THE FLOW

3-20-12 THE FLOW by Duncan E. Wheeler

Lesson 3 – “A Hard Nut To Crack!”

     As my usual habit, I always arrived ten to fifteen minutes before I was suppose to be anywhere. I guess that it made me feel more comfortable being where I was suppose to be a little early, just in case of some unforseen event falling before me. Well, that was my habit anyway.

     Three days earlier, I found myself at the coffee shop exactly fifteen minutes before seven in the morning, sitting and waiting for Eddie. About ten minutes later, I found myself waving Eddie over to our usual table. Eddie ambled over, folded his jacket over the back of the chair and took his seat. He cast a look around the coffee shop that I noticed right away, his eyeing of his fellow patrons was not a very welcoming site, and most people could sense it. There were a few people to which he gave a favorable glance, and even sometimes a smile. Charlie and his son for instance always seemed to be greated by Eddie with much respect and a gracious smile. This puzzled me for a while, but I finally  figured out the problem and began my plans to address and hopefully fix the problem.

     His breathing  exercises seemed to be helping Eddie’s internal problems, but, as I had told him at the beginning, much more had to be done to totally bring him back to himself. You see, Eddie was kind of like one of those nuts which very difficult to crack, but once you got inside, you found a great delight. The only problem with this kind of nut is that if you hit it too hard, you may crush the tasty inside, and if you hit it too softly, well, you never get in in the first place.

     Over the past three weeks of our meetings, we had come up with three hard and fast rules; 1 – Never talk about work, 2 — Never complain about anything, and 3 – Try our best to notice the nice things going on around us. I know this may sound silly, but believe me, it was completely necessary. Especially in Eddie’s case. His veiw on the world around him had to change, and change in a big way! These were the first steps. Simple steps, but all first steps are fairly simple.

     “Good morning Eddie!”

     Eddie sat down to his steaming cup of coffee when Charlie’s son Stephen came over and put it down on the table. “Good morning Duncan. Good morning Stephen! How’s Charlie today?”

     I just smiled at Eddie’s greeting to me.

     “Dad’s doing great this morning Mr. Harris! He said to tell you hello.” Stephen hurried off to attend the other quests at the shop.

     “Good boy that Stephen!”

     “Yes he is.” I replied. “Eddie, why do you think that you don’t address everyone else with the same enthusiasm as you do Charlie and Stephen?”

     “Well, I don’t know them do I?”

     “I think that you do.”

     “How do you mean? Of course I don’t know them!”

     I thought for a moment. “Do you know all of your clients?”

     “Of course I know them. I’ve read all of their files. Everything that I need to know is right there.”

     “Are some of your clients guilty of the crimes of which they are charged?” I asked, matter-of-factly.

     “Certainly they are, and you know it! But, they are given the right to a defense to the best of my abilities.”

     “So, if you saw them on the street, you really couldn’t tell whether they were “good or bad” people.”

     “No! And its’ not my business!”

     “But the respect that you give them is more than you give to these people in this coffee shop.”

     Eddie stopped for a moment. “We’re breaking rule number one, no talking about work!”

     “No…we’re talking about people, and “snap” judgements. Never judge a book by its’ cover. As a matter-of-fact, I don’t even think you are even looking at the covers.” I smiled and took another sip of my coffee.

     “Just what are you getting at?!”

     “Just the fact that there are millions of people in this city alone, and I would  be  willing to bet that there maybe twenty or thirty that you might give “the time of day”".

     Eddie huffed and sipped his cup. “Maybe true. Maybe true.” But there are a significant percentage that are indeed guilty of something.

     “So if they were. Aren’t they afforded the same chance that your guilty clients are?!”

     Eddie’s cheeks puffed out. “I would imagine that they are.” He looked across the table. “What’s your point?!”

     “My point Eddie, is that there are so many people out there that deserve a chance from any one who can give them one. I’m not talking about giving them a buck or two, or a job. I’m simply saying to give them a smile, or maybe some sort of respect. Everyone deserves some form of respect.” I paused and took a deep breath. “You know, you may even get something in return.”

     “Something in return?! Like what?”

     “A smile, a hello, a nice gesture. You never know. Have your breathing exercises worked?”

     “Like a charm!”

     “Your next exercise will be just as simple, but maybe even more important.”

     “What’s that?” He said with a mixture of trepidation and excitement.

     “Open up a little. You don’t have to open yourself up a lot. Just try smiling at people. Saying hello from time to time. You might even try too stretch yourself and help someone whose having a hard time carring their groceries. See what happens. See how it makes you feel inside. I know that you have to be tough in the courtroom, but it doesn’t make you have to be a “tough nut” all of the time. Let some people in, let ‘em see the good stuff inside. You wont break. And you may see some good things you never thought you’d see before.”

     He looked at me for a while. “Well, the first lesson worked, so I’ll give it a shot. What do I have to lose?”

     “Nothing to lose, everything to gain.”

3-12-12 THE FLOW by Duncan E. Wheeler   

Lesson 2 – “Just Breathe”

     It was a beautiful Monday morning, although most everyone in the coffee shop seemed not to have noticed the nice Spring weather, the sunshine, not even the birds singing in the trees that lined the streets. No, everyone seemed to be in a bad humor and oblivious to everything going on around them. I had been sitting at the counter near the cash register and had heard a lot of their grumblings for the past fifteen or twenty minutes, until I had drained my cup and told Charlie to have a nice day. It was time to go to work.

     I hadn’t even really had a chance to get comfortable in my chair when my phone rang.

     “Mr. Wheeler?” A voice came through, loud and very business like. “This is Suzie, Mr. Harris’ assistant.” She continued in the same “all business” tone. “Mr. Harris would like to see you as soon as possible. Would you have a few minutes this morning?”

     This explained the questions I had. Normally my assistant would have told me who was calling, but all of the partners in the Firm have direct access to one another, and since  I am a new partner…well, that explains that.

     “Well,” I started. “I’m free right now if Mr. Harris can spare a few minutes.”

     “Right now would be perfect Mr. Wheeler.”

     “I’ll be right there.” I hung up the phone and began putting on my jacket. That was when the really big questions began to come to mind. Eddie Harris is the best litigator in the firm. When Eddie speaks, everyone listens. I’m the newest partner. I do contractual law. Why in the world would Eddie Harris want to see me?! And why so urgently?

     “Right this way Mr. Wheeler.” Suzie seemed to be much more congenial in person.

     As I walked through the opened door, I literally felt my jaw drop open. I thought my new office was nice…you could fit two of mine into this mahogony laden palace!

     “Come and have a seat Wheeler.” Eddie’s bellowing voice brought me back to my senses, and I sat down in a chair directly infront of his desk.

     “Two coffees please Suzie.”

     “Right away Mr. Harris.”

     “Well Mr. Harris…”

     “Its’ Eddie.” He returned gruffly.

     “Then call me Duncan.” I began, but somehow knew that that was his intention in the first place.

