Peter

September 20, 2015 – Pooh’s Path to Peace

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09/20/15  Rev. David McArthur
Pooh’s Path to Peace

Monday is the International Day of Peace organized by the UN. Please hold the consciousness of peace with everyone. But how do we do that? One way is meditation, but it’s not always a regular practice. And I do have to get out of my meditation chair and be in the world, a world which is not trying to meditate with me. How do I bring peace into that part of my world?

Charles Fillmore said that to get to peace, to that in-depth experience in prayer which is beyond the challenges we face, get still. Let the body relax and the mind quiet. Silently say over and over to yourself, “Peace. Be still.” A great stillness will pervade your whole being.

In A. A. Milne’s first story Pooh hears a buzzing noise—a bee! Honey! To eat! So Pooh began climbing the tree. But a branch broke and he fell onto another branch which broke and he landed in the bushes. O help! He goes to Christopher Robin, who represents the Christ bearer, our spiritual self connected to the oneness, the fullness.

Christopher Robin gives Pooh a blue balloon. When Pooh grabs it, Christopher Robin lets go, and Pooh drifts up as high as the bee’s in the tree. Pooh could see them and he could smell the honey, but the wind didn’t blow him any closer. Pooh consoled himself, saying, “These are the wrong sort of bees.” So Christopher Robin told him to let go of the balloon. Pooh objected that he’d fall too fast and get hurt. So Christopher Robin shot a small hole in the balloon and the air let out slowly. Pooh floated down to the ground and back to Christopher Robin. If you’re involved with your “bees” and are trying to get your honey, Christopher Robin (the Christ connection) will help you float down. Our fulfillment is not with our bees but down on the ground with Christopher Robin. Just because it is simple don’t mistake it as not profound. In the Gospel of John, Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.”

At the heart of each great religion is a prayer to go to the deep peace. One in particular calls to me. It is the Prayer of Saint Francis, Make me an instrument of your peace. Make me an instrument of your peace. Make me an instrument of your peace. When you are dealing with your bees: Make me an instrument of your peace. Take that deep breath. Our power here is the sincerity of our heart. If we want to move away from the bees: Make me an instrument of your peace. It draws us to our hearts and that beautiful consciousness. Feel that beautiful shift! Make me an instrument of your peace.

Right in the midst of all the bees there is an alternative. It’s called “peace”.

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September 13, 2015 – Experiencing Self-Forgiveness

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09/13/15  Rev. David McArthur
Experiencing Self-Forgiveness

It is easy here on Sunday to go into that place within where you are completely loved, completely at peace, where there is no room for that past stuff, just love—feeling complete unconditional love. It’s always there. The problem is getting there on Monday, with the people at the office and with family. How do we get there, with all the guilt we carry for what we’ve done even long ago? Self-forgiveness! When we get to self-forgiveness we can get to the peace.

Have you ever noticed that peace and guilt don’t go together? When we have guilt it’s when we have perceived the universe as out of balance. Jesus taught, “…forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us… But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.” In this, “the Father above” means the divine power we each have within to let go or to hang on! It’s our power, our choice.

Charles Fillmore wrote the book Prosperity, and said that connecting with debt is a feeling of being out of balance. If we hang onto it, we get (have) it. If we let go, we dissolve that idea inside us. There was a lawyer with a couple of substantial bills owed him. Every time he thought about the debtors, he said, “oh, I am out of balance” and then he’d see them as whole and complete. In a surprisingly short time, on the same day, he got a check from each paying up in full! Why did it happen? Because it no longer was real within him. How do we do it?

I have a dear friend who had a lot of guilt that his alcoholism had hurt so many. We talked of how the divine presence of love will heal and release. But his childhood experience had not been about a God of love. He could think of it, but he could not feel it. Additionally, in his family he was always “not good enough.” I asked if there weren’t someone in his life that just loved him. He said, “My grandmother loved me as I was! All my life! ” So he imagined her bringing her unconditional love to his guilt, and his guilt just faded away.

