December 1, 2013

Samuel: Hello, dears.

Hello, Samuel.

S: Space up front.

[To a puppy in the front row] Hello to you!

So, do you think I’ll scare her? Come, come! [takes puppy onto his lap] Aye, are you good? [Puppy licks Samuel] Puppy kisses. Hello, yes, yes. You’re such a brave soul, aren’t you? How’s that energy of yours? Yes . . .

You [Paula] need to keep her. This is a very big dog. I do not mean size. Immediately started chattering right away to me. Yes. Unfortunately, I couldn’t understand most of it. Very calm, very easy. Dealing with the energy really well—amongst the best—actually, and accepted my energy into her with ease. Great willingness.

Do you want to be shared? Do you? Do you want to be shared? You could be. Because there’s somebody who would love to touch in through you. [Samuel is referring here to a dog that Paula and David recently had to have put down, but which Samuel had told them would be able to come in through another puppy if they got one.] If you do, she would be a wonderful habitat, truly.

You’ve got a Guardian here. So, whoever gets to have her is going to have an amazing little creature.

Puppies!

She’s the only girl. Three brothers. Poor thing.

S: Let me introduce you, all right? Little girl, these are called Guardians. They are Guardians, you see? You are a Guardian. They are an energy that is quite like yours. But their purpose is just a little bit different. You guide and guard the canine spirit, and they guide and guard all of life force. Yes, it’s amazing, isn’t it? So these people here, they are like family for you. Well, a little much, eh? Back to mama. [Returns puppy to Paula]

Puppy fix!

All right. First Sunday of December. One of my all-time favorite opportunities to talk with you because it is a time that involves so much easy-to-talk-about events.

So, what is, first, the result of your homework from last month.

Really, really interesting. And I guess you’re talking about writing down gratitudes every evening? The more I was doing it, I noticed I could find more to write about, and I realized as I found more to write about, and recognized more to be thankful for, it seemed to open up more to be thankful for. Interesting.

S: Excellent. All good things in life work that way. The more you are aware of it, the more you see and the more you experience of it. All bad things in life work that way as well, which is to say that you do not want to focus on those; which is to say that if you are focused on them, you are going to see them multiplying as well. So, stick with the positive. Gratitude is a prosperity activity.

So, last month was a prosperity exercise. Do you understand how it is that that was a prosperity exercise? You are experiencing an awareness, a growing awareness, of gratitude. So how does that fit with prosperity?

Because you see what you have. What you have is attracting more. So it’s the same kind of frequency, same kind of thing.

S: So, in the sense of what’s coming your way, yes. More?

Lets the Universe know what you’d like more of. It educates the Universe about that. Also, because experiencing gratitude and what you already have increases happiness and joy.

S: It does indeed. And here is the interesting part: when you are happy, when you are joy-filled, when you are experiencing that delight—by the way, you choose to experience them—you start drawing to you more of the same. Good things start coming your way. Makes a difference. Makes a big difference.

Another way to look at it is the completion of a cycle. By recognizing something and being grateful for it, you release it at the highest level of what has been, thus telling the Universe you’re open for more. So that’s a creation cycle.

S: Good, good. And also because, in a very interesting way, you have the same kind of attitudes about happiness that you do about money. And if you think about it, you’ll see some of those correlations. But probably the biggest version of it is that happiness is something you’ve got to determine you want. And you’ve got to choose it. And you’ve got to act it. And that opens doors. And much the same with finances, you’ve got to choose what it is you want, and you’ve got to determine exactly how you’ll use it. And you are determining that you want it in your life.

But here is a danger. Many people feel that happiness is something that happens, not that it’s a choice, but it’s something that, “I’m happy or not,” and it just happens. Which says, financially, “Well, there’s nothing I can do about having financial prosperity. It’s either going to happen or it’s not.” And what kind of danger is that? Pretty big one.

