Category Archives: Spiritual articles

Self-sufficiency + Independence = Impossible

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In the U.s. today, many communities have Earth Day celebrations. They focus on living in harmony with nature, cooperation, environmental responsibility, and the general idea that we are one with this planet. Which means, whether we like it or not, we’re also one with all the others, including people!, who live here too!

So I ask you: If this is true, how can we also push for self-sufficiency and independence?

Answer? We can’t! There is no such thing as self-sufficiency as we understand it. And there is no such thing as independence.

Even if you are self-sufficient, growing your own food, raising your own animals, spinning yarn, dying it, and weaving it into cloth… Even if you live in an intentional community, even if you’re a monk in a spiritual community. You are not self-sufficient.

No matter how much you appear to do for yourself, something else is always living out its purpose. And that helps you live out your own.

Spiritual communities like convents, monasteries, and ashrams exist because there are also “other worlds”. That is, some people realize that what exists doesn’t serve them, so they create other structures and communities. However, if they hadn’t experienced the contrast of the secular world, their outward, spiritually-oriented society would not exist. It wouldn’t need to. Without contrast, the desire for such a world wouldn’t have been born.

Yet, as cloistered as some communities are, and as isolated as many more people are within themselves, there is still no such thing as independence!

Everyone is interdependent. On a physical level, you have a house because you own it. You either have or had a mortgage, and the only reason you had that is because of the bank that “gave” it to you.

Or, you have a rented house. It’s yours to live in because you pay someone rent. Or you live with someone else. In any case, if you have a house, it’s your house. Yet yours is not the only ego involved here! Someone built your house. Had it not been for the builders, there would be no house.

Whatever exists in your life, comes from somewhere. That “somewhere” is God, Spirit, Source, The Universe, Life itself. In its infinite wisdom and joy, this Energy sees fit to use circumstances, other people, thoughts, feelings, and tangible and intangible things, to manifest your desire.

So whatever you have, is from, and because of, God. That’s why in metaphysics we sometimes call God “First Cause.” Our own thoughts are cause too. They create things with the same creation process as God does. But even behind our thoughts, is the First Cause, the ultimate reality, that is God.

So, the “bad” news is, no matter how self-sufficient you think you are, you will never, ever get there!

And the good news is, no matter how alone you feel, you are never, ever alone!

Source is with you always. God is there, even if you deny it. And no matter what you experience in life, you are never independent. There is always someone, or something working to fulfill your desires. It may be unconscious work on their part, and yours! But it’s God’s universal work–work meaning action. Through the universal, good action of God-Mind, your desires are fulfilled.

The means of fulfillment, the “how”, often comes through other people, events, circumstances, a piece of paper here or there, or a process of some kind.

So you cannot be independent or self-sufficient on this beautiful Earth Day, or on any day!

But what you can be, is gratefully interdependent on your Source, God-Power, and all the other creations (children of God-Light) who live here!

Embrace wholeness as your true nature. Embrace your connection to Earth and all things. Honor your connection to other beings, not just Earth, on this day we set aside to celebrate the divine harmony and order of God-Nature itself.

Affirmative Prayer Class Week 1

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This is a long post with a lot of information. You may want to save it, along with the linked outline, for later reference.

Right click this link and choose “Save target as…” or similar to download the post in its entirety, in .doc format. Feel free to contact me for other formats.
Affirmative Prayer Week 1 Notes

Crisis Prayer

To begin, we read this
Crisis Prayer
from Centers for Spiritual Living, another New Thought Metaphysical organization. I ask that you read the prayer and allow it to calm and comfort you as needed.

This prayer was written in response to the acts that took place in Boston and elsewhere earlier this week. As people who study and live metaphysical principles, we can choose not to become caught up in traditional responses to violence. However, we often need to respond in some way. Here, you can experience affirmative prayer as universal, calming and opening. You can also glimpse the best attitude of prayer – one of peace, love and understanding, even though we still don’t condone the acts that have been committed.

Your Personal Background

I asked class participants these questions. Think about your own answers, or even write them down. This is just a starting place to understand your feelings about prayer and any experience you’ve already had with affirmative prayer.

1. How do you feel about prayer in general? I.e. is prayer for the weak? A last resort? A routine in your day?

Do you pray regularly? Do you think you “should” pray, but still don’t do so? Has it seemed like a waste of time for you?

Do you believe that prayer can be a valuable spiritual practice? If not, will you suspend your disbelief? 🙂

2. How familiar are you with affirmative prayer? Have you learned one of the many step-by-step methods that are often a great place to begin?

Do you attend metaphysical meetings where prayer is used? I use prayer in my talks, meetings and services/celebrations. However, our particular Unity doesn’t stress prayer. We have a prayer box and a prayer team. But to my knowledge, no one ever instructed the prayer team in affirmative prayer. Thus this class…

Think about your current understanding of affirmative prayer. Do you understand it at all?