     “Duncan. Alright then, Duncan, I wont beat around the bush. I’m too busy, and I know you’ve got, well, whatever it is you do to get back to.”

     “Contracts.” I interjected.

     Eddie looked up at me. I scensed that he was surpresed that I had spoken.

     “Yes, contracts. Well, I suppose there are plenty of those to go over. Heaven knows I argue enough over contracts.”

     There was quite a long silence after that. Thank goodness Suzie had come  back in with her tray holding two steaming cups of coffee.

     I took a sip from my cup as Suzie left the room. “How did she know how I like my coffee?” I asked in amazement.

     “She knows how all of the partners in the firm take their coffee. Suzie’s a great assistant.” Another long silence followed these latest words of Suzie’s praise.

     “Well, Eddie,” I began again. “I know that you must have had a good reason for calling me into your office this morning.”

     Eddie looked to see that  his door had been closed, although I doubt that anyone could have heard us from across his huge office. “Yes, yes, yes.” He looked around room again. “Look, I’m going to be straight with you.”

     “I wish you would.” My smile slowly fell, and I took another sip of coffee.

     Before he began to speak again, Eddie gave me a very strange look. I felt as if I was being sized up for something. “Suzie had mentioned a few days ago that you have been with the firm for quite a while.”

     I didn’t interupt.

     “Before you became a partner…well  she said that you seemed to be a bit high strung.”

     “Well, that’s a pretty fair assessment.

     To my surprise, Eddie seemed to be relieved at this bit of news and found that he could go on. “What I’m about to tell you, Wheeler, has to stay within these four walls. Do you understand?!”

     I really didn’t know whether this was a question or a demand, but of course he could trust me. “Certainly. Nothing leaves this  office.”

     He again eye’d me for a moment and decdided to continue. “Suzie told me that you had seemed to have gone through some sort of transformation. Some sort of change, before you made partner. That you had gone from a neurotic nervous…oh, what ever you’d call it,”

     “Wreck?” I interjected.

     “Okay, wreck,” He went on. “to a calm, confident person overnight?”

     “Maybe not overnight, but yes.”

     “How’d you do it?!” Eddie’s eyes widened as he asked this all important question.

     “Eddie. I don’t know if I can explain…”

     “Look Man! I’m in trouble here!” He suddenly lowered his voice and said again. “I’m in trouble here. I’ve never looked to anyone for any kind of help, but I’m at my wit’s end. I’ve got trouble at home, kids starting college, a workload that would kill the average attorney, people’s very live’s and lively hood’s resting on my shoulders.” He paused for only a moment. “This is the first time that I’ve ever felt this way.” He let out a deep sigh. “I don’t know what to do with these…these feelings. I’ve never had anything like this, I’ve never felt anything like this before. When Suzie noticed it in me, I knew that I was in some sort of trouble. She’s the one that suggested that I speak with you. Suzie’s been with me for the past twenty-two years, I trust her judgement.” He eye’d me for a moment. “And don’t even think that Suzie and I…”

     “No Eddie! I don’t think that at all. I think that you’re lucky to have someone that knows you that well.”

     “I just didn’t know if you might have gotten the wrong idea.”

     “No. Not at all.” I reassured him.

     “I’m asking for your help Duncan. Can you help me?”

     “Eddie? Help with what exactly? I mean, it sounds like you have normal stresses and you work too much.”

     “I work just enough thank-you. And my stresses are normal, but there’s something more. I can’t sleep, I’ve lost my appetite. My appetite for food, the courtroom,” He let out a loud sigh. “for life in general.” He hung his head. “There you have it.”

     At that moment a funny feeling came into the pit of my stomache. I can’t really expain it, but my heart began to sort of tingle. JOE was talking to me, I could tell. Eddie needed my help, and Joe had taught me to help others. This was the first time that I was called upon though, and it threw me. What could I do?! What do I do first?

     I looked again at Eddie. He was looking down at his desk. He looked like he might have a heart attack at any moment. I knew that I had to do something, I knew that…but what?

     It came to me all of the sudden. Big letters flashed before my eyes. They found their way out of my mouth before I could even attempt to stop them. “BREATHE!” I bellowed.

     Eddie’s head jerked up. “Breathe?! I am breathing! What do you mean, breathe? This is some of that New Age garbage isn’t it?!”

     “New Age is a term coined that usually means going back to the old ways of doing something. Anyway, who cares if it is or isn’t? You need help, I’m going to help you.” I thought for a moment. “But only on two conditions.”

     “And they are?” Eddie eye’d me suspiciously.

     “One – You keep an open mind, and two – you meet me at the coffee shop on the corner every morning before work.”

     “Why?! So we can Breathe?!”

     “Do you want my help or not?”

     “Can you help me?”

     “I can.”

     “Alright. Open mind and coffee shop.”

     “Okay. I want you to breathe.”

     “Dad-blast-it man, I am breathing!”

     “Not like that.” I closed my eyes and heard what I needed to relay to Eddie. “Close your eyes Eddie.”

     Eddie did so, but not without a huff of disgust.

     “Now breathe in through your nose slowly while you count out seven seconds. Don’t fill up your diaphram, let your belly fill up. If your chest moves up, your  not doing it right. If your belly moves up, you know that your doing it properly. Now hold your breath for three seconds, then breathe out slowly through your mouth while you  count out eight seconds. Its’ important that you don’t let out all of your air. Its’ never good to exhale all of your air. And when your breathe in, picture all GOOD things coming into your body, mind and spirit. Hold those things in while you are holding your breath for three seconds and let them soak in to every part of you. Then, as you exhale, picture yourself breathing out all negative things from yourself. Repeat this for ten minutes when you wake up in the morning and again before you go to sleep at night.

     Eddie stared at me blankly.

     “Give it a try.”

     Eddie did as I had told him. As the time went by, I could see the tension start to leave his face. By the end of the ten minutes, Eddie looked like a different person.

     “Its’ working!” He exclaimed. “I feel…lighter. Yeah, lighter. He sounded almost as if he were euphoric. “You’re a genius!” He laughed.

     “You can do this too in shorter sessions if you get stressed during the day or night.”

     “I’m cured!”

     “No. You’ve just begun. There’s more than breathing exercises if you want to get back to normal.”

     “Okay, okay. I can’t believe the difference though.”

     “Where are you going to be tomorrow morning?” I asked.

     “The coffee shop on the corner. Say seven o’clock?!” He asked excitedly.

     “Seven o’clock it is.” I repeated. “Don’t be late.”

     As I got up and began to leave the room, I looked back and saw something that I had never seen before…Eddie Harris smiling.

     “Remember Eddie,” I said as I closed the door. “Just Breathe.”

2-2-2012               THE FLOW  by Duncan E. Wheeler

Having changed our company server since I last posted, I was surprised to find much of my writings on THE FLOW disappeared. Gone were the lessons on Meditation and Self-Hypnosis and many of the practices and lessons  literally went up in smoke, however, I am running an endless search and will have them reposted as soon as possible. Thank goodness I wrote all this down in a notebook with a pen years ago.

