A Single Hour

My Uncle David saw an ending to his roughly 81 years on the planet last week. He was struck by a car and killed while crossing the street on his way home.  He had just left the evening prayer service at his Synagogue where he served daily for most of his life. The irony of that does not get by me.

I freely admit, I did not really know much of the details of my Uncle’s daily life. I had moved far away from home when I was just 23 and missed out on a lot with my family over the years. My uncle was just 20 years older than me, the youngest of his 2 other siblings, my mother being the middle child and my other Uncle Hyman being the eldest. With David’s passing, it leaves my mother as the only surviving family member of her nuclear family.

Neither David, nor the rest of our family saw this coming. I can only describe it as a sucker punch to our collective gut. A huge cement block that made up the foundation of our family, just got kicked out from underneath us, and now we’re all feeling a bit shaky and unstable. We could not have predicted this either.

This has really hit us hard.

Uncle David was an orthodox Jew. The rest of us are varying degrees of observant, with me being the least, and by least, I mean not at all.

I was the black sheep of our family. I gave up Judaism long ago and in my late 20’s began exploring my Spirituality through a trans-denominational Spiritual Center in Los Angeles called Agape, which means Unconditional Love. I attended services weekly and ultimately studied and became licensed as a Spiritual Practitioner. 

On the surface, Uncle David and I could not have been more different. I am a lesbian married to a woman who is not Jewish and every year we celebrate Christmas. In addition, I met Jesus in my 30’s, became a healer, and for 25 years now have conducted all my sessions with my clients with Jesus on hand. So, naturally when it came to my relationship with my Uncle, I kept my beliefs to myself. 

A day after he passed, the funeral was held at his synagogue. Most of my family had to participate by zoom as there was a blizzard that day, and it wasn’t safe to travel. My brother and sister-in-law were also out of town visiting my mother at the time. They were the ones who delivered the news to her. I can’t help but feel that was divinely ordained. My mother is turning 92 in a few weeks. I was glad she didn’t have to get that news over the phone or be alone afterwards. God’s mercy was obvious.

So my mother sat at her kitchen table huddled with my brother and wife watching the funeral for my Uncle on a 13” laptop.  I was 3000 miles away on the other coast watching at my desk, as the Rabbi began speaking about David who just 20 hours earlier had helped him facilitate the shabbat prayer service.  In orthodox Judaism, you don’t drive your car on the Sabbath, which is why David was walking home when he was hit by the car. 

The Rabbi began to speak and three words in, stopped. A moment later, he started again, and again he could not continue. He was overcome with grief. 

Another sucker punch. After several attempts, he was able to get through it. There were no assurances made. No Spiritual takes on the situation. Just a simple assessment of the man that David was to so many who knew him. 

The service lasted just an hour, one hour to sum up a man’s entire life. 

A handful of people spoke, one of his elder sons, 2 grandchildren, a couple colleagues at the synagogue; one who read the heartfelt letter that my brother had written that morning about my Uncle. They ended the service with Prayers recited in Hebrew. 

And in that single hour, I learned more about my Uncle than I ever knew about him in all my 60 years on the planet.  

My perception of who he was was a lovable oddball of sorts, different, old-school, devout, and somewhat un-relatable for me. For instance, Uncle David kept kosher and the rest of the family didn’t, so he often missed out on family events when food was involved like family cook-outs or Thanksgiving. That was hard, but over time we learned to accept it. His choice to be religious, sometimes kept him separate from the rest of us, and that didn't feel worth the price we paid for it in the big picture.

But after that single hour, I walked away with a much fuller picture of who he really was; a holy man who spent his entire life in service to others, with little to no thought for himself, who showed his love and concern readily and consistently to everyone he knew, and even to those he didn’t know. Uncle David was the definition of selfless. We knew him as the family historian who never forgot to remind  each of us when to light a yahrzeit candle for someone who had passed, who kept track of how each remote cousin was related, and called to congratulate each of us on happy occasions or check in when someone was ill. In my fragmented perception and my disappointment of not being closer to him, I neglected to appreciate the sacrifices he made daily for the sake of God. 

David’s body was transported to Israel later that night and buried the next morning. He was wrapped in a shroud and laid to rest in a simple shallow grave on a hill overlooking Jerusalem. Just the way he wanted it. It was somehow befitting for a simple man with a singular intention to love everyone he met, to pray unceasingly and to be of service to God. 