Class Outline

You can download the entire outline in .doc format here. Right click the link and choose “Save target as…” or similar to save it to your computer.
Affirmative Prayer Class Outline If you prefer another format, email me and I’ll make sure it’s accessible for you to read and use.

The sections of the outline we covered are reproduced below, with notes beginning with *. These notes are transcribed from our live class discussions.

I. Other Names for Affirmative Prayer

* These are words you may find in books or other metaphysical settings to describe the method of prayer many of us use.

A. Positive prayer (so named for its positive statements/affirmations)

B. Scientific prayer (often used with step-by-step guidelines for prayer)

C. Effective prayer (more mainstream books use this term)

* Rightly done – that is, with the right attitude, this is the most effective form of prayer.

D. Spiritual Science prayer (used in general metaphysics; I use this term myself sometimes)

E. Spiritual Mind Treatment (often used in Religious Science/Science of Mind)

* What are we treating?

1. Personal consciousness

* There is universal consciousness (God, cosmic Mind, God-Mind, etc). We are all part of this consciousness. At the same time, this consciousness is individualized in, and as, each of us. It’s this personal aspect of universal consciousness that we treat in prayer.

2. Personal mind/ego

* We treat any sense of personal identity we’ve created. You are not your job, your children, your income… In treatment we make this real to ourselves, bringing our awareness back to our true identity. This ultimate reality is Spirit, Source, God, the Universe – and in treating the personal ego, we expand further into Truth.

3. Perception

* Treatment improves the way we see, sense, feel and perceive things. With improved perception come improved feelings. Suddenly, things don’t bother us as much, people aren’t as annoying, and all because we have a new perception after treatment.

Another aspect of perception is size. We seem to have agreed, as a human mass, that some things are bigger than others. Financial problems are bigger than paper cuts. Car accidents are bigger than forgetting your lunch. Manifesting 10 million dollars is bigger than getting a good parking space.

None of this is true! Looked at from the framework of ultimate reality/oneness, nothing is bigger than anything else. There is no big. There is no small. There is desire, and there is fulfillment. Treatment of our perceptions helps us to integrate and live by this Truth.

4. Thinking

* How do you spend your valuable thought time? Are you even consciously aware of most of your thoughts during the day?

Treatment is used to improve our thinking. A positive attitude is essential; so are positive thoughts. However, it’s possible to “fake” positive thinking, to show it off to others, but still have underlying negative beliefs. Treatment addresses the underlying foundation. So improvements are made from the subconscious, outward. With continued treatment, positive thinking becomes more authentic.

Prayer is also called
F. Metaphysical Treatment

G. Prayer Treatment

H. Healing Treatment

* “Healing” refers to bringing your consciousness back to a state of wholeness. It is not a cure or a treatment in the sense of a doctor’s or medical professional’s.

Treatment goes beyond the physical appearance (meta-physical) and lifts up your consciousness which created any physical appearance. When you create from an uplifted consciousness, you create better physical experiences.

I. Treatment (my favorite, for the reasons above)

* I offer the following as further explanation of treatment.

Treatment means going within and contacting the God-Presence that is always at the center of your mind.

The only thing we can truly treat, is consciousness. We can intend a treatment for a physical condition, such as a broken leg. However, all we’re really treating, is your consciousness (thoughts and conscious and subconscious beliefs) about that condition.

We don’t refuse to see the broken leg. But we refuse to give it power over us. In treatment we give power back to the Spirit within us. We establish to our own mental satisfaction, that something has more power than the broken leg. We recognize that this Power dwells within us; so how can a broken leg be anything more than an appearance?

We acknowledge that the broken leg, though it may seem so real, is not all there is. It’s not the end of things, not the be all and end all. There is more, beyond this. And we bring our consciousness back to “more” in a positive sense.

Imagine 2 people, each with a broken leg. The first person thinks: I have a broken leg. Guess I’ll do things differently for a while. Some rest might be nice. I wonder what I can read, learn, catch up on, or who I can re-connect with while I’ve been given this time?

The second person thinks: Oh no! Now my leg is broken, and I can’t go to work. I could lose my job. With my job loss I’ll lose my income. How will I provide for my family? What can I do with myself while I’m stuck in bed?

The first person has accepted the appearance and is embracing it for the good that can come out of it.

The second person is climbing up the walls of his/her mind… And can’t get away from it, because the mind is something we always carry with us!

The first person hasn’t given the broken leg any power. Instead, the power goes to, what positive things can I do now?

On the other hand, the second person is letting the broken leg control what is going on in the mind. I.e. worry, stress, concern, anxiety. This person is projecting what could happen, as if it were already true! A broken leg does not need to have that much power over anyone!

During metaphysical treatment, we sublimate negativity into positivity. We take the power of fear away and replace it with love, possibility, understanding and Truth.

An important note about treatment: Someone else’s healing does not come through you! You may be a participant, you may allow God-energy to work through you and flow to that person. But when someone is healed, it’s because their consciousness has risen to that level where the healing can take place. It’s not because of you specifically, or your practitioner.

