God Is, I Am

We are blessed to live in a world filled with such light-filled people.  They have graced my life as amazing teachers, the authors of the many life-changing books I've read, enlightened souls I've encountered through this blog, all of my spiritual brothers and sisters.  I am deeply grateful, and acknowledge the profound joy of our collective being.

I was reminded again yesterday of a favorite author of mine, Eric Butterworth, and a simple and healing tool for focusing the light that is ever present in us.  As he explains in this book "The Creative Life,"  we can affirm and breathe, God Is, I Am. 

"Take a few moments with this breathing exercise:  On the inbreath, speak the words 'God is.'  Hold it . . . then, on the outbreath, affirm, 'I am.'  Hold it.  Repeat this several times.  Get the sense that you are vitally coupled with the energy of God's light.  With this centering in the light, you see with light.  And your seeing actually becomes a "light treatment" of all that you see.  . . .  (You) become synchronized with and in the stream of light that is everywhere present.  Now make a survey of your schedule for the day:  your appointments . . . contacts, projects and relationships.  As you hold them in the light one by one, you give to each one a 'light treatment.'  . . . The whole of Infinite Mind is within you -- and you have access to the wisdom of the ages."

This is good stuff!  When I practice this, I become aware of the light that is always within me and everywhere present.  The texture of everything in my awareness changes as I recognize the perfection in all of it.  I release concerns or considerations that are not my own, and there is no need to struggle over anything.  God is, and I am, in this moment of light.  I am an active participant in creation - an ongoing design of perfection.

May this tool be a blessing. . .

All Is Well!

My husband and I had a sailboat for a few years; we didn't take it out much and never got very good at sailing, but we enjoyed having a little cabin on the water.  I wanted to rename it All Is Well.  He thought we should rename it All is Swell.  He's clever like that!

I believe that some of the best spiritual tools are the simplest ones.  Reminding ourselves that all is well, in the middle of whatever temporary setback is occurring, can help put things back into proper perspective.  Circumstances affect us to the degree that we accept them as truth.  We are infinitely powerful in creating any outcome we choose, by what we believe.  If we remembered that, what a different world it would be!  I think our dear Reverend Ken at Unity illustrates this beautifully when he says that yes, there is a recession, but I choose not to participate!  He is affirming that all is well in his world, specifically with his financial resources.  I love the affirmation, "The light of God surrounds us, the love of God enfolds us, the power of God protects us, and the presence of God watches over us.  Wherever we are, God is, and all is well."

I had a conversation with my daughter recently and we were talking about the health of the planet, global warming, and issues with availability and safety of the food supply.  At first glance, these and so many other topics in our world seem almost insurmountable.  At times we can believe it is too late to turn things around.  It is never too late.  We can turn things around in an inkling, with a conscious intention that all is well.  Fear has no real power over us, except to the degree that we decide it is warranted.  My part in our conversation was to remind myself, and her, that things do appear in many ways to be heading in a direction we can't turn back from, but as limitless creators made in God's image, we have within us every answer we need.

I acknowledged that day that my perspective probably sounds like I am a pollyanna.  I choose very consciously to be just that!  To change this world, we have to believe that there are answers and resources available to us that we haven't even considered yet, and that all we need is provided to us by simply asking, and believing that it will come to pass.  We hear this, and want to believe it, but often can't.  Ask, and we are answered.  Knock, and all is opened to us.

In the face of our current challenging circumstances, I can imagine perfection unfolding and it is done.  The destination is never in question, but how we arrive is our playground.  Maybe today I'll sail, on a boat named All Is Well.

Letting the Day Come to You

I am sure there are people in the world who live in constant awareness of divine order.  I am not one of them!  As I'm sure you've noticed in my writing, I often forget.  I get caught up in worrying about people, or anxious about how things will turn out.  Thankfully I get back to remembering that I have a choice about the reality I create through my thinking.   I write and teach to reaffirm this for myself.

