Innocence

When I graduated from High School I decided that nursing would be my profession. And so it was for nearly forty years. I’ve been asked many times about where I worked and what I did as a nurse. I went to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami for my training as an RN and worked there for two years before moving to California. My resume is really too long for all that I did, but I must admit that my 10 years in Newborn Nursery were my absolute favorite. I must smile when I talk about this because that was the last place I thought I’d ever work.

At the time I had just moved to Connecticut from California where I had worked for several years in a surgical intensive care unit at UCLA Hospital. I had not worked in a nursery since nursing school and things had changed quite a bit in that specialty. Of course, babies are still the same, so I finally gave in and went for an interview. One look at those sweet innocent beings and I fell in love. They hired me on the spot, and I gave notice to the Oral Surgeon that I had worked for only a year.

I must admit that my ten years in newborn nursery was my absolute favorite. Those sweet innocent God beings were just delightful. Their needs were simple, as were their activities. They ate, slept, cried, peed and pooped twenty-four hours a day. Most of all, they were able to spend time with mom and dad who loved and held them longer than the nursery personnel could.

Being an RN, I cared mostly for those who were sick, premature and any others that needed special care. If they were too ill for our limited staff and equipment, they were transferred to the closest teaching hospital which was Yale in New Haven, CT. Many times I rode in the back of the ambulance down curving roads, since a direct Interstate did not exist. At one point, I was sent there for a month of training, which was quite helpful.

Newborn Nursery is not the easiest place to work, but just being around the babies was really as good as it gets for me. Why, you may wonder? Those little God Beings were completely innocent and I was privileged to care for them.

What I learned over many years as I grew spiritually is that the innocence we see in them is still in us. When I think of my own innocence, it brings tears to my eyes. If we could only remember that regardless of who we become or what we do, just like me and my 80 plus Grandma, the innocence is still there.

Written For You with Love,

Rev. Dr. Barbara Rasp

A Breath Of Eternity

Sometimes I sense a gentle presence within me that lightens my burdens. It is silent and comes forth as I allow. It’s nearly midnight. This could be a lonely time, but I’m anything but lonely. The soft background music brings forth a sweet memory of my mother as one of her favorite tunes begins to play. A melancholy emerges and deeply touches my heart.

It is so easy to slip into memories instead of being in the now, but this memory is heartfelt and comforting. It reminds me how fragile this life is. It says, listen…listen, she’s close by, and in reality she never left.

How fortunate I am to sit in the sea of memory for just a little while. After hours spent filling time with everyday activity, her closeness brings tears to my eyes. Yes, it is a part of life, a part of something I cannot fully comprehend. Still, somewhere in the depth of my heart that memory comforts and sustains me.

People used to say how much we looked alike. Others do not see it. I have some of my father’s features too but mostly I am my mother. She taught me by example how to treat friends and neighbors and, most of all, to love God.

A day passes quickly, and then a year is gone. How many more moments, days and years? No one knows. I don’t take life for granted any more. Right now, there is nothing to do. Oh, if I could know this freedom well. One day, perhaps, the Light will come, and I will merge into the consciousness of the Beloved. Tonight though, I sit quietly in this breath of eternity. Nowhere to go; nothing to do. I’ll just be and…in this moment…that is enough.

And so it is…


Beloved Children,

The winds of change blow through your consciousness, upsetting your world, as you know it to be. These winds have a greater purpose than you can see. They come into your life to remind you that this is the time to surrender into peace.

The life you live is often shrouded in mystery because your vision is not clear. Pain and pleasure are choices and are present in your world. My dear ones, you will feel the pains of change until you are able to accept them fully as breaths of eternity.

As you learn to accept the winds of change and welcome them as truths to be explored, your life changes. When you understand the need for pain, it disappears. Clarity comes through prayer and silence, acceptance and love, duty and diligence. Out of this willingness to surrender, the winds calm and the peace of heaven emerges.

AMEN


Wwritten for you with Love,

Rev. Dr. Barbara Rasp
www.WisdomsVoice.com