The Owl and the Prince of Peace: Selections from Our Diary Thoughts, Thank Yous and a Recurring Prayer

By A. Anne Bel

A. Anne Bel offers us a glimpse down the roads she and her friend Yeshua have travelled, and introduces us to many of the gardeners and strangers he has led her to, and led to her.

Yeshua is always introducing Annie to new understandings whether they are sitting under a starry sky, or in rush hour traffic helping an old bewildered raccoon caught in an intersection on a county road, or getting arrested in Washington for civil disobedience protesting the Keystone XL Pipeline whether receiving a big welcoming hug from an Indigenous sister from another Mother at a Healing Walk in the Alberta Tar Sands, or having lunch with a prince at his home discussing how to make school curriculum more relevant to young people in the world we now have in front of us.

The Owl and the Prince of Peace is filled with love, surprises, new understandings and hope.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Mar 29, 2017
• ISBN: 9781512772227

A. Anne Bel

A. Anne Bel, ‘Annie’, meets life in every circumstance with a confidence born of a beautiful, supportive family, and her quiet, close friendship with Yeshua - her constant host and guide through all her daily and lifetime adventures. He always helps her find something rich to discover about the moment she is in. Together, they offer all of us an open invitation to join them as Annie writes in her diary and letters to Yeshua, and Yeshua offers his wisdom and guidance. We are truly blessed that Annie has always found a close-by empty page to jot down her new understandings, thoughts and thank yous for us all to share.

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Copyright © 2017 A. Anne Bel.

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 author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

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Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.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.

ISBN: 978-1-5127-7221-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-7223-4 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-7222-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017900901

WestBow Press rev. date: 03/27/2017

Contents

Introduction

A note for you…

After Word and Forward!

For all my beautiful family and friends

and all the ‘gardeners and strangers’ in my life

who have taught me so much

and continue to give me so much.

You are as rich as you are loved,

and oh my, how you are loved!

Introduction

My friend’s name is Yeshua.

That’s what his mother, father, brothers, sisters and friends called him.

Just like everyone else, he was born into a world that needed him.

Unlike most everyone else, he was related to a shepherd named David who was chosen to be a king. Perhaps that explains why shepherds and kings came to Yeshua’s out-of-the-ordinary birthplace –

a stable in Bethlehem, Judea.

The stars at the time were aligned in a particularly striking way.

His cradle was a manger cuddled with the fresh field-hay

shared with cows, sheep and goats.

Heaven and Nature sang.

As he grew, he followed in his father’s footsteps and became a good carpenter. He was Jewish. He had a special understanding he was devoted to sharing with everyone – from all faiths, and no faith – of how we are to live on Earth, with love as the motivation for all our actions

and loving our neighbours as ourselves.

Somehow the religious and political leaders in his time felt

their authority and power was threatened by his simple,

beautiful message.

So when he was only thirty-three,

they sentenced him to death for his ‘radical teachings’.

On the night before he died,

he celebrated the sacred Passover supper with his friends.

At the supper, he gave them - and us - a way to remember him.

He gave thanks to our Creator for all the Life that had given them the food they were about to eat, and all the Love that had given them the day they had shared together. He then broke some bread into pieces, and gave each of his friends a part, telling them that just as the grain in the bread

had given them the gift of its life to nourish their bodies,

so did he give them the gift of his life to nourish their souls.

He then poured a cup of wine and passed it around his table of friends

as a ‘loving cup’, asking them each to take a sip

and share it with the next person.

He told them it was the cup of Love, and Love was the lifeblood

of the new covenant with the Creator.

Then he asked them, as he asks all of us –

to share what life has given us,

so we can nourish those who life brings to us.

At supper’s end he promised he would be with us always,

even unto the end of time.

As he had promised, on the day after he died,

Yeshua showed up in ‘the gardener’ to comfort his friend Mary

who was at his gravesite. She recognized her friend Yeshua in the gardener, by his words and actions.

A few weeks later, he showed up in ‘a stranger’ who joined

two of Yeshua’s friends as they walked to Emmaus.

