Tag Archives: change

Messages from Jeanne

#758 The Power of Nature in You

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Written by Jan Ketchel with a channeled message from Jeanne Ketchel.

The world is awakening, blossoming and beautiful, showing her finery. It reminds me of how easy it is to take everything for granted, to forget the truths of our world, of what we humans have been doing for centuries to Mother Earth. She is so strong and resilient, we say; she always comes back; she takes care of business.

The recent natural events in Japan so starkly underscored the folly of many of the choices we have made to keep our lifestyles booming, unwilling as we are to compromise. We want to fulfill demand rather than curb demand, rather than change to better, more sustainable and natural means of seeking and utilizing energy. We have become, for the large part, a world of consumers who just want more and more.

Regard and respect for our natural, life-giving Mother Earth has waned, as we have turned to pseudo products: everything from our food and medicinals to our creation of nuclear power; as we have contrived, manipulated, tampered, in order to have more, with little regard for life. We want more money, more fuel, more commodities that we can trade and make more money off. Yet little of what we are doing in those regards is real or helpful or protective of people or the earth. As a result, as well, we have become frightened, self-judging, unable to speak and act on our own behalf; feeling that we are wrong to question, to oppose, to say no; afraid of the powers that control and make decisions for us, telling us how to think, act, and be.

So, as we now enter a known time in the life cycle of the natural world, as spring comes more fully to our part of the globe, we see the power of nature to rejuvenate, to grow, produce, and replenish. And, yet, I fear the complacency that may also arise as we see everything returning to normal, at least on the outside. I fear the urgency that we all felt a few short weeks ago will disappear, as we fall back into the comfort of knowing that nature will return and once again take over, making us feel safe. Yes, nature will return, but if we observe nature it does not rest in that knowing. It keeps going; no matter what, it keeps barging ahead.

Nature's alarm clock

As I wake up each morning to the cawing of the crow outside my window, to nature’s alarm clock, I also wonder what this bird, the bird of omen, is trying to tell me. This morning I saw the crow swoop down into the lower branches of a tree and I heard a racket of other birds, another alarm filling the air, and I wondered if he was reminding me to be vigilant, because someone may be tampering or harming in my world, as he is in his, raiding another nest. Be alert, he says, wake up!

I notice also that though the hawks raid the crow’s nest, and the crows raid the robin’s nest, and the bluebirds kill the moth and the fox kills the chickens and races after the cat, none of these creatures pause to feel sorry for themselves. None of them are victims. They don’t judge themselves or their assailants, they don’t stay caught in feeling sorry for their plight; they are not big babies. They simply move on to new life. They learn a lesson, perhaps; to be watchful of the hawk, the crow, the bluebird, the fox, yet they barge ahead, with the energy of life that never stops.

Today I ask Jeanne: What guidance do you offer us to specifically stay awake, aware, and alert, learning from the propensities we all have to both manipulate and destroy, as well as fall into complacency; and as we so easily allow ourselves to be taken advantage of, while we feel sorry for ourselves, bemoaning our situations and the circumstances of our lives?

Jeanne responds:

It is, My Dears, of utmost importance that each one of you recognize yourself as a living, breathing entity fully capable of survival upon that earth in a natural way. As I have spoken of before: you hold more power than you realize. You can, if you are prepared to take on the challenge, change your world simply by the decisions you make.

It is not only time to wake up each day and go about your routine, but it is time to wake up to the greater truths that abound, warning you all that something is greatly amiss. In awakening to the disturbing facts that come into your awareness, and to the things that make you most uncomfortable, you are offered the opportunity to accept responsibility for undertaking a personal challenge to do things differently.

Awakening to truths, both inside and outside the self, to the contaminations of both inner and outer world, you awaken to the opportunity for discovering that you are so much more than you now perceive, that you have more personal power than you could possibly conceive of.

It is within your power to heal your body, to heal your mind, to heal your sick and sorry soul, your depressed and sad self who feels powerless, controlled, and frightened. But you will not be able to access this powerful self if you do not accept its presence. You do not have to search for it, but you do have to listen for it.