The capacity to receive love often came to us in the form of the feminine. Imagine that divine feminine/Grandma/Mom/special person/Infinite Love—has their arms around you. (Hug yourself.) Relax into that feeling of love. I am loved! Feel that wonderful presence of love (hugging yourself). There is no judgment whatsoever. I am loved! Accept its gift. I am free! That’s what’s there, isn’t it?!!
So on Monday when you walk into the office and someone starts their stuff (if the air-conditioning is on, no one will notice you cross your arms on your chest) say to yourself, I am loved! I am free! Do it when you’re with the people in your family that make you fell guilty faster than anyone else. This is a week of self-forgiveness. I am loved! I am free! Enjoy it! Bless you!

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September 6, 2015 – Peter Pan Teaches Enlightenment

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09/06/15 Rev. David McArthur
Peter Pan Teaches Enlightenment

Ever sit in the black night right before dawn, waiting for the light to come? There’s a feeling in it—a desire to watch the world change around you. It’s the desire for enlightenment, innate, a call from the soul to awaken. It is acknowledged in Jesus’ teachings as, “know the truth and the truth will set you free.” One of the most misunderstood passages, it’s usually said to mean, “Agree with what I say and you’ll go where I want you to go.” To me it means that when you know (feel) the experience of the divine presence you will feel free!

Feeling daring? Ready to learn how to fly? On this journey of enlightenment I enjoy the fascinating symbol of Peter Pan. The story starts in the nursery. Wendy (the feminine, feeling nature) has grown to where she has to leave and step into the greater feeling world. Peter Pan invites her and her brothers to visit Neverland. To get there they have to learn to fly, which is to let go of how we think the world has to be, to rise to the experience of a new, greater consciousness. Tinker Bell (a beautiful angelic symbol, free of Earth, who can touch what is high and bring it low, to Earth) and the fairy dust express our desire for enlightenment, to see from above, where we know there is a greater understanding. Happy Thoughts are our even higher desire to know (feel) the presence of God. It’s a shift of desire within and we enter that happy place and we’re free and we fly!

We focus thought and feeling on that goodness with “God is good all the time! All the time God is good!”. When we feel it we open the path to it. But the one I use most because it is so simple and so lovely is “God is sooooo good!” Feel it!

The journey to Neverland is “straight on till morning” to the light! You’re thinking, “I’ve got control” and then you run into the limits of your thoughts (the Lost Boys) and you get captured by your fears (the pirates).

Peter Pan can always fly knowing the presence of God. He and Wendy go to see the mermaids, who fly in the water. But a very important feminine (feeling) symbol, Tiger Lily, gets caught by Captain Hook—gets “hooked” by fear! You are dealing with pirates in your life in this third dimension when your feelings are bound with fear designed to take away your freedom. It is hard to raise your thoughts.

We can think of beautiful feelings, but we have to FEEL them. We have to “believe in fairies”! Clap if you believe. Say “yes, I believe within me is the ability to touch the divine presence!” Free your feelings. Dust your ship with fairy dust. Fill it with Happy Thoughts. Your ship is filled with divine illumination for viewing the world from a higher place! God is sooooo good! God is sooooo good! God is sooooo good! Have fun flying!

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August 30, 2015 – Finding Our Laffin’ Place

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I have had interactions in my life in which I have made the connection to my heart; I have made it into my heart. I saw that the blame thing was gone (as much fun as it can be) and I made the connection to the compassion in my heart for the other person. But there was still something uncomfortable in my heart. I knew it was time for the graduate course.

Symbols are often more effective than just words alone, and the tales of Uncle Remus have plenty of symbols. Today Br’er Rabbit is snoozin’ in the woods. Awaking slowly he realizes he’s not in the woods any more, but a deep dark cave, and there’s a fire cracklin’! There’s Br’er Fox and Br’er Bear and he’s tied up and they’re talkin’ ’bout eatin’ him for dinner! Br’er Rabbit symbolizes the part of ourselves that can shift our awareness. The cave symbolizes our subconscience. Something captures us in there. We’re fearful and it controls us. Br’er Rabbit shifts his attention to a place where he is free. He opens his mouth and laughs out loud.