This morning, I found myself swept up into my most common fear du jour, that I don't have enough time to do it all.  Oh, how enticing this false belief is!  When I'm not aware of myself beginning to slide down that slippery slope, before I realize what's hit me I am caught up in all kinds of negative thinking.  I get very focused on all that needs to get done, instead of just enjoying my moments.

One real benefit of life experience is that we are able to notice when we end up in places that we've been before.  Our stuck places are more familiar, and we gain more ability to navigate them.  We can acknowledge that the thoughts we are having are habitual, but not reality.  

I noticed this morning that the to-do list in my head was taking way too much energy.  I had the whole beautiful Sunday in front of me, and I was spinning about things like grocery shopping and laundry and writing bills.  The funny thing was, the list in my head wasn't just of chores; I was also worrying about how to fit in my get-to-do things like working on my stained glass, meditating, walking, writing, all of the things I do to nurture my spirit.  The programming to get it all done can cause even the nurturing things I do for myself to start to feel like too much to accomplish.

Thankfully, I remembered to let the day come to me, instead of the other way around.  I decided to stop grasping the possibilities for this day and controlling them, and stand still, and see what happens.  I decided to just stop.  Stopping is a great spiritual tool, and I'll write more about it in another blog.  It is a small leap of faith to turn my attention away from the voice that warns that the sky will fall if everything doesn't get done.  It did try to advise me about the dire consequences of starting my week with piles of folded laundry on the living room sofa!  The voices of fear and lack always seem so much bigger in the moment.  But I persevered.  My commitment for today was to just see what the day brought.

What my day brought to me was peace, and alot of color.  I immediately noticed the vibrant spring green in my backyard, and the joy that comes from remembering that all I ever have to do is be.  That happens often; when I get back into present time the world is much more brightly colored.  It is not the world, but I who has changed.  When I affirm that things will happen in divine order, it is so.  My day was not really different from what it would have been had I struggled with the to-do list in my head, but it was much more gentle.  I really enjoyed the message at Unity this morning.  The grocery shopping got done, and that was colorful, too, not only the people I watched, but also the whole isle full of hokey pinatas that I don't think I've ever noticed before.  My day was blessed with so many delightful details and experiences that I miss when my thoughts are out in the future, or back in the past.

How the rest of today unfolds is left to be seen.  Tomorrow at work I plan to keep myself squarely in the present moment, by letting the day come to me, and I will sit back and enjoy the show.

May this tool be a blessing. . .

Raising the Veil

There is a song by this title that we sing at Unity; it is one of my favorites . . . "I'm raising the veil, between me and my God, no separation, no distance at all; God is right here in my heart, I'm raising the veil."  I believe that within each of us is a deep yearning to know ourselves and each other as the magnificent children of light that we are.  Even when we are lost in forgetting, even when we are identifying very strongly with that which is not the highest we or the world have to offer, that need still burns. 

Our dreams of lack, the veil of forgetting who we are, create the perfect stage for recognizing what is not true of us.  In that sense all that comes to us is an answer to a prayer.  I love the idea of carrying God in my heart; God expresses through me when my soul is having a dark night, and when I know the light of her presence living as me.  Without darkness, we couldn't know light, and so both the veil, and its lifting, are answers to a prayer.

We can choose to experience that veil as an almost physical thing.  It is solid in its ability to separate us from our totality, but also very sheer fabric, easily pushed aside by changing our thinking.  I have viewed situations in this way before, where an instance of fear or pain is playing out on a small stage, and at its edge a curtain hides a much bigger, brighter creation.  The drama occurring on the small stage has immense value as an integral part of the sacred production unfolding.

We are meant to get caught up in believing that the drama developing on the small stage is our life, and defines who we are.  But we are not our struggles; we are pure spirit, able to step back and see ourselves as experiencing something, but at the same time acknowledging that the experience is not who we are.  Raising the veil and stepping out onto the grander stage of living as an unlimited creator made in God's image is a brave act.  When we stand up and claim that truth about ourselves and others, in their fear and forgetting many will say no, you are not.  We stand anyway.

