Dear Friends,
If you have looked at your email today, you probably saw what one may call a computer glitch on Mystical Reflections. Well, I have to admit that it really was a Barbara glitch. Everything was going well at 3PM and…in my haste to add text, I hit the wrong computer key and OMG, the computer took over and away it went sans text. I quickly found that no matter how I tried to fix it or stop it, I couldn’t find an answer. So I’m sending it again today. Yesterday, March 4th was a very special day for me. The text below is a tribute to my Dad. I hope you enjoy it.
It’s March fourth, a very special day… one that will always be in my memory. Today would be my father’s 98th birthday. Unfortunately I only had him for my first twenty seven years, not nearly enough to truly understand and appreciate his impact on my life. Dad was the quiet and thoughtful one in the family and, in some ways, a mystery to me. My mother was outgoing and loved by everyone. Today I can see pieces of both of them in me, but I didn’t recognize the part of me that is Dad until long after he was gone. At twenty-seven I didn’t have the capacity to understand how much he loved me and how much of him is in me.
Today as I reflect on his impact on my life, I can appreciate his adventuresome spirit which I inherited. For my first eight years, we lived in a small Pennsylvania steel town. Dad worked the swing shift in the mill, but he had a vision of a better life. In 1947 he purchased a homemade one room 16 ft. house trailer. Before the snows arrived, he hitched the trailer to our 1941 Pontiac and moved us to Florida. I had one doll, a teddy bear, a bicycle and a set of loving parents that were willing to take a chance by leaving a large extended family behind to create a happier and more prosperous life.
For a year we lived in that one room trailer with a hot-plate, a tiny icebox, a drop down sofa and a rollaway bed. The next year we moved into a 26 ft. trailer that had two rooms. Four years later, we moved into a small home. I loved and admired my dad in my early years, but when I hit my teens, Dad could do nothing right. He was the one that received the brunt of my teenage hormonal swings. Fortunately, Dad had patience.
That issue was resolved one weekend when I had just completed my nursing education and had taken a weekend off of work to go home and be with my mother who was in the hospital recovering from surgery. One night, Dad took me out for dinner to a very good restaurant. My inner wisdom prompted me to apologize to him for what I had put him through during my teens. I also told him how much I loved and admired him and how happy I was that he was my father. Dad accepted that apology and told me he knew that he could be stubborn too. My mother told me many years later that Dad was beaming with pride when he told her about the incident. He said, at that moment, he knew that I had finally grown up.
That conversation truly changed our relationship. I realized that my behavior was hurtful to Dad and to me. I asked for and received his forgiveness, and I forgave myself. Our arguments stopped and I came to know Dad in an entirely different light. I also learned that it is OK to disagree, but it’s more important to learn from one another than to always be right. I am also grateful for that evening because I didn’t know that in eight years, Dad would be gone.
For many years I wondered why I chose Dad to take out my hormonal frustrations. Perhaps it’s because I have so much of him in me. My adventuresome spirit went beyond our move to Florida. It eventually took me all over this country. Although I have my mother’s great sense of humor, caring, and intuitive nature, I have dad’s quiet spirit as well. I don’t have to be the life of a party. I just enjoy being there. Today I am also happy being alone because it gives me the opportunity to connect with my Source and bask in the wonder of quiet time.
I found myself misty-eyed while writing this piece. Aside from family dynamics and how much we can learn through our interactions, I feel that a deeper message here is the importance of forgiveness, not only for another but for us as well. Forgiveness is not complete until we are willing to forgive ourselves. This behavior will pose great challenges for the ego. For our spirit, it will always create Love and Peace.
Written with Love,
Barbara Rasp
My Dear Ones,
Always look to the light for within the light are the answers to the peacefulness you seek.
Within the heart lies the opportunity to change the world, but one cannot change the world unless one changes the self.
Without love there is no glory.
Without love there is no success.
Without love there is no peace.
Without love there is no forgiveness.
Judgment comes from the intellect.
Forgiveness comes from the heart.
Judgment comes from fear created by the frightened mind.
Forgiveness comes from Love, created of the eternal God.
