by Diane Goble
I remember Christmases when I was a kid– when my sister and I got so many presents we’d fall asleep before we could open them all. We always had huge Christmas trees in our two-story living room, fully decorated with ornaments and tinsel galore, and a big twinkling star on top.
I remember some Christmases with my own kids when we had a Charlie Brown Christmas tree and not even a lump of coal to pass between us. Yes, really, about as bad as that in the late 70s, early 80s. It was those times that taught me the meaning of the word family. Just being able to all be together on the same day and maybe share a meal was what mattered most of all.
And I’ve had a variety of Christmases in between– some good, some sad; some just plain awful. I had my heart ripped out one Christmas and it sadly lost all meaning for me. Not having a religious connection to it and seeing it become a freakin’ shopping frenzy with people trampling each other to get a TV, I don’t find it necessary to acknowledge it in traditional ways.
So I started a new holiday tradition with my grandchildren a couple of years ago which gives us some special one-on-one time together at least once a year because the rest of the year they are too involved with school and sports and friends and, well, you know, stuff kids do these days.
One of my regrets is that I didn’t spend time getting to know my grandparents as anything other than my parents’ parents who just came around on Thanksgiving and Christmas to gorge themselves with food– especially the ones who were still alive when I was a teenager and I should have been naturally curious. I never knew who they were, what they did for a living, where they came from, what their lives were like, whether they were happy with their lives.
So my gift to each grandchild separately over the winter break is a dinner at Nana’s house. I teach them about grocery shopping, preparing food and how to cook a meal they choose to learn how to cook; dessert, too. Then we sit down to dinner and actually have an interesting conversation.
Also each year at this time, I ask them for a new list of 5 things they are interested in or want to learn more about then pick one of them and find a movie to watch or Internet sites to visit after we do the dishes together. I also refer to this list throughout the year, for birthday gift ideas, and often text them with links to websites or YouTube videos they might be interested in.
I do love a white Christmas though. It takes me back to my childhood on Long Island, New York, where we almost always had a white Christmas. Then we moved to Florida. Oh, please! Palm trees with Christmas lights, pink plastic flamingos in the yard, 80 degrees out, Santa wears Bermuda shorts.
I’m so happy, happy, happy to be back in a winter wonderland. Let it snow, let snow, let it snow!! Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukah! Feliz Navidad! Mele Kalikimaka! Happy Holidays!
(This is a monthly column I write for my local newspaper, The Nugget, in Sisters, Oregon, USA)
It’s time to have The Conversation
The best gift you can give your family is to have all your paperwork in order so they can carry out your end of life wishes if it becomes necessary. It will save them a lot of worry and grief if they know what you would want them to do under certain circumstances if you are unable to speak for yourself.
How will they know unless YOU tell them?
How will they know where to find important papers if YOU don’t tell them?
This workbook will help you and your loved ones have the conversations needed to make the decisions beforehand that they might be called upon to make for you in an emergency situation. Doing everything is not always the best response… and hope is not a plan.
Nobody wants to talk about death, especially their own… but we are all going to die some day… consider how it would affect your loved ones if you died before your next breath… then don’t put it off out of fear of bringing it on. It doesn’t work that way.
It will give everybody peace of mind and if there is an accident or emergency health crisis, your family will be able to spend time with you instead of rummaging around for paperwork and phone numbers, and all that other stuff we tend to put off.
For those who experience fear of death, this near-death experiencer describes leaving her drowning body behind, in full consciousness, fully alive and aware of everything going on around her then traveling through a void on an amazing journey accompanied by a loving being of light who opened her consciousness to remembering all we forget when we become human beings, including that this is what happens every time the body dies.
We don’t die!
We are not our bodies
Bodies are temporary vehicles that allow us to experience life on this planet
Like astronauts wear space suits, we wear human suits
We are spiritual beings having human experiences as part of our eternal spiritual journey
When our body gives out, we return home
How you want to interpret that, what that means about your religious beliefs or lack of, what that says about God, has nothing to do with this cycle of life. Any of those belief systems can be incorporated into this practice to help you to have a peaceful transition experience with full awareness about what is going on and what comes next.
“Who we really are is all but beyond human understanding,” says author Diane Goble, who has spent the past 44 years since her NDE searching to find the words that describe her experience, “but I’m working on it.”
In Beyond the Veil, which is the 5th generation of her writings, including a training course for caregivers as transition guides, she has integrated the knowledge she absorbed during her NDE with her exploration of ancient mystery schools, world religions, and science, and years of meditation practice and spiritual explorations to convey the meaning of the message she was given to share so it makes sense to most people.
This is your opportunity to raise your consciousness and go beyond what you think you know. Each time you read it, you will experience lightbulb moments as you realize you too know this but had forgotten. As you practice the exercises, you will come to a deeper understanding of who you really are and the meaning of this life to your soul’s journey.
It has been Diane Goble’s life work since her near-death experience in 1971 to share this message and to teach the art of conscious dying, and now she has put her teachings into a workbook to help families talk to each other, their doctors, and their higher consciousness as they prepare to leave this phase of life and transition to the next, fully conscious and engaged in their journey home.
Available everywhere – ISBN 9780963860651