Journey to the Bottom of the Soul
Posted by asophiad | Filed under Belief, Healing, Travel
Quiet resignation
She is a young mother from a tiny place lost on the continent of South America, on the North Atlantic coast. She is probably a mixture of Indigenous and Colombian Spanish, not entirely from one world, or the other. The town where she lives draws its water from a dirty puddle infested with parasites, and the rich jungle with all of its beauty, is a strict taskmaster to those who inhabit its domain.
When we really travel, I mean when we visit places where the poor and destitute subsist in make-shift dwellings with no running water, medical centres, or shopping malls, we temporarily experience the reality of the great majority of people on this planet. We are then obliged to journey inside of our own soul to answer some knawing questions that would otherwise be avoided.
“Am I unselfish enough to do something about this? Can I let myself be vulnerable to this, will I ever be the same again after seeing such misery? Is it in me to commit, and will my committment make a difference?”
It’s not about how the governments are failing or the invisible leaders of the world are at fault, its about what action can be taken, here and now, to make this young mother’s life better.
And perhaps she has much to teach us about happiness. Is she complaining? No. Is she bitter? No. Then what’s wrong with our society where people have so much and yet nothing is ever enough? One small gesture of support can make all the difference in the world, to her and to yourself. It will be a step towards your own fulfillment, and plant a seed for change. We invite you to support our foundation, Healing Colombia, a space for sharing both material and spiritual well being.
Description of photo: Young mother receving a gift of humanitarian aid from the Healing Colombia Foundation, 2010. www.healingcolombia.org
Music; language of Angels? Or voice of Devils?
Posted by asophiad | Filed under Belief, Music
Some would say music can be both or neither, depending on whether you believe in angels and devils. Maybe you just believe in your own ears and how music makes you feel. Or maybe its that irrisistible rythym that sets you at ease when it takes you back to before you were born and you could hear your mother’s heartbeat accompanying the swish of the water around you.
Drums, used for long distance communication, flutes and strings were part of ancient folklore. Music played an important part in early man’s survival mechanisns. Have we come a long way from then? Well, they say that Mozart’s music is mathematically perfect and stimulates both sides of the brain, evenly. Science can now measure music’s effects by scanning someone’s brain while they’re listening. The use of music as a powerful stimulator and communicator has been recognized intuitively ever since the birth of the human race. Now, this is”official”, and with the addition of electronics, its taken on a whole new dimension.
Personally, there’s nothing like the simple, pure and natural sound of a classical guitar or wooden flute. And whether angels or devils speak through music, it can certainly transport us to places of clarity, loving emotion, anger or confusion; depending on what the composer or performer was trying to convey. Each of us is perfectly capable of discerning which voice we want to hear, and if we listen closely, we may find our own music deep inside.
Time, Tide and Eternity
Posted by asophiad | Filed under Belief
“Hold fast the time! Guard it, watch over it, every hour, every minute! Unregarded, it slips away like a lizard, smooth, slippery, faithless. Hold every moment sacred. Give each clarity and meaning, each the weight of thine awareness, each its true and due fulfillment.”—Thomas Mann, writer
My mother used to say, “Time and tide wait for no man.” I pictured the waves of the sea relentlessly crashing in and sliding out with the tide, and then my grandfather’s golden watch attached to a long chain that ticked so loudly, you could hear it from inside his pocket. They were two very different, mental images that somehow belonged to each other. One ticked, the other roared but each followed its own, unending rythym. This is how, as a child, I came to conceive time.
Have you ever noticed how time flies when you’re doing something you enjoy but miserably drags by when you’re bored or sad, and stalls eternally when you’re impatiently waiting for something urgent?
So, what is time really?
In search of the perfect note…..
Posted by asophiad | Filed under Belief, Music, Travel
Somewhere inside of us, there is a longing for perfection. We know it exists. We look for it in so many ways; in the music we listen to, the food we eat, how we decorate our homes, where we go on vacation, in our relationships, quality of life and professions. Some of us look for it in our beliefs. In our quest for the culmination of our dreams, we travel from here to there, always gravitating towards something “better” or the “best”.
Sad to say, someone got smart to this human factor many, many years ago, and with incredible astuteness, created a system that plays on our desires and fosters our insatisfaction if we don’t have money to buy what will make life “perfect”. So, we expend our years chasing a fleeting image, following the rules of the game – hard work and achievement – in order to possess whatever is out there that makes life as close to our idea of perfection as possible. And yet, wise men throughout history have told us over and over again that this won’t ever be enough to fill the void.
There was one man, a King that lived long ago. He loved his Queen so much that when she died, he built the most perfect place in her honor. Travelers flock there for a moment of solace and visual joy. It is one of the few structures made by man that stands alongside the most impressive, natural wonders on the planet.
The inner dome was cut into an acoustic chamber where music comes to life; each note hangs in the air for 27 seconds. One flute can create a symphony of notes that bounce off the ceiling and fall in cascades across each other in harmony. A simple arpeggio becomes a feast of vibrations, not unlike the circles of water that flow outwards when a pebble is thrown into a quiet pond, or refractions of light in a prism.
