Can You See?

“Can you see?” I asked my friend.  “Can you see all those who have died traveling the pathway to heaven... joyfully walking into the Light?  Can you see how their faces radiate... how it consumes them... draws them into itself... until they become one with the Light?”

"And as you watch them disappear into the Light, can you see those golden orbs... individual bursts of light... coming out of the Light and descending, floating back to earth?”  

I stepped back a bit then for a broader view.  “Yes,” I told her.  “It is the eternal circle of death and life.  For every soul which becomes one with the eternal Light is born anew.  Ah, it is a beautiful sight to see!”  

“Can you see?”

It was the morning of December 24th I was given this beautiful vision... the day before Christmas... the morning of the Eve.  It was a beautiful thing for me to see and I wondered at so awesome a gift.  

My wondering lasted only until I received notice that my dear friend, Sister Margie had passed on early that morning.  Then I knew!  I knew she was among those traveling into the Light for I had recognized her... so briefly it hadn’t registered in my consciousness at the time.  It was after being told of her death I knew.  I saw her in full habit.  I saw others, too... Sisters in habit... some I recognize and some I don’t.  

The vision is not gone.  It is a gift... a gift which can be unwrapped and opened at will.  It is a gift to be examined closely because the more I look at it, the more I see.  It is a gift I hold close for it is filled with love.

This is a hard time of year for many of us.  We miss our loved ones who have gone on and the sadness is a part of us.  But there is also joy... so much joy!  Joy in knowing those we love are safe and happy within the Light.

You might find it interesting too, to know my mother has been here with me these past few days knowing I needed comfort.  She didn’t do or say anything... just sat in her chair at the kitchen table and let her presence be known.  Yesterday morning (Christmas Eve) I noticed she had left and it was after my seeing Margie, I knew why.

Of course!  She was part of the multitude and had to be there to celebrate Jesus’ birthday!

God bless you all and Merry Christmas!
Connie

Death is a Door

I think perhaps death can be likened to a door... a door which stays closed until it is meant to open.  It is not an invisible door because there have been times in my life I have stood in front of it, willing it to open and being very grateful it didn’t.  

I wonder if the words, “I will raise you up” might really mean, “I will open the door.”

With my mother’s death a few years ago, I knew she was busy making contact with people before she died.  Friends told me of visions and messages received before her death.  Mom needed to say “good bye” and didn’t leave us until a good amount of time had passed from that of her expected death.

My friend, Sister Margie, is in hospice as I write this and has been off life support for more than 38 hours.  As family and friends continue to pray for a peaceful death, she is not ready to go.  I am sure she is busy tying up loose ends and saying “good bye” to family and friends she has loved and who love her.

This is the hard part for all of us, for as Margie makes her transition from this world to the next, we must also make a transition.  We must allow the love connection we share to open us up to receiving.  I have come to realize that the veil between is not as thick as we might think.  We can go through if we allow it and our loved ones can, and do, visit us from the beyond if we are open to it.

My mother’s visits have become less frequent through the years but every once in a while... when she knows I need her comfort... she comes.  This is one of those times.  She knows of my human sadness and understands.  But she also knows that I know of what is beyond the door... and reminds me of it.  

I grieve for myself for I will miss Margie terribly.  She has been a part of my life for more than fifty years and is firmly planted in my heart.  But I also celebrate with great joy the fact that she will be going through that door.  I... and she... know that our human death is our returning to the Christ from which we have come.  It is a going home after our sojourn here on earth.  Margie has done all she has come to do and these tears I cry are for both my sadness and my joy!

I am looking forward to her visits.

Love, light and joy to you all this Christmas season.  With every death there is a rebirth.  I think this might be one of the reasons so many make the transition this time of year.  As we celebrate the birth of Jesus, let us also celebrate our own... our birth into this world and our rebirth out of it into the next.

God bless you and Merry Christmas!
Connie

My Dear Friends...

My dear friends,

This is one of those times sadness, worry, fear, hope and joy are all mixed up together.  I received word yesterday that a dear friend was not doing well and had to be rushed to the hospital.  This morning I found she was scheduled for serious surgery and that it was touch and go.  She would definitely die without it and could possibly die with it.  Prayer was (and is) needed and I contacted everyone I knew on facebook requesting prayer. 

The thing I want to share with you is this... During church service this morning... the same time my friend was having surgery... I felt the need to speak with her:

“I am told by my friend who sees that you are happy.  Certainly you are, for now you are with your Beloved.  You know what awaits you.  You are bathed in warmth and light such as you have never before known.  I wonder... Will you stay there or will you return?  Is this your time or is it not?  There is love for you here as well... and that love sets you free to be who and what you are meant to be.  There is love and joy in my heart for you... and an underlying sadness for me and those who love you.”

