How Does A Colorless Rainbow Relate To Christmas?

EDITOR'S NOTE: Those following Namaste' Wholistic, even if only for a short while, should be aware of our non-denominational approach to spirituality. Even when not evident, we also honor the spirit within you and the greater part of you: Namaste'. This month's special post specifically on Christmas does not abandon this tradition. We continue to honor and respect all religions.

A rainbow without color appeared over a Scottish moor in late November, creating worldwide interest.

"Peace I leave you: my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid." --John 14:27

Many who follow symbolism of the rainbow would interpret the colorless rainbow, appearing in the sky above a Scottish moor in late November, as a sign of dismal times ahead. If that's the case, we've still got the Power to  paint this rainbow: beautiful!

We all enter life without one iota of "color" or differences within our souls, but many psychologists point to age three, as the time we begin to acquire meaning to what we see, hear and observe in the world. Our environment, families and life itself dictate the path our life can ultimately follow. Always, though, we've got that Power within us that transcends the circumstances of our lives; we can change the trajectory of our path.

So, the colorless rainbow may signal a period of hardship and trials. And indeed if you've been following the political landscape around the world, recent disruptive outcomes in both England and the United States would suggest that turbulent times surely are ahead.

The suggestion is there...but my question: Whose law do you follow?

Today's Unity message for the Second Sunday in Advent:

"When I see violence or injustice in the world around me,  I may be tempted to think peace is only a pipe dream. But there is an inner peace that cannot be affected by outer circumstances. This is the peace of the Christ that Jesus exemplified, and I have that peace within me."

In exactly three short weeks from today, we will honor the birth of Jesus Christ. If you are a Unity student, honoring both the metaphysical as well as Christian teachings, you already know that Christmas also is a way of honoring the Christ Spirit being born within us...not only in the one man who lived more than 2,000 years ago.

The message Jesus tried to instill in us as he went about manifesting his life's purpose centuries ago was not that we should "honor" him; rather, he proposed, that we should have hope, strength and courage because of the power within us:

       "You are of God, little children, and have overcome them (tribulations), because he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world." 1 John 4:4 (KJV)

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father." John 14:12 (KJV)

          "Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself; but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works." John 14:10 (KJV)

Yet, many Christians see the day only as a way to honor the man, Jesus.

Having personally come to know and love Jesus in a way I never thought I would,  three weeks from today I will be celebrating in the greatest way: connecting to the spirit within me both in prayer and in every step I take.  Even though he did not require it as some think he did,  I believe strongly that no Christian should ever miss an opportunity to honor the man, Jesus. But I also believe they should go further and honor the second part of his name: The "Christ."

As a Unity student and a Christian, I see Jesus as the way shower and exemplar of the way we should walk in this world: as "the Christ" within us all.

The celebration of the birth of Jesus = the celebration of "The Christ Spirit" being awakened...fully...within us.

Many "Christians" talk about the second "coming" of Jesus Christ. If this were so, many of us will not be alive to be witnesses to this. But what we should be alive to now is the fact that Jesus Christ did walk the earth centuries ago to bring us a message of hope, faith, trust, peace...and especially... love.

We don't have to wait for the second coming...for another age...another generation...to awaken these attributes within us. The Christ Spirit is resident within us...now...and it patiently awaits our own awakening to Truth.

If we were to look at the symbolism of the colorless rainbow as some truth or message, then I offer this perspective:

When Jesus came to Earth so long ago, he also came at a time that the world was seemingly troubled. He came to offer all that we were missing and at a time, too, like now, when the world was being turned upside down and also was divisive.
Could it be that the appearance of a color-less rainbow, instead of being a symbol of hopelessness, is offering us an opportunity to have our own awakening? See also: Meaning of White"  

At a time of strife, we Christians and people of all religions should look within ourselves to see how we can contribute to peace, not war; to love, not hate; to hope, not hopelessness; to strengthening our faith, not losing it; to taking bold and courageous steps in helping one another, as Jesus did, not shrinking back like dying flowers in the world.

