THE GRUFF OLD MAN

As a child I never enjoyed visiting this particular man my family would see. He was a rough and gruff sort of fellow that could always be counted on to passionately display his bigotry of all sorts on his sleeve. Don’t get me wrong he was nice enough to me, but even as an eight-year old, I found that his distasteful utterances left little to be desired. All in the Family was his favorite show and there was a reason why. He emulated the Archie Bunker character to a tee. While he bothered me as a child, nearly four decades later, my opinion of him has made a complete turnaround. Where once I dreaded being in the same room, now I consider him a gracious giant.

How did he win my heart after all this time? Several years had passed since his physical body left the planet when he began visiting me in my dreams. As a lifelong intuitive, I do see or otherwise sense the deceased from time to time and since I am a lucid dreamer, this is an easy avenue for them to come in if they so choose. No, they do not come waking me up every night like in the show Medium, but they definitely do come knocking when they want to.

When I first saw him in my dream, needless to say, I was frankly surprised. I asked him why he was here. We were not exactly close, so I did not understand. He told me very kindly things about people that he thought I needed to know so that I could understand their actions better. It was like talking to an old sage conveying his wisdom to me. He has since visited me in my dreams again and still he shows up looking the man I knew, but his familiar gruffness has simply disappeared as though it never existed at all.

I always try to find what I am supposed to learn in every situation, including my dreams and this man became another teacher for me. For so many years, I felt disdain for others who did not see the world through my eyes. How could someone be a bigot? How could someone not give up their seat to an elderly or pregnant person while on the bus? Why are there criminals? Why are people mean to others? If they didn’t live up to my standards then they most certainly did not deserve my respect.

What I so profoundly learned from my dreamtime visitor is that our Spiritual Selves only know and feel Love. We all have incarnated on this planet to learn; to expand our horizons reaching ever more closely to fulfill our commitment to reaching Enlightenment. All of us are on this path, whether we are aware of it or not. As human beings, most of us have forgotten that fact; that our True Essence at the core is Spiritual Love, no matter how we may appear on the outside. This body we are in is simply a tool for us to experience every emotion, every sensation and every type of experience. We first must know what we are not to know what we are and certainly playing different roles on Earth help guide us to our True Calling. I look forward to telling my teacher how grateful I am for learning this lesson first hand.

When you feel that someone is not as good as you are for whatever reason you may choose, just remember that we are all part of the Divine. We are all One. We are all Truth Seekers. Reach into your own heart and pull out all the blessings you can find within you and start sending them out to everyone you encounter. They are all here to teach you about YOUR True Essence after all. Be the Love you already are. It’s a wonderful state to be in.

Thank you for reading and Namaste!