Br’er Fox and Br’er Bear are stunned. “We tole you we gonna roast you on this here fire! You otta be skeered!” Rabbit laughs even louder. “Why you laffin’!?” “Oh, I been to my secret place.” Now what happens when you say you’ve got a secret? Yup, Br’er Fox and Br’er Bear just have to see this secret place. They mostly untie Br’er Rabbit, but leave a long rope to keep hold of. He leads them out of the cave into the woods all the way to an old tree with a big hole in it. Laughing loudly he cries, “There it is! My laffin’ place!” Br’er Fox and Br’er Bear say they don’t feel like laffin’. Rabbit has them stick their heads way deep inside. “Do you hear?” They heard the buzzing of thousands of bumbly bees! With the bees swarming after them they bolt from the tree and drop the rope. The bumble bees, an angel symbol, are small but cause the release, symbolically, of what controls us. They go to places of beauty between the upper and lower. The rope is dropped and we are free.

It’s a part of life to have fear and discomfort in our subconscience. But we can be free, no longer caught by that stuff, by focusing our attention on the divine. From the Bhagavad Gita, “Therefore, having been born in this transient and forlorn world, give all your love to me. Fill your mind with me; love me… always…”

It is a connection with the divine. Jesus said, “Our father that is in heaven” (“heaven” symbolizes the exhaulted state of consciousness greater than we know on Earth) “hallowed be thy name.” (Name” is the nature of something; “hallowed” is the divine, the pure love) “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven.” We experience that connection all the way down to where we are and what we’re doing.

What helps me make that journey going down the road tied to the rope is gratitude. I am grateful for all the loving goodness of God always waiting for me. I am grateful for the all-loving goodness of God! I am grateful for the all-loving goodness of God! I am grateful for the all-loving goodness of God!

It puts us in touch with who we truly are—that oneness. Lao Tsu said that when you realize where you come from, you become tolerant…kind as a grandmother, and you can deal with whatever life brings you. Tolerant. Free.

Have fun at your “laffin’ place”!

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August 30, 2015 – Finding Our Laffin’ Place

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08/30/15 Rev. David McArthur
Finding Our Laffin’ Place

I have made the connection to my heart; I have made it into my heart. I saw that the blame thing was gone (as much fun as it can be) and I made the connection to the compassion in my heart for the other person. But there was still something uncomfortable in my heart. I knew it was time for the graduate course.

Symbols are often more effective than just words alone. Today Br’er Rabbit is snoozin’ in the woods. Awaking slowly he realizes he’s not in the woods any more, but a deep dark cave and there’s a fire cracklin’! There’s Br’er Fox and Br’er Bear and he’s tied up and they’re talkin’ ’bout eatin’ him for dinner! Now Br’er Rabbit symbolizes the part of ourselves that can shift our awareness. The cave symbolizes our subconscious. Something captures us in there. We’re fearful and it controls us. Br’er Rabbit shifts his attention to a place where he is free. He opens his mouth and laughs out loud.

Br’er Fox and Br’er Bear are stunned. “We tole you we gonna roast you on this here fire! You otta be skeered!” Rabbit laughs even louder. “Why you laffin’!?” “Oh, I been to my secret place.” Now what happens when you say you’ve got a secret? Yup, Br’er Fox and Br’er Bear just have to see this secret place. They mostly untie Br’er Rabbit, but leave a long rope to keep hold of. He leads them out of the cave into the woods all the way to an old tree with a big hole in it. Laughing loudly he cries, “There it is! My laffin’ place!” Br’er Fox and Br’er Bear say they don’t feel like laffin’. Rabbit has them stick their heads way deep inside. “Do you hear?” They heard the buzzing of thousands of bumbly bees! With the bees swarming after them they bolt from the tree and drop the rope. The bumble bees are small but cause the release, symbolically, of what controls us. They go to places of beauty between the upper and lower. The rope is dropped and we are free.

