Taking Care

I’m grateful that when I felt myself starting to lose my peace this afternoon, I took a time out. This is a loving action on my part, and my soul was thrilled... after all, the break was to nourish my spirit and connect more finely with God.

I read some spiritual literature, words by Emmet Fox, and was caught by the affirmation “I am surrounded by the Love and Peace of God.” Repeating this over and over with my eyes closed, I relaxed. Fifteen minutes or so later, I felt refreshed and ready to move forward in my work.

I’ve learned many tools to make my day flow more easily and joyfully, but I don’t always employ them. The main reason is usually “I’m too busy.” But this is deadly, for without nourishing my soul and my relationship with God, I deteriorate mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and physically. And, life just ain’t fun (neither am I).

Dear Spirit –
Thank You for my knowledge of the many ways I can nurture my relationship with my soul and You, and for the willingness to take care and do so.

The Two F's

“Face every situation with faith in your heart.” - Daily Guideposts, December 9, 2009

It’s interesting that this uplifting, affirmative quote made me think of a contrary, but remarkably related one: “F--k Everything And Run” and its more gentler companion, “False Evidence Appearing Real”, the word fear being the acronym for each.

Faith and fear are opposites, and these expressions convey that. When I’m in faith, believing in Spirit, I truly can face every situation. Without faith in my heart, fear can easily set in and my willingness and ability to face any situation becomes dubious. Faith and fear cannot exist simultaneously and so I’m always at choice.

My spiritual practice strives to strengthen the faith in my heart and thereby weaken fear, along with ego.

Dear Spirit-
I thank You that the prescription for fear is faith.

Beginnings and H.P.

"With willingness we will begin to perceive God's hand in even the smallest events in our life. We will grow in our acceptance that all of our life circumstances are specifically given to us by a Higher Power who wants us to be all that we can. We'll never be given more than we can handle. However, we can be certain that many experiences will push us in directions we never dreamed possible." - Excerpt from In God's Care, November 1

With a new month beginning, my new life does too. I left my home in Gilbert this evening to travel alone to the Verde Valley without Rog. It feels strange to not be with him and I won't be until Wednesday afternoon; the last time we spent even a night apart had to be 2+ years ago. I'm staying in temporary quarters (with a friend) so that I can start a new position in Red Rock Country on schedule, and then will move into our new home in Sedona in a few days when Rog will join me. There is no doubt that God's hand has been involved in this series of adventures - big time.

And, it's been challenging at times but God did not give me more than I could handle - after all, I made it this far, yes?! I persevered with patience, faith, and trust (not perfectly). And, in the end, Source, has supplied me with all that I need to start our new life - a life of new beginnings rich with community, service, Nature, and spiritual practice.

Rog and I feel that by living in Sedona God's plan for our life will become much clearer and we'll step into it with enthusiasm. And, I'm certain it will be a new life of experiences that will push us in directions we never dreamed possible. But I can continue to lean on Higher Power throughout it all.

Surrender - Again

“... turmoil... would disappear if we comfortably relied on God to take charge of our life every moment... willingness to let God have total charge of our life. If we do, we will know a new peacefulness – immediately.

I will let God be in total charge of my life today. I’ll not be controlled by fear. God will smooth my way.” – In God’s Care, October 26

Yesterday’s house hunting expedition in Sedona held many lessons. I had been praying my butt off, had friends praying for us, and I had signed up on about five prayer sites for strangers to pray for me. So what was the prayer I was asking help with? That we find and secure our perfect home in Sedona with ease and grace in a perfect way TODAY. I felt we had to find it TODAY, because I have a position starting in a week there and we’ve no place yet to call home.

We didn’t leave Sedona yesterday consciously having our new home, and maybe one of the ones we drove by is it. But it doesn’t matter.

I realized that I had once again been trying to control things, that I had expectations (not just expectancy) that set me up for disappointment, that my ego was having a grand ‘ol time. We’d done all the footwork and though I thought I’d been leaving the results up to Spirit, I wasn’t. Finally, when tired and frustrated, I had had it, and I hit bottom and surrendered. There I found peace, and I relaxed.

It was a painful reminder again of the need to really surrender and let God unfold His Divine Plan, to let God be in charge of my life, not just in this matter, but in everything. I am not in charge, my way doesn’t work. I can set my intention and express my desire, but ultimately God will work things out that are best for me. I must trust – and let go fully.

