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| Article: Having Eyes to See - by Nancy R. Fenn | ||
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We begin our spiritual development by undoing what has been done before. We take things apart to understand them and then we put them back together again the right way. This is not judgmental. This is just in the nature of things. Let me give you an example. In a small town in the Midwest, near the turn of the century, a boy grew up on the wrong side of the tracks. His name was Robert. He was ashamed at school because he wore hand me downs. His parents couldnt afford a haircut for him, so the other kids teased him. His father was considered a failure and spoken about in whispers of pity by other adults. There were too many children in the family and the father was considered irresponsible. Robert wore the shame of his fathers poverty and yet he was very spiritual. He was an honest boy, very talented and very gifted. One day a revival came to town. The boys grandparents took him to the revival tent where many people heard Jesus call them personally for baptism every night for a week. The energy at a revival is contagious. After a few people get the ball rolling, the rest will join in. Sometimes its out of genuine enthusiasm but sometimes its just so as not to be left out or gazed upon suspiciously by others. Back at the revival, people were getting the call, but nothing happened to the Robert. Rather than going along with the crowd, this boy had integrity. He did not join the throng of people from town who stumbled toward the baptismal font for salvation because he did not feel Jesus call him inside. This would be a matter of fact story except for one thing. On the way home, Robert, who genuinely believed that something authentic had happened to all others in the revival tent, came to the conclusion that Jesus had not called him because he was not worthy. Robert didnt check out his thesis with anyone any more than most children do and for the rest of his life, he felt rejected and shamed. Even Jesus did not want a poor boy. There is a happy ending to this story. Robert grew up to be a well known and successful psychologist in La Mesa, California. He had a great professional and personal life, a very long and happy marriage. Robert was well to do and was respected in the community. He often spoke at the big Unity (metaphysical) Church in San Diego. I am not telling you a story he has not told publicly many times. Robert went through a healing process to understand that as a boy he had added 2 + 2 and gotten nonsense. As children, we put the world together as best we can. As adults, it is our gift to ourself to return as an adult to some of our bigger decisions and connect the dots again properly if necessary. Later in life Robert wondered why he always felt so unworthy. He followed the breadcrumbs back to his decision about Jesus. Painful as it was, he could then correct a misinterpretation of events that is typical of all of us as children. He did not chose to interpret this experience religiously but instead looked for the "Christ consciousness within". I would like to give you another example that is a little more sophisticated. It has to do with the way being unconscious can keep us from seeing things plainly. Everything I talk and write about is something I have observed with my own two eyes because this is a necessary part of being a metaphysician. I didnt read books or attend lectures to discover the things I know about life, healing and human nature. I listened to the thousands of people who have come to me for readings through the years and, with my intuitive gifts, learned to see the patterns in their lives. I looked with my own two eyes and you can do the same. You can develop your intuition. In the 40s and 50s, it was considered glamorous or manly, to smoke. I know I could hardly wait! Celebrities, sports figures and movie stars were photographed smoking. Louis Armstrong, King George VI of England, Betty Davis, Clark Gable, Babe Ruth and Humphrey Bogart all smoked heavily and died in their mid to late fifties of smoke related diseases such as lung cancer and emphysema. In a horrifying and ironic twist of fate, even Wayne McLaren, the celebrated Marlborough Man, died of lung cancer at the very early age of 51. Smoking was considered glamorous and I planned to start as soon as I could. Like the boy Robert, when I was young, I did not have eyes to see. I looked at Humphrey Bogart and thought how sophisticated he was. Now I see more clearly. Humphrey Bogart isn't sophisticated, he's tortured and pathetic. Today with eyes to see, this is what I see: sickly pale skin + big wrinkles on face + haunted look in eyes of addiction + gaunt face + raspy voice + cloudy eyes + phlegm in throat + cough + thick fingernails = not a well person I dont care what you tell me! All that remains is to connect this with the fact that it's because of a personal habit that this exists, not a condition of birth! A new trend in consciousness raising about smoking began in 1968 when William Talman made a shocking public service announcement for the American Cancer Society. Talman had played Hamilton Burger on the tv series, Perry Mason. He was dying of lung cancer at 53, leaving behind a wife and 6 young children. According to Barron H. Lerner, a Columbia University professor [Globe Newspaper Company], Talmans message won praise among viewers, many of whom vividly remembered it for decades and credited it for getting them to quite smoking. I am one of those people. Yul Brynner, who died of lung cancer in 1985, helped reverse the glamour image in the late 80s with a chilling PSA which began, Now that Im dead please dont smoke. The thing I wonder about now now that my consciousness has been raised about the connection between smoking and an early death of emphysema, lung cancer, throat cancer or smoking related heart disease -- is that we could all not see what was so plainly before our eyes. When I look at a face and body like Humphrey Bogarts or William Talmans, it is so obvious that they are very ill. How could we think that smoking was anything but deadly poison? If you didnt go through the process of consciousness raising with cigarette smoking, heres an example from the 21st Century. The same thing is occurring with obesity. The same long, time consuming process has begun. This time you can be a part of it, waking up slowly to what is before your very eyes. Obesity has reached epidemic proportions in the United States. Fast food chains are being sued to hold them accountable for selling food high in fat, salt, sugar, and cholesterol content, despite studies showing a link between consuming such foods and obesity, diabetes, coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, strokes, elevated cholesterol intake, related cancers, and other health problems and despite a recent published finding by the Surgeon General that obesity costs Americans almost as much money per year as cigarette related illnesses. John F. Banzhaf III (http://banzhaf.net) is the nationally-known professor and practitioner of public interest law who is bringing these legal actions to the public forum. The Chicago Tribune reports that suits initiated by Banzhofs students have already forced McDonald's to apologize for "duping" people, and pay out over $12 million in damages. McDonalds claimed their French fries were vegetarian. [They are fried in animal fat.] Banzhof comments, We know from tobacco litigation that initial suits have real difficulties because the public has real problems accepting new ideas and new concepts. The same road lies ahead for obesity awareness. Since were discussing a metaphysical principle, eyes to see, lets take this a step further. In one of the finer uses of the evolutionary nature of law, Americans are being shown -- until they can see for themselves -- the connection between junk food and poor health. We are also being shown the correlation between weight gain and disastrous health consequences which we knew intuitively all along. Obestiy, watching television and eating junk food go together like Whoppers and SuperSizeItPlease. Many members of my family died from lung cancer and obesity related illnesses. It was not their deaths which were horrifying, it was their lives. Sedentary lifestyles combined with smoking and poor nutritional choices led them to die 30 years sooner than their own parents. Seeing with my own eyes the price my parents paid helped me to stop smoking at 30 and revise my eating habits. |
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Nancy R. Fenn is an astrologer and intuitive consultant in the San Diego area with a passion for consciousness raising in regards to emotional, spiritual, physical and mental good health. Visit Nancy on the web at www.bemyastrologer.com |
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