I have decided to move on to weekly writings on THE FLOW which will allow people to follow it and master the practice. It is not an organized religion of any kind as a matter of fact THE FLOW was given to me as a practise of life which makes your daily walk with our Creator a more close one.

As a review here are the seven tenents of THE FLOW.

1.) KNOW THAT THE INFINITE ENERGY OF THE DIVINE LIVES IN ALL CREATION AND LOVES EACH ONE OF US AND EVERY LIVING CREATURE EQUALLY. THIS ENERGY IS GOD HE IS MAGNIFICANT AND INFINITE.

2.) LIVE WITH THE INTENTION OF RESPECTING AND GLORIFYING THE DIVINE IN ALL LIFE.

3.) BEING A CREATION OF THE DIVINE MEANS ACKNOWLEDGING GOD’S PRECSENCE IN YOURSELF AND FREELY GIVING THAT LOVE TO OTHERS.” WE ARE BLESSED SO THAT WE MAY BLESS OTHERS!”

4.)  PRAY AND MEDITATE IN ORDER TO STAY CONNECTED THROUGHOUT YOUR DAY WITH GOD. PRAYER IS TALKING TO GOD: MEDITATING IS LISTENING TO GOD. WE NEED TO DO EACH DAILY. (MEDITATIVE PRAYER AND LIVING IN THE CREATOR)

5.) KNOW THAT BEING CONNECTED TO THE DIVINE MEANS THAT YOU ARE A PART OF GOD AND HAVE ENDLESS RESERVES FOR YOURSELF AND TO GIVE TO OTHER. AS WELL IT GIVES YOU THE CAPASITY TO LOVE OTHERS.

6.) RECOGNIZE THE UNIVERSAL TRUTH OF MANIFESTING YOUR INTENTIONS. YOU ARE WHAT YOU THINK. AND YOU ARE ONLY LIMITED BY THE CONCEPTS OF YOUR OWN MIND.

7.) RECOGNIZE THE UNIVERSAL TRUTH OF KARMA: WHAT YOU PUT OUT INTO THE WORLD WILL COME BACK TO YOU IN KIND. YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW.

THESE ARE THE SEVEN KEYS TO THE FLOW. IF PRACTISED IN YOUR LIFE’S JOURNEY THEY WILL BRING YOU CLOSER TO THE CREATOR AND BRING BALANCE AND JOY TO YOUR LIFE.

WALK WITH ME: BY DUNCAN E. WHEELER

As I was meditating the other day, I heard a voice it was a soft voice that resonated in my head. “Walk with me ” was what I heard. Then I heard it again and again. I began to speak and the words cut me short. So, I began to think, I thought of the fourth key to pray and meditate to communicate with my creator. But still the voice whispered, “walk with me.” I found myself wishing Joe were here. Sitting across from me, so that he could tell me what it meant. But as Joe had told me he was always with us all. Although we normally cannot see him he is there. Joe, I thought, what is it that your telling me I asked? The voice came back again, ” walk with me.” but I am doing that I am doing that right now.   

“ Right now you are praying and meditating this is good, it is necessary. You have taken what I have taught you and have carried on quiet nicely. The voice was so beautiful my heart felt at ease. I lost myself in the moment. When I was with you we walked together and spoke everyday, now you think of me often and pray and meditate. You practise what I have taught you and that is good. But you have forgotten one thing.”

 The words hung in the air while my mind raced. But before a question even formed completely his answer came back. ” What I need you to remember is life is a practise in all that I have taught you. Yes, you are kind to others. You do unto them as you would have them do unto you. We have our time together. But you haven’t noticed many of the things I have sent your way. The things I have made for you.”

 But I began…

 ” Did you notice the leaves change colors? Or the flocks and flocks of blackbirds that passed your office window before the cold set in?”

I tried to remember but soon gave up. Guilty as charged I thought.

“Yes you are but you are not being judged only gently reminded. All things are from me. From me to you and all my creation. They are to be enjoyed.”

Joe senced my hesitation and answered my unasked question. “Nothing is bad. No, Nothing!  You have options in your way of thinking that make you preceive bad things happening. Even a storm brings rain and with it new and continuious life.”

What about the bad things people do I interjected? “if it weren’t for that he answered think of all the jobs the legal system would lose.”

I paused.

“That was a joke Joe retorted! There are some things that are not good that happen. But those things are done by a human’s concious decision. They are not the things I give.”

 I smiled as my head filled with pictures of flowers blooming, puppies playing and birds flying. My smile dropped as I realized all I had missed over the past several months.

 ”Not to worry came Joe’s voice again. It hasn’t ended just yet.” And I could hear the laughter in his voice.” Just walk with me I heard again there are many many gifts I have in store for you. Walk with me and enjoy the sites, sounds and gifts. Walk with me in every moment, life is my gift to you.

The end. 

2-21-11 – When It Raines, It Pours…And What A Wonderful Life That Makes! – By Duncan E. Wheeler

For the past few nights, I have slept like a baby! For some reason, my mattress, pillows, sheets and blankets (the whole bed, for that matter), was so comfortable that I felt as though I was literally sleeping on a wonderfully soft cloud. No discomforts at all!

As I made my way to the coffee shop, I suddenly noticed how comfortable my shoes had become. Had I worn them in, as my dad had always said? For that matter, my clothes were even more comfortable than I could ever remember them being, not that they were ever really uncomfortable, but things like my tie (which was tied in a perfect “full Windsor” for once), was not too tight and my jacket was not weighing me down at all. Oh well, Thank Joe for both the large, and even the smallest of blessings (which right now included my great comfort level).

I bound through the door of the shop and sat in my regular seat, across from Joe. “Good morn…” I began.

Joe lifted his hand, and my mouth automatically closed. “I’m not wishing to be rude in the least.” Joe began. “I just wanted to start this day off with work”. He paused for a second and gave me a half cocked grin. “Do you remember what I told you a few days ago…about life being about “enjoyment”, “learning”, and “work”? Of course I’m paraphrasing Myself.” He finished with a slight snicker.

I nodded my head, not really knowing whether I should actually speak or not.

“You can answer Raine, if you wish. I wont bite off your head, or even smite the coffee shop.” He looked up for a moment. “No, definitely not smite the shop…the coffee is too good. But I do want you to pay attention to what I have to say for a few minutes.” He went on, “I told you this about mixing pleasure, learning, and working so that you’d know that ALL of these things have their place in not only the growth of your Spirit, but also in the way things have been set up in the Universe. You can’t have only one thing in your life, you must combine things so that you have a fully rounded life.”

“I also told you that all of my teachings must be “melded” together. The points of these two ideas is that “one” thing cannot bring you total knowledge, pleasure or anything else. It takes a practice of several disaplines at the same time to achieve what I’ve created for you to achieve.” He waited for a minute or so, “Do you see what I’m driving at?”

