I have started a new facebook page!. I am attaching a video of a picture which partially inspired the new page on the affirmations page of this website. Hope you will visit on facebook and contribute stories of loving service.
The inspiration for the page came after I returned home last night from a stake high priests group dinner. I had not yet read Daughters in my Kingdom, a new Relief Society history publication. As I read the message from the first presidency, my thoughts were directed to the need there was to create a page where stories from the lives of people who served with great love and faith would be posted to uplift and edify all who choose interest. The words 'Charity never faileth' leapt forth declaring they were to be the name of the page. Immediately I went and created the page although I already have a page called Love and Light Now. My Love and Light Now page is a neutral platform and this new page, Charity Never Faileth, reflects a specific religious and spiritual focus on the pure love of Christ. While my spiritual path and growth have been attuned within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints no denomination will be assumed to have exclusive privilege when it comes to acts of charity and all truly charitable stories are welcome!

    This morning I was sitting on the back porch of my sisters Oregon home looking out at the forest that borders her backyard. These quiet moments before everyone is up are deeply refreshing, and I took them as an opportunity for personal reflection. Movement from the branches of a small tree caught my attention. I found myself feeling caressed by the same soft breeze that gently moved the branches all around me in a soothing pattern. It felt as if an unseen energy was blowing all the cares from my soul. I wondered what it would be like to actually see this unseen energy. I recently had a friend tell me that her son can see colors produced by stormy winds. 
     What if air movement could be seen like the ripples on a pond when you throw in a pebble? As the air moves energy is unleashed producing a rainbow of colors. If we could see the light produced by the expression of this energy we would see swirls and ripples of color following, or being carried by, the movement of the air? If moving air could be seen it would be heavenly. How wonderful for anyone who can experience this in some small measure. Today I experienced it not with my physical eyes, but intuitively.

Peace and Light All!
     ~Christina

    A highlight of our summer happened last week. We have a small strawberry patch which the robins were enjoying until a few weeks ago when my husband covered it with a net. Last week while finally being able to harvest some lovely strawberries I discovered a robin terribly tangled in the net. I had no idea how long it had been there. It was worn out from trying to escape. It had been totally still until I was almost touching it and then it flapped around making things worse for itself.
    First I worked on freeing its legs. It kept clenching its claws making the task difficult. The more I loosened the grip of the net the more the robin tried to nip me. I got some gloves on and came back to the rescue. I worked quite a while to untangle the poor thing but couldn't get the netting out of one of its wings. I held the bird carefully while my son cut the net to free the bird, but it could not fly with the netting that was still in its wing.
    We watched it hop around for half an hour as the sun began to go down. I kept wishing my husband was home. He grew up on a farm and I knew he would know what to do. Finally he got home just before dark. By this time the robin was under some bushes at the neighbors who were not home. My husband crawled under the bushes, but the robin just run out the other side.      Together we surrounded the bushes and herded the bird out into the open. It ran to a small clump of flowers where we could see and reach it. My husband with his farm boy know-how got the netting out of the wing without hurting the wing, as I knew he would. We were so relieved to see it fly away as soon as it was released. It was a very gratifying experience to be successful in helping a helpless creature. (Our cat knew the bird was in the net, but hadn't attacked?)
    Peace, Christina

    Trust is a powerful thing. Who and what we put our trust in effectively shapes our lives. When a trust is broken it can feel impossible to restore. We may begin to nurture feelings of mistrust and pain thus allowing ourselves to become cynical. We may feel we have lost our ability to trust an individual, group, ideology, or any ability to trust anyone or anything.
    Ultimately, we are the greatest losers if we allow ourselves to fall completely out of trust. Think of the innocence of a child. They thrive and enjoy life because they live in trust. We as individuals and societies must become more trustworthy and find ways to nurture trust within ourselves.
    Being a trusting individual does not mean being gullible. Gullibility is blind irresponsible misplaced trust. When we place our trust in someone or something with no sensible thought we are responsible for the seemingly surprising negative consequences.
    When I find myself struggling with rebuilding trust I remind myself that I don't really have to trust anyone but God. Being in tune with the Holy Spirit helps me know who and what to trust, and to heal from broken confidences.
    Learning from the destruction of our trust is the best gift we can give ourselves. Regardless of whether our trust was innocent, blindly placed, or carefully considered we choose the lessons we learn. We can be more careful of who we place our trust in yet give our trust willingly, or we can withhold all trust and loose touch with what is trustworthy. We always have a choice.
   

     With all the distress in the world we need to love each other more than ever. Love is the only way to truly learn from life experience and be healed. There is purpose in the upheaval and destruction that we see. It seems more frequent, but is it really? Perhaps we just more aware of the troubles around the world because of modern technology. Whether troubles are bigger or greater than ever, or not, matters very little. What matters is that we use these life experiences to catapult us into greater understanding of ourselves, and happiness with who we are and what we have.
     Life is great.  Death when it arrives is a door to new life. Let's get right with God and who he created us to be. This is the moment to be happy and fulfilled!

     Confession time. Lately I have been suffering from a lack of motivation. So many things are vying for my attention that I shrug and ignore all of them. Logic tells me this behavior will catch up with me, but logic isn't running the show here.
     Anyone else feeling this way lately? What is the solution? Yes yes focus. Just decide on a project and do it. Stop playing Frontierville! Hummm and get up earlier in the morning. Well I take comfort in the fact that whether I get over my motivation problems right away or procrastinate a bit more, life goes on and it is great!

     Okay, so I got to thinking that I haven't explained the purpose of this website and how it got started. This all started when, through a series of life crises, I determined to take back control of my life. Not control over others, which is a common response to feeling out of control, but control of what I had power over, myself. This is not to say that I have full mastery over myself and never try to control others. No, I am not claiming perfection at this point, at least not in that area. ;) As I shifted inward to discern what my issues were that were creating disharmony and distress in my life, I was led to many of the alternative healing therapies listed in my website Love and Light Now .
     In addition, I was motivated to learn energy healing techniques (such as Reiki) with which I could help others. The level of personal peace I have gained has been extremely rewarding and comforting. I found myself in a space of wanting to share this joy with others. However, putting myself on the internet to connect with total strangers was not on my radar.
     Throughout this process I enjoyed the blessing of synchronicity in the discovery of various books, people, therapies, insights, etc. I continually experienced God's guidance, and all my life have been familiar with communicating with spirit. One Saturday morning in May 2010, I had the distinct impression that I needed to create a website using the name of my new email address. I questioned this idea as I had no other idea as to what the website would be about. I wasn't given any other information, but the was told to start the website 'now'. So without knowing why ,or for what purpose, I created this website that day. Of course to begin with, it was a website in name only. There was no content until the next insight came. It came quickly as I realized the need to share with others a neutral understanding of energy work and the variety of therapies available to bless our lives.
    This could be a lot longer, but I will to close with a brief extension. The purpose of the website is still coming to light. I created a Facebook page in the summer of 2010 to promote this website and it took on a life of its own. Now I am hoping to reach people with that page, this website and blog in a way that will promote love, peace and unity across religions, cultures, and nationalities.
     Peace and light to all!