Gratitudes. Of course November is filled with gratitudes because you are thinking about Thanksgiving. What are you thankful for right now? Not out loud. It would be good to give yourself a reminder; some of you have an alarm on your watch or computer, you can set it to go off perhaps once an hour, and use that bell to remind you to think about “what am I thankful for right now?” The more you function in gratitude, the more you are going to find the good things opening up for you. It’s really important.

Now, December is a month of stress and over-work and finding your boundaries, usually because you’ve forgotten to set any and they’ve been stepped all over. It is often a month of a lack of financial prosperity because you have over-spent. It is often a time of rush, a time of tradition that often doesn’t mean so much anymore. And I probably could go on.

That’s the dark side of December. I wanted to get that out of the way because December is a lot more than that. What else is it?

Joy.

S: Joy, yes.

Return of the light.

S: It’s all about light. The holidays of this month are all about light, and the winter solstice, of course, is the return of the light, where days will start getting longer. More.

You do connect back with family and friends.

S: Connections that are often neglected at other times of the year are brought back in. You have the opportunity to touch back to somebody you’ve not been in contact with, to keep a relationship going and strong.

It’s also because of the connection with Christmas and with the birth of Christ, there’s also a focus on peace. Which is—a lot of Christ’s teachings were about love. So there’s a focus on that—good will and peace.

S: I definitely agree with the thoughts of good will and desire of peace, the old lion lying with the lamb theory comes up quite a bit. But I want to correct a little thing you said. Jesus said, “I come with a sword. I do not come in peace, I come with a sword.” So it’s very easy to accept what has become of Jesus to forget that he was a radical, that he was not a gentle, soft spoken, slightly introverted, tall, white guy. With a beard. Yes. Not at all.

He was short.

S: There aren’t all that many tall Jewish people. Look at Heidi!

His job was to bring about change. His job was to establish a new way of not only being and thinking, but of worshipping. You cannot bring about the religious change that he did if you did not have a profound effect on the people you are around. His job was to cut the bay’unz of the old and bring in the new. And you do that with a sword.

‘Tis a month in which people try to be kinder, a little more compassionate, to help each other a little more. Of course that means it’s also a great time for charities to send you their “Please give,” so it’s a time when people do give, very much. It’s a month in which people are thinking less about themselves, no matter what holiday they are celebrating, less about themselves and more about their family, friends, the world around them. And that opens up a lot of very important doors.

December right now has the Festival of Light happening on a Sunday, right? How about that? This year. It has Christmas, it has Kwanza, right now it has Hanukkah which is about . . . I’ve told the story so many times, surely you remember.

The temple was needing to be cleaned, purified, because it was back in the right hands. But to purify it required having a light going for how long?

[. . .]

S: Having a light going. Well, the light there was oil lamps, but they were out of oil. So it took a very brave soul being willing to say, “I’ll go get more oil. Keep it burning.” And it burned for eight days. That’s a warrior’s story, but it’s a story about the importance of light, and the miracle of light.

This is a month of light. And I want to warn you, it’s also a month in which it’s very, very easy for you to fall into the dark because of those things I mentioned first: the frustrations, the expectations, the difficulties. It’s very, very easy to forget that this is a holiday about giving. It’s not a holiday about getting.

When you think about your favorite, probably Christmas as you grew up with it, when you think about your very favorite December holiday experience, what comes to mind? What’s been the best? Don’t answer; just think about it. What’s been the best? What comes to you when you think favorite? For many in this culture, it’s about getting lots of presents, getting just what you wanted, that child-like exuberance that comes from not having to work to get what you want. As you become older, it becomes less about presents that you rip open, but presence of those you love around you. This is the time of year in which you find out what really matters to you, and who really matters to you.

When you think about your favorite holiday, what were the elements of it? For instance, was it a time that people came in from out of town? Was it you got your first bicycle? Was it you were in love for the first time and you shared that with somebody really special? What were the elements that made it so good for you? Think about that. That I want to hear. What were the elements that made it that special for you tell me?

