Spiritual Contracts

I have a friend who talks a lot about spiritual contracts.

My understanding is that a spiritual contract is the agreement between two souls to get together in a future lifetime to learn and grow together. It may be for business, love, familial, etc. experiences. And, my understanding is that once the contract has been fulfilled, each party is free to move on.

I think this concept is an interesting one and a most plausible explanation for the reason why some of the people who once were such a prominent part of my life are no longer in it at all.

Take for instance my friend, Gloria. We met in college and she became like a sister to me, the one I never had. We partied, ‘man-hunted’, shared life together in many ways. She married my favorite brother, and was a primary relationship in my life for most of 33 years. Then almost overnight she was gone.

One might say our relationship couldn’t survive her divorce after 25 years of marriage to my brother. Or that she was so overwhelmed from exhaustion and grief over the ten-year battle her ‘baby’ sister waged against cancer that she was a big part of. Or that she truly couldn’t forgive me for something she had imagined as a transgression of trust. Or... the stories could be endless, and I don’t suspect I’ll ever know what happened (although ‘the door is always open').

The idea that we had a spiritual contract that had been fulfilled makes a lot of sense to me. We had our time together, full of laughter, tears, confidences, etc. She was the very first person (in a platonic sense) aside from the few hugs I had received by some relatives, who embraced hugging as a natural phenomenon. She taught me its importance both emotionally and physically; she taught me about love.

I’m so grateful that Gloria was able to attend my wedding and help celebrate my finally finding The Man, the life partner I had so yearned for and that she was so well aware of since our college days. She was out of my life within my first year of marriage.

I can think of other folks who have come into my life, taught me some important lessons and vice versa I’m hoping, and then vanished. I’ve long since gotten over the pain of their departure and now the idea of spiritual contracts closes the door on questions of ‘why?’

Dear Spirit of the Most High-
Thank You for the people who agreed to meet me back here for another round of life learning and love. Bless them, bless them, bless them.

Help Me

Good morning, God, Holy Spirit, angels, spirit guides, elements, elementals, and all those interested in my upliftment –

My prayer today is “Help me!”

God: Help you with what?

Me: Help me with everything in my life! Help me with my relationships, my finances, my physical health, my mental being. Above all, help me clear and strengthen my connection with You.

And, let’s not forget: please help me to manage my time, to be peaceful regardless of appearances, to have mercy, and to forgive.

Me Too!

“Great joy and satisfaction come from expressing love, compassion and generosity. Since I cannot fully express these qualities while holding resentment against another, I strengthen my spiritual practice through forgiveness.” - Daily Word, Sunday, December 13, 2009

I cannot fully express the qualities of love, compassion and generosity while holding resentment against myself either! And, I can forgive and start anew at any time.

Thank You, God, for Your healing of me - body, mind, and spirit. I go out into the world expressing love, compassion, and generosity... expressing the qualities of You.

The Freedom of Forgiveness

Today being Independence Day in the USA brings to mind freedom and the rights we have been given through the Bill of Rights, the name by which the first ten amendments to the U. S. Constitution are known.

The Bill of Rights grants us freedom of religion, speech and the press, assembly, the right to bear arms, protection from unreasonable search and seizure, etc.

But there is a freedom that is at least as important as those stated in the Bill of Rights, and I grant it to myself when I practice forgiveness.

When I hold resentment against anyone, I am binding myself to that person by a cosmic link, a real though mental chain. Until I cut that tie, I am a prisoner in bondage, and living a peaceful, loving, and joyous life is out of my reach.

Emmet Fox, in The Sermon on the Mount: The Key to Success in Life, states “The technique of forgiveness is simple enough, and not very difficult to manage when you understand how. The only thing that is essential is willingness to forgive” (page 173).

These days, thanks to a lot of 12 Step and other spiritual work, I find myself only occasionally, if not rarely, in the bondage of resentment. And when I do, I am willing to let go -with the help of God- and practice forgiveness. I set myself free (and the other person too). That is a freedom that extends far beyond any that could be bestowed upon me by a governmental decree.

Thank You, Spirit, for the various forms of freedoms I am blessed with by living in this country and living within Your Presence.

On This Day

From my files...

On This Day

Mend a quarrel. Search out a forgotten friend. Dismiss suspicion, and replace it with trust. Write a love letter. Share some treasure. Give a soft answer. Encourage youth. Manifest your loyalty in a word or deed.

Keep a promise. Find the time. Forego a grudge. Forgive an enemy. Listen. Apologize if you were wrong. Try to understand. Flout envy. Examine your demands on others. Think first of someone else. Appreciate, be kind, be gentle. Laugh a little more. Deserve confidence.

Take up arms against malice. Express your gratitude. Decry complacency. Worship your God. Gladden the heart of a child. Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth. Speak your love. Speak it again. Speak it still again. Speak it still once again.