In a single hour, I learned everything that really mattered about my Uncle David. It’s hard to believe that your whole life can be synthesized down to an hour.  But in his case, it could have been one word; Holy.

When your hour comes, what do you want people to say about you? How will people say you spent your time on earth? What will they say was important to you? What will you want people to remember or to take away from having known you?

Uncle David’s sudden passing and my new fuller understanding and appreciation for his life, has caused me to reprioritize where my attention goes. Instead of worrying, instead of trying to fix things we judge as being broken or get things or earn things, or spending time wanting things, instead of spending precious time focused in the wrong ways, maybe the best use of all of our time is simply to show up with love in every situation and every relationship despite our human perceptions. 

In whatever time I have left, l am committed to being more like my Uncle David; keeping it simple and being simply about the business of love.

To The Truth That Sets Us All Free,

Donna Gershman

PS. If you need support in getting into alignment with your life purpose, releasing fear and resistance and living a life of meaning and Joy, please contact my office at (818)904-6840 or email me at youwillheal@aol.com for a free consultation. Life is short. Don't waste another minute feeling unfulfilled.

Livin' it UP with Donna Gershman & Katie Miller (Episode 1)

Go Deep and Laugh at loud as Katie Miller sits down with Donna Gershman (Intuitive Healer and Spiritual Counselor) to discuss all things Spiritual, such as how she met Jesus, the many miracles she has experienced in her work, the root cause of all illness, and the importance of our beliefs in healing.

 

Are You Settling For Crumbs?

The mind thinks an average of 70,000 thoughts a day, almost all of which have nothing to do with God's Truth. If you're gonna use your mind, why not start thinking like God thinks. 

God's thoughts will align you with the field of possibilities. Your thoughts (from the linear mind) will only limit it...

God sees no limitations anywhere, and that includes in YOU. God knows that you have everything you need within you right now, to create and experience whatever you want. You are Unlimited! You have infinite potential. No-thing is actually stopping you. Why think small?

It's like having a giant buffet in front of you with everything you could ever want and it's all paid for. You get to decide what you want. It's unlimited, and it's all yours. Sadly, you are off in a corner eating the crumbs off the floor! Why would you ever settle for crumbs??

The universe needs you to take your power more seriously. Please stop listening to your fear-based, limited, scary thoughts and use the power of your mind to think Bigger. Know you can have anything on the buffet. It's okay. The universe wants you to have it and then tell everyone you love that they can have it too. 

Think Big, Believe, Keep Believing, Then Believe a little more. Stay Focused on what you want on the Buffet of Life, and lastly (wait for it......)You guessed it: "Don't Stop BELIEVIN!!!" Soon enough, you'll be going back for seconds and thirds, only with a much bigger plate.

To The Truth That Sets Us All Free,

Donna Gershman

PS. If you need help creating what you want and are willing to bring a bigger plate to the table, please email me at youwillheal@aol.com or call my office at (818)904-6840 to schedule a free 15 minute consultation.

Manifesting Made Easy

As a Spiritual teacher, I am a believer that our thoughts matter, that the thoughts we hold and give power to, how we focus our attention in other words, lends towards creating our human experience. If you hold an idea in mind long enough and believe in it wholeheartedly, the likelihood of it manifesting is good. That's why its important to hold onto our dreams with passion and a commitment to them.

Everything we see in the human world began with a divine idea. The chair you are sitting on is the result of someone, somewhere having an idea of it first, holding onto it long enough, being committed to it, likely through various challenges, until it came to full fruition. A lot goes into creating something we want to see. It takes a firm belief for something to manifest. The thing is, the better you are at holding an idea without buying into fear and limitations, the better the chances are you will create it. The more faith you have, the better. The more passion you have for it, the better. 


However, this principle also works in the reverse. If we have a belief we hold onto that we don't want to see happen, our tendency to energize that thought with fear is counterproductive. If we believe in something with passion, it can manifest. Therefore, our fear of something happening, that we don't want to see happen is also powerful and likely to manifest if we're not intervening in those thoughts. Yikes!

In reality, we are very powerful. We can create what we want. We can create what we don't want, and it's in our power at any given time, to change our thoughts and create a different experience. This puts our human experience squarely in our own hands with the use of our free will. So the question we always need to be asking ourselves individually and collectively is, where do we go from here? What do we want to see happen? What belief am I holding around that idea? Do I believe in its fulfillment or am I in doubt or fear over it?

