Spirit Rising Ministries

I drove four hours on Tuesday to attend my Uncle Ben’s funeral. He and my Aunt Thelma live way up in New Hampshire and I had not seen either of them for many years. I used to get to visit them and my two cousins when I was a little girl. I wondered if, after all these years, I would even remember what the house looked like. I didn’t. But, what I did, and always have remembered was the warmth, love and laughter I experienced when I used to go there.  Would it still feel like that? And, if so, what was their secret? How did they remain so happy, living what I considered to be such a modest, ordinary, simple life? Did they have a deep, spiritual practice like myself or, true to character, was it something much simpler?

The answer was revealed at the funeral service when the Pastor looked at my aunt and began playing her and Uncle Ben’s favorite song that, she said, they used to sing all the time:

Zip-a-dee-doo-dah

Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay
My, oh my, what a wonderful day
Plenty of sunshine headin’ my way
Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay

Mister Bluebird’s on my shoulder
It’s the truth, it’s actual
Ev’rything is satisfactual
Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay
Wonderful feeling, wonderful day!

From Walt Disney’s Song of the South.

Thank you, Uncle Ben and Aunt Thelma, for the joy you added to the world and for showing me how to let the way be easy.

Let your spirit soar and may you have a zip-a-dee-do-dah day!

Paula

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In a presentation I did for seniors where I work, one of the videos showed reunions between pets and their owners. The joyful exuberance with which they greeted each other was incredibly heartwarming, and it got me thinking. Everyone should know the joy of being greeted like that. And, what if every person we encounter, from the most loved to the most despised, is a long lost brother/sister from the spirit world who is just playing a role we asked them to play; someone we would joyfully reunite with if we remembered who they were? What if they are here to help us wake up from this worldly dream and remember the beautiful, divine truth about who we all really are?

A Course in Miracles says, “Let your awareness of your brother not be blocked by your perception of his sins and of his body. What is there in him that you would attack except what you associate with his body, which you believe can sin? Beyond his errors is his holiness and your salvation.” T-22.III.8

Instead of judging or fearing someone, what if we pictured ourselves joyfully embracing them as they step off the world’s stage and into our open arms in joyous reunion.

Who can you embrace today?

Let your spirit soar!

Paula

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