The time of the colorless rainbow is a time of letting our colors shine through in the world.The time of the colorless rainbow is a time for letting our Spirit and our Power infuse the world and for us to offer more than of ourselves to others.

I invite you to let your Christ Spirit awaken within you this Christmas season and leave the color of your Spirit brightly shining in your home, your life and your world.

Let's start painting, people! Let's not give up the spirit of courage to defeat and stay as colorless as that rainbow, offering no vibrance, as it appeared in late November. 

Are you ready to start painting? Okay: Let's Go!

"God said, 'This is a sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you and every living creature with you, for everlasting generations. I set my rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth...and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh."Genesis 9:12, 15 (HBFV)

"I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for
a token of a covenant ... 

...between me and the earth." Genesis 9:13 (KJV)  

I choose yellow-gold and green as my favorite colors this season. What are yours?
The beauty of God is...
The beauty of the Christ is: we're given an unlimited amount of colors to use...whatever our taste.

            


Merry Christmas 
   &
 A Joyous 2017!

Honoring you this holiday season...
the light...
the truth...
the love...
and the peace that is you... 
Namaste'
Che'

Through it All: Give Thanks

Life can be messy, crazy, difficult, stormy, and chaotic....at times.

Through it all: Give thanks!

Try to sort through each bit and piece of crazy stuff that happens within
the course of the day, and you'll wind up with someone
interpreting your behavior like this:

All jokes aside.

Life can be difficult.

In saying that, I'm aware then that my saying "give thanks" through it all sounds like the craziest thing to recommend you do. 

Do it anyway.

The *chaos is working for your good. The *difficulty is working to get you where you need to be.

Don't believe me? Listen to Rabbi Twerski: "Times Of Stress Are Meant For Times Of Growth."

You may not want to believe me nor the rabbi. Then test it.

Look around you and see the folks who are complacent and living life one joyous step after another. For them to be living that way, there are only a few scenarios that can bring such peace:

1.  They were born that way and have not encountered many of life's stressful moments, so they are "like a child."

2.  They have a solid spiritual foundation and nothing can shake their faith.

3. They have grown through adversity and the truth of Romans 8:28:  

                                     "All Things (do) Work Together for Good."

Stress does not go away, simply by wishing it away.

Chaos does not straighten itself, simply by our need for it to disappear.

We have to be an active participant in getting the challenge, issue, or chaos to go away. 

Our part can take several paths: 


*We become frantic.
*We add more chaos to the chaos.
*We become centered, and we pray.
*We stand still and surrender.

The stillness of a beautiful lake or river offers
tranquility to our Soul.

Living with stress is not healthy, and we must not think that cruel gods came up with this mode of living to torment us.

Once we get that we are indeed stressed and isolate the repeated situation (s) that cause it, we must then just as quickly recognize it for what it is: an aspect of ourselves that is begging us to open up to a new way of being and seeing in life.

The last thing you want to do is to panic. It's simply counterproductive.
Panic destroys any level-headed thinking. Beyond this, panic destroys any potential connection to the greater part of yourself (i.e. your soul), patiently waiting to guide you and show you step by step how to navigate through the madness.

Too many of us are still living from the surface of life, where little things throw us into a frantic mode and off balance. This causes negative situations to magnify because we panicked from the beginning.



Calm down.

Life is here for us. Life is working with us.

Life is inviting us to walk with it, not against it.

Whatever is thrown at us is an invitation to rise a little higher, walk a little **farther along the path than we thought we had to walk. We must go to the edge with it, if it's taking us there. But first, we must trust it, i.e. life, and know that its intentions are for good, despite the surface of things. 

The lack of trusting life is the reason we panic.

The fear of change is the reason we respond in very bad ways to change.


Begin to trust life. Begin to know that change is inevitable, so when it comes, we welcome, not fight, it.

