God Is I Am

A stillness of the water,
A silence of your breath.
A time lapse in reality
A heaviness in your chest.

A castle of prominence
Standing tall and alone.
Attached to the hills
Foregone in dreams and poems.

The setting sun brings shadows
And plays a game of darkness with hints of rage.
With light dancing across the rippled pond
The clouds move in, reflecting an ominous sign.

The moving light, a delight to those that see through Spirit’s eyes.
It is the contrast between dark and light
A constant reminder of the Soul living a human life.

Photo Prompt posted by Sue Vincent’s Daily Echo. A lovely picture and inspiring. Thank you Sue for another creative opportunity.

https://scvincent.com/2019/07/11/thursday-photo-prompt-castle-writephoto/

In late spring when King and I arrived home from a work trip we found a dark house and no power. As I checked the refrigerator and freezer things were already melted and smelly. It is the downside of being away for a week.

Life changes when you have no power. Without music or the TV, the house was in total silence. Amazon’s Alexa no longer plays my radio stations. And working in the home office was much harder to do without internet. So hanging in the local library became a nice option but phone calls are a “no-no”. Phone calls are planned for in the car or at mom’s place since I have very bad reception at my house. A conscious plan must be made to charge electronics and at the worse I leave them charging in a running car.
The upside of the quietness is that time to pray and meditate, is more abundant. The birds chirping in the morning, heard through the open windows, are more pleasant than any alarm. They are joyful and welcoming to the new day. I laid in bed listening to them instead of thinking about emails.

Cooking for King was a challenge. I would visit mom’s home or a friend’s place just a few blocks away to cook. It got me back to the gym at least for a shower and an occasional work out.

I normally run the vacuum every day to get up the beautiful black dog hair that is everywhere. Instead, I took to using a rubber glove to lift it off the sheets that lays on top of the bed and on the sofa. It worked better than the vacuum on the carpeted steep, narrow, steps that lead up to the second floor. The vacuum never did a great job and was unusable on the pie slice shaped steps at the top. It felt dangerous trying to run the vacuum over the coarse rug on the steps. The handheld tools lacked the pull to get his hair without a fight. On the area rugs I use my rubber sole shoes to rub the hair into a pile. It amazes me how much hair gets bedded into the carpet weaving in such a short time.

Anything I eat is stored at room temperature while King’s food is stored in a cooler with ice. I have come up with a new favorite combination of peanut butter and pumpkin seeds. I found a big bag of pumpkin seeds in the cabinet when looking for food options. It is a delicious treat on a cracker or rice cake. It makes a great snack and can be a high protein meal.

Life is simpler without power, yet it is challenging to think of ways to handle daily routines that I took for granted. I am blessed to have support and places to crash when it is to hot or I need to cook for King. While there was a simplicity to the powerless routine, I am grateful the power returned as silently as it left. I am thankful for the blessings of family and my best friend!

More than a week ago, I was listening to the news and heard someone say something that was very interesting and thought provoking. They were talking about the 2020 elections and said something to this nature: Conservatives campaign on fear and that resonates within the base and those that live with fear. They may not like the candidate but the issues they believe that victimize them are the driver of their vote not the candidate. The candidate only represents those issues. The liberals on the left come from a place of hope and the base votes for the hopes and dreams they wish to fulfill. Fear will always fight, and hope does not fight. So where do we go from here? While this was my interpretation of this statement it felt like a lead balloon.

The very next news report was about one democratic candidate’s statement about working across the isle with other politicians that were supporters of segregation and openly discriminate and vote along those lines. This occurred early in his career. Now the young members of his party are protesting and fighting him over his comments.

These worldly concerns were running through my head as I sat at traffic lights, listening to cars honk and watched people make risky moves in and out of the city traffic. At one point I found myself thinking, who am I, to judge that person for that driving moves. Who am I to judge, if one person should listen to or converse with another who has violated another and suppressed their rights? If I chose to fight them how do I win? If I sit around and hope they change their ways, how do they hear me? I can pray for them to change and I can role model the change I want to see. Or I can step closer to them and ask to hear them. I can use my compassionate heart to hear their words and share with them my words and thoughts. I can set up an opportunity for them to take a step forward. I can find a stepping-stone that helps them see me extending a hand or olive branch. Once I jump up and down and call them wrong and they must change to my view, I lose the gift of compassion. I block them and myself from growth.