In addition, if we, as a people want to see something different happening in our world, we must collectively believe in the possibilities instead of fueling our fears. We must hold steady and firm to our vision and with every ounce of faith we can muster up, move in the direction of it. We can not let our worst fears undermine our ability to create what we really want and deserve.

Simply put, stay positive, believe in the good happening and keep taking inspired action each day towards the vision. As a bonus, there's literally a bible verse that says, "where two or more are gathered" meaning when you agree on the vision with just one other person, it will actually magnify it's likelihood of manifestation.

Let's use the power available to us in the Universe to consciously create what we want to see in our individual lives, our country and in our world. We absolutely have the power to do that.

To The Truth That Sets Us all Free,

Donna Gershman ALSP

Are you wanting to move forward on a dream, or to change something in your life? Do you feel stuck, and know you're in your own way? Let's move that boulder together. Feel free to email me at youwillheal@aol.com, or contact my office at (818)904-6840 for a free telephone consultation or 20 minute tune-UP! All sessions are conducted by telephone or Skype.

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Initiation Into Power

"The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any." - Alice Walker

Several years ago, I had a horrible nightmare. I've never forgotten it. After it was over, I realized that it was much more than a nightmare, it was a profound spiritual teaching.

In the dream, I saw myself standing in front of my spiritual teacher. In front of me, was a dark threatening force that carried a powerful evil energy that was moving rapidly toward me. All I could feel was sheer terror. I had never felt that kind of terror ever in my waking life. In that moment, I looked behind me to see the terror on my teacher’s face, as well. This is a man of great wisdom and knowledge, a man centered in love and peace. I was shocked to see he was having the same reaction as me. I knew I had no choice but to fight this force. I knew it was up to me.

Suddenly, I gathered all my fear, all my rage, all my anger, and with all my power, I put my hands out in front of me and yelled, “Noooooooooo” at the top of my lungs. This was not a "Nooo" from dread or from a pleading place in me. It was a definitive, declarative and absolute "NO". It was a " No" that was not up for debate. This is what I would describe as taking my power back. The dark force then began to dissipate in front of me and disappear into nothingness.

I looked back at my teacher, and he had a look of awe and respect on his face. Just then, the nightmare began all over again, exactly as it had the first time. It was like being in an instant replay except is was twice as fast. I saw the dark force, I looked behind me to see my teacher’s face in terror, I turned once again towards the force with my hands stretched out in front of me, but this time, I simply said, “No” without any fear, without any anger without any rage. I just said "no". The force once again dissipated in front of me and disappeared.

When I woke up, I felt different. I felt as if I had been initiated into another way of being, one that showed me how powerful I really am, and that nothing and no one had any power over me. I was certainly as powerful as my teacher, and I was more powerful than evil. I would never again have to fight against evil in my life, I could just refuse to give it any power over me. I could stand face-to-face with it, and know it was nothing pretending to be something,

I have understood on a deep level that nothing holds any power over us unless we inadvertently, through fear for example, give our power to it. I have practiced this principle for many years now with my clients who come to me with so-called “terminal” illness, having been told that their illness will decide their fate. My job is to remind them of their own power and that their illness holds no power over them. That is the key to healing. That is the key to freedom. That is the key to true empowerment.

Nothing and no one has any power over us. Our government, our leaders, our laws, nothing. Each of us holds a power equivalent to the entire universe and beyond. When we know that, we will no longer feel powerless to events or people. I believe we are here to remember the power that we hold, and to create fearlessly, knowing that nothing is truly against us, except us, and our own misguided beliefs.

We are more powerful than anything we fear. We are infinitely powerful. We must know that. If we want to access this power and demonstrate it, we can't be willy nilly about it. If you're in fear about something for instance, you've already managed to give some of your power away to it, by pretending it has more power than you.

Think about this for a moment. Everything is energy. When anything is reduced to it's most minute level, all that is left is energy, which never dies. It only changes form. So, if we all draw from the same energy source which is within us and all around us, how could someone have more power than you? They can't. All they can have is more belief in that than you. They might have more determination to use it, than you. But they can't actually have more access or more availability to it.

We can create the world we want to live in, by remembering how powerful we are, and by taking our power back from situations or people we have unconsciously given it away to through fear and false beliefs. There is no limit to what we can do with a mind and heart committed to good and a simple “No” to whatever fear or illusion of powerlessness that presents itself. Once you know how truly powerful you are, there will be no need to fight against anything. You will simply get clear about who you are, what you want, and remember who has the final say, you. 