My husband and I have a print on our living room wall that some may have seen; it is entitled "Fra Giovanni - Letter to a Friend - 1513."  It says, in part, ". . . The gloom of the world is but a shadow.  Behind it, yet within our reach, is joy.  TAKE JOY!  Life is so full of meaning and purpose, so full of beauty . . . that you will find earth but cloaks your heaven.  Courage to claim it, that is all!"

May this tool be a blessing. . .

Focused Deep Breathing

Deep breathing is the foundation of many relaxation techniques and some forms of meditation.  It is an important part of the practice of mindfulness, and of quieting the mind.  It helps bring our attention back from what we're encountering in the world, to ourselves.  There are many types of deep breathing, and all are helpful.  Deep breathing techniques are very simple to do, and over time and with practice can help us get more in touch with our inner voice, and our own truth.  The hardest part of this is making a commitment to regular practice.

The technique that I teach to patients at work is called focused deep breathing.  In class, people usually practice this technique for about 5 minutes, and almost always report feeling more calm and centered in that short amount of time.  It's a good idea to begin in a quiet place where you can sit for a few minutes with your eyes closed.  Closing our eyes helps us reduce distraction and bring our attention within. 

Begin by noticing whatever you notice outside of yourself; outside of your own space, so to speak.  This could be any number of things, voices of people nearby, the hum of the refrigerator, temperature, anything that is not you.  This is the place where our attention is focused most of the time, on things outside of ourselves.  That isn't a problem, because we are in the world and dealing with things.  But we also need an amount of time when we are "off", not attending to the details of living but being aware of our inner world.

Gently begin to shift your attention to become aware of what you notice on the inside.  You may notice your heart beating, your chest rising and falling with your breathing, or the weight of yourself in the chair.  This is the place where we will keep our attention, as much as possible, during deep breathing.  Everything else will wait.

Notice your breathing, whether it is fast or slow, or shallow or deep.  Allow yourself to begin to breathe a little more deeply, but comfortably; there is no need to force it.  As you begin to center yourself in your deep, comfortable breathing, remind yourself that right now, all I have to do is breathe.

During this time your mind will wander, because our minds like to be busy.  When you notice that your thoughts have drifted away, gently bring them back to your breathing, without judgement.  Spend as many minutes as you'd like being centered in your breathing.  When you are ready, gently open your eyes.

I had a woman in class yesterday who was struck by the idea that all I have to do is breathe.  She said that the realization that she could actually live like that, even for a few minutes at a time, changed her world.  What I saw was that it helped her realize that she has a choice about how she will experience her moments.   She created a much bigger space to be present in creating her world.

I sometimes use a deep breathing technique before I begin my meditation or other spiritual practice.  It is a simple but very powerful way to connect with our truth.

May this tool be a blessing. . .

Conversations With God

God speaks to my husband through song lyrics, but he has to work a bit for it.  It has become an almost daily occurrence.  He doesn't remember song lyrics, but he remembers the tunes of songs.  I, on the other hand, remember lyrics.  Not so much the tune, which is most likely why I don't sing, at least in public.  Well, only in the car, or around people who I know will love me anyway. . .

This morning, my husband came in to the bedroom, asking me what this song was that had come in to his head during his meditation.  He was humming a tune and trying to throw in a few words.  It's become a funny exercise in the morning, listening to him humming and trying to get the song.  We usually figure it out, and he is always delighted when I tell him the lyrics.  They always have some type of encouraging message for him.  He remembers them through the day, and has started recording them in his journal.

God communicates to us in many different ways.  Neale Walsh in Conversations with God has transcribed his own conversations with God on the subject of communication, and many other topics.  In the book, God says that he talks to everyone, all the time.  The question is not to whom he talks, but who listens.  This is great stuff!  He says that the most common form of communication is through feeling.  Feeling is the language of the soul.  I so much agree.  Through our feelings the body hears our spirit.

