavender, and sapphire; And the twilight when I witnessed the brilliant sunset illuminate the mountains; I knew what God looked like.




The evening you became very ill and I stayed up comforting you throughout the night; The moments I prayed for your healing; And the dawn when you awoke smiling and healthy; I knew what God looked like.




The day your beautiful sister was entrusted into our family; The moment I watched as you tenderly held her for the first time; And the instant you told her you were her big brother; I knew what God looked like.




The days when our whole family hugged and no one wanted to let go; The twilight when our loved ones joined the Lord in heaven; And finally, the nights when we, as a family, gave thanks for all the blessings in our lives; I knew what God looked like.




Krish interrupted and said rather impatiently, but Mommy you still have not told me what God looks like. His mother smiled and said, "My darling, As our days and nights unfold the precious moments we experience are woven together to form the fabric of our lives, each thread bearing the face of God. In every gift, in every challenge, in every blessing, in every obstacle, in all that is beautiful and all that is changing you can see God's face revealed. By being aware of God's divine presence in our lives, we will always know what God looks like."




Krish and his mother continued to cuddle on the porch swing as they watched day turn to night. As the sun disappeared over the horizon, the stars emerged one by one, glistening like diamonds against the deep blue background of the night sky. The heavenly constellations appeared and shooting stars began to race across the vastness of the universe. The air was filled with peace, love, and wonder as Krish turned to his mother and said, "Mommy, now I know what God looks like."

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Why Can't I Touch The Sky?

Why Can't I Touch The Sky?

My six-year-old daughter Sneha and I were playing a rhyming game the other day and out of the blue she asked me, "Why can't I touch the sky?" I laughed inside and thought for a few moments. I tried to explain it from the Jack and the Beanstalk story, but she just looked at me funny. Then I tried the old earth space thing, but that was too technical. The more I tried, the clumsier it got when finally I realized I wasn't getting through.

Then I had a realization. What if my daughter had asked the same question to another six year old? What would the other child have said? Some six year olds think they know the answer to everything and its fun to listen to what they have to say. Something tells me her friend wouldn't have the slightest difficulty in explaining the answer. Chances are, they would have argued and discussed it until finally reaching agreement. I wished I could have turned the question over to an imaginary friend and then sit back and listen to the conversation.

That night while lying in bed, I kept thinking about her question and why I couldn't come up with a really cool answer. Was it because I had "grown up" and now used my imagination like an "adult"? As I grew, the maturation process obviously had boxed me in. And worse yet... I knew that someday, my little girl just might lose her pure and trusting imagination to adulthood and maybe stop asking these wonderfully creative questions.


I didn't feel like it was right that I progressed up the ladder of maturity only to lose what I feel is a very important concept: the ability to retain and possess a childlike quality to explore other possibilities. Where did my childlike imagination go? Why did it go? I thought I would ask Sophie this question to help me understand why some adults tend to lose sight of this magical way of thinking and why others make a living by it.




She looked at me with a puzzle on her face and then I knew. It never occurs to her that there's any other way. Why on earth would a six-year-old little girl dream she couldn't touch the sky unless somebody told her she couldn't?




I watch my little girl as she plays. She conducts an imaginary reading class and makes sure each doll pronounces the words correctly. She dresses her babies and gets them ready for they're day. Her imagination takes wing each and every day to places I'm not aware. Sometimes I can catch a glimpse of her inner world when we sit and talk about her day or what her plans are for tomorrow.

Remember when we were younger, when we used to talk about and imagine what we would become when we grew up? I wanted to be a policeman and my friends wanted to be fireman and race car drivers. We believed anything was possible and we could become whatever we wanted, never doubting the possibilities. As children, we dreamed big.

Children are visionaries, and it seems a little sad to think our childlike imagination seems to disappear as we grow older. As we age, the ever-increasing intrusions of the world on our minds seem to frighten that childlike imagination into full-blown retreat.

As we grew up, we learned why the sky really is blue, and why grass is green. Why flowers need sunlight and how birds really fly. We lose a little bit of the wonder of life around us as we schedule the next meeting or plan tomorrow's agenda.

I have my daughter to thank for asking her question. It connected me, once again, with my priorities. She made me think about my own potentiality and how I may be limiting myself. Maybe I need to reconnect with my childlike imagination and think more outside the box of adult creativity. If I do that, maybe I can explain in my own six-year-old way, why she can... touch the sky.

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Inspire yourself

 Personal Empowerment

Use Empowering Words When You Talk to Yourself
(whether you are speaking out loud or silently)

 How do you talk to yourself?

