Blog 1957 – 02.02.21

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz – Chapter 17 & 18

https://drive.google.com/file/d/13Qy_3s2-tpxhblUWf8Q7C4Ywp5rmRZzY/view?usp=drivesdk

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz – Chapter 17 & 18

As I promised yesterday, today I conclude the wonderful children’s book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The ending is quite different from that of the perhaps more widely known movie. But the book was around thirty nine years before the movie first came out in 1939 and was but the first of many L. Frank Baum books about the land of Oz. I was curious enough to find and read several others, perhaps you will be too.

As adults many of us have discovered that one does not have to go over the rainbow to discover magical lands but that they are right in our own back yard and certainly within driving distance. I have, as I mention often, been fortunate enough to have visited several other countries, if some briefly, and to have traveled in and through the entire fifty states of my own country. There is so much to see and experience in this wonderful world.

Since I misplaced my pocket reminder heart that read “Thank you Spirit for this day” on one side and “I am Holy, I am Whole” on the other, and till I can obtain another I have taken to carrying one that has a picture an open heart symbol on one side and the words “Open Your Heart” on the other side. As I now begin my morning bike rides, I remember the charm in my pocket and recite the following three mantras in order:

1. My heart and my mind are open. My arms and my hands are open. My mouth, my ears, and my eyes are open to receive all the Universe has for me.

2. Thank you for this day, Spirit. I am Holy, I am Whole.

3. I am so glad and grateful that everything I could ever want or need is already mine and coming to me at just the right time and in just the right way from my loving and infinite source.

Both in the book and in the movie, Glenda the Good Witch gives Dorothy some clear and specific instructions as to what words to say to get home. I, as a reader, writer, and singer believe that all words are magical having the power to change our lives and those of others too. Discouraging and complaining words lead us invariably into a dark deep hole and thoughts of giving up, while encouraging and grateful words inspire us to go on and to climb ever higher. No matter how little power we mistakenly think we possess at any given time in our journey, we yet get to decide the direction our life will take.

We can if we choose, give up or say boldly, “I am the captain of my soul, the king of all I survey.” We cannot perhaps change the beginning of our story or the past, but where it goes from here and how this story ends is entirely up to us. To paraphrase a prayer written long ago, “ May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in my sight, oh Lord.”

Your friend and fellow traveler,

David White

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5UGucaz8iwNRkd2OUFtV0VfUk9xOUFqRG9vSjQ4V3o4TlU0/view?usp=drivesdk

Over The Rainbow