Time

 Rolling so smoothly and every once in a while folding back on himself. This was Grandfather Time’s experience. Mostly, when he folded back it was a pleasant wave of energy and feeling but occasionally it didn’t feel so good. He wondered if it had something to do with that little world.

 Most of the peoples and worlds that he provided with time were happy with these opportunities to repeat their happiness and joys from the past but there was one world he was concerned about.

 This was a world that had unhappiness and misery besides happiness and joy and so, when the moment would come where he would fold back on himself and happiness and joy was repeated on most of the worlds, this one world would sometimes have all kinds of unhappiness and misery that had happened before, happen all over again. 

 He didn’t know what to do about that. He had to continue to fold back on himself because the other worlds were enjoying the experience so much. He wondered if there wasn’t something he could do to resolve the situation on that one world - such a beautiful little world from space, blue and white, very pretty. He wondered again, what can I do so they don’t repeat their unhappiness from the past. 

 “I know, I have an idea and why,” he chuckled to himself, “why in the world, so to speak, didn’t I think of this before?” In that moment he called out to his friend and mate who was in another part of the universe and doing things differently.

 Soon after, Grandmother Time was preparing for her trip to help her old friend. She asked her daughter to carry on for her. Her daughter, Mother Time, said, “I will Momma.”

 Almost immediately upon Grandmother Time’s arrival Grandfather Time asked her, “What can I do about this beautiful little world?” Grandmother Time looked at it. “It is beautiful,” she said.

She thought for a moment and then said, “I know what we could do but we will have to join for a long time and this means you will have to stretch to where I am in my part of the universe and I will have to stretch to where you are in your part of the universe and we can, if we move back and forth slowly like that, I think, create a calming. It will still be beautiful for all the other peoples and worlds as it has been but this way we can create something more gentle that will be more like a ripple instead of a wave.”

 “Ah I see,” Grandfather Time said. “So instead of a sudden wave that can happen when I fold back, things will be calmer and softer. Do you think that maybe the peoples on that world can sort out their problems then?” “I think it’s worth a try,” Grandmother Time said.

 And that’s what they did and they’re working on it now so maybe we can sort out our problems. Let’s give it a try. Happy 2019 and beyond.

The Stairway

When I was growing up we lived in a very old house. It had this rickety stairway that led downstairs from the bedrooms. It had a bannister but it was shaky. Every time you walked on the stairs you felt like they were going to fall down but carpenters and other builders said that the stairs were meant to be free swinging. 

They said that they were actually very sturdy and that each stair supported the other not unlike a rope bridge over a canyon that just had ropes and boards. They said it really was very safe but it would be shaky. 

That’s what they said anyway but I remember having to go down that stairway, especially at night when we had to go downstairs to the bathroom, because the stairway was dark. We had a nightlight upstairs and a small one at the bottom but there wasn’t any way to light the stairway. 

When I was very young I remember several times going down that stairway very slowly at night when I was really frightened but making it all the way down and all the way back up. On the way back up I ran up to the brighter light upstairs. It was always a relief to get there.

One day something happened that was really marvelous. I remember it so well. As I was about to step on the stairs there was a little light there. I didn’t know where it came from but I looked down and there was a light slightly above the stairs just floating there. 

I walked towards it and it seemed kind of friendly, thats the only way I can describe it. So I started walking down the stairs and wonder of wonders, the light kept moving before me and lighting up the stairway. That happened all the way down to the bottom of the stairs. 

When I came back to the staircase I didn’t know whether the light would be there for me but just as I was reaching my foot towards the first stair, there it was and from that day forward going up and down the stairs at night that light was there. 

Everyone in my family saw it too. My sister saw it, my mom saw it and my dad saw it when they went down and back up the stairs.

My little sister always called it Genie because it was like a magical genie to her. Soon we all called it that.

  

All throughout my childhood from that point on Genie was there. I remember once my dad said, “We all love Genie but maybe we ought to rebuild the stairway …,” and that’s as far as he got. All the rest of us said, “No, no, Genie might go away!”

So to this day, even though I’m now all grown up and not as frightened as I used to be as a child and am getting on in years, I still live in that house.

My sister got married and moved away and my folks passed on years ago but when I got married we raised our children in this house. The children got to know Genie on the stairway at night. Its been a magical place that way and we all feel that Genie loves us and we love Genie too.

There’s something special that I’ve learned from Genie and thats that it’s possible to do small things that are really needed and just be yourself when you’re doing them. In this way you can give of yourself while still being who you are. 

I’ve tried to live my life that way doing small things for others as well as doing larger things when needed and to be gracious in giving and receiving.

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May you all have a most pleasant holiday season.