LET THERE BE PEACE ON EARTH AND LET IT BEGIN...WITH ME!

Tis the season to be jolly and Christmas music is in the air! One of my favorite songs from grade school is  “Let There Be Peace on Earth”,  a popular hymn-like song that has become standard repertoire in many public schools and churches during the holiday season. I still get teary eyed whenever I hear it!

So why is this simple song loved by so many people? Because this beautiful little song is a prayer - a prayer of hope.

Let me go back to how the song came about. It was written in 1955 by Jill Jackson Miller, who wrote the lyrics, and her husband Sy Miller, who composed the melody. Here is a radio interview of Jill’s recount of what inspired her to create the lyrics:

“When I attempted suicide (in 1944) and didn’t succeed, I knew for the first time, unconditional love, what God is. You are totally loved, totally accepted, just the way you are. In that moment, I was not allowed to die, and something happened to me, which is very difficult to explain. I had an eternal moment of truth, of which I knew I was loved, and I knew I was here for a purpose.” - from the archives of the National Public Radio program, Humankind.

She continued to explore her new found spirituality and discovered her love for writing songs.This led to writing, "Let there Be Peace on Earth" with her husband.

Here is Sy Miller’s recount of the effect of this song:

“One summer evening in 1955, a group of about 180 teenagers, of all races and religions, meeting at a workshop high in the California mountains, locked arms, formed a circle and sang a song of peace. They felt that singing the song, with it’s simple basic sentiment - ‘Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me’ - helped to create a climate for world peace and understanding.

When they came down from the mountain, these inspired young people brought the song with them and started sharing it…” **

Let there be peace on earth

And let it begin with me;

Let there be peace on earth,

The peace that was meant to be.

With God as our father

Brothers all are we,

Let me walk with my brother

In perfect harmony.

Let peace begin with me

Let this be the moment now;

With every step I take

Let this be my solemn vow.

To take each moment and live each moment

In peace eternally.

Let there be peace on earth

And let it begin with me.

The message to this beautiful prayer is simple, but often, we find it difficult to be at peace with ourselves. Being at peace with yourself can be complicated and confusing! Our ego selves do not want to be at peace. Our ego thoughts  tell us that we are lacking in money, control, looks, good health, you name it! Our ego thoughts tell us that we are weak and vulnerable. We judge and criticize ourselves and each other. We  think we are not good enough! These are all beliefs that are causing us pain and suffering...the total opposite of peace and harmony. And these beliefs are looping through our minds 24/7 each and every day.

So how can we begin to have peace on earth and peace within us?

Choose to think with the divine thoughts of unconditional love, gratitude, compassion and praise.  In other words, choose to think with the thoughts of God. Let this song be a reminder that peace is within you 24/7, each and every day!

"Let There Be Peace on Earth" is also a blessing.  A blessing is a divine thought or a wish - a wish  of love, happiness, gratitude and joy to everyone and everything. “Let it begin with me” is a blessing  to yourself!  When you feel blessed, then your world will reflect your inner thoughts. When you feel at peace, then your world will be at peace. “Brothers all are we” means that we are all connected. We are all brothers and sisters. So let us connect to the higher awareness of harmony and bless everyone.  Bless everyone you see today with good health, peace, happiness, prosperity and joy. This blessing will reflect back to you.

So with that thought, here is my version of "Let There Be Peace on Earth" that I’d like to share with you:

Let there be joy on earth, and let it begin with me.

Let there be abundance on earth, and let it begin with me.

Let there be good health on earth, for good health was meant to be,

Let there be love in our hearts, and let it begin with me.

And, last but not least…

Let there be peace in our thoughts and words,

Let there be peace in our hearts and souls.

Let there be peace in everything we do

And let it begin….with me.

I wish you love and peaceful blessings now and always!!

**all quotes from umcdiscipleship.org/history of hymns

What "God Heals and The Doctor Takes the Fee" Means To Me

About two years ago, I was in this cute little card shop in the funky town of  Woodstock, NY and my eye caught a handmade card of an ink drawing of Benjamin Franklin with his quote : God Heals and the Doctor Takes the Fee.

