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MORE LIGHT-NEWS! Treading Lightly Dhagé Mediator
PEACE TODAY
THE INTUITIVE SELF
CREATIVE POWER
SPECIALS
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NOV-DEC 2011 |
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Eileen was far away from home and family – 10,000 miles, to be exact. It had never mattered to her before, because she was an adventurer, and exploring exotic corners of Mother Earth was what she loved to do. Based in the Far East, her job allowed her to travel around the globe several times a year. One day she could be in Colombo and the next, in Edinburgh. Eileen was spirited, confident, not really thoughtless, but so focused on fulfilling her own dreams that maintaining connections with family and friends took a backseat. On one of her trips, she began to notice that something was very wrong with her health. Things were happening that shouldn’t. Her very life force seemed to be draining out of her body. Now, Eileen was a bungatuffy, in Caribbean lingo, as strong as an ox. Sickness was foreign to her. So, as she got weaker and weaker, she pushed herself more and more, daring her body to correct itself. It couldn’t. Instead one horrifying morning, she woke up in a pool of blood. Desperate, Eileen flipped through the Yellow Pages trying to choose a ‘good’ facility out of the numerous hospitals listed. Suddenly, amidst the jumble of non-English names and addresses, she caught sight of the word, ‘Adventist’. Pouncing on the number, she dialled quickly. Her precious nanny, Aunt B, had been an Adventist, so as far as she was concerned, anything Adventist must be good. She found a doctor and made an appointment. By the time she got back to her apartment, her spirits were low. The phrases, ‘immediate surgery’, ‘major operation’, and ‘possible blood transfusion’ pounded on the inside of her skull relentlessly. Life was fast-paced in her adopted home city, and like her, her friends were always super busy. She didn’t want to burden any of them. She called her sister, Dee, and then phoned her mother in the Caribbean. “I wish I could be with you,” Dee said wistfully, but she was a hemisphere away on the east coast of the US. She had just started a new job, and couldn’t leave. “I want to send you something special to take with you to hospital,” her mother said, the warmth of her love reaching across the miles. “I’ll mail it to you.” Eileen felt like crying. She couldn’t bear to remind her mother that mail took almost two weeks to the Far East from the Caribbean, and she would be under the knife in five days. Weak, scared, and alone, Eileen got her personal affairs in order, and packed a small bag. On the day of admittance, she gritted her teeth and headed down the stairs that ran along the side of the mountain she lived on. “Morning,” a cheerful voice said. Raising her subdued eyes, she saw the postman standing below her on the path that led to the pier. His hand was outstretched. In it was a package and a letter for her. Her heart fluttered as she took them from him. The package was from Dee – and the letter from her mother! Stunned, she turned and stared at the receding back of this bringer of joy, who was whistling as he took the stairs two at a time up to the mid-level blocks. How was this possible? Both package and letter had been sent by regular mail. Settling into a seat on the hovercraft that would take her across the bay, she stripped open the package. In it was a small cassette tape. Taking out her player from her overnight bag, she slipped it in and put on her headphones. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she listened. Dee had phoned all the members of their extended family spread across the globe and had recorded messages from each and every one of them on her phone tape. Laying the headphones on her lap, she finally opened the letter from her mother. It was dated four days earlier. No mistaking that. ‘A Prayer for my Little Girl’, 32 year-old Eileen read. Overwhelmed, she burst into tears. A miracle had happened, and she wasn’t even sure she deserved it. She was smiling from ear to ear when they wheeled her into the operating theatre, and when she came out of anaesthetic, an angelic woman was there in the recovery room to welcome her back to the land of the living. She was a spiritual counsellor from the hospital, who had come to keep Eileen’s company. The following day, Eileen woke up to some unexpected news: a buddy of hers had stopped by and had made arrangements for her to be taken to his home when the hospital released her. “I don’t want you going through this alone,” said Marc. “You’re going to stay at my place until you’re healed. My maid will look after you.” The entire experience changed Eileen. It taught her to respect her body. But more importantly, she learned the value of family and friends. To comment or share a story, visit Friends of the Flame II.