Parents sometimes have trouble with this. In some organizations it is said that treatment of a child comes through the parent. This is simply not true in the sense that it’s often understood. On this premise, if your child isn’t healed after treatment, you must be a bad parent, or you don’t have enough faith… So how do you feel? Guilty? Unworthy? Pretty rotten, and your child still isn’t healed!

You are not responsible for anyone else’s healing! Practitioners hold the space, a safe place in consciousness where, when the recipient is ready, healing can take place. But the recipient must accept the treatment. This acceptance goes beyond words. A person can say they accept the treatment and are ready to be healed. However, underlying beliefs can still exist, that keep the healing from manifesting right now.

This is why we assert: The only thing to treat, is consciousness.

Metaphysical Practitioners do not heal; we do not cure; we do not treat in any medical or physical sense. Our treatment is spiritual only, unless we are specifically qualified to offer other services in conjunction with metaphysical treatment.

If a Metaphysical Practitioner tells you to stop taking all medications or prescribes any substance (vitamin, pill, etc), perhaps you should find a different practitioner. A good practitioner will respect any choice you make. If you choose medical treatment as well, find a practitioner who respects that choice.

Some people choose only metaphysical treatment. That is their personal choice. However, treatment works in conjunction with any and all other therapies, modalities, medications and anything else you choose as a tool in your return to conscious wholeness.

II. Benefits of Affirmative Prayer

A. Aligns daily attitude with God-Mind

* Why? Because prayer is only as effective as we allow it to be. If we pray 10 minutes daily, and spend 23 hrs. 50 min. doubting our prayer “worked,” that means our attitude isn’t in alignment with our prayer.

Matching our attitude with God-Mind, highest good, the best outcome, allows our prayers to be answered. It’s been said, “God can only do for you, what He can do through you.” This is a true statement.

So what do we get when our attitudes are aligned with God-Mind?

1. Peace of mind

2. Reduced stress (mentally, emotionally and physically)

* I believe that treatments for health are so important. As long as we’re on this planet, we live in physical bodies. And we need to physically care for them. However, we also need to care for them spiritually. Unlike some traditions, Metaphysics doesn’t specifically encourage fasting, certain diets, sexual practices, exercises, programs, etc. What it does encourage, is unity and harmony in the psycho-physical unit, that is, the mind-body.

Treatment for health, and for anything, opens the mind-body energy field, allowing health to manifest. This automatically means reduced stress and a lighter feeling. It may be subtle at first, but meditation and prayer time, is time well spent.

3. Living your true purpose

* It always feels better to be doing something you love! Your true purpose won’t make you feel anything less than great! The more you pray effectively, the more you *easily* live your own purpose. You live on-path, and it’s not a struggle!

4. Increased happiness

* Even people who seem unhappy all the time, probably want to be happy deep down. Ultimately happiness is all we really want. The house, the money, the good job, the family, anything we could possibly desire… We only want these things because we think they will make us happy. Or they should, or could be part of our happiness. Maybe they are! But really, all we want is happiness itself.

5. Awareness and acceptance of choices and opportunities

* We’re all familiar with the victim consciousness. I have no choices. Things happen to me all the time. I have to do this. I need to struggle.

Prayer is cumulative. And the more positive prayer energy you accumulate, the more you will move upward from victim consciousness. Now, you’re aware that you do have choices. No matter what happens, you can choose how to respond.

In class I brought up negative trends. “Bad things come in 3’s” and so on. Negative trends probably will happen from time to time in your life. The important thing, and the thing you can control, is your response to them.

It’s not the trend or circumstance that matters, it’s how you respond to it. And that response, is a choice only you can make.

So now you know you always have a choice. Next comes acceptance of opportunities. As soon as you see a choice, you also see opportunities opening up for you. When you accept them, you realize there are more!

6. Achieving goals

* If you’re running a marathon, finishing is a concrete goal. You can even see when the achievement is close; you see the finish line. But many goals aren’t so physically apparent. These goals in particular, are the ones we achieve through treatment. Physical form can’t help but follow the achievements of, say, calm, centered mind, peaceful feelings, spiritual connection above all, and the knowing that, as Einstein said, we live in a “friendly universe.”

With treatment as a tool, you don’t need to struggle to achieve any goal. Whether physically-oriented or not, life flows better, you’re open to possibilities, and goals are achieved more often and more quickly.

Also recognize that goals often have steps. Be grateful for each step achieved! Being grateful allows more good, thankful feelings to come to you. As your appreciation expands with each step toward the “big one,” you come closer to the big one itself. Be grateful for the journey, as well as the destination!

7. More physical and mental energy

* As we allow prayer to work through us, we’re freed up. We’re expanded, and we experience a lightness in mind and body. Gradually we notice we have more physical and mental energy, more time, things don’t take as long as they used to, we’re not as bone-tired at the end of the day, and more.

Along with this, be mindful of what you read, hear, and think before sleep. Every now and then, I still do what I call the sleep experiment. I’ll fall asleep reading an action-oriented novel, a mystery, something suspenseful, etc. And when I wake up, I notice I didn’t sleep well, maybe had bad dreams, and generally feel less rested.

