The Birds In The Air....

A long time ago, I moved to North Carolina from California. It was the first time I'd driven east of Reno. It was mid to late October when I made my trek. Crossing the Mississippi at St. Louis, the topography changed from the Great Plains to wooded countryside.

The leaves had started turning colors and as I drove along, with every mile, the colors seemed to become more intense. From south Illinois through Indiana, heading south through Kentucky to Nashville and straight east to Winston-Salem, it was a most beautiful drive. Someday I'm going to write the post about that trip.

When I got to my new hometown, there was much talk about how tough a winter it was going to be. The squirrels were gathering their winter stores since September as if they knew they were going to be in need of a large supply.

The following month, NC was hit with the worst ice storm it had seen ever. The snow began falling on a Tuesday and didn't stop until Thursday. Then the ice came.

It was a freezing rain. Everything looked like the tree in the pic, only frozen solid. I went for a walk out in it and two things immediately struck me; the silence of humanity and the sound of ice in the trees.

You know how, when you get an ice tray out of the freezer and you give it a twist to loosen the cubes? You know the sound that makes? Imagine it continuing without ceasing as every breeze moved the limbs.

I remember standing in the middle of the street, hearing this, seeming the only human alive and watching to see the ice fall from the trees. But very little ice was actually falling. It was stuck to everything and when it cracked, it didn't loosen itself from where it was stuck. It was really an incredible experience.

Suddenly, a thought came to me and I straightened up, my senses instinctively heightened. I looked around at the trees and in them. I looked on the ground around me. Then I looked under the bushes. Then the trees again. What I was expecting to see wasn't there.

Where are the birds? The temperature hasn't climbed over 25 degrees for 3 days now. My own power had been knocked out due to too much ice on the power lines and they snapped. My apartment was cooling down, but it was still livable.

But out here, in the middle of nature, I surely would be dead by now if I had just the clothes on my back. Why weren't we up to our ankles with dead birds? No way they could survive out here with no food, no water, no protection from the cold.

Why aren't all the birds dead?

At that moment, a warmth came from within me. It spread through my entire body and engulfed me. It felt like I was being hugged.

It was then that I realized that the birds were being taken care of. They'll make it through this just fine, a little worse for wear, but they'll make it.

I headed back to my apartment to warm back up and dream about my new life. "Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?"

Now, there's something to think about!
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When Life Becomes Hopeless...

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Everything that is, or has been, created has been created twice. Once in the spiritual, or energetic, realm and once in the physical realm. Every idea is conceptualized before being manifested. The Master tells us "Believe it in your heart and say it with your mouth and, if you do not doubt, what you say will come to pass."And this is the creative paradigm; thought, word, deed.

Even God plays by these rules. God had the idea for light. He could see it as a concept. But it wasn't until God said, "Let there be light" that there was light. It didn't happen, even though He had it as an idea, before He said it. God had to say it in order for it to manifest in the physical realm. Yes, it's a parable, it metaphoric, but it was no accident that it was written in just this way. In fact, as the story goes, God said 9 different things that hadn't manifested until He said so.

Now, when we're looking at creative energies, there are distinct levels that have different intensities. The lowest creative (or weakest) is "hope". Hope is where we have an idea and very little certainty as to our ability to make manifest. We can hope for something, but once another thing to the contrary comes into our awareness, our creation can be destroyed.

The next level of creative energy is "belief". Belief offers a little more certainty than hope and when another thing to the contrary comes into our awareness, our creation might not be as easily destroyed.

The next level of creative energy is "certainty". Certainty is where we have an idea and even when another thing to the contrary comes into our awareness, our ability to manifest our creation is unwavering and comes to pass.

Let me give you a simple example; Let's say you decide it would be nice to take in a movie. There's a new release out and it stars your favorite actor. The pre-release buzz and hype whets your appetite and you decide to see it. Looking at the clock, you plan on how much time it will take to get to the movies. You decide you want to arrive in time to get some popcorn, a drink and a good seat. "I'm going to the movies! I'll be back later!!" you cry out. Your intention is set and now all you have to do is make it happen.

Your degree of certainty will determine how you experience this creation.

As you're driving to the movies, you find yourself stuck in traffic. As you look at the clock, you will make adjustments, again, according to your creative forces.

If you are hoping to see the movie and make your timeline, you would recalculate the time it might take to make it to the movies. Questions will come up "will there be parking? What if I take a different route? What if there's a line for the popcorn? If I can't get a good seat, what's the point?" Confusion creeps in. One thought attracts a like thought and another. Your head is swimming with "what if's?" If and when you finally make it to the movies, it's going to take some time to recover and finally start enjoying the movie.

If you are believing you'll make it to the movie, as you hit the traffic, you might recalculate the time it's going to take to get there. Decisions are made a bit quicker than when you're hoping. You believe you're still going to make it in time. There's still some doubt. There's a chance you might miss the coming attractions and might have to settle on less than a great seat. You still believe you're going to make it, but have a little doubt how it's all going to play out. By the time you get to the movies, time might be needed to let out a sigh of relief and settle in and enjoy the movie.

If you have certainty that you'll see the movie, even when the traffic comes up, you will be undaunted. It's not seen as a problem at all, but a situation that needs to be dealt with. You are certain you will make it. There is no doubt. A new route is selected, you're out of traffic, hit all the green lights, find a parking spot, happily stroll to the theatre, get your popcorn and drink and find a great seat. Just as the coming attractions start rolling! Just like you planned it all along. In fact, if you hadn't hit that traffic, you would have arrived too early and had to wait for the show to begin!

Can you see that? Can you see how it works? Do you see what it is that effects the hope and belief? Yes, it's doubt. Let's review how it's stated: "Believe it in your heart and say it with your mouth and if you do not doubt, whatever you say shall come to pass."

Doubt can certainly effect our creations. And it can erode our certainty. In fact, it can be stated that certainty destroys doubt, and doubt destroys certainty.

Hope and Belief are separate levels of Certainty, each with its own opportunity for doubt to enter. It depends on how clear your own creative energy is. When the clarity of our creativity is high, the space between hope, belief and certainty narrows. In fact, we can become so adept at this process that our doubt never gets to the Hope scale.

And this is when you can tell that you've mastered the process: Life becomes hopeless!
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