29Gifts Writers Group

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Comment by muthia esfand on January 2, 2011 at 10:55pm

Hi all,

Im new here :) I live in Jakarta, Indonesia and work as a freelance book editor and also a freelance writer.

Comment by Barbara Quin - Prayer Cafe Mgr on December 8, 2010 at 8:36am

Greetings and Blessed Morning to You!

My book, Spirit Dancer, will be out and available on Amazon.com / CreateSpace.com soon. It is a collection of Spirit-Inspired writings including poetry and articles created to celebrate the Spirit that Dances in all of us.

I would like to share one of the stories in the book called "True Heart's Lesson," which was definitely a divinely-inspired story. Here it is:


True Heart’s Lesson
~ Barbara Callahan Quin, ©1995, 2010


White Feather, speaking to LittleCrow WalkingEagle, teaching in parable about the Source:

“True Heart supplied all the necessary nourishment to the Great Body,” White Feather began. “It was perfectly located to do this job, right in the center of the Great Body.

“True Heart was strong – soft and firm at the same time. All its parts worked in harmony to send the Life Force all through the Great Body. Its muscles worked with perfect timing: Up and down, back and forth, in and out, open and close, with a rhythm that was strong and gentle, singing like a lullaby and heard all through the Great Body.

“The Life Source flowed freely through the Great Body, unrestricted to the Farthest Reaches and back again to the True Heart. Life was good and the Great Body grew. The Mind of the Great Body accepted the gifts from the True Heart with gratitude and thanksgiving and was rewarded with an abundance of rich ideas and colorful thoughts. The Great Body was filled with Light and Love and sustained by the free-flowing Life Source.

“Time passed. One day, the True Heart because aware of its own existence. It realized what it was doing and the control that it had over the Great Body. It became aware of the Mind and the Farthest Reaches of the Great Body, and that they depended on the Life Source being sent to them for their existence. Only the True Heart could do this.

“True Heart became proud of its function and soon realized how hard it was working. There was never a moment’s rest for it was constantly pumping, surging, and singing the Life Source throughout the Great Body. It soon seemed that the Great Body was requiring more and more of the Life Source. True Heart became aware of the nature of the Life Source as it flowed in and out and from and throughout the True Heart. True Heart began to wonder and question where the Life Source came from. As it felt the demands of the Great Body growing, True Heart began to worry about being able to supply enough of the Life Source to the Farthest Reaches of the Great Body.

“What if I exhaust my supply of the Life Source?” True Heart began to question. “What will happen then? How will the Great Body survive? What will happen to Me? How shall I be sustained? Who will take care of Me?”

“As the True Heart became more aware of its purpose, it became aware of constant motion within itself. True Heart wondered what if one of its channels collapsed and closed, no longer providing a way for the Life Source to flow? What if the Life Source stopped flowing? After all, True Heart didn’t know where the Life Source came from.”

“Where did it come from?” asked LittleCrow WalkingEagle. White Feather smiled and continued.

“As True Heart’s awareness and concerns grew, the Farthest Reaches of the Great Body began noticing a diminished supply of the Life Source. Activity slowed and Mind’s ideas became less colorful. Worry and concern took the place of Light and Love. True Heart began working against itSelf, struggling to push the Life Source through its channels, to pull it in from the outside. Its actions became slower. The ability of movement became constricted and the container housing the True Heart hardened. Several channels stopped flowing and the Life Source was cut off from many areas of the Great Body altogether.

“The Great Body began to cry, because it knew that it was slowly dying and it did not understand the nature of death. Slowly, part by part, thought by thought, the Great Body ceased to thrive. Only here and there were there any signs of the Life Source, and they were hungry and guarded, fearful of being stolen away by the True Heart and given to another area of the Great Body. The Great Body lost awareness of itself as a whole and soon battled its parts over control of the Life Source that remained in diluted quantities. The True Heart worked harder now than ever before but could do nothing as it watched the Great Body shut down. One day, the True Heart lay down and worked no more.”

“Then what happened?” LittleCrow WalkingEagle asked, eyes wide.

“You are eager for answers,” White Feather replied. “Do you not see that you are like the True Heart and that the Great Spirit that sustains you is the Life Source?