I didn’t answer instantly, but I did roll it around in my brain before my answer came out. “Yes Sir, I see exactly what You’re saying. By melding all of the things you’ve taught me, I see that you’ve shown me that We are a part of One Another, and everything that exists. You are my Father, I am Your child. I carry Your Genes inside my soul, and with a mixture of seeing the beauty of what You’ve given us, inside and out, learning through my meditations and talks with You, and working to put all of these things into action, I Will achieve what You want Your children to achieve. By showing people how to live by my own example, they see You in me, and they begin to grow in You. It starts a cycle that will grow and grow.”

Joe’s expresion was inexplicable. “You’ve got it My Child. My Raine. My carrier of the things necessary for my other children to grow. Then they in turn will show others how to grow”.

“Now comes the big question.”

I felt perplexed. “I thought That was The Big Question.”

“No. Thats’ only the first question. How do I accomplish what My Creator wants me to do.” He paused, “The Big Question is…What is it exactly that He wants me to do, using what I’ve learned so far?”

“To answer this, just ask yourself what you’ve learned so far.”

“Well…” I started slowly, “I’ve learned how to meditate to relax then to come closer to You.”

“Yes.”

“I’ve learned how my mind, heart, and Soul are connect and control my body.”

“Keep going.”

“I’ve learned how to help heal myself with this information. I’ve learned how to Meditatively Pray to bring myself even closer to You. How to Love all of my fellow creations and appreciate them, see You in them, be kind to them and have compassion for all.” I searched my mind, and felt the connection between my Mind, Heart, and Soul, “That everything has been created by You, and has a life, and not only a life, but a life that will Never go away…only, one day, change form, because life is energy, Your energy, and it can Never be destroyed.” I waited for a few seconds before I said the next words, “And most of all, I’ve learned How To Love…without conditions.” And as I looked down at the table, I finished, “And to Love Myself, not just because I should, but also because I am a Part Of My Creator, Joe, and I Love You More Than I Can Even Describe.”

“That, Raine, is very, very good. We will meditate on these things for a few days, and learn some new things. There are other things you’ve learned that you don’t even realize yet, but they’ll  come to you. The next question is one that will change you forever…How are all of these things connected, and how can I help them to connect. When you learn the answers to these things, you will really be able to walk the path that I have set out for you. And these things you will learn.

Yours In THE FLOW,

Duncan E. Raine Wheeler

2-20-2011-Parable – The Gift of Raine – by Duncan E.Wheeler

                                                              

( Reminder: Know that being connected to the Divine means that you are part of God and have endless reserves for yourself and to give and love other)

  Joe and I spent most of the rest of the week laughing, playing, and just having fun. That was until this morning.

I was brushing my teeth. I enjoy this part of my morning ritual because it wakes me up even more than my morning shower. I was feeling all warm and toasty inside Joe and I had a great meditative session and I was ready to start the day.When suddenly Joe’s face turned up behind mine in the mirror and almost gave me a heart attack.  Joe! I exclaimed I thought you had work for me to do and here you are trying to kill me in my own bathroom. My heart almost stopped. Joe laughed and said I just would have shocked you back to life like on all the hospital dramas on TV. You could tell Joe was in an exceptionally good mood as was I, but I knew that something was up. Joe gave me a stern look and said it is lesson day we have had enough play. Life is to enjoy but it is also to learn and work. That is how you grow and today you will grow big time. I rushed and finished in the bathroom and headed straight for the kitchen. Where Joe already had his coffee and was seated at the table bowler hat beside his cup. I asked Joe, Your not gonna threaten me with that hat again are you? I will if you don’t come sit down. I chuckled as I made my way across the room and made my self comfortable at the table. Raine he began. I interrupted I cannot get use to you calling me Raine. Joe simply reminded me of the name changes of so many great people that had he had changed their names. Get use to it. Someday you will come to appreciate it because it will mean something very special to you. It will remind you of the man that you have become. Since you brought up last week do you remember the plant growth analogy? I answered, Yes very well thank you. He went on… have you been giving it any thought. I have been giving it a lot of thought but it is pretty straight forward. DO you really think so? Is anything I do straight forward? I guess not I said with a frown. Then let’s go back and talk about the meaning. Raine whether you think so or not no matter what you call it. Everything is a living creature, everything has a soul, and everything has something like a heart that brings the nutrition and oxygen or whatever it needs to the parts of it’s body. Did you know that even rocks and water are living creatures. How so I asked? Everything is made up of energy that energy comes in the form of an atom, and as I  have mentioned you cannot destroy an atom you can only change it’s form. You cannot destoy energy. When your body dies from this earth the energy in your body will just move on to another plane. Some people call it everlasting life, some heaven, others call it other things. But most know it to be true and it is a TRUTH. Only when you leave this earth there is no more suffering because you have learned what you needed to learn and you have practiced what you have learned.  All of this happens because you are part of me you are my child and I love you and I don’t abandon anything I love.  And I want you to know that mankind is the most special creature I have ever made. For reasons of my own I wanted something in the universe that could come as close to Me as possible and believe or not Kid that is mankind.

  In your ninth grade class who was your best friend. That was an easy question to answer his name was Tim Duplissy. You knew something was wrong with him but you didn’t know what and you where afraid to ask. Then one day your grandmother passed away and you had to go to Shreveport to her funeral. Tim had just gone into the hospital and you were very worried about him. When you got home the first thing you did was call and Tim’s mother informed you that he had died two days ago. But she went on to say that he had asked for you for the past two days. She knew that it wasn’t your fault that you had to be out of town. But he cared about you so much she thought you ought to know that. That was a life changing moment for you. And it is about to be again. Because I am here to tell you that the moment he passed he was in no more pain, he had no more suffering, and he saw nothing but beauty and felt nothing but love. So you can let your feelings of guilt go. Living as I teach you there is no need for guilt. Guilt only exists outside of my teachings. And you my child have no reason to feel guilty. Now let me ask you a question Raine. Why do you think that everyone looks and acts differently than everyone else. Well, Joe, it would probably be a very boring place to live if we were all the same. Joe pointed a short finger at me and became very excited exactly! Exactly! We are all different because I made your soul in My image and I gave you the greatest gift of all the freedom of choice. Not to long ago you came to me and told me you weren’t wanting to hurt My feelings but you wanted to give the gift of your free will back to Me and only live the will that I have for you. You wanted to be My vessel. That is when I came to you. That is probably the most important decision you have ever made. Because it opened you up completely to the possibilities of anything. If people say that I am capable of anything why do so many put Me in a box. Why do people say God wouldn’t do that or cannot do this but then say God can do anything?  You realized that I can do anything. And you didn’t want to drive your own boat or be captain of your own ship you wanted Me to lead you in your life because deep down your knew anything was possible in Me. Everything I have given you on this earth to eat, to sleep in to enjoy, is all you need. Man has ruined a lot of things that I have given you that were good with pesticides, poisons, not to mention that man created  war and everything that came along with it. The atom is a good example of that. It was meant to be good but now it is used for bombs to destroy people. I asked why do people want to kill one another? There is enough death in this world as it is and it is meant to be. Joe simply shrugged and said when you mix a pure soul with the humanity of the body it is a very lethal mixture. Sometimes it can go well and sometimes it can go very very wrong. But I created you this way on purpose. I made you this way because I wanted you to be like Me and search Me out and you have done just that and so have many others. Just remember you are never alone you always have Me. Because we are a part of each other. Think about what I have said not just today but since we have met. And you will find a more peaceful and productive life.