- Author Unknown

Morning Prayer 02.16.09

Dear Father;

Please show me the channels through which we should expect Your abundance to flow through us, and please remove any obstacles within in me that prevent me from receiving Your good.

I ask that You remove all defects of character that stand in the way of my usefulness to You and to my experiencing peace. May I forgive all who I think have trespassed against me and shower all with love so that we can all go Home to You together.

Amen

Practicing What Is Preached

Today was indeed an historical day for the United States of America in many ways and an historical inauguration.

In the 8 years that have passed since the last main presidential inauguration, my spiritual experience and knowledge have progressed and been enlarged, so I was particularly curious as to how religion and prayer would play a role in this political event.

I enjoyed the prayers, feeling they were mostly inclusive of all peoples, and full of admirable qualities that we all can strive toward. Now, I hope the sentiments expressed are put into action, including by the man who gave the Inaugural Invocation, Pastor Rick Warren.

Below is the Inaugural Invocation in its entirety taken from a Christian political blog site:

Let us pray.

Almighty God, our Father, everything we see and everything we can’t see exists because of you alone. It all comes from you. It all belongs to you. It all exists for your glory.

History is your story. The Scripture tells us, “Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God. The Lord is One.” And you are the compassionate and merciful one. And you are loving to everyone you have made.

Now, today, we rejoice not only in America’s peaceful transfer of power for the 44th time. We celebrate a hingepoint of history with the inauguration of our first African American president of the United States. We are so grateful to live in this land, a land of unequaled possibility, where the son of an African immigrant can rise to the highest level of our leadership. And we know today that Dr. King and a great cloud of witnesses are shouting in heaven.

Give to our new President, Barack Obama, the wisdom to lead us with humility, the courage to lead us with integrity, the compassion to lead us with generosity. Bless and protect him, his family, Vice President Biden, the cabinet, and every one of our freely elected leaders.

Help us, O God, to remember that we are Americans, united not by race, or religion, or blood, but to our commitment to freedom and justice for all. When we focus on ourselves, when we fight each other, when we forget you, forgive us. When we presume that our greatness and our prosperity is ours alone, forgive us. When we fail to treat our fellow human beings and all the earth with the respect that they deserve, forgive us. And as we face these difficult days ahead, may we have a new birth of clarity in our aims, responsibility in our actions, humility in our approaches, and civility in our attitudes, even when we differ.

Help us to share, to serve and to seek the common good of all. May all people of goodwill today join together to work for a more just, a more healthy and a more prosperous nation and a peaceful planet. And may we never forget that one day all nations and all people will stand accountable before you. We now commit our new president and his wife, Michelle and his daughters, Malia and Sasha, into your loving care.

I humbly ask this in the name of the one who changed my life, Yeshua, Isa, Jesus [Spanish pronunciation], Jesus, who taught us to pray:

“Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen."

Evening Prayer

Evening Prayer
By Chris Celine

Divine Light,
Mother-Father God ~~
I surrender to You this day.
I give everything about this day into the Blessed Arms of Love.
I forgive myself for any mistaken ideas and painful images I have made.
I willingly accept the healing Grace of True Love.
Where I forgot the truth of my beloved self,
Where I forgot the truth of my beloveds,
I open my heart and mind
And accept the healing of my limited made-up past.
I am so willing, Dear God, to be healed as I sleep.
I am willing to begin again.
I place tomorrow in Your hands.
I am willing to wake up and experience a happy dream,
A new day,
A new opportunity to remember Love.
Amen.

[http://www.chrisceline.com/services/prayers/evening.html]

Forgiveness

Today has been an exercise in forgiveness and a lot about letting go and letting God.

I have to forgive myself for trying to live a certain way in a world that is an ever shifting illusion where people are doing the best they can - including moi – and it simply is impossible to work anywhere near perfect.

I have to forgive myself and let go of expectations.

Okay, I do forgive myself for still playing the role of “good little girl.”

I forgive myself for thinking that others hold the same values as I do.

I forgive myself for living in the past and projecting into the future. There is only Now.

I forgive myself for not having answers to situations.

I forgive myself for judging my thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

I forgive, turning it over to Spirit to be healed, and I am free.

I am Willing

Dear God,

I am willing to be at peace.
I am willing to look at all things through eyes of love.
I am willing to be everything I can be.
I am willing to be healed.
I am willing to serve.
I am willing to release the past.
I am willing to live full-out.
I am willing to surrender my ego.
I am willing to be illumined.
I am willing to represent Your love.
I am willing to forgive myself and all others.
I am willing to share my abundance
I am willing to love.
I am willing to be all that I am.
Use me, Holy Spirit.
I am willing.
Thank You.
Amen.

- Ric Beattie