Many, or maybe even most religions teach that their belief system is the only one. It seems that most people are born into a certain religion, but I believe it is very beneficial to study other beliefs if you are
really serious about your faith.

I have met some of the same passionate, loving, caring, giving, and faithful people who do not share the same exact faith with me.

Being a simple Christian, I am not associated with any denomination, and will never judge anyone. I love everyone, even my enemies.

I have not written anything in a couple of months because of a serious back injury, surgery, and then medications. Having dealt with back injuries, broken bones, surgeries, and many other injuries before. I can deal with pain, but I did not know the kind of pain I experienced with this back injury existed.

As I lay there screaming at my heavenly Father, asking Him why He would allow me to suffer this way. Asking had not been faithful and steadfastly believed in Him? Had I not been doing my best to serve and be a good example of a Christian?

Then I asked Him for permission to take my own life. Knowing that his answer was no, I begged and pleaded with him to take me, allow me to die, and bring me home. I could not bear this pain any longer.

Does Your God Speak?

Some people say God speaks to them. If they say this out loud in society, they are likely to be laughed at or ridiculed. Maybe that reaction is understandable as unbelievers would probably imagine a thundering voice speaking from the clouds or a ghostly apparition appearing and speaking to them. I used to think that very same thing myself. (I would love to have such a powerful mystical experience)

I am invisible compared to the mystical universe

How He Speaks to Me

Think of this what you will, He spoke to me. As I lay there unable to move, screaming at God, praying for death, this thought and these words came to me “If you will be quiet I want to tell you that I’ve got this.”

Never in a million years would I have thought those words, especially at that time. As the ambulance arrived, I was thinking deeply about those words, what they meant, and why I thought them.

The EMTs were fantastic but getting me loaded into the ambulance was excruciating. Once fastened in and on the ride to the hospital, I realized those words most certainly came from God. I didn’t understand and couldn’t be sure what He meant because I was still in so much pain, but now I felt a tiny bit of hope like a tiny spot of light at the end of a long tunnel.

The Narrow Road

It was a crooked, bumpy, week-long, painful, two-hospital journey. Looking back, I would compare it to finding a way through that maze in the movie “The Shining.”

It took just the right person or persons at just the right time and with just the right skills to get me to one of the few neurosurgeons and surgical teams that could and would repair the spine damage and a newly discovered birth defect that could have paralyzed me for life. I met the most amazing, caring, professional, healthcare workers along the way. There were so many that their numbers I cannot know them.

I am not 100% yet, but now back at work and no longer even need a cane to help with walking. I know I am still here for a reason. My God wants me here. I still have work to do. I may not know everything that’s in store for my future but am sure I must continue giving my testimony, set an example, and continue to serve.

Good People Vastly Outnumber Evil

Even if I could remember everyone to thank, the names would number so many that my story might surpass the article word limit. Thank you and bless you all for giving me another chance.

If not for my wonderful daughters, Beth and Angela, son-in-law Ben, and my best friend Sheila, I would not be giving this testimony. From deep in my heart, I give “Love From Me To You”. ……That should be a song, I think.

I believe, trust, and live by my faith, not by sight. I heard the wisest man I ever met tell me and multitudes of people that whatever your faith, study and practice it to the fullest. No religion or belief in the system has any worth if not practised.

About the Author– Hi! I’m Dennis Elton Stanley- a 69-year-old widower. I Love to walk in long-distance events and I live in the Ozark Mountains, so I hike a lot. I play multiple musical instruments and love writing.

• Visit my personal website- The Daily Sinner–

• WordPress

More From Dennis –

• Do You Believe In Love At First Sight?
• Swimming Against The Waves
• Maybe It’s Good When Your Guitar Gently Weeps
• Angels That No Longer Wear White

Want to publish your post or story?

Visit all other Guest Posts here

Wants to say something like “Hello”? Mail us at Namaskar@theblogera.com

The post Can Faith Heal a Broken Body? appeared first on Aspiring Blog.

The ‘get it done now’ mentality is the result of a mind that is both lazy and unimaginative.

A great visionary understands that manifesting anything takes an indefinite period of time, so he sits back and enjoys the journey.

A plant’s whole development takes only a few months. Years, if not a decade, are required for a tree to mature.

So, are you establishing a reputation that can be quickly shattered, or are you establishing a legacy that will last the test of time?

It’s something we think about on a day-to-day basis. Well, you might not, I certainly do. Shortcuts erase years of progress & make the plant short of what it could’ve been.