“Yes, my friend, I can see you.  I see you rising above... looking down and blessing those of us here.  But... I see you suspended.  Will you rise or will you return?”

“Does it matter, Connie?” “I hear you say and I have to answer that question.....”

“My answer has to be ‘no’.  It doesn’t matter for I know friendship and love continue beyond the veil.  And because I know that truly in my heart, I want only what God wants for you.”

It was toward the end of the service I saw her returning and heard that her mission here is not finished.

You can imagine how relieved I was, not only when my friend who sees confirmed she had also seen, but when I got home there was an email waiting, telling me she had made it through the surgery and was in ICU receiving the best of care. 

Please forgive me for not going into more detail but my friend’s privacy is very important to her.  I do, however, ask that you continue praying for her.  There is much yet for her to do but she needs the use of her body to do it. 

Thank you, my friends!
Love, Light and Blessings to you all!
Connie

Saving Our Mother

I watch videos of dolphins swimming alongside a surfer, a whale making clicking sounds trying to communicate with a diver.  I read how scientists have “discovered” communication among trees.  All around us, if we are open to it, we see animals and plants trying to communicate with us humans.  It makes me wonder...  How is it they are able to communicate with one another, yet we can’t understand their language?

I find it interesting that indigenous peoples... those human beings who were first to inhabit the earth... understand and respect the ‘natural elements’ of the earth.  They live as one with all and believe it is their responsibility...their purpose... to guard and protect what was here before them.  They are even willing to die to that purpose... and many have.

It came to me, very strongly, that the trees were the first to come to this planet.  Their seeds were the first to take root and grow.  Where those seeds came from, I don’t know but trees and plants were here from the beginning.  Before the creation of Adam and Eve, the tree of knowledge was present.  Even without the story of Genesis, we can’t help but know that trees inhabited the earth.  And because they are the most ancient, they hold within them the greatest knowledge.

Indigenous people  know this and respect the trees enough to ask if they can use them to build their homes, make their canoes, supply them with bow and arrow for hunting.  They know how the tree helps to fertilize the ground for planting, how it takes poison out of the air and gives back life-giving oxygen.  Trees are responsible for the air we breathe.

For some, money is more important than breathing.

The earth is being raped in the search for riches.  Some countries still allow fracking.  The Amazon... the largest “oxygen factory” on earth is being threatened.  Court rulings are being ignored by big business and Amazon Indians are being killed trying to protect it.  Money and power have become more important than human life.

Here in Florida, the Everglades... the largest eco system in the world... is being threatened by those who see its “money making potential”.

I see thousands of trees uprooted to make room for a two lane highway... trees that were more than hundreds of yards from the construction area removed, forcing animals to find new homes.  Unnecessary destruction in the name of progress is everywhere.

We refer to our earth as ”mother earth” and she truly is our mother.  She gives and sustains life.  I am saddened by those who have lost their way and turn on her, but am heartened by those who continue to respect, care for and protect her.

To save our mother is to save all of life.

This Thanksgiving let us be thankful for all God has given... and take the time to come to know and learn from these gifts.

God Bless!
Connie

Another Beginning...A Personal Sharing

It wasn’t just the shift in the planets and the appearance of the Harvest moon that initiated this change in me.  I imagine my recuperation from hip surgery factored in as well. I feel myself going in a different direction and have no idea what that direction actually is.

One thing which surprises me is that I find I want to give my paintings away... not only to organizations which have a need to benefit financially... but to each and every one who expresses a specific connection.  I get a great deal of satisfaction in matching the right painting with the right person. 

“What good are they stored away?” I responded to a friend who questioned my actions.  “They’re meant to be enjoyed and that won’t happen if I keep piling them up.”  “I can always paint more,” was my standard response.

But, even though I have an assortment of blank canvases waiting, I realize I really have no desire to paint.  I think about hanging a blank canvas on my painting wall, hoping it might inspire me.  But I don’t. 

“Why?” I wonder.  “What am I being called to do now?”

Oh, I’ll continue with my classes and workshops because I love to teach and I love the women who come.  We are a family.  But there’s something else... something I can’t quite put my finger on.  I suppose that’s why I’m writing this.  Often, when I put the question to paper, the guides respond in the words I find myself writing... so here goes...

“What is it you’re asking me to do?  I have the feeling it has to do with writing but I’m not sure what it is I am to write about.  Does it have to do with writing?”

Yes, it does and you must go back to your childhood to realize where it started and what happened.  (I got chills as I wrote this.)

