I had the most beautiful experience recently. I was shown a photograph of my father… my father as a three-year-old child. I had never seen this photo before; the only other photos I had seen of him were my parents’ wedding photos, and photos taken of him later in life, and as I was about to find out, this particular photo was to have a profound effect on me.
I was, to put it mildly, totally blown away by the sheer beauty, innocence and light of this very young child photographed with his mother – my grandmother – and his three siblings. It was obvious to me who had been the light in the family and the gift of this photo was that I saw my father from a totally different perspective. I felt a deep love and understanding of him that was not possible prior to seeing him in his essence. What a true gift of healing this was for me, and therefore for my father also.
It didn’t take away from the violence or abuse I experienced at his hands, most of which I had come to terms with over the years, but it allowed me to tie up the loose ends – things without names that were still lurking in the recesses of my mind that had up until now stopped the complete letting go of all that I had held against my father.
I had never really connected so deeply with my father as a person as I did while looking at that photo. I had only really known him as a man in his 30’s onwards, and then only as my dad, a man who at times was not very kind or loving. I had heard stories of him as a youngster and the pranks he got up to: quite a mischievous lad growing up in the 1920’s and 1930’s in suburban Melbourne during the Depression and between the two Great Wars, which as we know was a time of severe financial deprivation and hardship. He loved his mother dearly – a good woman by all accounts but his father was very violent and abusive and home life was indeed fraught. Looking at the photo I could see the beautiful delicate young boy and was able to feel how difficult it must have been for him growing up amongst such turmoil and violence.
It may seem crazy that just one photo could change my understanding so profoundly but I can only say the connection to the child – my father – was deeply heartfelt and the understanding of him as a being, in his own right, continued over days as I was given glimpses into who he truly was, and all that had occurred to set him up to be the angry abusive father I knew, while at the same time I became aware of the absolute truth of who he was, and is, and the beauty held within him.
I am truly blown away by the fact that we are given such incredible gifts. I would never had believed it possible that I could feel such tenderness for my now 94-year-old father, nor could I have guessed that something as simple as a photograph of him as a young child could bring such blessings to us both.
I have no words to express how deep is my appreciation for this healing as it has allowed me to hold my father in love, and given me a deep understanding of who he is and always was, in a space where he actually is no longer only my father but an equal son of God.
By Anonymous, NSW
Further Reading:
Our Diamond Within
There is no Right and Wrong in God
Bringing up boys to be glorious men!
41 Comments
Understanding that we will never understand what is hidden from us as we have no comprehension of what has been another’s past experiences and thus many underlying conditions from many lives that have set us up to not have a handle on how life really works and thus from that dark place we wait for the light of those who have chosen to live a life full of love to share a different way of living as you have anon.
This is an amazing article. Profound and inspiring. How many of us are pulled away from our true, sweet, loving, tender essences as children, at home, in school, in life generally? We have got to hate this set up. And therefore re-learn to live and love our own and each others’ true, sweet, loving, tender essences.
I agree with you Matilda, When we are brought up in a house of abuse and violence our sweet nature and sensitivity can be crushed so that tenderness we are born with never gets to blossom into adulthood, and so we should hate it, hate this obscene way of life and the harm we do to each other, so much that we actually can say enough is enough there has to be a different way to live.
How different life becomes when we are open to feeling the Love ? we all come from as it takes us away from the illusion that it is all about us and once we feel the equality we all share life becomes much more understandable.
I have recently had a similar experience where I was sent some family photos and there were photos of my father when he was young looking at the camera full of confidence and there was a sweetness about him. This was not my experience of him as an adult and me a child which confirms to me that our current way of living sucks all the sweetness and delicacy from us so that we are left in the emptiness of not knowing who we are. In our emptiness another energy enters one which is abusive and unpleasant which is used to deliberately attack a child’s beauty and innocence so that no one gets to truly feel what it is like to be a child of God this is cut down at an early age so that there is no reflection of God to remind us all where we come from.
This has been very beautiful to read and is evidence of the forces that can hit any of us as we make our way through life. The essence of each of us is always there and to have it known, acknowledged and nurtured through another’s ‘Holding way’ is a blessing and this is something you are now offering your dad. Thank you so much for sharing.
Christine to finally have the realisation that there are forces that come through us if we are not fully present in our bodies We can say we are not evil but the force or energy we allow through our bodies because we have checked out of life is evil. Those forces crush us as children and then as adults we then repeat the same pattern by crushing our children. We have to break the cycle so that children can grow into adults with their sensitivity in tact. It’s no coincidence that we ridicule sensitivity when actually it is our greatest asset.
