Echoes

It’s an unfolding, and evolving process. I read, then reflect, then see what comes up at night or the next morning. Somehow I feel a bit lighter and closer to something I’ve forgotten.

It’s not like a revelation, it’s more of an emerging memory, reminding me of myself when I’m my better self. I never feel like I’ve only read something, I feel like I’m remembering and becoming more of who I’ve always been.

Not sure what it is, but it is.

I have been practicing silence. What I have found in my silence is the love I need to give myself for the time to practice. I have gotten better by starting with a short read of I Am Becoming (The Companion). I randomly select one reflection that resonates with my moment, or one that has resonated with me over time. What I have come to know is that these reflections are keys to help me become a better me.

I release the reflection into my silence and it helps me take a deep dive into what I can’t focus on when things are loud around me.

I lost my mother in February. I wasn’t prepared for the weight of it — not the grief itself, but the way it lived in my body. A friend gave me this book and I’ve been reading one meditation each morning. Some days I just hold it. Some days I underline everything. Meditation 42 broke me open in the best way. “You don’t have to carry this perfectly.” I didn’t know I needed permission to grieve imperfectly. Thank you for writing something that doesn’t try to fix me.

I have struggled for quite some time with the anger associated with the death of our son. I was — or to a smaller degree am still — angry at the devastating impact on my wife and daughter from the choices made by our son. Although he was my stepson I committed to be his “Stepfather” and opened up my heart and soul to him. No matter how frustrated I would get because of his actions I still supported him as my own. My wife certainly took the burden and brunt of his actions.

I was reading The Gift of This Day Book 2 and came across Meditation 19, “When anger rises.” It spoke to this eight-year struggle that has softened yet not disappeared, and gave me permission to accept my anger — that I am human and can have feelings of anger and disappointment without shame. Thank you for this release.

I am truly grateful for the open structure and the thoughtful design of the journal pages, which allow for a meaningful and reflective writing experience. Meditation for the Grieving Heart has been a valuable resource in helping me to better understand and embrace the natural transitions of loved ones — a journey that each of us will inevitably face at some point in life. Even if you are not currently experiencing grief, this book offers profound insights that can support and guide others who may need compassionate assistance during such times.

The Gift of This Day is one of the greatest literary tools that I’ve read in the past twenty years. Don’t miss your gift and enjoy it all.

Some people write books. Some people write words that change lives. For me, Spike Humer has done both.

I still remember the first time I stumbled across one of his posts on social media. I don’t even remember what it was about. I just remember thinking, “Wow… this man makes me think.”

At that time, I was going through one of the biggest paradigm shifts of my life. I had walked away from the religion I had been born and raised in. Everything I thought I knew was changing, and honestly… I was floundering. I was searching for solid ground.

Spike never told me what to believe. He simply shared thoughts that invited me to look inward. His words sparked conversations with myself that I didn’t even know I needed to have. They challenged me, comforted me, and reminded me that it was okay to ask questions.

Then he published The Gift of This Day. I couldn’t wait to read it. Day after day, his meditations continued to encourage me and gently stretch my thinking.

But it was another book that found an even deeper place in my heart.

When our son died, the world as I knew it changed in the blink of an eye. Grief has a way of changing everything… I was grieving my son but I was also grieving the life I thought I was supposed to have.

Spike understood that.

He never tried to fix grief. He never wrapped it up with easy answers or clichés. He simply acknowledged it. He validated feelings that couldn’t be fixed. Sometimes that’s the greatest gift anyone can give another human being.

His book of meditations on grief has become one I return to over and over again. Even now.

Spike is one of the most humble people I’ve ever known. I honestly don’t think he realizes how many lives he has touched simply by sharing what is in his heart.

I hope he knows what his words have meant to me.

Thank you, my friend, for showing up day after day with honesty, kindness, wisdom, and compassion. Your books have been more than books to me. They’ve been companions on my journey.

And that is a gift I will never forget.

Grief comes in many forms. It’s always painful and lonely on some level. Having a way to channel my thoughts has been a godsend. Thank you for the gift of this book.