They invited the stranger to join them for supper.

At the table he broke bread into pieces for them

and offered them a loving cup of wine to share.

Immediately they recognized Yeshua in the actions of the stranger,

and knew Yeshua was still with them – just as he had promised.

Since then, Yeshua has been showing up everywhere in the world,

in every action of love for one another,

and in the selfless giving of the lilies of the field,

the mustard seed, the birds and the trees, the fish and the sea,

and all the Life sharing our Creator’s creation with us.

This is my friend Yeshua, who introduced himself to me through my parents and family, through my friends and the ‘gardeners and strangers’

he has led to me, and led me to…

and through a rose, a swan, a painting, a book,

an owl, a set of six stars, and crows.

All these aspects of him and his love,

have captured my attention and then my heart,

and have increased my understanding and our friendship.

His friendship is ‘better than it gets’,

and he would like me to share a taste of how it’s been.

Please enjoy these entries from the diary we have kept for you.

A note for you…

I have come to understand that my friend Yeshua would like everyone to know him and speak with him as they would with their best and gentlest friend. To that end, please accept these diary selections - offered here as they were written – in spontaneous notes and letters to him.

In them I refer to observations, passages, and discussions that have added to my understanding, and I recorded them to the best of my memory at the time. Some might not be pinpoint accurate, but the essence that made them relevant and important is in tact and is part of the gift we would like to share with you.

Thanks so much, and enjoy!

‘Annie’ Bel

PS: As you read, please know I am daily aware of, and deeply grateful for the gift of having been born in this peaceful corner of the world as part of a generation of unprecedented privilege and promise.

When my life is ‘all said and done’, I hope that I will have been responsible to this privilege, and that I will have been part of realizing, sharing and perpetuating the promise of peace on Earth and for Earth.

PPS: If you read no further into the book than this, please read, and re-read occasionally, the introduction found on the previous pages.

Thanks so much again!

February 3, 2004

…

Yeshua, thinking of how and where to begin our book… perhaps today, with these thoughts…

In the valley of the Grandfather Spirits, near the foot of the hill where her Prince of Peace stars rise out of the east, lives the owl…

… the valley brings life and history, mystery and wonder, knowledge and understanding to the owl…

… it is here where the sun and the moon and the stars come with the comfort and constancy of old friends – always sure to bring you what you need, and always something new - fireflies that are to the night as wonder is to life… and monarch butterflies who find their own special paths to their own special place, gracing autumns with colour and courage and purpose…

… it is here where the owl waits each year for the return of her Prince of Peace stars - a constellation that warms the night skies of autumn, winter and early spring… six stars that never cease to take her breath away… six stars in the shape of a magnificent bird with outstretched wings big enough to hug our little heaven called Earth back to health and peace…

… it delights her to know that these same Prince of Peace stars were there when you, Yeshua, were born and when you loved and learned and taught and died… and they were there when Buddha understood and Mohammad was inspired… when Teddy dreamed and Harry strove… when Ali painted and Rocky encouraged… when Joe created and Daz crusaded… when all life on Earth began, and as all life on Earth continues…

… and they were there when Isaiah foretold of the time when there would be peace on Earth – ‘when nation would sit down with nation, and we would beat our swords into ploughs, and everyone would be able to sit under his or her fruit tree, and not be afraid.’

… perhaps I am like the owl… perhaps we all are in some ways…

Thank you, my friend Yeshua, for our beautiful stars… and the beginning of our book…

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February 4, 2004

… a perfectly still, winter evening… even the odd, singled-out, ‘snowflake scout’ drifts down to remind me to ‘BE PRESENT’.

Thank you my beautiful friend Yeshua, for all the love in the world.

Help us all, please, to be more present… and to help your new world to come and to serve and preserve this exquisite garden you have given us to live in.