Intuitively, I bought the card and placed it on a shelf in my studio, where I can see it and think about it almost every day.

This Karrik card is hand designed and printed with an old letterpress!

Now, as you well know, Benjamin Franklin was a really smart guy! He was not only one of the “Founding Fathers” who drafted  the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States,  but an inventor (of bifocal glasses among other things), a scientist, a writer, a Freemason, a philosopher and the list goes on.

Ben was also a revolutionary thinker. And as an open-minded revolutionary thinker, he was not afraid to express his beliefs about many things, including his belief in God.

So what does “God Heals and the Doctor Takes the Fee” mean?

To me, it means thinking of God independent of any religion. God created each one of us and we ALL have the power to connect with Him. God has blessed each of us with a Divine Light or Holy Spirit that can guide us to our true selves. And your true self is Unconditional Love! We have a connection to God within us and we are never separate from him. Never! 

All healing comes from within. It doesn’t matter what medicine you take, or what therapy you choose. It doesn’t matter if you take a conventional path or choose an alternative path. What matters is that the path that you choose resonates with you and that the doctor or practitioner that you choose also resonates with you, too. Remember that healing comes from within and every doctor knows this.

When I first walked into Dr. Gurevich’s office, I clearly remember him saying that  he could help me to get well. But I knew, in my heart, that  it was up to me to HEAL!  And for me to heal, I had to see myself as a HEALER!  So, with the help of Dr. Gurevich and his holistic approach to healing, I began to see, feel  and experience the HEALER within me.  

By connecting to the Divine Light or Holy Spirit within us,  we are connecting to God. God is Love and Love is the greatest healer!   

So how can we connect to the healing God within us?

Prayer and meditation have been proven to put you in a healing  and positive state. (Click Prayers, Blessings and Healing Affirmations for more info)

Here is a meditation that was given to me by Dr. Gurevich to help undo the ego (thoughts of fear, anger, worry , guilt, etc.)  and retrain your  thoughts to “what is real, what is true and of God”.

Meditation: Do 5 minutes a day – On Waking and at Bedtime To Undo the Ego and Wake Up

“Turn your mind, your thoughts and you day over to the Holy Spirit. Give it back charge and control. Let it be the boss instead of the ego.

Ask the Holy Spirit to help you, forgive, heal and correct your mind so you can experience only what is real and true and of God.

Close your eyes. See a beautiful white light that extends everywhere without limit – soothing, pure love coming toward you: Just before it gets to you, imagine an altar appearing just before you. On the altar, place all your desires, dreams, goals and plans – whatever you think you need to make you happy. Watch them disappear into the light, a gift from God.

Also, place your worries, problems, fears, illnesses, and all sense of darkness, limitations or guilt on the altar. See it disappear into the light. Feel the light surround and envelop you, becoming one with the light, pure love extending in all directions infinitely – feel yourself going on forever; one with God, pure love, pure joy – nothing missing – feeling full and complete. Feel you are the same and one with God. The body disappears. We are everywhere expanding forever in all directions – pure spirit.

Say to God: Father – I love you – thank you for always loving me and creating me exactly like you – we are one. Thank you for always being with me, caring for me, protecting me, watching over me. Thank you  for the experience of being with you forever.

Feel that everyone you have ever known and loved, people, animals, are here with you as one. Get lost in God’s love within the light. Feel the deep love and gratitude you have for God and God’s love for you.

Stay in the silence immersed in the light for 5 minutes. Open your eyes and ask the Holy Spirit to help you remember this feeling of love and oneness with God. Throughout the day if anything disturbs your peace or irritates you, make contact with the Holy Spirit and ask it to help you forgive anything in your mind having to do with this, to heal it and correct your mind so that you can know and remember what is true and of God.”

Another powerful and effective way to connect to the healer within is through tapping. Tapping or Mental Field Therapy is a profound healing tool that can help you to overcome anxiety, fear, pain, past emotional trauma and unresolved emotional conflicts, etc., by  simply tapping on acupuncture points. I was introduced to tapping by Dr. Rasa and Dr. Gurevich who practice MFT to help heal their patients.

