Intuitive Healer Katarina Winslow asks: What happened to love?
Christmas is approaching with its twinkling lights and fairy tales. The time has come to remind us of the essence of the holiday season and why this celebration is so dear to us. Could it have to do with the fact that Jesus knew he was love personified? Despite the crucifixion, he knew he was love, and against all odds, he chose to remember who he was. He resurrected.
Relying on the core values of his teaching, I believe, is the answer to finding peace in yourself, and ultimately to create a peaceful world. Even though I am a spiritual person and do not belong to any religion, Christmas is after all a beautiful occasion to remember who we are. Let us all be love while the bells are ringing out for our Christmas dinners and the fireworks are reaching for the sky heralding a happy new year.
This short story, with inspiration from my own life, could hopefully be a reminder of love.
Once, in a restaurant in the south of Sweden, a foreign man was alone at a table. His shoulders were weighing him down, gravitating towards the ground. Glancing towards his table, a young woman could intuitively feel his pain but instead of being afraid of his unusual appearance, of his otherness, her heart expanded. It expanded in proportion to his distress. Compelled by her own innocence, slightly tipsy, she felt the urge to transcend the Swedish norm of not talking to strangers. She was drawn to him, on a mission, guided by her wish to ease his pain. She saw past his unfamiliar appearance, and she saw his heart and the heart of his past.
As she walked over to his table, the best gift she could imagine offering him was to read the lines in his palm. She knew that by reading his palm she would be able to reach him. The head line and the life line were drawn with a sharp separation. He had the sign of a special man, an out of the ordinary man. Of course, we are all special, but this man was independent of his roots, he was a free thinker.
She looked him deep into the eyes and said, “You are special.” She only repeated what the angels wanted her to tell him. “How can you say such a thing? You don’t know me. I’ve done horrible things in my life. I’ve escaped from the war in Iraq, I’ve killed people…” His voice was troubled, almost defeated.
His whole being was saying, “Leave me alone. I don’t even deserve to exist, much less being loved.” When his words did not repel the young woman, he shook his hand with a brusque gesture to reject any compassion that could possibly come his way. He felt dirtied by the deeds he had committed and there was no way he could turn back the clock.
But the woman was wise, she could see the big picture. With a wide-open heart and a conscious mind, she answered, “It’s not you. You were stuck in circumstances beyond your power. You couldn’t do anything but obey. You need to forgive yourself. God does not judge. The only thing asked of you now, is to leave your past behind you. So that you can love yourself and do good.”
The angels were right; she managed to pierce his veil of self-condemnation. Something broke wide open inside of him. He could feel his own heart for the first time in many years and he started to cry. All while the woman lovingly accepted him and his pain. Between the sobbing, the man whispered, “Who are you? Are you an angel?”
Cracking his heart even more open, he pronounced, “You are My angel.”
She smiled, “I am just telling you what God would say. You are innocent. And the best you can do now for humanity is to forgive yourself so that you can be the good person that you are. That we all are.”
Most of us are aware that we are on a quest to loving ourselves more both as victims and as abusers. Numerous techniques are available to forgive the people who wounded us. And those who have worked on themselves know they do not forgive for the sake of the people who wounded them.
They forgive because they want to love themselves more.
To heal our wounds is of course a process and can take time. But with a deep desire to want to love ourselves more, we manage with patience, compassion and the purging of old emotions.
To rise like the Phoenix, to no longer succumb to life but to shape it.
As a victim it is hard to forgive, in spite of the fact that you know you need to do it for yourself. How hard can it then be to forgive yourself when you are on the other side of the fence? When you are not the innocent victim? When you are the one who has done the wrongdoing? When you are responsible? This is where love is needed even more. This is where love becomes invincible and unbeatable.
Just as this man was reached by love, and humbled by love, he became a different kind of hero. A hero that could help shape a better future for our planet. Every person that can love themselves more is a source of healing for humanity. To love yourself in the true sense of loving, to let go of judgment and embrace forgiveness. To let go of domination and embrace caring. To let go of greed and embrace generosity. To let go of building borders and embrace vulnerability. To let go of anger and embrace compassion. To let go of sorrow so that you can find peace.
To be the one who has committed acts of violence and still be able to let love win, is the next challenge that we need to address to turn humanity back on track. Let us find the missing link to our evolution. Let us transcend the darkness of these winter times and be an angel to the ones who dare be true heroes of our time.
Let us all be angels for one another this Christmas.
Let us celebrate our humanity together.
