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- 2. Everything in the Universe goes through a process of Growth © Wholesome Junction
- 3. Formation Growth Completion/ Perfection Invisible Needs: Air, Sunlight Visible Needs: Minerals, Water Produces a Seed for the Next Generation If you open a seed, you don’t see a miniature Flower inside! It’s just beige stuff! The flower is there in potential only. With the Proper nourishment the flower begins to grow. © Wholesome Junction
- 4. Formation Growth Completion/ Perfection Invisible Needs: Air, Sunlight Visible Needs: Minerals, Food, Water Produces a Seed for the Next Generation If you open a zygote, you don’t see a miniature Person inside! It’s actually Invisible! The Person is there in potential only. With the Proper nourishment the Person begins to grow. © Wholesome Junction
- 6. Formation Growth Completion/ Perfection Invisible Needs: Freely Given Love, Acceptance (Life Elements) Visible Needs: Need to make Effort – Acts of Conscience Responsible Actions (Vitality Elements) (Learn to give love-Share toys) Produces a Fountain of Love and Acceptance for the Next Generation Love is what we are meant to grow and pass on to our children A child is born with the infinite capacity to love. A child is meant to receive love from the moment of its birth. © Wholesome Junction
- 9. JOY = Desires Fulfilled The greater the reflection The greater the JOY! Man/Woman Creation External Form Energy Internal Essence Truth Beauty Love Internal Essence Truth Beauty Love External Form Energy © Wholesome Junction We initiate our loving action
- 10. Object Subject Initiates Responds Relationship always creates something that is greater than the individual parts
Editor's Notes
- What is the essence of parenting? There have been many different opinions floating around over the years as to what it means to be a good parent. From total permissiveness to total control, we’ve seen the pendulum swing from one perspective to another, leaving parents feeling a little conflicted. In the Bible, St. Matthew says: “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They toil not, neither do they spin, and yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these . . .” I believe that parenting is meant to be so simple. That verse goes on to say, “if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today exists, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, won't He much more clothe you, you of little faith?” What if parenting, or even growing up was just as simple as the message in this Bible verse? Why would Matthew say “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow…Could it be that just as the creation grows to its perfection through the Universal Prime Force of the Creator, so it should be with us, His prized creation? Maybe there is something that we can learn by observing how the creation grows. Let’s try to see if there are some principles within the growth patterns of creation that could also apply to us.
- Life is a process of growth. It’s an accepted scientific fact that everything in the Universe goes through a process of Growth. When you grow physically, your mom takes you to buy you new clothes every year (or sometimes more often) because you keep getting bigger! As we become more “enlightened” as human beings we are becoming more accepting of the fact that we are not only physical beings, but we are also spiritual beings. Therefore we need to look at the process of growth of the physical creation and see if we can’t find some principles that could also be applied to our spiritual growth.
- Everything in life goes through three stages of growth; formation, growth and completion. Everything begins as a seed of potential. If you open a seed of a flower, you don’t see a little flower inside, it’s just beige stuff. The flower is there in potential only. The flower begins to grow only if it receives the right nourishment. The flower needs the things you can see, like water and minerals. Effort needs to be made to obtain these physical needs or the plant dies. It needs to sink its roots deeper into the soil to find water and minerals. It also needs invisible nourishment like air and sunlight. These invisible needs are provided naturally without having to make any effort. Air and sunlight come naturally, and if there wasn’t CO2 and sunlight coming freely to the plant, it would die. It’s only when the visible and invisible needs are met in a balanced way that the plant continues to grow until it produces a flower that contains the seed for the next generation. The Universal Energy moves this plant naturally toward completion.
- Let’s look at human growth. We all began as a zygote. It’s so small, you can only see it with a microscope. If you look at a zygote through a microscope, do you see a tiny human being inside waving at you? No, the zygote is only a human being in potential. The mother needs to create the right environment physically for the zygote, so that it can continue to grow and mature. After nine months the baby is ready for life outside the womb. The baby grows, but is completely dependent on the care of adults. Human beings have the longest development time of any creation. We too have visible and invisible needs that need to be met in order to grow. Our visible needs are food, water and shelter, and those are things we make effort to receive. We cry when we are hungry or thirsty or need our diapers changed. Our invisible needs are air and sunlight. Without oxygen from the air and sunlight we cannot develop properly. These are freely available to us. By age 14 to 18 humans are able to produce the seed for the next generation, so if we follow the example of the flower, we should be complete or perfect by that age.
- Is that it? Just because we can have offspring does that mean we are complete or perfect? Have you ever met a person that is 18 and they still act like a child? Have you ever met someone who is 30 and they still act like a child? Many people are able to create a child by age 14. If that means they are mature or complete why isn’t that encouraged in our society? How many parents act as if their children are completely grown once they are teenagers? Yes they can dress themselves and feed themselves, but if they are not yet mature enough to have a child, maybe there needs something more given to humans during this crucial time of 13 years of age to 18 years of age. Human beings are not just physical beings, we are also spiritual beings. We not only need to mature physically, to be complete, but we need to mature spiritually. So what is the process of spiritual growth? Our physical growth is automatic, but our internal growth happens as a result of our efforts. Let’s use the same principles of growth we used for the flower and for the physical body and see if we can’t understand the process of growth for our spiritual selves.
