Blogging The Shift®

Last summer, after we had moved into in our new home, my gardener daughter and I walked the property to see what plants already lived there, and to check on which ones seemed happy and which ones did not.

In the back yard we both noticed a spruce tree that had a slight lean to it. We talked about the fact that something about the tree didn’t feel right, and we chalked it up to another plant that might need extra attention.

At the beginning of this summer I thought the tree was leaning a bit more and I felt more disquieted by it, but I still didn’t really pay much attention to that feeling.

After a walk a few weeks ago I came to our back yard and sat on the bench by the leaning tree. It was a quiet beautiful morning, but as I listened within I noticed that I was feeling pure terror. Terror? On a bench in our back yard? What was there to feel terrified about?

I glanced at the tree and realized that I was terrified of the tree. In a very real sense it was telling me that it was going to fall, and either we chose to take it down ourselves, or it would fall on our house. It told me it didn’t want to do damage to our home, but it was an inevitable fact that it was going to fall.

I was tempted to table this feeling and wait it out, but I started thinking of how many times in my life I have heard this still small voice of a warning of some kind and ignored it because I didn’t want to deal with it at the time. I recalled the messes that ignoring the message always left for me to clean up, and a tree falling on our house would obviously be a major mess.

Del listened when I told him what the tree told me, and he also looked for other signs to confirm what I had heard. Although on the surface there didn’t appear to be a problem he did notice an abnormal yellowing of a lower branch. He immediately made plans to cut down the tree.

However, he didn’t just run out and cut it down. Instead, he listened and waited for the perfect day with the right wind so that the wind would help him could control where it would fall. This was extremely important because if it fell in the direction it was leaning, it would fall on the house.

When the right day arrived he made a deep notch in the correct spot on the tree to direct its fall. After completing the notch he moved to the back side of the tree for the actual cutting. As he started to cut the tree it began falling even before the cut was complete.

We realized why this had happened as the trunk of the tree lay on the ground. The entire back side of the tree had died, and most certainly it would have fallen in the next big storm.

This is a two part message about listening. First the listening and then the action based on what we heard. Listening and then acting on what we heard saved us from trouble. Yet so often most of us do not listen, or act without listening, or listen and do not act.

Recently we experienced what is often called “Indian Summer.” But, there is
another name for this kind of weather called ‘Saint Martin’s Summer,’ referring to St. Martin’s day on November 11th when the spurt of summer like weather is “supposed” to end, and St. Martin’s day or Martinmas is celebrated.

But, it is St. Martin who is the interesting story, because he too listened.

He listened when he met a beggar who was freezing so he cut his cloak in half to give to him. He listened when he heard it was wrong to kill, and even though he was a soldier in the Roman army he refused to fight again.

Like St Martin we may find that what we hear means we must make a major life change. Or perhaps like listening to the tree it means there is work to be done.

Other times listening may give us answers to questions we are seeking, reveal truths that have been hidden, or bring comfort in the midst of sorrow.

But one thing is always true about listening to the still small voice within; it always operates from the point of view of love. It always leads us away from danger, and it always directs us to the light.

Don’t mistake the “voice in your head” for the still small voice within. These are two different and entirely opposite “voices.”

The voice in your head is not coming from love, and does not have your best interests in mind. It leads us all away from the joy in our lives; it brings us to discouragement and fear.

Listen, and you will be able to tell the difference. Trust in the guidance of that still small voice within. Although what it asks of you may be uncomfortable, it always directs you to the safer and more inspiring path of your life. Take that one. You will be happy that you did.

>>> If you would like more information on how to know whose voice you are hearing, you can download the report “10 Ways To Know Whose Voice You Are Hearing” Here’s Your Link <<<

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Tags: listening, still small voice, tree, voice in your head