BoldGrace

"The Purpose of our lives is to give birth to the best which is within us."

Marianne Williamson

The best that is within us is up to us to acknowledge. It is always there. It has always been there and it will always be there whether we tap into it or not. To be reborn is to have acknowledged the perfection within. The perfection that God sees. The perfection that God made. The perfection that Jesus died on the cross for.

How do we find it again? BE KIND. See the beauty in everyone you meet. Say hello to a stranger. Enjoy life. Take comfort in the ones you love. Have no fear. Don’t fear getting old. Don’t fear your faith and your spirituality. Don’t fear speaking up for yourself. FIND out what makes you YOU! Parachute out of a plane. Travel someplace you want to see. Take a day off with your children. Learn how to play the guitar. Learn to love what you cannot change and change whenever you can!

Life is taken so seriously. People live everyday walking in circles rather than taking a different path, a path that they would never take because they are afraid of what is around the corner or who might be watching. I truly believe that organized religion has done this to us. How can we find ourselves when we are taught that we aren’t good enough for God? WE ARE GOOD ENOUGH!

Find your inner child. Reconnect with that child and allow your heart to filter out the mess that organized religion plugged it up with. You will find that God has been in there all along and peace will fill your soul.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

….and many more.

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I have been reading Everyday Grace by Marianne Williamson. What a great book!! I bought it for my Dad a couple of years ago and I never read it. I got it out today on my way into Richmond for Caitlin’s funeral. I needed to feel strong for Bridget and her family and right now this book is giving me a great connection to my Father and to love.

In the book Everyday Grace, Marianne Williamson talks about us being mystical and how we need to look at each other as one. We are a part of each other. Once we let go of the fear and acknowledge that God loves us all equally the peace becomes stronger and that peace helps us understand better the cruelty in others. They are living in fear.

It is my understanding that some people actually believe that "bad things" are happening to people like me and my family because we don’t go to Church. LOL…I don’t look at my Father’s death as a bad thing. I look at it as a natural thing. He lived a full, happy, beautiful, amazing life and he left all of that for us. I am the luckiest girl in the world!

Death is a part of life. It is a part of what we will experience. Once I let go of the fear the layers began to shed and I found my true self. I realized that God made me in his image which is of his perfection, life became simple…it became brighter…it became clear.

I will continue to be the bright light that God made me as he did all of us. I will live in love and I will live in peace because Fear has left the building!

This meant a great deal to Colleen and she wanted to share it with all of you.

I continue to pray for you and your family. When I lost my daughter at an early age, I found the daily devotional "Streams in the Desert" to be a constant source of comfort and hope to me. Please let me know if I can send you one. It was a real moment of submission for me to acknowledge that "God is God, and I am not". I literally heard the voice of God convict me after many, many days of tears and the same monotonous unanswered question, "Why,God, Why"? God’s spirit spoke to me, commanding me to answer the question:"Am I God". My somewhat begrudged but humbled answer was: "Yes, Lord". His next question: "Am I Good"? My even more humbled answer: "Yes, Lord". And the final declaration from Him: "Then Praise Me anyway"! And so I have. I always cry even today when raising my hands to Him to sing the verse to that song: "Blessed be the name of the Lord, Blessed be His name, Jesus. …He gives and takes away, He gives and takes away, My heart will choose to say, Blessed be His name…" That was a real turning point in my life, as I am sure this will be for you and your family some way, some how. During our time of grief and seeking God, my husband had a similar experience, where he heard God’s voice say to him, "I know how you feel, I lost My Son". I am so thankful we serve a risen Savior who knows how we feel. I am so grateful to God for the refining by fire he has done in me, and I pray that you will experience that eventually as well. I thank you SO MUCH that your email to all of us at ACP demonstrates the grace and hope that can ONLY be found in Christ Jesus. Thank you for being a witness to those who do not know Him. May God Bless you and your family abundantly and I pray for you to feel loved, comforted, peaceful and assured that you and Caitlin will be together again for all eternity.

Carol

My Dad posted this not too long ago. It is amazing to read this again knowing now that he would not live in this life much longer. What an amazing man!

Prov 22:1-2

A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold. Rich and poor have this in common: The Lord is the Maker of them all.

The essence of who I am is not in my earthly name. I am very proud of my name because I was named after my Dad, a man that taught me so much about this life and gave me the tools I needed to face the difficulties that come with this journey we are all on.

I would define my essence to be more the result of a slow transformation that has been ongoing ever since I took that first breath of air. My present state of being is quite peaceful because I feel in touch with my true essence. My true essence has nothing to do with who gave birth to me or who was my earthly father, but rather it is the awakening to the DIVINE ESSENCE that lies within us all. What is it that we ALL HAVE IN COMMON? THE LORD IS THE MAKER OF US ALL!

You see, my true name is more precious then silver or gold because my true name is GOD’S SON. Now I might be son number 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 but it doesn’t matter because anyway you want to define me I still have the same DNA as SON number ONE.

I know that when I leave this clay body behind that I won’t be taking with me anything that I collected while on this journey as far as material things, but what I will be taking with me is the knowledge of WHO I AM.

I AM THE CHILD OF UNCONDITIONAL LOVE.

If that’s the only thing I learned on this journey it is enough. I believe I will live again in some other body. Maybe an earthly one or some other that I can’t even imagine, but in either case I am excited to face what is next because I know a LOVE that has, does, and will always be what defines who I really am.

I get up each new day and feel the warmth of this LOVE giving me strength to face whatever the day may hold. I am not afraid. Even in the midst of all the chaos that is present in the current human race I still feel great joy because I KNOW who WE really are. I know that every last one of us is a CHILD OF UNCONDITIONAL LOVE and sooner or later each separate person will GET IT and when that finally happens the earth will sing a new song and great JOY will fill all that IS.

