[Sticky] Post Hall of Fame - Posts we want to remember

Posted by: @jeanne-mayell

I am sure many of you know that the problems we are facing today with fascism, and, yes, going backwards, have been building for decades. That graph vision I had in 2015 assured me that we were heading for a tipping point (2020) where we’d hit a bottom and then we'd climb our way back up.

I personally didn’t start to notice the threat until about 1980, When Ronald Reagan ran a hate campaign towards the poor.  Then I noticed  the business world becoming openly rogue when they began openly incorporating lying, stealing, and deception into every day business practices. A friend of mine who had a successful children’s clothing business was up-ended in one fell swoop by a lying and successful businessman.  It cost her $225,000 which wiped out the business she and her partners had been building for years.  And although devastated, she responded with, "Well Jeanne, that’s just business." 

I started noticing tactics in the business world that I felt were evil and lawless. And again people simply brushed it off as, "That’s just business." And although there are many good players, there are those in the business world who do whatever it takes to make a profit and in the end they are congratulated for their financial success, not by how they got there.  That kind of amoral attitude about financial success needs to stop and I believe it will stop.

In 2004, I was alarmed to learn that 80% of US tenth graders did not know the Bill of Rights. I Expressed my concern to my town's superintendent of schools. What could this mean for the safety of our democracy that these kids (who are now 32 years old) were so coddled and ignorant  that they did not understand the importance of basic rights that thousands had died for? 

Then when VP Dick Cheney led the lies that took our country to the Iraq war on false pretenses, killing a million people, (the very Cheney whose brave daughter is now trying to bring the country back from the brink), I was at that point alarmed for our country.

So long before Donald Trump came around, I was afraid.  But hoping it wouldn’t happen as quickly as it did.

Then during Trump years, I began to see that our democracy is much stronger than the liars and thugs who would destroy it.  I believed that the world’s longest lived democracy will not be overthrown by a bunch of low-lifes. The forces of truth and justice are much stronger and more pervasive than we can even imagine. 

I also believe we have to pay our dues to those whose lives our ancestors trampled in order to have the wealth and freedom so many of us enjoy here. So the pain we are suffering now, and the pain we will suffer as we experience what we’ve done to this planet, will wake us up not only to what we need to do to save the planet, but also will wake us up to our connection to all people everywhere.

 

 

I nominate this for The Hall of Fame.

@billy-mike thank you. Also @dannyboy. Makes me feel a little better after upsetting people earlier this week with some scary old predictions. 

It's Sunday, and @lovendures is taking us to church!

@unk-p I second that emotion. @Lovendures' post gets to the heart of why we are here and what we are supposed to do. 

I'm posting this here so you will remember your Selves whenever you forget who you are. I forget who I am on a regular basis, so I'm glad that @seabreeze thought to bump a thread last night that brought me back to thinking about you who come to this forum. You, who keep posting hope through the glitches in this Forum, and the heartbreak in this world. 

It's from a thread that @vestralux started in 2021 to say Happy Birthday to me and after reading all the caring messages people wrote, I sat down and wrote this back to you:

Yesterday morning I started reading this thread that Vestralux started, but I got so teary that I couldn't get past Vestralux's first paragraph, so I watered the garden instead.

Then last night I sat down and read it through, all the posts you wrote to me.  My husband listened.  I told him, 'Now you know I'm not all this, (he nodded) and I know I'm not all this, but these incredible beautiful people are happy they found each other and the miracle community that they created when they gathered here. And they are giving me the credit.

And I love all this love!' 

In 1985 when I discovered I could tap my deep psyche with the Tarot, and people showed up for messages, I got a vision and a message. I saw many people unable to cope with the rising seas on the east coast. They were splashing in the water by NYC and crying help. I knew they weren't really in the water, but in the emotional waters of great change that was coming.

Then all these other people who my inner voice called "helpers" came down to the shores and began pulling them out of the water.

That's you.  That's this community. 

Spirit then told me that my job was to tell the helpers who they were.  That was it. Just make sure the helpers knew who they were.

