Vitiligo - Call for Love Devotion July 18

Not being a follower of Michael Jackson while he was here, I had no idea that he had vitiligo or even that such a disease existed.  I assumed, and never knew any reason not to believe, that he must have changed his skin somehow.  I thought it was strange, but not any stranger than other things that celebrities do.   After he was gone, and having been struck by the Love that encircled the earth upon his leaving this plane, I found out everything I could about him and discovered the word Vitiligo for the first time.  What???  There is a disease that changes the color of people's skin??  How in the world was it that no one ever talked about that with reference to Michael?  I know I was out of the loop, but seriously, isn't that something that could have been mentioned to explain his change of color?

I saw the pictures of him that showed his vitiligo, and finally saw the Oprah interview when he mentioned it.  Even then, I didn't think about the impact this must have had on him.  It was not life threatening, and I thought he was beautiful at every stage of his life.  It wasn't until I learned more about vitiligo, and read stories of people actually taking their own lives rather than suffer with this disease,  that I realized the true damage and cost that it has on people.

I am a shy person, and being a teenager was very difficult because I knew I was short, chubby, wore glasses and was different than the expected perfection of a teenage girl in the seventies.  It was hard for me, and had a lasting impact on my life, even up to the present time.  Imagine being Michael.  A shy person, self conscious about his appearance already, discovering that his skin was becoming blotched with white and not being able to stop it.  Already being a private person who was in the public eye every moment of his life, dealing with vitiligo must have been like my teenage years times 1000.  The courage it must have taken for him to perform, to know what people were thinking and saying, and not try to explain, knowing that it would not make any difference.

The purpose and destiny that he knew was his, he accepted without question and without holding back.   Oh, the lessons we all can learn from this amazing, humble man, sent here to teach us how to be, how to love each other, and to heal the world.  I realize that my challenges are trivial compared to the ones that Michael faced with such courage and grace.   I once again must declare my undying love and devotion to him and to sharing his message of love and truth with anyone and everyone who I possibly can.   It's the least I can do for he who gave everything he had for us.

It's an Adventure, A Great Adventure

It's an Adventure, A Great Adventure

When Siren and I get together strange things seem to happen.  We can be doing the most ordinary things, and they end up being some kind of crazy experience that we never expected.  Last week we were driving to a meditation at a friend's house and were caught in a flash flood caused by a huge hailstorm.  Not flustered, but wondering what was going on, we patiently waited for half and hour in the traffic jam and ended up being right on time for the meditation.  Today we went to meet the man who is going to have the plaque placed in front of the tribute tree that we had planted for Michael.  When we arrived, we saw that the tree was seriously dehydrated.  Leaves crispy, getting brown on the edges, it was not good.  The tree was only planted a few days ago and the weather has been very hot since then.  It seemed that the tree had not been watered at all since it was planted.  After calling for help to the city to send a water truck, we took matters into our own hands and went to a restaurant and asked for a five gallon pail of water.  They were very helpful and gave us the pail right away.  We assured them we would come back to eat lunch there and drove off to water the tree.  The amount of water seemed very small when we poured it out and we decided we needed more.  We walked and drove around the park where the tree is planted but could not find a public place to get water.  Finally, we saw a hose at the side of someone's house close by and decided to ask them for water.  No one was home, and we were very hot and really determined to give our tree another drink, so we filled our bucket from their tap and went off to water our tree.  After giving it the second bucket, we talked to the tree, and put our hands on it, sending it love and imagining the roots soaking up the water and the leaves coming back to life.  We knew we needed to also ask our friends around the world to send their prayers as well.
 It always seems that our work for Michael includes drama and lessons, no matter how simple the project may be.  I am not sure if the tree will survive, I hope it does, but either way I know we will have learned a lot from this experience, about friendship, about taking responsibility, about how a tree can be loved just because it is a tree, about how Michael has brought us together and made us each stronger, and how we can handle anything that comes up in our lives, with Him by our sides.
Thank you all so much for your devotion to our little oak tree.  Love really is the Answer.

Three Years

Three Years

I could never have believed three years ago how much my life was about to change.  When I look back now, I can not even remember the person that I was then.  Here I am, having just returned from my third trip to L.A. with my beautiful friend Siren, with many more amazing memories and adventures, and loving Michael even more every day.  I could tell you about the things that happened, the butterfly release, the flight over Neverland, sitting at the gates for hours, seeing Michael's art, sitting on the sidewalk at Michael's star, being at Holly Terrace on quiet days, all alone, and with crowds of fans on June 25, all were special times that I will treasure.  If any of you have a chance to go to these places, go.  I know how blessed I am to live only a 3 hour flight away and be able to go there to share love for Michael with people from around the world.

Now that I am home, and re-entering my regular life, I find that my body is tired, I have a cold, and I am having trouble focusing on what I need to do, but my heart is singing with joy.  This joy is not only a remnant of our trip, but also a joy that never leaves me anymore.  It is the joy of liking who I am becoming, liking the way I interact with the world and the people in it, and the joy of knowing that I  am making a difference, and especially the joy of knowing that this love can never be taken away from me.  As time goes by, and my relationship with Michael stays strong and grows deeper as I learn from Him, who I really am and how I can follow his example, it only serves to deepen my love and my determination to be the best me I can be, and to show Michael that I am listening, I am so grateful for his love and his patience,  and I will be his forever.

