Truth Does Set Us Free

E. Brummer Kathleen

Description

Compelling testimony of Authors awakening which radically changed her spirituality and understanding of life. Read of experiences and insights that fortify her new direction.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie

Informations

• Publié par: Inspiring Voices
• Date de parution: 18 mai 2015
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781462411184
• Langue: English

Extrait

The Truth Does Set Us Free
I Was Spiritually Bankrupt and Didn’t Even Know It!
Kathleen E. Brummer

 
Copyright © 2015 Kathleen E. Brummer.
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 
Scriptures taken from The Jerusalem Bible © 1966 by Darton Longman & Todd Ltd and Doubleday and Company Ltd.
 
 
Inspiring Voices
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www.inspiringvoices.com
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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.
 
ISBN: 978-1-4624-1117-7 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-4624-1118-4 (e)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2015905281
 
 
Inspiring Voices rev. date: 05/15/2015
Contents
Introduction
Part 1 - My Beginnings
Chapter 1. Growing Up
Chapter 2. My Journey Continues
Part 2 - Into Recovery
Chapter 3. Bankruptcy
Chapter 4 I hunger
Chapter 5. Judgment
Chapter 6. Black and White Thinking
Chapter 7. The Summer of Stolen Vegetables
Chapter 8. Becoming
Chapter 9. There Was No Question in My Mind
Chapter 10. My Growing Pains and Depression
Chapter 11. Emptiness
Chapter 12. Depression
Chapter 13. Honesty
Chapter 14. My Truth
Chapter 15. Coming to Be Myself, Allowing Others to Be Who They Are
Chapter 16. Wounded
Chapter 17. Focus / Balance
Chapter 18. Making Amends
Chapter 19. Ongoing Healing and Transformation
Chapter 20. More Growing Pains
Chapter 21. With New Eyes
Chapter 22. Re-birth of My Beliefs
Chapter 23. Uncovering Layers
Chapter 24. Understanding My Chest Pain
Chapter 25. Disillusionment
Chapter 26. Who is Jesus?
Chapter 27. The Power of Forgiveness
Chapter 28. Reflection on Forgiveness
Part 3 - Nuggets of Learning and Wisdom
Chapter 29. Positively
Chapter 30. The Value of Validation
Chapter 31. Heaven Cares
Chapter 32. Short Nuggets of Learning and Wisdom
Chapter 33. Thoughts Become Form
Chapter 34. Set My Intention
Chapter 35. Forever New
Part 4 - Tools For Living
Chapter 36. Clearing Prayer
The Attitude of Gratitude
Send Them Light
Bless Them!
What’s / Who’s Life-Giving for You
Learn About Yourself
What Do You Need?
Set Your Intention
Put It in God’s Hands
Follow Your Heart
Quiet time
Guidance
Part 5 - Reflections
Chapter 37. In His Image
Chapter 38. Noble In Truth
Chapter 39. Living Film
Chapter 40. To Honor
Chapter 41. Finishing Unfinished Business - A Wren for a Bird House
Chapter 42. Words From My Guide
Chapter 43. I Am Decidedly a Deciduous Tree
Chapter 44. Words Given
Chapter 45. Be Yourself!
As I Close
Introduction
The Truth DOES Set Us Free:
I was Spiritually Bankrupt and Didn’t Even Know it!
“ Spiritual 1. Of the spirit or the soul, often in a religious or moral aspect, as distinguished from the body. 2. Of, from, or concerned with the intellect, or what is often thought of as the better or higher part of the mind. 3. Of, or consisting of spirit, not corporal. 4. Characterized by the ascendancy of the spirit; showing much refinement of thought and feeling. 5. Of religion or the church; sacred, devotional, or ecclesiastical; not lay or temporal.
Bankruptcy [Fr. banqueroute; It. banca ( bench) + rotta (broken) L. rupius pp of rumpere, (to break)] 1. A person legally declared unable to pay his debts; the property of a bankrupt is divided among his creditors or administered for their benefits. 2. Loosely, anyone unable to pay his debts. 3. A person who lacks a certain quality: as a mental bankrupt.”
All definitions are taken from the
“Webster’s New World Dictionary of the American Language ” College Edition
How could two such things possibly fit together? And where does truth fit in? One definition of truth is “ the quality of being in accordance with experience, facts or reality”. We each seem to have different ideas of what truth might be; after all our experiences can be perceived in many ways! All of these words speak to corner stones which have become the foundation of my learning and journey. They have led me to a freedom I couldn’t have imagined for myself.
I best start from the beginning, for you to appreciate how these fit together for me, and to help you appreciate the huge awakening that I experienced at the age of 30.