- When a child is born, they are like an empty cup, just waiting to be filled up. I think that’s why babies are so cute, because you just can’t help but want to hug them and love them. In the formation stage of our spiritual growth, that’s all we are meant to do is receive love. As our parents care for us and love us, we learn to trust. As a child experiences the love and acceptance of his parents and his family, he is learning that the world is a safe place, and that he must be a good and beautiful person to have people love him this much! His cup is being filled with the water of life. Potty training is a big milestone in the life of a human because for the first time in their lives they are learning that they can’t just do whatever they want to do wherever they want to do it. We learn that we need to be sensitive to those around us. The conscience is the inner force that guides us in this process of becoming socially aware. If the formation stage is likened to filling up the cup with water, the growth stage is learning how to share that water with others and learning how to fill the cup up again. It’s a balance of give and take action that becomes a foundation of spiritual fulfillment in our lives. Just like the physical body has visible and invisible needs, the spirit also has those needs. The invisible needs that compare to the air and sunlight, is the love and acceptance that is received in the family environment. The visible needs are met as the child receives vitality elements that nourish the spirit every time we do a good deed, or an act of conscience toward another person. So we learn the process of receiving and giving, receiving and giving. After practicing this process of giving and receiving, we become more and more confident of who we are. We develop healthy self-esteem and are able to be in love and acceptance of ourselves, and of those around us. It’s when human beings reach this point of being in love and acceptance, that we are like a fountain of love, and people love the energy they feel when they are around you. You feel loved and appreciated yourself, and you understand how to love and appreciate others so your life is in balance. When we love ourselves and forgive and bless others, we are open to love, joy and peace in our lives; and everything just flows better. This seed of love and acceptance is what humans are meant to pass on to the next generation.
- When humans can live in love and acceptance, they will have families that can grow both physically and spiritually. We grow up to be trusting of others and are free to acknowledge the beauty and love in others. Our chakras are open. If we grow up without the invisible elements of love and acceptance, we develop fear and guilt. We become emotionally blocked and the flow of energy into our chakras slows down and inhibits our physical vitality. If these blocks or vibratory impurities aren’t released we can actually get ill. The blocks are expressed as anger, self-doubt and lack of self-esteem. Our true desires are denied and we do things out of guilt and become unfulfilled. We are criticized and belittled and learn to be afraid of having deep relationships or following our intuition. Karol K. Truman author of Feelings Buried Alive Never Die addresses these very issues in her book Healing Feelings…From Your Heart .
- We need to find a point that we can all agree on and I believe that point is that we all want to be happy . Why do we do anything we do? It’s because we want to experience joy. How many of you came here tonight because you really looked forward to having a bummer of a time. We never do that. We make choices because we want to be happy. Can you agree that the Purpose of Life is Joy? Are you happy? Do you feel joy in your life? How can I experience joy in my life? What makes you happy? What is Joy?
- We experience joy when our desires are fulfilled. The more you invest your heart and passion into your creation, the more your creation reflects who you truly are, and the more joy you experience. You receive joy from your creations. You receive joy when your deepest truth, beauty and love are reflected back to you. Of all of the creation, human beings have the greatest capacity to be creative. Other beings in the creation have a very instinctual pattern of creating. Beavers create damns, birds create nests, and bees create hives when they go through the process of creating their families. We, as humans have an infinite capacity to express our love and be creative. We write poems, we build houses, we sing and dance. As we are able to manifest our deepest desires, we experience the deepest joy! So, if this is true, we should all be very happy! Are you all experiencing true bliss? Are you all joyful? Think about when you’ve felt truly happy. Maybe you read a good book, or created a beautiful piece of art. If you are truly honest, I think you will admit that the most truly memorable and joyful times are when you are in a deep relationship. A relationship where you can be totally honest with the other person, and they are truly honest with you. When you are in a truly fulfilling relationship, it’s almost like the two of you become one. You can read each other’s thoughts and feelings.
- Relationship always creates something greater than just the two individual parts. Look what happens when hydrogen and oxygen come together. Two molecules of hydrogen get together with one molecule of oxygen and you get something totally different, water! The same is true with our relationships with people. We can again learn from how hydrogen and oxygen relate to each other. The Oxygen molecule doesn’t decide to just give up one of its electrons and hold on to the other one, just in case it might need it. It freely gives everything it has. In fact, it’s when cells start acting on their own that they become cancerous. When we freely give and openly receive in relationships, we create relationships that are deep and fulfilling. We listen to the other person and try to understand their feelings and validate them, and make ourselves vulnerable by being honest with our thoughts and feelings. When we can do this, we experience joy.
- Sometime with our children we need to try to not always be the person in control. We need to be humble and serving and recognize in every moment that we want this relationship to be one that they can depend on for all of eternity. We need them as much as they need us. Keep this eternal vision in the forefront of your mind and heart, especially when you feel a need to yell, so that they will listen. Love is the loudest scream you can give. Find a way to love in that moment.
- Your children are little people. Remember where they are at in the process of growth, and always be honest and nurturing. Don’t be afraid to be vulnerable. Love between two people is a fearless state of being where who you are and who they are is given and received without fear of engulfment or abandon. Don’t abandon your love to the emotion of the moment.
- Parenting is relationship building. Show your child what a true relationship is by modeling listening skills, acknowledging their great potential, encouraging them through their mistakes as being the lessons in life that teach you to grow. Your children want to be just like you.
- Understanding how to listen to what your child is saying underneath the whining or screaming. Understanding how to listen to what your child isn’t saying. Understanding how to listen to the fears that your child may have. Understanding how to listen to the truth behind what your child says to you, even when it hurts, or even when you don’t want to admit that they are right! Knowing when to give a smile or a shoulder. Knowing when to receive who and what your child is and to acknowledge their beauty, and who they are essentially, even when they are trying hard not to let that side of them show. I invite to you embark on this journey of building relationships that bring Eternal Joy!