I made mention in my last article about beginning a discussion on special abilities and powers that are now being manifested in the lives of our Children of the New Earth. It is timely for us to look at this issue, because humankind is now on the verge of a worldwide awakening to the presence of these kids, which will be greatly energized by the display of the gifts they bring to help us through these difficult years that lie ahead for Planet Earth.

I took the title from a 1992 Steve Martin movie called Leap of Faith which, in my opinion, is one of the best movies he's ever made. Not only does it highlight his comedic style, but it carries a huge inspirational message with it. The story plot revolves around a phony faith healer, named Jonas Nightingale who, along with his trusty sidekick Jane (played by Debra Winger), makes an unplanned stop in a small rural town in Kansas. While waiting for a broken axle to be fixed on one of their trucks, Jonas and Company decide to set up their tents and choirs to give the people of this town a taste of "The Lord." The phrase "Signs and Wonders" is painted all over their buses and trucks, along with promises of healing, renewed prosperity, and city-wide revival of faith in God.

The irony of this movie rests in a relationship that grows between the Rev. Jonas and a young local boy, whose name is Boyd (played beautifully by Lukas Haas). Boyd is a young man in pain, and he spends a good deal of the movie hobbling about on crutches, which came as a result of a freak car accident earlier in his life. Boyd's pretty sister, who catches the Reverend's wandering eye, is quite cynical about the whole business. Apparently, her brother has been to many faith healers, trying to find the right energy to help him walk again.

The story plot is a study of what happens when we mix charlatanism, skepticism, acute human need, show-biz special effects, and child-like faith all in the same bowl—dust bowl, that is--right in the middle of a drought-stricken Midwestern town. This town could be any one of a number of towns in the U.S. today, suffering from unemployment, failed businesses, and crops that cannot be harvested, due to inclement weather.

Steve Martin's character beautifully showcases the familiar attributes of any number of unscrupulous religionists who prey upon the hopes and fears (and toxic shame) of people who have grown up under "fire and brimstone" preaching. His gift (and his game) is turning old time fear and guilt into new world hope and expectancy. Then he goes for the money. Whether Jonas is willing to admit it or not, he actually does have a genuine healing gift, and a real time connection to God, though his greed and his cynicism keep him from seeing it. It is not until Jonas meets Boyd, who honestly looks up to him as the man of power he claims to be, that the whole story plot begins to heat up.

It brings to mind that scene in the third Star Wars movie when a fallen Luke Skywalker looks up at his evil father (Darth Vader) and says: "I feel the good in you." It is such a powerful moment; a Star Child Prototype using his ability to look beyond his father's failures, his facade, and his abuse of power, and to catch sight of the magical child who still exists at his core. Powerful stuff, indeed! And, in Leap of Faith, when Boyd publicly, at a healing service, reaches out to Rev. Jonas (and to God) to help him walk again, the resulting miracle not only uplifts the town, it also has a life-altering effect on the preacher, himself.

"I See the Good in You"
I suppose the first and greatest gift that young people will bring us during these trying times on Earth is a sincere statement of faith--not just in the power of a God, or the consensus of some religion--but in our own innate spiritual power, and our connection to everything and everyone. Boyd's fervent belief in the healing power in Jonas was clearly rewarded, as all fervent beliefs will be. What we think about comes about! What we believe we surely receive.

The jaded, oft disappointed, hardened mindset of socialized "adults" in today's society seriously needs a dose of child-like vision and simple belief. We've spent so many years trusting in someone or something else to save us! Politics, Religion, and Technology. That is the Old Paradigm--Separation, Sin, and Salvation. The New Paradigm is about believing in our Divine Core Self, as well as the Core of our Planet, as united with all people and things...everywhere. We are the creators of our reality, real-life facets of God/Goddess/All That Is. There is no separation. There never was. It's all been a Game, and that Old Game is passing away, making way for a New One.

The Indigos come to question authority, and that's good. However, in that questioning, many of them are also gently affirming that they, too, can "see the good in us." This has a tremendously rejuvenating effect. Respect begets respect--even if it is a respect that is borne of possibility thinking and intuitive insight.

Yes, many adults are hardened and set in our ways. Those of us who have power (and responsibility) over others are often stressed to the max, trying to make ends meet in this wild and crazy world. We try to be open to new things, but addictions to past experience and response patterns sometimes get in our way. Like Darth Vader, we need love to help us awaken. And we need admiration--not just for what we are, but also for what we could be. If you wish to understand what goes on inside many of us, go check out the 1980s video of The Big Chill. We started out as idealists and humanitarians, many of us, and we then got hooked on security and creature comforts along the way. We aren't dead, by any means, but we could use a jump-start to get the energy moving in us again. A child or young person's love can go a long ways toward helping to bring that about.

