A Note From Anne

Dear ,

It's been quite a week. My daughter was able to return home on Friday. Very good news for her and her unborn twins. My husband received bad news on Tuesday and a friend was in a fatal car accident on Saturday. I am still standing and I can vouch for the eight word miracle mantra. "Everything can be easy or at least easier." A difficult situation can reverse itself immediately if the difficulty is fashioned from ego driven drama, and a genuinely tough situation can be easier when we reach toward our inner strength or out to hold the hand of a kind friend. I am grateful that I have discovered that inner space of peace and that I have so many wonderful friends whose concern and generosity have always lifted me to a higher place. Friends do multiply the good and reduce the burdens. Thank you to my friends and family.

Anne

  Supporting Others

The other day I worked with some of my outdoor plants. I was practicing my do things 10 minutes at a time maneuver. The yard looked like a plant graveyard after a sudden unexpected freeze. I was pulling at some dead leaves when a bird flew out of the pot. We were both startled. I looked and saw a hole in the dirt that led to her nest. She darted to a nearby tree and started squawking. In seconds her bird friends showed up, as if she had an army flanking her. There were cardinals, jays, sparrows – all kinds of birds. I backed away and told her I meant no harm. The farther I backed away, the closer she came to me. None of the other birds moved to help her; they just stayed close, like a cheering section. There I was, hundreds of times larger than mama wren (I think it was a wren), and she was trying to scare me away. I admired this three inch bird.

I know very little about birds, but it looked like a bird support system to me. I could be wrong; maybe they all just like a good show, but none the less, the way I saw it, it was birds helping birds. I told my friend Karen about my bird encounter and she said, "Isn't this like what's happening to you? You are protecting your daughter and your friends are gathering around offering support?" It was a good analogy and, when I think about it, Mama Wren is like my daughter. She is doing everything she can to give her unborn babies a chance. She's resting, eating a ton of healthy food, coming to Houston for expert care – she's doing what she can to give them everything she's got. We do that for those we love. We band together for those we love. We take extra care with those who are fragile. We extend beyond our limits to care for those we love.

How We Can Help

We all want to help others. Maybe we are not always in the place to help or reach out, but at some time or the other, we have the energy, empathy, and grace that allow us to extend to others, to lighten their load, to let them know that we care.

How can we offer help or support to those in need?

• Really be present with them.
  
  Today I spoke with the caretaker of my spiritual center; I call him a caretaker, rather than a minister, because he is so not like a traditional minister. Calling him a minister would be like calling a ballerina a rock star - they both have star like qualities, but they are not in the same arena. He knew that my daughter was having a difficult pregnancy. He also knew things were looking up for her and the twins. I told him my husband had just been diagnosed with prostate cancer. A tear ran down my cheeks. He stood with me, never looked away, just held my eye for several moments. Those few seconds of connection were like a soul feed. He was really present and that lifted me and gave me strength.
   
• Don't offer platitudes.
  
  I don't want to hear that God never gives us more than we can handle. That seems like an insult to my intelligence and something that takes me out of my experience and into my head. A much better thing to say would be, "I am here." When I am in a tough space, I want grace, not lectures. I want empathy, not sympathy. I want gentleness, not pity. And I don't want to hear all the worn out phrases from yesteryear. I want something fresh from you, something newly formed – words that come from your heart, not from your memory.
   
• Send a note, even if it is an electronic card, as soon as you can. Maybe even call.
  
  When I've had deaths or losses, it was those who reached out immediately that meant the most. To have a hand reach toward me when I was in deep pain was like salve to me. Many people think they should hold back until later, but those first cards and calls were the most precious and helpful. If you call and they answer, you can say, "I only want to take a minute to tell you how sorry I am for your loss." You can tell if the person wants to talk or not. I've often been surprised, when I call a person after a loss, that they wanted to talk.
   
• If you live in the area, you might offer to walk their pets, pick up children after school, or take someone to a doctor's appointment. Offer to grocery shop, clean their house, make phone calls, or run other kinds of errands.
  
  My husband took a young man in our church to two chemotherapy treatments. We've walked a neighbor's dog when our neighbor had knee problems. There are many ways to help.

It is never necessary to help others. Sometimes we have to take care of ourselves and we don't have anything to give, but there are times when we wonder what we can do in others' time of need. There is always something we can do. Be creative, come from your heart, and take some action because when you do, you will make others' lives just a little easier.