I then saw streams of light flowing onto the planet at an angle, like when ET landed in a streak of light, but more like in the Jeff Bridges movie Starman. They streamed into their mother's wombs and landed with a splash. That's what I saw.

This is a community of helpers who've been scattered across the earth, like paratroopers landing on D-Day.  You are blessed with the mission to help others, and an understanding of the radical interconnectivity of all beings. Many of you are empaths. 

You were the one in your families who just wanted to help the others. 

You had issues, of course. Mostly around co-dependency, because other people knew they could depend on you for help, (even when they should be learning to help themselves).  

Also it can be hard for you to be here. There's a lot of noise and pain.  But the earth is a jewel, a garden of Eden. And that was one of the rewards. And within each human, is a soul of light, bursting to shine. It just needs some cleaning up.

My job was to recognize your star nature, and let you know.  When I do a reading, I will get a sign, usually some kind of flower. But really you don't need a reading to know who you are. You know. 

Some time around 2010, it was time to call the community together in earnest. I started posting visions on line.  So many of you were commenting on the visions that you started talking to each other in the comments.  Then one of you asked me to set up a forum. When I did, the readership quintupled in one week.  The community had been waiting invisibly at the community door.

Later, one of you, @Brian Knapp from Portland, suggested I try telling people to imagine positive visions of the future. Brian transformed our visions to include positivity. I owe much to him. He was a supreme helper.

On September 2020, we had the most positive set of visions ever. And, they nearly all came true. So we learned that positive visions are not just pink fluff.  They come true.  They are the future.  

You have given me a family of like-minded souls.  Some of my closest friends are among you. You have made me a better person. You know who you are. I am so grateful for ALL of you.  

I think we all help each other evolve here.

@jeanne-mayell That is one of the most beautiful posts I've EVER read.

Thank YOU dear lady for a warm supportive cyber-HOME.  This is a beautiful forum.

Happy Birthday!

@pegesus Thank you, sweet friend.  Thank you beyond words.

Iridium aka @ana, summarized the complex issues of Florida's devastation with heart and mind. I had reached out to our community for someone who might help us understand the issues facing Florida and the country on rebuilding there after this week's catastrophic hurricane. There have been some great posts. I was also hoping someone whose home and land is Florida would answer.  She did and I thank her. 

"Well, as far as my immediate community, I am fine and so is our family and all of our "stuff".  The 40 mph wind gusts did nothing more than blow down some already-dead branches and palm fronds. There were a few trees down in the county and a localized power outage which was quickly repaired.  (Power at my house never even flickered.)  We only had about an inch of rain.  Relatives near Tarpon Springs are also fine, no damage to anything.  Our area utility companies are sending work crews south to help get electricity, cell service, etc., back online and also to help clear the roads.  There are a lot of private relief drives, both small and large, collecting food , water and supplies to take south.   

As far as rebuilding goes:  The ruination of natural Florida is a big trigger for me. I was born and raised in FL and except for a gap where I left to get a good post-high school education, I've always lived here. My family lived on the same plot of land for 150 years.   I've seen a lot of changes and they break my heart.

So on one hand, I'm kind of glad when I see the beaches cleaned of condos, but on the other I do recognize that actual human beings are suffering great emotional pain and loss of material security, then I feel guilty for feeling glad about the beach-cleaning. 

I have to remind myself that most of the people living on the sandbars don't understand the sandbars' temporary nature and just assume building is fine because "everyone is doing it".   And that people who don't evacuate either can't, or they truly do not understand the danger.  (Of course there are also those who are so wealthy  that they can absorb the financial blow of losing their mansion without flinching, and others who are adrenaline junkies and get high on risking their lives.  But those are probably a minority.)

And then there are the willfully ignorant, who've been warned and lectured and warned again, but who are willfully contrary in the same vein as are the magats (even if they don't share the magats' political views).  For those, I find it very difficult to summon up compassion.

I still think there are parts of the coast that should simply be redlined as ineligible for government aid for repairing and rebuilding.  If they owner wants to rebuild, they should carry the cost themselves instead of making everyone else pay it. If they can't rebuild, perhaps the govt could purchase the sand the house was on and make it into a naturalized park,  slowly knitting together a larger and larger conservation area as the sandlots are abandoned.  (It's a nice fantasy.)