The difference between offering love or abuse is just our ability to deal with and heal our hurts. Underneath this muck each and every one of us is a shining pearl and so sweet. Therefore the art of healing ought to be our no 1 study before stock markets or sums.
Joseph I totally agree with you when you say
“Therefore the art of healing ought to be our no 1 study before stock markets or sums.”
There are so many people that I am blessed to know that if we had these people as parents life would be completely different. Which proves beyond any doubt that there is a way to live in harmony with ourselves and each other that is completely non abusive and this is the model of life going forward so that everyone will in years to come live this way.
Connecting to the light of the inner child is to know the light and love of their essence.
What a beautiful revelation to have had. I have seen many photos of my parents when they were young and their innocence, beauty and sensitivity jumps out of their pictures. To see how life can bend and transform us from the innate sweetness, openness and lightness we all so naturally hold, to hardness, protection, withdrawal, sometimes aggression and given-up-ness paints a stark picture in itself. When we see, hold and know the essence of someone behind their chosen behaviours and we see hold and know our own essence, the hurts of life become easier to deal with.
This makes sense Shirley-Anne because when I worked in the aged care sector often I would get a feel for the client through their photos and this would bring a level of understanding as to who they were prior to getting old.
One day we’ll all see everybody as who they truly are rather than who they’re actually not. But that can only happen as a result of knowing ourselves to be who we truly are first. We look out at the world through our view of ourselves.
There is such healing to be had if we can heal our childhood hurts that we carry with us. It can and does have the power to completely change our lives. I have been able to clear so many childhood imprints by attending Universal Medicine level 2 workshops where we work on the energy of childhood imprints. Many of us in some way or another have been affected by the impositions of our current way of life. To free ourselves of such burdens is life changing in the most positive way.
I recently went through old photos of my mum and dad with them and it does give you a completely different perspective of them as a person and also there life and more of an appreciation of their life, who they are and of course we also get to see from when they were young to now the choices they have made along the way and whether they have been supportive for them or unsupportive or I guess could say choices of regard for themselves and others or choices of disregard for themselves and others just as I have also made. I also love those moments when we are held in stillness to receive a download or feel something more of either a moment or person as you did here when you held the photo of your father. Very beautifull.
Beautiful Vicky – it’s amazing how we can tend to build stories in our head to rationalise pain we’ve experienced. In a way it’s even more confronting to realise, how much we have been stuck in hurts of our own creation.
The joy that must be in your whole being, having this experience before your 94 year old dad passes away. What a blessing to receive for you, and thank you for your blog.
When we look at a child, we can see the essence of a being in its pure state. This reminds ourself and the connection is immediate. We don’t have to do anything to have that melting feeling that confirms the unity we come from.
Thank you, how deeply touching. I saw a photo of a family member who was also quite abusive and violent, it was at around the age of 40, in the photo he looked absolutely tormented and I realised that the very sensitive being underneath the abusive behaviour was deeply traumatised. It gave me insight and understanding into what may have happened to lead someone to completely leave the delicate and sweet essence we are all born with, and to behave in a way that was so contra to who we are. This person was obviously deeply confused and disturbed within themselves. We don’t have to ever accept abuse but in the understanding there is an opportunity for healing and loving the person in their essence, even if they are not able to live connected to their true inner self.
Hi Melinda, the key to the whole event is seeing the essence of the person before they became traumatized and hence tormented. To have the understanding and awareness of this fact is golden as love changes the way we view a person, especially if we have experienced abuse by them.
Yes Mary we are receivers of energy and the energy we align to will determine the quality of how we live. Being able to see the essence of someone can be very healing because we desperately want to be met and seen for the absolute divinity we are and belong to. Our spirit does not want to be exposed it wants to control us from behind the scenes. What is currently taking place is the exposure of everything that has been hidden from us so that we are not shackled to a way of life that is the complete opposite to how we are meant to be.
We live in a world that has totally tripped itself up in only seeing the what is not true and being almost totally oblivious to the what is true.
How I can relate to this blog, Anonymous! I had a very similar experience a few months ago when looking at a photo of my mother. Although she was in her early 20’s and despite all that she must have already encountered from the forces that were trying to dim her light, her true essence shone through and I was suddenly embraced by her light – a light that was beautifully bright and filled with such joy. It was like in that one moment all the walls I had built to shield myself from a childhood filled with the pain she inflicted suddenly crumbled and I could see and feel her for who she truly is. The healing in that moment was majestic and felt throughout my entire body. I saw my mother again a month after this healing took place – I hadn’t seen her for 4 years – and I was able to greet her in that new connection having surrendered every layer that had prevented me from truly connecting to her in the past. It was the first time in 17 years that my mother and her six children were all together again and I could feel how the healing I experienced the previous month was like a ripple that offered up healing not just for my mother and me, but for my siblings as well. The strain and tension that was a usual part of reunions such as this had eased a bit and I can feel how doors that had long been shut are now tentatively stood ajar for the first time in 25 years. When we are open and willing to lay down our armour, the potential of a single photograph can be profoundly healing indeed.