Yours In THE FLOW

Duncan E. “Raine” Wheeler

2-15-2011 – Parable – Key 5, Session 1 – “Rain” – by Duncan Wheeler

I strode into the coffee shop like I owned the place! I felt like I was “on top of the world!” Sitting down, I took a drink of my perfectly made coffee, and said, “Joe, I love this time we spend together. I use to not be a real morning person.”

“Oh, believe me, I know. You wouldn’t believe the difficulty I would have just getting you out of bed to go to school! You were such a stubborned young man.” He paused for a moment a gave a sigh, “Thank goodness you’ve changed that habit.”

Time seemed to go by so fast as we laughed, talked and generally just had a great morning. But as I glanced at the clock from time to time, I noticed that the hands weren’t moving as quickly as they should’ve been, or at least they didn’t seem to be moving as I thought they should’ve been. But I wasn’t complaining one bit! “Joe, are you messing with the time?” I asked sheepishly.

“Well, maybe a bit.” He said with a wide grin. “I wanted us to have a little fun today before we started our next lesson.” He looked around quickly. “Its’ not like I messed up any clocks or anything. No one will be late for anything. And look around, they’re all enjoying themselves. Even the normally sulky ones are smiling. No, I just slowed time a bit. I can do that you know. Many might even say that I’m well known for it. That is, those that know that its’ me doing it in the first place.” He leaned forward and smiled, ”And we’ve had a good time haven’t we?”

“I’ve had a great time!”

“Well then, nothing worse for ware. Now let’s get down to business.” Joe took on a serious look for a moment, but couldn’t hold back His smile. “You’ve got a great imagination. Your visualizations are wonderful!” He exclaimed. “And so vivid!” He added. “You feel with your whole being. This is a very healthy thing, and one you’ll keep forever. You should be very happy about that.” He took another sip of His coffee. “I can feel your Spirit growing everytime we speak. Much more growth than when you were younger and simply reciting prayers taught to you by your parents. And even when you were a younger man, and your prayers became more personal, you still didn’t feel a truely strong connection with Me.” He took a breath, as if He was wondering what to say next, but I knew that He already knew His next words. “You’ve really been getting down to it. Listening to me, practicing what I teach you, giving everything a lot of thought. You’ve really grown since we’ve been together. I must say thank-you for this.”

I began to protest His saying ”thank-you”, but He simply lifted His hand, stopping me before I could even make a sound. “Duncan, its’ not only you who can say thank-you for something, I can too, when its’ appropriate. There have been many people throughout the ages that I’ve asked things of that have told me no, just because they didn’t believe in themselves, or didn’t believe that they could do it or handle the burden. I wish they just would have realized that when I ask something of someone, I am always there to help them through it. Every part of it!”

A long silence went by, as if Joe was recalling at least some of the things asked. “No Dunc, I never hold anything against anyone. I just always want them to know their full potential.”

Another long silence went by, “That’s whats’ meant by the fifth Key of THE FLOW: **Know that being connected to The Divine means that you are part of God and have endless reserves for yourself and to give to others, as well as to love others**.”  

“You see Dunc, all of my children are like seeds, coming straight from Me. Have you ever germinated a seed?” He asked.

“Yes…I have.” I replied, surprised at the question.

Joe looked me straight in the eyes, “Notice that the seed sits just under the soil for a little while, then one day you come outside to find that that seed has poked its’ head out of the ground, and has somehow grown three or four inches tall. The stalk is strong, and its’ leaves are healthy. Its’ carrying its’ parents’ DNA, and is now a survivor! And all that it took was a little time and a little rain. Yes, rain.” He said before I had the chance to repeat it.

“Rain carries the vitamins for your Belief to grow. It carries a natural health that makes you Trust in Me. And it carries with it the nutrients needed to give you Knowledge…Knowledge that was always inside you. Knowledge that you didn’t even know you had, but you did. It was always there because you are My Child and carry My Genes. I gave all of these things to you when you were created, when I put The Spirit, that part made in My Image, into you. Thats’ how much I love you all. Thats’ the Truth of it all.”

Joe looked as if He were going to shed a tear, but quickly pulled Himself together, “You all just need a little germinating and a little life giving water.”

“You know, every time I hold you, all of the time I’m in My home in your Soul, I feel you growing in every way. And I feel how strong The Soul is in everyone, in all of My creations I feel the strength of its’ life.”

Joe looked up again, away from His coffee cup, “You know Dunc, I believe that from now on, you will be known to me as Raine. The e on the end makes it a real name, but it means Rain all the same. Take this as an honor, and know My love for you.”

I was so choked up by now, all I could say was, “Thank-you Father.”

“You’ve grown so quickly and so strong in Me.” He smiled and cocked His head, “And you still have much to learn. And learn you will!” And again His smile came back across His beautiful, wizened face. “You will touch others, more than you can even fathom during your life here. And you touch Me. I’m proud of you.”

Joe cleared His throat, “Now, remember to practice your Meditative Prayers, know I’m with you always, and that you never have to do anything alone, I’m always there helping you.”

“Think about all that I’ve taught you so far, and remember to begin to meld them together. Its’ very important to your growth…in this life and the next.”

He sat up straight in his chair, “Now come-come, go-go…you mustn’t be late for work. I’m forever with you Raine, never forget!”

“I wont ever!” I squeezed out of my throat, as I got up and left the coffee shop. As I walked, from my head to my toes became warm, and continued on until they felt like they were on fire. But not a fire I had ever felt before. It felt a thousand times better than good. I felt like I could jump straight to the moon, which still hung in the sunlit sky. There was no hiding my joy nor my smile for a very long time to come!

Yours In THE FLOW,

Duncan E. Wheeler

2- 13-11 -  Meditation – Meditative Prayer (continued) - by Duncan Wheeler

Earlier in the week I spoke about Meditative Prayer. If you’ve  been keeping up with the lessons prior to it (THE FLOW & The Meditions and Self-Hypnosis Lessons), you do see how each has been built on the one before. This is very important because you have to have a sound foundation before you can add the parts that make up the end result of anything. My point is to keep practicing all of the lessons, and you’ll find that they all will fall into place. There’s no struggling or difficulty, they’ll come to you in your own time. So keep it up.

As all of you know, I have three Siberian Huskies. I’ve always been interested in the wild, and you can’t find a set of dogs that are as close to being wild than a Sibe. Yeah, they are domesticated, but only to a point. It’s fun and interesting to watch them. They do things that I’ve never seen other dogs do in my entire life. They remind me of a Timber Wolf in a lot of ways. I think that this is because Sibes are said to be one of the few dogs that The Almighty pointed to and said “This is a dog”, or if you follow an evolutionary trail, they were one of the few dogs that were evolved into what a wild dog is today. There are several dogs world-wide that can boast this, and most other dogs were particularly bred in order to have characteristics that the breeder wanted in that breed.