We want healthy, nurturing & growing plants that will do wonders that will mean something to us but instead we got a shrub that didn’t know what it could’ve become because it took a shortcut.

Wow, now I can see this resonating with you as you’re thinking to yourself, “Do I do this?”

Look, I am not perfect, and neither are you. But one thing is straight, we don’t take shortcuts or cut corners for where we want to be in life.

Understand that just because something hasn’t been done before doesn’t imply it can’t be done.

This should send shivers down your spine just thinking about it. It’s possible that you’re the specimen.

The one that prompted tens of thousands of people to take a shot.

Don’t take shortcuts so you can mature into a blossoming tree later in life.

About Guest Author– Just a guy who loves to write. Motivated, free-thinker, high hopes & ambitions. Want to be remembered for what I wrote & want to write what I love to do.

• Visit my website- https://opareasihene.net/

Want to publish your own post or story?

Visit all other Guest Posts here

Wants to say something like “Hello”? Mail us at Namaskar@theblogera.com

The post Seeking Shortcuts appeared first on Aspiring Blog.

I live in a rural area which for me is the only way to live. The mailbox is about a hundred yards down my gravel driveway. Some days I don’t stop at the mailbox. In fact, I do my best not to look at it. But that really does not help.

It really makes it worse because the mailbox image stays in my head and then I have to wonder if there might be something in there that I need, like a water bill, $500 insurance savings from that lizard, or maybe some grocery coupons.

Many weeks ago, I realized that this mailbox was a problem. For over four years now It has had too much influence on my life. So, I decided to do something about it. That mailbox was not going to mess with my mind anymore.

My Rural Mailbox

I bought the biggest shiniest new mailbox I could find and ordered fancy new lettering and numbers for it.

I dug the post hole deep and set the post in concrete. I made sure it was perfectly plumb and level and stained it a beautiful pewter color. I put the old moldy mailbox in the back of my truck but every time I looked through the rearview mirror, I could still see STANLEY with “Den” and “Liz” written inside little red hearts.

The letters were backward, but I still saw them frontward in my head. So, I turned the mailbox over and now I just see the moldy side.

I Still Sing “And I love Her”

It’s been two weeks now and the mailbox is still riding around in the back of my truck. I can’t throw it away, so I have decided to sand it down and paint it red. That was her favorite color.

I will find some way to donate, sell, or auction it and whatever it brings (even if it’s just $10) will be donated to The MS Foundation, the disease that took her from me and this world. I think she will like this and will make her smile. 

(1) National Multiple Sclerosis Society | Facebook I will send the newly painted mailbox to a randomly selected donor (The amount donated does not matter).

It’s a difficult thing to lose someone that was your world. Everyone handles it differently. Some want to rid their lives of everything that reminds them of their loss immediately. Some cling to each and every piece of their memory. It’s easy to see I am the latter.

I think my new mailbox looks wonderful but for some reason, I still have to search the backroads for my mail.

Sometimes a good neighbor will bring my mail to me.

There was a song: “Money Can’t Buy Me Love”…… mail either.

(I would like to say that our delivery personnel “overall” do a wonderful job) I have heard that sometimes temporary or part-time personnel are needed.

About Guest Author– I’m Dennis Elton Stanley- a 69-year-old active man. I Love to walk in long-distance events and I live in the Ozark Mountains, so I hike a lot. I play multiple musical instruments and love writing.

• Visit my website- The Daily Sinner– https://thedailysinner.blog/

More From Dennis –

• Do You Believe In Love At First Sight?
• Swimming Against The Waves
• Photo-Hiking: The Art Of Being Alive
• Maybe It’s Good When Your Guitar Gently Weeps
• Angels That No Longer Wear White

Want to publish your own post or story?

Visit all other Guest Posts here

Wants to say something like “Hello”? Mail us at Namaskar@theblogera.com

The post Just An Old Man’s Moldy Mailbox appeared first on Aspiring Blog.

I was listening to an On Being podcast where Krista Tippett was interviewing American humorist and storyteller Kevin Kling. He was born with a disabled arm and then in mid-life was in a motorcycle accident that paralyzed his other arm.

He was talking about the PTSD that came with his accident. With it came anger and inability to sleep and when it resurfaced with a vengeance years after the accident he was talking to his therapist about it.

She said that he needed to retell the story with a different ending – tell the story as if he didn’t hit the car and he reached his destination. He did that and it worked! He was able to sleep again. His takeaway was: “We need to rewrite our story sometimes just so we can get some sleep.”

