By Debra Basham, on September 4, 2026 Doctors are trained to see death as the ultimate failure. Their role ends when the body stops. We’re taught to fight the one thing guaranteed to happen to every single one of us.
From my journal Wednesday, September 2, 2026
Dear Holy Spirit,
It is 4:10 am and I have been awake since 2:30; I am not sure what that is about but Jane called me about noon updating me that she was in the hospital with some kind of infection. Her husband is flying to Las Vegas so I will go to the hospital to be with her. (Inner writing below “D” is for Debra and “V” is for what I call inner voice.)
D: What would you have Jane know about the fear of death?
V: All fear is FALSE EVIDENCE APPEARING REAL.
D: How does she let go of that emotion?
V: When you see the sunshine the sun is no more real than in the middle of the darkest night.
D: The words in the song “I believe in the sun even when its not shining” come to my mind.
V: Yes, you believe in the sun even when its not shining because that is the truth. Knowing that your essence (your soul, your spirit) lives on even when you are not in body is just like believing in the sun even when its not shining. Jane was before she was in this body. Jane’s essence was not born and cannot die.
When I was awake and could not get back to sleep I listened to two of my usual fall-asleep guided audios, made warm almond milk, and read. Finally I did the draw-and-write therapy process I learned from a colleague. It was all about death and Jane’s desire to not be afraid. I sent her the words from Jarem Sawatsky’s Dancing with the Elephants: “Be not afraid…. I am not entitled to life without death. I embrace sacred life. I embrace sacred life. I embrace the growing and crumbling in between”.
I had gone to St. Joseph hospital in the morning to discover that Jane was in Niles! Jane’s grandson arrived before we had much chance to share. His mom was with him but could not come up (limit 2 visitors in ICU) so I offered to leave. Driving home I heard the inner voice telling me I did not need to worry about not having shared the therapy drawing and words with Jane, I needed it for myself.
Therapy writing words:
Be not afraid.
People do leave their bodies, but they do not leave their loved ones.
I believe in the sun even when its not shining.
Death is only a doorway.
Love is Eternal.
Unborn, undying, unafraid.
J-just
A-another
N-new
E-experience
When I stopped to see my sister on the way to visit Jane, I told Janis I had been awake and did the therapy writing. I also shared an attribution line “developed and produced by Debra Basham and Joel P. Bowman” did not get posted because of a 600 character limit when my guided imagery audios got posted on Spotify.
Visualize a tree moving through the seasons — turning red and gold in autumn, shedding its leaves in winter, growing new buds in spring, and showing its glorious greenery in summer. Change is opportunity…. This is the Nature Meditation cards we drew from the deck she had just gotten for me.
Shortly after I got home I received news that Joel had passed some time after midnight. I shuffle, shuffle, shuffle and draw that same card again!
I write on the flip side of my therapy drawing.
J-just
O-one
E-energy
L-LOVE
R.I.P.
12-4-1942 to 9-2-2026
FYI – I did R.I.P. with periods because it stands for a Latin phrase (requiescat in pace). Joel was a university professor and he would appreciate that.
So many lives made better because of our having shared this life!
By Debra Basham, on August 31, 2026 The sharing time following meditation yesterday including emotional pain in the aftermath of the utter devastation from the flooding in Napal. Comments then became sincere urging to contact elected officials demanding responsible attention to the environmental crisis. Listening with attentive care, bearing witness to the deep emotions, I felt my own core being pulled to express. Admitting the difficulty in speaking skillfully so as to not wrong-make the measures being urged, I articulated what is reality for me: Without denial of the dangerous impact of humans in our modern day, I spoke of global climate changes historically. Before world-wide political corruption and before Round-up (neither of which I experience as wholesome). I spoke candidly of my intention to take action from as clear a space as possible, intending not to add fuel to the fires of anger and the floods of fear.
“What the World Needs Now Is Love” was originally recorded and made popular by Jackie DeShannon in 1965. Sixty-one years later, this has possibly never been more true.
One women told of having taken a taxi from the airport in Mexico when her usual choice of Uber was not available. She had a nice conversation with the young man driving the cab, but she realized he was not taking her directly to her destination, and the charge upon arrival was about 4 times what an Uber would have been!
