A Call to Witness — Suffering in the Midst of Healing

On August 28, 2011August 29, 2011 By dancingpalmtreesIn Angel, Jesus, King James Version Bible, Sacred, soul, Spirit, Spirituality, Suffering, Visions, Wisdom

A Call to Witness

A Call to Witness is a ministry God revealed to me recently in the midst of my trials and tribulations. It is not geared to any one denomination or belief system but to all who hear the voice of God and desire to become closer to the Lord. In fact and in practice God has called me to reach out to those rejected or alienated by the church. A call to society’s unwanted. We’ve all missed the mark and come short of the glory of God. I help you access some of His Earthly Glory. I seek not religion but a common ground amongst all the world’s races, nationalities, faiths, ethnic groups whose foundation is God.

Suffering in the midst of healing

Job 19:25-27

New King James Version (NKJV)

²⁵ For I know that my Redeemer lives,
And He shall stand at last on the earth;

²⁶ And after my skin is destroyed, this I know,
That in my flesh I shall see God,

²⁷ Whom I shall see for myself,
And my eyes shall behold, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me!

I Know my Redeemer Lives – Nicole C. Mullen

http://youtu.be/ATBLXyJxyTI

The first part of this teaching is dedicated to a close and dear friend at work whose son has been in the hospital for the last few months fighting for his life. The young man has also been diagnosed with MS. When my friend first told me his son was in a coma and on breathing apparatus my response to him was I will pray and if you need me no matter what time day or night call me. I also emailed him resources from the MS Society. Time passed and nearly our entire workplace banded together in prayer for our supervisor’s son. This young fellow is only in his 20s and the pride and joy of his father. Our supervisor is kind, gentle, fair, faithful and loving Christian man. Of course he was devastated that his boy was so ill. We his friends held him up in prayer, encouragement and support as Moses arms were held up in battle against the enemy.

God had already told me that the young man would live and not die. One day my buddy called me over to his desk and told me his son had opened his eyes. We rejoiced right there at the desk. But the fight is not yet over. The young man is awake, can recognize and grasp his Dad’s hands but cannot yet speak. So now our collective prayer is that the young man will regain his power of speech.

After I emailed my friend resources on the MS Society, I gave more thought as to why God allows sickness and death. John 11:4 was part of the answer:

When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” Jesus was referring to Lazarus.

Also I thought of John 9: 1-5

John 9

A Man Born Blind Receives Sight
¹ Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. ² And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
³ Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. ⁴ must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. ⁵ As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

Sickness, disability and even death revealed God’s mercy and compassion as we triumph over them. Sometimes we receive miraculous healing; sometimes we learn to live with a condition other times the Lord takes us or our Loved ones home to be with Him. His power is made manifest in the strength of the human spirit.

Healing is a process.

2 Kings 4:8-37

New International Version (NIV)

The Shunammite’s Son Restored to Life

2 Kings 4:8-37

The record of the daughter of Jairus is a combination of miracles of Jesus in the Gospels (Mark 5:21–43, Matthew 9:18–26, Luke 8:40–56).

The story immediately follows the exorcism at Gerasa. Jairus, a patron of the synagogue, asks Jesus to heal his dying daughter. However, according to Matthew, his daughter is already dead, not dying. As they travel to Jairus’s house, a sick woman in the crowd touches Jesus’ cloak and is healed of her sickness. This is called the miracle of Christ healing the bleeding woman.

Meanwhile the daughter dies, but Jesus continues to the house and brings her back to life, or in his own words, awakens her. In Mark’s account, the Aramaic phrase “Talitha Koum” (transliterated into Greek as ταλιθα κουμ and meaning, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”) is attributed to Jesus.

John 5:4-8

New International Version (NIV)

⁵ One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. ⁶ When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

⁷ “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”

⁸ Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”

I find it interesting that Jesus asked this man, Do you want to be healed? Seems like an odd question since Jesus already knew his condition. Was Jesus questioning the man’s faith? No I don’t believe so because the man had a portion of faith to be close to where the angel troubled the waters. More than likely the man suffered from paralysis and needed friends to assist him. Jesus chose that particular man because he lacked a support system. He needed a friend. Jesus ever merciful and compassionate became that friend. No more did the man have to hope each time that he saw the angel that the people surrounding him would carry him to the troubled water.

Jesus became the Bridge Over Troubled Water. Jesus the conduit between the sickness and the cure. Jesus the Bridge over Troubled Water who lay down his life for us. Our companion in suffering, death and resurrection.

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Suffering — A Character Flaw?