In order to stay awake and access this most powerful self, one must quiet the voices of commercialism, of greed and manipulation, and talk to the gentle voice of your own knowing heart. This heart-centered voice speaks only of taking responsibility for self. It asks for the rhetoric of old to slow down to a hum, to nothing more than the background hum of busy bees, present but not intrusive.

In turning down the voices of convention and turning up the voices of Mother Nature and Mother Self—calm and truthfully knowing as they both are—a shift may begin to take place. In accepting the voice that says ‘I have the answers within,’ one may begin to take the first step toward truly becoming responsible for the self, with the goal of personal responsibility leading to engaging personal power and using it each day.

By accepting the fact that each one of you has a relationship with the natural world, by accepting your personal alignment with what natures does and shows you each day, your personal and very natural power to change the self may begin to be engaged on a greater level. Begin by accepting that you alone are enough, guided by a natural self, in alignment with an energetic reality that says: I am an energetic being with enough personal power to make decisions of merit and value in alignment with the energy of all living things, seen and unseen. I am enough, and I take responsibility for utilizing and learning just what that means in my personal life.

In so doing, may you grant yourself access to the true meaning of life. In so doing, may you grant yourself access to the power of nature, of energy embodied in your physical form, to lead you on your journey.

Find a means of connecting with your personal power. Take a calm walk. Lose your thoughts to the breeze for a few minutes each day. Feel the earth beneath your bare feet. Listen to the calls of nature, to the birds, so apparent. Breathe the shifting winds, the energy of life wafting past you every moment of every day. Take time to note how you feel when you connect to the sun, the air, the earth, the water, in whatever your environment may be. Nature is available to everyone in some way. Then, holding your experience close to your heart, accept that you belong to this natural world too.

The power of nature is in you. You too, like nature, have the ability to revitalize, to re-emerge, to change, to take over your world after months and even years of dormancy.

It is time to awaken, but it is also time to stay awake, to keep going, to not stop, no matter what comes to thwart you, confuse you, control you, decide for you, manipulate you and take you on a journey you did not personally choose. In fact, though, you did choose wherever you are at this moment, so do not be a victim. Be a changing being.

Accept your power to do so, and live on in a new manner. That is how you will really find your place and change yourself and your world, by accepting full responsibility for your entire self, life, thoughts, actions, and place in the world.

Welcome to a new world. It belongs to you. Don’t make the same mistakes. Wake up and do life differently, inside and outside. I say ‘Good Morning’ to you each moment of each day. I’m saying ‘Good Morning’ to keep waking you up. Good Morning!

Thank you to Jeanne for that message. I hear the crows calling again. They too call all day long, waking and warning to be on the alert, to be alive, in alignment and flowing with what comes.

Most humbly offered.
Jan

Messages from Jeanne

#754 Do What is Right

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Written by Jan Ketchel with a channeled message from Jeanne Ketchel.

Today I ask Jeanne for guidance for all of humanity as we continue to face an escalating world crisis on so many levels. How can we stay connected to our spiritual endeavors in such times of crisis?

Here is what Jeanne advises:

Do not forget that you are one part of a whole and, as the whole goes, so goes each part. Use this analogy to aid you in change. If you are each responsible, if you each affect the whole, so are you equally responsible for the outcome.

Humanity now faces a new opportunity for change. A door hangs open, waiting for mankind to step through it and into the light of awareness, into the light of oneness, and into the light of truth and knowledge of interconnectedness. Why even hesitate? It is the true path to not only change but also to evolutionary steps that will impact the planet and every living thing upon it.

Are not living things more important than that which many consider the must-haves? Are not you and yours more important than the desires of the greedy few? I cannot stress enough that this is so, but I also stress that though you may not be one of the greedy few so are you the same as them. This truth must be accepted before real change can happen. You are all the same.

The greedy few, in turn, must accept that they are as poor as the field mice with only a burrow to call home. Man is not superior; wealth does not make one better; religions do not may you holier or more spiritual; and material things do not make you safer, for all are one. You are all the same.

You share the planet and the energy of life with all manner of humankind and animal kind. This is the first truth that must be accepted, studied, and found to be of guidance. For only in knowing how life truly survives upon that earth may you face change armed with helpful knowledge. I have said this before, and I say it again: Study nature to learn how to become one with nature.