But, when I meditate before going to sleep, read positive poetry or metaphysical things, or listen to relaxing music, I sleep much better. I wake up earlier, feel grateful for the new day, and know the day will be positive.

8. Inspiration and creativity

* Inspiration, by its very nature, is divine! Creativity is divine, too! There are so many ways to be inspired, and to express that as creativity. When we mention creative people, we often think of writers, cooks/chefs, artists, craftspeople and so on. But just by living, we are being creative! We create our lives each moment of each day, through our thoughts, words and actions. And we create *from* what underlies these thoughts, words and actions. TO live our best lives, we must be open to divine creativity being expressed through us. Prayer opens us to creativity, and lets us be open more of the time.

9. Opening to intuitive sensing and knowing

* The God-Power within us already knows. What does it know? Everything! Having a regular prayer practice allows us to tap into that intuition that is already ours in a spiritual sense. Our intellect is not worthless! But for best results, it should be guided by an inner sensing, an intuition from our God-Power. We can live by intellect alone. But we can live well when spiritual intuition guides our lives.

Opening to intuition means just that: opening to what is already there. You already possess divine knowing! You’re not gaining anything; you’re just shifting your awareness, your mind and consciousness, to the place of that intuition. It can be a comfort to realize you don’t have to “go out and get” this. It’s already there; just allow it to be in your life.

10. Expressing Truth in your own unique ways

* Truth is Truth is Truth. That is, ultimate, divine, universal Truth. So why are you here? To express Truth in ways that satisfy your soul’s purpose.

There are billions of musicians in the world! And there is always room for more! Why is that? Because even when 2 singers sing the same song, or 2 people play the same part on the same instrument, they express something different. The notes may seem the same. But the emotion, the energy, the spirit they interweave, is their own.

You are unique, an individualized expression of Truth. And no matter how you seem to be the same as others, know that you are unique. If you weren’t, you wouldn’t exist.

Prayer, along with other tools, can help you express your own uniqueness. When you do, you are happy, you’re living on your purpose, and your light will shine so that others will shine their lights as well.

B. Relieving pressure from the psycho-physical mind-body, so it can be uplifted from the problem, to the solution

* Each of us is a psycho-physical unit. We have a mind (psycho) and a body )physical). They interact as a unit – what the mind does, affects the body; and what the body does, affects the mind.

Prayer acts to relieve pressure from the whole unit. It takes mental pressure off the mind, and physical pressure off the body. The result is that we expend less energy carrying the weight of the world on our shoulders.

In relieving this pressure, we let ourselves be uplifted. Whatever you’re experiencing has a level of consciousness. If you’re on the same level as a problem, you will experience it.

However, when you lift up your consciousness, you experience the solution! Your desire is fulfilled; the problem, isn’t anymore, and you’ve expanded your awareness.

C. Allowing the natural healing agency (God) to work through you

* God is wholeness. “Healing” means wholeness. So healing is God’s natural power. This is why we call God the natural healing agency. In prayer we open to that agency, and let it work through us, to flow into our lives.

D. Conversing with your inner God-Power, opening to its full expression as and through you

E. Experiencing God-presence fully (meditation is the highest form of prayer)

* True, meditation is the highest form of prayer. In deep meditation we’re completely open and we let the God-Mind be in control of our lives.

Prayer, as we’re speaking of it now, is only a little less than the meditative experience. It’s a conversation with the God-within. We may not be as completely open to God-Presence as we are in deep meditation. But we’re getting there.

I like prayer for its conversational benefits. Who better to converse with than your Higher God-self? Most effective is to spend time in prayer, and separate time in meditation. This way we benefit from the conversation and the deeply meditative experience where God truly lives as us, and where there is no more sense of personal ego.

Conclusion

We ended with a few moments of meditation. I asked class participants to commit to spending some time in prayer this week. All you really need is positive intention, the desire to converse with your own God-Self, and a little time. Treatment does not take long! It can, especially if you go into deep meditation along with prayer. However, you can pray any time, anywhere.

I ask that you, too, make a commitment to yourself to spend some time in prayer each day.

Prayer Partners

We will be forming prayer partnerships in this class. Two people will pray for each other, using affirmative prayer techniques, starting next week and as long as they wish to continue.

If you would like a prayer partner, please contact me! THhose in the live class will pray together, and online participants will be matched up on a first come, first served basis. Everyone who wants one, will have a partner.

I also provide Metaphysical Practitioner services. Contact me if interested.

As always, if you have any comments, questions or feedback, please feel free to contact me!

Handwoven Leno Hug – Ordination Shrug

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crystal-in-leno-hug

I started weaving this shrug/wrap on the 3rd, the day after I joyfully signed my vows and agreements. It was finished 4/6, the day before my first Sunday “as a minister”. It was a fun project with special meaning to me.