Friends she was visiting enlightened her: the cabs were mafia-run. She had been scammed! Since she had the driver’s name and number (she could not pay with her credit card because there was no internet so she had to transfer money from her account), she pulled together her case and made the call demanding her overcharge be returned. A four-hour call which began with hostility and threats ended with him emotionally confessing to his terror at being hostage in this mafia-mess. He agreed he would give back his part of the overcharge. She told him he had to quit this dishonesty, urged him to get an honest job, and spoke of the importance of going back to school.Three days later, he called to say he had! They are staying in touch….
Another woman told of recently having sung “Rain Down” with her choir following the loss of 400 homes in her community due to wildfires in western Canada. Hours after, they had rain! She had previously shared with me the choir having sung “I Believe” by Mark Miller. The words resonate profoundly.
I believe in the sun
Even when, even when it’s not shining
I believe in love
Even when, even when I don’t feel it
I believe in God
Even when, even when God is silent
As I prepared for bed, I read from the Daily Word:
There were times when I wanted something so desperately that when it didn’t happen, I sank into bitter disappointment. I told myself stories that left me stuck and resentful: It wasn’t fair. It was a mistake. I missed my last chance.
I have come to look at those episodes in a different way. Now, when faced with an unwanted outcome, I resist self-pity and let go and let God. I release my rigid expectations and use my imagination to envision all kinds of possibilities. Freed of the need to control, I trust Divine order and Divine timing.
Letting go and letting God is my way of living my faith, welcoming grace, and believing the best and highest outcomes are unfolding. I let go, let God, and know peace.
Yesterday, a dream came true for me. Grandson, Brad, got ALL of my guided imagery audios online in digital format where they are available for free! Right now they are only on Spotify, but we intend to also have them on YouTube and Apple Music. I told him he made my decade!
“Everlasting Peace” now on Spotify is for anyone desiring more peace of mind. The meaning of life is to be found in its stages. If you or someone you know is currently experiencing a challenging time “Everlasting Peace” is designed by Debra Basham to allow for a more peaceful time of things in any circumstances. The use of guided imagery and creative visualization is appropriate at all times and is especially significant to reduce pain and anxiety in times of transition.
The calming background music, Pachelbel: Three Meditative Variations with Ocean, Liv & Let Liv, is used by permission.
By Debra Basham, on August 13, 2026 A prism is a clear glass or plastic block with flat, angled sides. When white light shines through it, the prism bends the light and splits it into a rainbow of colors. This happens because different colors travel at different speeds and bend by different amounts.
This is how life feels in its unfolding right now….
On August 12, 2026, a powerful Total Solar Eclipse in Leo served as the central astrological event, initiating a transformative eclipse corridor. This major celestial shift triggers profound personal adjustments, structural changes, and fated new beginnings. August 12 is a significant anniversary event in my life. On August 12, 1962, I was a passenger in the vehicle with my dad when a car missed a stop sign and stopped in the middle of a through street where we were traveling over 50 miles per hour. Our car hit hers broadside. I had what I have come to call a near-death experience. For sure, it was an out-of-body experience.
While a specific event is over in an instant, just as different colors travel at different speeds and bend by different amounts creating a prism when white light shines through a clear glass or plastic block with flat, angled sides, events have lasting effects. Thus, 64 years later, I am still integrating the facets that impact has on what I experience as facts. I often do a lot of air-braking when a passenger in a car, and I may never fully recognize how that event has shaped my world view.
Recently, I was saddened to read a Facebook post by a person who had just days before excitedly reached out to me about reopening her Reiki practice. Her post was an apology asking for understanding,”I am truly sorry but after talking to loved ones who know me as a child of God, I will not be following through the Reiki sessions.”
Reading this did inspire some sharing when I was guest pastor serving a small, remnant congregation at St. John UCC in New Buffalo. “If a person who believes in the Tooth Fairy and prays to the Tooth Fairy, does a healing session asking the Tooth Fairy to heal another person, and that person has a healing, do any of you believe the Tooth Fairy did the healing?” I asked. I was greeted with blank stares and negative head-shakes. I am hard pressed to think I could find anyone who would actually think the Tooth Fairy did the healing.
Something is real. But what is perceived as real is what is believed to be real. And there can be a huge gap between.
Over a series of Sunday’s we have been exploring the way perceptions and beliefs shape our experience. If I see a stick but I believe I am seeing a snake, my body will react exactly as it would if it was an actual snake.
It is easy to understand how things like social media and AI generates beliefs by intentionally manipulating perception. It is not quite as easy to understand how being human does the same thing.