“As long as you allow the Life Source to flow freely through you, all parts of your Being will be blessed and prospered. Everyone will have enough ~ all they need. Your feet will dance and your hands will clap. Your Mind will sing with praises for the Life Source and your eyes will see the Beauty of the World as One.

“But if you suddenly begin to question whether the Life Source is flowing through you, that very doubt will restrict its flow in your life. True Heart became proud of its function, which is worthy as an awareness, but True Heart began to think it was doing all the work by itself, and that it had to be responsible for the flow of the Life Source that sustained it, that it had to control the function of the Great Body, because it didn’t know if the Life Source would make it to the Farthest Reaches.

“When the True Heart stopped trusting the flow of the Life Source, it became fearful and that fear caused it to become unable to operate as it was created to do.”

“The True Heart did not trust the Life Source?” asked LittleCrow WalkingEagle.

“Yes,” said White Feather.

“What happened next? Did the Great Body die?”

“The Farthest Reaches of the Great Body mourned the True Heart for a while and they continued to battle each other, blaming one another for the loss of the True Heart. But then one day they stopped and began to remember what it was like before, when the Life Source was flowing freely to all parts of the Great Body, when all parts worked together for the good of the Whole. Even though it was difficult at first, they continued to remember. Instead of battling, they remembered.

“Then one day, the Remembering touched the True Heart and it was like awaking from a dream. Suddenly, the True Heart remembered too! It became aware again of the Life Source that had seemed to be dormant for so long. The True Heart remembered all that the Life Source had done for it without ever making any demands other than that the True Heart be an open channel for the Life Source to flow through.

“The True Heart began to grow stronger, as it became more thankful for the presence of the Life Source flowing through it. True Heart let go of its pride and its need to control the flow and its fear, and just allowed the Life Source to flow the best way that it knew how to do ~ fully and completely ~ through the True Heart and to all the Farthest Reaches of the Great Body.”

Comment by Erikacleve on November 9, 2010 at 11:14am

Wonderful story, thanks.

Erika

Comment by abitha calpurnia(bhujie) on November 9, 2010 at 12:51am

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour a day to drain the fluids from his lungs. His bed was next to the room's only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.

The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation. And every afternoon when the man in the bed next to the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window.

The man in the other bed would live for those one-hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the outside world. The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake, the man had said. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Lovers walked arm in arm amid flowers of every color of the rainbow. Grand old trees graced the landscape, and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance. As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene.

One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man could not hear the band, he could see it in his mind's eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words. Unexpectedly, an alien thought entered his head: Why should hehave all the pleasure of seeing everything while I never get to see anything? It didn't seem fair. As the thought fermented, the man felt ashamed at first. But as the days passed and he missed seeing more sights, his envy eroded into resentment and soon turned him sour. He began to brood and found himself unable to sleep. He should be by that window - and that thought now controlled his life.

Late one night, as he lay staring at the ceiling, the man by the window began to cough. He was choking on the fluid in his lungs. The other man watched in the dimly lit room as the struggling man by the window groped for the button to call for help. Listening from across the room, he never moved, never pushed his own button which would have brought the nurse running. In less than five minutes, the coughing and choking stopped, along with the sound of breathing. Now, there was only silence--deathly silence.

The following morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths. When she found the lifeless body of the man by the window, she was saddened and called the hospital attendant to take it away--no words, no fuss. As soon as it seemed appropriate, the man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.

Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look. Finally, he would have the joy of seeing it all himself. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed. It faced a blank wall.

Moral of the story:

The pursuit of happiness is a matter of choice...it is a positive attitude we consciously choose to express. It is not a gift that gets delivered to our doorstep each morning, nor does it come through the window. And I am certain that our circumstances are just a small part of what makes us joyful. If we wait for them to get just right, we will never find lasting joy.

The pursuit of happiness is an inward journey. Our minds are like programs, awaiting the code that will determine behaviors; like bank vaults awaiting our deposits. If we regularly deposit positive, encouraging, and uplifting thoughts, if we continue to bite our lips just before we begin to grumble and complain, if we shoot down that seemingly harmless negative thought as it germinates, we will find that there is much to rejoice about.

Comment by abitha calpurnia(bhujie) on November 9, 2010 at 12:49am

In 1883, a creative engineer named John Roebling was inspired by an idea to build a spectacular bridge connecting New York with the Long Island. However bridge building experts throughout the world thought that this was an impossible feat and told Roebling to forget the idea. It just could not be done. It was not practical. It had never been done before.