What I’m getting at is this; when these dogs were made, and however they came about, they were truly Pure dogs. They were given everything that they would need to live and survive in this world. That was The Lord’s gift to them so that they would live well and survive for many, many years to come. The same is true about our last lessons in Meditation and in Self-Hypnosis.

We were given gifts by our Maker that would ensure our survival for many, many years to come. We were led to eat certain foods to sustain our bodies, and when we were ready, we moved on to include other foods which expanded our minds. None of these things were accidents. They were, and are still, Gifts From Our Divine.

I want you to give this a lot of thought, and continue to practice all of our prior lessons until they all meld together – leaving you with the ability to combine them and practice them your life over. Remember that they are Gifts, and are meant to be practiced and used throughout your life. They’ll make your life better, and the lives of All of God’s Creations Better; bringing you closer to what Our Maker wants us to be!

Remember this in tomorrow’s lesson about “Joe”. We will be starting the fifth “Key” to THE FLOW. That Key goes something like this: “Know that being connected to The Divine means that you are part of God, and have endless reserves and resources for yourself, your family, and to give to others, and the capacity to Love All Others with your entire Being”. Of course thats’ a paraphrase of the fifth “Key”, but I think that you see how all of these TRUTHS and practices work together.

Give it some thought, practice your meditation today and get ready for your  lesson from “Joe” tomorrow. I can’t wait to share with you what happens next!

Yours In THE FLOW,

Duncan E. Wheeler

2-10-2011-Self Hypnosis-By Duncan E. Wheeler

Hi Friends,

You know how things come up in life and you meet a person, that you feel so fortunate to have met. You just know that the Universe sent him to you. That is exactly what happen to me yesterday when I met Chris Busby of Busy Bee Plumbing. Chris was the first person to be recommended to me when I called Faucet Parts. To make a long story short, Chris spent his entire day not only putting in a new faucet but since my building had been plumbed incorrectly in the first place he re-plumbed the entire kitchen. Guess what? He wasn’t like anyone else , he could have raked me over the coals but his belief in Joe/GOD was profound, he gave us a huge gift. So thank you Chris and anyone in south Alabama can now find him on Angie’s List.

Now on to our self hypnosis lesson for the day. Have you ever been hurt badly shot, broken leg, or painful malady? This practice will help you in dealing with that pain. I was once shot in the leg. Unfortunately it shattered my bone. Being shot hurts in the first place but a shattered bone probably hurts worse, of course the doctor’s gave me pain killers but I have found that pain killers are designed not to kill pain but rather numb your mind. Here is where self hypnosis is introduced into meditation and your ability to concentrate on one fixed point. I began to think what would help this pain in my leg more than anything. I knew that a rich blood flow would bring oxygen and healing to the bone but I did not want to start bleeding from the wound. I also knew that higher endorphins would send natural pain killers to the wound. With these two things in mind I went into a light meditation. I began my backward count, to lower my heart rate and to begin to visualize that part of my body that was hurt. As I got down to zero I felt as if my entire being was inside that part of the body that had been wounded. I envisioned my self lifting my arms and mentally calling to my leg that healthy blood flow and what I thought endorphins would look like. After a few minutes my leg began to become warm, the pain didn’t subside completely but it was a far cry better than it had been the entire day. I stayed in this self hypnosis state for four or five minutes although it felt a lot longer. When I came out of this state I was able to sleep. I believe sleep is the best healer. When I woke up my leg was not throbbing but it had begun to hurt again. I decided to wait and not over use this practice but only use it when I felt I really needed it.  I did it again that night and slept throughout the entire night for the first time since the incident. It wasn’t a wow moment. But the doctors did say that I was very healthy because  I healed more quickly than most. To me this was do to the simple practice that I just explained to you.  When self hypnosis and meditation and rich visualization come together they are a powerful force. They are a powerful force because they were given to you by the Divine to help when accidents do occur. Always go to your doctor it is the smart thing to do, but treat your body as it is meant to be treated. As your own.  And do what you can do to sooth and heal yourself. The parts of the body that we have discussed the heart the soul and the mind, are powerful gifts that we are meant to use; use them and use them wisely.. I hope you never have to practice this but keep it in your mind just in case. By the way this also works great on headaches.  So have a great day and a pain free life.

Yours In THE FLOW,

Duncan E. Wheeler

 

                   2-7-2011 – Meditation – TRUTHS and Meditative Prayers – By Duncan E. Wheeler

The last time I wrote about Meditation was on 9-20-2010. As I read that last article on Meditation, I realized that there had to be more mention of a couple of the things that we spoke about.

TRUTHS: TRUTHS (and I always put this in all caps because I’m not simply talking about “telling the truth”, but am referring to The Pure TRUTHS of The Almighty…laws, if you will, that make up the Universe). Now, it would be impossible for me to list, or even to know for instant recall, all of God’s TRUTHS. But make no mistake, they are all engrained in our soul and there for us to pull from…and are all from of our Creator. We know it in our soul. That part which He put into us, blew into us, or in any other way made a part of us when we were created. That which was made in His image and makes us His children by His own DNA. A Divine TRUTH cannot be debated, argued, or even changed to suit our needs. Its simply a Universal TRUTH laid down by Our Almighty.

Does this sound like a sermon? Maybe. But it really isn’t. I just want to let everyone know that these TRUTHS that have been given to me to share with you are as solid as anything could possibly be. And God will show to each and everyone of us the TRUTHS that He wants us to know, use to help others, yourself and family, to do His Work, Works, and Will…in this and the next life. And finally, these TRUTHS bind THE FLOW together, and are the reason for the integration of Meditation and Self-Hypnosis in the practice of THE FLOW. Meditation and Self-Hypnosis help us to get out of our “shell” on earth, and rejoin our God in a fully Pure way, and help to make clear The TRUTHS we are given.

Meditative Prayer: This is the most intiment and best way of coming closer to my Maker that I have ever come across. The ability to relax into your meditation, leave yourself and go to your Creator and bask in His ultimate warmth and love. I can think of nothing more powerful or fulfilling in any part of me. And in this place of total bliss, we can speak to and listen to our God! What a wonderful thought. What a wonderful TRUTH! What a wonderful place to be! Isn’t it GREAT to know that we all have this Eden to access and a way to totally communicate with our TRUE FATHER/MOTHER…ALMIGHTY CREATOR. The one entity that truely loves us for us, and always will!

So, my point to this article is this: although I hope that you have been practicing THE FLOW and the Meditations and Self-Hypnonsis’, know that from this point on in “The Essense of THE FLOW” the lessons and practices have been built on such a strong foundation that the rest of these lessons will set you on a course that will blow your mind, and bring you so close to God that you are with Him every second of everyday. That is my wish for everyone, and this is my call from The Almighty. I intend to see it through to the very letter God leads me to do.