Do you use the words "can't", "won't", "don't need to", "why try"?
Many people do.

Do you find that what you say to yourself turns out to be true?

Why is this?

You see your brain is like a computer that you feed each day. It doesn't know always know what's real or not unless you tell it.

Example: If someone you love has hurt you, you may tell yourself that all people who love you will probably hurt you too.

Your brain just files this information for reference, it's data, little zeroes and ones and no column that asks "true or not true?" Now your brain thinks, based on what you told it, that everyone you'll ever love will hurt you.

How do you think you will respond the next time you get hurt?

Right!!

Now, what if we instead told our brain:

"Okay this person ripped my heart out - but that's only one person. I'm lovable and have many loving people in my life who are not out to hurt me. I know that the right people are coming into my life all the time. If someone hurts me, I will forgive them and bless them on their way."

Words can be empowering.

I can
I love to
I want to
I will
I must
I am

We can reach a new level of living, if we feed ourselves empowering words and practice saying them until they become a habit.

I know first hand that it takes time.

And I also know that it's worth it.

Try it for a week.

Catch yourself saying, "I can't", when you don't really mean it and instead try, "I can", and see how you think and feel about yourself.

Remember, the words you use to empower yourself will have a lasting effect, only if you practice them and they become a habit (an acquired behavior pattern regularly followed until it has become almost involuntary).

They say it takes at least 28 days to develop a habit. After a week, you will see that it becomes easier. It's a mindset and you can control your thoughts. Be proactive and not reactive - give yourself some good words.

Dream big and empower yourself! Believe you can and you will...
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A Luxurious Presence

 A Luxurious Presence

When we planned a weekend away together, we were seeking to find a place where we could escape from the business of our day-to-day lives. We needed to go to a place that would allow us to put things back into proper perspective, focus on our lives as a couple and to examine our priorities.

     After we checked in, our first interaction with another guest was our encounter with the man and his fancy car in the circular driveway in front of the Mansion. He was blocking the narrow driveway, car parked, door wide opened. We could have easily continued along, if only he would have closed the door to his car.

The concierge ran up to our car window with a sense of urgency and a hint of authority uttering that was something wrong with the hydraulics system of the car. We quietly sat in our car, observing the man with his broken down, door wide opened Jaguar.

My husband is a skilled auto technician with a good heart who has worked on the finest of cars. I knew that my husband was fully present in our quest to create space where we could focus on our lives together when he chose not to engage in the stranger's situation or try to rescue him.

Several minutes passed before the car owner approached us with an apology. He explained that the car was inoperable and that he could not close his door, as his hands had gotten dirty so he could not touch his car door to close it to allow us to get by.

The man with the broken down Jaguar's reality was clear to us, the cleanliness of his car door should take priority over our ability to exit the driveway at this time.

My husband's reaction was calm. He went to his toolbox in the back of our car, pulled out a clean rag, handed it to the man and suggested that it could be used to close the door so that we could be on our way. The man seemed a bit hesitant to accept such a simple solution to what seemed to be a very difficult situation for him, but he accepted the rag, closed his door and watched with a rather puzzled look on his face as we drove away.

We arrived at the building where we would stay for night and agreed to head out for a walk and some lunch after dropping off our bags. Our room was on the lower level of the building. It was well appointed with amenities, spacious and bit dark as it lacked the capacity to allow natural light to come in.

We noticed the note card on the bed almost immediately. It said that the resort as environmentally conscience and would only wash sheets every other day, unless otherwise requested, in an effort to conserve water.

We both agreed that we were happy to be in such and environmentally conscience place, as conservation was something we both are compassionate about.

We held hands as we walked and discussed the lessons of Eckhart Tolle that we had engaged in earlier as we set out to explore the place of luxury.

We checked out the spa, to see what it offered as a means of "getting away from it all." It was a busy place, filled with people dressed in fancy white bathrobes and black plastic slippers where fresh towels abound. "So this is what luxury looks like", I found myself thinking. I refilled my reusable water bottle while were there and we were on our way.

After observing the spa, we found an outside café that seemed like a great spot to stop for some lunch. While we waited for our salads, we talked about how we were both surprised that the same facility which washed sheets every other day rather than every day in an effort to be environmentally conscience, did not have a place to recycle all those plastic cups in the spa.

As we looked out over the golf course, we wondered if they kept the greens looking so lovely without the use of chemicals. Our shared effort to live with as little impact to our planet as possible was the topic of conversation during our lunch together.