Originally I planned to weave the Shrug in Leno from The Weaver’s Idea Book by Jane Patrick. But there is a reason why we ask in affirmative prayer for “this, or something better!” I didn’t get “this” pattern, but I got something much better!

All this is :), is 2 pieces. The back piece is long enough to wrap over my shoulders with the fringe touching my upper arms. It has no sleeves, but the sides of the back act almost like capped sleeves.

The front piece is all leno lace. You set up the rigid heddle loom as you would to weave any tabby or plain weave cloth. But as you weave, you pick up and twist groups of threads, locking the twist in place as the shuttle carries the weft back and forth. This is not complicated! Some would say it’s slow, but I felt it wove up quickly, and I had fun – which explains a lot!

I tell you this is not complicated, and it’s not. But the first day I started weaving, I just could not get my mind or my fingers wrapped around what the cloth “should” look like. I’ve never touched leno until now, so I had no idea what I was actually striving to weave. So I stopped, temporarily, and wove a third of the back in plain weave. Fine.

Next day the leno worked great! I still didn’t know, from previous tactile experience, what I was supposed to weave. But I didn’t care. I kept on with it, which taught me again, that we don’t need to know the “how” or the means by which everything will work out. All we need to know, is that it will work out!

SO the second third of the back is in leno, and I felt a sense of accomplishment weaving it. It’s truly a beautiful texture!

The last third, like the first, is plain weave.

Added to the front piece that is all leno, this shrug is my favorite handwoven piece! I wear many of my handwovens, but this one is extra special.

In deciding how to connect the front and back, I had many ideas. I’m grateful for them all and I know I’ll use them in future projects! Chinese knot buttons, beads, standard buttons, ties, cords, plied, twisted or knotted fringe, netting, crocheting, sewing… There are more ways to join 2 pieces than there are pieces to join! 😀

But the idea that stuck was the most natural thing in the world to me. When I was little I got a necklace for Easter. It had plastic lambs strung with beads between them. A sheep-lover all my life, I adored that necklace! And I cried and cried the day it broke. But something made either my mom or me save the lambs from that necklace.

I found them in my jewelry box the night I finished this piece and actually said out loud, “Wow! That’s it!”

Now, one lamb is sewn on each side of the back piece. They lay on my shoulders when I wear this. The leno creates holes in the front piece, so I just put the lambs through some leno on each side. And there you have it.

All is not lost! Leno does work. My sheep live on. And I have something to wear that makes me smile and laugh – and yes, cry a little too, with amazement at how things do work together for our good.

And if it works in these “little things,” how much more does it work in great things?

Something *closer* this way comes!

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Not just a paraphrase from Shakespeare, but something I think we all need to hear now and then. 🙂

You know that feeling, when you’re *this* close to something, but it’s not here yet, or you don’t have it, can’t touch it, and yet you feel like you can taste it?

It’s a lot like that feeling of discontent I talked about before. Again I use the analogy of the pearl. It’s bugging you! You’re saying, “Get it out! Make it go away!” And at the same time, “All right already! Let me see it!” You want the thing in your hands, in your life, right now thankyouverymuch. Can you tell I know the feeling? 😮

So what do you do? I mean, what do you do, if you’re tired of it bugging you and you want something else? You do want to feel better rather than worse, right? Because if you’re happy feeling bad, stop reading now because we’re not on the same page.

What to do, to feel better and flow with the river already bringing your demonstration to you? How to work with it rather than against it? That is the question… Or 2 questions.

And I say, visualize your goal already done. Of course, you’ve already done that at some point, or you wouldn’t have gotten this far! But this is a journey, and journeys have steps. And now, it’s more important than ever to see the thing completed.

Why? Because the alternative, which you may be feeling now, is frustration, impatience, being all fed up with the blasted goal, and what possessed me to want this in the first place? That’s also the reason some people say, or people unfortunately say about others, they never finish anything. That can’t possibly be true! But we say it, and worse, we believe it. When really, all that’s happening is that we lost focus of the thing already done.

Which do you want? You want to see the goal accomplished. You know you do. So that’s where you need to shift. Do what you did when it was just a dream, because it’s still just a dream, and when it’s done and you can see it, guess what! It will still be just a dream!

So be happy about it now. Imagine it done. See it. Feel it. Smell it if it has a smell–which it does, even if you can’t conjure it up. Imagine what you do now, with this accomplished. Now live your life that way, today.

Yes, I’m saying, visualize the goal. But it’s much more than that. Live like you have it. But there’s still more. Know in your heart, in your gut, that it’s yours. Because the Spirit that gave you the desire is the same Spirit that makes it tangible in your life. For you and for itself.

“Whatever you do for the least of these, you do also for me.” ~Jesus Christ

This means, whatever good you do in seeing the Truth of any situation or any goal accomplished, you’re doing it for Christ, for that Spirit within you that wants only to manifest itself more and more! And you, co-creator that you are, are the vehicle that brings forth your unique life.