MFT has given me the power to overcome many fears by bringing my fear into my consciousness and replacing the fear with loving affirmations.  My affirmations had to  include this phrase - “with the help of God, I can dissolve this fear and be healthy and whole “ in order to overcome the belief that I didn’t have the power to heal myself. Believing and saying that God was within me and helping me was essential for my healing and correcting my ego thoughts. (See Mental Field Therapy and my post, I think I’m Getting The Fear for my own MFT sessions)

Healing Blessings to all of you!!

Overcoming the Fear of Lyme Disease

This is a  picture of my lower front leg.  Yes, that is some type of rash and most likely a bite from a mosquito or some other flying insect. The funny thing is that I don’t remember any insect biting me.  I hadn’t been on the grass. I wasn’t hiking that weekend. The “bite” seemed to pop up out of nowhere! 

The mysterious rash...

But what I do remember was that this spot started to itch when I was  hearing a very angry speaker at a discussion group.  And what is more bizarre was that I was sitting next  to a woman with a huge black rose tattoo on her thigh and I thought to myself “How could she do that to her leg?” As I was becoming irritated  by the speaker and annoyed by the tattooed girl, that spot on my leg was also becoming more and more irritating and annoying!

Was this a coincidence or a connection? Was this “bite” some kind of emotional reaction?

Within a few days, the  bite expanded and the itching became insanely unbearable. To my horror, I realized that this “bite” looked similar to the original  bullseye  “bite”  that was on my chest back in the spring of 1996.  Memories of that first bite, that plunged me into chronic Lyme disease, flooded my thoughts with fear, panic and dread.

Oh My God, why is this  happening all over again?  Am I’m going to get sick!  I can’t believe it! What is wrong with me? This is not fair! This sucks! I’m screwed!....were the thoughts that were hysterically looping around in my mind.

I also realized that my past trauma was causing me to react on the physical level.  That is “my fear of suspicious bites, triggered my fear of chronic illness (aka chronic Lyme), which triggered my immune system to react.”  (See I Think I’m Getting the Fear - for a  fascinating  therapy session with Dr. Gurevich in which he helps me to overcome the fear of bites and sickness back in 2012).

But with this  new trigger, comes the realization that  I still had more work to do! I was in a complete state of panic! I took a deep breath in order to gather my thoughts and within  a matter of seconds, I became aware that I caught myself  thinking like a victim!

“Why am I telling myself  that I’m going to get sick? Why?  My sickness was in the past. I feel great now!  So why am I screaming to myself “You’re going to get sick!!”

Why would I be wishing misery and sickness for myself? Do I subconsciously want myself to be sick?

Or could this be a thought pattern that I said to myself many, many  times and was just not aware of?

I have learned that every physical condition starts with a thought! This “bite” was my trigger to let me know that I had more healing to do. My fear of bug bites leading to chronic illness had not been fully resolved back in 2012 with Dr. Gurevich. This new trigger was now  my opportunity to shift my perspective from being attacked, to healing  at a deeper emotional and, yes, spiritual level.  And...I had to act quickly before my thoughts had time to manifest into an alter reality of my own creation. In other words, I had to put myself in a healing state before my powerful, influential thoughts became real physical symptoms.

So within a few days…

I began to drink the Lime Medicine Tea - a natural anti-malarial blood cleanser and effective detoxifier, that boosts your immune system! (Click Lime Medicine Tea for the article and recipe.)

Started a course of doxycycline.

Practiced Tapping (Mental Field Therapy) - to help me to overcome the fear of recurring Lyme disease. But since this  fear was so huge and so out of control for me, I could not overcome this fear on my own. I needed help.

So...