My parents really putting forth a lot of energy and love into wanting it to be magic time for us children. That was extremely special to me. They did succeed at doing that, and I looked forward to it all year because of the magic they created for it.

S: Lovely.

I go back to the first Christmas with my children. We adopted them and only had them for three months before the first Christmas. We didn’t have a lot of money, went to second-hand stores and got them toys and their clothes.

S: And they were horrified, weren’t they?

They were so appreciative. It was a beautiful Christmas

A time of surprise. Wonderful way. People would come to parties, relatives wouldn’t argue, Everyone was happy, shared what they loved with everyone.

S: This side of the room is dead? Come on, somebody . . .

The Christmas that all the children and spouses came, packed in like sardines, but boy, it was great.

It’s not Christmas, but all the festivals in India. It’s the whole family coming together and making the household sacred. Food we cooked was sacred. The whole house was smudged and decorated. Something I think I didn’t enjoy, but looking back what I enjoyed the most: when I have people over, I smudge the house, make it sacred. It’s creating that space.

S: December smells are often associated with baking, so you could smudge with cinnamon and cloves.

Getting back from Christmas Eve service and staying up half the nightputting presents together. Some construction required. Seeing the joy on a child’s face.

S: What’s the common denominator you’re hearing right now? They involve people. They involve other people. And very, very much that’s the point. This holiday time has taken quite a beating but it has pretty much always been a very important time. Throughout the history of humanity in one way or another, the familiar story that you know of as the birth of Christ, which is this generation’s, this current time’s, version has been told over and over and over with the great Earth-goddess, the great mother, and the son-child, with—gracious!—there’s so many different versions of the mother and son. With the tree and bringing it, or a part of it, in; the elves and the fairies and the giver of gifts.

So many pieces are ancient and are pulled together in this month. It’s a month of magic, and beauty, and silliness. I thought seriously about having you sing Rudolph again tonight, but can’t make myself do it. It was so bad, I can’t go for it.

Silliness, laughter, joy, but the key is other people.

When that Maccabean went through dangerous lands to get more oil for the temple, he wasn’t doing it for himself. When Jesus was born and the shepherds came to see what was going on, and the wise men came to see if this was what was prophesied, and Jesus came because it was foretold, it was all for someone else, not just oneself. When the days began to get longer and it was the end of the time of darkness, it was a celebration of the whole village, the whole clan, the whole city. Not just oneself. It’s a time of ritual, it’s a time of tradition, it’s a time quickly gone, and my message this year is ENJOY IT! Enjoy it. Do whatever it is that allows you to truly enjoy the season.

“Well, Samuel, what I really, really enjoy is not doing any of it.” There is a word now for that, right? Is it Grinch? Or a Scrooge? Yes? Find a part that you can enjoy and amplify it. If you don’t enjoy decorating, then back off of the decorating but do something else that you do enjoy in its place. Enjoy this month.

And I want to offer you three ways to get the most out of it. Three ways to be able to get the most light that you can out of this season. Frank has been working on putting lights around front doors. And as you were leaving the house, you noticed that some of them had gone out, right? What was your reaction.

I looked at the clock and said, “I don’t have time to fix it.” So I’ll fix it when I get home.

S: Because the light makes a difference. When you are putting light on your tree, like that one back there, and there are areas where there are some big black places, you notice don’t you? “Oh, there are so many lights no one will notice.” You notice, don’t you? You notice! Because that light, every one of them makes a difference. You drive a car and there are lights in the front that show you where the road is. When is the last time you cleaned off those lights? You might be shocked how much brighter it is.

And point number one is, your light matters. It’s noticed if it’s not there, so be as bright as you can be, starting with cleaning off the light. And what I mean by that is do what you can to get enough rest this month, eat healthily, take care of you, that your light might shine beautifully, brightly.

I wondered what was Martin looking at up there. The pookas are having a good time, eh?

Looks kind of like condos, like your street.