We examined the options available in order to make the best choice possible with regards to the enormous amounts of left over salad on our plates when we were done eating. Our waitress explained that people complained if large quantities of food were not served. She also explained that almost no one finishes those large quantities.

We asked if they composted. We found out they do not. We discussed how using the restaurant's disposable container to take the leftovers with us would create additional waste beyond what we already were looking at. We resolved to not take the leftovers and to bring our own reusable container from now on when we go out to eat.

We made the most of the rest of our trip to the luxury spa. We used their facilities, dined at their restaurants and did our best to hold true to our own beliefs along the way. We learned that one man's luxury differs greatly from another's. The amenities at the spa that were placed there for our comfort in the first place, were the same things that made us uncomfortable. We do not like to support, create or contribute to avoidable waste. We did not give careful thought to what we were doing when we arranged to come to the luxury resort. We focused only on finding a place that we could rest comfortably and be together. When we came across the luxury spa's website, it seemed perfect at the time.

Would we go back to the luxury spa? Absolutely not, but not because they did not provide everything they promised. We will not go back because when we slowed down to think about it, if we were really present when we sought to find the perfect "getaway" spot, we would have recognized that the luxury spa was not a place we would want to support. This was a place that would put any environmentally conscience person outside of their comfort zone, us included.

We did however get exactly what were seeking in the first place. What we sought, we did not find by the golf course, in a fancy white robe or even inside the resort's swanky castle. What we got, was our return to presence, something we possessed all along and had lost sight of. We learned from our experience at the resort and left with a new appreciation for what comfort and luxury really mean to us.

Most importantly we will remember that the only place we will ever need to go to experience what we sought in the first place, is within....

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insperational stories

                                          3-TREES

                       Once there were three trees on a hill in the woods. They were discussing their hopes and dreams when the first tree said, "Someday I hope to be a treasure chest. I could be filled with gold, silver and precious gems. I could be decorated with intricate carving and everyone would see the beauty."

   Then the second tree said, "Someday I will be a mighty ship. I will take kings and queens across the waters and sail to the corners of the world. Everyone will feel safe in me because of the strength of my hull."

Finally the third tree said, "I want to grow to be the tallest and straightest tree in the forest. People will see me on top of the hill and look up to my branches, and think of the heavens and God and how close to them I am reaching. I will be the greatest tree of all time and people will always remember me."

After a few years of praying that their dreams would come true, a group of woodsmen came upon the trees. When one came to the first tree he said, "This looks like a strong tree, I think I should be able to sell the wood to a carpenter" ... and he began cutting it down. The tree was happy, because he knew that the carpenter would make him into a treasure chest.

At the second tree a woodsman said, "This looks like a strong tree, I should be able to sell it to the shipyard." The second tree was happy because he knew he was on his way to becoming a mighty ship.

When the woodsmen came upon the third tree, the tree was frightened because he knew that if they cut him down his dreams would not come true. One of the woodsmen said, "I don't need anything special from my tree so I'll take this one", and he cut it down.

When the first tree arrived at the carpenters, he was made into a feed box for animals. He was then placed in a barn and filled with hay. This was not at all what he had prayed for. The second tree was cut and made into a small fishing boat. His dreams of being a mighty ship and carrying kings had come to an end. The third tree was cut into large pieces and left alone in the dark. The years went by, and the trees forgot about their dreams.

Then one day, a man and woman came to the barn. She gave birth and they placed the baby in the hay in the feed box that was made from the first tree. The man wished that he could have made a crib for the baby, but this manger would have to do. The tree could feel the importance of this event and knew that it had held the greatest treasure of all time. Years later, a group of men got in the fishing boat made from the second tree. One of them was tired and went to sleep. While they were out on the water, a great storm arose and the tree didn't think it was strong enough to keep the men safe. The men woke the sleeping man, and he stood and said "Peace" and the storm stopped. At this time, the tree knew that it had carried the King of Kings in its boat.

Finally, someone came and got the third tree. It was carried through the streets as the people mocked the man who was carrying it. When they came to a stop, the man was nailed to the tree and raised in the air to die at the top of a hill. When Sunday came, the tree came to realize that it was strong enough to stand at the top of the hill and be as close to God as was possible, because Jesus had been crucified on it.

MORAL:

The moral of this story is that when things don't seem to be going your way, always know that God has a plan for you. If you place your trust in Him, He will give you great gifts. Each of the trees got what they wanted, just not in the way they had imagined. We don't always know what God's plans are for us. We just know that His ways are not our ways, but His ways are always best.

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