Love, Forgiveness, and Unity
For some of you this topic may be familiar because I talk about it often. Love, forgiveness and unity defines my faith and who am, or at least who I try to be as a human soul. It also defines the Burrough family, my family, and has since the early days of our childhood and to this day. As I’ve mentioned numerous times my mom and dad came from very difficult childhoods. They were both only children with no inspirational or selfless parent to put them first, at least it seemed that way to me. They were two lonely souls and in my mom’s case, she was a very emotionally and physically abused little girl trying to be perfect in order to gain her parent’s love and approval which never came at that time.
Then in the late 1940’s, Mom and Dad met at a roller rink, which was a popular thing to do for young people during that time, and they fell in love. James Dudley Burrough and Joan Ann Young were married January 7, 1950, in Babylon NY. When they married, it was becoming fashionable for a woman to hyphenate her name. Mom told Dad she wanted to be called Joan Young Burrough. Dad quickly responded, “No way, it sounds like an “immature jackass”…more about that later, but in the end, Mom did not use the name Joan Young Burrough.
They both had a very strong Catholic faith and practiced it regularly. They decided to start a family that would consist of Mom, Dad, and one child. Well, it seems God had very different plans for the Mom and Dad since they ended up having 8 children, six girls and two boys. Since they had no siblings of their own, they had no idea how to raise eight children. The one thing they did have was a strong Catholic faith. The foundation of that faith for them both was to practice love, forgiveness, and unity. So that’s how we were raised, first as a unit. Second, Mom had a mantra that she reiterated over and over and over again. Each time one or two or more of us got into an argument she would firmly but softly say, “The only thing I ask of you all is to love and forgive each other and never let anyone or anything break the bond you have with each other. Never!
So, we don’t. We may disagree with each other at times, but we always hold fast to mom’s mantra, and we stay connected to each other every day in every way we can. Most of us are heading into our silver years but we still have a joke we tell people which is this. “We never fight with each other because Mom said we’re not allowed.” Mom and Dad are both living life in the heavenly hereafter, but their legacy continues, not just with us, but with our children and grandchildren as well.
So back to the Immature Jackass discussion. After Dad passed Mom decided to write her biography just for her children and grandchildren and some friends. It is probably the most cherished possession I have, and I’ve now read it four times. We all learned some very intimate details about the awful physical, emotional, and mental pain she experienced as a child that miraculously shaped the loving and forgiving woman she chose to be. Here’s the best part. Guess what the title of her book is? Yup, I’m sure a lot of you guessed at least part of it, Tales From the Immature Jackass.” We all loved it, especially her grandchildren who, in turn, made a facebook page entitled, Descendants of the Immature Jackass! Lol So where am I going with this with regard to spirituality? I’ll tell you.
I no longer practice Catholicism. I consider myself more nondenominational. However, I cherish my Catholic upbringing for the beautiful foundation of faith it gave me, which is to love, forgive, and to remember that we are connected to each other by God’s infinite light. Every Easter, for some reason, I am drawn to pick up my bible and read the passion of Christ. A few years ago, I was reading the part where he tells his apostles to go get him a young Donkey to ride on when he entered Jerusalem. I continued reading when I heard my guides say, “Go back read that again.” So, I did again and again until I finally got it….A YOUNG DONKEY!!!! … or in other words, you guessed it … An Immature Jackass! He could have just said a donkey, but he didn’t. He said young donkey! He brilliantly hid an important message that he knew would be revealed in time. Of course, there is more biblical significance to using a young donkey, but for me that day, I was given and received a message meant for me.
“Whoa,” I thought. “All those many Earth years ago, God saw my parents and what they were going to create from simple harsh beginnings with nothing but God to guide them. He also knew I would someday find this obscure biblical detail and understand what he wanted me to know and pass on. Mom and Dad believed in love no matter what. They taught us that, with love in our hearts, we’ll always be on the right path. We all follow that path as best we can, but make no mistake, we’re all human and screwing up now and then comes with the territory. Yet, our straying is short, and we always return to Mom’s mantra of love, forgiveness and unity, which we have in turn taught to our kids and our kids to theirs
After reading about the immature jackass in the bible, I sat back and listened to the message being downloaded to my consciousness.
“This is what I want for all of my children all over the world.” God said. “Your family was supposed to be, was, and still is an example of what the whole earth family was meant to be. Just like many countries and cultures with different traditions and religions each one of your siblings is very different from each other. Yet, you were taught not to focus on your differences but on your similarities and on the love your family holds so dear.”
I thought, “You’re making us sound like a perfect family and believe me, we have our own share of dysfunction.”
“All humans have their weaknesses, vulnerabilities and a tendency to compare themselves to others as you all did with your brothers and sisters.” God continued. “It’s part of the human journey but you never intentionally try to hurt any of your family or anyone else for that matter. If you unintentionally do, you apologize and forgive. Even those who wrong you or hurt you, you always have your mom’s message of love, forgiveness and unity that helps you see the divinity in others beneath their fear. You have learned that people who hurt other people are hurting inside themselves. Thus, in your heart you are able to find forgiveness, compassion, and love… eventually. You may choose to distance certain people from your life because of their behavior, but you try … always try to let go of anger and try to understand that if a person is in touch with and guided by their soul, they could not behave badly toward others.”
“Yeah, I get it,“ I said. “Though I still think you may be giving us way too much credit. Yet, I like it and I always remember that we owe our loving hearts to Mom and Dad, and Jesus, of course who was always present among us. But what about the evil doers in the world? How do people find love and forgiveness when evil is done to them, their family, or an entire country?”
“Evildoers must be stopped by laws and restitution and by overt actions but, in doing so it should not overflow and contaminate our hearts with darkness. We must always be the light in the darkness and help others to see the truth. All souls will eventually find the path to love no matter how many incarnations it takes.”
The download then ended, and I tried to take it all in. I was once again awed by the brilliant mind of our Creator. Nothing that happens in our world is random. God has His divine hand on everything, and everything happens to help bring us home to our soul, even a long-ago plea for an “Immature Jackass.” When we come home to our soul, we return to love.
My sister-in-law, Cathy gave me a beautiful necklace with compass on the front of it and engraved on the back it says, “Life brings us to unexpected places, but love brings us home.” That pretty much says it all! Thank you so much Cathy!