Also, laws for private insurance should be revised so that insurance rates reflect the true risk that these homes are under.  Yes, the rates on the coast are *somewhat* higher than those in the interior, but the differential cost does not reflect the true difference in the risk.  It's like I said in a previous post-- if you want a beach house, fine, but don't make the people with solid homes in low-risk areas subsidize your whims.  Pay the price yourself.  I think that would discourage a fair amount of building." -- @Iridum aka @ana

I am placing this post by @tesseract in the Hall of Fame.

Her words to @anetliner explain how we are all intuitive in our own way. She also shares a beautiful enlightening message from Spirit which overflows with light and wisdom.  (Hmm, that basically means enlightening doesn't it?  haha)

I am tagging @Jeanne-Mayell and placing this message here so that she can easily find it.  In your lowest of moments Jeanne, when you may question why you are here and if the effort to maintain this site is "worth it", simply read Tesseract's words and let them flow over you.  You will feel that heartfelt connection to the creator she has written about which spirit has shared through her. You will know why you are a heartfelt instrument of The Creator. 

 From Tesseract in the midterm 2022 thread:

Hmmm. You received these thoughts through meditation? Methinks you most certainly are psychic! If that word bothers you or you think it is something that you are not, replace it with INTUITIVE —for clearly you are that!

Meditation, which I used to teach, is the best way to help people access their own intuitive abilities. The word psychic is overused and badly misused. Everyone is intuitive, it is simply a matter of unwrapping the trust and comprehension each person needs to accept what we "receive" whether that is in a meditation, a deep trance, inspirational writing (the spiritual use of that term) "reading" cards or in my case Stones/Crystals/Objects. Hunches are intuitive. Go this way on your drive to work for no logical reason :) Deep trance, which I did do for many years, is simply a different type of "intuitive."  I can play chopsticks on the piano after five years of piano lessons my mother actually wanted for herself. My friend Susan heals through the piano, not only in her compositions that are the music channels, but also directly from Spirit. So is my ability to play chopsticks "lesser" no it is just different. I still "play the piano!" 😉 and my Mother eventually took lessons for herself. My wandering point is, HOW you receive intuitively is irrelevant. The "level" of "talent" is irrelevant. I can do far more than play chopsticks "psychically" but I still feel that Jeanne's compositions (this site, this forum) are like my friend Susan's classically trained and intuitively used piano playing, perhaps more complex than my chopsticks yet my chopsticks are darn good!Don't compare just BE and allow yourself to receive.

I think I got a little lost there, often when I write, Spirit slips in and if feels like that is sort of dance-y floaty, intent to type right now. My fingers continue to type, but it is not I who will be powering them. I am still here, you don't have to go away to let Spirit IN!

Dear Ones. What Jeanne calls Reading the Future is another way of accessing knowledge through human innate and intrinsic intuitive faculty. It's been called the Sixth Sense but it is more truly named the Heart Connection to the Creator. Every single human, every single animal, every single tree or plant has that Heart Connection and encompasses it in vast and various ways. Humans don't all have to "be psychic" to receive from Spirit, from Mother Earth, from the Collective as dear Jeanne calls it. If you are to be anywhere safe to share those meditative thoughts it is here. THIS IS A SAFE PLACE A POWERFUL PLACE A PLACE THAT IS CONNECTED TO THE HEART OF THE CREATOR.

See, if you will please, Dear Ones, everyone verbal and lurking on the forum, on this "Site" and then see from each heart a line of pure LIGHT, any and all hues, for each sees individually, see then the great WEAVING OF LIGHT each strand from each soul on the Site braided into a BRIDGE OF AWARENESS from this Wholeness to the Heart of the Creator and then, the Creator sends it flowing back, hues human eyes on earth may not even see, but all in the aetheric DO see and DO join with more Light and more Love and more-ness of Joy. We are here my darling people. We are here. Fear not.

Hmm. Don't do that kind of thing much any more. Hard to sift down to earth again. I had already written what is below when, Spirit kind of jumped in, and they wanted it there, above. So do with it what you will.