That line caught me by the throat and hasn’t let go. Because it means that our bodies believe our own storytelling. It means that while I think a storyteller is someone like Kevin Kling, it is actually my own storytelling that matters most.

It means that the most influential person in my life isn’t my boss, my loved ones, a beloved actor or author, or even Oprah Winfrey – it’s me.

So I’ve pondered the stories I tell myself. The two most cataclysmic things that have happened in the past ten years of my life are when someone told me of the infidelities of my husband I’d been married to for eight years and the marriage fell apart.

Then once I was divorced, I choose to have kids on my own as a single parent. Someone said to me when my firstborn was about 6 months old, “I wish that he [my ex-husband] hadn’t wasted so much of your time.” And I replied something like, “It’s okay, that marriage and its downfall got me to meditation and where I needed to be.”

I rewrote the story of heartbreak and loss as the impetus to put me on my current path with these two beautiful children I love dearly. I believe that the Divine has used all of the past to get me where I needed to be which I genuinely believe to be true. But it is also a story that helps me be very happy where I am instead of mourning what I’ve lost.

In talking about the story he’s rewritten so that he can sleep, Kevin Kling said that of course he wakes up every morning and has to contend with the fact that his arms don’t work as a result of the fact that the accident did really happen.

Stories can’t change the circumstances of our lives, but they do change how we relate to those circumstances. Knowing this I’m carefully checking my current inventory of stories to make sure I’m telling myself the right ones!

About Guest Author– Wynne Leon is an optimist, an enthusiast of endurance sports, and a woman intent on charting her own path. Which is a combination that has led to an unconventional life. When she was younger life of adventure meant climbing mountains, traveling the world, and being an entrepreneur. More recently, it’s been starting a family as a single parent at age 46, having another child at age 50, and adopting a highly-strung kitten, even though she really is a dog person. Her writing projects include technical computer manuals, articles about meditation and parenting, and Finding My Father’s Faith, a memoir about spirituality, solace, and her relationship with her beloved father.

• Website- https://wynneleon.wordpress.com/
• Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/wynneleon/

Our Mailing Address – Namaskar@theblogera.com

Want to publish your post and story?

Visit all other Guest Posts here

Wants to say something like “Hello”? Mail us at Namaskar@theblogera.com

The post The Most Influential Person In The Room appeared first on Aspiring Blog.

Do you know there are real live angels here on earth?

We have all heard stories of angels showing up at the scene of a car accident and carrying the injured to safety. Some people say they have experienced an angel coming to them with a message. History books and Bibles are full of stories about angels and the amazing things they do.

But there are people living amongst us that perform these same amazing things each and every day.

Miracle Workers

They are called nurses and if you are lucky enough, you may know one personally. I have worked in a health care facility for 25 years and witnessed the miracles they perform many times.

I used to think of miracles as some grandiose feat of magic, like a mother lifting a car off her child to save or prevent life-changing injury. But when you think about it, anyone saving a life or recovering a patient back to their normal life produces the same result.

And just as the mother lifting a car off her child didn’t do it for money, neither do these nurses do their work for the money. Ask any doctor and he/she will tell you quickly that they can do little without good nurses.

Being a nurse is not a job “it’s a life.” I am blessed to be close with two of these angels, my sister, and my best friend.

There is no telling how many lives have been made whole again or even saved by just these two incredible women. They were born into this world as nurses, never considering any other life. Right out of high school they struggled and worked their way through nursing school. Now, nearing retirement, have remained in the field of nursing their entire lives.

In the past, all nurses wore those white uniforms. In modern times the uniforms have been replaced with more practical scrubs, so they really are the angels that no longer wear white.

Selfless Angels

And school never ends for nurses. In addition to working long hours and always being on call, there is continuing education forever. And how are these heroes sometimes treated?

I have witnessed nurses being cursed, pushed, spit on, punched, vomited on, urinated on, and worse. I know of a nurse being beaten to the brink of death. All these things were being done to a nurse that was simply trying to help them. In larger cities, it sounds even more dangerous for nurses.

Sheila

My best friend Sheila attended Nursing school about 75 miles from her home and her part-time job. The job that paid just enough to get her back and forth to school plus her school expenses for 3 years.

At times she had little or no food. She graduated Nursing school as an RN carrying heavy tuition debt and started her nursing career at $6.25 per hr. .25 cents more than others because she slept very little and earned a BSN.

Sheila says God was with her always and graduating could not have been possible without constant prayer. Sheila has continued working hard and attained many more titles and degrees. Over the years she has served in surgery, OP, and ER. She is a trauma nurse and educator, and these are just the things I know about.