I do not ask you to give up your creature comforts, but I do ask that you extend your intent to change beyond the personal. Even while you work on changing the self by aligning the self with the truth of nature, by observing and respecting all aspects of life and death, of birth and decline, of change and transformation in action all around you, so do I also ask that you set the intent to accept your place in the natural process of things.

Contemplate right action...

Think not superior but same energy.

Think not desire and want, but observe nature closely and use what is readily provided and available.

Watch for signs.

Notice your own inner energy telling you what to do and what not to do.

Use your inner dialogue to change how you think, act, and use your time upon that earth.

There is no doubt that this is a crucial time upon that Earth. Ask the self to do what is right at all times. Begin with this first big step by questioning the self at all times: Is it right that I do this or that? How will it affect my energy and how will my decisions affect the world? Yes, you must all begin to think globally now.

How do you personally affect the planet you live on? How do you affect your own energy by the personal decisions you make? Ask these questions and study your own body, mind and spirit for the answers.

If you are agitated the planet is agitated.

If you are calm the planet is calm.

If you are at peace the planet is at peace.

Find your personal alignment with nature and then make your decisions for how to live and know then how to change as well. And remember: Change is in action. Seek right action.

Thank you to Jeanne for this lesson today.

Most humbly contemplative,
Jan

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Chuck's Blog

Chuck’s Place: A World Divided Cannot Stand

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On a deeper level, the birthers might have a point: Obama is a world citizen and leader, challenged, like Lincoln once was, to forge a union in a world torn apart by special interests.

Don Juan warned: “I am convinced that for man to survive now, his perception must change at its social base.” –From The Art of Dreaming

What don Juan meant was that we must arrive at the awareness that everything is an interconnected web of energy. Quantum physicists have arrived at this truth. Fritjof Capra writes in The Tao of Physics:

“In ordinary life, we are not aware of this unity of all things, but divide the world into separate objects and events. This division is, of course, useful and necessary to cope with our everyday environment, but it is not a fundamental feature of reality. It is an abstraction devised by our discriminating and categorizing intellect. To believe that our abstract concepts of separate ‘things’ and ‘events’ are realities of nature is an illusion…”

“At the atomic level, then, the solid material objects of classical physics dissolve into patterns of probabilities, and these patterns do not represent probabilities of things, but rather probabilities of interconnections. Quantum theory forces us to see the universe not as a collection of physical objects, but rather as a complicated web of relations between the various parts of a unified whole.”

The shamans and the physicists agree: we are all one. The survival of our interconnected, interdependent world requires that we achieve union and balance with all the parts of our one world, human and non-human. Our current world play pits our social perception of the world as separate, disconnected objects against this deeper perception of reality as an interconnected web of energy. As don Juan states, we must arrive at this deeper perception for our very survival.

In a world of separate objects, the industries of nuclear power, oil, and natural gas are free to take the position that incidents and policies in each of these industries have limited impact upon the world and should be unregulated and left alone. From this perception we are asked to believe that radiation in the oceans will not affect marine life, and certainly not human life. In the oil industry, despite dead sea turtles and dolphins showing up on our shores, it is argued that drilling is safe, and the moratorium on new drilling leases is now lifted. The natural gas industry is currently on the march to push for homegrown energy, despite the devastation to the environment and drinking water through hydraulic fracking as evidenced in Pennsylvania and brought to light in the movie Gasland. The moratorium on fracking in New York expires in June and that industry is emboldened now to start fracking in Upstate New York—in my own backyard!

Congress is stalled, as I write, over issues like eliminating the Environmental Protection Agency and clean air standards, an agency and laws seeking to set limits on destruction to health and the environment. This is the power and pressure of interests caught in an old world perception of separate objects, free to only consider themselves and their own needs and desires. The battle cry of these special interests is: “We must satisfy the demand!” The religious fervor of this dictum raises it to the level of the eleventh commandment.

But what does this dictum really mean? Is the suggestion that, since the modern world demands more and more energy to run, that we absolutely must, at all costs, meet this demand for our very survival? If my appetite demands more and more food, should I keep feeding it? And if I do, how will that affect my resources, the resources of my environment, and how will it affect my health? If a child demands more and more toys, should we simply supply them because they are demanded? Since when is demand synonymous with must-be-met?