I've been involved in several metaphysical, Spiritualist, "new age" (now there's a term I dislike) or whatever, organizations, and I've known several very powerful "Psychics" waaay more "powerful" than I at times felt I myself could be, and yet, it isn't what others can do that determine it, it is what we do with what we have. This forum, this whole SITE, is in a strange way, for me, the culmination, the coming together of at least five decades of experiences I have had regarding "being psychic" or "being spiritual" Even though I have not attended a Read the Future, nor any of Jeanne's classes I can tell you right now, INTUITIVELY, she is one of the best teachers I have ever seen or heard in my 50 years of living, being, and searching for and with Spirit. I don't often get "here" in the forum to actually type and share, but I do check in when I can, quickly just a swift read on my phone and I send energy always. & $$ when I can! 😊 I have had the pleasure and joy of attending the Circle of Light Meditations and they are phenomenal. This is a community of safety and sanity provided by an old soul who was willing to take on the expense and time a forum requires. I have done a very tiny bit in the web-world, and this website (all of it) is an amazing and powerful source of Light and education and joy and I am very aware that it takes a whole lot of time and energy!

Well. I went well off what I was saying. But when I read that you were sort of insisting you "were *not* psychic" but through meditation you had been accurate about something, I chuckled and smiled and KNEW you were indeed anintuitive. Words matter, as we have learned so deeply these past years, but owning oneself is also important and you are indeed every bit as much a "psychic" as anyone else on this forum. There were a few other folks on here whose names I am not sure of, Allyn? who keep claiming they are "NOT PSYCHIC" and I call hmmmm let's just say I call "misunderstanding of a word." Every person drawn to this forum IS INTUITIVE. PERIOD. END OF STORY.

Each of you. Be who you are. You are wonderful. You are Intuitive. You are One with the Heart of Creation.

(Spirit has the last Word.--well almost. Now I am going to float away and figure out how to ground after that unexpected but lovely present of Spirit's Presence.)

I am placing this post by @Lovendures in the the Hall of Fame.  You inspired us, Lovendures at a time that some of us need it.  Thank you!

"Logic and history told us Russia should have won this war early on.  

Logic and history don't always predict the future.

Early on, intuition told me what was happening in Ukraine was going to become a light-filled catalyst for ultimate good.  A catalyst that would bind counties around the world and become a shining example of good over evil, of light overcoming darkness.  An awakening also to an understanding that a higher power is at work, that miracles can happen and that angels do exist. 

Early on I spoke on here somewhere, about the connection to St.  Michael, the patron saint of Kyiv, and the visions some here had seen of St.  Michael with sword drawn in battle over the city.  Many attending a spring Circle of Light saw these powerful images of St. Michael during one particular meditation as well. It was POWERFUL!

I believe that Ukraine will not just survive, it will be a shining light to the world.  We (the world) truly are Ukraine in many ways.  This war has effected everyone and changed the earth.  Unlike past devastating situations in which other countries have found themselves, ones the world tends to pay little mind or forgets about after a few short months, Ukraine is different. 

Currently, my mind keeps wandering back to Ukraine, which tells me to pay attention.

The Lord Voldemort of Russia (choosing not to say his name) is desperate.  Desperation and this Dark Lord of Russia do not not fit together well at all.   Yes, he surly must feel like he is in a snowy forest with no way out, as Baba mentioned above.  There is no good way out for him, is there?  He likely will make a really bad, rash and horrible move.  Because that is his pattern.

If he does, it will backfire on him in the end. I truly believe this to be the case. The longer term energy I feel for Ukraine is positive and they will persevere.

Right now, however, Ukraine needs our help.  

How can we help Ukraine?

Actively support them!

Actively pray, meditate, send light, send angels and send love to the people of Ukraine.  Make it part of your daily routine if it isn't already.  They need our strength and energetic support.  They need it NOW!  An individual's positive action is fantastic but when combined with the intentions and actions of many, it collectively makes an impactful positive difference.  Yes it does! 

The people of Ukraine are currently demonstrating this idea that working together for the common good helps all.  They have communal kitchens, keep each other informed, beautify their neighborhoods and find positive things in their daly life.  Their sense of spirit continues to be my inspiration.  