At this time in humanity, I urge all of us not to give our power away to anything, including situations, a diagnosis or people in so-called "authority" or power positions. It is time to stand in assurance that all is possible with an unshakeable belief in your own ultimate power to create. You are the supreme authority in your life, Create whatever you can imagine, through the power of your belief and being undaunted by anything or anyone outside of you.

To The Truth That Sets Us All Free,

Donna Gershman ALSP  

PS. Are you ready to start living the life you deserve but know you must get out of your own way to have it? You don't have to do it alone. Feel free to email me at youwillheal@aol.com or contact my office at (818)904-6840 to set up a free consultation or 20 Minute Tune-UP! All sessions are conducted by telephone and or Skype.

Falling Down

                                                                

Last year I told you of a story that happened many years ago when I had an accident while getting my oil changed at a new service station. I unwittingly fell down a 15 foot hole and lived to tell about it. I had what I consider to be a spiritual event as I was falling down that hole, that changed the way I thought forever. You can read about it here: http://www.youwillheal.blogspot.com/2009/10/decision-of-your-life.html

But there was a second part of that story I never told you, and that is what happened after I left the station that day and drove off in my car. This part of the story tells of the single biggest miracle I had ever witnessed in my life, until that day.

I drove off in a daze, partly because I had a concussion, and partly because I was confused. “Wow, what  just happened to me God? And why?” were questions taxing my brain. So then I asked God, “So, where do I go now?” and God answered me, “Drive to that children’s hospital that you’ve wanted to volunteer at for the last several months.”

A nurse friend of mine had been encouraging me to put my healing abilities to the test at a local facility where she was working. I hadn’t yet found the courage to actually show up at that point, and here was God telling me, right after falling down a 15ft hole, that I should choose now, as the perfect time to go.  I heard my directive clearly, but I had serious resistance. Before I could put up much of a fight though, God said that if I drove there now, there would be people there who could attend to my injuries, so I listened and headed to this hospital.

Now I should mention, this was not an ordinary acute care hospital with an emergency room. It was a long-term care facility for children with serious medical issues, primarily without insurance of any kind, with no families to speak of, or had been abandoned years before by their families, and who were destined to live their days out with no real quality of life. Not particularly a happy place to visit.

On this particular Saturday, I drove there, parked my car out in front, carefully slid out the driver’s seat, and proceeded to the entrance doors hunched over like a table and covered in blood. Once inside, I was greeted by a nurse who took one look at me and said, “Oh my God, what happened to you? Don’t move! I’ll be right back.” She hurried back within minutes with a gurney and at least 4 other nurses in tow.

Since this was not an acute care hospital, they had no emergency room in which to treat me. Apparently, they were not accustomed to people wandering in off the streets with injuries either, so they wheeled me in front of the nearest nurse’s station and started taking my vitals and tending to my wounds. One woman asked me my name and what I was doing there. I hesitated to tell her that I was there because God told me to come! I was genuinely concerned they might wheel me next to the psychiatric ward. I just avoided answering the question. In truth, I had no idea why I was there. I was just following directions.

So here’s where it gets good. There was a moment when all the nurses working on me, left me alone telling me they would be right back. There I was laying on this gurney staring up at the ceiling tiles and fluorescent lights when suddenly God says to me, “Okay, now get up and walk down the hall until you get to the last door on your right.” So I did. I shuffled down the hall, entered the room to find three little girls in three adjacent beds. I wandered over to the third bed furthest away from the door and closest to the window facing the courtyard.

There was a small red headed young girl about 5 years old laying in the bed staring with fixed eyes out the window. I stood by her bed and at first said nothing. Then I was moved to speak. First, I said to her that I was really upset. That I had wanted to come there to pray with them but now I was there in pain. I told her how I had just 30 minutes earlier, fallen down a hole and had hurt myself badly and was frankly really angry about it now. Just then, the little girl turns her head toward me, smiles and puts out her hand for me to hold. I held her hand for a moment thinking this had to be the sweetest little girl to do such a thing.

Then all of a sudden I hear loud urgent voices coming in our direction, “Where is she? Where did she go?” One of the nurses enters the room, sees me, and says accusingly, “What are you doing in here?” She grabs my arm and drags me back to the awaiting gurney at the nurse’s station. I laid back down and said to the nurse, “That little girl was so sweet to me. She looked at me so caringly and held my hand, what a sweetie.” She says to me dismissively, “What? That did not happen.” I said, “What do you mean it didn’t happen? Yes, it did.” 