As we go house hunting again tomorrow, I go with expectancy and hope. But if we don’t secure the place, I know that’s God’s plan, that the time is just not right, that all the pieces are not quite in place - and I’m fine with that. Come next Monday, when my new position starts in Sedona, God will have worked out a perfect plan for me. I might not know what it is now, but God does. God has been preparing me beautifully along the way and will continue to do so. I surrender to God, my Creator, my Source.

Success

Success has usually been talked about in terms of material wealth.

When I was in the dungeon of despair during my active binging days, material possessions could not bring me peace, love, or joy. When I came to believe in a Power greater than myself, it was even clearer to me that living a successful life could not be defined heavily in terms of the physical world.

These 19+ years later, and especially in the midst of the current economic, political, crazy times, I have no doubt of the meaning of success. A ‘successful’ day is one measured by how loving I’ve been in my interactions, how peaceful I feel within, and how connected I feel to Spirit.

The principles in the 12 Step Program include: honesty, faith, courage, integrity, willingness, humility, brotherly love, perseverance, and service. As I go about the activities of my day and when I reflect back on it when it has ended, I know it’s been a successful one when I have practiced those principles in all of my affairs to the best of my ability, acknowledging God’s Presence throughout it all.

Time for God

I’m sitting here on hold, waiting for a GoDaddy rep to get on the line to troubleshoot a problem with a client’s website. I’m glad to say that instead of bemoaning hearing that it’ll be a 12” wait, I’m taking it as an opportunity to spend time with God – and I sure need to today, as much as possible!

A priority has been to ask for prayer support, particularly from a Unity chaplain. I had signed up for the Unity of Sedona mailing list, and a few days ago received the “Thought for the Week”. I’ve not met the sender, but Marie welcomed replies and offered prayer support.

So with my telephone headset on, listening to Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” (which I love) while on hold, I wrote Marie. I humbly told her of our situation and asked for prayers. Her response within minutes included “As I read your email, I thought here is a couple being the activity of God as strength, courage and knowing what God wants for you; therefore, I am holding you in prayer knowing that perfect plan is already in place for you. I encourage you to continue staying open and receptive to what God has in store for you.” She also asked if it was okay to ask the “Team of Prayer Chaplains to be holding you in prayer?” Such a question!

Being in contact with a person of such heart, faith, and encouragement is surely uplifting. Who knew I could be so pleased with being placed on hold?! Oh, and the website problem was easily remedied.

Thank You, God, for my awareness, willingness, and creativity to see the opportunities throughout the day where I may find time to connect with You. With You, I always find peace.

It All Starts With Thought

Over the years, I’ve heard the Bible quote “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). But I’ve also heard that the word “logos”, from which “word” comes from, can be translated to “thought”. Hence, we then get “In the beginning was the Thought, and the Thought was with God, and the Thought was God.” Thoughts are pretty powerful, I’d say.

A Chinese proverb states: "Be careful of your thoughts, for your thoughts inspire your words. Be careful of your words, for your words precede your actions. Be careful of your actions, for your actions become your habits. Be careful of your habits, for your habits build your character. Be careful of your character, for your character decides your destiny."

How true, how true.

Today’s reading contained In God’s Care reminds me that “Although it takes practice to remember to let our Higher Power direct our actions, it will become a habit in time – the healthiest habit we’ll ever develop.”

This is the primary habit for me to cultivate – once again. Sometimes I’m really present, checking in with Spirit, regularly asking for guidance and the willingness with the ability to carry it out. Sometimes, (like yesterday – see blog), I am so wrapped up in minutiae that the greater - and more important – issue of what is God’s Will is taken over by my ego.

If I am to develop healthy habits that ultimately affect my destiny, then there is no doubt I must think about and commune with Spirit. I must be in constant contact with my Higher Power, which this action in and of itself will help me to develop healthy thoughts, words, actions, habits, character, and finally, my destiny. It’s a loop.

How important is thought indeed.

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.

Egos

Yesterday I got irritated with someone I really love and get along tremendously with. It was the same old pattern and I was sick of it.

My peace was disturbed and I wanted it back, so I gave serious consideration around the matter and prayed for God’s guidance.

I got the idea of separating the person from the ego. So I placed the ego aside, and then I felt peace. Once again I felt the love that my own ego had tried to annihilate. Ahhh – what a wonderful feeling!

Also, I realized that whatever I was disturbed about was really about me, not the other person. The pattern was mine to claim and hence mine to change. This is the case always.

When I met with the person again, the energy was back on track to its usual peaceful, loving place. This incident was a tremendous learning for me and one I hope to remember.

Thank You, God, for Your guidance and for my willingness to listen and be open to change.