O Holy Night

Hey Gang!

Welcome to my life…

Where anything is possible and nothing is as it seems. I’m Freedom and I’ll be your host, coming at you from within…

The Depths of Geistopiaaaaaaaaaa

Velcum to my Life ees a prochect, un experiment een Life unt ART, A liwing storyboard, if you vill. Eet’s premise ees zat you can, and do, experience za life you choose. Eet ees based on za Veel of Life unt za ARTs for za New Millennium as life building tools. Ya. Eet’s true.

Welcome to my Life is an ITV Studios/Geist…House production. JustUs Productions, the parent company, would like to give a ‘Shout-Out’ to the following for their ongoing, and oft times unknowing, inspiration and support:

Princess Cuddlebug

Princess Sunshine

Craze & Co.

The Shaman

The Pillar

The Entire Putt-Putt-Putter Clan

FaeriePrincess

Berton

The VanMan (may he R.I.P.)

Osteen, the Son

Redds

Hoagie

Mudder

Mudslide Bill

Jojo Dancer

Senior Swankypants

The Socialite

The Cowboy

The Nameless One

The Ziatonic Antagonist

Otto

Prof. Siggy Chong

Pasturizer

Dancing Queen

Downtown Encyclopedia Brown

Mama Rabbit

And, of course, a very generous sponsor who pretends to want to be anonymous.

(There are a few of you I just don’t have nicknames for as of yet. Soon. Very soon.)

(*Semi-Legal mumbo-jumbo jargon fine print – my thoughts, my words. Bug off if you think you theivin’ them.*)

It is Sunday, August 17, 2014. Time….Divine.

Don’t Take It Personally

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The Consequence of Choice

Feedback

Feedback has always been my favorite part of WTML, and also, the one I get to play with the least. I have long said that this is actually the most vital part of the project and have strongly encouraged folks to leave comments, questions and the like.

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This week I am listening to The Secret Button on TwenFM (Berlin, Germany) through the Soundtap app on my phone.

It is a mystical night here in Geistopia. Though I am still reeling from the activity of this past week and uncertain of what tomorrow may bring I find myself in that Place of Peace – where yesterday is a stepping stone and tomorrow is an opportunity.

Life has been topsy-turvy for…I don’t even know how many months now. So much has been shifting, changing, opening up, settling down. I have done such a poor job of keeping you all in the loop, of capturing the magickal essence of this thing we call Life. I am hoping in tonight’s post I can remedy and rectify that.

This truly has been an intense week. (I know.) There just seems no other word to do it justice. Not only did I have the Princesses for a week of vacation, but it was the week after my Re-Birthday. Not just any Re-Birthday, but the 42nd. The end of the 6th Life Cycle. The activation of a new Chakra.

The week was a frenzy of activity, going back as far as last Friday, There has been work and play and, of course, loads of draaaama. Surprisingly not with my family. Not so much a surprise who the runner-up was.

As I sit here and look back on it now, it is very much a blur. For whatever reason, I will give you a quick recap of the activities this week:

Last Friday – Wedding Rehearsal (as Officiant)

Last Saturday – Wedding

Last Sunday – Pick up Princesses

Monday – Kutztown Fair/Dad’s Show

Tuesday – Attic Cleaning and Sleeping in Attic

Wednesday – Rainbow Picnic and Sleepover(in the tent)

Thursday – Took a friend to Dorney Park for the 1st time/house Cleansing w/ a client (2nd visit, 1st time Cuddlebug experienced this part of what daddy does, gifted w/ farm fresh eggs

Friday – Met Friends at Dorney/Fire w/ same friends, Roasting hot dogs and making s’mores/another sleep in the attic (this time with daddy)

Saturday – Crayola Experience/visiting a friend at a work site(and introducing him to the Princesses)/Clean-up/Sleep in tent/ hour long discussion consoling the Princesses over their “confusion about God”/Nasty, nasty texts to Mama

Today – Dorney and the 130th Celebration Picnic/take Princesses home

Needless to say there are many subtleties and nuances in between. I’m having a difficult time navigating my way through the story-telling. Partly because there is much backstory to some of what has happened this week. And, other things, will find me delving into that “negative space.”

(I truly do despise the ‘negative space.’)

Unfortunately, it is a very real, and necessary, part of living. We all have it. We all delve into it. We all experience it. We all have things that aggravate us, hurt us, fire us up. The moment we address them we have entered the ‘negative space.’ It is unavoidable.

I suppose the more important thing is how you move through the ‘negative space.’

So, let’s take a step back and see how we have arrived where we are.

Way, way back…

-- Many centuries ago…

Knock it off….

-- Not long after ze Bible began…

Don’t you start…

Any hoot and a holler…Way, way back in January, during filming sessions yet to be seen, there was a great shift in life. I could not put my finger on it. I could only feel it happening. Since then, life has been quite the whirlwind.

