FORGIVENESS

I used to think that forgiving someone meant that no matter what terrible thing had been done to me, I wouldn't hold it against them. Yesterday, while watching Oprah's follow up on "The Secret", I realized just how wrong I was.

Today I feel like a new person! Rev. Dr. Michael Beckwith and Philosopher James Ray were guests on the Oprah show and as they talked and shared with the audience, I was reconnected with the spiritual principles I had previously learned, as well as truths I have always known.

I often wondered why after I had forgiven someone, I still felt angry. Though I had committed not to hold the violation against them, I still relived it often in my mind, with the same level of hurt and condemnation as when it first happened. Until yesterday.

Now I understand that forgiveness includes thanking those persons(yeah thanking them) for giving you the experiences that allow you to know yourself better. To realize your strengths and increase them. To face your weaknesses and improve on them.

Once you stop feeling like a victim you can take ownership of your life! You can look back, even if it was just yesterday and find your truth in the situation. Knowledge to assist you in living better, wiser, fully. Most times when we have been done a wrong, we put something negative out there that received a negative response. Sometimes of course the response is far more horrible than what you sent out, however it was indeed a reaction to your actions. Haters are out there, we all know that and you don't have to do anything but shine to get them to conspire to harm you, & there are circumstances when heinous things are done to us that we had nothing to do with at all. Like when a child is molested...they had no role in that what so ever. But they can learn about their individual power from it later.

These opportunities to forgive, show us who we are, how we react to challenges, difficult moments, even abominations. And then we can decide whether we want to find our power, or give it away. It's up to you. You can relinquish it, leave it in a sea of negativity, or you can not be afraid of it(your power, your oneness with God), harness it, rise with it, live richly!

So for all of those who have hurt me, lied on me, beat me, abused me, stole from me, disrespected me, thrown obstacles in my way.....thank you for giving me the experiences. I know my power now, and I am on my way!

..but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. (Luke 7:47)

That's melavision. What's yours?

SIGNS & WONDERS

I spent some time this past week tending to my mother while she underwent cataract surgery. As I waited in her hospital room, I pondered the miracle taking place down the long corridor. I felt no sense of trepidation or doubt. As the minutes passed, I left briefly for a cup of coffee and a bagel from the cafeteria on the ground level. When I returned I watched the Today Show until I dozed off into a restful sleep. Again, no worries. My faith was in the hands that guided the hands.

I was awaken by a presence that was gentle yet authoritative and opened my eyes to see mom's physician, Dr. Menon, a diminutive Indian woman with precise fingers and a charming spirit. She advised that the surgery went very well and gave instructions for mothers post operative care. She thanked me for being there and walked toward the door. As if urged, she turned to me and said, "You know your mother is one of my favorite patients. She is such a sweet lady."(A lover of God) She gave me a broad and knowing smile and I smiled back while giving my gratitude. I thought back to the previous surgery and remembered her prayers for my mother. The doctors trust in God was genuine.

Several hours later after getting mom back home, she took off the protective shield covering her eye. Her face lit up as she looked out the kitchen window and around to the family room. She told me in great detail the clarity and new beauty she was experiencing looking at every day things. My mother was looking through both eyes, now fitted with artificial lens.

"Verily verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do he shall do also, and greater works than these shall he do because I go unto my Father."
John 14:12

So many people today, believers & unbelievers look for signs and wonders. They want to hear a trumpet in the sky and a thundering voice. People ask, why aren't the things that happened in the Bible still happening today? I boldly say to you that they are happening right under your face.

I believe when Jesus said the above words in John he was talking about a little girl named Akiane born to atheist and spoken to by God who paints through her hands and spreads His love on canvas. Who by this gift has saved her parents and given them a charge on life. Jesus was talking about Dr. Menon, and Dr. Ben Carson, Oprah Winfrey and Bill Gates, Oseola McCarty and all of the many regular people who have touched and changed the lives of others.

The lame walk and the deaf hear, the blind see. The hungry are fed and monstrous men change their hearts. There are prosthetics now that are connected directly to the brain and moved with thought. We talk to one another across the globe on phones that are connected to the air. We travel from state to state and country to country in a manner of hours. Automobiles talk to us and tell us which way to go and call on assistance if we drive into a ditch.

Hot water, warm showers, air conditioning in the sweltering heat and heat in the bitter cold. The sound of children laughing lightens our burdens and makes us smile even while war is on our television sets. A new born baby can make us be still and stare in awe and we feel peace and goodness and virtue. A hug from a friend, an unexpected card in the mail, a favorite song. Signs and wonders we are all too busy to see.

Close your eyes and think about it, you're just one miracle away from the wonder.

That's melavision. What's yours?