Reflection

July 5, 2023

When was the happiest and most fulfilling time you have ever spent? As soon as you think about it, beautiful feelings are likely to flood you again. You see, hear, smell and taste that memorable time. It could have been only an hour, a day, a month or a complete season of your life. Yet it was golden.

Some of my happiest times were when I took my son Ben and daughter Lauren on special expeditions in the Smoky Mountains. Our mission was to mine precious and semi-precious jewels that washed down into the Cowee River Valley from the mountains. We were ecstatic when we found a sapphire, ruby or peridot. But the most beautiful aspect of these times was our being away from everything, doing something different together.

I sit here and replay those times and my heart fills with gratitude. I once again see the smiles and excitement on my kids’ faces. I hear their voices and feel the pleasure of having been their dad, showing them some bounties of the natural world. Many family stories came out of those mining adventures … stories that for years restored our souls and brought laughter and warmth into the room right then and there.

A spiritual reflection on something positive wonderfully connects us to our soul because it reminds us of the soul’s most precious commodity: giving and receiving love. This is the most powerful of emotions. But the ego is full of doubts and fears that tend to block positive reflection. However, once we get past the ego’s self-limiting ideation, we are home free.

Inquiry: What is a positive memory you might reflect on right now?

Dear God,

The precious stones … the precious children … the precious times ... the precious gratefulness! Amen.

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