Father's Day Comes Early

Father's Day Comes Early

I've been looking to reunite with an old read that I used daily

in the early times of my awakening.

One I've always cherished,

one that introduced me to a new way of being.

One that led me to anchor myself

in that new way of being

by reading one chapter every day

as a contemplative way to start my day.

A daily contemplation that stretched

into months and then into well over a year

of dedicated daily reflections.

Of dedicated attempts at trying to live its wisdom.

As I felt drawn to it once again last week,

I went hunting for it.

To no avail in the random book stashes,

I have all over the house.  I couldn't find it.

As Laura and I sat this morning

starting our day in Spiritual contemplation once again,

she mentioned one of her dear reads

she's gone back to recently.

Living With Joy but Sanaya Roman.

How she used it to set her meditation intention

on being love yesterday.

I mentioned how I had looked

for one of my favorites the other day.

She asked what it was. I responded:

"Change Your Thoughts Change Your Life by Wayne Dyer."

His interpretation of the

nearly 3,000 year old Spiritual verses

called The Tao Te Ching.

Wink, our dog, had already settled in on my lap

for her early morning nap.

So Laura said, "let me look."

She found it almost immediately and handed it to me.

I noticed a rather fat bookmark.

It was a card, a Father's Day card from my son.

It was a gift from beyond this day.

A connection from the son who left

this realm on January 15th, 2020.

A reminder of what we meant to each other,

how this book I bought over nine years ago

had moved me in a new direction.

A reminder of how Spirit weaves messages

into your life all the time.

I looked at the pages where the card sat as a bookmark.

A passage I had marked read:

"Without fail, she reveals her presence,

without fail, she reveals our own perfection."

Then as I opened and read the birthday card,

my skin became awash with goosebumps.

The card read: Because you mean so much.

I hope you know, especially today,

how wonderful you are

and how very much you're loved.

Happy Father's Day. Then Jason wrote: "Dad - Wishing you a great one!

Looking forward to celebrating your B-Day & meeting, Laura. Love, - Jason."

So it was evident that it had to be for Father's Day June 21st of 2012.

I was still contemplating the wisdom of the Tao daily back then,

as I had been for over a year.

I flipped back a couple of pages to find the verse.

The Sixth verse of the Tao Te Ching begins with

"The Spirit that never dies..."

and ends with

"Although it is invisible, it endures; it will never end."

Jason's presence, his Spirit speaks to me with these words today,

and for that, I am ever so grateful.

He speaks to me, letting me know once again

that love never dies, just like his mother has.

His mother led me into my Spiritual awakening,

started me on this journey.

A truth sign I've become acquainted with

again washes over my body,

my skin is awash with truth shivers.

May you recognize Spirit when it comes calling,

may you realize how Loved you are.

May you learn how Spirit uniquely nudges you

to a deeper understanding.

Oh my, as I mentioned this to my wife,

those opening and closing lines.

I was sitting there overwhelmed

with the messages within all this.

My eyes filled with tears,

my body shaking with the magnitude of this love,

this connection with Jason, my son.

Movement catches my eye, out the window

just to the left of my dear wife.

A Robin lands on a wire.

The Robin is a sign Jason has been sending me

since he entered hospice last December.

I can't even write these words

without being covered in truth shivers,

God bumps whatever name you like to call them, everywhere.

It is as if he put a cherry on top of the dessert,

a chocolate fudge sundae of signs, that he sent this morning.

The card was the ice cream,

the marked passage the chocolate fudge,

the opening and closing lines of the sixth verse the whipped cream.

The deepening recognition that came

as I shared all of these events with my wife.

Indeed the Robin that landed on the wire as I spoke to her.

That was the cherry on top

of this profound awareness of his presence today.

My how confoundingly unique our experience as a human is.

I would have never dreamed of experiencing

a death in the way I have these past few months.

To even read an account like this would have been unlikely.

To live the experiences of it

would have been considered impossible.

To experience this myself pure folly.

How one's life can change.

Jane's transition led me

to delve into my Spirituality in depth.

My son Jason leads me to explore

even deeper those early contacts

that encouraged me "to share."

Another read from those tentative explorations

as I walked through his mother's grief

nearly ten years ago left me with this mantra.

Keep an open mind,

watch for signs,

for there are no coincidences.

That is my hope, my wish, my prayer for all of you too.

All My Love Always, Keith