How else can you help?

If you can donate monetarily, please do so.  World Central Kitchen is still a great organization which is working unceasingly in Ukraine.  The CEO of WCK, Nate Mook, is  currently on the ground helping now homeless pets and animals in the newly liberated areas of Ukraine.  He, like all World Central Kitchen light workers, like all the light workers from many wonderful organizations around the world helping Ukrainians, need our our support.  

Please also actively support all the people in Ukraine in whichever beneficial way you are able.  Support/pray for  the leaders of Ukraine to follow the path which is of the highest and greatest good.  Don't forget about the people in Russia.  Light is needed there as well.

Notice the light which encompasses the land and the spirit of the people there.  When I feel it, it is amazingly warm and  bright.  It carries them through each day.  It diminishes their fear, the cold and the darkness.  It lifts up their grief and renews their hope.  If it can do this for them, it can do this for you as well.

Don't sit in fear.  Don't stand back and watch.  

Carry the light of Ukraine in your hearts and watch it grow. 

Lean in and create some "light" action for Ukraine."--Lovendures   

@Allyn, Hall of Fame post for many reasons.  Most of her posts could be in this section, but today's was extra special, but for its typical clever ironic and comedic tone but also for the final wisdom that life is too short to waste in anger at political nutcases. 

"I haven't had a chance to look at the 2023 predictions yet, but you already have a hit about how the hardliners are making things tumultuous.  For Exhibit A, see how the Republicans are handling their votes for Speaker of the House.

Unbelievable, isn't it?  The Republicans barely regained the House, and yet proved on day one that they are completely incompetent when it comes to governing.  And in 2024, the Millennials and Generations Z, who are already leaning progressive, will become the biggest voting block.  Right now we (I say "we" because I am an older Millennial) are watching Republicans act like chaotic terrorists and fools, and we roll our eyes when we think about how seriously we will take them when the next election rolls around.

The Republican party is on the verge of collapse right now.  Trump is running, but if he becomes the front runner, he will lose, and a blue wave will hit the nation, hopefully giving Biden or whoever is the frontrunner for the Democrats the power they need to enact laws to protect women, healthcare, and the environment.  Even if Trump doesn't become the frontrunner, the Republicans have become so used to attacking each other, that Trump will ensure none of his supporters will back whoever it is running in his place.  I can see Trump running as a third party candidate in 2024 if he can't win. 

But the Republicans fighting today makes me so happy.  They have lived by their cruelty and obstructionism for so long that it is true karma to watch them inflict it on themselves.  Democrats should just sit back and watch the show or, as an alternative, see if they can strike up a deal with the moderate Republicans.  Because the longer it takes McCarthy (or whoever) to become speaker, the longer it will take for Republicans to go back to their Benghazi ways and hold their fake hearings on people they don't like. 

As to your prediction on sustainability, I can see it happen on a local level.  Many of my neighbors have taken to gardening to grow their own vegetables.  Not to be outdone, yours truly has recently started construction on a greenhouse so I can grow many of my favorite vegetables year round without having to worry about the extreme temperatures here in Tennessee (we went from minus 20 to 60 degrees in one week, so you get the point.)

I am keeping most of the political junk to a minimum right now and am tuning most of it out because life is too short to get angry about how these lowlifes like to yell and harass others.  Since we are ignoring them, they are turning on themselves and will eventually either shut up or continue ranting to blank walls.  Regardless, the time of the rude, bullying, psychotic wannabes is over, and new leaders will emerge to clean up the smell they left behind.

On a positive note, I am still recovering (I am back to work now, but no jury trials until March at least).  I am shutting negative people out of my life and enjoying it.  I hope the rest of you are doing great and wish you a fantastic 2023!" -- @Allyn

Marigold's meditation post about the future of Covid is exceptional (IMHO):

@lovendures I went with your suggestion of an intention of a message about Covid generally. Here is what came. I did two things, writing down while “listening” and then cards. Lightly edited for less repetition. I hope it makes sense/is helpful.