Rom 8:18-19 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.

My call to all my fellow travelers is to RELAX and wake up to who you really are. Being in touch with your true essence is the most important knowledge you will ever know.

I don’t wish for people to know peace. I wish for them to know who they really are and then peace will be their’s for a multitude of lifetimes.

Cliff Hazelbaker

I walked outside this morning and was greeted by the strong floral smell of the wild honey suckle that commanded my attention. Today was one of those days when everything seemed docile and peaceful. Even though the sky was gray and the rain was falling everything seemed bright and beautiful. The grass was so much greener and the trees stood like they were higher than the clouds. All I could hear were the birds. Normally I would hear nothing but the traffic that goes by our house, but today was different. I am not sure why today had me captivated. Typically it is the sun that would move my spirit. Maybe it is just that days like today are taken for granted…I don’t know, but today I don’t mind the rain. I am enjoying the stillness, the peacefulness and that strong smell of honeysuckle. I don’t have the need to rush…just the kind of day to take my time…to slow down and listen to the world around me. Our lives don’t have to be so complicated. We just make it that way. I don’t know if I’ll feel this way tomorrow, but I will certainly be swept away by this day and just take it for what it is. Simplicity at its best.

This is the perfect process. Each step I take in my day is a step I am suppose to take and as I walk I will walk proudly because I know that my God is with me. He helps guide me as I learn MY WAY. God does not punish me. I punish myself. Why is it so difficult to accept the simplicity of it all? The connection we have with each other that we deny ourselves…why? When I look into the face of a stranger I often wonder what it is that draws me to them? Is it that I am staring into the face of God? So, do I talk to them or do I just let them pass by never knowing what I could have learned? What would it be like if we never let those moments pass us by?

I do believe that Angels live among us. I believe they are here to help remind us that we are all God’s children. No need to fear God. His love and beauty is in everyone and everything…even in the gloomy days we can see him.

During my Dad’s final days in this life he said to me, "I am excited to find out what is next." It made me wonder, will I be excited? I was inspired by what he said. He had no fear and he never waivered from his faith of a perfect process. If he wasn’t afraid then why should I? He would often say, "IT IS SO SIMPLE MINDY, " and when he took his final breath we knew he was with God. It was the most amazing thing I have ever witnessed.

So, while my little girl sleeps silently tonight and nestles tightly in her blankets I know that my God and my Dad are watching over her. I will have peace tonight knowing that they are also watching over those who are scared and those who don’t have the comfort that my little one has. They are watching over you and me and they are loving us all the same. I have tremendous comfort in knowing this and I wish you all the same comfort tonight.

St. John, 17:22-23

22: And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one.

23: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

At Dad’s celebration of life I got up and read a letter that I had found on Dad’s computer. I want everyone to hear what his heart had to say and if I can shout this from the roof tops I will! This man got it!!!!!!!! I truly believe he was an Angel among us and I am thankful that I had 33 years of this man’s love and wisdom.

A Letter From My Heart

     I write this letter to all my fellow travelers on this earth because I want to share with them my deepest convictions of life that I have gathered over the past (57) years of my existence. Even though I have always enjoyed an open relationship with those closest to me I find that the opportunities for sharing our deepest thoughts are few and far between. Therefore I have chosen this medium of an open letter to share what I have learned, felt, thought and experienced in hopes of making the lives of those who read this more meaningful in their own travel upon this earth. I do not wish in any way to cause someone to change their thoughts because of me, but if I can provoke in a young traveler to think on a deeper level, to search out and prioritize what is really important in this life, then my reason for writing will have value to all my fellow travelers.

     So, as I write I also pray for God’s love to guide, his wisdom to form my thoughts, and his presence to fill my heart. I am a man, a man with weaknesses and failings that make me no better or no worse than any other person. What I offer is unique only because each of us has a story to tell. My story will anger some and delight others. What I want to do in this open letter is to begin with what has become essential to my existence as I travel this earth. This will only be the first of what I hope to be many articles that come from the deepest part of my heart.

      The first and foremost essential for living this life is LOVE. Some might argue that it is Christ, but my experiences of life tell me they are one and the same. So, as I speak about LOVE you can interchange that word for Christ if that fits you better. Understanding this essential is where all the confusion comes in. For me true freedom came when I learned that LOVE had to be unconditional. This dynamic love is a part of every traveler and no matter what terrible circumstances have visited your life you can always go to this place of LOVE. The great Quaker minister Thomas Kelly explained it like this:

     “Deep within us all there is an amazing inner sanctuary of the soul, a holy place, a Divine Center, a speaking Voice, to which we may continuously return. Eternity is at our hearts, pressing upon our time-torn lives, warming us with intimations of an astounding destiny, calling us home unto thyself. Yielding to these persuasions, gladly committing ourselves in body and soul, utterly and completely, to the light within, is the beginning of true life. It is a dynamic center, creative life that presses to birth within us. It is a light within which illumines the face of God and casts new shadows and new glories upon the face of men. It is a seed stirring to life if we do not choke it. It is the Shekinah of the soul, the presence in the midst. Here is the slumbering Christ, stirring to be awakened, to become the soul we clothe in earthly form and action. And He is within us all.”

This LOVE is our greatest treasure and all of us have access to it. Let us shout it out! Every traveler I meet is my brother or sister and I if I want real freedom and peace I will gladly accept them where they are. Not judging them, for I know that they are God’s children because of HIS LOVE, HIS MERCY, HIS WILL, and HIS DESIRE. As I live, and move, and have my being I will make this LOVE my top priority to understand and live for. And there is no fear in LOVE, because LOVE has cast out all fear. So, as you live each day ask yourself what will be your priorities? For me LOVE is at the top. Until next time: Grace and Peace.

Cliff