Author: Enlightenment Angels

The Winter Jewish holiday known as the Festival of Lights begins at sundown tonight.

Jewish people around the world celebrate this traditional holiday that lasts eight nights. The festival is not a “High Holy Day,” like Yom Kippur or Rosh Hashanah, but is a joyful celebration that recounts the story of a miracle.

What Hanukkah celebrates

Also known as the Festival of Lights, Hanukkah commemorates the story of the Maccabees, or Jewish fighters, and their victory over the Syrian-Greek army, according to Chabad.org.

According to the Torah, the Maccabees reclaimed the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and cleared it of idols that had been placed inside by the Syrians, a practice forbidden in Jewish law. The Maccabees wanted to light the temple’s seven-branched candelabrum, or Menorah, but realized they only had enough holy oil for one night. According to the story, a miracle happened and the oil lasted for eight days…

A lot has been written in the past few years about Mindfulness Meditation.  This Buddhist based practice has become popular here in the west through the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program founded by Jon Kabat Zinn. Research clearly shows that meditating changes the neural pathways of the brain and aids in relieving stress and pain.

“Mindfulness is paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment and non-judgmentaly”~ Jon Kabat Zinn

Initially it begins with coming into a comfortable seated position and bringing awareness and observation of bodily sensations, most often the breath. The breath is the anchor for concentrating the mind.

The tradition in Yoga however, is different. As a yoga teacher, I have also learned other methods of meditation that can be practiced. Not everyone will find Mindfulness Meditation a good fit. But it doesn’t mean you have to give up on being mindful…

Photo & text credit: Return To Eden on Facebook

“It’s how you live your life everyday and how you stand inwardly with your thoughts and intuition that determine your spiritual life and progress in this life and the next. How you serve the Light/God is by the activity of your OWN spirit and not through the doctrines of the earthly man made belief systems.(religions). All the religions of the world contain grains of Truth but also contain many distortions and contradictions added to them by intellectual man. These changes were not willed by the Truth Bringers and are not in harmony with the simplicity and logical consistency of the Eternal Laws of Creation. The task remains for each man/woman to listen to their inner voice to discern the Truth.”

Photo & text credit: Life is Beautiful: https://www.facebook.com/lifeimagesnews/photos/

“Though we travel the world over to find  beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

“The beauty of life is, while we cannot undo what is done
we can see it, understand it, learn from it and change
so that every new moment is spent
not in regret, guilt, fear or anger
but in wisdom, understanding and love.”

– Jennifer Edwards

Photo credit: #MajorMitchellsCockatoos
Text & image source: Precious World https://web.facebook.com/ourpreciousworld/

“Love is what we are born with.
Fear is what we have learned here.
The spiritual journey is the unlearning of fear
and the acceptance of love back into our hearts.”

~Marianne Williamson

Text & image source: Earthschool Harmony https://web.facebook.com/SpiritualQuotesandSoulfood/

Our lives are so very inconnected
A part of His living spirit always
When one becomes down a blessing comes
Whose radiant light will provide a way

We are never really alone in all we do
As we’re a part of the same Living tree
Our lives are vibrantly intertwined
This is the way God has made it be

Remember always our God surely loves us
And He will show his love to us each day
He desires each life moment to remind us
That if we pray daily he will closely stay

But you have to release your true feelings
Which deep in your heart you seek to hide
He’s seen the sin which daily cripples you
Desiring to free its grip on your life

His heart is full of the power of His grace
Which with a single spoken word will heal
And His eternal love knows no…

I sing a song of love
To You, early each day
When the sun does rise

The song will stay each
Day with me, so melodic
And heavenly deep within
My mind

The song’s melodies will
Live with me, filling my
Heart with lasting pleasure

So that even when I lay
Down to sleep at night,
It will always still be
My most valued treasure.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Psalm 104:33
I will sing to the LORD all my
life; I will sing praise to my
God as long as I live.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Google Image Credit,
Truthforlife.org.