It’s a part of life to have fear and discomfort in our subconscious. But we can be free, no longer caught by that stuff, by focusing our attention on the divine. From the Bhagavad-Gita, “Therefore, having been born in this transient and forlorn world, give all your love to me. Fill your mind with me; love me… always…”

It is a connection with the divine. Jesus said, “Our father that is in heaven” (“heaven” symbolizes the exulted state of consciousness greater than we know on Earth) “hallowed be thy name.” (Name” is the nature of something; “hallowed” is the divine, the pure love.) “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven.” We experience that connection all the way down to where we are and what we’re doing.

What helps me make that journey going down the road tied to the rope is gratitude. I am grateful for all the loving goodness of God always waiting for me. I am grateful for the all-loving goodness of God! I am grateful for the all-loving goodness of God! I am grateful for the all-loving goodness of God!

It puts us in touch with who we truly are—that oneness. Lao Tzu said that when you realize where you come from, you become tolerant…kind as a grandmother, and you can deal with whatever life brings you. Tolerant. Free.

Have fun at your “laffin’ place”!
 

 

August 23, 2015 – Touching the Hem of the Garment

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08/23/15  Rev. Blaine Tinsley

Touching The Hem Of The Garment

Here is a wonderful story about the healing process from Mark 5, 25-29.

Now there was a woman who had suffered from hemorrhages for twelve years. Metaphysically, the number 12 means “as long as it takes”, how long it takes for us to decide we’ve had enough. Hemorrhage means a loss of vital energy, we are in need of healing.

She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. It’s ok to see a doctor, but this woman was looking for healing outside of herself, not giving energy to the things that would heal her. We need to stop blaming people and conditions outside of ourselves and take responsibility for how we deal with our experiences.

She had heard about Jesus, the Christ part within us that we all have access to, which knows the truth, that God is love everywhere present. When you know that you stand in your power. That’s the truth of who you are!

And came up behind him in the crowd. She had to put forth effort to move forward through the people (thoughts and distractions like “You’re not good enough or smart enough. You don’t have the ability.”) The truth is you are a beautiful child of God. You are whole. You are loved.

And touched His garment, for she said, “If I but touch His clothes, I will be made well. She reached out to the power! It’s symbolic of our reaching inward and touching the power within.

Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. To touch just a bit of that light and love is when the healing begins.

Jesus said to her, “Daughter your faith has made you well.” He didn’t say, “I did this.” He was saying, “It ain’t me babe! Your faith connection to the presence and power within has made you whole.”

The Centers for Spiritual Living and Science of Mind both teach, “Change your thinking—change you life.” We can’t always change our disease, like when we make our transition, but we can always change our relationship to what causes us pain. Changing that perception changes our lives. Ram Dass said, “Healing doesn’t mean going back to how things were before, but rather allowing what is now to move us closer to God.”

Affirm As I touch the divine love within I am healed at depth. As I touch the divine love within I am healed at depth. As I touch the divine love within I am healed at depth.

I behold the love of God in you! I behold the light of God in you!

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August 23, 2015 – Touching the Hem of the Garment

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08/23/15 Rev. Blaine Tinsley
Touching The Hem Of The Garment

Here is a wonderful story about the healing process from Mark 5, 25-29.

Now there was a woman who had suffered from hemorrhages for twelve years. Metaphysically, the number 12 means “as long as it takes”, how long it takes for us to decide we’ve had enough. Hemorrhage means a loss of vital energy, we are in need of healing.

She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. It’s ok to see a doctor, but this woman was looking for healing outside of herself, not giving energy to the things that would heal her. We need to stop blaming people and conditions outside of ourselves and take responsibility for how we deal with our experiences.