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SEP-OCT 2011 |
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One spring day in Arizona, 14 baby quail skittered across a lawn behind their parents - so tiny and so quick, they looked like leaves blowing in the wind. But a few minutes later, they tumbled into a storm drain. Concerned neighbours painstakingly used fishing nets to try to scoop up the chicks. It took them three long hours, but finally all the baby quails were safe. This was a good thing because quail are an integral part of the global system of life that supports our health and well being, and because today, all over the US, quail are disappearing as their habitat is destroyed. As Dr. Eric Chivian, co-founder of the Center for Health and Global Environment at Harvard University Medical School, said: "We must protect Biodiversity if we are to protect ourselves. Our job is to educate others, particularly the public, so we can help them to understand that their health ultimately depends on the health of the global environment." Dr. Chivian edited and co-wrote 'Sustaining Life: How Human Health Depends on Biodiversity'.
To comment or share a story, visit Friends of the Flame II.
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JUL-AUG 2011 |
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Over 500 times in the past two years, Israeli, Yuval Roth, and his volunteers have helped Aya, a sick Palestinian girl, get life-saving medical treatment. Aya Abu Mouwais, a 3-year-old who lives in the West Bank, can barely walk or talk because of a failing kidney and liver . . . Full Story
To comment or share a story, visit Friends of the Flame II.
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MAY-JUN 2011 |
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Hector Osvaldo Gonzalez rescued more than 60 people from last year's devastating tsunami in Chile. Three times he crossed the roiling Maule River, hauling out people who had . . . Full Story
To comment or share a story, visit Friends of the Flame II.
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MAR-APR 2011 |
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Emma Clutching her groom, she looked like any beaming bride. But Emma Howard's trip down the aisle Friday almost didn't happen. Just 72 hours earlier she was trapped under a building . . . Full Story
To comment or share a story, visit Friends of the Flame II.
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JAN-FEB 2011 |
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Chris lives a magical life, because all he’s ever wanted is to be free and to make people happy. Whatever he needs always comes to him, and he can’t quite explain why. Like the day he came into town from his mountain cabin with just $10 in his pocket, a chainsaw in the back of his pickup, and the feeling that it was time for a change. He was in the local grocery and beauty/barbershop, when its owner approached him with a suggestion. “That chainsaw would be just the thing to help my friend’s husband get back on his feet,” she said. Her friends had fallen on hard times and she wanted to help. Chris knew what that felt like, so he readily agreed to trade the chainsaw for an old barber chair. He had no idea what he was going to do with the chair, but just when he was wondering how he would get all 300 lbs of it into his pickup, aid came from unexpected quarters: a couple of cowboys came by and helped him get it as far as the curb, then a friend, who happened to be passing by with a backhoe, lifted it into the truck for him. With his pickup listing to one side, Chris headed for the gas station. The attendant’s eyes lit up when they caught sight of the barber chair. “You know,” he said excitedly, “I’ve always wanted a barber chair so I could start my own business. Would you sell it?” “Sure,” Chris said. On his way back home, Chris smiled. He’d only intended to buy a little food and gas. Little did he know that change would come in such a strange package. In just two hours, he’d made two people very happy, raised a few hundred dollars, and set his own life on a different course. To comment or share a story, visit Friends of the Flame II.
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NOV-DEC 2010 |
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Many of us wish we could tread lightly through life, but our emotions are always getting the better of us. An ill-spoken phrase in a simple argument, and in a flash, we’re doing and saying things we later regret. Lucy M. learned this the hard way while taking care of her aging mother, and here's what she had to say: Tips on how to become a light walker:
A lighter life is a happier life! To comment or share a story, visit Friends of the Flame II.