On August 27, 2011 By dancingpalmtreesIn Character, Expectations, Scars, soul, Spirituality, Suffering, Understanding, Wisdom2 Comments

Suffering – A Character Flaw or an Expose of False Doctrine

Isaiah 45:7

New International Version (NIV)

⁷ I form the light and create darkness,
I bring prosperity and create disaster;
I, the LORD, do all these things.

I hope that this essay will invite some intelligent discourse on suffering. I for one do not subscribe to the false teachings of the Prosperity Preachers or the Name it and Claim it gospel of greed. Christians under the delusion of these falsehoods seem to find fault with those of us who are sick, have a disease or disabled. Always the cries of you don’t have enough faith or any faith. It puts an unrealistic onus on the sufferer if they don’t get delivered or don’t achieve some material fame, fortune and stardom.

I have to admit up until maybe a year and a half ago I did subscribe to the false teachings being broadcast on so-called Christian Television. Around 2008 my fortunes changed for the worse and I was looking for a way out. I was in such a bad way and so desperate I played the fool by ordering tapes, blessed cloths, etc… in the hopes that God would heal my situation. As my physical health continued to deteriorate my mental reasoning began to rise to the forefront. I realized these TV preachers, the ones on the Internet and the false prophets within my own neighborhood were just preying on my desperation and that of fellow sufferers. These false prophets in the guise of Christian ministers of the Gospel were and are no better than that fake psychic Miss Cleo who promised similar salvation from life’s ills. As we all know she was exposed for the phony she was and her racket went down the drain

Recently God has given me peace in my storm. A knowing that no matter what happens, good or bad He is still with me. I gained a new perspective away from the shallow and superficial allowing me to add much needed depth to my character. Having a chronic illness coupled with chronic pain has made me more sympathetic and empathetic towards others. When my finances began to go down the drain along with my health I was forced to reorder my life and my priorities. Over the last three years I’ve gotten rid of my car and my cable service, therefore I have not watched television other than at a friend’s house or in the beauty shop for nearly two years. No boob tube = clear thinking. Physical and financial deprivation gave me the opportunity to concentrate on more reading and my writing.

Prior to a personal encounter with serious illness I had just been an outside observer. I saw both my parents suffer horribly from cancer, especially my mother. It was a painful experience to see my Mom go through that hell but I never lost my faith. I just prayed that God would take her. For my Mom and Dad healing and deliverance came through death. Over the last ten years many of my close friends, co-workers and school mates have passed away at a young age. Truly I was saddened by all their passing’s but I knew in my heart they had not suffered or died in vain. This past May a very good friend and co-worker from my former job went to be with the Lord at age 51. She was a true example of Christian faith, charity, love and understanding. She left behind a loving husband and children. No I don’t understand why God allowed her to die so soon at the peak of her life but He did and she’s gone.

The affect of her early death was a re-examination of my faith, my life. Am I living right? Am I a blessing towards others? Do I negate others feelings or emotions just because they may not be in line with my own experience. In addition to pray what are some practical hands-on ways I can help my sisters and brothers in need. That last sentence is what the church or rather its people have gotten away from.

In my personal walk with disease the people who have helped me the most were whom Christians “non-believers”. As a result of the kindness from those of other faiths and belief systems I’ve redefined who is a un- or non-believer. A Believer is one who follows God’s laws and rules of conduct, who reaches out their hand to help those in need regardless of whether that person follows their faith system or any belief system at all. Some Christians have a bad habit of letting “Wounded Soldiers Die”. So quick to criticize. So easy to body slam fellow believers with snarky phrases like, “Living beneath one’s privileges”. That statement is so shallow, empty and superficial. Well you know life is a privilege in whatever form it manifests itself. The next time you volunteer at a soup kitchen, homeless center, Battered Women’s Shelter or help out at a local Special Olympics let’s see how far your guilt trip gospel will get you.

Thank you God for slowing me down. Thank you for helping me to live within these new bodily limitations. My suffering has produced purity of my soul, clarity of the mind and charity of my heart. I do not consider myself a failure because I’ve learned to adapt to physical changes in my body. Yes the times in various doctors’ offices and local hospital E.R.’s are frustrating and frightening, but now I just pray for peace and the strength to get through these episodes. My personal physical healing is not necessarily the objective. Then when I return to my job I can be a real blessing to co-workers and friends who are also going through.