During that day I was in an interview and was asked a question that mirrored this scenario in the nursing patient relationship. I said, I have no right to judge the non-compliant patient, it is my role to meet them where they are and to offer compassion, knowledge and faith to support their moving forward even if it is one little step.

The polarization of our nation has continued to play out over these last few years very publicly. I believe it started long before that in a more hidden, underground way. Perhaps the politics of the 50s, 60s, and 70s of crossing the line to the work with those on the other side of congress and the senate was not such a bad thing. Even if they worked with those that were prejudice, bigots and misogynist. These politicians with all their beliefs and behaviors were voted into their roles by people with similar beliefs. I cannot make them go away by fighting. When did berating each other become the right way to resolve differences? Why does one side need all the power and the other no power or say? Now, I am not giving power to discrimination, suppression of others, and hate. I am choosing to acknowledge it is there and to step on a platform that is shared by other views. Until we look each other in the eyes and say you have value we can not move forward we can only get further apart.

I once read a story of tribes in Africa that would address civil disobedience without punishment. The person who did the act against others, steal and even murder, were placed in the center of all the tribe members. They were languished with love, each tribe member sharing the positive things they saw in this person over the course of a few days or week/s. It went 24 hours a day for multiple days. Each tribe member having a part in this display of love, even those wronged participated. And the person in the center received all these positive affirmations and energy. This continued until the person showed a change in themselves. They acknowledged their wrong and committed to their own plan for repentance. They would pay their debt to the tribe by service to those they hurt. In the situation of murder, they committed to a lifetime of service to the family that lost the love one.

It is an interesting concept and one we often hear about from parents who are at their wits end with a disobedient child or drug addicted adolescent. They stop the fight and start to praise their child for everything good. Sometimes they search for that good at the bottom of the barrel, but they deliberately chose to find good in every situation. They stop bringing attention to every disobedient action or drug use. I have read this multiple time, in parent self-help books or books on love and forgiveness.

How can that help in politics? Do we stop the fight by not showing up to March against it? If there is no one to hear and to fight what will happen to their anger and furry without the fan of resistance? If they have no one to fight will the awaiting silence open the door for them to listen? Will the loss of an audience change their stance as they try to find a new place to fit into society? I am not sure of the right approach. To join someone where they are, too start a conversation, or to walk away, leave no fight, and no one to listen. I see how each of these approaches can help to depower the negative and to allow room for a new voice to emerge.

On June 9th, I read an article in the New York Times that reported on abuse to the disable in New York City, in state-run residences and group homes. It was a heartbreak to read that the most vulnerable who require compassion and love were so badly treated. Some of these residents even died at the hands of those they trust. This type of story always rips at my heart, my youngest brother is 50 with downs syndrome. He still receives incredible care by my, 93-year-old, mother. While he is independent in his activities of daily living, he will always require a caregiver as he lives in his playful preschooler mentality.

The story also took me back to a previous role as a nurse administrator. In an organization that had a population of medically fragile and severely disabled children, teens and young adults, I found a weak nursing department and care that did not meet my expectations. At first, I was told it was a previous nurse administrator who did not know how to manage staff and did not know the care regulations. I made it my mission to improve the training for staff and to focus on improving care. I did my best to educate the Executive Director and other administrators thinking it would be a welcomed change.

It took me a good 9 months before I awoke to the realization the Executive Director and HR were undermining the changes for all the wrong reasons. The Executive Director, (E.D.) wanted nursing care to be minimal since they were not a health facility. The mission of the organization was around education and communication with technology. The E.D. had rationalized over her long tenure that meeting standards of care for this population was only for medical facilities and not for housing medically fragile and severely disabled teens and young adults. She often stated that families don’t have to meet those standards so it could not be expected by the nursing department, since they replaced the family part of the year.

The article pointed out the union and arbitrators were lenient on staff who were abusive. The organization I worked in had the same mentality of putting some staff rights ahead of the clients. While they did not have any union employees the HR manager always started meetings with a statement that she was there to advocate for the employees. She worked more like a union rep than organization HR. It was the first organization I ever worked in that HR had no alliance with the mission and vision of the organization. I did my best to bring both the E.D. and H.R. representative back to the mission of serving this population of individuals.