March 12, 2004

… some further thoughts on the beginnings of our book…

Isaiah told us that a child would be born, and his name would be called Wonderful Counsellor, the Prince of Peace… and of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end…

… wondering… what does an owl living two thousand years after the lifetime of her Wonderful Counsellor, and Prince of Peace have to do with his story? … perhaps she is part of the increase of his government and peace of which there shall be no end…

This thought gave the owl purpose and peace… and this peace contributed to her understanding…

… this understanding contributed to the sanctity of the still nights - frozen crystal nights that were so warm with the love between them… nights when it seemed as if she and her Prince of Peace stars were the only ones awake in the universe… and they watched and guarded over the Earth together in communion of thought and being, as they watched each other…

March 27, 2004

Welcome back little peeper frogs – with your calling for your mates across the swale… sounding like a billion sleigh-bells!

Somehow I just realized I didn’t think I’d ever hear peepers again!

… how blessed that I can!

… Welcome home Spring, to the paradise given to our keeping… I’m always undone by your grace…

April 9, 2004

… Yeshua… remembering the night of your last supper here on Earth, when you asked us to ‘take this loving cup and pass it to everyone, so no one would ever thirst for love’….

Thank you, my beautiful friend, for this gift we can continue to share with everyone you bring to us. Help us too, please, to recognize you in everyone we meet, and in all the life around us on this and every precious day.

May 14, 2004

What an amazing morning! Filled with life! And everyone’s talking all at once - the jays, the robins, sparrows, cardinals, frogs, peepers, canaries, geese, redwings, crows and all - like a grand party of good old friends who haven’t seen each other for a long time! Glorious!

Thank you for the family of all life that so richly represents all the beautiful aspects of you.

June 12, 2004

Mum… it’s your ‘coming home day’…

… the first white rose opened wide today on the rosebush just off the deck… reminding me of how Dad always picked the first rose of summer for you…

Thank you for all the gifts you left with us to have and to hold and to keep finding every day - the love of music and of colour and of life… the understanding of tears and temptations… the happiness in helping others… and for always seeing things in a positive way…

Thank you too for rocking us in your little rocking chair and singing the ‘Maple Leaf Forever’ to us… and reading Peter Rabbit over and over to us…

Thank you and Dad for all the good in the people we’ve turned out to be…

‘Heaven won the toss and you came home’ – nineteen years ago - and we can truly understand why God wanted you to be so close…

June 25, 2004

Seize the day!

Yeshua! What a day to seize! Thank you for all the love in the world and the tuneful finch, oats, onions and roses! … and the oriel’s too-too, too…too. I love you so!!!

Please help us Yeshua, to help you in any and every way we can, to love-back-to-health - with respect and awe - all of your creation.

August 19, 2004

… every wind makes a tree grow its roots a little farther and deeper so it is stronger and steadier in the next wind… just like the winds of life do for us….

August 23, 2004 - off to Kenya

… ‘Sohail’ - a star Arabs used for navigating while en route to Africa – and the name of the brilliant, thoughtful young man I met in the check-in line at the airport… … we connected immediately…

… off we went determined before the flight was over, to find the key to unlocking and exposing the higher humanity within us all…

… he offered an analogy for the challenge… that it’s like the Earth… because the Earth is round, we can only see so far on the horizon from where we stand – just like in life… and because we can’t see what everyone sees, perhaps we all need to go higher in order to see a much bigger picture…

… perhaps, for example, if the three religions of the Middle East – Judaism, Islam and Christianity - who seem to be causing so many of the world’s problems on the ground, would take a look from a higher perspective, we would see we all share the same Golden Rule, the same lineage, and the same prophecy about a coming time when nation would sit down with nation to forge peace without fear…

… we would also see that for this ‘common prophesy of peace on Earth’ to come about, all three religions are waiting for someone to make it happen - Moslems are waiting for the coming of the Mahdi, Jews are waiting for the coming of the Messiah and Christians are waiting for the second coming of the Messiah… perhaps from a higher perspective, we might just find this person is one and the same person - and who knows, maybe our loving, patient Creator is waiting for each of us to be that person!…

Thank you, Yeshua, for introducing me to Sohail - this beautiful ‘gardener and stranger’ of yours to start off our big adventure with many great insights to think about…

August 24, 2004

… arriving in Nairobi… thinking about what our young friend Kenyan friend Kenuth said in our meeting just before I left… that what the British did wrong when they came to his country was they ‘gave us their gifts, but did not receive ours, and you cannot have a relationship if you don’t receive each others gifts.’