Thank you God that I’m becoming better not bitter. Yes the landscape of my life has changed for many reasons. Healing, Deliverance and/or financial/material success are not my testimony but steadfastness, patience and purity of heart. My hunger, passion and desire are to live out God’s calling upon my life in whatever time I have left on this earth. I have been called by God to witness and to be a witness. Thank you Lord and May readers receive this writing in the spirit in which it was written. If it is for you receive it, if not shake off the dust as we agree to disagree in Love.

http://bible.org/article/why-there-suffering

DeBorah Ann Palmer

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Dreams vs. Visions — Inspiring the Muse

On July 3, 2011 By dancingpalmtreesIn Ambien, Black Unicorn, Dreams, Fantasy, Hallucinations, Images, Mind Altering Substances, Mystical Creatures, Night Bird, Sacred, soul, Spirit, Surrealism, Visions, Wisdom1 Comment

Dreams vs. Visions

Inspiring the Muse

Flying Dream Unicorn — Flying Unicorn Dream

I entreat the nine muses to come to me once Hypnos and Morpheus have sprinkled their poppies, my eyes close and I imbibe the potion for nightscapes. Brothers Phantasus and Ikelos open the threshold for the Nine Muses to enter in. Each Muse wears a ring with her attribute inscribed therein by Nyx Goddess of the Night.

Calliope was the muse of epic poetry.
Clio was the muse of history.
Erato was the muse of love poetry.
Euterpe was the muse of music.
Melpomene was the muse of tragedy.
Polyhymnia was the muse of sacred poetry.
Terpsichore was the muse of dance.
Thalia was the muse of comedy.

Nyx leads her daughters into my psyche causing my pen to trip lightly across the page at dawn.

Dreams have been defined as successions of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations occurring involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Dreams are populated by subconscious thoughts and wishes. Often my dreams are a hodgepodge of things that happened during the course of the day, past childhood and my secret desires. A good night’s sleep can help clear the stress and pressure of the day. For me I often discover the answer to complex problems via dreams or receive reassurance and comfort from my parents. Sleep can bring regeneration, healing and inspiration. Insomnia is the antithesis of a peaceful night. Insomnia is the antithesis of a peaceful night.

The dream space is physical as well as mental. It can be a war or collaboration between the conscious and the unconscious mind. As a child I would sit in class in daydream of where I wanted to be other than in the boring classroom. As an adult my daydreams consist of where I want to go in life and formulating ways to get there. I would call where the mind goes in the waking hours Vision and while asleep Dreams. My Vision is the business, idea and service I’m giving birth to. Dreams are just flights of fancy my mind takes to escape unattractive realities. Vision is the mental outline, framework and building blocks of my pathway towards lifelong goals.

Can those dreams, thoughts and ideas exist after death? Specifically do the dreams of the dead influence the living. Can messages be given across time, space and eternity via one’s dreams? If on my deathbed I had a dream in my heart and a vision in my soul and I kissed that person on the mouth would my soul transfer into that person’s soul?

Are parents or grandparents able to transmit their dreams, thoughts and ideas after death via DNA. Also can children inherit or remember the memories of their parents and grandparents? Is it possible for any person to recall the memories or their ancestors? Supposition: Aunts & Uncles would be let out of the picture because they are offshoots, not a direct lineage. Or like in Kindred the possibility of being pulled back in time to assist that ancestor with some pressing problem becomes alarmingly real.

At night does my spirit travel the astral plane searching for answers, solutions, explanations’ for my physical plane? And what would happen if the silver umbilical attaching me to my body were cut? How would I reconnect to myself? Whether in the body or out of the body I know not, yet still receiving the revelation of God. My quarks and leptons become baryons synthesize into hyper-force exploding into the universe. Fermions and bosons are no longer constrained by the complexities of theories but burst into being. Spun higher and higher faster and faster developing from antimatter into mater. I become the superconductive dreamscape able to transcend all and become all.

In my mind during times of slumber my astral body goes to meet the beloved and is comforted in his arms. Is the dream only a desired illusion? Yet it feels so real, so for now I luxuriate in his touch and together we enter the dream space capsule.

It is an interesting hypothesis that memories could be extracted from another person’s mind, but dreams are not linear because the mind is a labyrinth. The laws of physics do not apply within a dream. Because there are many little rooms residing within each individuals psyche, dreams can be manipulated via brain injury or the use of sedative-hypnotics like Ambien. Portals in the mind normal closed are open causing the user to sleepwalk and sleeptalk. Hallucinations are an alter state of being that I never want to experience. It is interesting to note that Ambien is used as a treatment for persons in a catatonic state. Think “Awakenings” with actor Robin Williams only back in the 1920s the drug of use was dopamine. Many cultures have a history of taking mind altering drugs to stimulate and/or induce visions but if you can’t control the vision you might be getting more than you bargained for. Personally I want to be in control of all my visions.