Part 1 My Beginnings
Chapter 1 Growing Up
I grew up in a larger family, on a farm. We were creative, hard workers and knew that we were needed to take care of chickens, cattle, the summer garden and large yard. I was a middle child. For some reason, I was very tied in with my mother and her feelings. I did not understand why this was; I just could intuit that she had sadness buried inside. Although Mom loved people who brought humor and lightness to her days, overall she felt that life was serious, and had many fears which affected me. I took on the role of peacemaker with my siblings. We had pride in our accomplishments and abilities. But I did not know that all of this had a personal expense. As I grew, I buried my feelings. I used food to find a release from them and found consolation in carbohydrates and sugars. Baking was always available in our home; we had a ‘bread drawer’ and cookie jar in the pantry. We would bake goodies every Saturday morning for the week’s use. I grew to hide my eating as I overate; later, I realized that this was connected with my feeling of shame about my behavior.
I have memories of being eight years old. I chose – like a good girl – to give up candy for lent (a forty day period of penance and fasting before Easter). But at age eight, I could no longer stay away from sweets and candy for an extended period. I had succeeded in this Lenten fast as a six and seven-year old, but now couldn’t understand sugar’s call to me and my inability to stay away from it.
By the time I was in eighth grade, I was wearing ‘chubby girls’ sizes. I chose fashions that I felt would hide my extra weight. I was a very sensitive person, and quite religious. It was a part of our week to go to church on Sundays, and pray together at meals, and as a family in the evening. These practices were important to us, even though our prayers were rote. God was somewhere outside of me, although I sensed God’s presence in our church and in our liturgical celebrations. I wanted to be a good person and live an exemplary life.
At the end of that school year, I attempted an ‘eggs and grapefruit’ diet and lost about 18 pounds. And boy did I like the way that I looked and felt! This was timely for me, because I would attend a ‘city’ school in ninth grade, after attending country schools to this point. The thought of fitting in with ‘city kids’ scared me.
I was very self-conscious, but felt good wearing smaller sized clothing as I transitioned to this new school. And I felt that I had learned a new secret to help me deal with my weight struggles…dieting.
I remember thinking – during those high school years - that if there was such a thing as a ‘foodaholic’, it might describe me. For some reason, I noticed that I seemed to like food more than most people! I didn’t understand this.
I lived in my head a lot. I constructed a fantasy life and loved to read books - to enter into their world of fun and adventure. It was a part of my way of coping.
The God of my youth had a mixture of qualities. God was ‘judge’ and I searched to appease ‘him’ by doing good deeds. God watched and knew everything about me. I was told, by my Mom who was forever working, that I would be held accountable for every minute that I ‘wasted’ in this life. No wonder why I became a human- doing before I could learn to be a human- being !
And I did excel at doing. Artistic and musical, interested in organizing and building things with my hands, I forever was in the middle of a project. I speak the truth here, for my projects didn’t always find their way to completion!
Don’t get me wrong; those years were not all work and no play. I knew the feeling of being needed and appreciated. I also knew the satisfaction of working with the land, of getting to know birds and flowers and discovering the personality of some of the different animals – pets and livestock we had on our farm. Though my days held ongoing chores and jobs to do, there was always a sense of wonder and delight that I felt as I learned about nature. Our Dad and Mom were great teachers.
I have a memory of dad driving the tractor home from the field, holding a branch with a possum clinging to it for dear life; he wanted his children to see this animal, which was not common in our area. Sometimes he’d get us to come out of the house to see an unusual bird. At night, he would show us the stars and their constellations.
Now Mom was a gardener. I learned a lot about flowers and vegetables from her, both how to grow them and how to preserve them for future meals. She, too, loved our farm animals. Mom always felt sorry for them when i