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SEPT-OCT 2010 |
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The day I was leaving home to get married for a second time, he did a most peculiar thing: he took up residence in my parents' house. Now like most tropical dogs, Dhagé lived an untrained life: free to roam the yard, pick his own fruit, sleep in his dog house or under a tree, but he knew he must never set foot in the big house. "Are you mad?" I thundered when he stepped through the door for the first time in his life. He ignored me, found his comfort spot, and sat down. Then he gazed at me steadily until I wavered. Little did I know that he knew something I didn't. Dad was going blind. His heart was shot and his days were numbered, but that had never stopped him from enjoying life. But after years of defying doctor's prognoses, dad was finally about to lose what he treasured most - his freedom. And Dhagé knew this. That dear dog of ours never left dad's side from that moment forward. He guided, comforted and protected him until dad died five months later. Then Dhagé turned his attention to comforting mum, who had to face the end of 52 years of marriage. When Dhagé himself died four years later, we honoured him for his courage, special wisdom, and unconditional love. To us, he was more than just a dog, he was an angel. To comment or share a story, visit Friends of the Flame II
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JULY-AUG 2010 |
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In 2008, an armed conflict broke out between pastoralists and farmers in a district south of Tabat in Sudan. The dispute over the damage done to a farm by ten camels, and the subsequent killing of these camels by the farmer could have triggered a war, were it not for the wise and timely intervention of an elderly mediator, Abdullah Mohamed Jumaah. When Jumaah first approached the farmers, they refused to bend. As far as they were concerned they didn’t start the trouble. It was the pastoralists, who refused even to express regret at the damage done by their camels. So Jumaah changed tactics. He visited them as a guest and chatted with them for hours, telling stories that cleverly demonstrated the noble value of forgiveness. He subtly inserted relevant Quranic verses, and before long, the bitterness melted from the farmers’ hearts. Next he went to the pastoralists. For four days, he hid the real purpose of his visit, because they were too angry. Instead, he simply enjoyed their hospitality, chatting with them for hours. On the fifth day, he broached the subject. He let them vent their feelings of being wronged, and then he showed them the other side of the story – all the farmer’s hard work destroyed in minutes; his family’s livelihood put at risk. Their anger spent, the pastoralists asked Jumaah to mediate. Jumaah got the parties together, and supervised the settling of their differences, arranging each one’s compensation. Since then, the farmers and pastoralists have remained on friendly terms, meeting every now and then for tea with Abdullah the Peacemaker. http://www.insightonconflict.org/conflicts/sudan/stories/darfur-the-story-of-a-mediator/
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MAY-JUNE 2010 |
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To think big, one must first think big about oneself. Any individual act has an impact of gargantuan proportions because of the ripple effect. Here's how: Maria runs out into the middle of the road and grabs an old woman, saving her from getting run over. Eternally grateful, the old woman goes back to her nursing home and tells Nurse Benn. It was a tough day, and Nurse Benn needed to hear a good story. She goes home happy and lets her daughter off household chores. Elated, her daughter, Angie, gets on her computer and before you know it, bytes of love-joy particles are whizzing through cyberspace. On and on it goes, travelling by touch, by voice, by pen, by screen - one little love-joy particle sent out by one person multiplying a hundred fold by the next day. So don't simply say, 'I can have an impact on someone,' say instead, for it is indeed true, 'I do have an impact on everyone!' www.swanlight.org/SpS_Library.htm.
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MAR-APRIL 2010 |
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Matthew Joseph Thaddeus Stepanek, known to the world simply as, Mattie, lived a full life for the 14 years he was here on earth. Never for one moment did he let his debilitating illness, Dysautonomic Mitochondrial Myopathy, stop him from gifting his heartsongs to a world in need of his message of peace and unity. His poetry wrings the truth from our hearts and then gives us permission to be our best selves. He lit up the lives of millions with his engaging smile and artless style. Since he left us, the ripples of his message have been gathering strength. Now, if we all step into the light he created, and become the change we so desire, Mattie’s dream of a united world would be a reality.
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JAN-FEB 2010 |
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From the moment young William Kamkwamba read the book, Using Energy, he dreamed of building machines to bring electricity and water to his drought-plagued village in Malawi. The villagers teased him, called him crazy, but William refused to give up this dream. He’d already had to put on hold his dream of studying science, when famine hit in 2002, decimating his family’s farm and forcing him to drop out of school to forage for food. Armed with amazing determination and a motley collection of old science textbooks, William contrived to build, out of scrap metal, tree limbs, and bicycle parts, a windmill that provided his home with electricity, and a solar-powered water pump to supply drinking water to his rural community. From village joke to resident genius, William became a global beacon of hope. To help William, go to http://williamkamkwamba.typepad.com/.
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DEC. 2009 |
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If you have ever thought to yourself: I'm only one person, or I'm only a child, or I'm too young to make a difference, here's a story that will inspire you to step beyond those limits into more powerful possibilities for yourself and others. At the turn of this century, 150,000 children from all over the world voted for the first ever recipient of the World's Children's Prize for the Rights of the Child. A young Pakistani boy whose actions had captured minds and hearts worldwide, was chosen. His name was Iqbal Masih. His family was poor and when Iqbal was just four years old, he was sent to work for a carpet manufacturer to pay off a debt his family owed. Iqbal was now part of the bonded labor work force, and the year was 1987.