Sometimes, when we think we can do good and want to fix a problem we do not always understand the motives of others. In this situation, I was naïve thinking everyone wanted to fix the problems. Yet the long-term pathology was a hard one to break. For more than a decade nursing was the ugly stepsister in this organization. Other departments saw their own contributions to the individual as more important than changing diapers and cleaning up vomit. The  employees in these departments often screamed and bullied nursing caregivers, licensed and non-licensed. If the nursing staff screamed back or even defended themselves, they were called unprofessional and disciplined while the other department staff member was called passionate. The nursing staff were often timed by these departments when they took an individual to the bathroom and claimed they took too long. The non-nursing staff had no idea what it took to clean and change a fully grown disable person who was wheelchair bound, and unable to assist. The care staff utilized lifts and often had to work in twos to ensure safety for the client and themselves as these individuals grew bigger and heavier. The staff had to work around the individual’s spasms and sometimes be interrupted by seizures. To clean and change an individual may have taken 10 to 20 minutes based on the individuals needs and the time it took to get back and forth through the facility. Many of these clients needed frequent tube feedings and medications. At the time I had started in this organization, the pathology was deep, and the environment was explosive. The individual who was the mission was now the rope in a tug of war as all departments were committed to their tunnel vision and anger towards nursing. Nursing was worn, defeated and very devalued.

I know I made some improvements there, but not enough. When I first arrived, the E.D. believed one RN could handle care for 14 medically fragile and severely disable individuals. The individualized care needs of these residences were never accounted for, nor were the fact these same individuals often had round the clock nursing when they were at home. The E.D., believed strongly as temporary housing, that level of attention was not required. She once told me, student’s in private boarding schools do not get that type of care, so it was unrealistic to think they should get it in this environment. Yet, she often promised families we would meet all the needs of their loved ones.

I eventually increase care to two LPNs and a RN covering the residence which included, 12 to 14 individuals, and the hundreds of medications, treatments and procedures these individuals required daily to survive. The staff had to respond to over-head calls for emergency care throughout the facility for seizures, respiratory problems or any other nursing need. Yet, it was consistently a struggle for the Executive Director as she often told me, ‘nursing cost too much and needed to be contained. ‘ I told her she could contain cost by stop recruiting and admitting individuals with this level of medical complexity and severe disability. I also approached the idea of developing a relationship with a care facility not far away so they could do the round the clock care and these individuals would stay in the organization as day participants. Neither of these ideas matched her idea of the legacy she wanted to leave behind. She wanted to fill the residence on a tight budget and prove it could be done with minimal cost. None of these individuals, were physically abused, yet many did not get the quality of care they deserved. The staff may have skipped a changing or two during the day, or they just stuffed their diaper with extra pads instead of changing when they were wet. Care needs may have been skipped but documented as done. Many of these behaviors developed out of fear of the abuse they received and was supported by HR. When new nursing staff started, they quickly became a target if they did not meld into the culture. While I was there the staff that consistently helped support the care goals I set and followed the policies were bullied by peers. Once I left, they were terminated for not getting along with the others on the team.

Spiritually, we each must accept the Karmic repercussions of our actions or lack of action. This one has been hard on me knowing I did not accomplish all that was needed for these blessed beings. I know, I made mistakes in this part of my journey, some out of being naïve, and others because I dug my heels in trying to create a change the organization was not open to receive. I recognize in hindsight, I could have made other decisions early on that may have torn through the organization and upset the apple cart. Yet, that approach did not seem right since these individuals truly found joy in this place and I was eager to work with the E.D. who expressed wanting to make the improvements. While it took me time to learn her true core beliefs, she too will learn through karma for her own spiritual growth.

Karma also goes for organizations, cultures, and countries. How Karma is delivered is not mine to guess or wish any negative repercussions. Every day, I remember the blessed beautiful souls of the individual clients, nursing staff, and other organization members and send them a blessing.

