Encounters --- by Ray Hart

"God Goes With Me Wherever I Go" (A COURSE IN MIRACLES)

This is the last solstice of the millennium, and what a solstice it is! The moon will be the brightest we have ever seen, and the biggest. It is a celebration of peace and love. And a time when we join without even knowing it. We are all One in God, and for some reason this solstice emphasizes our Oneness. It is so neat to share this time with loved ones.

Joy and I had the pleasure of arriving in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, the day before a summer solstice. We thought that we would camp out over night before meeting up with our friends the following day. We discovered that night that Colorado weather in the summer was like being surrounded by ice! We were not use to anything colder than sixty degrees and that night it was in the thirties! We snuggled up as close as possible, but the chill stayed with us. The warmth of the sun the following day was like a gift from heaven.

We met with several friends early and soon we all got together to go for a hike along a wooded path that our friends had been on several times in the past. It was the solstice. What better way to celebrate than with friends in the forests of Colorado. And what we found at the end of the path was a huge waterfall surrounded by giant trees and bounded by boulders. It was one of the most peaceful places I had ever been. Each of us stood in awe at the majesty of the waterfall and the terrain, and each of us sat down, closed our eyes, and listened to the roar of the water. We could hear the birds above the roar, and we thanked God for all the blessings we received. It made the previous freezing night worthwhile.

A couple of the people we shared that solstice with were friends that we had never met before. And a couple of years later we wondered why we ever met them after one friend in particular turned out to be quite horrible with us and with all of the people she met. But, I realized later that the blessings I felt then were still with me no matter how terrible things appeared to be later. I learned that the holy instant is mine to choose regardless of what seems to be going on. And I learned that no matter what is going on in my life I can choose again. A Course In Miracles has a phrase that I forget about often, but when I remember it makes a difference to me. The phrase is: "I can choose peace instead of this."

 --- © by Ray Hart

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