Betsy Grant: Blog

There's a great children's book called "The Seven Wonders Of Sassafras Springs" (by Betty Birney) about a boy who is challenged by his father to see if he can find seven "wonders" in the "ordinary"  town he lives in.  The boy believes that wonders are only to be seen in far away, "glamorous" places like Egypt and Greece.  He accepts the challenge of finding seven wonders in the time span of a week, with his father's promise that he will send him on a trip to Colorado as a reward.  Without spoiling the story (it's worth reading it yourself), the boy shows the reader that the secret to discovering the wonders of life is to adopt the attitude of a child.   It reminds us of how much we miss by taking everyone and everything for granted.

With the tempo of life as it is today, it is sometimes difficult to find time for a sincerely spiritual activity. Making time for recognition of the Source of all the blessings in our life becomes increasingly difficult - and simultaneously more important. The world pulls at us from every direction, leaving us spiritually destitute if we're not careful. An easy exercise to counteract the distractions from our attention to Spirit is simply to be very grateful for every thing in our life - to say nothing of the gift of life itself. That we have existence is, in itself no small miracle, if we stop to consider the complexity of even a single human being - spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically.

"Sometimes your dreams show up dressed a little different than you thought they'd be. You have to know how to recognize them when they get there."

from the book "Storm Warriors" by Elisa Carbone

"The purpose of the human consciousness,"he explained, "is to get you from here to God, to walk from here on your journey home." (from the book "Those Wonderful ECK Masters" by Harold Klemp)

One of the most important things in an artist's work is the need to protect his/her purity of expression, and not allow promoters, or society's expectations, or the lure of money to taint what the artist truly wants to express. This isn't always easy, and requires a considerable degree of self-honesty. However, the experience of freedom and joy that comes with a pure expression of the artist's love is well worth the sacrifices made, and benefits the viewer/listeners in a more substantial way.