Then the head nurse who had been standing behind the nurse’s station and listening quietly says, “I’ll be right back” and disappears. She returned a few moments later visibly shaken. She asks me almost suspiciously, “Excuse me, what did you say to her?” So I say, “I don’t know, I just told her that I was upset, that I had fallen down a hole and I was mad about it.” At that moment, the nurse softened her defenses and almost in disbelief says, “Oh my God. That child has been in a catatonic state for nearly 3 years now. She hasn’t moved a muscle or responded to anything in all that time. I just checked in on her. She's responding.” She paused for a moment as if she was putting the pieces of a puzzle together in her head. “She was brought in here as a toddler. Her mother threw her down a set of stairs. She’s been completely non-responsive ever since, until just now”.

Her name was Heather. That’s all I know. She was 5 at the time. I heard later that she was released from that facility not long after to go live with a relative. She would be 20 years old now.

God most certainly works in mysterious ways, and I don’t claim to always understand those ways. My best estimation of what happened was that Heather had been thrown down a set of stairs by the person who was the closest to her, her mother. She was pre-language at the time and had no way to process mentally or emotionally such a betrayal. She retreated back into herself; the only place she felt safe. Somehow when I came along, and told her that I had fallen down too and was really angry about it, it unlocked her from her self-imposed isolation and helped her identify with her own pain.

I continued to visit this facility every Saturday over the next month. This was the first of several miracles that took place there over a short period of time. Interestingly, my injuries only lasted long enough to serve for this event.  I had absolutely no visible bruises or marks on my body the very next day.

I’m still not sure why this happened to me, except I can tell you that falling down that hole that day most definitely changed my life and firmly put me on the path to being a healer. I am constantly reminded though that God can only work through an open heart and an open mind, and that all things are possible in God. Your only qualification to facilitate a miracle either for yourself or another is to be open and willing, and get all sense of limitations out of the way. No other qualifications, skills, experience, or credentials are needed. We all have the equal ability to be used by God in such ways. Today could be your day!

To The Truth That Sets Us All Free,

Donna Gershman ALSP

PS. You can heal, and you don't have to do it alone! If you or someone you know needs support in healing any issue, whether it be physical, emotional, mental or spiritual, please feel free to email me at youwillheal@aol.com, or contact my office at (818)904-6840 for a free telephone consultation.

Just like Zach

Recently, I was sitting on an airplane next to a very intelligent 10 year old boy named Zachary.

Everyone in his family calls him Zach, but I’m not sure he’s totally sold on that name. He is reading Harry Potter and explaining to me all kinds of things from gravity to his favorite poultry; it’s dark turkey, he only likes the dark meats. He also has a loose canine that’s causing him some trouble, canine as in a tooth, not a loose dog, (I foolishly made that mistake), but he only has trouble with it when he eats crunchy things like hamburger flavored Pringles, like right now. Come to find out, Zach has earned 258 AR points in school. AR stands for accelerated reader points, for reading books voluntarily.

He has read the entire Eragon series, and has told me they have a 4th book in the works called, Shur’tugal. I have learned more on my short flight from Norfolk Virginia to Dallas, than I have learned in months, even with an active use of google.

I just told him I was a healer, and he made it a point to tell me that advil is NOT for chicken pox, and that the most sensitive part of the human body is the fingertip, which I did not know.

I am struck by how much he knows already at age 10, and how interested he is in everything. He is genuinely passionate about life. Did you know that there are a million black and brown bears just in Amerty Alaska, alone? I am suddenly inspired to know everything too, just like Zach. I am suddenly inspired to earn hundreds of AR points, just because. I am suddenly encouraged by the world’s future. I know it’s in good hands.

How do you stay inspired? I believe that staying interested in life is the great “youth-er”.
It’s difficult to become old, crotchety and obsolete when you stay interested in life.

Zach just mentioned that his pastor told him that if you can channel the power of God, you can cure any disease or illness. He said that’s probably why I do what I do, because I can.

There is a bible passage that says “you must enter the kingdom of heaven like little children”. I believe this means that to experience the Consciousness of “Wholeness”, we must first become open, innocent and curious; just like Zach.

To the Truth That Sets Us All Free,

Donna Gershman ALSP

PS. You can heal, and you don't need to do it alone! If you or someone you know needs support in healing a disease, illness, chronic condition, injury or pain, please feel free to email me at youwillheal@aol.com or contact my office at (818)904-6840