If the human population’s energy appetite is outpacing its means and negatively impacting the health of the planet, perhaps it’s time to set some limits. Of course, behind feeding the demand is the true culprit: there’s big bucks to be made feeding the insatiable big baby with its voracious appetite. Is it not time to become adults and set some reasonable limits?

In comes Obama, chiding Congress to start behaving like grownups. Frankly, however, I see Obama as a work in progress. I think he has caved to the old world perception in granting new oil leases for drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. Obama has to go beyond the Clinton doctrine of compromise. You cannot compromise with evil.

The Republican party is now possessed with evil energy. Evil is an elemental energy and has its rightful place as part of our comprehensive whole, one world. Energetically dark and light energy are the building blocks of the universe, however, their influences and interactions must be in the proper balance. The value of the preponderance of evil energy in the Republican dominated Congress at this time is its insistence upon change. It presses Obama, with its destructive energy, into a firm and definite response. As the I Ching points out: “A compromise with evil is not possible; evil must under all circumstances be openly discredited.” –From The I Ching, translation by Richard Wilhelm, Hexagram #43

Obama and the Democratic response to absurd Republican separatist interests are finally discrediting the evil interests that are pushing their own agendas, i.e. the Koch brothers. Mother Nature herself is using her own evil energy to force needed change upon us all. Evil energy must be responded to–directly faced by taking right action–or it will continue to devastate and destroy to awaken us.

Lincoln suffered a similar fate as Obama. He attempted to compromise with the slave industry by first insisting that slavery could not be allowed in new territories or states, but could continue in states where it was already established. From today’s sensibilities this was an absurd attempt at compromise, but nonetheless, Lincoln offered it in an attempt to preserve the union, an old world order needing radical change. Ultimately, he was forced into civil war because, with the refusal to compromise, a divided house could no longer stand.

Like the slave industry of a foregone era, the Republicans of today will not compromise. It’s all or nothing. They are forcing Obama to evolve here, to take a stand behind right action. Nature is showing us that we have no other alternative to survive. As don Juan stated, survival depends on our changing our perception at its social base. The Republicans are helping Obama to arrive at this necessary place, which is crucial to our survival. Nature is showing us we have no time to waste because continued compromise just wastes valuable time and invites greater destruction.

We must stake our claim now in a world of interconnected, interdependent energy. In that new world, nuclear energy and fossil fuels must be abandoned. Energetic sources such as wind, solar, geothermal and hydropower must be turned to, as these are Mother Nature’s natural gifts to us that do no harm to her. We must become responsible adults, limit our appetites, and focus on real hunger and needs. Greed must be tempered, the big baby put to bed.

On a personal level we are charged with facing our own greed in the context of our own lives. We must each accept necessary, healthy limits, and shift to a life of balance where we consider all the parts of our interdependent selves. As well, we need to become astute participants in the true nature of reality, not just observers, because a genuine shift in our perception, at its social base, as don Juan insists, is now necessary. This is how we support our President. Let’s not leave him out there as the only one-world citizen.

Remembering when the sun revolved around our flat earth,
Chuck

If you wish to correspond, please feel free to post a comment below. And don’t forget to check out our facebook page at: Riverwalker Press on facebook where we post daily comments, photos, and quotes.

Jan's Blog

A Day in a Life: On the Road to Mindfulness

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The world has grown larger in the past couple of centuries as we have gone beyond our villages and towns, beyond our states and countries, as we have sailed and flown to foreign parts and discovered other villages, towns, and countries. Hopefully, we have learned that the people in those other countries are just like us; flesh and blood, with feelings, emotions, likes and dislikes; that they also love certain things about life; that they love their children, husbands and wives; that they too are fallible and make mistakes just as we do. Hopefully, we have gained a broader view of humanity as a whole and now understand the greater interconnectedness of all things and that we are all responsible for what happens on our planet no matter where we live. Hopefully, we have learned that we are all the same in so many ways, because now may be the time for us to return to our villages and towns and countries, taking with us all that we have learned. Now may be the time for us to utilize what we have learned, for all humanity.

