Life is Growth ...

Life is growth, from our first helpless cry at birth to our last breath. Life is also a personal journey and we make our choices along the way, and observe our outer world in the way we choose.

“The ultimate value of life depends upon awareness,
and the power of contemplation
rather than upon mere survival.”
–Aristotle (384–322 B.C.)

“We arrive at truth, not by reason only,
but also by the heart.”
–Pascal (1623–1662)

“Our happiness depends on wisdom all the way.”
–Sophocles (c. 495–406 B.C.)

“Truth is the only safe ground to stand upon.”
–Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815–1902)

“Dignity does not consist in possessing honors,
but in deserving them.”
–Aristotle (384–322 B.C.)

“Keep what is worth keeping–
And with the breath of kindness
Blow the rest away.”
–Dinah Mulock Craik (1826–1887)

“Three things cannot be hidden, the sun, the moon and the truth.”
–Buddha (568–488 B.C.)

“No man ever prayed heartily without learning something.”
–Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

“Be not forgetful to entertain strangers:
for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”
–Bible, Hebrews 13:2

“First say to yourself what you would be;
and then do what you have to do.”
–Epictetus (c. 50–120)

“The best thing about the future is that it comes
only one day at a time.”
–Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)

“The important thing is not to stop questioning.”
–Albert Einstein (1879–1955)

Medium John Edward

Today Anderson Cooper had a special show with best-selling author and medium John Edward. It was the best I have seen of a TV program with John sharing his gift. (other than his own TV shows). It was so nice to see mediumship presented by one of the best, on a network show without the need to bring in the debunkers as part of the show. The energy there with Anderson, his mother Gloria Vanderbilt, John, and the audience was relaxed, humorous, and emotional.

Anderson’s new daily talk show “Anderson” is very good.

From the show today:

Vitamins, Fears, Illusions of Separation, and Unconditional Love

"Don't move the way fear makes you move.

Move the way love makes you move.

Move the way joy makes you move. ~Osho

Nancy over at Life in the Second Half Blog wrote an excellent blog about "Living Fearlessly." Her blogs are always good and informative and often deal with current topics.

And today's topic was Vitamins--and Fear. I myself, wrote comments the other day on FB about an article that claims vitamins are no longer good for us. Following the publication of the supposed study, the next day another article came out about men, their prostates, Vitamin E, and cancer. Not curing cancer but causing it! Upping the risk of getting cancer, instead of the Vitamin E being beneficial...May help the heart but gives you cancer. When I read these article my thoughts were how contrived this all is. The pharmaceutical companies and the FDA have apparently for some time been aiming an attack at over the counter supplements, nature supplements and vitamins. In the U.S. alone, sales of nutritional supplements are more than 23 Billion Dollars a year.

These reversals on the use of beneficial supplements seems to be so prevalent any more and I believe it is one way to generate fear and take away our choices. And guess who will fill the void--the pharmaceutical companies. They will come up with something to replace nutritional supplements and will spend some of their 90 billions of dollars with TV and print ads, telling us how wonderful their product is, and then if you listen or read carefully, it will also tell you how many ways it may harm or kill you. But that is to be expected, of course....

But Nancy also posted an inspirational and incredible interview with Anita Moorjani, a woman who had 4 stage lymphoma cancer, was in a coma, hours away from death, and she had a Near Death Experience, and during that time she came into the awareness that we are one with the universe, with the God energy. She came through the near-death experience healed. Her tumors had reduced and then were soon gone. She is coming out with a new book in March, Introduction by Wayne Dyer.

The youtube Interview is long but so worth it. Take a little time away for the fear generated by our media, politicians, and government agencies, and listen to what Anita has to say about her experience, fear, life's purpose, and unconditional love.

Much of what she experienced is what Dr. James Martin Peebles, spirit guide, teaches with his spiritual psychology: illusion of separation, fear, creating our reality, etc. Her awareness of her healing is fascinating. She came back from the other side knowing her purpose to be here.

I preordered her book. I want to read it! I bet you will be interested, too, after hearing her.