Over the next several years, the debt Iqbal had to pay off grew from 600 rupees ($12) to 13,000 rupees ($260), too large for him to repay. And it seemed as though the odds were against him and that he would have to work in the factory all his life. But in 1993, when he was ten years old, something important happened. A new law was passed in Pakistan banning bonded labor and canceling all such debts. Catching wind of the news, Iqbal ran away from the carpet factory to attend one of the village meetings about the new law. There he met Eshan Ullah Khan, the president of an organization dedicated to educating people about the new law. To Khan, Iqbal looked like a six-year old, so undernourished was he. After the meeting, Iqbal insisted on and got from the organization's lawyer, a freedom letter releasing him from bonded servitude. Courageously, he took the letter back with him to the factory, presented it to the carpet manufacturer, and was freed! Iqbal then began to attend a school opened for children like him, but he remained concerned about the other children still not free. So, traveling with Khan, he began speaking out, telling his story in the villages and urging the children there to follow him to freedom. And thousands did. By his actions, Iqbal saved not only the children already bonded, but children who would have been enslaved by unscrupulous merchants ignoring the law. News of Iqbal spread, and he was invited to Sweden and the USA to tell his story to school children there. He spent a month or so in Lidköping, Sweden, and then in December, 1994, he spent a week in Quince, USA speaking to children his age. He told them his story and spoke eloquently of his conviction – that the children in his country needed to trade the carpet weaver's tool for the pen, the tool of education. He told them of his dream to become a lawyer and fight for the rights of children in Pakistan. But that never did come to pass, for just four months later, while bicycling with his cousin in his home village, Iqbal was shot and killed. He was 12 years old. Although the world lost a bright, strong and courageous soul, beautiful things began to happen as Iqbal's dream took wing in unexpected ways, and as he became the inspiration for yet other dreams: v President Clinton was able to fulfill a request of Iqbal's, when he signed into law, a bill making it illegal to import goods into the USA from manufacturers using children as bonded labor. v In Lidköping, Sweden, the school children started a tradition which continues to this day. On a very special Saturday in April, we will find the children and the entire city celebrating Iqbal Day to commemorate his life and work. The city's children and youth also formed two organizations dedicated to the rights of children, and began working to build the Iqbal Masih Freedom Centre for the Rights of the Child. v And in Quince, USA, at the Broad Meadows Middle School where Iqbal spoke, each new wave of students daily continue their commitment to support the School for Iqbal that was built in 1997 in Iqbal's honour with funds they raised themselves. And if you ask them why, they will say: 'Because a bullet cannot kill a dream'. Children can and are making a difference – a significant difference for good in the world. They are some of the world's most powerful, persistent and effective change agents on this planet of ours!! Iqbal Masih and the Crusaders Against Child Slavery by Susan Kuklin http://www.katedudding.com/newsletters/mar-2007.shtml http://www.quincypublicschools.com/schools/broadmeadows/main_page.shtml
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NOV. 2009 |
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When a major hurricane threatened to devastate an US coastal town a few years ago, B was listening concerned, as the evacuation order went out to all those in its path. How do you evacuate so many people from so large a city? She wondered. While on the phone speaking to an old acquaintance, she learned that his daughter and her family had to evacuate, and that their only option, given the circumstances, was to head clear across the state to some distant town, anywhere that would offer refuge. In that instant, B opened her heart and her home. She offered sanctuary to people she had never met. In her warm and eminently sensible manner, she said simply: "Tell them to come to me. We have space." B lived with her husband C in a quiet Texas town out of harm’s way. And so, a family of five and a dog, changed plans and started towards the hometown of kind strangers, not knowing what they would find when they returned home after the hurricane. The roads were clogged with evacuees fleeing the city, and the going was tough. A journey which should have taken a couple of hours stretched into almost one full day. Finally, weary and frazzled, but grateful, the family arrived at B and C’s modest home, with its little herb garden. The house was bursting at the seams, with the number of occupants swelling from 3 people to 8 people and a dog. But it was wonderful pandemonium, for one family was safe, and beautiful new and lasting friendships were formed. To comment or share a story, visit Friends of the Flame II
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OCT. 2009 |
