America’s “Sleeping Prophet”

Have you heard of Edgar Cayce?

He was an ordinary man who could do extraordinary things, and he is called “America’s Sleeping Prophet” and the “Father of Holistic Medicine.” He is widely regarded as one of the greatest psychics of all time.

Cayce_1910

Edgar Cayce (1877-1945) was a photographer by trade, but he is known for his ability to go into a trance-like state and diagnose people’s illnesses and offer medical advice that was very effective in treating their various ailments.

Sounds weird, right?

Well, actually, his ability to do these readings is well documented, and his holistic remedies are known to have helped many people.

And he wasn’t some kind of weird mystic. He was a normal man with a normal worldview.  He believed that he was given this ability by a Higher Power in order to improve the life of others.

He also gave readings on a number of interesting topics like ancient archaeology, reincarnation and spirituality, metaphysics, and future prophecy.

During his waking life, Edgar was a regular man, a devout Christian and Sunday school teacher, and well loved by his friends and family. But his remarkable ability to do these psychic readings made him quite a celebrity in his day.

Since his death, it has been revealed that he did readings for US Presidents, famous movie stars, writers, artists, military intelligence officers, and even the mother of Ernest Hemmingway, who was concerned about her son’s writing and apparent mental torment.

Cayce’s readings were known to be very accurate and helpful to thousands of people. He used his gift to help others for a majority of his adult life, and even more remarkably, there are over 14,000 detailed, written accounts of his readings and their accuracy and efficacy.

I have been fascinated with this character in American history for almost two decades, and I’m always interested to learn more about his teachings and simple solutions to life’s ailments and predicaments.

Today his legacy lives on in through A.R.E, the Association for Research and Enlightenment. Their website is a portal to a world of holistic health information, metaphysics, as well as the readings themselves that Cayce is known around the world for giving.

One of the best things about Edgar Cayce is that he used his abilities to help people. 

Edgar Cayce offered his help to the world without profiting or scamming anyone in the process as he never even charged people for the advice he gave through his readings.

I’ve read a couple of books about Cayce’s medical advice and other teachings. He was able to tap into an other-wordly source that provided people with knowledge and inspiration that lives on today.

This Decoding the Past documentary provides a good introduction to this man and his amazing abilities.

Of course, people like to hype up the “doom and gloom” of prophets, but Cayce was actually very positive. His source explained that mankind is not bound to any future doomsday fate. We have the power to change our minds and hearts and even our destiny.

A cataclysmic end times scenario is not set in stone. We do have free will and can alter our course in our personal lives as well as in our collective destiny as the human race.

Just think about this: It has been 70 years since the invention of the atomic bomb. Despite the proliferation of these horrific weapons, we have not experienced the mass destruction of nuclear winter that so many people of the 20th century predicted. Somehow, we have thus far avoided extinguishing ourselves in this way. It’s a miracle, really.

Could we really be changing things for the better? Are we altering our path to avoid inevitable destruction?

This is not to suggest that there still aren’t many threats that we face as a human race. Of course we have much to overcome. But maybe we are beginning to redirect ourselves as a human race.

Maybe we will not choose the insane path of assured mutual destruction?

Maybe instead, we will choose the path of love and end up in a golden era of peace that so many religious and spiritual teachings have promised us.

If this seems idealistic and woo-woo, then good!

Perhaps it is just this kind of thinking that will re-direct us to the right path without the doomsday ending. Yeah, things are really bad in some ways. But things are also really, really amazing in many ways too.

I’m trying to realize the simple and everyday miracles that I experience in my daily life, things like having nutritious food, warm running water, and an amazing device connected to all the people and information I could possibly need or want in my pocket or palm at all times.

Now that is pretty amazing and never before in human history have so many people had access to so much, including each other!

Louis C.K. has a hilarious and poignant bit about this very concept that everything is amazing and yet still people complain.

He is right. We experience miracles every day if we are only willing to look up and see them.

It can’t be BAD to think that life on earth is getting better instead of worse, right? And if we think it enough, it could be that we believe it into being true.

Screen Shot 2015-01-14 at 11.59.21 PMLove our home and its people, places, beauty, and bounty. This is an easy step to making it a safer, happier and healthier place to be.

Pip’s Story

Today I made a video about my chihuahua, Pip, that I rescued on October 3, 2014.

I spotted Pip dragging himself alongside the road near a gas station across from the local Costco. At first I thought he had been hit by a car, but when I got out and started looking at him, I realized that his back legs had been tied together.

How could anyone be so cruel?

Of course my soft heart kicked into overdrive and I knew I couldn’t leave this poor, sweet baby to die on the side of the road.

I also knew that keeping a chihuahua puppy would be a hard sell for my mountain man of a husband, but in the end, he is pretty tender hearted too.

It didn’t take long to realize that Pip would require a lot of work on my behalf, and a lot of patience and tender loving care. Because of his injuries, he could not feel his back end very well, and he was incontinent.

I had to come to terms with the fact that I was caring for a disabled dog. 