Roebling could not ignore the vision he had in his mind of this bridge. He thought about it all the time and he knew deep in his heart that it could be done. He just had to share the dream with someone else. After much discussion and persuasion he managed to convince his son Washington, an up and coming engineer, that the bridge in fact could be built.

Working together for the first time, the father and son developed concepts of how it could be accomplished and how the obstacles could be overcome. With great excitement and inspiration, and the headiness of a wild challenge before them, they hired their crew and began to build their dream bridge.

The project started well, but when it was only a few months underway a tragic accident on the site took the life of John Roebling. Washington was injured and left with a certain amount of brain damage, which resulted in him not being able to walk or talk or even move.


"We told them so."
"Crazy men and their crazy dreams."
"It`s foolish to chase wild visions."

Everyone had a negative comment to make and felt that the project should be scrapped since the Roeblings were the only ones who knew how the bridge could be built. In spite of his handicap Washington was never discouraged and still had a burning desire to complete the bridge and his mind was still as sharp as ever.

He tried to inspire and pass on his enthusiasm to some of his friends, but they were too daunted by the task. As he lay on his bed in his hospital room, with the sunlight streaming through the windows, a gentle breeze blew the flimsy white curtains apart and he was able to see the sky and the tops of the trees outside for just a moment.

It seemed that there was a message for him not to give up. Suddenly an idea hit him. All he could do was move one finger and he decided to make the best use of it. By moving this, he slowly developed a code of communication with his wife.

He touched his wife's arm with that finger, indicating to her that he wanted her to call the engineers again. Then he used the same method of tapping her arm to tell the engineers what to do. It seemed foolish but the project was under way again.

For 13 years Washington tapped out his instructions with his finger on his wife's arm, until the bridge was finally completed. Today the spectacular Brooklyn Bridge stands in all its glory as a tribute to the triumph of one man's indomitable spirit and his determination not to be defeated by circumstances. It is also a tribute to the engineers and their team work, and to their faith in a man who was considered mad by half the world. It stands too as a tangible monument to the love and devotion of his wife who for 13 long years patiently decoded the messages of her husband and told the engineers what to do.

Perhaps this is one of the best examples of a never-say-die attitude that overcomes a terrible physical handicap and achieves an impossible goal.

Often when we face obstacles in our day-to-day life, our hurdles seem very small in comparison to what many others have to face. The Brooklyn Bridge shows us that dreams that seem impossible can be realised with determination and persistence, no matter what the odds are.

Even the most distant dream can be realized with determination and persistence.

Comment by Mary Johnson on June 22, 2010 at 8:39am

Check out this event challenge, writers:

http://www.29gifts.org/events/29-days-of-expression?

Comment by lisaminski on April 24, 2010 at 3:25pm

The short story contest here can be a start for us.

Comment by Barbara Quin - Prayer Cafe Mgr on March 17, 2010 at 9:41am

Self-publishing is definitely more advanced and technological than the old photocopied comb-bound cookbooks people made. It is very inexpensive to do and there are great resources for doing it that make it simple - you could go from manuscript on your computer screen to published book online in just a few hours if you know how to use the programs. This "print-on-demand" technology is what I use in my publishing company, Great Spirit Publishing. You do have the work of self-promotion to go along with self-publishing, but it's very inspiring to see your book "in print" and available on Amazon.com! :) This avenue allows you TOTAL control of the production process, from layout to cover design. You can also produce CDs and DVDs this way... The bottom line is, writers can follow their dream of being published easier now than ever before - and while it's great if you get a publishing contract with a nationally known publisher, you don't have to leave your work sitting on the shelf waiting for some publisher to accept it - you can go ahead and make your dreams come true!!!
Blessings, and Happy Writing!

Comment by Christine Sandor on February 18, 2010 at 4:04pm

new to 29 days and found this group.. how exciting.. am a writer so it sounds like a fit!! looking forward to seeing what it's alllll about!!

Comment by Angel Stork - 29 Gifts Educator on January 21, 2010 at 12:39pm

Julia Cameron says, "Write with your heart, fix (edit) with your head"
Maybe the paper is where the heart speaks best, and the computer speaks best for the head.

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