The little squirrel

It was a cool fall evening in North Georgia. The sun was beginning to set among the tall silent trees, its orange distant light making its way through the myriad branches and to the hard cold earth. My family and I had just arrived back to our house which sat atop one of the foothills of Sweat Mountain. We had been on the road for eight hours, returning from a gymnastics meet in Panama City, Florida. Our neighbors across the street had been taking care of our animals for us while we were gone, five cats, two dogs and a fish, and I decided to walk on over to let them know we were home and to get the key to the house back.

I knocked on the door and was invited inside. I was talking to the matriarch of the family and two of the children, both college students, when their big black cat came up on the front porch with a young squirrel trapped in his jaws. We could all see that the squirrel was still alive and aware. The two college students, T and C, ran out onto the porch to save the squirrel from the cat, but by the time they were able to get it free from the cat's grip, the life had all but left the body of the squirrel. It lay there motionless in an all too familiar position. "It's dead." said T. But before an air of disappointment could settle in among us, I instinctively picked up the body of the squirrel and opened myself up. Reiki began to flow and I could sense immediately that something was happening. I knew, somehow, that our friend was not yet gone. I sat down on the front step and let the Reiki flow. I wasn't sure what they were thinking, but felt that T and C were watching with great interest, that somehow, they too could sense what was going on. I remember T saying a few times that the squirrel was dead, and indeed, it was motionless in my hands. There was no rise or fall of it's small ribcage, no twitch of muscle or nerve or any other sign physical that it would ever scurry across a patch of fallen leaves again, but that didn't bother me. I could feel the current of energy reviving that squirrel, guiding it back into its young form. After a few minutes I felt the small body move in my hands and noticed that it was starting to breathe in short shallow breaths. A rush of love moved through my heart. T and C saw it too and were amazed. "That squirrel was dead." I heard T say. After a few more minutes the squirrel opened up its eyes, but they were thickly glazed over and I knew it wasn't fully present yet. It closed it's eyes again and continued to breathe. A few more minutes went by, the Reiki continued to flow into the squirrel and when it reached a point where it began to breathe more easily, it opened its eyes again. This time they were clear and bright. "There you are." I said. She was back. "No way," said T. "That squirrel was dead." I looked up into their faces and saw their smiling eyes. C didn't say a thing. She just smiled.

I continued to let the Reiki flow and we began to talk. I told them about some experiences I had had doing this healing work, about the humming bird too, and after a while I called my daughter over to come see and pet the squirrel. The animal had become so docile that we gently handed it back and forth among us so that everyone could touch this little miracle of life, but eventually all she wanted to do was bury herself in my jacket. I tried to put her back on a tree so she could run off and be a squirrel again, but she wouldn't leave and only wanted to climb back into the crook of my arm.

We could all feel the cold night air coming on. Our first freeze of the season had come while we were gone and I didn't want to leave her out in the cold after the experience she'd had, so I took her home and put her in a small cage we used whenever we came across some little animal we could help. I did some research online, and discovered that this little animal would take some specialized care, and also that cat bites were deadly to squirrels because of the bacteria in the cat's mouths. I decided to take her into a rehabilitator I knew and left her there that night. In the morning, I called to see if she had made it through the night. I was curious about the cat bite poisoning, but was elated to find out that she had made it through fine and was released back into the wild soon after. I felt so grateful that I could help this little animal in this way. What a gift it was. What a gift life was. I was truly humbled and felt privileged to be alive, here on this planet with all this beautiful life. What a trip. I love it.


Peace and Love,

Jeff.