With the crisis in Japan the world has changed. We must accept this fact. We must figure out how we want to live now that we can no longer rely on trade with Japan to support our abundant lifestyles. Our cars must come from within our own borders, our food must be local, our responsibility to the entire world rests on us all making changes that are good for the Earth. We must not only change our personal lives, but we must pressure our governments to change as well, to be a part of the greater world without a doubt, but to make decisions that take into consideration the larger global picture that we have a greater understanding of now that we have all become world explorers. But it is time for the explorers to take what has been learned and, with that new knowledge firmly grasped, return home and change.

So how can we personally change? How can we as individuals make progress toward changing the way things are done? We can start with mindfulness. In the Buddhist sense, mindfulness is staying present in the moment, in as many moments as possible throughout the day. It is being mindful of how we walk, how we eat, how we talk. It is being mindful of how we drive, how we spend our time, how we think. It is being mindful of how we love, how we give, how we receive. It is being mindful of what we choose to look at, read, and allow into our bodies. It is being mindful of our thoughts, judgments, criticisms of our self and others. It is being mindful of our intents, our prayers, our desires. In essence, being mindful is being aware, and being aware of ourselves in the world is how we can be mindful of how we can change.

In practical terms, we must first accept that we are all living in Japan now. Our world has changed. That is the first thing we must take into consideration as we turn and study our personal responsibilities to this changed world. How can I mindfully be present and aware?

“Most of the time, we are lost in the past or carried away by the future. When we are mindful, deeply in touch with the present moment, our understanding of what is going on deepens, and we begin to be filled with acceptance, joy, peace, and love.” So writes Thich Nhat Hanh in The Long Road Turns to Joy, A Guide to Walking Meditation.

I propose meditation in everyday life, in constantly reminding the self to be present, as the means of gaining greater awareness of ourselves in the world and greater awareness of what we must do to change and flow with the energy of nature, now guiding us in this process of change. This does not have to be anything more than reminding the self to focus on each task that we do, to do it mindfully. Personally, I try to be mindful from the moment I wake up. I am not always successful, since it is impossible to be mindful every moment of every day, but the more often I pull my thoughts back to what I am doing the more I am able to be present. Each one of those tiny moments of presence, of awareness of the moment, adds up. Being mindful throughout the day is really very simple.

When I get out of bed and put my feet onto the floor, I say to myself: I am putting my feet onto the floor. I feel the floor under my feet. I am walking, walking, walking. I am waking up with each step. I am noticing the morning darkness or the morning light. I am walking.

When I make my morning coffee, I say to myself: I am making the coffee. I am running the water, measuring the coffee, thanking the earth for the water, the coffee plantations for the delicious coffee beans. I am staying mindfully focused on what I am doing, turning this process into a mantra as I awaken to a new day mindfully. When I drink my freshly brewed coffee, I say to myself: I am drinking this coffee. I am drinking and feeling each sip I take. I am mindfully drinking my coffee.

As the day goes on, I continue to remind myself to pay attention to what I am doing. When I eat, I say to myself: I am eating now. I am eating this delicious food that someone else has grown and tended and I thank them for it. If I keep thanking and focusing on what I am doing other thoughts easily leave, but they come back quickly, so I must again remind myself of what I am doing. This is practicing mindfulness.

In accepting that we are all personally responsible, as citizens of the world, we can turn to the small things in life as the place to begin making the most changes, having the most impact. As we mindfully go about our day we may discover where we are sloppy with our time and thoughts. We may discover that, as we pay attention to each task, we slow down considerably and in so doing gain not only peaceful moments of calm, but discover that we don’t really need to hurry at all, because we see that in slowing down mindfully we have plenty of time for the things that really matter. And that is the crux of what our world is asking of us now. What really matters?

Mindfulness is awareness of the present moment

“The First Noble Truth,” writes Thich Nhat Hahn, “taught by the Buddha is the presence of suffering. Awareness of suffering generates compassion, and compassion generates the will to practice the Way.” If we are to practice the Way, live mindfully in balance with nature, inner and outer nature, we must be aware of suffering. Right now there is suffering in Japan, in the Middle East, and in our own countries there is suffering every day.