Listening:

Covid came on a trajectory of science and technology set in motion a century or two ago as an ill-advised offshoot that emerged from investigating and learning about the origin and cause of infectious disease. (I saw this trajectory as a long, thin, round, grass-green snake-like form extending horizontally.) This offshoot of scientific investigation ends (will end) in a twinkling fizzle. (I saw this like a “sparkler” type firework going out, done, extinguished.) Better methods of learning are coming and indeed are even now taking form and growing. New ways to understand disease, causation, and care that are more – elegant – and safer than cultivating disease to understand how it works. Much more finely tuned methods. Something about slicing tiny particles to get at the origin point. Using light and lasers in large high security spaces, involving multi-national cooperation and regulation. No more secrets.

Covid continues, branching and weakening into smaller and much finer branchlets (appeared as a multibranched network of very fine/thin plant rootlets that fan out horizontally just below the surface). Taking not months but a few years to settle back. In the meantime continue best practice as you discern it for yourself. There will be a few more jolts, spikes, new variants. Vigilance for the time being.

This pandemic is something that has been disruptive yet transformative. Things are happening faster; people are seeing what is important and what is not. This era will be looked back upon as a transformative time. There is no “going back to normal” for normal does not exist. That template is gone. Science will progress by leaps and bounds. Some institutions will crumble under their own weight, their foundations hollowed out, bringing  in new systems of education, transportation, the construction industry and the way housing is built and made available for all, farming and agriculture (which brings to my mind the work of Vandana Shiva regarding food sovereignty).

Then I drew three cards from a spread of a 5 x 5 grid of the 25 Celtic Tree Oracle cards (Liz and Colin Murray) for past, present and future of Covid:

Past, represented by Oak. An organism coming through a door that was opened long ago; through the door with the organism also came strength and the ability to overcome and survive. (my interpretation).

Present, from Ivy quoted from Murray Tree Oracle book here:  The spirit turns inward, rather as Theseus, following his thread into the labyrinth. Theseus’ act may have symbolized his exploration for the secret centre of his own being, which may appear monstrous, lying hidden as it does most of the time. Thus exploring, or soul searching, is necessary revealing  untapped or unknown spiritual strength and depth. Your spiraling dance through life also turns outward, linking you with others through the group soul or collective that pervades and encompasses all life. You have a part to play – to assist in the spiritual journey of others as they also do in yours.  

Future: with Silver Fir which brings strength and healing learned from the past. 

--@Marigold

Thank you for this post, Marigold. 

@jeanne-mayell The cards have never let me down as long as I don't over-think or judge. I feel like they - and all cards, Tarot and others -  are living libraries of light, in this instance providing some reliability and affirmation for the listening. Sitting there on my bookshelf sandwiched between the dictionary and the thesaurus, I should give my Tree Oracle more reverence. Thank you for framing the post as a meditation, very affirming.

Noticed this one today posted October 22, 2022 by our @unk-p

@ghandigirl hey rumigirl! ❤️    i don't usually make predictions, but ok here i go:  In some (hopefully not so distant) future, we will look back at this time we are in now, with such incredulous laughter, and astonishment...   that these ridiculous creatures, frowning in white Go-Go boots and AquaNette hairdos,  brownshirts pouting behind Pumpkin Spice pancake foundations, randomly Capitalizing all manner of bullshit, could ever have even begun to seriously threaten  Democracy, much less sanity itself?   How can we possibly explain it to the good people on this, or any other (future) Forum?

this post, by MMA (@meliaamal)

Letter to the TN Legislature:

In the wake of Nashville's first school shooting in which a former student of Covenant Presbyterian School blasted through a side door of the school and murdered six Tennesseans, three of them children, our Governor, Bill Lee, pledged to pray first and act second. He called on all Tennesseans to pray too.

As a Nashville mother of a 1st grader, I'm taking his plea to heart and I've decided to pray.

I pray first that you consider the facts about gun-related deaths in this country. In America, and only in America, gun violence is the leading cause of death of children. Judging from your legislative priorities, you'd think it was drag shows, books about the Holocaust, or multiperson bathrooms. You say these laws were passed to protect our children. I don't know about you, but I have yet to meet a book that so grievously injures a child that it renders them unidentifiable.

