Guest Book

My Friends, I spent the morning and part of the afternoon with Lefty at his mother's funeral service. I am grateful to have shared this grief with our one, Mr. Lefty, our friend. The experience was overwhelming, and it turned into a celebration of Mrs. Collins' life...from what I've learned, it was just as she had wanted it to be. We all need to hold each other up and close to our hearts. ...it's all about the love. I would like to share with you all a story of mine from awhile back. Many of you may have already read this story at another time, and if you already have, I hope you will be open to once again find peace within the words. It's for our friend Lefty, and all of you... I love you... THE BUTTERFLY Lately, I have been witness, to loved ones within in my life, who have been experiencing great pain and grief, as they make their way through the movement of their days. It's not good, and it’s not bad, it's just the way that it is. Often times, our compassion becomes misguided, allowing us to become absorbed within the energy of their pain or our own pain, creating questions within ourselves of why the universe will not devote itself to making us happy. Some of the loved ones, of which I speak, are grieving the loss of a loved one. It is normal that the compassion we have for someone experiencing the loss of another is of deep sorrow and concern for their well being. It is compassionate for us to grieve the loss through our emotions and our tears. In my opinion, it is a blessing, through the process of grieving, to see the experience from the perspective of enlightenment. Throughout this process, may God bless you to view the loss with joy and happiness in your heart for your loved one, who is now continuing on to the next step of their journey? The next step, which is the journey home. On the journey to a place we all aspire to go to at some level of consciousness throughout our lives. Much of the pain experienced during the loss of a loved one is created out of selfish justifications of what that persons life meant to our own lives. Often times forgetting that we are all on our own journeys and that through our loved one’s passing, has allowed for them to continue on with their journey home. In time, be happy for them and work hard not to hold on to their spirit. They will always be here to guide you. There is much compassion; understanding and love in seeing ones experience from the point of view of the Butterfly. I choose to see the joy and happiness one will endure on the journey of growth and healing, as they work their way through the pain and anguish within their hearts, to reach the other side of the experience, of which awaits them, the rewards of their labors. It is necessary to acknowledge the pain, which harbors sadness, in order to understand and embrace one’s happiness. It is necessary to not resist the pain of our experience. It would be very difficult to see the happiness in our lives, if it were only surrounded by happiness. At times, one must cry, to truly own the joy and jubilation of laughter on the other side of sadness. Many choose to move through the forest of their lives looking back down the path from where they have come. Moving through the forest with their heads turned away from the direction in which they are walking, clinging tightly to their past experiences of pain and sadness, only to wallow within the wake of their own destruction. Traveling through the forest in this manner leads one to bump into the many trees within the forest, creating obstacles along the way, that only assist in the result of holding you back from continuing down the path of your journey. Walking through the forest as if you were wearing blinders, as a thoroughbred racehorse does in the event of a race. Choosing to walk through the forest, without seeing all that is around you, does not enable you to make the decisions and adjustments necessary to get out of the way of the trees and obstacles that are down the path of your journey. Choosing to live within the moment of now, and acknowledging the experiences of your past, through forgiveness, allows you to move down the path of your journey, with both eyes looking forward, as you walk through the forest of your life. To continue walking through the forest without having to rest often, one must begin to forgive your self, and begin to acknowledge and love all that it is about your self, that up until this point along the journey, you have chosen not too. The baggage we carry only becomes heavier and harder to carry as time goes on. And as time goes on, it only becomes later. It’s okay, your okay and you are loved. You and I, which is one and everything, which is God. Often times, as we continue along the path of our journey, we travel in the way of the Caterpillar. We move slowly through the forest only able to see and experience that which, is directly in front of us. The journey then becomes difficult creating fears and obstacles that only slow us down from continuing down the paths of our lives. We struggle to reach the top of a hill, only to travel down the other side of the hill, and begin to climb and make our way up to the top of the next hill. Never knowing or understanding what awaits us around the next bend of the river. As we continue to overcome our fears, forgive others and struggle to get past our obstacles of pain and sadness, we grow. We grow to acknowledge our journey, as a journey of spirituality. Spiritually, we will eventually transcend and grow to become a beautiful Butterfly. Now, after much struggle and trials of tribulation, we have the ability to fly above the forest and see our journey through the eyes of a Butterfly. We can now see beyond the hills and past the river bends to the beautiful, pristine pastures and placid lakes at the end of the rivers and over the hills. Of course, on the other side of the lake, our journey continues. The river starts up again and there are more hills to climb and obstacles to overcome. This time as we continue on with our journey, we are much stronger and wiser, and with the help of God, we are strong enough to fly above the tops of the trees in the forest below us. To live in the moment of now, requires much work to experience life and the world around us from the perspective of a Butterfly over the experience of the Caterpillar. It is for this reason, through compassion, that I choose to see the joy and happiness one will experience through the pain and sadness along the journey of their growth and healing. During times of sadness, we need to grieve and have compassion. To assist our selves and others along our journeys, it is essential to create love and have forgiveness within our hearts. May God bless us, and guide us, as we travel along the paths of our lives, with the ability to see through the eyes of a Butterfly? Carry on my friend, to the other side I’ll see you once again my friend, but for now I cry Your love will always shine through me And that’s the reason why I’ll carry on for you my friend, Carry on good-bye Peace Billy Hollems thesweetriver@earthlink.net