During my weekly spiritual discussion group, I talked about my problem and Douglas Economy offered to help me with a constellation process . Through the constellation, Doug guided me into seeing the bite through a  higher, loving perspective.  With this shift,  I was able to observe the rash without fear or judgment. (Click Systemic Family Constellation - A Miracle Therapy for more info)

I also was lucky enough to see CranioSacral Therapist, Kathy Moser, the following day. Kathy helped me to connect to the love,  healer and Holy Spirit within me. Through Kathy’s powerful therapy, I was able to shift out of a state of fear into a state of unconditional love, forgiveness and wellness.  Through this shift, I was seeing myself in a new perspective. I began to see that  my thoughts of recurring Lyme symptoms, are not a part of who I am.  Kathy guided me into seeing my fear of brain fog and fatigue as flowing water, naturally moving from my head through my spine down my legs to my bite and back. This visualization shifted my awareness to a state of inner relaxation and peace.  (Click CranioSacral Therapy & Somato Emotional Release for a past healing session with Kathy)

The fear of Lyme is not who I am and I forgive myself for believing this. Thoughts of fear are beliefs that I created. But they are not real. They are just an illusion that I believed was real. When I shift to my state of unconditional love, I am in a state of peace and wellness. I am learning to see that this is reality. It simply is reality for it cannot be changed. Thoughts of fear - any kind of fear - are not real. - These thoughts can be changed.

When you believe fear is real, then you create  drama in your life. When you see yourself as love and peace, then your life will reflect your inner thoughts.

So with this new perspective in my thought process,  am I out of the panic zone?

Yes!  

But I can honestly say... only for now….

My 2012 Lyme panic and now this new one were not the only times I have had large, irritated itchy, horrible looking, questionable “bites" on my body.  Since my first bite back in 1996, I have had a history of “suspicious bites” like the one  pictured above.  The question that is rolling around in my mind is how can I prevent this “trigger” from happening again? Can it be done?

Yes - I believe it can!

But learning that my reality is unconditional love  - a state of ultimate health and wellness of the body, mind and spirit,  is a belief that is new to me. And this is the healing journey that is ahead of me.

My healing journey has become a spiritual journey of healing my mind. For this, I believe, is the source of all my fears.

OVERCOMING TECHNOPHOBIA...WITH GOOGLE!!!

In 2005, I bought my first laptop. Back then, I was still suffering from Lyme symptoms, such as chronic fatigue, brain fog, memory loss and a host of other symptoms. My fuzzy mind couldn’t figure out how to write an e-mail, copy and paste, or save anything to a memory card. Come to think of it, my brain needed a memory card! With the help of my husband and kids, I was able to resolve simple technological problems,  but then some new techie thing would stump me and put me into a complete panic all over again. 

(I wrote about my technophobia in my post  The Mini Miracle).

One Christmas, my two sons thoughtfully gave me the book, PCs for Dummies, which helped me a little but couldn't stop the heart pounding fear running through my veins if I accidentally deleted something or couldn’t open a file. I had major anxiety over my PC!   And I depended on my kids, as my PC lifeline, to save me from my self-imposed techie hell...until…. they started saying the magic words:

JUST GOOGLE IT, MOM!!!

And it was at this time, in 2010, that my world began to change. This was the same time that I also noticed that my Lyme symptoms were slowly disappearing. And coincidentally, it was also at this time, that I began to be aware of my thoughts.

(See Are You A Victim Of Your Thoughts? for the back story.)

For many years, I had unconsciously saw myself as a victim and my world was one big struggle. When I started to change my perspective of myself, my world started to reflect my inner thoughts. As my thoughts became more harmonious and loving,  well, guess what...so did my world! Instead of seeing myself as a helpless and fearful victim,  I saw myself as an empowered seeker of knowledge, a liberated seeker of new ideas..

And...a fully enrolled student at GOOGLE University!

GOOGLE became my teacher, professor and tutor.  My laptop became my friend and learning something new was now fun!!  Gathering information and wisdom, with the help of GOOGLE , was now easy and effortless.  And my technophobia completely transformed to a love and passion for learning.

A few months ago, I created this video of me playing an arrangement of  the popular Game of Thrones cover by Ramin Djawadi.  Let me tell you a secret: I recorded the piano, cello, strings and taiko drums on my Roland Fantom-X Sampling keyboard. Pre-recording audio parts is a standard procedure by many recording artists to guarantee an impeccable sound. Through IMovie (for Mac) I was able to sync the video with the audio. Can you guess how I figured this out?

I GOOGLED it!