Personal Stories
While the Lemurian Fellowship offers instruction in metaphysics and Truth, its primary value lies in helping people from all walks of life and in everyday experiences. Perhaps in what is being shared in these
"personal stories" in the lives of Lemurian students, you may find something similar in your own life.
What a Loving Father Would Do
The sun is near setting and the breeze is refreshing as my friend and I stroll along the bay. I’ve been looking forward to this chance to talk as I know he is interested in my Lemurian Studies. When asked, I have tried to convey my conviction yet allow for his views. So this evening when he challenges: "How can you possibly believe in reincarnation?" I feel my smile freeze on my face, then fade. This is a friend whose intellect and abilities I respect. Simply stating "I do believe it" would not be an answer. I find the idea reasonable, but how to say that? How to condense all that I had studied, learned and grown to accept, into a conversation? I make a quick, silent, plea to God for help.
An idea comes to me. I say, "Well, some people have achieved greatness, selflessness, even holiness. We revere them: Celebrate their birthdays as holidays. I think it is because we really want to be like them, and keep their example in our minds."
I hesitate. He prods me, "Yes?"
"Well," I say, "Christ called God a loving father. He taught us that powerful prayer that starts with "Our Father." And when He was performing miracles, He said we would do "even more wonderful things than these."
Then turning to my friend, I say, "I think God knows it is going to take us more than one lifetime to get from where we are now, to where we have to go. A loving father understands that it is hard to change. It doesn’t happen quickly, even when you are trying."
"I think God provides us with the possibility of reincarnating so we will have a good chance, every chance, to achieve for ourselves the height of human achievement, becoming like Christ, as He said we could do. It simply makes sense to me. I think giving chances is what any loving father would do."
He looks down at the ground in thought and I know he has often worried about his own children. He says, "Well, believing in reincarnation makes some sense to me in that light, but I do not know how it can actually be, though, with molecules dying and the body breaking up, disintegrating at death. I am a nuts and bolts kind of person," he says, "I just cannot see how any individual can survive death."
As we turn and head for home, inside I am wondering what to say, praying what to say, trying to keep my emotions out of my face. I do not relish having anyone think me foolish. And suddenly I realize that is my biggest worry! I know what I believe and feel is true. All I need to do is express this and trust my friend to accept or reject what he will. With a newfound calm, I say, "I have been taught, and I now think so myself, it is because we are all in reality spiritual beings using bodies, like using a vehicle. We use each body until it no longer serves, then give it up, through dying, and get another, through rebirth. There are a lot of things about what makes us who we are that I do not understand, but I know I am more than just this body. I am more than just a bunch of molecules, and I know it!"
We walk on, into the evening. My friend is lost in thought. I hear him say, very quietly, "What a loving Father would do."
I think to myself, "Thank you, God." What seemed to start in such a rocky way became a quiet time of sharing with a friend, and on we strolled in companionable quiet.
***
Indebtedness or How I Learned to Borrow Money
My dad would often talk about his ability to get loans from the bank to help run his grocery and hardware stores. For some reason, I focused on learning how to borrow money, but never thought much about how to pay it back. This proved disastrous!
I started out applying for personal loans whenever I wanted to buy something. Then I heard it was important to build up a credit rating so I began accumulating a stack of credit cards. First were department store cards, then came bank cards like MasterCard and Visa, and gas cards. Now I could really get what I wanted when I wanted it! But what I never bothered to do was figure out just what this luxury was costing me every month in interest and fees — how much extra I was paying for the privilege of using someone else’s money. I never realized that minimum payments were designed to keep us in debt!
The cards built up larger and larger balances, some maxing out. Curiously, as long as I could meet the monthly payments, I wasn’t concerned, although I grew uneasy as the budget got more and more strained. At one point, I wanted to charge the minimum payment for one card on another card. Fortunately for me, this wasn’t allowed.
When I was introduced to the Lemurian Philosophy, among other things, I began learning about finances from the point of view of cosmic law and financial security. What an eye opener! I learned of the need to balance my spending against my income, and even to save for the future and emergencies. Although the ideas were plausible and I wanted to follow them, I had one big obstacle to overcome — my urge to borrow money. It was an addiction. I was like an alcoholic trying not to drink.
