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An Angel's Special Christmas Gift
Author: Steve Brunkhorst
Towering ponderosa pine trees reached up to touch a blue December sky. Their top
branches waved to billowy white clouds sailing over the snow-covered Colorado
forest. Sniffing the sweet-scented Ponderosa bark filled my head with the aroma
of Christmas candles and butterscotch cookies.
I lowered my tripod to the ground, and pointed my camera lens toward the top
branches of these living giants. Their pinnacles formed a lofty monument to
centuries of natural perfection. If these trees could talk, they would tell
tales of the forest dating back hundreds of years.
The sky was alive with moving cloud forms. I thought, "Maybe there will be
some angel clouds to photograph today." I walked into a small clearing to
get a full view of the moving clouds. Suddenly I froze in my tracks, amazed at
what I saw.
Upon a large boulder was a perfect angel made of snow. She posed graciously with
wings spread while I photographed her from several perspectives. Her framed
image would make a unique Christmas gift for a friend who collects angels.
I had witnessed again the magnificent perfection of nature; its artistic forest
patterns are filled with divine symbols. All of creation bares God's signature
in ways we can read it.
Like a moment of compelling photographic light, every moment can bring gifts of
joy and empowerment. Yet we must attend to them, and choose to see them with new
eyes. Awareness allows us to see through the eyes of the spirit, and understand
with the heart.
How can we increase our level of awareness to fill our moment-to-moment
experiences with more wonder and joy?
- Stop, and attend purposefully to sights, sounds, smells, and feelings in the
present moment. Accept this unique moment as your own, and notice the
perspective from which you view it.
- Continue to focus on the feelings within your present experience. Rather than
compare your experience with a previous one, bask in the moment. Focus on
its uniqueness.
- Return a silent feeling of gratitude for each experience, knowing that all
events are divine gifts given to help us learn and grow in faith.
- Record your experience by writing it in a journal, recording it on tape, or
taking photographs if possible. Your recorded perspectives will allow the
sensations of your experience to remain fresh in your memory.
- Share your experience. Thoughts that continue to receive our attention will
increase in our daily experience. Sharing our experiences divides the joy with
others. It is also a great way to keep a newfound level of awareness growing and
thriving.
The snow angel indeed provided a unique Christmas gift for my friend, and also
for me. It's a special gift that has kept giving year after year.
Every time I view the angel's image, it reminds me to attend to the present
moment, and to view the gift of life through a spiritual lens. Life's perfection
is always there, in sunshine and storm, in bright and overcast light.
I will always recall that crisp December day when I met an unexpected friend in
the forest - an angel made of snow. Her reminder to see with the spirit's eyes
has been a life-empowering Christmas gift - the kind of gift one might
expect to receive from an angel.
About the author:
(C) Copyright 2003 by Steve Brunkhorst. Steve coaches talented professionals who
want to renew or enhance their sense of personal empowerment and creativity. Get
Steve's free motivational mini-zine, "Achieve! 60-Second Nuggets of
Inspiration" by visiting http://www.AchieveEzine.com
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