There was a time in human evolution that the world was seen and believed to be flat. You have to wonder how many other antiquated beliefs you or I are being driven by.
Cleveland Clinic Health Essentials website has an article “What Is Reiki? And Does It Actually Work?” by Melissa Evans Persensky:
“There are only so many things you can study in randomized, controlled studies in order to understand the totality of what is likely to happen,” Dr. Saper explains. “I think it’s critical that we as healthcare professionals listen to our patients and validate their experiences, even if their experiences may run counter to one’s own experience and training.”
In other words, science may not prove that Reiki harnesses a universal life force energy. We may not have statistical proof that Reiki will improve your chronic pain, reduce your anxiety or help you get the sleep you need. But if you try it and you feel better, sleep better and live a better life … that’s still worth paying attention to. Regardless of what science says (or doesn’t say).
While Stacey was here visiting, she went to church with us. The theme was Doubting Thomas and we explored the difference in meeting doubt by leaning into curiosity or by leaning into skepticism. The scripture was based on Jesus saying, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” ~ John 20:29
As we were navigating the territory of our differing beliefs, I said I was not trying to change another’s beliefs. I did confess to be encouraging all humans to notice even closely-held beliefs might be distorted. Healing does happen, but not likely by the tooth fairy….
By Debra Basham, on July 24, 2026 This morning I was dreaming upon waking: I am in my final childhood home. The basement is flooded. At the bottom of the stairs, it is over ankle deep. I go down and start moving stuff to get the door open so we can get the water out. A man and woman are outside waiting for me to give the word. (Mom and dad?) It is quite dark down here and the water is cold, but I stay focused and am making good progress before I wake up .
After I am up and have written down my dream I look up the dream symbolism: Wet basement in dream meaning: Unprocessed emotions, hidden stress or deep unconscious overwhelm. In dream symbolism, a house represents your inner self, the basement reflects your foundational unconscious or past, and water stands for your feelings. Emotional overload/ feelings or responsibilities you have bottled up that are now seeping into your awareness.
This reminds me of yesterday’s sharing with our eldest grand, Brad, about giving ourselves a pass….
I went to visit a dear, dear, friend today. We spoke candidly about the difficulty that can come when there is need to be a receiver of care. We so prefer to be the one giving.
I shared part of Barbara Brodsky’s blog post from a few days ago.
Three nights ago, at bedtime, my beloved almost 11 year old collie, Banner, (my hearing – dog) suddenly could not stand up. We have a routine of many years; I shut off the tv or close my book, say ”bed time” and we both get up quickly and head to the bedroom. He tried to stand; his 4 paws were sliding to the sides on the hardwood floor, with no traction, and he couldn’t get them under him. He was terrified.
I woke up Hal’s caregiver who lives downstairs and he brought up the old living room rug that we’d stored in the basement for wheelchair/ walker safety, put it down and lifted him on top of it and Banner rested there for 15 minutes while I just patted him and spoke to him. Then I got up and he did too. Just stood up!
Our human minds return to “I can’t” and fear. His mind and body just responded by standing to follow me to the bedroom. The next day, he was happily playing with our granddaughter, with no sign of weakness. Fear and its stories really do block us humans from a deeper reality.
Today I could feel in both my friend and myself the letting down of old habits of wanting to not need help. Then this afternoon, I opened email from my mentor/friend Betty Lue Lieber, in which she had included the message for today from the Daily Word:
Pray for Others
Praying for others is a sacred gift I love to give.
Friday July 24, 2026
When a friend or loved one is going through a challenge, I try to help however I can. When I’ve offered all I can and it seems there is nothing else I can do, I pray.
Prayer is the greatest gift I have to give. Regardless of whether someone knows I am praying, my prayers enfold them in love and care. As I pray, I feel my connection in Spirit to that person. I touch the presence of infinite light, life, love, and peace within them. I have faith these qualities are opening the avenue to unlimited good.
My prayer extends from my circle of loved ones to enfold my larger community and the world. I pray each person knows they deserve a joyous, prosperous, fulfilling life.
I have prayed for you that your own faith may not fail.—Luke 22:32
This brings to mind the Biblical story of a man who had been paralysed for 38 years. Jesus simply told him to pick up his mat and walk. May we, may all beings, receive support and love and encouragement so completely we, too, can be freed from suffering.
(Also from Betty Lue’s message:)
“Prayer For A Loved One”
Dear Heart,
I will not worry, fret or be unhappy over you.
I will not be anxious concerning you.