At first, I seemed to be able to cut back on charging, but then I realized I was just reducing the balance on one card only to charge more on another. Very gradually, though, I began to discipline myself to apply tax refunds and other unexpected income to the balances, and I would always try to pay more than the minimum due. As I really got into it, I gained more determination and studied other ways to reduce charging and pay down the balances. One by one, as each card was paid off, I added the amount of that monthly payment to the balance of another card. I switched to cards with lower interest rates. I had a garage sale to sell things I didn’t need, and bought a used car instead of the two new ones my wife and I usually bought. We even sold our large home and took a modest apartment to save money.
Eventually I realized something else was happening. My habit of borrowing and charging had all but disappeared. Card after card was paid off as well as one personal loan. Today, I have only one card to go.
I’m within four months of being debt-free! I can’t describe the relief and security I’ve discovered. I’ve taken responsibility and overcome the excessive spending. With the help of the Lemurian Philosophy, I feel more secure and content now that I’ve learned how to handle finances based on cosmic law. I finally feel in control of my life.
***
I was holding Mom's hand and talking to her as she took her last breath and quietly passed away. Wanting to say something that would mean a lot to her, I whispered into her ear:
"May the Lord be with you."
My mother recently passed away after years of both mental and physical decline that included dementia, paranoia and Parkinson’s. During the last nine months of her life, we knew the end was coming. But she was my mom and it was hard to accept and understand the changes in her.
Mom had always been vibrant, some said effervescent. When she walked into a room, people noticed. Yet the last years of her life found this once proud and graceful woman changed by old age and disease for which there was no cure. Finally, unable to dress herself, easily angered and fearful of anything new, she began wishing for the end of life and the pain she was in.
To some in my family, Mom’s death was going to be an ending, and this was hard for them. I too had some difficult times for even though I believed in reincarnation, I was struggling with this, and asked myself why. In my early teens, I had been given a lot of responsibility while Mom worked. I shared a connection with her and a sense of being needed, depended on. Now I needed to let go of that and truly know she would be in good hands, God’s hands.
I’ve always known being a Lemurian doesn’t make one immune from facing pain or loss any more than it does for anyone who believes in God and life’s opportunities. But there’s a sense of assurance in the tools it provides to understand and handle the challenges a part of every life. So I looked for what would help me cope, for I had my faith that in everything there is a chance for me to learn. I realized it was not important to know the reasons for all that was occurring, and though I had very little experience with this process, I gathered my courage and tried to meet each emergency as it arose.
In those last days and hours, I found peace and comfort in knowing Mom was really just passing on to another phase of life, that death is a "transition" from our physical world to another world. She would no longer be trapped in a body that couldn’t do what she wanted, a brain that didn’t work properly. What helped me most was turning my thoughts away from my grief, to what I could do to help my family cope. I prayed and then it hit me — God was helping me to cope each time I tried to articulate to them what I felt — my Lemurian belief that all was well. I understood a little more deeply what was happening, and rather than just believe this, I came to truly know deep down all was well. As I made my way through those days, I came to treasure this unique opportunity Mom and God were giving me to learn more about myself and the process of death, and most of all how I could let go from the depth of my heart.
I had the privilege of being alone at Mom’s bedside, holding her hand and talking to her, when she went through transition. Mom believed very much in the religion she was raised in, so when I saw she was gone, I leaned over and whispered in her ear words I knew would mean a lot to her: "I love you, Mom. May the Lord be with you."
A calmness filled the room. I called my sister over to the bed and told her Mom was gone. I immediately knew Mom was finally at peace. My Lemurian understanding of what had just happened brought a sense of tranquility. Yes, I miss her but I know she’s in a better place and no longer suffering, and I am happy for her. And she lives on in those who loved her — in my daughter’s love of children, my son’s love of life, my sister’s love of singing, my love of family, even in the mirror as I quickly pass by and see my own reflection resembling Mom in so many ways. A tranquility I never dreamed was possible has been with me since Mom’s transition, and for this I am deeply grateful.