God also communicates through thought, often through images and pictures.  Experience is the next level of communication.  Finally, when feelings, thoughts and experience fail, God says in Walsh's book that he uses words.  Words are the least effective means of communication, because they are often misunderstood. They are noises that stand for feelings, thoughts and experience.

I have read Conversations With God more than once, and love the message.  Remembering that we can so easily hear God's voice is an immeasurably wonderful gift.

So how do we know if what we are feeling, thinking, experiencing or hearing is from God?  In the book, God makes the distinction clear:  "Mine is always your highest thought, your clearest word, your grandest feeling.  Anything less is from a different source.  The highest thought is always that thought which contains joy.  That clearest words are those words which contain truth.  The grandest feeling is that of love."

To remember this always: that in the midst of the worst life can dish out, I can trust my joyous thoughts; that is where the truth lies.  That I can always speak the truth as I know it, and it will serve the highest good.  And that I should always express my love openly, even when, especially when, it seems the most difficult to do.

To hear, we must first become silent.  We need to quiet, as best we can, our reactions, and wait for that which brings awareness of truth, joy and love.  Lately, as I ask a question of God, and I wait and listen, it feels almost as if I am listening to the air around me.  But I know it is much more than that.  I am listening for my answer in the quiet space that contains my immediate surroundings but also all that was ever created.  In the space between my thoughts, I listen for the voice of joy.

May this tool be a blessing. . .

Forgetting and Remembering

I woke up this morning feeling out of sorts after a conversation I had with a loved one last night.  She has an ongoing situation within her family that she is having a very hard time navigating.  There is nothing I can do but listen, and it makes me sad to hear how negatively she is being affected by it. 

As I often do when I am having difficulty seeing my way out of troubled thinking, I decided to write a letter to God.  In that letter, I explained to God (as if she didn't already know!) that it is difficult for me to stay centered in my knowing that all is for good, especially when around me is so much fear.  I asked how I remember the truth in the face of job uncertainties in my own family, the pain and struggle that so many of my dear ones are experiencing, the loss of so many lives in natural disasters and other causes.  How do I remember, in the midst of it, that it all serves a divine purpose?

God responded simply and eloquently, and the words washed away my forgetting and brought me peace.  He reminded me that my path is to see the lie within the fear.  The situations in this life make up a glorious but very brief part of eternity, and there is a much bigger process unfolding in the issues that people are facing.  In the middle of immense suffering, they are safe.  I was reminded that when I can appreciate the confusion and pain and fear as a very necessary part of our path to the truth, that is seeing light in the darkness.  I need to be grateful for the challenges that my loves ones and all people experience; it is through our humanness that we get to chose, over and over again throughout eternity, how to express our inner light.

The act of turning my attention from my loud, fearful thoughts to the quieter voice of God reconnected me to my truth, and I was healed.  I was able to relax and breathe easier.  I am so grateful for that small but ever-present voice that is the light in the darkness. 

Humanity is going through a difficult but important time.  All of us are experiencing and watching others experience incredible trials.  The process of human evolution is accelerating, and that change by necessity creates new levels of chaos.  But in those challenges is our opportunity to choose, and choose again, the path that we know in our hearts is there, to the best and highest in all of us.  We are all longing to know ourselves, individually and collectively, in our true splendor.

We can't let temporary conditions convince us that it is too late; eternity is much larger than that.  We are part of the creative consciousness that imagined every good thing you have ever seen or heard of in this world.  The consciousness that created every life-saving medication, every language, every culture, the technology that connects us all, all acts of beauty and works of art, we are created from.  It lives in and expresses as each of us.  All we need do is remember, and choose that truth, for ourselves and our world.

This morning I stopped to listen to the gentle truth within me, and remembered, again.  I acknowledged in my loved one her perfection, and her power as part of divine creative consciousness, moving without error to the light.

May this tool be a blessing. . .