Cysts and vision clear

My friend, D., was preparing to go into surgery for some cysts in his feet. We discussed Reiki briefly and I told him I could send Reiki to him and we would see what would happen. So I did. I began sending him Reiki. At first I sent it on a daily basis, then backed off and sent it whenever it popped into my head to do so. Time went by and he said he felt a little better. As part of the preparation for surgery, D. had to have a stress test on his heart and they decided he needed a stint put into his heart before they could put him under to work on his feet. I believe it was at this point that he came over to my house and got on the table for a hands-on healing. I remember that his session was very intense. As usual, my inner vision was filled with white light and when I got to his lower back, the light and energy was amazing. His body really soaked it up. The next day, I asked him how he was feeling, and he said a little better. As I left him to make a delivery (I was working at a nursery at the time as a delivery driver), I sent him more reiki for his highest good. About an hour later I returned and D. called me over. "I'm freakin' out man," he said, smiling. "My eyes... I can feel it working in my eyes." He pointed to a sheet of paper that laid at the top of his desk. "I can read that." He fingered his glasses which laid on the desk as well. "I don't need these things. I can read that. This is wild." I smiled. I had never been witness to anything like this before either. It was amazing. "I can feel it," he said again. "That's awesome," I said, and walked away to leave him with his miracle. From my first experience with Reiki, my world continued to grow and change, and the knowlege that there are no limitations to the healing power of Divine Energy continued to rise in my consciousness. The next day D. went in for a previously scheduled eye exam. The optician told him his eyes were fine. Later, when they searched for the cysts in his feet to prepare for the surgery, they couldn't find them any more. The cysts were gone too. I wasn't sure how long his vision was going to remain as healthy as it was. This was new territory for me as well. I had heard other stories of miraculous healings, some of which stuck and some of which didn't. I told D. that the table was there for him any time he needed it and that if he wanted to learn Reiki Healing, I could teach him. After about a month, D. told me that his vision had returned nearly to the point that it was before the Reiki. I wasn't suprised at this either. Reiki honors the free will of the individual. Though it offers one a way to better health, the work of changing malfunctioning patterns us still up to us. Reiki has lifted this pattern from him and given him a chance to move forward into a new way of health, but I don't think he recognized it this time. We are the creators of our worlds. While he had received a great healing, he had not changed the patterns of his life that had created the limitation, and so, his body fell back into the patterns he had set for himself. My heart fills with love when I think of D. and I know that this miracle is still with him wherever he is.

The Hummingbird

One of the first experiences I can remember occurred shortly after one of my attunements. I can't remember if it was Reiki I or II.

A hummingbird had come into the warehouse area of the nursery I was working at. It had flown into a large cobweb and had become entangled in the mess. One of my fellow employees had rescued the bird from it's trap and was gingerly pulling the cobwebs off the little thing. But the bird was out of it. I suppose it was the stress. It was all but unconscious. My friend finished pulling the last of the cobwebs off and held the bird out for me to see. His tongue had been pulled out a bit during the cleaning, and the bird had made no effort to retract it. It wasn't moving at all. I asked if I could hold the bird and sat down in a chair with my hands cupped around it. I initiated the flow of Reiki and sat there as the small bird began to absorb the healing energy. Not sure what I was doing, I just sat there, relaxed and let the Reiki flow. My friend watched me and smiled. "You praying?" he asked. At the time, I didn't think I was and I said, "No, not really." But looking back on it, I suppose I was, silently, communing with Spirit for the healing of this small creature. I sat there for about ten minutes as the energy in and around my hands swelled and danced, then felt that I needed to go outside. I went and stood near the rootball of a twelve foot maple tree that was propped up outside the front door. Gently, I opened my hands and looked at my dazed little friend lying on its side. As if on cue, the little bird's chest expanded with a deep breath then relaxed as it exhaled. It paused for a beat, as if to regain it's mind, then quickly popped up out of my hands and flew up into the branches of the maple tree. I watched the little bird sitting there on a branch, amazed. Life restored. My heart swelled with a silent knowing and for a moment I just stood there, letting it all soak in. There was nothing left to do. Our hearts now forever connected, I bid my friend farewell and turned to go back inside the warehouse.