IMG_5347

Potty training Pip has not been easy, and it’s still a work in progress. Every morning I have to clean his bedding and he requires a weekly or bi-weekly bath. But he is getting better and better day by day.

When people hear Pip’s story, it is natural for them to be angry that someone could be so cruel to an innocent puppy by tying his legs and leaving him for dead, but this is really a story of hope and survival.

Although there are people in this world that do bad things, there are also a lot of good people out there who are willing to step up and right the wrongs of others. 

Even though Pip requires a lot of extra special care, he is a joy to my son and all the children he meets. He is a loving little dog, and he tries to be a good boy.

IMG_1781

I’m happy that we were able to take in this little dog and give him a good life. And even though it hurts me to think that someone was cruel to him, it makes me feel good to know that my husband and I were able to have the love and patience to make a happy ending for Pip.

I know every day many good people make the decision to save the lives of animals in need.

Life is sometimes hard and full of surprises. And sometimes we receive the greatest blessings when we are willing to take a chance and open our hearts to love.

Here’s to life’s happy endings!

IMG_1785

IMG_5523

 

Content of Character

Screen Shot 2015-01-19 at 11.13.45 AM

Today is Martin Luther King day in the United States. It is a day to remember a great man who stood for justice and equality for all, but even more than that, he stood for the great power of love to transform the masses and the world.

For anyone who has not seen or heard MLK’s iconic “I Have a Dream Speech,” you owe it to yourself to listen to the majesty of this speech, which is widely regarded as one of the best speeches of the modern era. As a scholar of rhetoric, to me the speech presents not only an example of brilliant oratory skill, but also a message of hope that still resonates today.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”   Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Look, I know things aren’t perfect. There is still injustice, there is still social inequality, there is still brutality, there is still hatred, fear, and ignorance, but there’s also this.

Angie&Daryl

My niece with her beautiful family.

I see a lot of happy couples and families who have members of all different colors and shades. I see a lot of people who love each other for the content of their character instead of their race or religion. In fact, I see people all the time relating to one another despite their differences, helping one another, smiling, laughing, learning and growing with one another.

I see a world that is a lot better than it was in 1963 for people like my niece, her husband, and her two kids.

But I’m looking for good and so that’s what I’m seeing all over the place.

Yes, we still have a long way to go. Poverty, the military industrial complex, the prison industrial complex, social inequality, social injustice, the educational system etc. etc. etc.

There’s a lot of problems that need fixing.

But let us try to see and acknowledge all the places in the world where love is winning. I think Dr. King would want us to do that too.

Ride on the Peace Train

“Now I’ve been happy lately, thinking about the good things to come. And I believe it could be, something good has begun.” ~  Yusuf Islam a.k.a Cat Stevens

I love Cat Stevens, and I’m posting his song Peace Train because I think it is a nice tribute for MLK day, but also because ole Cat, now Yusuf Islam, has been a controversial figure due to his conversion to Islam in 1977 and subsequent disappearance from the pop world for almost three decades thereafter, and I think the conflict between the Muslim world and the West, promoted and exacerbated by the mass media, needs our love and attention desperately in order to be solved.

The thing is, people in the world are being conditioned to be afraid of Muslims. Some would argue this fear is warranted. Others, including myself, might caution you to remember the term democide.

Governments have proven to be more deadly than any other group in human history. And Christian nations have been known to provoke violence and death on many more than one occasion, and are still doing so, sometimes in the name of “democracy” or “freedom,” when in reality it is probably more about capitalism and natural resources.

Now that I teach ESL, I have come to know many people of the Islamic faith. And getting to know people is one way to quell fears about them as an entire group.

IMG_1762

Me posing with some of my students from Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Korea.

 

I find the Arabic culture fascinating and some of the tenants of Islam to be admirable, like fasting during the month of Ramadan in order to actually feel real empathy for the plight of the hungry and poor. And the act of praying, or meditating, thinking contemplatively, or whatever you want to do as a spiritual practice, five times a day, well that doesn’t seem like a bad idea either.

Of course, there are some things I disagree with and would like to see change in the Muslim world. But there are also plenty of things I disagree with and would like to see change in the Christian world as well.

The bottom line is that it is our responsibility to get to know people on our own terms and then evaluate them based on the content of their character and not the color of their skin, the god that they pray to, or the people that they love.

Good people are good people wherever you go.

I think Dr. King would want us to remember this truth. It is the good people of the world standing together in unity who have made the changes we enjoy today. And it will be the good people of the world who will continue stand for the changes that will  make the world a even better place for future generations.

And even if some people are not “good,” and they want to hurt others out of anger, fear, or righteous indignation, then it is our job to love them anyway.

Because as MLK said, “Love is the only force capable of turning an enemy into a friend.”

Now that is a statement of truth that should give anyone the chills just imagining the power and magnitude of it.

Let us remember this message of the power of love today,  look for the love in the world, and always make our decisions about people based on the content of their character rather than their color or creed.

Screen Shot 2015-01-19 at 11.14.13 AM