I often find myself thinking of the souls incarnated into a disable being and how their experience supports their spiritual growth. I believe that before any of us are born into this time and dimension, our Souls agree to support the other in the physical journey on earth. With this mindset, I feel blessed to honor and assist the soul of my brother in this lifetime. I believe that my mother has earned wings and a halo with the incredible care and love she gives to him. This same belief also sits heavy in my heart, as I think of the incredible souls in the clients at that previous organization. I try to remember that their was some successes regardless if it was all that needed to be done or not.  So today, I send positive thoughts and prayers to every soul incarnated in a human with a disability who is dependent on others. I also send blessings to those that love them and care for them to honor the soul within.

In the next book I am playing with the idea that China will find herself in a similar situation and will have to work through her own human frailties and those of others who care for our most vulnerable. Once again, I see here, if we all shift our thinking to honor the Soul within each person then abuse or neglect will fade away.

These past two weeks have been busy. King and I left PA to head out to Hagerstown, Maryland on May 29th. We drove through heavy storms for most of the three-hour ride. The thunder was booming, and the lighting was flashing. At times I was unable to see what was ahead of me or driving along our side. I thought about pulling over, but without visibility, I just kept moving ahead. Occasionally, I caught a glimpse of a vehicle alongside me or a truck in front of me. I didn’t lose my navigation signal, and I knew I was on the PA turnpike. So, I offered the steering wheel over to God and Arch Angel Michael and did my best to relax into the drive and the storm. Yet, several times, I found myself sitting on the front edge of my seat with a tight grip on the steering wheel. Each time I had to say, “I trust you have this one and will keep King and I safe.”

King does not like lighting and thunder. To my surprise, he was calm and sitting straight up in the back seat. He watched from side to side without a whine or whimper. Back home during storms, he will get anxious and scratches at the floor. Often, I put him on his lead, and he travels around the house with me as I do my work, and this keeps him calm. If I am gone for the day when we have bad weather, I leave him in the big kitchen so he cannot scratch the hardwood or rugs in other rooms. His anxiety with thunder has been building over the last few years. At night he finds refuge in the master closet curled up in a ball in a dark room without windows in the center of the house. I have not been able to find him a thunder shirt that fits. The shirts sold in stores are always too small. Even the shirts they call X-large were made for a much smaller dog.

So here we are in a reverse roll. King is sitting straight up calmly watching the aggressive storm around us as the public radio station repeatedly blasted the storm and tornado warnings. When we travel, King is in a harness called a load harness. This is the only seat belt I have ever found that adjust easily for the big dog. He can still move around in the back seat while he is very secure. As I looked back at King, I can see he is sitting tall. I can image Arch Angel Michael is next to him with his arm around his shoulders. I smiled when I heard myself say, “Thank you both.” The peace and safety of that moment filled me the remaining trip.

As you may have already guessed, King is important to me. He is a great companion, non-judgmental and an easy-going friend. The funny thing is, while I cook for King and take care of his every need I see him as spiritually teaching me how to totally surrender. King trust his every need will be met, and if it does not go exactly as he wants, he waits it out knowing, he will not be forgotten. What a lesson for me to learn.
While I trust in God, I also know I sometimes do some knee jerk things to force things to work out. Unfortunately, I can not remember a time when that worked for the long term. Even when there is a short-term gain, in time, it often implodes and feels worse than the original circumstance.

So here I sit again, in a situation I thought I would never return to. I look back and must admit to myself there were some knee jerk reactions, and I tried to squeeze myself into a new place to avoid the old. I wonder how this happened when I pray and meditate. Yet I know, it does not matter how it happened, the lesson is, I must relax into it and allow the Divine to work through me for the resolution. Sometimes doing nothing is far better than a knee jerk. Other times trusting one step at a time, with turning inward for direction, is the best despite the feeling of pending doom.

Lessons learned from King are invaluable. One time, when we were visiting my mother’s retirement community, King and I were in the main lobby. He was laying on the ground at my feet with people standing around him when a man in a motorized cart came down the hallway and caught a glimpse of King. Moving quickly, he verged to his left towards the crowd and King. As he approached, everyone stepped back, and the motor cart came straight at King’s head. I felt frozen for that moment and then looked at King and he was not phased as he watched the cart. Just as the man reached him, he turned his cart within a half inch of King’s head and body. He flew by and clumsily dropped his arm and hand to run along King’s head and down his back, before steering his cart back to the other side of the hall. My quick nursing assessment told me the man had a brain injury, maybe a stroke that cause a left hemiplegia. The way his left arm dropped and ran across King I suspected he had weakness and little ability to control his arm’s function. Yet his driving with his right arm was on target. King remained calm as my racing heart needed a few minutes to slow down.