Wisdom’s Voice
http://www.wisdomsvoice.com/
If you have looked at your email today, you probably saw what one may call a computer glitch on Mystical Reflections. Well, I have to admit that it really was a Barbara glitch. Everything was going well at 3PM and…in my haste to add text, I hit the wrong computer key and OMG, the computer took over and away it went sans text. I quickly found that no matter how I tried to fix it or stop it, I couldn’t find an answer. So I’m sending it again today. Yesterday, March 4th was a very special day for me. The text below is a tribute to my Dad. I hope you enjoy it.
It’s March fourth, a very special day… one that will always be in my memory. Today would be my father’s 98th birthday. Unfortunately I only had him for my first twenty seven years, not nearly enough to truly understand and appreciate his impact on my life. Dad was the quiet and thoughtful one in the family and, in some ways, a mystery to me. My mother was outgoing and loved by everyone. Today I can see pieces of both of them in me, but I didn’t recognize the part of me that is Dad until long after he was gone. At twenty-seven I didn’t have the capacity to understand how much he loved me and how much of him is in me.
Today as I reflect on his impact on my life, I can appreciate his adventuresome spirit which I inherited. For my first eight years, we lived in a small Pennsylvania steel town. Dad worked the swing shift in the mill, but he had a vision of a better life. In 1947 he purchased a homemade one room 16 ft. house trailer. Before the snows arrived, he hitched the trailer to our 1941 Pontiac and moved us to Florida. I had one doll, a teddy bear, a bicycle and a set of loving parents that were willing to take a chance by leaving a large extended family behind to create a happier and more prosperous life.
For a year we lived in that one room trailer with a hot-plate, a tiny icebox, a drop down sofa and a rollaway bed. The next year we moved into a 26 ft. trailer that had two rooms. Four years later, we moved into a small home. I loved and admired my dad in my early years, but when I hit my teens, Dad could do nothing right. He was the one that received the brunt of my teenage hormonal swings. Fortunately, Dad had patience.
That issue was resolved one weekend when I had just completed my nursing education and had taken a weekend off of work to go home and be with my mother who was in the hospital recovering from surgery. One night, Dad took me out for dinner to a very good restaurant. My inner wisdom prompted me to apologize to him for what I had put him through during my teens. I also told him how much I loved and admired him and how happy I was that he was my father. Dad accepted that apology and told me he knew that he could be stubborn too. My mother told me many years later that Dad was beaming with pride when he told her about the incident. He said, at that moment, he knew that I had finally grown up.
That conversation truly changed our relationship. I realized that my behavior was hurtful to Dad and to me. I asked for and received his forgiveness, and I forgave myself. Our arguments stopped and I came to know Dad in an entirely different light. I also learned that it is OK to disagree, but it’s more important to learn from one another than to always be right. I am also grateful for that evening because I didn’t know that in eight years, Dad would be gone.
For many years I wondered why I chose Dad to take out my hormonal frustrations. Perhaps it’s because I have so much of him in me. My adventuresome spirit went beyond our move to Florida. It eventually took me all over this country. Although I have my mother’s great sense of humor, caring, and intuitive nature, I have dad’s quiet spirit as well. I don’t have to be the life of a party. I just enjoy being there. Today I am also happy being alone because it gives me the opportunity to connect with my Source and bask in the wonder of quiet time.
I found myself misty-eyed while writing this piece. Aside from family dynamics and how much we can learn through our interactions, I feel that a deeper message here is the importance of forgiveness, not only for another but for us as well. Forgiveness is not complete until we are willing to forgive ourselves. This behavior will pose great challenges for the ego. For our spirit, it will always create Love and Peace.
Written with Love,
Barbara Rasp
My Dear Ones,
Always look to the light for within the light are the answers to the peacefulness you seek.
Within the heart lies the opportunity to change the world, but one cannot change the world unless one changes the self.
Without love there is no glory.
Without love there is no success.
Without love there is no peace.
Without love there is no forgiveness.
Judgment comes from the intellect.
Forgiveness comes from the heart.
Judgment comes from fear created by the frightened mind.
Forgiveness comes from Love, created of the eternal God.
Wisdom’s Voice
http://www.wisdomsvoice.com/
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