Light a candle

[SoNotHer]

This is the time of the semester when I see things come together for some of my students and when I see them fall apart for others. Life can feel so deeply rooted and enduring in a moment and so fragile and ephemeral in another.

I have been particularly concerned about three of my students. One of them is living in a camper with her husband and kids. She's lost her home and is trying to go back to school to get the kind of job that will help them buy another home. She is suffering with multiple physical ailments that she bravely struggles through.

Another student has been facing eviction. I have connected her with my church to get her the money and resources she needs to be able to stay in the rental she and her two small children are in. When I called her today to find out where things were, I discovered her phone service had been cut off.

Another student showed up for class all semester and turned in consistently excellent assignments. A few weeks ago her very young daughter was diagnosed with pneumonia and hospitalized. My student stopped coming to class after she emailed me this.

So I'm lighting a candle for each of them and for all my students, so many of whom are given incredibly painful lessons and nevertheless endure them with humility, grace and strength. I respect and admire them deeply.

[Glenn]

Let the collective, powerful, LIGHT of this community thread, shine down safety, warmth, and LIGHT upon all of the helpless and homeless feathered and furry orphaned children who are trying to brace themselves, againest another long, cold, winter

[Tommi]

Lights from the candles in the parks, the cars, the hidden places in our land.

Thanks for the reminder SoNotHer. xo

[Tommi]

[Turtle]

Travel lightly, Be Well, Go easy on Yourself and others...move like You know that You are a child of the Universe and that others are also children of the Universe

[Lady Pamela]

Lighing a candle for my dear friend Aja's family and friends today!For healing and understanding. And strength to go forward at this time.

To all who know Angie Mitchel " Ajah " aol name= "Dr Take A Chance" : PLEASE READ THIS:

I am very sad to announce my beautiful friend has passed over!

On December 16th, Angie went home to be with her father.
Her family wants you to know that she is at peace now!
What a beautiful soul that we were all blessed to have known!)))
(((Angie, may you spread your wings and fly now! And look in from time to time on all of ...us..smiles We love you so very much!)))
She was dearly loved and will be miss very much, by her family members and many many friends!
I will miss your laughter, your wise advice, your awesome smiles and your caring heart my dear kindred friend! We won't get to do the plans we had now but my journey through it, will be in your honor!
Pssst! KEEP YOUR PROMISE..SMILES

Her last post she made on facebook just days before she passed was:
"God always knows what is best for each of us. "

My your journey be one of beauty and light. May you see all of what you dared to dream would e. And may you now understand ALL in which you constantly were seeking to know while here.

And if ya wanna, come share some info with me..I will so dearly miss you!
And send me down an Angel Hug from time to time. (((HUGS!)))

[Tommi]

[greeneyedgrrl]

for my grams and for my gramps may they live the remainder of their time here with us in comfort, joy and peace and may they transition to the next life be without pain or fear.

for my family that we may let them go when it is time.

[Spirit Dancer]

Beneath the surface of winter's lair there lays spring waiting to renew

Keeping faith and light for those who need it.

[greeneyedgrrl]

for my ma.. may she heal quickly. may she have health and strength.

[Turtle]

Blessings to you on your way...



Peace Be Upon You...

[TheDreadPirateRoberts]

i'm lighting a candle for my family to feel better.....we all need to get better and get over this flu type thing....im also going to light a candle for better health in 2012...especially for one of my beautiful dear ones...

[Turtle]

The other day a boy died, his favorite color was lime green, he liked snakes, and pickled pigs feet, and going fishing with his dad...




It was a little too much for me, even though I am around this a lot, I got sick and I just want to sit and cry...and then I see things like the YouTube of Ben Breedlove, who died on Christmas at the age of 18 ([nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeD8v8l56xg"]Teen's Videos Go Viral After Death - YouTube[/nomedia]) (sorry I haven't figured out how to embed those things yet)...

Anyway, I still have my nasty cold, but at least I can feel a bit better after watching Ben...

God, Please take care of Mr. J. and Ben and their families...
Blessed Be, Amen, an Ashe

[Turtle]

From Oriah Mountain Dreamer on her blog, "The Green Bough,"

"This week, inbetween Christmas and New Year’s, the crack between the worlds always feels more easily accessible to me. After the holiday rush, but before the normal routine of daily life is re-established, a pause can arise if we allow it. It’s a time to open to the void of not-knowing, of suspending our conscious and unconscious stories about who we are and what we can do, to make space for something else- something we do not yet know about ourselves- to emerge.

I have a breathing exercise that I often do at the start of my meditation practise that gently opens me to the physical experience of the crack between the worlds. It’s very simple.

Right now, wherever you are, take a slow deliberate inhale through your nose. Allow your belly to inflate with your breath, and then allow the wave of breath to leave your body completely. Feel your belly sink and your shoulders drop as all the air is expelled. Let the chair you are sitting on and the earth far beneath you support you completely as the weight of your body drops down into the chair at the end of the exhale.

And then, at the end of the exhale. . . . pause for a moment. Do not immediately and automatically begin the next inhale. Wait for the impulse to take the next breath to come from deep within your body. Do not hold your breath or resist the impulse, but do not reach for it. Let it come. See what it is like just to lightly pause at the end of the exhale, relaxed and waiting for the next breath to find you. And then, ride the wave as it enters and leaves your body.

Explore the moment inbetween, the place where you are neither inhaling nor exhaling, the spacious stillness at the end of the exhale . . . . This is what the crack between the worlds is like. . . . a momentary pause in our daily routine and mental chatter that allows something else to enter . . . that invites new visioning and deeper listening.

Don’t work at it. Just explore it, play with it, with a little curiosity. What are we when we are neither inhaling nor exhaling but are here, fully conscious in this moment. Who are we if we do not automatically carry forward how we have been into the next moment, or the new year?

What are the possibilities that arise? What longing is awakened? What risks ask to be taken? What dreams call out to us to be birthed?"



Don't work at it, just be, it...inbetween...

...and come into the ever becoming self.

[Tommi]