empty chair

[Bud Weiss]

Beautiful Story, Conserve bound is it? God? One God? Heirarchy? Control? as
a hospice social worker, I saw many such instances similar to the one in
your story here, and often some of the nursing staff could swear they saw
someone sitting in those chairs who wasn't there the next moment.
I know, I may be being a bit of a downer regarding the stuff about One God.
 And in fact, organized monotheism or God Kings as in many cultures was
organized to create heirarchy and control of the people and to separate them
from Nature. Interestingly, the fabled though real St. Patrick did
everything he could to return the direct connection with nature into the
church. Instead he is remembered as some pied piper of snakes. Shame really.
 For more about the similar histoeriries of monothism derivatives as they
were created to come to terms with the mysteries of the Universe and were
then used to control people, See the first Zeitgeist movie from June 2007
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-594683847743189197#  from 14
minutes through to about 41 minutes. Just prior to that is the marvelous
George Carlin bit about God from 11:40 to 13:25. The full Carlin bit is
available on Youtube at  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeSSwKffj9o  If you
have never seen it, sit back and enjoy. Carlin can be pure genius.

Be well, and again, Martin Prechtel,  with whom I have been studying, ends
his encounters with you with the following from his people the Mayan of
Santiago Atitlan in Guatemala:" Long life, honey in the heart, no evil,
thirteen thank yous."
We may never recover that connection which we have lost. And many may never
even know that we have lost the connection in the first place. Are they
worse off or ......?
Bud

On Thu, Feb 18, 2010 at 7:29 PM, Adam Blatner <ablatner at verizon.net> wrote:

>
> I realized my way of prayer is to have dialogues with God, like Tevye in
> Fiddler on the Roof.
>        I role reverse and answer, too. My role expectation for God is
> simple: I'm in this big 'ol role and my only task is: How can I help each
> individual become more wonderful in whatever way?  I don't pretend to know
> how God sets up the cosmos to be so fine-tuned, or what happens in other
> dimensions or stuff like that. I just choose the
> human-consciousness-uplifting role.
>
>  Anyway, I liked this story:
>
>    MOM'S EMPTY CHAIR
>
> A elderly, very ill woman's daughter had asked her minister
> To come and pray with her mother.
> When the minister arrived,
> He found the woman lying in bed.
> An empty chair sat beside her bed.
>
> The minister assumed that the woman
> Had been informed of his visit.
> 'I guess you were expecting me', he said.
> 'No, who are you?' said the mother.
>
> The minister told her his name and then remarked,
> 'I saw the empty chair and I figured you knew
>  I was going to show up'.
> 'Oh, the chair,' said the bedridden woman.
>
> 'Would you mind closing the door?'
> Puzzled, the minister shut the door.
> 'I have never told anyone this,
> Not even my daughter,' said the woman.
>
> 'But all of my life I have never known how to pray.
> At church I used to hear the pastor talk about prayer,
> But it went right over my head.'
>
>
> 'I abandoned any attempt at prayer.'
> The old woman continued,
> 'One day four years ago, my best friend said to me that
> Prayer is just a simple matter
> Of having a conversation with Jesus.'
>
> She suggested that I sit down in a chair
> And place an empty chair in front of me.
> Then with faith see Jesus in the chair.
> 'It's not spooky' she said, 'because he promised,
> I am with you always'. She continued,
> 'Then just speak to him in the same way
> You're doing with me right now.'
>
> 'So, I tried it and I've liked it so much
> That I do it a lot every day.
> I'm careful though. If my daughter saw me talking
> To an empty chair, she'd either have a nervous breakdown
> Or send me off to the funny farm.'
>
> The minister was deeply moved by the story and
> Encouraged the old woman to continue her talks.
> Then he prayed with her, anointed her with oil,
> And returned to his church.
> Several weeks later the daughter called
> To tell the minister that her mother had died.
> 'Did she die in peace?' he asked.
> 'Yes, I left the house to run an errand,
> Before I left I went to her bedside,
> She told me she loved me and kissed me on the cheek.
>
> When I got back an hour later, I found her.
> But there was something a bit strange about body.
> Apparently, just before Mom died,
> She leaned over and rested her head on the chair
> Beside the bed. What do you make of that?'
>
> The minister wiped a tear from his eye and said,
> 'I wish we could all go like that.'
>
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>
>


-- 
"The perfect man breathes as if he is not breathing" - Lao-Tzu (circa 4th
century BC)
Breathing is the foundation of life, and good breathing is the foundation of
good health. Improve your health by improving your breathing with the BIBH
Buteyko Method.
Call or write me for details or appointments.
Barnett J. Weiss, MA, LCSW , (Bud)
E-mail: ButeykoNYC at gmail.com
Voice mail and Fax: (800) 530-9133
Web site : www.ButeykoNYC.com
Certified Nurtured Heart Advanced Trainer
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