S: [Samuel the diorama on a table behind him.] I love this. You two! [Angela and Lillibeth, who create them every month]

What do you need to do to clean your light? It might be some mental work. It might be cleaning out some attitudes, behaviors, beliefs that don’t let you shine at your brightest? What might be a good example of that?

Snarkiness.

Negativity.

Complaining.

Judgmental.

Angry, frustrated, irritated.

Impatient.

S: Expectations cloud your light. So consciously do what you can to release them. So clean off your light that you might shine more brightly.

Second thing: a light in a room all by itself is all right, but a light combined with many other lights is so much better. And as you saw in the happiest memories of past December holidays, people do that. It’s not a month to practice your hermitage. Get out, be with others, but do not do it without a purpose. Years ago the form found that this particular body had a bit more wear and tear than might have been originally planned, and as a result, was very often in a doctor’s office. She started her . . . medical missionary work. She goes into a doctor’s office and immediately starts sending love, radiating throughout the room, every individual she’s with, all of them, and many of you have picked up on that, haven’t you? You’ve started doing the same thing. How is it changing your medical appointments? It is; how is it changing them? Well, based on the form, I would say your doctors and all of the workers probably like you a lot, don’t they? There’s just something about you that radiates happiness and love. Radiate happiness and love. It doesn’t have to be a medical situation. Any situation, right now, this moment.

I find when I’d go to the mall, that everyone’s walking around [frowning]. I remember seeing someone, and whoa! Mirroring that. So I consciously smile and look up. It changes things, especially for me.

S: And make it your purpose of the day to see how many people you can get to smile. There’s a very simple way to do that. You start it. You smile first. Hopefully not laughing at you, but wear your jingle-bells and your elf shoes and hat. Get into it. Letting other people see the whimsy, remember the joy. So, you shine brighter when you are with others and you can direct your energy to making them happier.

The third thing that you can do is serve, specifically serve. Yes, you are serving when you get together with friends and you are sending energy to everybody in your group and in the room, that is definitely a service, but I mean go out of your way to help others in some way. This is a healing activity, it is a helping activity, it is a holy activity. That’s the Three H’s of Power. What are some ways you can serve others now?

A lot of people have packages. Help them carry it, get through a door.

Some of us are talking about finding an organization that is preparing meals and help serve.

Phoenix has a lot of ways people can help.

S: Very true. Any committee or task force head want to throw out, “I can think of something!” David, I bet you can think of one.

Share your abundant wealth with Phoenix Institute.

S: I thought the Pledge Program would be one.

There’s still a lot of decorating that needs to be done.

S: See Angela!

The volunteer sheets. Volunteer to help in some way that makes you feel useful.

On another area, there are a lot of organizations sponsoring a child for, get gifts for the child, because parents can’t afford to do that.

Along those lines, in high school there are a lot of kids—we tend to think of little kids—lot of high school kids have needs, too. Check with a school.

S: Good, good. What about non-human helps?

The school up the street from me had a special thing they were doing, requesting for the Kentucky Humane Society, blankets and towels and food for the animals. I would bet your favorite shelter has those needs.

S: Opportunities to serve are a gift you give yourself because you’re here to serve. Putting yourself into arenas you are not usually in allows the energy you are, the love that you have, to spread out further than it has. You are somebody’s example of love in form. Be a good example.

I have a little story that appeared on the Facebook page of our Humane Society this morning. One of our volunteers went to McDonald’s for breakfast, and when she drove up to the window and got her money out, the lady said, “Someone in front of you already paid for your breakfast.” And she was shocked, but she was going to do it for someone else. It’s out there now in mass consciousness. It’s happening.

S: With that bit in mind, I want you to tell about something I’ve recently heard of Secret Santa. You know Secret Santa? It’s about you give a gift but you do not let it be known that it was from you. Sounds like an excellent task for those working on eliminating ego, doesn’t it? I wanted to encourage you to be a Secret Santa every day. Not buying up all kinds of gifts and passing them around, but by doing those acts of service that make such a difference in this world. Now, Cam, are you still Father Christmas?