As I sit here today, finishing this blog post, now 11 days in the making, I long to have the wisdom that King often possess. I sometimes, think of him as a spiritual guru that has the knowledge that I strive to gain. Not only is he wise beyond a dog’s life, but King also has the most soulful eyes I have ever looked into. When I see those eyes looking at me, I feel my own soul stir in recognition, he is more than a canine companion.

Perhaps, in a future post, I will share the story of how King and I met. To me, it still feels magical and full of Divine intervention. In the sequel to. The Extricated Soul, I have already started to write King into the story. It will be fun to watch how his beautiful soul works alongside China and Eleazar.

Many religions teach that we are made with a soul that has been given to us by God. That soul is the part of us that has been made in God’s image. Spiritually that means to me, I am a Soul/Spirit having a human incarnation. My soul has always been, will exist for infinity and can never be destroyed. It is the part of me/us that has eternal life. My body will decay and turn to dust once my soul extricates this mortal vessel.

We read in the literature, the weight of the body decreases by one ounce or less after death. I have been at the bedside of many people at their death, repeatedly I felt the warmth of the soul when it leaves the body. Sometimes that energy stays in the room as it comforts the people it so dearly loved. Then I feel that warmth leave, and the temperature in the room goes from warm and comforting to cool and vacant. Each time this happens I have felt an overwhelming blessing to be there to aid in the transition.
In the book, The Extricated Soul, I refer to souls as dark souls and white souls. The white soul is recognized by the ego and consciousness of the human it dwells within, as the higher self, the soul or spirit. The ego aligns itself with the soul.

While many people may not consider themselves spiritual or even believe in God, they may sense there is something bigger than themselves. They live to a moral code and listen to that higher self that guides them. In other humans, there is a strong spiritual sense of living their life from a place of love, compassion, joy, forgiveness and truth to name a few of the divine qualities. The white soul is a “wise old soul”, we often refer to people who show compassion and forgiveness as a “wise old soul.” They are the white souls, like China, Eleazar, and the other white souls who experience extrication. They are the ones who travel to the Spiritual Centers around the world to aid in the healing of our divisive culture. They are willing to leave all behind for a calling to serve humanity and the divine creator. They exist in every religion, nationality, and color.

The dark soul is the person who has turned away from it’s “higher self, soul, spirit or energy” it is up to you to name that part of you based on your beliefs. In the book, the dark soul is not a color of the soul, it is the soul living in the darkness of the ego, or in the shadow of the ego. Living in fear and in beliefs of victimhood, power mongering, and hate. It may start for some, as a small thing that happens in their life that moves them into a fear state. And the shadow begins to block the light of the divine soul within. Our soul is not a power monger; it will gently call us back. Yet, the ego starts a new belief, “I must never let anyone ever hurt me again.“ So the fear antenna goes up, and one begins to see situations from a place of fear. When this happens, a person will read into other’s intentions and will stop showing compassion and forgiveness. It may not take long before they are lost in the world of paradigms, power mongering, and fear. Once this happens, the light of the soul is cut off from the human it serves. The Ego’s rhetoric blocks the gentle calls of the soul. The Ego’s attention is now locked into the divisive beliefs that govern the human’s life.

In the book, The Extricated Soul, I take liberty with this belief to build the story of white souls healing dark souls. By the end of the third re-incarnation in a row, if the soul does not expand, it is living entirely in the darkness of the ego. On the fourth or fifth lifetime without expansion, it is much harder to save the soul.