So do it for you and do it for God/Spirit. Live your life, now! Don’t wait for a better time, “because everything will be great when I have ____.” Why can’t life be great now? It can, and it is, if you allow it to be.

What is your reality? The frustration and lack that comes from the personal ego? Or the Truth and abundance of the Christ-Mind? St. Paul said, “Let the mind be in you that was in Christ.” The key word is “let”. Let it be so, this day, for this goal, and any day, for everything. And so it is!

Random Acts of Kindness – You can Help!

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The week of May 5-12, 2013 is Unity of Reading’s second annual Purposeful Acts of Kindness Week.

Each day at least one kind act will be done on behalf of our Unity center as a whole. In addition, and more importantly for each individual, we encourage everyone to take this into their own hearts and hands! What can you do to spread simple kindness in your community?

This post by William Kelly really sums up these random acts nicely. It doesn’t have to cost you money, or much time. The only requirement as it were, is that the act is heart-felt. I would add spontaneous – it’s fine to have a list of things you’d like to do, but many times what truly will help someone feel blessed is not something you pre-plan!

During your daily meditation period (You do have one, right? 🙂 ) ask for openness. Ask for guidance toward the special, unique kindness that God/Spirit wants to express through you.

You could easily make a list of kind things, without meditation. But the answers you get in meditation will be so in line with your soul, happiness and purpose for being right here, right now… that they will make your heart soar! And how much more will people appreciate them, and pass on the kindness, when it is given from your heart and spirit?

Unity has a list of things it wants to share. Putting quarters in parking meters. Giving out soup. Creating a kind of survival kit as a reminder of who we truly are as spiritual beings. And other things.

You can tell I’m not too excited about any of these! The one that got me feeling all fuzzy inside is the letter-writing. People so often feel under-appreciated, or not appreciated at all. I’ve felt that way myself at times, and it’s just about as bad as it gets. So, I’m helping to write letters to companies and individuals who contribute to Unity in some way. My favorite is the piano tuner – I marvel every Sunday when I play how wonderful our piano sounds, and it’s over 100 years old!

Think about it. How many services do you receive? If you’re going, “Uh, what services?” start with the bills you pay. Obviously you’re paying for something, whether you think it’s worth it or not… 😀

How impressed would you be, say, as an employee of your electric company, if you were the one to open a letter of appreciation? How profound would that be to you, and to the company? And what would you do? You’d go home and tell everyone! You’d give your partner or kids an extra hug! Heck, you might even let someone cut you off in traffic!

So, if letter-writing, or phone-calling is your thing, you have a starting place. Now take this ball and run with it! Make it your ball, your pet, your heart-felt expression. Because there is something you can do! In fact, there is something that ONLY you can do! Someone may not feel blessed by my brand of letter. But maybe yours is just what they need!

All you gotta do, is do what you gotta do!

P.S. Remember the children! They’re often much better at this than we grown-ups! Even the really little ones… Ask them what they would do to be kind? And let them do their own random acts among their community of family and friends.

Kids already know how to be kind… It’s time we truly encouraged their openness to possibility, love, peace and happiness!

Discontent is divine too!

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Oh great. So God wants us to feel discontent? Doesn’t that sound like traditional Christianity? Isn’t that what we’re trying to sublimate or evolve?

Yes, and no. God does not “want” us to feel discontent! However, when we do, it’s an opportunity to create something better.

Dr. Masters and other metaphysicians say that we are all one. And we are. At the same time, we experience individuality, ego and what we sometimes call duality, so that we can participate in the creative process – the process of creation.

So, while feeling discontent is not ideal, not paradise, it isn’t contrary to evolution. It is the discomfort before the pearl emerges from the oyster. If the oyster didn’t feel discontent (assuming they do, which may or may not be true…), there would be no pearl.

If we didn’t feel unhappy with something, there would be less pull to evolve further. Discontent is a springboard, not a stopping place. It’s the kindling, not the fire. It’s the stepping stone, not the foundation.

As long as we choose to see discontent as a divine opportunity, we keep our power. We don’t give more power to the discontent, than to the God within us. Instead, we can re-frame it: I’m moving to something better. This no longer serves me, so I lovingly release it. I look forward to my next step. I’m excited by the unfolding of my Higher God nature!

Next time you feel uncomfortable…

Will you choose dismal discontent? Or divine discontent? And how will that change the course of your life, and how you feel about your journey?

Nightmares, Emails, Energy Patterns–Oh My!

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I recently had a nightmare…that was really disturbing, to say the least. I guess that’s why it’s called a nightmare!

I also deleted a boatload of emails, starting from September of last year, all the way up to yesterday.

What do these things have in common? The removal of energy patterns.

When we have a nightmare, it has a beginning and an end. We may not know just when it started, but we know it had to start sometime. And we know it ended–at least technically it did–because we woke up. But the essence of it, the feeling we had, the horror of it most often, stays with us. That is its energy pattern.