I have been seeing more Ministerial work, especially of late. I have been very attuned to the Spiritual Realm…also of late. And, my ‘real’ job has changed. By choice. But choice through circumstance.

Back in January I had a great deal of downtime from work. Sadly, no matter what my job at the time, this seems to be the case every January. This year I chose to take advantage of that and turn my focus back to my Spiritual exercises. This, I believe, is what started it all.

This downtime was not without consequence. I had so much downtime because each week in January I was asked to hold dates for work only to have that work cancelled or postponed. Though this is the nature of the job, it left me unable to schedule work each week because it had become too late.

I did address this with work. I explained that I could not be in this position of holding dates and then not having the work.

In February work picked up again. Suddenly, for about 4 or 5 weeks I found myself bouncing in and out of town each week with a couple or a few days in between. When this was all over my life felt very chaotic.

Interestingly, a toad just appeared in the back half of the Matt-Cave. According to Ted Andres’ Animal Speak Pocket Guide, this is the medicine toad carries: Inner Strength – Use the skills and resources available to you. The advantage is yours in conflicts. Don’t give into fear. Trust your own resources.

The next several weeks found my back to setting my spiritual stride and trying to master a regimen or routine around Geistopia. I was striving for balance across all areas of my life.

As this began to peak, I was off around the country once more. The only problem with this was that with the uncertainty of "’real job’ work I had begun to tend to the other areas of my life that produce income. Goals were being set and commitments were being made. Clients were beginning to appear and suddenly I was finding myself unable to take care of business.

Do not misunderstand. I was grateful for the work but it is not always there and is never guaranteed – as history had shown – so one day this work would not be there again and if I did not tend to other matters that work wouldn’t be there either.

More and more it seemed that I was being told I needed to go, or I was the only one available, and the flexibility I had had a year prior seemed no more. So, I requested a meeting to touch base and review everyone’s needs. I did not mind the work but if it was not guaranteed, nor steady, then I could not always allow myself to be subjected to its whims either.

A week passed with no acknowledgement of my request. And now, I was finding myself even more so in the position I had been trying to avoid. I begrudgingly accepted the work, voicing my protest, and this time demanded a meeting.

Eventually, the meeting came and went. It seemed we had reached an understanding and agreement. The very same agreement originally reached – if they had work they would offer it to me. If I could take it I would.

Before too long I had received an email from the head of a different department within the company saying that he needed a bit of help and asking if I could do it. needless to say I accepted, after all I wasn’t receiving any offers from the other department.

A couple of weeks passed. The discussion was had, and agreement eventually reached, that I would work part time in this new department. 20-24 hours a week. I get to set the schedule. And, if traveling work would arise, I could take it without a problem.

Another week passed, and I began to look at the calendar for the first department. Work was being scheduled, and quite a bit of it, only I wasn’t being offered any of it. In fact, in the eight week period following our meeting there were no less than eleven jobs scheduled and I wasn’t asked about nor offered a single one.

I watched this for the next few weeks, until vacation came around once more. The trend continued. There was work popping up and around the calendar, but none was for me.

I found myself conflicted because I was quite offended and pissed off. What was happening was much different than to which we agreed. I understood that I had asked for more flexibility but I wasn’t even being given that chance.

But, on the other hand, what was developing in its stead I found could be much more beneficial. It is steadier work, hence, steadier pay. Every two weeks. This is something I have not actually had in years.

Though it is not much, I know what I have to work with each month, hence, I know what I need to earn beyond that.

And, finally, it leaves me here, in The Valley, to tend to all of my business and affairs., hence, having the potential to earn that required money.

So, at the end of last week, I resigned from that original department. Working as it does, it no longer serves me purpose. it was not beneficial enough all around to be worth the chaos it caused.

The resignation was accepted and passed on to ‘Whom it may concern.’ I imagine it may be addressed when I return to the office this week.

In the time, since our meeting, something else has happened. My ministry had a boost. how long term it will be I do not know, but for now there is some momentum behind it. In a brief period of time I have had three house cleansings, a reading and a wedding. This is more activity than I have seen in a single year since ‘The All-American Re-Discovery Tour.’ And, may I say, all were highly successful.

Prior to our meeting, seeds were planted and energies shifted to bring life back to the crafting portion of my existence. It is the next step in my evolution.

Enter the Observation of the Week. I had begun to take the lack of work personally. But, when I moved beyond that I found that was happening was actually much more beneficial.

Vacation with the girls was, as always, a blessed experience. This week, however, came with its own set of challenges. It is through Princess Sunshine that we stumble upon this week’s Lesson.

I love my daughter dearly, but she has a tendency to just whisk through her life all willy-nillie, doing as she pleases with no thought nor consideration, then when she finds herself in a situation she does not like she assumes and expects that someone will fix it for her or clean up her mess. I understand she is only seven years old, but when you have the ability to make choice, you must accept the responsibility of the consequences it brings.