I will not be afraid for you.
I will not give up on you.
I will not blame, criticize or condemn you.
I will remember first, last and always that you are God’s child, that you have His Spirit in you.
I will trust this Spirit to take care of you, to be a light to your path, to provide for your needs.
I will think of you as always being surrounded by God’s loving Presence, enfolded in His protecting care, as kept safe and secure in Him.
I will be patient with you.
I will have confidence in you.
I will stand by you in faith, and bless you in my prayers, knowing that you are growing, knowing that you are finding the help you need, the love you need, the healing you need, the financial freedom you need.
I have only good feelings in my heart about you.
I am willing to let you live your life as you see fit.
Your way may not be my way, but I will trust the Spirit of God in you to show you the way of your highest Good.
God loves you and I love you!
I have confidence in you and I believe in you!!
(author unknown)
By Debra Basham, on July 9, 2026 I bumped into Brian D. Smith’s Grief 2 Growth program years ago and saw his What Is a Grief Doula? What Dina Bell-Laroche Taught Me About Grieving Well today. Dina Bell-Laroche is a Certified Thanatologist, grief doula, keynote speaker, and author of Grief Unleashed.
In 2001, her younger sister, Tracy, passed away from a rare cancer at just 29 years old. Tracy was pregnant with her first child when she was diagnosed. She lived to hold her baby, and passed thirteen months later, just after he turned one.
Brian shared that when he asked Dina to tell him about Tracy right at the top of their conversation, she paused with gratitude and said, “That’s often something that really opens up the grief heart, is when we invite them to speak their person’s name. So often we’ll talk about our daughter that died or our parent or our sister, but we don’t actually use their name because it hurts so much. And yet when we do, it makes it real and profound, and we can be witnessed in that experience.”
Brian responded, “I understand that in my bones. I say Shayna’s name every chance I get. Naming keeps them present.”
Brian says Dina talked about two kinds of time: clock time we all recognize and kairos time. Dina explains, “Our bodies understand a different language than our head does. We understand chronological time, chronos time. And yet we also have kairos time. This is this liminal space that you and I dance in.
“In kairos time, grief collapses distance. A smell, a song, a stranger who walks like your person, and suddenly you’re back in the moment they took their last breath.”
Dina told Brian these are called STUGS, sudden temporary upsurges in grief. The term was coined by thanatologist Therese Rando, and Dina said reading it brought her enormous relief. She thought she was going crazy.
Then she offered something beautiful: “STUGS can also stand for sudden temporary upsurges in grace“.
I had my own STUGS as I realized just how much grief I am processing currently. Oh, some of it is the deaths of dear ones in the recent past. I name my friend (Linda Higbee), my sister (Johnnie Sue), our long-time music friend (Michael), our dear Florida friend in Canada (Eli). Some aspects of the experience are anticipatory loss, often referred to as pre-grieving. This type of grief includes people I have concern for, but is not limited only to this. It also includes the losses of our own aging. Pieces of this grief, I am quite sure, are universal, and perhaps at the moment not personal.
At the time I sat on the porch tearfully expressing what I was feeling today to John after writing just the two opening paragraphs, I had not yet received news about the passing of a friend of Stacey’s in Tennessee that John and I have had the pleasure of getting to know, and a friend of John’s brother Greg, that they have been having a fabulous time shooting pool with on Monday nights.
A couple of powerful truths:
Doctors are trained to see death as the ultimate failure. Their role ends when the body stops. We’re taught to fight the one thing guaranteed to happen to every single one of us.
Pushing grief out of view only sends it underground.
In the Grief Journey Group we started here in Saint Joseph in 2000 we said you do not get over grief, you get through it. We had only two rules in our group: Do not judge your grief journey, and do not judge another’s. We looked a lot at the way different cultures deal with grief. And we acknowledged experiences we have that remind us people do leave their bodies but they do not leave their loved ones.
The uncomfortable feelings are feedback that I have more energy to process than my central nervous system can handle all at once. That is why it is called a grief journey…. These feelings are a result of our love.
In Grief 2 Growth Brian speaks of love that continues and the ways pain can become purpose. Appreciating this beautiful body of work. Thank you, Brian and Dina.
As she says, “Let us allow the loss to lead the way.”
By Debra Basham, on July 2, 2026 Once again, I appreciate not knowing things until after the fact. This time it was watching the 2025 film “Best I Can Do” which stars Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick as a couple in a romantic, character-driven dramedy about aging.
