#bellehaven

“Nature always wears the color of the spirit.” -- Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Daily Meditation -- January 31st

"Everyone has his own fingerprints. The white light streams down to be broken up by those human prisms into all the colors of the rainbow. Take your own color in the pattern and be just that." -- Charles R. Brown

We are often amazed at how different members of the same family seem to be. Contrasts are often great: one child might be loud and funny, one might be timid and quiet, and yet neither seems to take after the parents.

A family is like a vegetable garden. The vegetables respond to outside influences. The one exposed to more sunlight will grow differently than the one growing in a damp, shady place. Vegetables growing in crowded areas of the garden may not be as developed as those around them, but they might be tastier.

Although we may have common roots, outside experiences and friends mold us, to, making each of us unique. We sometimes lose ourselves by comparisons and feel like we don't belong, but the variety of our family garden is what makes the world so interesting!

**How can I honor another person's uniqueness today?**

Imagine this:

You're sitting at a job interview or meeting the parents of your significant other for the first time, you're nailing every question they throw at you out of the park. You've even managed to make them smile and laugh. Things are going pretty well and you've already decided the parting words you'll use to ensure you'll be invited back again for round two.

Then they throw out this question: "How would you describe yourself?"

This is a question many people usually get hung up on. Some people don't like talking about themselves, others just have never really taken the time to contemplate their positive characteristics.

Daily Meditation

"Nothing is troublesome that we do willingly." -- Thomas Jefferson

Some of the necessary things we do are tiring and annoying. Many of these things we must do regardless of how we feel about them. Doing dishes day after day can be a tiresome job but, no matter how much we hate it, it must be done sooner or later. We might discover, if we look hard enough, how chores like this can actually be enjoyable, if we do them right. Perhaps dish washing is a time for listening to music and singing along, or an opportunity for conversation between family members as we help one another.

Our willingness to look for the hidden treasure and opportunities in tasks we might otherwise consider dreary will never fail to reward us.

**What opportunity can I see in my next chore?**

(Excerpt from Today's Gift: Daily Meditations for Families)

Daily Meditation -- January 30th

"Thou shalt not should thyself." -- Anonymous

When someone tells us we should do something, do we want to do it, or do we feel mad that someone else is telling us what we want to do? Sometimes we forget that these messages are not our own, but are the desires of others. It's important to listen to what we tell ourselves, to be aware of which messages we're giving ourselves and which come from others.

We can make a list of all our shoulds and identify where they came from: parent, boss, friend, self. Then we can decide which shoulds are want tos, and throw out the rest. Doing what we want to is very different from doing what we should, and we can usually do a better job of it.

**Have i freed myself of shoulds today?**

Rev. Jonathon S. Bellehaven; M.Th. with Mason Lightbourne, Reiki Master/Teacher of White Light Practices, both of the Bellehaven Family Tradition, setting up the spread for Rahdue’s Wheel tarot spread. The spread itself only takes about 15-30 minutes but the divination and raveling of the individual cards and correspondences into a bigger picture can take anywhere from 5-9 hours to complete from start to finish. This spread is not for the faint of heart as it requires a great amount of concentration and discipline depending on the complexity of the questions asked as you can have up to 9 to answer as well as delving into past, present, future, past lives and karmic seeds. Mason Lightbourne is presiding over and divining the meanings with careful consideration.