I was in the seventh grade and our assignment was to write a story.  I did.  Evidently it was good enough to draw the Guidance Counselor’s attention... who, in turn, called my father in for a conference.  I can only imagine how proud my father was when he was told I could make my living as a writer if I wanted.  I can imagine that now... not then.  It was that fatherly pride which led him to insist I write another story... and because of his insistence, I rebelled.  Oh, I wrote another story but, as my father laughingly said, it was the worst story he’d ever read. 

“Okay.  I remember.  What are you trying to tell me?” (Chills again)

We want you to write.  Oh, yes, the books you’ve written so far are all right but they’ve only served as introduction... practice writing... for what you are really to do.

“What am I really to do?”

You are to write of what you know... what you’ve come to know as truth.  Your friend, Father Paul, said he felt you needed to go deeper in your writing and so you must.  We have been patient with you, Constance, but now is the time for you to start.  We will help you as we are now... as we are in your writing this beginning.  We’ve showed you some of the things you are to write about... such as the maple tree you saw last night.  Why not start there and see where it goes?  We are always with you.

It was after I received this message that I wrote (and published) "The Maple Tree".

Love, Joy and Light to you all!
Connie

Letter to a Friend

Dear A...,

You seem to have come to a crossroads in your life.  Of course we always have crossroads... forks in the road where we must choose one or the other.  But there’s a difference in coming to what we may define as a crossroad and hearing a specific calling.  You, my friend, are being called.

The problem, as I see it, is your fear of venturing into the unknown... fear of losing control of your life (which you’ve never really had anyway).  The sad thing is when you and I allow these unfounded fears to direct our path rather than trusting and looking forward to the adventure ahead.  We make excuses and the words, “I can’t because...” become a constant part of our vocabulary.

I had to smile as I just said that.  Whenever we used those words as children, my father’s response was always, “There’s no such word as ‘can’t’.”  I know, as well as you knew him, you are smiling too.  Thankfully, I heard it so often I came to believe it.

Fear is a terrible thing.  It smothers us, takes away our ability to breathe, causes panic and paralysis sets in.  What are we afraid of?  Usually it’s the ‘unknown’.   We want to be sure before taking the next step.  We want to control... not only our own lives but the lives of those around us.

You are a fantastic artist.  The problem, as I see it, is that you haven’t painted for years...always letting life get in the way.  The more time that’s passed, the harder it is for you to get started again and you began with the excuses.  You admit you want to paint but neglect to mention your fear.  Fear, I think, of not being good enough... or as good as you were when your paintings were selling.  My response is, “Good enough for whom?  For what?”  How often we set ourselves up as judges and the person we judge the most often and most harshly is our self.  We set standards we feel we have to meet.  What ever happened to doing something just for the fun of it?  Leave the past in the past.  This is NOW.  A whole new beginning.

You and I are both in the twilight of our lives... a nice way of saying we are getting older.  Our aches and pains are our constant reminders.  We’ve made it this far, have overcome the many obstacles life has put in front of us.  There will be more.  There are always more.  But so what?  We’ve taken the detours but we’ve always returned to our path... the path that’s set before us... the path that has surprises around every bend... the path which makes our lives such a wild and wonderful adventure.

Should we sit in the middle of the path and not move because we’re suddenly afraid of what’s around the corner?  If we sit there, we will rot and die there.  No, my dear friend.  Grab hold of Life and continue your great adventure.  Your path is well lit.  There is nothing to be afraid of.

Most of all, my dear friend, do it for the FUN of it.  There is no one we have to please so there is no judgement.  Let the Spirit within you be in charge.

With love and great joy,
Connie

Come to the Water

This morning I was led to continue working on my book.  It’s time, I was told, to stop procrastinating and get it done!  The day was perfect.  I had no plans and knew (thought) I could work on it uninterrupted for as long as it took.  Actually I did get quite a bit accomplished in the first 6 hours or so...then things started to happen....

A friend texted me and asked if she could come paint tomorrow.  I hesitated for only a moment as I mentally established the probable times my physical therapist, a friend who wanted to see me and my neighbors might arrive.  “Come.” I told her knowing it would probably be in the morning and not conflict with the others.  I couldn’t help smiling as I realized how full my day would be with people.

I am learning that any amount of planning on my part is usually a waste of time and energy.  Those who come are meant to come at the times they do come.  Hadn’t I just read in my book that I’d seen them coming from over the hill?  Hadn’t I told the new minister that “They are coming”?  And... as I’m writing this... I am reminded of the painting I did a few years ago titled, “Come to the Water”.

Yes, they are coming!  Not in droves but one or two at a time because here they find a place of love and peace... a place to laugh... a place to cry... a place to be heard... a place to paint... a place to simply be.  The water in this painting is a symbol of love.  Come!  Here you are loved.

Love, Joy and Peace to you!
Connie