She is very shy to talk about herself. Sheila has done all these things while raising a family, much of the time a single mom. I am truly blessed to call her my best friend.

Little Sister

My sister, because of her current position cannot allow me to use her name or say much of her more recent accomplishments, so I will just call her Sister.

My sister’s story follows a similar path. Right out of high school she worked her own way through college and then graduated nursing school. Sister began nursing as a NICU nurse working in labor and delivery. NICU is where the tiniest and most critical babies go.

I have seen a photo of Sister with a preemie that would fit in a coffee cup. Here’s a quote from my sister: “Many, many times I have swaddled a teeny baby so the mother/father could hold him/her while he or she passed away.”

There is certainly much sadness in healthcare, but temper that quote with another quote from Sister:

“A lot of times, I would be the primary nurse and care for a baby for weeks or even months and then get to experience the joy on the day they finally get to go home. There were hundreds of exciting delivery room times filled with happiness, joy, excitement parents, grandparents, siblings.”

Why do they do it? My logical but simple mind would have said: “they are missing out on their own life.”

I was already making 3 times what these women were making even after they graduated college and began a job; A job I wouldn’t take for any amount of money. But, people of faith know, Angels don’t do anything for money.

Angels do everything for love.

About Guest Author– Dennis Elton Stanley- He is a 69-year-old widower. Still working full-time as an engineer in healthcare. He competes in long-distance speed walking, hiking, photography, musician, and he loves to write. “I am very busy”– as he says.

• Visit his website- The Daily Sinner– https://thedailysinner.blog/

More From Dennis –

• Do You Believe In Love At First Sight?
• Swimming Against The Waves
• Photo-Hiking: The Art Of Being Alive
• Maybe It’s Good When Your Guitar Gently Weeps

Want to publish your own post or story?

Visit all other Guest Posts here

Wants to say something like “Hello”? Mail us at Namaskar@theblogera.com

The post Angels That No Longer Wear White appeared first on Aspiring Blog.

I am now in my 78^th year of life and one thing I do KNOW.     

(Apart from what I know in the sense of acquired education and accumulated head Knowledge)

I know in myself, I am not wise. Nor at times have I, or do I still make wise decisions. I have often made sensible, non-harming, practical decisions but not, in thinking back, did I use wisdom in carrying out my learned behavioral responses?  

I have come to understand that only a source wiser than myself could ever enable me to use wisdom in my decision-making in this world of so much that appears to be ‘helpful’ but often is deceptive. 

Out of the Wisdom of the ancient Greeks, Romans have come philosophical, theological, anecdotal writings found in many books. 

I love books. I love all forms of creativity. I appreciate ALL who write, act, paint, or live to improve the lives of others and not simply for self-magnification. 

Throughout history during all the gains in humanity’s life improvements there remains still suffering, neglect, grief, pain, and loss. 

Human cruelty selfishness and greed still rises. No wisdom in politics or man-devised scientific knowledge of the human condition has wiped this out.  

This world is comprised of humanity as diverse as pebbles on a beach. We all share one certainty one day all our physical will be gone. Colour Race, Belief, all gone.  

If there is a place for human souls/spirits to journey where race, color ethnicity, and opinions do not matter we need a pearl of higher wisdom. 

We need a Divine or ‘higher’ level to guide and teach us.

Is this possible? Could this ever be?

If Wisdom is a Spirit- and many, tribal people like Americans, Indians, and folks throughout the Islands of the sea and in the Andes, Africa, etc searched the heavens for Manitoba (lake Manitoba “the narrows of the great spirit”), The Serpent Spirit, even the Dragon Spirit. Today the search for ‘The Spirit’ goes on in many cultural forms and practices. 

What if there is ONE DIVINE SPIRIT of WISDOM?

How could frail humanity ever tap into this source?

There would need to be a bridge.     

Has a bridge already been built to join us all together?

Something to think about. 

Can insignificant little beings like you and I tap into a Divine SOURCE? 

A thought to Challenge?

About Guest Author– Faye Roots- Senior, Grandmother, married 50 years, Writer, Creative Christian. Appreciative of all diversities of culture and creative expressions which speak into the best of the human condition.

• Website- Passionate Creative Christian- http://www.fayerootsauthor.com

Visit all the guest posts here

Wants to say something like ‘Hello’? Mail us at Namaskar@theblogera.com

The post A Search For Wisdom appeared first on Aspiring Blog.