I did not know they are a real life couple. They first met when she was just 12 years old and he was 19; she saw him in an off-Broadway play and briefly spoke to him at a deli, an encounter he initially didn’t remember. They officially connected on the set of “Lemon Sky” in 1987. Following a whirlwind romance, Bacon proposed on Christmas Eve of 1987, and they tied the knot less than a year later. They are one of Hollywood’s most enduring couples.
This film follows a security guard (Bacon) who develops an unlikely connection with a urologist (Sedgwick) and explores themes of life’s challenges and finding new hope. Seems relevant to many of us right now.
I thought the closing scene was brilliant. Admittedly, we were watching it during the visitation in Canada of a dear Florida friend who passed on Monday. Monday, June 28 was also the birthday of my (late) mother-in-law, the birthday of my eldest nephew, and the birth of our god daughter’s first grand baby.
Here is a photo of our friend (on the left) with our daughter when we were together in February, 2025, enjoying a boat ride and having lunch on Captiva.
Early morning texting with her husband included a message that is spoken quite often during this time in our lives. “You are right about how loved she is/was/will continue to be. You won’t stop loving her. We won’t. And she won’t stop loving us. We will miss her physical being with us like crazy…. Don’t say goodbye, say aloha. You don’t have to wait until you are out of your body to be together again. You can learn to be together with her not in a physical body, while you are still in one.”
I will not give anything away about that closing scene because you might want to experience the film for yourself. It was powerful before I learned that the couple is a real-life couple, but the emotions I felt seemed even more significant after I discovered that.
Best I can do is to say this has been quite a week….
By Debra Basham, on June 25, 2026 Last evening as I was crawling in to bed, I checked the Facebook page of my niece. She is an amazingly inspiring woman, and often I am uplifted by the video-to-music posts of the “nature” of her life: cats, dogs, butterflies, moths, and (more recently again) chickens. Last night’s post was not of the same emotional tone:
Things are quiet and sad in the coop tonight, and it’s hard to hold back tears. For the first time ever, we experienced a dog attack on our flock, and 9 of them were killed. One more is showing signs of shock or internal injuries, and I’m not sure she’s going to pull through.
The dog belongs to a young couple who live at the farm across the field. The dog had had been doing fine off-leash on their property, and was far enough away that she couldn’t even see our place. For whatever reason, she wandered farther away this afternoon, and saw our chickens. By the time Brian could get out to catch her, she had killed 9 of them. With 60+ in the flock, and several of each kind in most cases, it’s hard to know which ones I lost. I do know I lost one of my little silkies that I adore. I’m worried that I’ll have a moment of realizing certain favorites are gone.
Even though I don’t ever want the dog to be able to come onto our property again, I still feel really sad for her because of the freedom she’ll lose because of this. And I feel sad for her owners, too. It’s never a good feeling when your dog does something that causes pain for someone else. I told them I didn’t want them to view her differently. She just followed instincts, and had no idea what her actions would cause.
It had already been a difficult few days because of three wild animal deaths I witnessed. I tried to turn my car around to save a young groundhog that was wandering on the road – only to watch another car hit it. I picked up the box turtle that had badly injured by a car, took it to Paw Paw to a vet that works with replies. Found out later its injuries were too severe, and it had to be put to sleep. Then I saw a post about baby raccoons who were displaced when workers cut down a tree. The babies were scared and running back and forth across the road. By the time I got there, two of them had already been killed on the road, and I couldn’t find any other ones.
All of that being said, I’m just really grieving tonight. Loving animals brings some real pain along with all the joy.
All of this comes along with preparations I am navigating for my being blessed to guest pastor at St. John UCC again — this time on the 29th anniversary of my ordination July 12, 1997. The theme of this sharing is “The Way Forward.”
I wrote to my niece right away saying I was awake if she needed to talk. When I did not hear back from her I continued to pray as sleep came.
Awake VERY early, I found the opening paragraph timely in Barbara Brodsky’s blog post: “I’ve been looking at feelings of powerlessness this morning. What is power? Are we ever truly without it? These pictures are not about my garden but about life, about all the things I feel are out of control. When that ‘no control’ feeling comes, it’s the inner contraction and negativity that really stops me, and creates a blockage of energy, much more than any external force.”
I also saw an invitation to a 3-day program by Heart Mind Institute, DAY 1: Effort Doesn’t Calm the Nervous System. Before I left my bed, I listened and then did the Surrogate Tapping exercise by Jessica Ortner of The Tapping Solution.