Begin to believe that all of life is here to support you and to help you grow and see more wondrous ways of walking through the world. 

All that is here...is here for you...and for me.

All that is here... is here...for the love of us.

There's no other reason they exist with such majesty.

If we are AWAKE: We should never run out of reasons for being awestruck by life, its beauty and creativity.

This creative piece, those below (and many more) were posted
by Trang Vo on Facebook

Nature...life...will find a way to penetrate even the most cynical mind with another shock of its beauty and creativity:
Somewhere. Sometime. Somehow.

Stay open to life.
Breathe in. Give Thanks! 

 This Thanksgiving, my prayer for us all is that we begin to open up to life in new ways.

Instead of focusing on the things that you we're missing in life, I want us to begin to focus on the things that we do have and so often take for granted.

My prayer is that we begin to look around us and see the wonders of life that were created simply for our pleasure and joy.

Look around.

Yes. They're here only for us.

Give Thanks through the good and bad that may
be happening in your life today...and every day.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Namaste',
Che'  

*NOTE: This type of chaos and difficulty does not negate the fact that there are forces of true evil operating in the world. I do believe that demonic people do exist and can wreak havoc on the world in the places they inhabit. But we must rise above these forces of evil through prayer, and by recognizing and truly believing that the power of Go(o)d is stronger than any evil...any force...any power of darkness directed at us. Folks who harvest envy, jealousy, strife, hatred, egotism can be seen as operating from a dark place, mostly caused by isolation from their "true selves." Through prayer and the power of our intentions "for good," we can overcome these forces, too. 

**Sometimes life can ask us to trust it for many, many barren years. Trust. It's for  your good. Like fine silver: you're being perfected and refined! 

Our Kaleidoscopic Life: "All Things Work Together For Good..."

Life is like a kaleidoscope.... many colored and varied...there is an order to it it all: A Divine Order! God is in the Center and is the Center of ALL of our lives.

Life happens, even when we are aware.

Mistakes happen, even when we are paying careful attention.

The question then: Are all mistakes in life...supposed ...to happen?

One says, "Oops...did I make a GIANT mistake there?" The other smiles...

That's a tough one, as we look back and try to ponder how we made such a giant mistake when we were 25 years old...or 40 years old...or 60 years old...70....80?

                                    Fresh-faced, young and bold, these women in their early to mid 20s, live with enthusiasm and joy.  
                                                This is as it should be....

Let's examine where we are today...right now...on this day.
Some of us may be terrifically happy; others not so. In fact, some of us may be going around
depressed...tremendously depressed...about how life "tricked us" to wind up where we are today.
If this is where you are, now, I say: 

 *"Let not your heart be troubled."

"Peace I Give You. My Peace I Leave You." 

"Be Ye Renewed By The Power of Your Mind."

These young women...caught my attention...because of their confidence and joy of living,  Those born in the 1990's, and after, seem to have entered life fully equipped with the tasks at hand:
 "We can conquer all?"   

Technological advantages seem to have given today's youth
an extra edge above those born in earlier generations, like
the Baby Boom.

I find myself repeatedly using the above phrases from the New Testament, as I reach a new plateau of understanding about life: about our purpose and about "mistakes" that happen.

From where I sit now, on the threshold of a new year of my birth this week, I view those seeming mistakes as "gifts" of the universe...given to me by my Soul.

Somewhere...somehow...we began to believe that life is a dotted line.

We plotted a path some time back in our distant childhood and believed that if we walked that way, we would get a set of guaranteed results.
And then...life happened. Really happened! 

Even today's technology cannot solve all of life's challenges. It just brings good/bad news a little faster.

Life may happen in such a way that we become fully derailed from the path we believed we should be on. So, our all efforts from that time become geared towards fixing the derailed train that may have now become our lives.

Not so.

Not so fast.
Never.
Don't try.

Aging gracefully...without struggle or fight...
is the best way to flow through life

STOP.