Forever Loved

This is the cover of our second book, which will be finished soon.  We are hoping it will be published by Michael's birthday.  There have been a couple of adjustments to this picture, but this is the general idea.  Isn't it fantastic?  Of course, the title means that Michael will be forever loved, and he will forever love us and the world, so this picture says it all!!!  I wrote the story almost two years ago, and it has taken me this long to have the courage to make it into a book.  It is not as universally acceptable as Ever After.   Although Ever After is written like a story, it is actually a non-fiction book.  Forever Loved is quite a bit different, which is why I have held back on publishing it, to avoid facing my fears and possible criticism and judgement from others.  Now I am ready, and completely proud of it, and so anxious to see it in people's hands.  Mimi has made the whole thing a work of art, as is her way, and I am so excited for you all to see it.

In the meantime, Ever After will soon be on Amazon in a new printing.  It is a little bit bigger in size, soft cover, and so beautifully printed.  I am waiting to receive my second proof, with corrections that needed to be made (such as putting the pages in the right order!!!)  As soon as it is perfect, it will be available on Amazon which will make it much more accessible to everyone.  I will let you know as soon as it is up.  I am hoping for new sales of Ever After to help me pay for the publishing of Forever Loved.

I want to thank all of you for your loving support.  I can hardly believe my life!  I am so abundantly blessed to have all of you as my beautiful friends in Michael's Love.
Love is the Answer,
Brenda

In Your Love

Who Am I?

I don't recognize myself

what matters to me

the things I think about

my hopes for the future

Three years ago

the old me began to transform

becoming a brighter version of me

Every cell in my body changed

by you

Forever grateful

forever humbled by your love

I can only imagine 

how far we can go together

What a sacrifice you made

for me, for us

that we might taste

the joy you told us was there

by following you

loving you

giving all to receive all

we have come a long way

and only just begun

Every moment is bliss

in your love

My Michael Story

My Michael Story

Although I am the same age as Michael, I did not follow him or his music. I knew about him, of course, from the news media, but I did not pay much attention to news or music or celebrities so my knowledge of him was very limited.   My opinion about him was based on the thought that anyone who could write a song like Heal the World, had to be a good person, so I did not believe the negative stories I heard.  That was about the extent of my knowledge of Michael, until June 25, 2009.  Of course, I was shocked and sad, like the rest of the world, that he was gone.  If someone my age could die, so could I.  I started to think about my own life, and realized that if I happened to die, I would regret not having done more with my life. 

On July 7, the day of the Memorial Service,  I saw a review of the service on Larry King Live, and my heart opened.   I realized the beauty of his music, I saw the huge Staple Centre full of people there for Michael, and I heard his daughter speak.  I saw how much he was loved, and how much he loved the world.  I started crying then, to the surprise of my mother who I was visiting, and didn't stop for months.  I felt as though I had lost my best friend.     I read every book about him, watched every video, interview, and listened to and loved all his music.  I was overwhelmed with love for the world, all people, animals, nature. This went on for months and the feelings did not fade, they grew, as did my love and admiration for Michael. He had done so much with his life, and nothing stopped him from accomplishing what he knew he was here to do. I was compelled to follow Michael's example, and ALWAYS say yes to my heart, and not hold back on my dreams as I had done for most of my life. 

I had wanted to be a writer, but had never actually written much of anything. Michael inspired me to try.  He encourages all of us to be the best we can be by doing what we love to do.  Since then I have published a picture book, telling the story of Michael's life, written like a fairy tale.   I have the opportunity to share his message with people from all over the world,  as well as future generations and also donate to charity in Michael's name.   It is the most fulfilling thing I have ever done.  I have become a different person, someone that I am proud to be.   

It is difficult sometimes to realize that Michael Jackson dying caused me to awaken.  You only need to look at Michael's life to realize that he gave all he had for us.  I am determined to do the same for him.  I really believe we can change the world, make it a better place for all of us, and make Michael's dreams come true.

Brenda Jenkyns

Canada

Rainbow Light

Call for Love devotion May 23   Rainbow Light

I have never been a meditator.  I always thought I should be, because other people seem to get so much out of it, but the times I have tried it, I have given up before it became a habit because I would either fall asleep, or my mind would wander and I would totally lose my focus and start thinking about laundry and other things.  Last week, through a series of coincidences, Siren and I found ourselves at the home of an Indian lady who had a class to teach a Kriya, (a meditation).  We had no idea what it was about, or why we were there, but we felt that Michael had led us there, so we were excited and a bit nervous.   The idea of this Kriya is to connect to the Truth of who we are, and to be the best US that we can be.  That seemed to be in alignment with what I believe about my own purpose, and Michael's teachings, so I have decided to do the Kriya twice a day and see how it goes.   I have adapted it to what works for me, and also because I may have forgotten part of it, but this is what I am doing and I want to share with you in case anyone else has trouble with meditation.

I start with a short prayer to God, Michael, the Universe, in gratitude for all the blessings in my life.  

I say an affirmation that my intention for this meditation and for my life is to seek the Truth of who I am and to be the best Me that I can be.

I imagine a beautiful rainbow light flowing in the top of my head and slowly filling my whole body with beautiful rainbow light.  I have imagined this light as rainbow chips, rainbow flakes (like snow flakes), liquid rainbow, irridescent swirling rainbow light, or pinpricks of rainbow.  When my whole body is full of rainbow light, I think about all the cells of my body, and imagine each of them being part of the rainbow light.   Then I imagine Michael holding a big white cord from the Source in one hand, and another cord, which is connected to me, in his other hand, and plugging them in to each other.  All the cells in my body light up with a beautiful rainbow light, much brighter than they were before.  

With the beautiful rainbow energy lighting up my body, I imagine my perfect life.  Once I have imagined my perfect life, 

I imagine all the children of the world having plenty of food, shelter, clothing, love, friends, education, opportunities and anything else their heart desires.  

I end with another short prayer of gratitude.

I have been doing this for 5 days, twice a day.  If nothing else, I am learning discipline, and I find it to be like a Major Love Prayer every day.