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Nature (June 1992)
A pertinent reminder...
The splendid natural beauty of a golden sunset, its afterglow of
pinks and yellows and the gilt-edged clouds that float lightly across the sky, softly lighted by the sun as it
sinks below the horizon. A cooing and probing new baby stretching itself to grasp your hand for the first time.
The miracle of walking along a moistened foreshore on an overcast day, with the wind in your hair and screeching
gulls soaring over thundering waves.
The ability to enjoy nature is an inherent one. No one teaches us how to feel affinity for the wonders of the sunset, or the spring flowers, we just
feel it. These simple, natural and joyful abilities are timeless. We will never outgrow them. Nor will we ever
seek to change the way
in which the sun sets or change the surge of the tide as it crashes onto the shore. We allow nature to work its
magic in its own wonderful way. We appreciate its changing moods. We can delight in the foreboding of a stormy
sky, while reveling in the magnificence of a sunny day.
Wouldn't it be something if we could respond to people in the same way?
Wayfarer International, Copyright © John & Melody Anderson, 1992 - 2002. All rights reserved.
New Year (December 1994 - Added December 2002)
Make the most of this once a year marker of time...
In the hype and bustle of the festive season it can be easy to overlook the significance that these traditional celebrations have for the willing individual. More than the obvious opportunities to foster harmonious relations with family and friends and the chance to get the feel of the holiday mode, there are inspirational reasons to regard this time as being important.
Time plays an important part in our lives and despite the fact that we understand intellectually that time has no significance, in a physical sense we note its passing and we feel the changes in seasons. We are aware of the illusion of time advancing. It is a natural phenomenon of living in a physical world and of living in the society that we do. And because this is so, we can use the experience of transitions in time in an inspirational way. Because we physically experience an awareness of the advance of time, we are also subjected to certain perceptions about the advance of time. Quite often we might make negative use of these perceptions and exaggerate the power that time has over us. Sometimes we may be able to create positive illusions such as slowing time down in order to achieve more.
One of the most common perceptions about time is that the transition between one year and the next is a logical time to make changes. It is common to sense a parallel between our lives and what is happening in our living environment. Indeed it can be useful to take advantage of these parallels to better our lives. The fact that the new year, whenever it may occur in our calendar, is celebrated in most countries and cultures represents something of its special nature. The desire to have 'better' in the new year is the common thread. New year is seen as a time when change is easier, we are exposed to the opportunity for a fresh start. In reality of course, one day is no different from the next and every day is an opportunity for a fresh start. However, we are naturally suggestible to these feelings of welcoming change at new year. Therefore, an individual who takes an interest in taking every opportunity available to them, would seize upon new year as a time at which to consider seriously the implications of a new beginning and what that might mean in practical terms.
But it not just a matter of thinking about what we want in the new year and feeling some desire for it. An important ingredient in this process is to recognize our power to willingly bring about change. It is one thing to want change - it is another to know that what we want will result from our own desire and that the more powerfully we consciously desire it, the more assured we are of having it. Many people want things and they attain or achieve them. The important distinction here is taking part in this process consciously, openly, passionately. To hide one's desire is to block its power. To open up to the expression of it, is to speed the process and to make the way right for the simplest way for what we want to occur. There is a certain unmistakable sense of achievement that comes with things going smoothly, easily, harmoniously. We can all get what we want in more complicated ways, but these ways discount the feeling of personal power that is associated with consciously determining and desiring.
Thus, new year is an obvious time to make the most of how we are naturally inclined toward change and toward having more and having better and to courageously open up to this feeling in an overt and joyous fashion.
Wayfarer International, Copyright © John & Melody Anderson, 1992 - 2002. All rights reserved.
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