Let the "mistake" GO!
Let it go.
Don't try to fix it.
Don't try to turn back.

Take the right next step for you. Do the next right thing you're led to do...without looking back.

Whether it leads to a corrective path to your past...time will tell.
Only...take the next RIGHT step.

Let your life FLOW.
Let go of the reigns.

It's not a horse you're riding.
Let Go.
Watch...Follow...See...

The greatest gift we give to ourselves is to Let Go when our lives have taken a path we seemingly don't understand...cannot discern...cannot fathom.

Don't get caught up in the agony of "Why me?" "Why did THIS happen at this time?"

Someone walks away from you in a marriage you thought was "perfect."
...Let it go.
...Cry a little...as you must....but wake up to the truth about you and "it": it's run its course.

                   In her 50s, Debbie. still married to her childhood sweetheart, 
 reflects freshness, grace and joy,
making her "forever youthful."

You should hold to Letting Go in the same way about a job...a career...a friendship...or anything that changes or wants to walk out of your life. Yes, even money. Let it go.

We can't hold onto something that doesn't want to stay...or by right of consciousness...is no longer ours.

A lot of our suffering in life comes from believing that when we put our foot on our path, it is a sure and guaranteed footing. Not so.

Every step we take is an important...yet tenuous... one.

So tread a step at a time...having a vision...but a step at a time, so you do not fall into the sinkholes you may encounter along the way.

Our lives are kaleidoscopic: many colored, varied and ever revolving. I'd like to believe: ever evolving, too.

We're spinning and spinning around and around, seemingly, getting and going nowhere.
All the while, though, we are moving closer and closer to the purpose in life for which

Joel Osteen is senior pastor
at Lakewood Church, Houston.

we were birthed.   Joel Osteen, Houston-based master preacher, recently equated this form of order to the personal assistant on a car navigation: It auto-corrects, without ever once pointing out that we'd made an error by not following its instructions to turn when we're supposed to turn. I like that analogy, as it's Truth!

This is truth. Our "inner director" will never hammer us over the head,(until he must), as things may be spin more and more out of control. It simply keeps adjusting, hoping that eventually,we'll
catch up and follow inner guidance to get onto our purposeful path.

Don't ask me to explain...how ...and why I know this: I know. 

I will not trace the details of my path and places where my life got derailed, or where I felt so very, very lost. The fact is that however thick the forest...however rough the terrain...however thorny the bushes that brushed and bruised: Today, I understand it all. I know why. And I say only, "Thank YOU!" 

As I sit on the threshold of the annual rite of passage we go through, called a " birthday," I see that life offers us a chance each day ...and in each way...to follow us where it leads. We've just got to believe and have confidence in "The One." 

Just go within.
Just learn to trust.
Just get to know that there is an unseen hand working behind the scenes to
get us where we "need" to be.

When the "winter season" enters into your life
Let Go. Stand. 

Let go of the reigns.
Know that eventually, you'll see...you'll know...
you're where you're supposed to be.

Just keep doing the right thing. 








Eventually, you'll be able to say like I do now:

"All things...ALL THINGS...work together for Good..." Romans 8:28

And...

"My Peace I Give You. My Peace I Leave You."

"Be ye renewed by the Power of your Mind."

Just walk into each moment with the confidence and lack of trepidation as do the 20-somethings  featured above: You'll be aware and know with absolute certainly...even if younger people may not yet be aware...that a greater power is always at work empowering and upholding you. 

Yes. Walk boldly into each moment of each day with Freedom and Confidence! Feel 25 years old, even if you're 75!

Remember: your birthday, like mine, may seem to come only once a year, but if you really think about it...each moment offers us a chance to begin ...again.

             Seize the moment! Seize the Day:

                            Carpe Diem!

                                                    Happy Birthday! 
                                                     
 Namaste',
Che'  

*NOTE:  John 14: 1, John 14: 27 and Romans 12: 2, respectively, are quoted above.