At the Citgo in Holly Springs

It was the end of a long hot day and I had gotten off work a little early, so I decided to get my car washed. I pulled into a gas station up near the highway and paid my three bucks. I had been there before and was always pleased with the wash I got. My car always came out looking good. But on this day, things would turn out differently. I would never get the car wash to work, but when I left the gas station, it would be the last thing on my mind. Two attempts failed. The attendant even reset the machine for me, but still, it would not work, and as I sat in my car staring at the machine which was staring back at me, I decided I would not get angry. Instead, I smiled. There are no mistakes, I told myself. In this field of infinite intelligence of which we are all part, I believe that nothing happens randomly, no matter how often we tell ourselves that it does. It was a good day and I decided to look for the reason. I asked to know and to feel, and immediately my energy shifted into a space of calm and peace. My smile broadened and after a few minutes more I drove through the bay again. As I pulled through this time, an old Cadillac jumped out at me. It was nearly blocking the car wash exit, parked oddly across three parking spaces. The fender was bent and the paint was worn and it looked like an old sway back mule panting in the shade just before dropping dead. I didn’t think much of it. We were at the end of another scorcher and I didn’t expect parking etiquette to be high on anyone’s list of priorities. In my state of bliss, I just drove around the thing and parked. I walked into the shop again and that’s when it all began. A woman, out of breath, on crutches, sweating profusely, turned to me as I approached the counter and asked me, gasping, if I could help her put some water in her overheating car. She had driven up the highway in the hundred-plus heat to this point and could go no further. When she had begun her spiel, I had immediately turned on the filters. I had heard dozens of stories about dire straits that all ended with a plea for money based on some false pretense, and was prepared to give her a buck or two just for her efforts, but this was not the case. By the time I got my three dollars back from the attendant, the woman was sinking fast into the depths of an asthma attack and was beginning to panic. Barely able to stand, overheated, overweight, her eyes rolling a bit, she continued to seek my assistance, which I had already agreed to. Her friend came in and told her she needed to go to the hospital, and indeed, if it had progressed any further, I am sure a paramedic would have been called, because she would have been on the floor. It was at this point that I felt the energy around us build up. It was as if we were standing within a field of intense vibration and my first thought was to inject some calm into the scene with thought. I had experienced how effective this can be, but this time it was too late. She was beyond that. I was in a moment of decision, one I had faced before, and knew that my words would affect everything that would happen next. I found myself mute, waiting for the right action, and then without analytical thought or thought at all, words began to come out of my mouth, “I may be able to help you. Do you mind if I put my hands on you?” She turned with tears running down her face, “Do anything you want,” she said desperately. I shoved the three dollars into my pocket and placed my hands on her shoulders. After a moment I slid my left hand down behind her heart. The energy was so intense that I couldn’t do anything egotistically, I mean, no words of invocation or thoughts came to me at all. I just stood there and waited for the reiki and the light to begin to draw. Part of me wanted to jump start it, wanted to get in there and touch wires and get things going, but a larger part of me knew to be silent. And so I was. In what seemed to be minutes, but was surely a matter of seconds, the energy began to flow. Meanwhile, the woman pleaded in a weak voice, “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus…” over and over. Thankfully, my ego couldn’t get in the way, because even as the light was flowing, part of me was resistant to this idea. How long I had walked, angry at the idea of a savior outside myself, angry at the world for telling me so many lies. And even now, with all the progress I have made, baptized again at thirty-eight, attuned to the Reiki Master level, ordained as a minister, there was still a part of me that wanted to stand up and say that Jesus wasn’t here. But I believe that he was. Even then, without seeing, without thinking about it, I knew we were not alone. There was so much love. And as she stood and asked for Jesus to help her with weak and short breath, and as the reiki flowed through me and I watched her breathing become slower and deeper, I just let it all go. There was no room for thought or analysis, only God, only love. It was at this point that someone walked in the store from the laundry mat next door and asked what was going on, to which the cashier replied that she was having an asthma attack, but that it was all good and that “He’s working on it. He’s got it under control.” The ease and gentility of her response and the rapid acceptance of this explanation by the customer served to surround me with even more love and I became aware of all of us standing there sharing this healing, sharing this moment, sharing this space and together, simply being one. After about five minutes or so the woman became calm and told me that it hurt on her chest. “It’s right here,” she said still a bit anxious, poking her chest with her fingers. I waited for a beat or two and asked her if I could put my hand there, which she agreed to. The spot on her chest got hot immediately and pulled in the reiki without pause and in a few minutes the asthma attack was a thing of the past and the panic that had begun to suffocate her had turned back into light. As I walked out to move her car over to the hose and fill the radiator reservoir, she asked me what church I went to. “Inner Quest,” I said. “In Roswell.” She paused, then replied, “I’m new up here. Can I have the phone number?” “Sure,” I said, and after dealing with her car, instinctively gave her one of my cards, whose information was printed atop the image of easy ripples moving over the surface of a still pond. “Oh,” she smiled, “you got my favorite. I love water.” I smiled back at her and left her there, in that sacred spot which moments before was just a Citgo food mart on Holly Springs Parkway.