Her website: http://anitamoorjani.com/

~Linda

Healing Grief

“The conquest of the fear of death is the recovery of life’s joy. One can experience an unconditional affirmation of life only when one has accepted death, not as contrary to life but as an aspect of life.” –Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth

I am often asked to recommend books on grief, usually because people know I have written about the journey through grief and about communication with the other side.

Grief is a personal journey, but it is a universal walk filled with emotions, pain, questions, fears, and is a journey most people are forced to take at various times throughout their lives. I have hoped to present in my spiritual writings not only my own spiritual experiences, but those of others in hopes of lending credibility to the belief that consciousness survives the death of the physical body.

Grief may take many forms. As we go through it, we discover that it comes in all shapes and sizes and is capable of doing many things. It will attack us when least expected, may devastate us, immobilize us, shock us, bring up guilt feelings, keep us awake at night, drain us, make us angry, fill us with regret, make us think we are a little crazy, encourage us to withdraw, bring up many fears, make us forgetful, confuse us, bring deep sorrow, tempt us to lose faith. It can also persuade us to lash out at God, question the purpose of our life, depress us, try to take away meaning, make us feel hopeless, make us insecure, discourage us from moving through it, make us reluctant to speak about our feelings, intensify our sexual feelings when we do not want to even think about sex, make us feel powerless, makes us believe we are winning the battle before hurling us backward three steps–and overwhelm us in a variety of other ways.

Grief will have its way with you and me, but we can also learn from it and discover that we can take from it strength, new understandings, courage, peace, contentment, joy, deeper faith, love, empathy, spiritual enlightenment, honesty, deeper and more meaningful relationships, healing, growth, creativity, among many other things.

Grief can come not only from the loss of a loved one, but from the loss of a pet, a divorce, a job, a home, financial loss, relationship challenges, and each of those experiences can bring pain and sorrow, and may require time to emotionally heal.

Here is a list of books that may help on your journey, through grief, in preparation for grief, or for spiritual understanding that live lives on, and "living" can go on.

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross: On Death and Dying;On Children and Death; Death: The Final Stage of Growth.
Elisabeth Kubler-Ross and David Kessler: On Grief and Grieving: Finding the Meaning of Grief Through the Five Stages of Loss
John Edward: One Last TimeGuggenheim, Bill, and Judy Guggenheim. Hello From Heaven!C.S. Lewis: A Grief Observed

Marty Tousley: Finding Your Way through Grief: A Guide for the First Year, Second Edition;Children and Pet Loss: A Guide for Helping.Raymond Moody: Life After Life Raymond Moody, with Paul Perry: Reunions;Glimpses of Eternity.
Morse, Melvin, with Paul Perry. Closer to the Light;Transformed by the Light; Parting Visions.
Norman Vincent Peale: The Power of Positive Thinking.Bernie S. Siegel, M.D.: Love, Medicine and Miracles;
Peace, Love and Healing.

James Van Praagh: Talking to Heaven; Reaching to Heaven;
Healing Grief.Linda Pendleton: A Walk Through Grief: Crossing the Bridge Between Worlds; 

Linda Pendleton and Dr. Fred Bader: Expressing Love: Remembering a Life 
Linda Pendleton: Three Principles of Angelic Wisdom
Linda Pendleton: A Loving Presence: Signs and Symbols from Your Angels and Spirit Guides 
Don and Linda Pendleton: To Dance With AngelsLarry Dossey, M.D.: Recovering the Soul: A Scientific and Spiritual Search;Healing Words.

Linda Pendleton: Softly With Love, Communicating with Your Spirit Guides and Angels;
Journey to the Heart: Exploring the World of Spirit and Our Connection to It.

These books should be available through Amzaon.com and Barnes and Noble, and many may be at your local library. Most of the listed books are available in e-book format.

Are there other books that have helped you through grief? If so, please feel free to share.

~Linda

Kindness

"Life is a pilgrimage; let us kindly help each other along the tiresome journey; for soon, perhaps, shall we put our sandals off, and lay our weary burdens down by the cypress-trees that shade Death's peaceful river. And when that tremulous hour comes, as it must to each and all, precious will be the memories of kind words spoken, and the good that we have done."

~Dr. James Martin Peebles, 1880