Please go through all of the lessons and practices in this entire column. They build on one another, and will lead you to the place we all long to be. We have several more “Keys” to go through with “Joe”, and as many Meditations and Self-Hyp lessons to go over. And after that, it will not be over. More stories, studies, and encouragements for your own studies will come.

I hope you all come along for them all, regardless of you religion, denomination, or even if you are at a place of not being sure of what you believe at this moment. Our Divine Creator Loves Us All The Same and doesn’t even ask that we come to Him…He comes to us at every opportunity we will give Him.

So keep up the studies, and I look forward to seeing you here and hearing from you.

I hope all of your days are blessed!

Yours In THE FLOW,

Duncan E. Wheeler

2-4-2011-Parable - Key 4, Session 3 – Cheers!-by Duncan E. Wheeler

( Reminder: The Fourth Key to the Essence of The Flow is – pray and meditate throughout the day in order to stay connected to God. Prayer is talking to God, Meditating is Listening. We need to do both. We call it Meditative Prayer.)

After I left the coffee shop I had a marvolous day at  work  and an even better more restful night. The next morning my routine flew by and I found myself walking through the coffee shop doors. I went straight to our table and sat down taking a drink from my cup. Joe began laughing and I looked at him quizzically? He held out his hand and said I am sorry, I have got to calm down before we talk Duncan. But I am so excited! Duncan laughed and said YOU get excited? And Joe said yes, yes!!! Look at all the great things going on in the world today. Duncan said, “What great things are going on in the world today?’ Joe’s smile dropped and he said, I would hit you with my bowler hat but I am afraid I would hurt you. Sometimes you don’t see the forest for the tree. Good things Duncan, good things, good people pulling together to make this world a better place. Don’t you ever read behind the lines of the news. Don’t you ever look at what is going on with the people and not the establishment. I thought for a minute and said well what about all the bad things. Joe shook his head and said Duncan  haven’t you realized by now that I don’t make bad things they make themselves. So I concentrate on taking bad things and making wonderful things come out of them. I know I have told you this already, I was hoping you would remember. But if you only look at the bad things, things only get worse. But… if you look for goodness in the world, search it out and act on it, you become a catalyst for good things in the world. And it spreads like wildfires. It comes by the truckload and it affects everyone and everything around you. Just live a positive life and you will create a positive world for yourself and others. I thought for a minute and said okay I get the picture. But Joe it is harder to practice than to visualize. No it is not, Joe exclaimed! I have laid the ground work in the first three Keys that I have taught you so that you would have a solid foundation in The Flow. What I am teaching you now is the finishing touches, they will make your life and world a better place and you will leave it better than  you found it.  But it is very important that you remember the things I have taught you and the things that I am teaching you now. They are not conceptual only; they take daily practice and I expect no less than you best efforts. Let’s move on Dunc. You’re now fully aware of Me and You being a piece of one another I am your Father and you are my child. Your soul carries my DNA. That is important for you to remember. You can reach me anytime because I am always with you. This is My gift to you. One of many gifts that I have given you. You will realize the others in time. We already have a beautiful relationship let’s keep it going and growing.  Joe stopped talking and I started thinking… Joe I have noticed how everything in my life has changed since I opened up to you. Now I cannot wait for each new day. I can’t even wait to meet each new person. My life is so much happier and fulfilled. But I want to know something?  When we go on in this teaching and learning process will you still be in my everyday life. I don’t know if I could take it if you disappeared. That is not anything you have to worry about Joe said. As a matter of fact, since we are apart of each other you may even get tired of me from time to time. I love to talk. And I wouldn’t want you to get tired of that. I raised my cup and said then to two talkers! May we never get tired of hearing each others voice. Joe took a sip of his coffee and said Cheers my son!

Yours in The Flow,

Duncan E. Wheeler

                   2 .2.2011-The Flow-Key 4, Session 2 – Parable-Bowler Hat-by Duncan E. Wheeler

   Joe disappeared into the shadows while I got ready for work but it wasn’t like he was gone. I could feel him inside me and all around me.

  I found myself whistling on the way to the diner. And I noticed that no one whistles anymore. They did in all the old movies, I wonder if they did it in real life. All I know is that I was happy inside and whistling all the way to the diner. Before I got to the diner I could see Joe’s bowler hat sitting on the table like I had seen it so many times before. I saw it with such clarity and it always made my stomach lurch with anticipation. What would I be learning today? But, something was different there was no anticipation in my gut only peace. And as I rounded the corner there was Joe sitting in his regular seat and there where pancakes already in front of him and in front of my seat. I sat down and smiled back at Joe. When his grin reached it full capacity. You are almost finished Joe and I haven’t even started with mine. Joe said that is because you are suppose to listen today and not talk. I dug into my pancakes and said I am all ears go ahead. Joe told me, that up until this morning,  He was laying the groundwork for me to grow and blossom. Now it is time to do just that. Here is the first thing I want you to know, as I have told you before, praying is talking to me; meditating is listening. I want you to practice a new form of meditation which is called meditative prayer. When you meditate don’t just put you problems and worries and concerns on the table. Tell them to me then wait for my answer. I might show it to you or I might tell it to you. But your job is to open and be aware. Now when you get use to the meditative prayer, I want you to realize that you don’t have to be in a special place or take a certain amount of minutes, time is what we make of it. So when you feel the want to tell me something or ask a question do it then. Time will slow down and I will talk to you.This is living in one another, this is being my child, this is truely the beginning of your education and our relationship with one another.Learn to speak to me in your mind and in your soul. Then he laughed, mainly because you would look like an insane person talking aloud all the time with no one there. But I live inside you and from that place I will lead you through life and into the greatest life you could ever imagine. Think this through ask what you want but not right now. Let it sink in and enjoy your pancakes.

Yours in The Flow,

Duncan E. Wheeler

Note – To read the entire “Essence of THE FLOW”, you must start at the bottom of this entire column and read upward to the top.

01.31.11 -The Flow - Key 4, Session 1 - Parable – Thinking – by Duncan E. Wheeler

 ”The eyes are the windows to the soul”. I couldn’t get it out of my mind. I couldn’t stop thinking about everything be a blessing, even if we didn’t know it. No one likes to think of a death or an illness as being a blessing, and I guess that’s not what I was thinking of. I was thinking of the German lessons, the birds, butterflies, even different seasons of the year. They’re all  blessings…gifts from Joe! Even things we haven’t even seen yet. That got me to thinking about another thing Joe mentioned that morning…my special time with just me and Him.

     Now that I had gotten to know Joe in a way I never thought possible, my prayer life and meditation time would never be the same. I KNEW it…I felt it with my whole being! And I was looking forward to it now, just as much as my coffee with Joe.

     Since we had met in person, He had taught me so much, shown me so much…I began to think about all that He had been saying, even looking between the lines for His pearls of wisdom. And I had found two of the biggest pearls I had ever hoped for. They would  launch me into a spiritual realm I had never even imagined possible. And Joe was tickled pink the next morning when I began my “alone time” with Him.