She had heard about Jesus, the Christ part within us that we all have access to, which knows the truth, that God is love everywhere present. When you know that you stand in your power. That’s the truth of who you are!

And came up behind him in the crowd. She had to put forth effort to move forward through the people (thoughts and distractions like “You’re not good enough or smart enough. You don’t have the ability.”) The truth is you are a beautiful child of God. You are whole. You are loved.

And touched His garment, for she said, “If I but touch His clothes, I will be made well. She reached out to the power! It’s symbolic of our reaching inward and touching the power within.

Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. To touch just a bit of that light and love is when the healing begins.

Jesus said to her, “Daughter your faith has made you well.” He didn’t say, “I did this.” He was saying, “It ain’t me babe! Your faith connection to the presence and power within has made you whole.”

The Centers for Spiritual Living and Science of Mind both teach, “Change your thinking—change you life.” We can’t always change our disease, like when we make our transition, but we can always change our relationship to what causes us pain. Changing that perception changes our lives. Ram Dass said, “Healing doesn’t mean going back to how things were before, but rather allowing what is now to move us closer to God.”

Affirm As I touch the divine love within I am healed at depth. As I touch the divine love within I am healed at depth. As I touch the divine love within I am healed at depth.

I behold the love of God in you! I behold the light of God in you!

 
 

August 16, 2015 – Giving is Abundance

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08/16/15  Rev. David McArthur

Giving Is Abundance

We get to play with creative spirit by giving—choosing where divine abundance goes. In a story Jesus told, wealthy men passed by the treasury and dropped in large donations from their abundance. A poor woman’s small gift “was all she had to live on.” She gave everything. As a woman, she represents our feminine, our feeling side, which was experiencing poverty, lack. Jesus, the Christ, the Atman, our one-ness with the divine, sees her act as a transition from a place of poverty to “It’s all God”, our consciousness expanding into this awareness.

One of the Five Pillars of Islam is giving as growth in spiritual awareness. It’s our true nature. Often young people haven’t gotten into adult patterns yet. A six year old walking to school with his mother passed a homeless lady with a sign “I’m hungry. Please help.” Without hesitation he took out his lunch and gave her half of his sandwich. It was a natural thing for him to do. The child says, “Of course. We’re all one. I can rectify this; I have and you don’t.”

A nurse helping with a food line somewhere in Africa saw a young girl get only a single slice of bread. The nurse knew it was all the food the girl would have that day. But she had to hide her tears when she saw the girl tear it in two and hand the larger half to her little brother. That’s who we are. Of course!

It feels good to give because we are experiencing the divine within us which we truly are. It’s the nature of the divine to give. No giving “when you get your act together”. We experience that divine presence in a very beautiful form moving through us.

And it comes back multiplied, blessing us. We don’t know how it will happen. On his way to work, a young man stopped to buy his lunch. The woman behind him was obviously very nervous and worried. So he paid the cashier and grabbed a single rose at the checkout. Giving it to the woman behind him he told her to have a good day. Later he was called to a meeting to meet a new corporate executive and it was the same woman! She was very thankful for his gift; this was her first day. You never know how you will experience the flow!

Sometimes you think you cannot give. A homeless man on the street was trying to care for some kittens but couldn’t find enough food for them. A man with a dog gave him some money and the homeless man explained he needed to find a better home for the kittens. So the donor took them to his vet. She was so touched she found the homeless man and gave him a part time job and a place to sleep.

God’s blessings flow generously through me. God’s blessings flow generously through me. God’s blessings flow generously through me. As we experience that it’s part of what we call fun!