… thinking… how beautiful and different this night in Nairobi would have been if we, as settlers, had never come here in the first place, or at least if we had come in humility, with the desire to listen, respect and integrate the gifts of the native Kenyans with ours…

… Yeshua, how do we recognize and receive their gifts now and going forward?

… what can we set up in order to understand and accept the gifts these beautiful people have to share with us - their understanding of the importance of community… their respect for the garden that feeds us… their inner peace that resides in a place of innocence and higher wisdom… their generosity and genuine happiness? What can we include in our encounters with one another to allow us to understand and share each other’s gifts equally?

In the Maasai Mara…

A day too meaningful for words! The Maasai children and the Maasai community welcome… their colourful clothing… dancing with them… being ‘beaded’ by them…

Yeshua, I am more in love with you in all your wonderful ‘gardeners and strangers’ every day!!!

Asante Sana!

I held you today.

I held your hand –

Hand after hand.

Your little hands.

Your Mother-hands…

Your Father-hands.

And you, in my arms.

Help me please, Yeshua, to know how to love you as much as you need me to love you, and to help you as much as you need me to help you.

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… this evening… moonlight and crickets and tears of overwhelm at the gifts - songs from the treetops, smiles by the billions, rituals, dancing, clapping, celebrating… elephants, zebra, giraffes, plains, mountains - grace upon grace, and love upon love – all aspects of you…

Asante-sana! Oh asante-sana, my beautiful Prince of Peace!

Orkitok O’Duug Ilomon Supati - Prince of Peace in Maasai

Leader who brings the word of peace.

Sunday

… listening to the wisdoms of our Maasai guide, Robert… in our culture, everyone shares. You always visit your parents everyday and bring something. If you are on your way to work and you see someone working in the garden, you take off your jacket and help a while, then put your jacket back on and go on your way. We must stay aware… that’s what matters. We watch the milk bottles at our grandmother’s door. If they are not taken in, we check up on her right away.

We need to teach the value of a giraffe… of all wildlife. I’m encouraged by the fact children are now being taught about animals and their importance to all life.

When will we grow up? When will we get unhooked and take responsibility for ourselves and others. We need to recognize our addiction to material things, admit it, and ask for help. There will be withdrawal pains, but it will be worth it. Maybe a catastrophe has to happen… I hope not.

Yeshua, thank you for your message and Robert, your beautiful Maasai messenger…

Thoughts…

… the Maasai people so lovingly stretched out their hands to take ours, and to show us their homes, and teach us their dance and extend the pride of their community. What a gift to us!!!

… how hopeful to know humans can be happy with so little in so little space - in ingenious homes built in harmony with Nature…

There you were, my Yeshua, in all the beautiful people, and in our Prince of Peace stars on our last night on the Mara. Thank you for the Maasai warrior who escorted me into the yard just far enough out to see our stars peeking through the clouds at us. Karibu and Asante Sana, my orkitok o’duug Ilomon supati, my Prince of Peace, my leader who brings the word of Peace.

Thank you always for all the love in the world.

September 3, 2004 – back home

Hello my beautiful September, welcome back!

5:30am… Yeshua, our stars looked so beautiful this morning, chasing the moon into the fading night sky… heralding the coming of a new day… over the moon-mist, over the valley of the Grandfather Spirits… a whooty owl - our owl - calling to her Prince of Peace stars in the still morning… dew-drops on the field grasses bringing the stars to Earth through the light of the moon… breathtaking joy!!!

September 5, 2004

… thinking, imagining one of our World Council round tables to which the trees, water, fish, animals, sky, rock, and air were invited to share their knowledge and wisdom with the humans. They had no problem addressing