More amor por favor
“To focus only upon doom is to become demonically obsessed, single-pointed and blind to the miraculous, the compassionate, and the fantastic.”—Elizabeth Gilbert
Happy Tuesday, beautiful people! I decided this might be a good day to send out some love, to spread some good news and to remind myself (and anybody who happens to listen in) that anything is possible.
I’ve always viewed my writing as a way to sound the gong, throw the confetti, share stories that prove most of what we take for actual fact is a singular superposition in a field of infinite potentialities.
With that in mind, here are a couple stories that recently came my way:
Jelly Roll, before he was Jelly Roll, had, shall we say, a few run-ins with the law. In fact, by the time he was 15, he’d been convicted of armed robbery and, to this day, has a felony on his record.
Back then, he says, he was mad at life, mad at everybody. He was convinced he was a victim, believed every problem was somebody else’s fault.
It wasn’t until he finally decided to look at, as he says, “The Man in the Glass” that his life started to shift. When he began to recognize that he himself was creating it all, that he had the power to change his perspective, his entire world cracked wide open.
Today, he’s not only a Grammy-winning superstar, but he’s devoted his life to changing himself, making amends and helping others see the blamelessness within themselves. In fact, if you haven’t already, check out his amazing testimony to Congress:
The story that caught my eye is one that proves the Course in Miracles tenet that says: “The holiest of all spots on earth is where an ancient hatred has become a present love.”
Today, Jelly Roll and the prosecutor who first convicted him have teamed up to create a program for at-risk and incarcerated youth in Tennessee’s Davidson County. These former enemies are now respected, loving colleagues. He has also become tight with the very sheriff who first locked him up in county jail.
So whatever enemy you think you have (for me, it’s often myself), just know that an open mind and being willing to take full responsibility can restore everything to wholeness, to a present love.
Second story pits statistics and probability against possibility. It involves a couple who tried for years to have a baby. They did the shots, the treatments, everything medical science could think to do.
Finally, their doctor threw up his hands and said, “I’m sorry. It’s not going to work. Your eggs are bad. You’re too old. Go to the adoption place. Here’s a flyer.”
They were about to adopt a baby from Honduras, were busy filling out the forms, getting the life insurance, doing the requisite blood work, when a phlebotomist came to their house and happened to ask, “Now, why am I taking your blood?”
When told the story about how the wife couldn’t get pregnant, the phlebotomist said, “Stop. Just stop.”
He took the guy’s hands, looked him in the eye and proceeded to do some kind of incantation.
After a few, “God is good. God is good,” he said, “It’s all done. Don’t worry about it. In a few months, your wife is going to tell you she’s pregnant.
“You don’t have to do anything. You don’t have to tell your wife. It’s done.”
Three months later, his wife is pregnant. And, yes, they had a beautiful baby girl.
So folks, whatever story you believe to be true, whatever statistic seems like rock solid fact, never forget that, behind the scenes, there’s a bigger reality going on.
The world with which we’re most familiar (being a human, living in a body) pales in comparison to the infinite, utterly indescribable presence that’s just waiting to restore all that we’ve foolishly thrown away.
#222 Forever!!
Pam Grout is the author of 20 books including E-Squared, E-Cubed, Thank & Grow Rich and her latest book, The Course in Miracles Experiment: A Starter Kit for Rewiring Your Mind (And Therefore Your World)