While I am a spiritual person, I recognize many people who are not yet ready to awaken to the truth of who we are, may be more prepared to accept a story of fiction and fantasy to see a new paradigm. Presently, I am seeing an uptick of books, tv series, and movies about witches, psychics and God. I love, “God Friended Me,” a new series that demonstrates the connectedness of our lives and we are called to help others. While the message is very positive, it attracts those of us who already believe in that message. It leaves us feeling good. Can a feelgood story hold the attention of those that think everything is a fight; there is a duality of good and evil, and for them to be right others must be wrong? As we see, in our culture and in countries around the world, there is a rise in this type of thinking that focuses on others religion, cultural background, nationality, and sexual orientation as the problem. They are looking for the fight. It is this population that is less likely to pick up a spiritual book that teaches love and acceptance.
There are many great books, authors, bloggers and spiritual teachers out there. I chose a different path. In The Extricated Soul, I let the characters teach the principles through their life direction, watching the way they live to unfold based on their thoughts and beliefs. The white souls who extricate must heal those in darkness without taking their free will away. This means all free will is protected, including the free will to hurt other human beings. I once thought, “how could God allow that to happen?” That will be another post on another day.

In today’s society, it is rare to find someone who does not know of another who uses their free will to hurt themselves or others. Our political culture is showing us many people who use their free will to hate others based on their color, religion or sexual preference. And others may use their free will to sexually, physically and emotionally abuse others. Many of these acts fall under the criminal and mental health label in our society today. They are not seen as a spiritual illness but as an illness of the mind/personality. Even the most talented mental health professionals have limited ability to cure many mental health issues with a pill, or therapy. If we start to shift our paradigm, we may find a place for spiritual healings to occur. Can a murderer find compassion for his/her victims and their loved ones? Can a victim have forgiveness for the one/s that hurt them? I believe they can, but it does not come in a pill or a prison cell. It comes from the soul that dwells within. When the ego blocks the light of the soul, we see crime, murder, abuse and hate rise. When the soul is free to express, it’s light will shine through the life of the human it dwells. Does the soul serve the human or do we serve the soul?

Through the Shadow a Soul walks,
in darkness that leads us
to a doorway of light.
A path unfolding underfoot,
from tumultuous to flattened stone.
The darkness brings hope,
dim slivers of light excite the Soul leaving the dark night.
The ego celebrates as the path comes into view.
Now, just one more step or two.
Fear is transmuted from darkness to light,
fear of the good things that are all right.
Am I worthy?
Am I an imposter or a fool?
Is this path intended for me?
Or is it someone else’s you see?
The egotic mind in such a twist must re-align.
In the long night,
there is hope for a new life.
In the light, one must live the life they dreamed.
In the light, one must embrace the grace and dignity,
which God grants for our Soul to breath.
The ego once twisted now re-aligned
Is ready to step over the line
And claim its Soul’s divine right.
Each step into the light
is momentum for more
To enter the journey of God’s love adorned.

Written for Sue Vincent’s photo prompt 5.23.2019

https://wordpress.com/read/feeds/3193846/posts/2286814186

I revived this blog to help me restore my creative flow. When I write poems, there is something soothing happening within me. When I write stories, I feel my mind and energy grow. In the years the blog was dormant I was writing stories, short, long, sad, mysteries, and inspiring. These stories have not been shared. Someday I may share some of them or part of them here. I experimented with a few poems that were intended to tell a story. One thing I felt sure of during this dormant time was the poems I wrote, were in some way the groundwork for my future novel. I was not sure how it would play out, but I had the acknowledgement within.

One such poem I wrote in response to an online poetry class, was called Forbidden Fruit. The assignment was to write about a myth, tale, or fable that has been passed down for generations. It came to me instantly the story was Adam and Eve. It was a story I found confusing as a child. I told sister in first grade, the snake could not be evil because God made it, and it had a soul. She told me I was wrong and off to the corner I went.

While the religious explanation about the snake never sat well with me. I now had an opportunity to make sense of the snake’s, role based on my growing spiritual beliefs. The Universe, God, Spirit was with me on the path as I wrote this poem. I did not realize then, it had a place in my first novel and the theme of the poem was the thread that moves The Extricated Soul, forward.

When I started my novel, it was after many weeks of prayer and meditation for the story to flow. Most interesting around that same time, I was actively doing Reiki for many challenging situations. These were sessions for the dying, very sick, and others emotionally self-imploding. I was meeting people who needed spiritual guidance from their soul, so I delivered the messages. And there were others whose deceased loved ones required me to deliver messages. Occasionally, I found my car ride in solitude, interrupted by an energy telling me who they wanted me to speak with. I was deeply touched and grateful for this service. My prayer and meditation life grew as I felt more and more of my alignment and openness to be a channel.