Amazing BE, thank you for sharing. The opportunity to heal from getting an insight into the true person from a photo or other means is very precious. We live in a world that fosters our separation from our true essence, to the point that we may not really know ourselves or those we live with. Just before my Mum passed away I got to meet her in her essence, it was an incredible experience, and it’s helped me let go of the many traumatic experiences we had together and embrace her as more than my Mum, as I could feel her as an equal Son of God, as a soul of great power belonging to the order and grace of God and the Universe – so much more than my Mum and her struggles in life. We are so truly blessed to have these experiences.
How beautifull ✨❤️ Appreciating how open you were for this healing and of course as you share the ripple affect it had for your whole family.
What a blessing for the relationship you have with your father, something to deeply appreciate yourself for as you were open to receive the truth of who we all truly are (from).
When we connect to a person’s essence all that stuff that isn’t truly them at their core is more understood.
And when someone sees the pure essence in us (as Serge Benhayon does) then it really helps us to shed all the appendages that are not us, it is perhaps the most powerful way to bring about true change in another, stand back and recognise the same God in everybody as is in us all.
Childhood photos remind us that we are all born equal and with the same essence and light, no matter when and where. It is after we start either responding or reacting to the world around us that we become individuals who continue to live from love or bury our light, to varying degrees.
I was brought up to believe we are born, we work, we die that’s it. I had no concept of the fact that we have an essence and this essence is our true connection with God it lives within us and is pure and it is untouchable. Unpicking all the reasons why we bury this precious part of ourselves is so worth the time and effort as when we reconnect back to our true essence it feels amazing and the next feeling is this is only scratching the surface of what is possible now the connect has been made. We find that we are so much more than we ever knew ourselves to be.
Reading this what came to me was how someone with obviously such light could later be abusive and the responsibility we all have in raising our community so they can be the light they truly are.
“t may seem crazy that just one photo could change my understanding so profoundly but I can only say the connection to the child – my father – was deeply heartfelt and the understanding of him as a being, in his own right” It just shows how instantaneous healing can be – if we surrender and allow it.
And it also goes to show that understanding can bring deep and instant healing, we don’t need to lie on a psychiatrists couch for years whilst we rehash past events over and over again. Understand, heal, done, no need to go there again.
Thankyou for sharing Anonymous. What a beautiful gift of healing to receive – and before he passes over too.
Photographs are time capsules of frozen moments, slices of life that never die. The windows of past life, that today can feel foreign, but the energy of that moment can still be felt. The past is full of gems of where we have come from and can point to where we are going and how far we have travelled.
I appreciate this blog because I have also discovered the power of healing that is possible by looking at an old photograph. In my instance it was when I looked at a photo of myself – about 2 years of age and saw the light that I was before I lost it.
Gayle I too was given a photo of me as a child with 2 of my siblings, I’m sitting with them holding someone’s pocket watch, I’m engrossed with it but the light that I am was shining bright and so it is no wonder that this light that we all carry within us all was not welcome in my family who were not choosing to live the light that we are. We are given free will to express this light or not and most of us grow up unaware that it is there at all because we have buried the light as children deep within us. Reconnecting back to the light is the most exquisite feeling of returning to something so familiar you wonder why you left it in the first place.
Mary it is so familiar, it is familiar to us all and yet has become alien to most of us, whilst what has become familiar is a completely unnatural way of being. We’ve quite literally turned things on it’s head and become so used to it that we have no idea that that’s what we’ve done.
Exactly Alexis we are so used to the mud and all we see is the mud, so that it takes someone who is living free of the mud to question why we are living in it? We have become so familiar with the grotesqueness of life we have forgotten that there is another way to be.
Getting older can be the same as when we were young. We have a freedom that allows us to in-joy life. Sadly, so many will be worn out from the choices we have made. But, there is always the opportunity to rekindle the spark within us that has never left.
I too have had a similar healing experience looking at myself as a 3 year old. Such innocence and light was present for me to receive, and so easily lost as I ventured into life more in my family, completely leaving behind the true essence of my being, that is only slowly come back to me now in my seventies.