The best example of this with her is money. She has money. She gets allowance. She likes to spend her money on frivolous, trivial things that will satisfy her for a moment – trinkets or treats.

Then she finds something she really wants to do or buy and has no money. She looks to me to just give her more. I would not be doing her justice if I did not help her understand the consequence of making choices. Every choice has a pro and a con. in this example, if you choose to spend your money on frivolity, though you may be satisfied for the moment, you will not be able to get something that may be more significant. On the other hand, if you save up, resist the trivial things, though you may miss a brief moment of joy, you will have something that perhaps will be more valuable to you. It matters not which choice you make. It is yours. But, you must learn to live with that choice.

On separate occasions this past week, each of my children cried to me that they were confused and conflicted as to what to believe about God. Both of them claimed that this was because mommy is always telling them what they must believe and that everything else is wrong. One even went as far as to say, “and you don’t say anything…”

“That’s because daddy doesn’t care what you believe, as long as you believe. If you believe in God he will take care of the rest. he will show you what path is right for you.”

I spent an hour last night trying to explain to them my understanding of it all, based on the questions they asked of course. One problem they had was ‘The Devil.’ This is something their mother preaches frequently. Where as I , on the other hand, have no use for any such concept and strongly hold that there is no concrete passage in the Bible that confirms the existence of any such being. This is based on years of research, studying language and cultural differences. Coming to understand the beliefs of those who wrote the book in the first place.

People may disagree with me on this. People may hate me for it. If anyone wishes me to expand on it I gladly will, but I promise you no one will ever change my mind on the matter.

So, when asked, I explained these things. For instance, the word Satan comes from the Hebrew Ha-Satan, which translates into ‘The Challenger.’ Ha-Satan was a title, not a name. On every appearance of “Satan” or Ha-Satan in the Old Testament it is clearly demonstrated that this being is working for God, but in a challenging capacity.  That was his job after all – to challenge those faltering in their faith.

The word Lucifer is not a Hebrew word. It is the Roman word for the Hebrew word for Venus, also known as the Dawn Star or Morningstar because it is the brightest object in the morning sky next to the Sun.

I could go on and on.

They asked about Jesus and is he God or The Son of God or a man. The trinity is such a complex matter. One that I feel most contemporary Christians have yet to grasp. My personal beliefs on the trinity and the Divinity of Jesus matter not at this juncture. however, my explanation to them was thus: In the Trinity, each has it’s place and purpose. God, the Father is the Creator. God, the Son is the Redeemer and the Holy Spirit breathes life into everything.

It is God, the father that creates each of us and the experience of our  lives. it is he who provides for us and answers our prayers. God, the Son teaches us how to love and forgive, accept and understand. And, it is the holy Spirit that binds us all as one. Together they make God, the whole. This is no different than the Hindu concept of Brahman, or the Triple Goddess of Wicca/Witchcraft, The Yin and yang of Taoism, or even the philosophical trinity of Buddhism (though I can’t tell you what they are off the top of my head.)

When I was finished with The Princesses, I immediately sent many scathing texts to Mama. This has been an ongoing issue. I have begged and pleaded with her to stop berating and barraging our children. she continues. no 9 or 7 year old should find themselves struggling and wrestling with such issues. most adults cannot handle these matters.

Bear in mind, that at this point in the week, Mama and I are already in conflict. I had addressed several points and issues with her earlier in the week. Mama, did as she usually does and responded with her take on it and that was to b the end of the discussion. There was no real communication nor cooperation between us. I had told her, should this be the choice she made once again, that my next choice would be to file a petition with the court to change the custody order. now, I must file that petition as well as a complaint of contempt.

This is all very unfortunate. I imagine it will get brutal and nasty before it is all over. this is not my goal. I do not wish to enter court to fight with mama but to argue for my daughters. Sadly, I cannot do one without inviting the other.

The Consequence of Choice.

I can do nothing and let things continue on as they are which I think is not right nor fair to my children. Or, I can step up to the plate and try to do something about it. Though the results of this are yet to be known, I would rather have the possibility of something better for them than knowing that it will never change.

I am still struggling to find the Theme of the Week. It has yet to slap me upside the head, even as I write this. If I had to choose one, looking back over the week, I suppose it would be The Graciousness of God.

I have seen many blessings over the past week (and beyond.) They have been abundant and empowering. But not have been by my own doing. They have all been simply placed before me by an unconceivable force in the Universe.

There are two sides to each choice we make

All of life is give and take

To everything an up and a down

A thing to make one smile, and one to bring a frown

From here in Geistopia, for now and for always, I am your beloved Rev. wishing you…

Love

Light

Peace

and Freakishness.