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 I chose this morning, Christmas morning, to free Mom's ashes on the beach. The true meaning of Christmas originated from a powerful and unselfish act of love. I picked this day to acknowledge her life of unselfish acts of love which had a powerful affect on all of us.
At sunrise I spread my Mom's ashes at Cocoa Beach. Mom and Dad would take us to the beach nearly every Sunday the weather was good while we lived in Orlando. We would get a bucket of fried chicken and let it chill in the cooler. We got on the "Bee Line" often traveling with our neighbors, the Getkas, next to us in their convertible. It was exciting and fun! We spent many summer Sundays with our families catching the waves on those canvas blue and yellow rafts, building sand castles or burying ourselves or each other in the sand, feeding seagulls or enjoying the delicacy of the cold chicken. We would come home from our adventure in our sandy attire and compare tans. We would sing many of the "songs" Mom sang with us as kids from found a peanut to crawdad hole. In my heart, these memories were the best memories of my life. It was an innocent and simple time where family and fellowship came in big doses. Family was center to everything we did. Family and friends took joy in day to day activities and just being together and with nature. There was no distractions of 150 channel satellite or cable services, nano ipods, the Internet or jet travel for $39 one way. It was about Mom, Dad, Cathy, Cindy and me (and our closest friends).
I thank Mom and Dad for that gift of simplicity and love without conditions. It was truly fitting to return Mom to a place of joy...the sand, waves and sun...where she brought simple beauty and a slow motion memories of love and happiness that would stay within our every fiber for the rest of our lives. Thank you Mom. We love you!
Passages read:
The Prophet
 Then Almitra spoke, saying, "We would ask now of Death."
And he said:
You would know the secret of death.
But how shall you find it unless you seek it in the heart of life?
The owl whose night-bound eyes are blind unto the day cannot unveil the mystery of light.
If you would indeed behold the spirit of death, open your heart wide unto the body of life.
 For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one.
In the depth of your hopes and desires lies your silent knowledge of the beyond;
And like seeds dreaming beneath the snow your heart dreams of spring.
Trust the dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity.
Your fear of death is but the trembling of the shepherd when he stands before the king whose hand is to be laid upon him in honour.
Is the shepherd not joyful beneath his trembling, that he shall wear the mark of the king?
Yet is he not more mindful of his trembling?
For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun?
And what is to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered?
Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing.
And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb.
And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.
The Four Agreements
Page 134
Prayer for Love
 We are going to share a beautiful dream together – a dream that you will love to have all of the time. In this dream you are in the middle of a beautiful, warm sunny day. You hear the birds, the wind and a little river. You walk toward the river. At the edge of the river is an old man in meditation and you see that out of his head comes a beautiful light of different colors. You try not to bother him, but he notices your presence and opens his eyes. He has the kind of eyes that are full of love and a big smile. You ask him how is he able to radiate all the beautiful light. You ask him if he can teach you to do what he is doing. He replies that many, many years ago he asked the same question of his teacher.
The old man begins to ell you his story: “My teacher opened his chest and took out his heart, and ht too a beautiful flame from his heart. Then he opened my chest, opened my heart, and he put that little flame inside me. I felt intense love because the flame he put in my heart was his own love.
That flame grew in my heart and became a big, big fire – a fire that doesn't burn, but purifies everything that it touches. And that fire touched each one of the cells of my body, and the cells of my body loved me back. I became on with my body, but my love great even more. The fire touched every emotion of my mind and all the emotions transformed into a strong and intense love. And I loved myself completely and unconditionally.
But the fire kept burning and I had the need to share my love. I decided to put a little piece of my love in every tree, and the trees love me back, and I became one with the trees, but my love did not stop, it grew more. I put a piece of my love in every flower, in the grass, in the earth and they loved me back and we became one. And my love grew more and more to love every animal in the work. They responded to my love and they loved me back and we became one. But my love kept growing and growing.
I put a piece of my love in every crystal, in every stone in the ground, in the dirt, in the metals, and they loved me back, and I became one with the earth. And then I decided to put my love in the water, in the oceans, in the rivers, in the rain, in the snow. And they loved me back and we became one. And still my love grew more and more. I decided to give my love to the air, to the wind. I felt a strong communion with the earth, the wind, with the oceans, with nature and my love grew and grew.
I turned my head to the sky, to the sun, to the stars, and put a little piece of my love in every star, in the moon, in the sun, and they loved me back. And I became one with the moon and the sun and the stars, and my love kept growing and growing. And I put a little piece of my love in every human, and I became one with the whole of humanity. Wherever I go, whomever I meet, I see myself in their eyes, because I am part of everything, because I love.
And then the old man opens his chest and takes out his heart with the beautiful flame inside, and he puts that flame in your heart. And now that love is growing inside of you. Now you are one with the wind, with the water, with the starts, with all of nature, with all animals and with all humans. You feel the heat and the light emanating from the flame in your heart. Your are radiant with the glow of love and you pray:
Thank you, Creator of the Universe, for the gift of life you have given me. Thank you for giving me everything that I have truly ever needed. Thank you for the opportunity to experience this beautiful body and this wonderful mind. Thank you for living inside of me with all your love, with your pure and boundless spirit with your warm and radiant light.
Thank you for using my words, for using my eyes, for using my heart to share your love wherever I go. I love you just the way you are and because I am your creation I love myself just the way I am. Help me to keep the love and peace in my heart and to make that love a new way of life, that I may live in love the rest of my life. Amen.
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