The Covenant school shooting marked the 39th incident so far this year that involved gunfire on school grounds. By one count, there has been about one gun-related incident at a school for every day so far this year. In so many other countries around the world, one school shooting would be unthinkable, leading to immediate changes in gun laws (that typically are more restrictive than ours already). At the very least, it would compel immediate debate and discussion of policy, rather than pre-taped comments asking citizens to pipe down and pray.

I pray too that you remember the power you have when it comes to passing laws and making change. Despite your prolific track record of dreaming up, drafting and enacting all kinds of rights-limiting laws, you seem utterly incapable of acting when it comes to the murder of children. When asked what the legislature would do to protect our children, GOP Rep Tim Burchett pled helplessness, forgetting that he hails from the "tough on crime" party that somehow managed to criminalize books, abortion, drag queens and the houseless, lamenting, "“It’s a horrible, horrible situation . . .And we’re not gonna fix it. Criminals are gonna be criminals.” Burchett, who also noted that he homeschools his children, must have also forgotten that his children will one day need to venture out in the world. And in America, shootings don't end at classroom doors. Mass shootings have resulted in the murder of innocent Americans at grocery stores, movie theaters, indoor concerts, outdoor concerts, churches, synagogues, their own driveways, college campuses, subways, highways, playgrounds, dance studios, nightclubs, 4th of July parades, basketball courts, banquet rooms, immigration services centers, military bases, Walmarts, malls and hospitals.

I pray that you heed the many calls of Tennesseans that more guns are not the answer. This ship may have sailed as today, one week from the shooting, you announced a plan to place armed guards at all public schools. Will you arm supermarkets, movie theaters, playgrounds, dance studios? What happens when a shooter blasts through a side door, locked but unattended? There is no worldly logic that makes America safer by adding more guns to a country that already has more guns than people. Study after study show that having guns in the house increases the risk of being killed, not the opposite.

Let's get specific, because we're not just asking for fewer guns, we're asking for reasonable regulations, like the kinds we have for all possibly lethal instruments like cars, alcohol, or drugs. A background check, a training period, a restriction on weapons of war. And before you start in about the second amendment and freedom, let's recall that all rights are abridgeable at the point that they harm others - that's the very notion of society. And indeed, that was something well-known and understood to even the wildest of westerners in the 1800s, a time much closer in proximity to the passage of the second amendment than we are. After all, cultivating a reputation of peace and stability is good for business.

My final prayer is that you too pray for "wisdom, discernment and grace." I pray that you think hard about what kind of world you want to live in and, more importantly, what world you want to leave for our children. Is it a world where schools are militarized, and parents part with their children with dread on a daily basis, arm them with bullet proof backpacks and teach them that they - and their teachers - must risk their lives to learn in this country? Where any gathering place may be a target; where demons are to blame and where freedom means having to worry that any outing may be your last? Is this the great America you long for? The America of your youth, of your memories? If not, why make our children live this way?

I'm also going to take Governor Lee's advice to act. I'll be voting the next election, like I always do, and the one after that. And I'll be raising a child who - God willing - will grow up to vote, knowing that freedom comes with sacrifice and courage, to do the right thing and make this world the one we want to live in.

The Israeli-Palestinian crisis has us deadlocked.  It is the perfect example of a revenge play unfolding before our eyes, with each side raging against the other while innocents are murdered and everyone suffers. I just read @jackofhearts' post about it and want to thank him for expressing it well:

"@lovendures, one wonders if we need this type of reconciliation writ large for our species.  I had thought COVID might be it... wrong. Sadly, I believe we need something immediate, visible and deadly.  On the other hand, when that moment comes, it will be anticlimactic, not an asteroid.  I wonder if that event has already happened, but we don't know it yet, and when people talk about light workers here and elsewhere, it's not so much you're here for a sudden change, but instead helping people in small ways grasp and adapt—allowing us to evolve.  

In the Middle East, where there are two or more rights and two or more wrongs all existing at the same time based on perspective, it's people of good faith on all sides that keep embers of hope alive.  

