A Spiritually Enlightening Online Magazine. May's Theme: "Appreciation"
Volume 5 Issue 4 ISSN# 1708-3265

Index Meet Our Staff Free Subscription Donations Come Shopping Advertising Archived Issues ***OUR NEW FORUM***

Illuminations Aleesha Stephenson About the Cover Sheree Rehema The Bookshop Chapter Eight - The Conclusion Jennifer Kusz Little Nuggets of Gold Rev. Cheryl Jewett A Sense of Gratitude Marlene Buffa Destination Sun: The Road to Pure Joy Victoria Christian Dancing With The Masters Dj Brown Transformed by Divo Alegria Imperial New Species Gets My Name! David Suzuki PhD Outstanding Women In Buddhism Award Jacqueline Kramer My 9-Year-Old is Shaving Her Head for A Great Cause! Lee Nicholas Lifetalks Dawn Baumann Brunke Walk Your Talk Aleesha Stephenson Life in the Raw Melissa Gilbert Wyrd Lynx John Sacelli Being Mindful Janet Alston Jackson Pet-sense Jean Hofve DVM Meditate a Moment Featuring: Aleesha Stephenson Green For Life Victoria Boutenko Anger Thich Hnat Hanh The Shimmering World Living Meditation Steven Harrison Chia Seeds The Raw Food World Raw For Life DVD Vita-Mix Appliance

Appreciation ~ noun ~ 1) recognition of the value or significance of something. 2) gratitude. 3) a favourable written assessment of a person or their work. 4) increase in monetary value. - Oxford Dictionary.

Let's look at definition 4 first: appreciation in cost. I went out for a cup of coffee the other day. A small cup of joe was going for $1.60 at the local café. (I'm an old-timer, and while I don't remember coffee being a nickel, I do remember it for a quarter). On the way I walked by the gas station and gas was $3.28 a gallon. Sat down, paid for my coffee, read the paper, turned around and walked home. Went by the gas station walking back; gas was $3.38. That was two days ago. Today gas was $3.54.

When my father was commuting from New York to school in Missouri, he drove down in his '32 Chevy. He said gas wasn't too bad then - about 8 cents a gallon, and he could make it stretch by getting right up into the slipstream of a big truck and getting pulled along by the vacuum trail. By the time my mother and father got married, gas was up to about 14 cents.

Later, in my 20's, my mother gave me her old car, a 50's vintage station wagon. I didn't really appreciate it too much, because it got about 13 miles to the gallon, and gas was up around 70 cents. I was working as a hired hand on a farm, and it was hard to earn the cash to go anywhere. That was the 70's recession, so I left the car and hitchhiked a lot. Got picked up one day and we were talking about the economy, and the driver said his industry was doing pretty good. This was Chris-Craft Yachts, and the assembly lines were running overtime, and it was the more expensive models, with gold-plated lavatory fixtures. Seems the rich do well in a recession.

Six years ago I could still fill the tank of my old Toyota for about $10-12. Now my Kia takes about $30 to fill. Seems the appreciation is appreciating.

One of the things I appreciate about getting older is you get to tell war stories. Tall tales, as they used to be called. Do you ever watch any of those old film noir gangster pictures, the ones where the bad guys fire machine guns from those black 1952 Mercurys that looked like slightly stretched flying saucer domes? We had one of those in my old gang. Called her Maggie Merc. It was our pirate ship, we'd toss cherry bombs from it and run over to the rival school and burn Z's in their lawn. In winter we'd tie ropes to the back fender and go boot skiing on icy roads. Ever go boot skiing? Don't. And don't try saving on gas by getting right in behind a big truck either.

Well, that's the thing, isn't it? A lot of the things you end up appreciating about your life are things you never should have done, decisions you never should have made. By any rational standard that is. Of course if what you did was too stupid, and got you killed or seriously crippled, well, then, you really shouldn't have done it. But the rest? About the point my guardian angels started to give up on me was when I was out in California around the time of the Summer of Love, doing the Haight-Ashbury thing. Is this a family magazine? Then I can't be too specific. But one night I was trying hard to make a big decision and my friend Howie asked me what was up, and I told him I had something I couldn't figure out. So he told me there was this wise old Chinese guy who could help me with it and if I wanted to come by his place that night Howie would introduce me to him. So I went by and Howie trotted out this copy of the I Ching, which I'd never seen, and said I could ask any question. So I asked whether I should stay up all night working on my revolutionary novel, or get some sleep so I could be up early for the dawn series of karate classes. Howie took some pennies and tossed them a few times and announced I had hexagram 52, and opened the book to show me. Hexagram 52 basically said 'stay still; don't do anything.' I grabbed the book from Howie and tossed it to the floor and announced this old guy Ching was a counter-revolutionary agent of running-dog capitalists. Just to spite him, I decided to stay up writing the novel AND go the dawn karate class. I did stay up writing the novel. But didn't make it to the karate class, as I blacked out in the predawn going downhill on my bicycle, slammed into a tree, and spent a month in the hospital with a concussion and ruptured kidney.

Now I always treat Ching with respect. And try not to push my angels too far.

Russia presently has this burgeoning middle class which is snatching up new automobiles. About one in every 8 Russians has a car now. In the US, seven in every eight people have a car. Do we appreciate it? You tell me. Do we take the time to appreciate what we have before we can't afford it anymore?

That's the thing. Appreciate it while you've got it. The one sure thing about life is, it's gonna kill you. So breathe deeply while you're here. Don't push your angels too far; but remember, they need their exercise too, so don't go too easy on them either. Life takes risks, and I always find I like things better when they're a little risky. Or, if this isn't a family journal, a little risqué.

While experiencing a series of Shamanic Visions in the early 1980's, John Sacelli met his totem Lynx (links) who introduced him to a series of inter-dimensional, alternative and past life adventures, and also to 'Angelish, the Original Language'. Angelish is the basis for the angeLynx Oracle deck, which John has developed along with visionary artist Chris Deschaine. John has conducted workshops in Polarity Therapy, Kundalini Yoga, Deep Tissue Massage, Soul Circles, The Dreamtime and Shamanism across North America.

To learn more about the Vows of El, or Angelish, the Original Language, or the angeLynx Oracle Deck, go to www.angeLynx.com or www.johnsacelli.com. For an angeLynx or Star Logic reading, contact John via email or call: 773 761 0252.

Be sure to read the review of AngeLynx in our May 2006 Issue.

Copyright (c) 2008 by Timeless Spirit Magazine. All articles are the copyright of the particular writers and cannot be reprinted without their expressed permission. All rights reserved. International copyright laws prohibit reproduction of or distribution of this page by any means whatsoever, electronic or otherwise, without first obtaining the written permission of the copyright holder. We retain legal counsel to protect our copyrights.

Any advice given is for informational purposes only.