Spiritual Stories Newsletter (May 26th): Lessons From a 2 Year Old
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Hello Friend,
First of all, I'd like to publicly thank all the spiritual story lovers who have recently made a donation - your support is greatly appreciated and very very welcome during this time of transition since I have left my corporate job and am now following my passion to be of service to you.
During this transition, one thing I've really come to enjoy is being able to spend more time with my 2 year old son, Quantum. He truly is a spiritual inspiration to me - whether it's his innate nature to be totally present in the moment, or when he's climbing play structures in ways that scare even me just a little bit (and I'm adventurous!), or when he's running away from home.
Now about that last part...
If you're a parent, you know there are two unalienable truths about toddlers. First, never never ever let them out of your sight - not even for 10 seconds. Secondly, if it's quiet then you know that something has been destroyed, defaced, or has disappeared.
Well, yesterday, Quan was playing just outside the door on the front porch for a little while Laura was doing something. She turned away for... oh about 10 seconds... and shortly thereafter noticed the house had become...
Quiet.
Nothing had been destroyed nor defaced, but our son had disappeared! Knowing his adventurous and curious nature, we immediately started looking around the neighborhood. Laura went to the park (one of Quan's favorite places), and I drove around a bit with the windows rolled down listening for a lost crying little boy just wishing to be found.
After about 10 minutes, we both regrouped back at home to think about "Plan B." I figured if I didn't hear him crying, that meant he was probably enjoying himself - since we already knew he wasn't at the park, I figured I'd go look in a few places in the neighborhood that are generally forbidden to him (because of his devious nature - not out of any danger to him). I checked them out, and he wasn't anywhere to be found.
I paused for a moment and silently prayed. I asked for higher guidance to bring me to him. Within less than a minute of that prayer, I look up to see an older woman walking alongside a suspicious looking small character riding a small toy tricycle.
It turns out, that he had tried to go to the park but the woman encouraged him to stay in the neighborhood. For a little while, he had even played in the forbidden land where I had previously looked for him. However, in the moment I found him he was just enjoying a leisurely ride on his bike with his newfound friend.
Some parents might have scolded their child. Often when somebody else does something that scares us, or makes us feel out of control, we scold them. Our hope is that by scolding the person, that he or she will then conform to our desired behavior - and in the case of a child running away, our hope is that the child will learn not to run away. However, as we move further in our spiritual development is important to become conscious of the deeper lessons to be learned and how we affect others.
Jesus once said that we must become like children to enter the kingdom of Heaven. During Quantum's time away, he clearly was living in Heaven - he was in complete trust and unity with his environment, he was engaging the world with curiousity and passion, and he exemplified courage, kindness, and joy. If that's not Heaven on Earth then I don't know what else could be.
It became clear that our son was teaching us very profound spiritual lessons, simply by living as an example of what I aspire to embody. That's why scolding him would have been hypocritical - scolding would have sent Quantum a very clear message that he can't trust the world, and that qualities such as curiosity, passion, courage, kindness, and joy, are not welcome... we would have been punishing him for being exactly the kind of person this world needs more of.
So what did we do? We made a new friend and enjoyed the bike ride home, where we played for a little while and ate breakfast while enjoying the sun coming through the windows in the early morning. Laura and I also learned a few practical and spiritual lessons, and we laughed alongside this 2 year old enigma in our lives named Quantum.
With children and enigmas in mind, today I also have the privilege of sharing with you two brand new children's spiritual books. One of them is called " The Wave" and was written by a friend of mine, Leah Chelius. She wrote the first drafts of this delightful story a few years ago, but never did anything with it. Then last year after she went through my spiritual writing program, Leah found the inspiration to put her pen back onto the paper and even publish The Wave as a children's book.
If you're a parent, or know somebody who is, please go check out Leah's website and pick up a copy of The Wave either for yourself or to share. The more we can encourage children to embody their spiritual nature, the more we will all benefit from their growth.
==> Click Here to Get Your Copy of 'The Wave'
(At the above link, you can even look inside the book - and as a side note, I've also reviewed "The Wave" at Spiritual-Short-Stories.com)
I also recently had the delight of reading another wonderful (and brand new) spiritual children's book, "Imagine That: A Picture Book of Possibilities" by Rosemary Holmes-Gull. You can also find my review at Spiritual-Short-Stories.com, so again I won't say too much here. However, I do want to let you know that in addition to giving a portion of all proceeds to Mothers Without Borders (an organization that helps AIDS orphans in Zambia), since today is the release of Imagine That, Rosemary is giving away several free gifts - including an audio recording of the book (usually audio book recordings cost anywhere from $20 to $40, so getting it for free is quite a treat!)
One of the things that makes Imagine That really powerful is that it uses common elements of nature and animals to illustrate spiritual concepts that children can relate to... which means that the more your children read the book, then the more they will be reminded of its powerful message whenever they see bees, butterflies, and other characters from the book.
==> Click Here to Get Your Copy of 'Imagine That'
Now for the triple-play :) Today is also the release of Dr. Wayne Dyer's new book, "Excuses Begone!"
"Excuses Begone! was created out of a belief that entrenched ways of thinking and acting can indeed be eradicated. I've taken many people through the seven questions that constitute this exciting new paradigm, and I've seen powerful changes take place. If you're truly serious about changing any long-established habits of thought that have led you to use excuses as your rationale for staying the same, then I encourage you to follow the practices presented in Excuses Begone!" – Dr. Wayne Dyer
In celebration of the release of Excuses Begone!, Hay House and its sponsors are offering a variety of gifts and prizes, including a chance to win a trip to Maui for Dr. Dyer's weekend intensive.
==> Click Here to Get Your Copy ofExcuses Begone!
Lastly, in addition to the two new book reviews, I also reviewed What Dreams May Come on the spiritual movie reviews page, and have published all the stories below:
- Finals by Running Fox
- Wild Pigs by Malladi Venkata Krishna Murthy
- How Can You Be A Peacemaker by Malladi Venkata Krishna Murthy
- Why We Shout When In Anger
- Frog and the Scorpion
- That's Not My Problem
- What We Have by Paulo Coelho
- Take My Hand featuring Mulla Nasrudin
- Motion by Anthony de Mello
- Taos Writer Lost In Blizzard by Sandy Penny
I hope that you enjoy these stories, that you enjoyed my story about Quantum, and that you enjoy the new books for yourself and/or your children (if you have them) - and above all else, Iw ish for you a wonderful day :)
Your partner in spiritual growth,
Spiritual-Short-Stories.com
SpiritualGrowthWriting.com
SpiritualStoriesBlog.com
FreeSpiritualGifts.com
P.S. If you want to read previous editions of the Spiritual Stories Newsletter, click the link below:
==> Archive of Spiritual Stories Newsletters
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May 26th, 2009 at 5:05 amPowered By GetResponse Email Marketing