     I went into a meditative state, and my mind caught fire! “Joe! Where are you?” I asked. From a voice that came from all  the walls around me and from every cell inside me His beautiful voice flooded my being.

     “I’m here with you Dunc. Here, where I’ve always been and will always be. You’ve learned quite a lot since we began, but you still have much to learn on your new jouney with me. But I’ll save you the time of guessing and just come out and tell you what you’ve really just touched on since yesterday…”

     The wait for His next words felt like forever in coming. And I saw Him as plain as day grinning at me before he spoke again.

     “Our private time together shows your Love for me, and it touches me deeply. It shows that you aren’t just wanting something, but wanting to give, share, and have a full life with Me. And you trust that I am wanting to do the same with you. You know full well that we will always share every minute, as we Live in one another. And I now know that you trust Me, as you know I trust you.” A moment or two passed. “If you think that you’ve learned a lot so far, you’ve only just now opened the flood gates. Get ready for the best ride of your life! And don’t worry.”  He smiled. “I’ll be with you all of the way.”

     “We’re more than I thought…to each other I mean”. I hesitated to try to get what I wanted to say just right. But only one thing came to me, and it came out before I could even try to stop it. “We are really Family”. The last word trailed out seemingly forever.

     “You’ve got it! And it means more than you could ever imagine right now…but you will. You will understand as you grow and learn. Look forward to it all, its’ all good. Now get ready for work, I think I’d like some more pancakes with our coffee this morning”.

Yours In The Flow,

Duncan E. Wheeler

                                               10.1.10- THE FLOW- Key Three, Session Three -Parable-  Blessing- by Duncan Wheeler

As, I walked into the Coffee Shop, Joe motioned me over frantically!  What is it I said with a laugh, are we in a hurry? Then Joe speaks. Almost definitely we are in a hurry today!!! I want to get on with your next lesson but I want to make sure that you fully understand what we have talked about this week. I want you to be able to LIVE it. Just like all the other keys, living them is the most important part. Duncan says well, I am ready to go and I takes a quick sip of my coffee. Well, Duncan do you remember when you where a child and your Mom taught your to speak German until you knew it as well as English. Duncan looked puzzled as said well sure. I spoke it on vacation to Germany last year to my aunts and uncles. And quite well I might add if I do say so myself. Joe got a stern look on his face.. no fooling around: we have to talk seriously today. So, instead of just asking you a bunch of questions today, I will just come right out and tell you the most important points or parts of the lesson. When your Mother and Father where holding you in the hospital when you were first born do you remember looking into your mother’s eyes.Duncan shook his head and said NO. Joe replied that doesn’t surprise me, like I have told you before you where just a baby. You start seeing things around you but you are still communicating with me because you just left me at that age.You see even at your conception I took a little piece of myself and placed it inside your body that was just forming. I gave you a soul that soul is a part of me that lives in your for the rest of your life. And it grow as you grow. And when you come to the point that your soul doesn’t know how to speak directly to me it continues to grow until the we meet again, just like the day we meet here in the coffee shop. When your soul knew it had reached me again, then you were ready to talk directly to me. That is when I came to you. I come to everyone in a different way, so I came to you here in this coffee shop, it doesn’t always work that way. Other’s experience this transformation or growth in other ways. And at this point I want to say that other experience Blessings just as you have experienced Blessings in your life. Some where obvious like your parents having the forsight to put up money for you to go to school. Now you have a great job, and a wonderful place to live in this beautiful city. Other Blessings are not so obvious like your Mother teaching you to speak German. It helped you be able to speak to your relatives on vacation last year without a translator. If everyone would just look around they would see that they were blessed many many time in there lives, more than they could count. Many of these blessings could be passed on. My point is just to say, that I am a part of you always, so you are always blessed by me, so always pass those blessings on. Remember to keep the silo full like I have taught you, so when the time comes you can pass those blessings on.

I don’t know why Joe was in a hurry. He had stopped talking like he was finished and I had no questions everything had clicked. I understood what he had been teaching me this whole week. Then without hesitation Joe stood up and said now off to work. I said with surprise, I am not due to go to work for another ten minutes. Joe said Well today you need to leave a little early. I shrugged my shoulders and said well, I guess I will be seeing you today. And Joe said you bet you will. I got up and left the coffee shop. When I rounded the corner and smelled those apple blossoms it just reminded me of Joe and all that I had learned so far. Until I came across a young woman leaning against one of the apple trees crying her eyes out. I stopped and asked what was wrong and my stomach lurched when in  thick German she said it is no use, no use!!! As she shook her head. My heart jumped as I spoke back to her in her native tongue you don’t speak any English?? Her head whipped around, and she said Oh you speak German, you speak German!!! Can you help me?? I came here to visit my family, we were separated and now I am lost. I asked if she had a telephone number, she said yes but she could not figure our how much money to put in the phone box. I pulled out my cell phone and asked what is the number? When the phone was answered, I instinctively spoke in German. I found your relative here, the woman answered back , OH my God I cannot believe you found her where is she? I told her the street and that we were directly across from the park. Within five minutes a long car came pulling up and several frantic women came running out of the car hugging there cousin. A tall man came out of the drivers side and walked over to me and introduced himself as John.  He said I wish I could find someway to thank you for finding my cousin.

 As he was speaking, I heard her say the smell of the apple blossoms drew her to the street but she did not know what to do from there. I shook my head at Joe’s planning.  He knew this was all going to happen. And he had blessed me with parents that would make me have the ability to speak German. He blessed me with my apple trees as he did the young lady who was still crying. I was suddenly drawn back to John. When John said could I at least give you a ride to work? I said oh no thank you sir I work right past this block, in that ornate old building right there. John said you work for that law firm? Yes, I have for the past eight years. I love it there. John gave me a funny look, do you  know the first name of the law firm? I said of course I do, its’ Strauss. John put his hand on my shoulder and said I am John Strauss. I am the primary owner of that law firm. This seems to be your lucky day! Anyone, who is as kind as you, deserves to be rewarded in some way.

 Later that afternoon, after much reviewing of the cases I had worked on over my years there, I had been taken off the slow track to partner and put on the fast track. A recommendation by John Strauss himself. As I shut my office door as I always do after everyone leaves, I said Joe, all these things that you put in place that I overlooked as blessings led me to a huge blessings in my life. I heard Joe say you will be partner in a month. Then I heard him say don’t just look at the big blessings look at even the smallest blessings in your life. Marvel at the birds, the butterflies, the trees… everything has been made for you. And everything can be a blessing to you. I laughed out loud and told him thank you for everything and I promised to keep my eyes open from now on. Joe said, “and do me a favor, try to remember what you see when you look into someone’s eyes as you did your mother’s. The eyes are the window to the soul as they say and I know that for a fact, at that moment that you don’t remember, you knew the love she had for you and you knew that yo