By Michael Avery
Giving is not limited to holidays and birthdays. Every moment arrives with a potential opportunity to serve life and give from the heart. Some, as this short parable demonstrates, are willing to go the extra mile for love.
Category: Spirituality Page 5 of 20
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Guest Post by Riley Caron
I often get new insights on life by listening to NDE interviews. I found the following two lessons gave a valuable perspective.
Lesson One
After the lady left her body and was met by her spiritual guide, the guide had her go through hundreds of moments of her current life, but with a twist from the usual life review.
Reading Time: 2 minutes
By Pichaya Avery
An unforgettable experience on New Year’s Eve in 2011 taught me a valuable lesson about the importance of carefully following the Inner Teacher’s guidance. After I kissed my children goodnight, I read a few passages in a book about love and retired for the night. I tossed and turned. Feeling restless, I was unable to sleep until suddenly, at midnight, a strong inner nudge prompted me to check my Facebook page. There was only one message, an urgent request from a friend in Jordon asking me to respond as soon as possible.
Reading Time: 4 minutes
Guest Post by Gloria Lionz
I love surprising friends with random gifts. I keep an eye out for small, spiral bound journals for one dear friend who has a daily spiritual practice of recording dreams and insights. They’re her “golden ticket” to self-reflection, growth and joy.
Gifts show up when they show up. Poems do the same.
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Guest Post by Riley Carson
Poets and singers have written about the theme of the need to make love real by giving it away. Perhaps this is especially true for unconditional or spiritual love. For love can be so much more when it is not restricted to a private, individual experience, but something that enhances our connections and relationships with others. Keeping love contained within oneself diminishes its transformative potential.
By freely giving love, we allow it to circulate and grow, rather than restricting it. The more love is shared, the more real and meaningful it becomes in our lives and communities.
Reading Time: 7 minutes
Guest Post by Sammie Thompson
It was January 17, 2023. Having enjoyed a lovely holiday visit with family in the midwest, I was now fully loaded with supplies and a AAA well-planned route to Austin, Texas. My destination was to attend another Clergy Retreat because the previous year’s event had been so spiritually enlightening and uplifting. The Trip Tik had information about interesting stops en route and I had extra days to allow for some exploring and smelling roses on the way.
Reading Time: 4 minutes
By Michael Avery (featuring Sharon Sheppard, an animal communicator)
Shadow’s Gift
I sometimes sing HU to the feral cat at the river where we feed jays and squirrels. Shadow, featured in the image above, loves attention as much as she loves the food people bring for her. I befriended Shadow more than ten years ago, when she was first abandoned, and fed her each morning while working at the water treatment plant adjacent to the park. Winters are especially difficult for Shadow. I grew to admire her survival skills and strength of will. She has been an inspirational teacher.
Reading Time: 3 minutes
Guest Post by Nettie Clarke
In this life I have had many wonderful pets and have learned many spiritual lessons from them. At present, I have four little birds. Only one did I raise from a tiny thumb-sized baby. He was green, so I called him Little Bean. The first day I had him, he jumped off his cage onto the floor where my new rescue cat, Daisy, appeared out of nowhere and snatched him up and carried him off.
Reading Time: 2 minutes
By Michael Avery
“In Lak’ech Ala K’in,” often shortened to “In Lak’ech,” is a greeting derived from the Mayan philosophy of unity and the interconnectedness of all things. The phrase translates to “I am you, and you are me,” or “You are a reflection of myself.” Often the right hand is placed over the heart at this exchange.
Reading Time: 4 minutes
By Michael Avery
At the age of twenty-eight, I moved to Honolulu where I lived for the better part of a year behind the International Marketplace in Waikiki. Seven years had passed since I’d read my first book on out-of-the-body travel, The Tiger’s Fang, by Paul Twitchell. I was about to learn more.