We've not seen the stories yet, though I am hoping we see them soon of Israelis and Palestinians working together in small and meaningful ways to help people suffering on either side - people who believe in humanity and the sanctity of life over dogma whatever the source - they are out there right now. We all should be sending them positive energy because they're human, and this week, through no fault of their own, their conviction could be wavering." -- Jackofhearts

From @deetoo.  Thank you for making this post that captures so much of what we are all about here. I am not sure I've ever seen it written better than you just did.

Early yesterday evening, out of the blue I was overcome with this huge wave of anxiety.  I felt like I was going to jump out of my skin and just couldn't settle.  I haven't experienced that in a while, which made me take notice.  It feels like energetically I'm picking up on something that I can't define.  This morning I awoke sad and felt very "off."  To some extent I still feel that way.  I can't tell if it's personal or I'm picking up on something collectively.  It's a free-floating, unsettled feeling.

BTW, I can’t watch, listen to, or read any news about current events.  It’s a strong visceral reaction.  That’s been going on the past few weeks.  It's exhausting, distracting and, in my view, often fear-based.  Not the best for my peace of mind! 

An intuitive friend mentioned that the planets are now aligned like they were in the American and French revolutions.  Secrets revealed, wars, planetary seismic shifts -- that kind of thing.   Although I'm not educated on planetary influences, it's all fascinating to me.  However, I am mindful of the fact that we are entering the age of intuition.  And that's huge!  Our perceptions have been linear, which is limited and often grounded in fear.    Everything is accelerating now, which can really throw us off-balance.  The old structures are failing and can no longer stand.   We are being asked, individually and collectively, to change and move into a new way of knowing.  I can't speak so much to the collective change unless I first address what is required of me -- to recognize and heal those fragmented parts of myself and how I sometimes respond to the world.

As far as this free-floating anxiety is concerned ... whether what I'm picking up on is personal or out there, I believe the personal always affects the collective, since we are all one.   Whatever it is, I am riding an anxiety wave but I am not worried.   It comes from a level of understanding, or knowing, that I can't put into words. That may sound crazy to some of you, but I remain hopeful and have faith in that understanding. -- @deetoo, posted 1/21/24

@billy-mike I was adding @deetoo's latest amazing post to this hall of fame and going through each post and turning them blue, when I got to the one you made nominating me.  Thank you for that!  I think I had become so busy doing things to the forum in the engine room and other various projects that I never really stopped to see your kind nomination.  Thank you, Billy-mike. Feels good to hear one's words returning and reminding of good things.

@jeanne-mayell, thank you for your kind words.

This one by @earthangel is a gem for us all, packed with wisdom from an examined life. 

It is amazing and I can say that I didn’t know if I’d ever arrive here. I spent many yrs denying the “abandonment” to the point that during therapy yrs ago (for marital abandonment aka repeating negative patterns), I couldn’t even remember my “abandonment issues.” I literally would forget the word/concept of abandonment.
   I use my belief in/connection to my guardian angels and their beautiful gifts to release toxicity. Literally asking—aka begging at times—to be free of these awful trials and turbulances works for me. And of course, my spirit guides help too.
   I’d also say that growing and evolving into my psychic abilities helps me personally. When I see and “know” the pain that some people carry, I can release it bc it’s not mine. I realize it has nothing to do w me and I wish/ask for a more peaceful love and acceptance of myself. I used to spend time trying to surround them w healing light but that also kept me tethered to their pain & suffering. (Light healing has worked/helped w good hearted kind people.) My current focus may sound selfish to some perhaps but I can be healed most by healing myself and surrounding myself w protective loving kindness and light. I find that this practice creates a sort of force field that their anger and fear etc can’t penetrate. I believe it can also keep their angst separate from me. My mother actually is a lot calmer w me than she is w my sister who wants to bulldoze my mother. Two bulldozers create a big pile of dirt while I’m over here in my tub of warm bubbles.    
   It hasn’t been easy and it’s taken a long time. For yrs, psychics have told me that I’m surrounded by powerful angels, but I didn’t ask for help. I realized that the abandonment creates this hesitation bc i didn’t believe i could count on anyone! But I tried it at a very low point and it worked. And still works. Thank you, angels & guides & me!