Yes.

S: You don’t have to buy the costume. Just borrow it instead! No. You don’t have to do it quite as elaborately as he does, just do it. See what it does for you. Do it for yourself. Let it be your gift to you. It’s very easy to forget the whimsy of this holiday time. And I also want to encourage you to be silly this season. Now, there are all kinds of ways to be silly. Be sure that it’s appropriate to wherever you are, but see what you can do to bring a bit more laughter, happiness, in your world.

One of my favorite versions of silly at this time of year usually shows up when I tell one version or another of a holiday story. And I’m going to close with that.

I want to tell, well, I was going to tell the story of the holiday animals, but keep getting that I should perhaps narrow it down to just one animal, all right?

Once upon a time, long, long ago, there was in the great far north a great god whose name was, by the people, called Thor. Thor. You know Thor? Thor was a very generous god, considering that most of his work had to do with war. He was known to take a sleigh and ride through the air guided by six white goats. Did you know that?

[. . .]

S: Flying goats. That came after, and they became reindeer. In that far north country, there was a very magical group of reindeer, and you know that reindeer are generally very herd-oriented. And they’re very large, much larger than you think, and this particular reindeer lived up in the North Pole with who?

Santa Claus.

S: Santa Claus. That’s right. Because Santa Claus had a sleigh, I think, and Santa Claus’s sleigh was driven by eight magical flying reindeer. Now what would a reindeer sound like? They sound very much like a cat in pain, or sort of moose-like. Carol did a very good one. [Makes the noise] Try that. Can you do that? You sound a bit more like you just ate something you liked. It’s a little more throaty than that. It’s a grunty sound. All right. Maybe for this case we’re going to . . . (To the dog) Are they scaring you? Maybe for this case, since the reindeer sound isn’t working out too well, we could come up with a different sound. What do you think could work? I was thinking more along the lines of “Hmmm!” When I say reindeer, I want you to go, “Hmmm!”

“Hmmm!”

S: Good! These reindeer [Audience: “Hmmm!”] that led the sleigh were very, very special. They had been particularly bred and over time, because these reindeer [“Hmmm!”] lived a very long time but over time they would retire. Reindeer[“Hmmm!”] retirement. And others would take their place. It was quite an honor for a new reindeer [“Hmmm!”] to come into Santa’s team. But on any given Christmas Eve, he would choose the ones that were the most healthy, the most capable of being the guide for that night. His reindeer [“Hmmm!”] corral always held—help me here—reindeer [“Hmmm!”] number one is Dasher, and Dancer, and Prancer, and Vixen, and Comet, and Cupid, and Donner, and Blitzen. As well as those that were hoping that maybe one of these reindeer [“Hmmm!”] would hurt its foot and not be able to go, and they could take its place and have its first chance with the other reindeer [“Hmmm!”] flying off into the sky.

Christmas Eve came about and this Christmas Eve, as the story goes, it happened to be extremely foggy. And Santa looked out and he said, “Oh, no, I don’t know what I am going to do. As magical as I am, I can’t see through, fly over—but no, I am not going to be able to go. This won’t do.”

Of course, the elves were in a hissy. “Oh no! Oh no! What can we do? What can we do?” In the meantime, back in the stable, looking around the corner just a little bit, was a particular reindeer [“Hmmm!”] who had been born with a little . . . had been born just a little different. This reindeer [“Hmmm!”] had a nose that glowed. Must have been radiated. Some of your Christmas tales are kind of scary, you know? And he looked around the corner to see what the holdup was. Why was it, by the way, that this reindeer [“Hmmm!”], whose name was Rudolph, was back in the barn and not in with the new recruits? He was shunned because he was different, he stood out. He wasn’t like all the others.

They use to laugh and call him names.

S: Left him out of their games, they made fun of him. It was pitiful. So Rudolph was trying to avoid being noticed. Looking around there.

He was trying to release his ego.