FYI we do not think my husband's situation is bleak. He will go in for a consultation on Thursday. He does not have the most aggressive form of cancer; the news is just not the kind of news we like to get. As always we appreciate any prayers you might send to my daughter and her babies for health and well-being and to my husband for his health and recovery.

Make it easy.

Anne

  Quotes

"Whenever two or more of you are gathered in the name of that which loves, that which is compassionate, that which liberates, their blessing is also."
  – David Spangler

"What a gift it is just to be alive, to love what is given, to know that I'm living in Grace. What a gift it is to live in the light, to welcome the sun, as part of the one, grateful and free."
  – Peter Makena

"Much of our activity is about getting more of what we lack. Maybe it is okay to lack something. What if it's okay just to feel empty? Can you just enjoy the sense of empty?"
  – Anne Sermons Gillis

  Houston Theosophical Society

Anne Sermons Gillis currently serves as the president of the Houston Lodge of the Theosophical Society.

We encourage our members to live a life in service to humanity, in stillness through mediation, and in study of ancient wisdom.

"Recognition of the unique value of every living being expresses itself in reverence for life, compassion for all, sympathy with the need of all individuals to find truth for themselves, and respect for all religious traditions."
   --The Theosophical World View

Meetings are held on the first and third Saturdays at 10 AM Central Time in Houston, Texas.

For more information visit The Houston Lodge or visit our national organization at http://www.Theosophical.org.

  Anne's Books

Standing in The Dark

EZosophy

Offbeat Prayers

Click here to see all three of Anne's books

What people are saying about Standing in the Dark:

"Standing in the Dark, by Anne Sermons Gillis, isn't just another positive thinking book. It's a book about the difficult times in life and what we can do to make it through them. It does, however, give us positive ways to make life easier. It's a short book, but it's one that may just turn your thinking on its head, which will probably be the best thing that's happened to your thinking in a long time. It's about how to bring more ease into a life that isn't easy all of the time. Anne discusses six main areas of life: Ease, Mission, Health, Relationships, Money, and Loss."
  – Charles David Heineke

Now available on Kindle. Click for details.

What people are saying about EZosophy: The Art and Wisdom of Easy or at Least Easier Living:

"Although most conscious people understand that life doesn't have to a struggle, the "how to" has been missing... until now. Anne's book makes it "easy."
  – T. Harv Eker - Bestselling author and Founder of Peak Potentials Training

Now available on Kindle.
Click for details.
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What people are saying about Offbeat Prayers for the Modern Mystic:

"I love your book. It is filled with much wisdom, humor and heart. Really beautiful."
  – Alan Cohen author, Enough Already, mentions Anne and EZosophy on page 99

Now available on Kindle.
Click for details.

NOTE: If you are viewing this on a cell phone, be sure to scroll to the right to see the other column.

  Anne's Services

  Schedule Anne

You may reach Anne by phone at 281-419-1775 or click the button below to contact Anne by email. Anne is also available to officiate at weddings and funerals.

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  Healthy Living

What My Daughter Taught Me About Sleeping

I've slept on my right side for years. Somewhere I read it that sleeping on the right side of the body was healthier. My daughter asked me which side I slept on and I told her my right. She said I needed to sleep on my left. I was sure she was wrong. We asked her nurse during one of her checkups and the nurse said "Left side."

I looked it up and found they were right. All the times I forced myself to stay on my right side! Now I'm facing the inside of the bed.

John Douillard lists seven reasons to sleep on your left side:

• Facilitates lymphatic drainage
• Makes it easier for the heart to pump downhill
• Better elimination
• Supports healthy spleen function
• Encourages proper digestion
• Helps circulation back to the heart
• Helps bile flow more freely

For more information on the benefits of sleeping on your left side visit John Douillard's site.

No one will check up on you. You can sleep on your head if you want, but you might want to test this out and see if you can see any benefits. I like helping out my body. For me it's as easy to sleep on my left side as it is to sleep on my right side.

Good night.

  Anne Talks

Dealing With Emotions and Going Beyond teleseminar. (54:01)

Love is Now, a 15 minute meditation on love. (14:55)

  What is EZosophy?

Click the graphic above to find out.

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Editor/Publisher: Charles David Heineke of TheDoorway.org.