"Human beings live in three spiritual states. In the first we pay no attention to God. We notice only the dirt of the world, the wealth, the children, the men and women. In the second we do nothing but worship God. In the third, the most advanced state, we become silent."

--- Rumi 

Your mission, should you decide to take it...

"Your mission is very simple. You are asked to live so as to demonstrate that you are not an ego."

--- ACIM

Who Am I?

“Give up defining yourself - to yourself or to others. You won't die. You will come to life. And don't be concerned with how others define you. When they define you, they are limiting themselves, so it's their problem. Whenever you interact with people, don't be there primarily as a function or a role, but as the field of conscious Presence. You can only lose something that you have, but you cannot lose something that you are.”  Eckhart Tolle

To my children...

Easy to write. Difficult to do:

Your children are not mere lumps of clay
waiting for your expert hands.
They are the very energy of the universe
and will become what they will become.
They are sacred beings.
If you tamper with them
you will make everyone miserable.

They will find success,
and failure.
They will be happy
and sad.
They will delight you,
and disappoint you.
They will be safe,
and at great risk.
They will live,
and they will die.

Stay at the center of your own soul.
There is nothing else you can do.

---The Parent's Tao Te Ching

"To communicate is to join and to attack is to separate."

ACIM

Words are only symbols, Miss Sally, Part 2

The nurse talks to me in the hall. She says, "I know you say she connects with you, but she never says anything to me. I'll be interested in what happens today. She's especially withdrawn."

I walk into her room. "Hey, Miss Sally, it's Franklin," I say as I walk to the right side of her hospital bed.

I stand directly in her line of sight. "Hey, Miss Sally," I say again. She says nothing in response.

"The last time I was here you had on a beautiful pink blouse. Today you have on a beautiful blue one. It looks nice."

Her hands begin trembling beneath the covers. I think she wants to move the covers a bit to show me her blue blouse. She pulls her left hand from beneath the covers and says, haltingly, "Feel how cold my hands are."

I put my hand in hers. "Oh, my goodness, Miss Sally. Your hand is cold."

She pulls the other one out from beneath the blanket. "And this one," she says.

I hold her other hand, "You're so right. This one is colder than the other one."

"I recognize you," she says, "but I don't know who you are."

"I'm Franklin. The last time I was here you and I recited the twenty-third Psalm together. Do you remember that? The last time I was here you asked me not to forget you. I came back so you'd know I haven't forgotten you."

She then pulls my right hand up to her left cheek and holds it there, tightly, for a long, long time. After several moments she says ever so softly, "I love you so much."

I'm quietly stunned. After a few seconds I respond to her.

"I know you do, Miss Sally. I love  you, too," My eyes well up. She keeps my hand held tightly against her cheek. 

She says several things that I can't make out, but she's looking directly into my eyes. I want to understand, but I simply can't. Perhaps I don't need to understand. Perhaps all I need to do is be here in this moment for her, and for me.

I begin to leave. She holds my hand tighter. I relax and reenter the moment with her.

"I pray every day. I will pray for you," she says.

"Miss Sally, thank you so much. You have no idea how much I need you to pray for me. Thank you. I'll see you again," I say.

"I love you so much," she says as she releases my hands.

Lordy, lordy, lordy there's so much more going on all around us, all the time, than we can even imagine. We need to pay attention.

Doing nothing while your child fails
requires great courage
and is the way of wisdom.

Do not succomb to
berating,
scolding,
interferring,
interrupting,
or controlling
your child.
Let your gentle presence
teach all that is necessary.

---The Parents Tao Te Ching