When we send an email, sometimes it’s kept in the Sent folder. And we don’t think about it, until someone says, “Uh, I tried to send you this, but it said your mailbox was full.” That’s what happened to me. So I started deleting old messages. I’m not generally a saver, but I forgot about that Sent folder. Every message I ever sent using this service, was still in that folder!

But even when I deleted them from the Sent folder, they were still in the Trash. Their energy pattern still existed, even though the messages weren’t readily visible anymore. So, to get rid of the energy pattern, I had to empty the Trash folder too.

In this way I transformed 2 energy patterns: the horror of the nightmare, and the fullness of the email box. But what does this have to do with life? Glad you asked…

As Dr. Paul Leon Masters points out, everything has an energy pattern. An imprint, an essence, an outline if you will. This is very apparent when someone loses a limb or other body part. I felt this after my eyes were removed. Phantom pains, light that I couldn’t really see but thought I did, oh it was very strange for a while! Because even though I knew I didn’t “have eyes,” I remembered when I did. I lived as if I still had them, and I experienced the same things–light perception, pain, etc. Because their energy pattern remained.

When we have nightmares, experience physical loss, or even delete emails, there are several things to clear. We focus on clearing the physical manifestation, but life is always more than that, more than the sum of its parts. We need to focus also, on clearing the mental, emotional and psychic imprints of what has passed on from physical form. Only when we’ve done this clearing, can we replace these old energy patterns with new, positive, beneficial ones.

Energy Clearing Affirmations

All old energy patterns are being sublimated by positive new ones in my life.

All physical imprints are cleared, making way for new, evolved manifestations in my experience.

All emotional ties are sublimated, through love, into positive connections.

All negative subconscious aspects are removed now. I affirm the power of positive aspects in my life.

All mental thought fields are cleansed, renewed, open and revitalized. My thoughts are bright, evolving and of service to me and all others.

All negative psychic causes are transformed into spiritual light causes and manifest in perfect ways in my life.

I give thanks for my true nature of spiritual God-Light, the power of my Higher God-Mind, and the co-creative process I tap into when I create my life with God. And so it is!

Nothing is Insignificant

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“Nothing is insignificant.” This stirred me deeply when I read it recently. I took it as a comfort, although I understand how it could seem threatening… Uh-oh, if nothing is insignificant, that means everything is significant, and so I’d better be mindful of what I say, do, and most of all – think!

And indeed, we’d better!

This statement came to me when I was feeling unappreciated, overwhelmed, and inadequate, among other things. (Not a yummy soup…) Like few things have, it pulled me right out of that mindset. But why?

Because it spoke to my core beliefs. “Nothing is insignificant.” Everything I feel is important. And everything I feel will attract something back to me. We know in metaphysics, that like attracts like. In this way we can better understand the truth in this statement. Every thought, every feeling, every word and action, will attract SOMETHING back to us. That’s it in a nutshell.

The question is, what kind of SOMETHING do we want? More unappreciated-ness? More overwhelm? None for me, thanks!

When we want something other than what we have, we need to realize that what we have, is significant. It’s no more, or less, important than what we want. So, first we need to accept where we are.

Then, we focus on what we want. Not how we’ll get there! That’s the Universe’s, or God’s job! Our focus and vibration are significant. Our true self-image, dominant thoughts, and true emotions are things that make up our vibration. And our vibration is what attracts people, circumstances, things and events.

Your vibration is significant. It is the soup made up of your thoughts, beliefs, self-image, and still more. Is the soup good overall? If it’s not, shift your vibration with something that’s easy for you. Listen to music, take a walk, hug someone, pet a favorite animal, say hello to a stranger, call an old friend. Pray. Meditate.

Allow your significance as a co-creator with God to sink into your mind and heart, reminding you that truly, nothing is insignificant, including you!

Kids, Weaving and Being Born-again

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It all started with a birth – everything does!

Six years ago today, on a cold, windy afternoon, my son Aaron was born. Happy birthday sweetheart!

Aaron at racecar

It’s pretty obvious when people are born. One moment there’s no baby, but it’s clear that something’s happening. The next? Hello, newly manifested physical person! I’m blessed that was how the birth unfolded – joyfully and, yes, painlessly and quickly. Less than an hour from start of labor to baby in arms.

Yet, most births aren’t that obvious. Every day, every hour, every minute, with each “simple” thought we think, we are birthing something. I consider birth to be another word for manifestation. Something that was an idea, a thought, when it’s birthed, now expresses in physical form.

Sometimes we see the beauty in that form. My thoughts at the birth of my son were of miracles, awe, peace, possibility and love. Six years later, they are amplified!

Other times we see limitation. How many babies are born “deformed?” With problems? Disabilities? Imperfections? I know, I was called one of those.

And how many things do we manifest/see in our lives, that we label bad? Wrong? Too this, too that?

One of Aaron’s birthday presents started out as one of those “wrong” things. Yes, here I am again, admitting how I occasionally put my metaphysical foot in my figurative mouth!

basketweave pattern

The cloth is a modified basket weave. See the pattern? That’s fine, except that that was not “supposed to be” the pattern. It “should” have had 2 layers instead. But I chickened out at the last minute before attaching the warp to the loom and chose the basket weave. Thought 2 layers were “too much” for me.