After a cup of tea, I posted the video my niece posted about her loss on my Facebook page with this message: “Asking for prayers. Knowing she recognizes that great wonderful gifts can come from unthinkable losses. Years ago she lost a beloved horse and her home schooling classroom in a barn fire. Out of those ashes a youth ranch was born. This devastation can also birth breathtaking beauty. Prayers for her and all involved as our human emotions can be sooooooo challenging.”
All of this is totally intimately related to how I came to be ordained a Minister of Reunion and the message I plan to share about the way forward….
By Debra Basham, on June 12, 2026 This post was inspired by my early morning reading of Barbara Brodsky’s most recent blog about the summer she could not swim because of an infection in a toe bone and the risk of amputation. Reading what she wrote of her experience, along with her appreciation to again be basking in her love of swimming, I had memories to share.
I told her of a time when I had briefly overcome fear of deep water (in this lifetime generated by a near-drowning while a pre-teen). I was taking an adult non-swim course at the YWCA in preparation of leading high school youth on a wilderness canoe/camping trip. Buoyed by confidence, I quickly enrolled in the next level class. But that class had a different instructor.
Something about the combination of that teacher’s style and the tasks required for this next level set me back…. by the end of the session my competency had digressed. Fear had set in again. I have not yet regained the joyful jaunting Barbara thoroughly enjoys.
I told Barbara how much I appreciate the way she and John Orr teach the dharma by telling their own experiences. The term “dharma” has no single-word English translation, its exact meaning depends heavily on the context in which it is used. Derived from the Sanskrit root dhr — meaning to hold or to support — dharma is the truth of what is. Dharma represents the truth of an underlying order that sustains the universe.
Last Sunday’s sharing as guest pastor at St. John United Church of Christ in New Buffalo was about “Mindful Morality” — differentiated from morality as a concrete idea. We were not looking at something always being right and another something always being wrong. We touched on an understanding of how the insular cortex processes physical disgust (like tasting rotten food), and also lights up during moments of moral disgust (like witnessing unfairness or cheating).
I told Barbara when John and I were here in our 42-year-old mobile home while tornado warnings were going off last evening, I calmed myself by sweeping the floors. I could not control what was going to happen. I could only do what I could do in the moment. I remembered the story of Jesus calming the storm. I remembered when my colleague/mentor Dr. Mary Jo Bulbrook had a group of indigenous healers from all over the globe at her place in North Caroline with a hurricane coming. They created a healing circle and each did what he or she drew from his or her lineage to “calm the storm” both literally and figuratively. That hurricane dissipated all around them! The group gave great gratitude that they did not even lose electric power.
Before the storms came through last evening, I had filled a bucket of water to be able to flush toilets if we lost power. John can use that to water flowers in a day or so.
“I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.” ~ Edward Everett Hale, American author and clergyman
By Debra Basham, on May 29, 2026 A pair of goldfinches are active just outside my window on this early morning. I love early hours and beautiful bird songs that accompany their activity.
I look up the spiritual meaning and am informed by AI:
The goldfinch spiritually symbolizes unbridled joy, positive transformation, and divine grace. Because of its bright yellow plumage and cheerful song, its presence is a reminder to embrace optimism, celebrate life’s simple beauties, and express your true self without constraint.
My attention leaves my window as the birds find some privacy in the lush leaves on the large shrub. I continue to hear their sweet singing as I begin to check Facebook. This message (attribtued to Deep Spring, and posted by a woman I used to attend their retreats with) speaks to my heart:
“Hold in mind what you wish to create. Chaos is always uncomfortable for you. I’m not supporting the disruption of the world, but I’m reminding you that perhaps some of this disruption is a necessary process to move from the old into the new. The most important thing here is first, to watch your fear of letting go of the old, the fear of what will replace it. Will we all die in this process? Will everything be lost, everything we have loved? And then, to remind yourself of your power to co-create. As the old falls away, it is so important that you are able to step in and say, “Now, in this space that has opened, here is what we choose to co-create: a world of mercy, peace, friendship, loving kindness, well-being, joy.” You are being invited into that time, a time of letting go that is so hard for the human, a time of dreaming the big dreams. What would a world look like that is truly at peace? Envisioning a world of peace, of cooperation, of co-creation, of well-being for all beings. What would that look like? You are not the politicians who are going to put together the political structure, but the political structure is an outflow and not a ground. You are the ones who create the ground as you are able to be present with your feelings of fear, your presence with a world out of control, your feelings of anger at some of the authorities who are trying to push this world only for their own individuated use. Stop and note, “I am Shanti Das, a servant of peace, and I can use my energy to support peace in the world, or I can use my energy to further hatred and oppositionality.”