During this time, my connection with Arch Angel Michael became very important to me. Our communications were daily and quickly flowed. One day before meditation, I said to Arch Angel Michael “tell me what I should write”. And as I was finishing the meditation, the thoughts arose in my mind, ‘write what you know, the Reiki you do, the love you have’. And the story was started.

Back to the Poem, I called it “Forbidden Fruit”. A story of Adam and Eve and how they used their free will. I see the snake in this story as a conduit for God, a manifestation of God through the reptile. It is not evil; it is not tempting Adam and Eve to turn from God. This poem is the prologue for the novel and is the foreshadowing of how the story unfolds, and the characters develop.

Picture found online in 2014,
site information not known at this time.

Forbidden Fruit
Succulent fruit hanging on the vine.
Humans and animals living in
harmony with the Divine.
Beauty of the creating Lord
flourishes in blooms and grasses
across the garden floor.

Adam and Eve strolling among the leaves,
living a life of grace and easy.
Man and women created to celebrate
the harmony and joy of this garden so great,
can pet the lions and play with the hounds,
and live in a world without barriers or bounds.
A garden of love for animals, insects, plants and trees.
A love of one another and the Energy Source.

Through the choice and thought’s, they made,
the Universe gave them the ability to co-create.
Universal Law a gift from God,
says it is your thoughts that create the life
and feelings you procreate.

In contemplation of wanting more
Adam and Eve ventured to the forbidden tree
protected by a serpent of truth.
Eve asked, “What is it you protect in this tree?”

Slithering in silence the snake left his perch,
to look the couple in the eye,
to see what questions
the souls were hiding inside.
As he looked, he saw the souls trying to re-align.

“One choice can send your world in a spin,”
is what this serpent said to them.

“It is our right to know…what it is this tree does grow?”
Responded Eve.

The serpent moved closer to see what Adam didn’t show,
“Why are you so silent and not asking to know?”
Asked the snake then hissed and moved away slow.

“It is my partner’s plight to see the truth in a different light,
and there is no one else for me to love so joyously.”

“Ahhh,” said the serpent,
“A couple so free, in a garden of bliss,
so eager to separate
from the Divine that created all of this.
Yes, it is your choice to taste the fruit.
And, I will tell you it is your choice that
grows the Garden of Eden
or creates a world of fears and hate.
Use your thoughts wisely…
For they will quickly procreate.”
The serpent slide from the tree
to reveal the lush fruit.

In last words he said,
“You have received the message from your Creator,
Who has given you this freedom to choose.
And always, God will sit and wait for you,
Receiving you back regardless of what you think and do.
In re-alignment you will find the Garden of Eden is still divine.”

Further, from the tree he slid,
and one last time looked back to see
the forms of Adam and Eve lose their radiant light
as they bite the fruit from the forbidden tree.
It did not take long for the ego to take hold
and the life of contrast ignite
into a world of illusions and fright.

They say in threes they come and go.
Three newborns in your circle of family and friends.
Three deaths in a row.

Good books come in a trilogy,
and who can eat just two cookies?
Some people have three marriages
before they find the right one.

Three witches, you say they stand
a reminder of a dark time and land.
Made of sticks and branches,
never falling from the place, they band.

A witch so wicked
A witch so kind
A witch we all are,
with great gifts from the Divine.

Are spells and potions of that God made,
something to fear and hate?
When one falls to the ego’s fight and cuts off the Divine light,
others pay the price.

No different today in our culture of religions and political array,
we see this fear sweeping masses astray.
People once kind now lacking compassion and clarity of mind.

In the Egotic twist, we find,
many chose to cut off the Divine.
It is of free will we build our hate and fear
It is of free will we follow behind.

*Egotic – is not a word found in the English dictionary. I use it here and in other writings to represent the negative twist the ego takes when it turns from divine grace. The ego itself is not a negative energy nor a negative part of our mortal self until the ego’s beliefs block Gods light.

Thursday photo prompt: Wicker #writephoto

      Thank you Sue Vincent for another great Photo Prompt at Sue Vincent’s Daily Echo.