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August 16, 2015 – Giving is Abundance

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08/16/15 Rev. David McArthur
Giving Is Abundance
 
We get to play with creative spirit by giving—choosing where divine abundance goes. In a story Jesus told, wealthy men passed by the treasury and dropped in large donations from their abundance. A poor woman’s small gift “was all she had to live on.” She gave everything. As a woman, she represents our feminine, our feeling side, which was experiencing poverty, lack. Jesus, the Christ, the Atman, our one-ness with the divine, sees her act as a transition from a place of poverty to “It’s all God”, our consciousness expanding into this awareness.

One of the Five Pillars of Islam is giving as growth in spiritual awareness. It’s our true nature. Often young people haven’t gotten into adult patterns yet. A six year old walking to school with his mother passed a homeless lady with a sign “I’m hungry. Please help.” Without hesitation he took out his lunch and gave her half of his sandwich. It was a natural thing for him to do. The child says, “Of course. We’re all one. I can rectify this; I have and you don’t.”

A nurse helping with a food line somewhere in Africa saw a young girl get only a single slice of bread. The nurse knew it was all the food the girl would have that day. But she had to hide her tears when she saw the girl tear it in two and hand the larger half to her little brother. That’s who we are. Of course!

It feels good to give because we are experiencing the divine within us which we truly are. It’s the nature of the divine to give. No giving “when you get your act together”. We experience that divine presence in a very beautiful form moving through us.

And it comes back multiplied, blessing us. We don’t know how it will happen. On his way to work, a young man stopped to buy his lunch. The woman behind him was obviously very nervous and worried. So he paid the cashier and grabbed a single rose at the checkout. Giving it to the woman behind him he told her to have a good day. Later he was called to a meeting to meet a new corporate executive and it was the same woman! She was very thankful for his gift; this was her first day. You never know how you will experience the flow!

Sometimes you think you cannot give. A homeless man on the street was trying to care for some kittens but couldn’t find enough food for them. A man with a dog gave him some money and the homeless man explained he needed to find a better home for the kittens. So the donor took them to his vet. She was so touched she found the homeless man and gave him a part time job and a place to sleep.

God’s blessings flow generously through me. God’s blessings flow generously through me. God’s blessings flow generously through me. As we experience that it’s part of what we call fun!
 

 

August 9, 2015 – No More Guilt

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08/09/15 Rev. David McArthur
No More Guilt
 
It’s time for guilt to end! When we were kids learning good/bad, right/wrong, guilt was helpful. Then as we grow spiritually and awaken to who we really are, we learn of God the Compassionate, of God the Merciful (the Q’ran). What if we were compassionate and merciful to ourselves?! Rumi: “But listen to me for one moment. Quit being sad. Hear blessings dropping their blossoms around you.”

From the Book of John: “The teachers of the Law and the Pharisees brought in a woman… ‘Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women.’ Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger…and said to them, ‘Let anyone one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.’ Those who heard began to go away one at a time…until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus …asked her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one accused you?’ ‘No one, sir,’ she said. ‘Then neither do I…”

In our awakening, our journey, the woman symbolizes our feeling nature, the part of us feeling guilty; the Pharisees, head thinking (polarized, dualistic perception) rather than oneness. Jesus is the Christ Self, the Atman, Buddhist Mind, the I Am, our capacity within us which puts us in touch with the One Mind. “Stooping to write” shows the highest touches the ground when we have our life challenges. Jesus then sends us into self honesty, (“those without sin”), into our capacity to perceive and understand ourselves, the compassion of understanding. We gain wisdom, what life’s about. It is not pass/fail.

Sometimes we gain the most when we really blow it badly. For years we can be “weighed down with the knowledge that it was my fault.” Wisdom is the result of compassion because love always contains intelligence because love is God. That brings wisdom, and that brings peace.

Peace. Guilt. There’s always someone who will invite you into guilt, or something past will come up. In that moment we can choose compassion. Sometimes it’s easier to start with compassion for someone out there. Then we can bring it to ourselves. Compassion to understanding to peace. I choose compassion. I choose compassion. I choose compassion.

“But listen to me for one moment. Quit being sad. Hear blessings dropping their blossoms around you.” And you will!