It is no wonder that this place was built in honor of love. Music stands alone there where the perfect note is preserved throughout time, encased in marble. Perhaps it is a small imitation of the voice of God himself, who the Holy Books call the Spirit of Perfect Love. If we can tune in to the perfection of a note of music, or a state of worship, a mountaintop or the seaside and the laughter of the children, the smile of a dear friend, our our belief in a divine plan that includes true love, then we may discover perfection embedded in arpeggios within the chamber of life’s music.
I’m sorry
Posted by asophiad | Filed under Belief, Healing
I hurt someone yesterday. I didn’t mean to, but the conversation took a nasty turn and things that should never have been said came out to stain the relationship. My belief system tells me these things can be washed away. Maybe if I say, “I am sorry”, and truly believe that I was wrong because it never would have happened if I had said things differently, then today it will be better. I should never have allowed it to get so bad. I can’t change what happened yesterday, but I will try to make it better today. I want to clean up the mess, travel away from the past, and do whatever I can to restore your trust in me. I am sorry and I would never, ever want to hurt you. And if I did something long ago to put sad things in your heart, give me a chance to make it right. I love you.
About Belief
Posted by asophiad | Filed under Belief
My husband, Agustin, with children from Choco, Colombia
My husband, Agustin, with children from Choco, Colombia
Squirrel Power
By Jo Dias
“Miserable!” That was the only way to describe how I was feeling that day. My husband had had to travel—again!—and there I was alone with our four children. Finances were low, my health was bad, and my teenage daughter was going through a crisis. I prayed—oh, how I prayed!—that Jesus would make things a little easier to bear.
Looking out my window at a grove of trees swaying in the gentle breeze, I recalled other times when Jesus had encouraged me to hold on until He could work things out.
That’s when I noticed a little squirrel, squeaking away as he climbed up and down the trees, seemingly without a care in the world. I envied the little fellow.
My squirrel chose that moment to change tactics. Instead of running up and down the trees, he started hopping from one tree to the next. He jumped over to the last tree in the cluster, and then looked at one more tree that stood apart from the others. He seemed to be deliberating.
I mentally measured the distance between the squirrel and that tree, and it seemed two or three times as far as he had been jumping. Here was a massive challenge.
“You can’t be serious, little fellow!” I muttered.
But he wasn’t looking for my advice. He ran the length of the branch a few times, squealing frantically. Then he stopped and eyed the distance once more, crouched, and leaped. I wanted to turn my eyes away. Surely this was going to end badly!
But no! He flew across that immense span and landed in the other tree with the grace and glory that come from knowing one is meant to perform such feats. He chattered in victory and scampered farther up the tree, as if to his reward.
I knew then what had been missing. I had been so busy looking at my problems—measuring the distance between the trees—that I was afraid to let go and sail to the other side. I had lost my faith in my maker, my Savior, my best friend.
As I watched the squirrel, now merrily chattering away in the treetop, I knew that Jesus had answered my prayer—not through a spectacular miracle, but rather the example of a happy little squirrel. The same God who took care of him was going to take care of me.
Healing Colombia
Posted by asophiad | Filed under Healing
"Whatsover ye have done for the least of these, my children, you have done it unto me." Jesus
When we arrived in Colombia, Latin America, we were amazed by the exotic beauty of the countryside and the warmth of the people and their culture. And yet we had never seen social problems of such magnitude. Thats when the Healing Colombia Foundation www.healingcolombia.org was born, from our profound desire to help a country in distress. We invite you to join us in our efforts to bring more humanitarian aid and inner healing to these wonderful people, many of them are victims of poverty and war trauma. They seem to have so little, and yet they have given us back so much in joy and affection.
Live, live, live ……
Posted by asophiad | Filed under Belief
“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”—Mahatma Gandhi
If you believe in an afterlife, some kind of afterlife, then this present life, here and now, means so much more.
“Perhaps I am a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.” John Lennon
Isn’t life all about choices?
Posted by asophiad | Filed under Travel
When I was 19, I packed my bags and left my country to travel Europe.I came back 8 years later, only for a visit. I not only traveled through Europe, I fell in love several times, learned three languages and took in much culture from the places and friends I met along the way. All of this a is very much a part of who I am today. If I had made another choice, how different my life would be. A different husband, if any at all, different children, if any at all, and certainly a different career. It’s daunting to realize the impact simple decisions have on the future and yet its our duty to make them, day by day. My wish is that I will never be trapped by the wrong ones, and blessed by the right ones. Its all good in the end, because I’ll never know what could have been, and I wouldn’t change what has been.
About Belief and Miracles
Posted by asophiad | Filed under Belief
“There are only two ways to look at life, one is to see nothing as a miracle, the other is to see everything as a miracle.” Albert Einstein
Is it the belief that creates the miracle, or the miracle that creates the belief?