So I wove, glad to have avoided what I perceived as a problem, and the basket weave cloth came off the loom.

Washed, dried, fringe trimmed. Uh oh, cloth is “too short!”

Too short for what? For the scarf I’d decided somewhere along the line, to create from it.

And so the cloth waited a long time in the bin where I keep stuff that’s waiting for me to see it differently.

maple recorder

Gently, easily and over time, as the cloth waited and I wasn’t thinking about it, I was thinking about Aaron. He loves music, thank God! And he loves instruments of all kinds. It felt like the most natural thing in the world to give him my recorder. It wasn’t my first recorder – that one is long gone. But it was my first wood recorder, made of smoothly finished maple, with a warm, resonant sound. Perfect birthday present for my little music-lover.

Thing was, it had no case. SO out came the basket weave cloth that was “too short.” Except now, it was just the right length to make a recorder bag!

handwoven recorder bag

The thick basket weave texture offered a cushion. Some extra length beyond the recorder dimensions created a flap. And with some help from my needle, crochet hook, cotton yarn and a snap closure, it became the best recorder bag I’ve ever seen!

When Aaron opened the present, he actually stopped when he saw the bag. Kids generally tear into presents and go on to the next one. He usually does the same. 🙂 But not this time. Aaron stopped, presumably looked at the bag, and said, “Mommy, you weaved this. It’s so nice.”

I was a little teary-eyed. 🙂 He continued, opened the bag and said, “Wow! A whistle!” I told him that it was a recorder and shared the story that it had been mine, and I was passing it on to him. I know how he appreciates instruments. But even I was surprised at how touched and impressed he seemed. There were moments when I figured that would be his least-favorite gift, because it wasn’t the toys he said he wanted.

Oh, Aaron likes his toys! But he also really enjoys his recorder and its bag.

I know it’s because that gift flowed. When I opened up to the possibility of birthing something good, something good came. When I let go of limitations and labels – about the cloth, whether Aaron would like it, etc – the Spirit came brilliantly through.

What are you birthing? What do you want to birth, to manifest, in your own life?

It may not be a child, or maybe it is! It could be a creative project, like the bag. It could be a business venture, or a personal relationship. It can be anything at all!

When you believe you can, by the God-Power within you, you are being born-again, in your own mind. (By the way, that’s the only place you can truly be born-again!) When you are born-again in consciousness, you can do, have or create your desire. You can birth it, manifesting it into physical form. Not you alone, but You, by the Power that created you.

Choose possibility! Choose openness. Choose love, because Love is the great Creator within each and every one of us, during each moment of our lives.

And Love is the thing that, on your birthday and every day, celebrates You in your divine perfection!

For this we give thanks. We let it be so.

And so it is!

The Instrument – Poetry and Prayers of Unity Week 6

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Because the world needs cheering,
A wind harp I will be,
That vibrates with the beauty
Of God’s own melody.

No inharmonious thinking
Must ever mar the chords.
My task is just the tuning:
The music is the Lord’s.
–Dorothy A. Stickell
From Music of the Soul (pdf)

What is a wind harp? Before moving on it’s important to know something about this intriguing instrument. In this video the wind harp makes the sound of singing – a little like a crystal singing bowl, but playing more than one note.

As you can see, the wind itself plays this instrument. Others can be mounted in windows, so they play when the wind blows by. But no human contact is needed to play this harp, and it’s truly a beautiful instrument.

Now, think about each of us being a wind harp. What is our task in life? According to the poem, we vibrate with the beauty of God’s melody. We tune ourselves to positive vibrations, thus creating harmony in our thoughts, words and actions. This tuning is our only job.

What? Tuning is our job? Yes, tuning our vibration, our frequency, our thoughts, feelings and beliefs. But tuning to what? To the Spirit of God – of good – within us. It’s always there, but we’re not required to tune to it. We have free will. We’re welcome to choose inharmonious thinking! But once we realize how negative thoughts manifest in our lives, why would we knowingly choose them?

Our purpose is to tune ourselves to the highest vibration we can feel at any moment. Some times will be higher than others, and that’s ok. Our only task is to have the best tuning we can.

Do your best and the Lord’s music will play through you.

What is the Lord’s music? It doesn’t belong to some being outside us somewhere. In metaphysics the Lord is the Presence, Power, Peace and Beauty within. It’s the Spirit and the highest consciousness that creates us, and that we tap into to create ourselves. This “lord” is not something looking down on us. It/He is within us.

The Lord’s music is really our true music. This is such a simple and profound poem, that I’m going to leave it at that!

In this final session of Poetry and Prayers of Unity, we also discussed 2 of my poems. I’m going to give them their own posts, to link their readings and recordings. Stay tuned for those! They continue the theme of each person being an instrument tuned to positive vibrations.

As always, if you have any comments, questions or feedback, please feel free to contact me!