I treasure the reminders we have to see the gifts life is offering. It is grace that holds steady the willingness to see this day as alive with possibilities. Of course there are conditions that challenge us. I certainly see that living here in our 55-and-over community. We have neighbors in wheelchairs who cannot even get out of their house and onto their porch. We have friends and family members who are navigating ongoing situations that call for Herculean strength every day.
I don’t remember where I saw this, but these are wonderful words: Sometimes the things we can’t change end up changing us.
By Debra Basham, on May 6, 2026 My stomach’s rumbling reminded me it was almost dinner when I noticed a woman moving swiftly from door-to-door across the street from our home here in Glenaire. It caught my attention firstly because neither of the two houses are currently occupied. Directly across, friends are navigating health challenges that have prevented them thus far returning from their snow-bird location. And a new-build adjacent is yet to be purchased.
I could see a vehicle parked in front of our house and a man came onto our porch but then quickly dashed away. Opening the door, I saw a handbill had been taped onto the glass. “There is no solicitation in the park,” I called out to him.
“It is not a solicitation, it is a courtesy,” he called back.
There was the logo of a roofing company, announcing they would be putting on a roof two doors down, apologizing for noise, saying it would be done in one day. The phone number of the company was at the bottom. “It looks a lot like solicitation to me,” I said while I went down the steps to return the paper. He muttered something about it looking however, and saying I could refuse the courtesy if I wanted to as he started walking quickly in the opposite direction.
It was not a pleasant interaction so I decided to grab my phone and get the license plate. The woman had crossed the street by this time and she started hustling back my way calling loudly, “Karen!” I asked if she had gotten permission from the management, and when she called me Karen again, I asked why she kept calling me something other than my name. “Look it up, Karen!” she yelled, adding, “Don’t bother calling the manager, I am going there myself.”
An internet search informed me “Karen” is a pejorative slang term used to describe a person—typically a middle-aged white woman—perceived as entitled, demanding, and overly indignant. The term is used to call out behavior that abuses privilege, such as demanding to “speak to the manager,” making racist or discriminatory remarks, or harassing others in public.
Hmmm…. her behavior was certainly not very professional! I did call the park manager, and she had gotten to the office before my call. I clarified that her notifying the office of their “courtesy” only took place after my exchange with them. I asked him if he would have given them permission had they stopped before. He said he would have told them there was no solicitation allowed but he would notify the neighbors himself.
I was shocked how dis-regulated my central nervous system was by the exchange. But the painful and the pleasant can be a dance duo.
This morning, sharing text with my niece about the anniversary of my father’s (her grandfather’s) passing on May 7, 1992, we spoke our gratitude of his having found sobriety before my sisters and I had children. The grandchildren were spared. She wrote, “Mom and I both benefited from Neil T. Anderson’s work. One of the ways he summarized the Biblical principle of forgiveness/unforgiveness is how when we forgive, it lets that person off our hook (no more control or connection) but it doesn’t let them off the Lord’s hook (whatever unrepentant sin they have in their lives, they will be accountable for).” This shows up clearly in the teachings about karma. My dad’s active alcoholism was very unpleasant. His decades of sobriety before his death was very pleasant.
A few days ago welcome warm air waffled into the house through the open windows as flies were also getting in. The pleasant and the unpleasant dance as a duo. After catching and releasing 4 flies (also seeing John kill one with the flyswatter) I looked up the spiritual meaning and read:
The spiritual meaning of a fly combines contrasting themes of relentless persistence and survival with messages of decay, negativity, and spiritual impurity. It symbolizes the need to adapt, overcome obstacles, and examine one’s life for negativity.
As my eyes and heart took the unpleasant and the pleasant in, what was revealed was grace and forgiveness. I recalled a time in my life when financial fears and genuine desire to help hurting people resulted in my seeing clients by circumventing the health insurance system. My actions, like this roofing company’s, were in a while-not-quite-illegal-definitely-not-fully-ethical manner.
That neighbor’s new roof went on yesterday. How am I like this too? Awareness with non-judgment is healing….
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