S: As he looked out, of course his nose started glowing. “Beep! Beep! Beep!” That’s the sound of the light. Or backing up. The other reindeer [“Hmmm!”] immediately looked the other way. They didn’t want to give any attention to the Rudolph reindeer [“Hmmm!”]. But Santa noticed and he looked to see what they’d looked at for a moment, and he saw—“Beep!”—a glowing, red nose on one of his reindeer [“Hmmm!”]. So he walked up to it. He did not know this reindeer [“Hmmm!”]. So he walked up to it and said,” Hello, there! Who are you?”

And the little reindeer [“Hmmm!”] said, “I’m Rudolph, and I’m really sorry. I was looking out, I know I should have been back into the stable, eating dinner and minding my own business, but I heard you and wanted to see you, and . . .”

And the great elf said, “Little reindeer [“Hmmm!”], can you make that thing do that all the time?”

Rudolph said, “I can. I try really hard not to, so that’s why it goes on and off. I’m really, really sorry. Was I disturbing you? I’ll just back up and go away.”

And Santa said, “If you can make it glow non-stop, I could really use you tonight.”

And that little reindeer [“Hmmm!”] said, “How? I’ve never been told there was anything I was good for. I’m not like the other reindeer [“Hmmm!”].”

And Santa said, “Every one of you is special, and every one of you has a purpose, and your purpose my friend is going to be to lead the team. And that precious nose is going to light the way so that we can go to all the houses and give out all of these gifts and make the world a better and brighter place!”

Well, you know the story. Rudolph said, “Gosh, I’m really sorry I can’t do it because I am so convinced that I’m not good enough, and I’m afraid to use my power, and I’m not like the rest of the reindeer [“Hmmm!”], and I’ll never live it down, and I can’t put myself out there, Santa.”

And Santa said, “Get hitched. Line up now.” Rudolph was a little nervous because there he was passing Dasher, and Dancer, and Prancer, and Vixen—and I can’t believe I’m doing this—and Comet, and Cupid, and Donner and Blitzen, and going straight up to the front. A couple of elves immediately threw a harness over him and started buckling him into place. He said, “Little reindeer [“Hmmm!”], you’re saving Christmas for us!” That’s how elves speak, you know. And the ones up at the North Pole are a little short, so they were looking up at him. Elves are actually quite tall. After he was hitched up, Santa went up and said, “Rudolph, show me the glow!” And Rudolph let it out. He just let himself glow.

Now what your stories don’t tell you is that when Rudolph let his nose glow full-time, it caused his whole body to glow. So, Santa had quite the light leading him. Rudolph saved that Christmas. He came back weary but one of the gang. He knew all of the big guys. His family was quite proud: “Look what you did!”

And of course, as the story goes, all the others were delighted for him and they patted him on the back, “You’re such a good reindeer.” No, not at all, because those reindeer [“Hmmm!”] were jealous. And Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen and Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen got all those young reindeer and herded him into a corner and said, “This is the light that saved Christmas. And it’s the light that’s going to allow you to someday be a part of this continued joyous giving that we do, because Santa would never have been able to make it without this reindeer [“Hmmm!”]. And if he could not have gone on his rounds, the world would be cloaked in sadness and Santa would not have anybody to believe in him and keep him going. That’s how it works. [Clapping] All the little reindeer [“Hmmm!”] decided that maybe they could change their old behaviors to something positive and welcoming, and they welcomed Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer [“Hmmm!”]) into their midst, and some very clever person made a song about it, which will not be sung—it was kind of pitiful.

And this is a story about many, many things, but one of the things it’s about is recognizing your gifts and making use of them. It’s about moving beyond your fear and doing what is right, breaking tradition when it’s needed and trying something new. It’s about a brave little reindeer [“Hmmm!”], who was a creature of the light, and that light made way for the elves’ gifts of love to be given across the world.

You do not have a red nose, but you are a creature of the light. Lead the way. Bring the light, and don’t forget the whimsy.

I will see you at the Festival? In the meantime, clean, socialize, and serve.

Glochanumora.