If I was able to jump inside your subconscious in what landscape would I find myself? Could I understand the scenery generated by your mind or would I just be a stranger in a bizarre and frightening environment trying to escape? However my vision can resonate with your vision thereby creating a shared vision that empowers us both.

Resume

On June 17, 2011June 18, 2011 By dancingpalmtreesIn Uncategorized

Deborah A. Palmer
E-mail: Deborah.palmer280@gmail.com

EXPERIENCE:

Senior Security Officer 1/2008 to present
Metropolitan Museum of Art

• Protect Artwork and ensure the safety of galleries and visitors.
• Assist visitors and staff with directions to specific galleries and art objects
• Enforce rules and regulations of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Research Manager 7/1994 to 12/2006
United Way of New York City

• Developed short and long term research strategies and objectives in collaboration with staff, offering input to sources of data and the development of program timelines.
• Assisted with the development of grant proposals and reports.
• Provided comprehensive—industry, individual and corporate profiles and research data.
• Identified prospects for special giving initiatives and events.
• Ensured that research data is properly maintained in the Andar Fund Management application.
• Developed and maintain standardized formats for presentation of customized research outcomes to the requestors.
• Evaluated supplementary research resources and applications.

Information Specialist
United Way of New York City

• Market and promote the CARES (Community Access to Resources) database by conducting product demonstrations for both internal and external constituents.
• Conduct CARES Trainings at Human Resources Administration Job Sites.
• Prepare specialized reports and label requests for both in-house and external clients, utilizing CARES, the Internet and LexisNexis research databases.
• Conduct Internet training for United Way staff development.
• Responsible for the creation and updating of an Internet/Netscape Navigator guidebook for staff use.

President 10 /93 to 7/94
A Word In Season, Inc.
• Word-processing and Desktop Publishing business, meeting the administrative and computer needs of cultural and community based institutions and organizations.
• Co-partner with DND (Dreams Never Die) to provide computer software instruction.

Marketing Associate Assistant 1/90 to 10/93
HSBC/Marinvest
• Responsible for marketing and sales presentation support for Marketing, Fixed Income and Equity departments.
• Administrator of the ClienTrak Database Sales Support System.
• Responsible for creating and updating graphs used in the Quarterly Reports to clients and for interoffice use.
Promotions Assistant/List Coordinator 1/82 to 12/89
Reader’s Digest
• Consolidated and centralized the subscription list by converting manual data to a computerized format.
• Generated printouts for staff research; reports and labels for the Advertising department. Oversaw the maintenance of the Subscription List.
• Worked with three copywriters in the preparation and management of special monthly sections for the magazine including: Food Digest, Carolyn Davis Buy-Words, and the Cleaning Section.
• Served as alternate Typographer utilizing the Agfa Compugraphic MCS/PowerView 10.

Education:
BA – Marymount Manhattan College – Major: English
GPA: 3.7
Armed Service
US Army – November 1977 to November 1981
Honorable Discharge

The Lover

On May 21, 2011 By dancingpalmtreesIn 50+, African American Queen, African Goddess, African King, Catharsis, Dreams, Ethiopian Goddess, Fantasy, Female Divinity, Feminine Divine, Goddess, Images, Royalty, Sacred, sci-fi, soul, Spirit, Spirituality, Surrealism, Understanding, Wisdom1 Comment

The Lover

Writing is the neglected Lover who calls me away from a stifling my 13 hour workdays. It is the hunger that demands to be fed. The passion that must be satisfied.

The dilemma: money vs. true love. I need the money but I must feed my soul. Only when I answer the voice of my muse am I truly engaged in this life.

My fervor is akin to amusing myself with dilettantes whilst the face of my Lover is ever before me. The Lover is the orgasm I seek on a nightly basis.

I feel his long slender fingers playing over my body like the keyboard on a piano.

The music he produces brings an exotic mixture of pain and ecstasy. It’s an addiction that dominates my mind, soul, spirit and body. A craving only he can satisfy.

Only his lean taut body, his touch can bring me to spiritually fulfilling orgasmic pleasure when after hours of lovemaking I lock my legs around his torso in those final eternal moments of sensual paradise.

Sometimes he comes to me on the wings of a night bird. A beautiful dark & twisted fantasy. A Midnight Dream so real you’ve only exchanged one dimension for another. Whilst the full moon reigns I pass through many long and varied portals. I taste the sounds of evening on your lips. Feel the words slipping through fingers. The crested muse rides the galactic wave gliding silently o’er my cerebral universe seeking a docking station whereby I may be subsumed into His flesh.