We can mindfully remind ourselves of this by saying: I am aware of the suffering in Japan. I am aware of the suffering as the wars in the Middle East are waged. I am aware of the suffering in my own backyard. I feel this suffering. I accept the truth of suffering. I know what it means to suffer too. I now turn my heart outward and send compassion on the wings of intent. I am mindful of my power to change and to change the world by my intent.

This is mindful living. Try it.

Thanks for reading and passing these blogs on to others! Sending you all love and good wishes.

In mindfulness,
Jan

If you wish to correspond, please feel free to post a comment below. And don’t forget to check out our facebook page at: Riverwalker Press on facebook where we post daily comments and quotes.

Messages from Jeanne

#750 Thank You, People of Japan

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Written by Jan Ketchel and including a channeled message from Jeanne Ketchel.

I decide to channel Monday’s message to humanity a day early. I seek commentary from Jeanne on the devastation in Japan, the earthquake and tsunami that have caused massive devastation, loss of life, catastrophic environmental damage, and feelings of great sadness for the people of Japan the world over. As we are brutally confronted with the reality of impermanence, I ask Jeanne: What can we learn from this natural disaster?

Jeanne responds:

Impermanence, as you mention, Jan, is the first thing to recognize. This is a big blow to man’s insistence on controlling nature, yet the overall message is this: Nothing and no one is safe from death.

It is not enough to sit back and declare that this is happening in another part of the world and lucky for you that you are not there. More must be expected of all of you now, for the earth itself is continually shaking you to awaken. I do not wish to continue along negative lines, for in order to shift into what comes next one must accept that this earthquake and its aftermath are meant to produce a new way of life.

Man has indeed come far from his spiritual roots and purpose. This does not make man bad. It merely presents a dilemma and sometimes such a dilemma requires outside help in causing shift.

I pause, feeling a need to shift the direction of this channeling and ask Jeanne another question. Can you give your readers one important message regarding the situation in Japan?

Here is what Jeanne says in answer to that question:

Treat the world differently from this day forth.
Treat the earth differently.
Treat the people you meet differently and the people you will never meet.
Treat your self differently.
Allow your spirit self to emerge more fully and partake in life.

Accept the truth of your personal impermanence in order to understand the massive loss of life upon the coastline of Japan. Do not stay in sadness, but use it to change how you act, how you pray, how you set your intent. Turn from sorrow to release the self from all that flows so negatively out of this destruction. Turn to the power of change that comes into human lives with such force of nature.

Nature is at the core of each one of you. You have this same power inside you. This is what you are being shown. It is the energy of the times you live in that has so interrupted the land of ancient Japan, but ancient Japan knows it cannot swim against the tides of change. It knows it must accept that this is how nature has decided to send the message that energy is more powerful than man’s progress upon that earth.

It is not time now to bemoan the destruction, but to learn that, although man is weak before such power, man does have this power also within. Perhaps it is time to use it again, but not in revolutions of destruction, of greed, of self-interest, whether personal or national, but only in revolutions of inward digging and excavation, on inward progress.

Start a personal revolution of change. Do not turn from Mother Nature in fear, but turn toward her in love and acceptance that everything you need is in her, keeping in mind that she is each one of you. You hold all you need within.

This is not a simplistic answer nor is it meant to disregard or minimize the impact of this turmoil in the world. No words can do that, for you all feel this. You must feel it. This is the truth you must face: your personal destruction, your impermanence. And to really face that, truthfully, you must change.

You must pay attention to the messages coming from the earth itself. You will find them within. During the coming week go inside the self, each one of you, and begin to clean up the debris in your lives. You have the pictures of what devastation looks like, flashing before you everywhere you look, so you know what needs to be done. Do not look away in horror, but face the horror and work at how it makes you feel.

You must change now. That is the disturbing message.

You live. Do not let the people of Japan die in vain. Take their message of impermanence, delivered so impersonally, and use it to change how things are done. Thank them for their sacrifice to nature’s call to change.

Now it is up to each one of you to carry on, and no matter where you live on that earth: Live differently now.

Thank you Jeanne. Please feel free to post comments or respond to this message in the post/read comments section below. Also check out our facebook page at: Riverwalker Press on facebook. And thank you for passing the messages on!

Most fondly and humbly offered.