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Daisy gazed up at the mountainous challenge before her. The thought that her physical limitations might create a problem, or that it was, perhaps, a little too late in the afternoon for such a venture, never crossed her mind. Boldly, she started up. They were no trails, so she picked her way through the bushes, thinking only of the splendour that would lie below her once she got to the top. At last, she stepped onto the plateau above Sedona and a feeling of utter joy swept over her. The breeze was gentle, the sky cloudless and vast, and the red rock buttes standing guard around the valley, awe-inspiring. Time dissolved as Daisy watched the birds drift in lazy circles above the distant city, and marvelled at the hand of nature that had carved out the shape of a bell in one rock, a cathedral in another, and a coffee pot in yet another. Sunset was spectacular, painting the tips of the buttes an unbelievably brilliant gold. Then night fell swiftly, jolting Daisy back to reality. She looked around. All the tourists had left, except for four dodgy looking men. It was time to go. A short way down, she got stuck. This was not the way she had come, and the moon offered little light to guide her. Trying not to panic, she called out for help. The four men came to her rescue. Weaving their way through the bushes, always staying within earshot, they talked her down, joking and laughing to put her at ease. Gratefully bidding them goodbye at the foot of the mountain, Daisy realised that angels come in many forms! To comment or share a story, visit Friends of the Flame II
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SEPT. 2009 |
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Everyone in sunny GT calls her by the simple endearment, 'Granny', and everyone knows if you’re hungry, it doesn’t matter what you look like or what you’ve done, or even if you are the tenth person for the day to rap on granny’s gate: down the stairs she’ll shuffle with a bag of goodies and a smile, despite the pain in a leg twisted out of shape by arthritis. Her cheese may be running out, her box of crackers almost empty, with a week to go before her next pension check, still granny will almost always have twelve crackers, a square of cheese, and a tumbler of water for you. Chances are you’ll even get some five-finger (carambola) drink, a banana, or a mango, if she can spare them. Says a well known city con – a likeable rogue: “I want to wuk, but I’s can’t always find a job, so sometimes I’s get hungry bad! But I always know when I come to granny, she gon put somet’ing in me belly. She’s a saint.” This man has stolen from her, and conned her many times, yet she would never let him go hungry. Some people call her the Mother Theresa of Georgetown. Granny just celebrated her 86th birthday. May her light continue to shine for many years to come! To comment or share a story, visit Friends of the Flame II
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AUG. 2009 |
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After driving several hundred miles from the US to Canada, then parking your car at the airport to fly to another city, the last thing you want to find when you return tired a week later, is a dead car. But that is what happened to a woman at Pearson International recently. Little did she know that she was due for grace that day. RM had just seen his sister off and was returning with his wife to his car, which was parked two spaces down from the woman. With a desperate look on her face, she appealed to them for help. They were late already for another appointment. Yet RM immediately grabbed the jump cables, which he sensibly keeps in the trunk of his car. He told his wife to bring the car around to the space which had miraculously opened up in front of the dead car, and between them, they got the woman's car started. It was a particularly satisfying moment for RM’s wife, because three months earlier, while visiting Guyana, the wheel of the car she was driving dropped into a manhole enveloped in grass in a parking area. She wished she could repay the two angels from the Ministry of Lands and Mines who were so cavalier about rescuing her. They had worked in the pouring rain to jack up her car, find a length of board to place under the wheel, and roll it to safety. At Pearson International, she finally got a chance to pay it forward! To comment or share a story, visit Friends of the Flame II
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JULY 2009 |
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Ro, a great young man from Asia who, out of the blue, at the age of 4, began gathering the homeless off the streets, and taking them home for his startled mother to feed, has recently become a doctor! May he continue to light up lives! To comment or share a story, visit Friends of the Flame II
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All content copyright © 1996 - 2012 Maureen Marks-Mendonca unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved Home | Spirit-Sense™ | Creative Power | Golden Peace Circle | Our Vision | About Us | Links |
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Dhagé
let me know quite early in our relationship that he was no ordinary dog.
He could not be made to do anything by intimidation or force, but if you
asked him nicely, he would do just about anything for you. He was wildly
playful with his brother and other dog friends, always gentle with
humans, and fiercely protective of those he loved.
For
more on Mattie Stepanek, read Messenger by Jeni Stepanek.
