‘Brave Hearts’

A sample from Book 8

 Brave Hearts
 (Sweet Man)
  
 compassion takes patience‒ 
a digging in
 ‒bracing-the-heart kind of thing
  
 it's taking all we know
 all our experiences‒ 
good and bad
 tossing them out the window
stepping up
 ‒with another
filling our cup
 without needing to know
what's up
  
 it's holding on
through bumpy rides
 sitting next to another
letting them cry
  
 it's running out in a street
 to someone you instantly meet
 offering a hand
 ‒doing what you can
 without needing a return
 without thinking you'll be burned
  
 it's meeting anger straight on
 ‒not moving along
but hitting its head
 with praising words said
 instead of seeing all wrong
 living life selfishly
on our own
  
 it's restraining ones self
 ‒eager to help
 instead of putting those in need
 on forgotten, dusty shelves
 watching them fall apart...bleed
  
 it's opening our heart‒
 trusting in faith
 instead of just wanting
to feel safe
  
 it's forgiveness and hope‒
 with our warrior ways
away...we chase hate
 in another's eyes
sadness replaced
 with just our smile
 showing a will to walk along
 no matter the struggle
no matter the miles
  
 it's bringing joy
to another's face
 instead of disappearing
without a trace
  
 compassion is pure heart
God's† way‒
 ‒showing the hard
the light
 of a million stars
  
 He† passes it to each of us
 free will
a choice
 love or hate, run or face
fight or lose
 ‒to be silent
or our voice‒ 
freely use
  
 it's easy to walk away
 to say
farewell...good day
 lose ourselves
in our self-made cave
 ‒our forbidden world of safe
  
 it's hard to stay‒ 
hang to faith
 forget the comfort zone
 ‒through adversities
use pure heart to sway
 lift our heads
pray‒
 give it to God†
let Him† light the way
  
 compassion...our gift
to share‒ 
not to spare
 ‒to show we truly care
 in happiness, in despair
here, there, everywhere
  
 it's not a switch
to turn off‒
 when we deem fit
to put individual needs
 in moments
when well doesn't fit
  
 it's a constant wave of heart‒
 for it to spread
 we must honor
words we said
  
 we must release anger...hate
 release places of safe
 help‒ 
those lost from self
 ‒open our hearts
let it be felt
  
 pay it forward‒
  
 then in each
God's† reward
unconditional love
 ‒experienced here on earth
our awakened dreams
 plus a full, peaceful cup‒
 a beautiful seeing of life
 where only glows
God's† pure light
 without even
having to fight

(March 12, 2015)—I feel a return. Those who know my writing well, understand what I mean. I’ve been writing nonstop since 4:30 a.m. this morning and I realized that I have been putting my energy in other things that aren’t as important as this…my gift.

I’ve always preached, if you want to call it that, to be true to one’s gift, and I feel slightly like a hypocrite for not practicing what I preach. Now that I have many more friends from all over the world here on Facebook, the building need in me to move forward with my writing has been increasing ten-fold.

I’m not some religious nut. Not even close. My faith is strong. One thing I don’t fear is God. I don’t fear talking about Him or sharing how He’s helped me. I think sometimes, my words make others doubt who I truly am, sometimes, I even doubt who I truly am. That’s a normal cycle in our lives. It’s a constant struggle. We doubt who we are because others come into our lives and raise the doubt.

Those who are new to reading me should know a little about my beliefs: I believe 100% that everything happens for a reason. I believe there are no accidents. I believe God sends people into our lives to test us. Yes, test us. If you ever pick up a biography of a person’s life, you’d see how I see the world. I’ve read a lot of biographies. I’ve studied a lot of lives. Studying a person’s life from the beginning to their end reveals how each part of their life propels them forward to who they became at the end.

Sometimes, it is difficult to live life, as well as, record life. I get caught up in the moments and forget about my calling. I embrace what I do. I do not expect worldly riches or acknowledgment. I expect to be condemned, ridiculed, criticized, ignored. That’s just who I am. I live one day at a time with God as my co-pilot.

I believe He gives us tests to see our strengths, our weaknesses. If we pass the test, the tests get easier and we get closer to our rewards, our dreams coming true. If we fail then we are given harder tests, until we learn the lesson at hand.

In biographies, you can see how this plays out. At times, I recognize the test. I fight it. One hundred percent, all the way…I’m like that…stubborn as a mule, then, it’s like God says: Give it up, Karen, I’m more powerful than you.Yes, He is. I, then throw up my hands and give it up, and believe me, that’s after days, weeks, sometimes, years of wailing and screaming and protesting.

The good Lord surely knows He has His hands full when it comes to me, but my bark is louder than my bite. I can’t help that. When I do finally give in, the words scream to be written. I’ve seen something that I hadn’t seen before. I’ve experienced something different, something out of my own self.

I don’t know how others perceive the ways of our Lord. I can’t tell you how to believe, or what to believe. I believe that is left to us as individuals. It’s our free will. I can’t tell you how to live, what to feel, how to heal, who’s good, who’s bad…no, that’s not my job. It’s yours. I can only write about my experiences: The emotions of how I personally felt or how I feel when I read someone else’s emotions. I can show you my point of view. What you do with it is your choice and your choice alone. Free will. Life is precious. Too precious to be selfish.

Sometimes, I go down that selfish road and I don’t see it, until I’m literally halted in my tracks by something I didn’t expect. When that happens, all back-full and, then stop! My co-pilot is saying: Karen, pay attention, you are now amongst the wise. Your actions are watched. The wise are the guiders. Pay attention.So, I have to stop. Go quiet for a while and listen. Life is too precious not to love. Compassion, as the Dalai Lama says, is too important to ignore.

I’ve been through hell and back. I’ve experience the depths of the darkness. I’ve traveled my journey sometimes, without being able to breathe. My faith has carried me through. There’s no denying the power God has shown in my life. When He brings me to a halt, I’ve learned it’s time to listen, time to pray, time to say: Karen, you can’t do this on your own right now.

That’s when I seek help. I’m never old enough, or wise enough, to not ask for help. I’m always a child in my Father’s eyes. I’m always willing to learn more. I mess up at times. I step in and perform my own little tests because I’m impatient sometimes. Like any defying daughter, I want to by-pass my Father and take matters into my own hands. That’s really when things get halted. I’ve lived almost half a century, I still make mistakes, and we are never too old to get scolded by our Heavenly Father.

Don’t be afraid to cry. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Pray. When you mess up, pray. Things work out the way they were meant to be on His time, not ours. That’s a concept hard to accept, but we have to. It’s fact. It’s truth.

Love the skin you’re in. Be true.Never carry too much ego or too much pride to say I was wrong. Compassion is in the heart of every man. To spread peace, we must not be afraid to show compassion, even when we are afraid. God is great all the time.

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