Spiritual Gifts and Abilities
In one of their transmissions last year, the Reconnections had this to say about the topic of Spiritual Gifts:

"The transformation continues. And you are each learning, in detail, about those particular "gifts" you bring, which perfectly portray your own expanding nature and are most useful for the Planetary Unfoldment as it expresses itself within your immediate vicinity. Indeed, you are ALL OF IT, in a macrocosmic sense. Never forget this wonderful, grounding fact. But locally, at the experiential level, you each embody something very unique and powerful.

Spiritual Gifts are useful, kind of like "super powers," helping Star Kids (and upgraded adults) do the work of reconnecting humanity to Universal Source. They also bring validation and authority--bearing witness to a child's sacred purpose in society at this crucial time. Remember Jesus, in the water with John the Baptist, at the beginning of his ministry? A dove came down, and hovered over him, and a Voice from Heaven spoke these words: "This is My own beloved Son, in whom I am most pleased. Hear Him." In many ways, this is what "Signs and Wonders" will do for our awakening New Kids as "The Quickening" moves forward on Planet Earth.

An Overview of a Few Gifts
I'm going to refrain from saying much about "psychic knowing" in this column, because so many are covering that topic in this publication already. We'll let it suffice to say that the gifts of "E.S.P., Precognition, and Spiritual Discernment" are beginning to abound in Generations X, Y, and Z. As early as age three, Star Kids are speaking openly and frankly about things past and future, dumbfounding their parents and grandparents with what they know, as well as what they understand about life.

Another gift, akin to the gift of psychic knowing is our New Kids' expanding faculty of Telepathy. I was speaking on the phone one night with a friend in Los Angeles. She is an actress, and frequently goes out with others to discuss the newest trends in the “the business,” as well as other powerful topics. She was telling me a story about our tiny Star Children that I must pass on.

A waiter in her favorite restaurant in West Los Angeles could not avoid overhearing the conversation being spoken at her table one day. He stopped by and said to her group: “I’m sorry to interrupt, but I simply must be part of this conversation.” She and her friends were speaking about Spirit, and especially about the Children of the New Earth.

The waiter told them: “These New Kids are so amazing to me! I’ve never been particularly psychic, but I am regularly having children come in here, between the ages of two and six years old, who telepathically give me their orders for lunch.” He says he can actually hear their voices, speaking to him in his mind. Apparently, this waiter gets specific detailed orders for food transmitted directly from the little horse’s mouths! Clearly, the power belongs solely to the kids. In all other parts of his life, he claims, there are no telepathic incidents.

In essence, the Gift of Telepathy is the ability to send and receive people's thoughts without the use of a telephone or other communications device. Its close kin, the Gift of Telempathy, is the ability to send and receive emotions. The Reconnections often emphasize that there will come a time in Earth's History when the elaborate workings of our Physical Internet will be disrupted, due to natural disaster, war, or other disturbances. It will be at those times when humanity will discover the greater workings of this neural INNER NET that is being formed and developed within each of us even as we speak. It's how many of our kids are "Working the Grid" to assist as we give birth to our New Earth.

These gifts fall into the category of Operations of Spirit in the list above. They are baubles, flashy jewels that tend to catch people's attention. Remember how Grace put her hands on that old man in the movie Indigo? Her touch brought him back from his Land of Dreams, where Alzheimer's disease held his spirit captive. I teared up when I saw that in the movie. Even though it wasn't expounded upon much, and it represents only the tip of the iceberg, I still got tears in my eyes. The young and the very old, what music they make as they dance the dance of awakening!

Next month I'll be talking more about Orientations of Spirit (motivations) that operate underneath these gifts. We'll explore the inner forces that form and energize our own life motivations as we go through each day. There will come a time when Spiritual Orientations (Gifts and Abilities) will become a powerful framework to organize and administrate a New Society as we expand and develop beyond the year 2012.

And so it goes. I do appreciate the e-mails you send, telling me about your own experiences with these wonderful New Kids. I also appreciate the candor of Star Seed Adults, who share what it's like to be energetically upgraded and fitted for service during these transformative times. Stay in touch... with me and with each other. We've only just begun to see the Signs and Wonders that this New Life will bring.