Life's Loving Memories

 LVCSL's GOT  TALENT!! "The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned." Maya Angelou,                    --Rainbow in the clouds I am amazed at all of the hands that go into redecorating a youth church space. From the many minds who visioned what it would look like; the wise and wonderful persons who moved furniture, cleaned and pared excess items in and from the cupboards; to the painters and the trim layers and finally, the rainbow on the wall--it was real magic in it's unfolding. Thank you, thank you, thank you to all who had a part in it's unfoldment! Also, a gigantic thank you to Rev Staci and Rev Cheryl for their whole-hearted support in this endeavor. So now we have built it, how do we draw new kids in? Watch for some fun events in the near future to build the interest. Also, if you have kids or grandkids, invite them to check our youth church out. Let them see for t...

 CHANGE YOUR THINKING, CHANGE YOUR LIFE Shift your perspective. We are always at choice as to how we respond to anything, and when we choose to respond with calm, the world is a kinder place. Life's Garden of Weekly Wisdom,              Sandra Lindsey Smith Has there ever been a time in your life when it seemed like it was one problem after another? For me, it was like this every day for the past week.  Being stung by a hornet; ordering something through amazon for myself, and realizing I had sent it to my sister by accident; and showing up for a blood draw on the wrong day. Now I am taking care of all the mishaps, and making efforts to clear my consciousness and remain focused in the moment. So if I am always at choice, I need to be mindful enough to make a focused choice. My thinking needs a once over. So, I am going to follow my every day, every way plan. Journal, write a treatment for myself, read a Science of Mind book. The Spiritual Min...

 BUILD IT AND THEY WILL COME "If you build it, they will come." (Field of Dreams 1989) We are right in the middle of remodeling our Youth Church Room, and last Sunday I arrived early at the center to finish organizing the room. It will still take some time to finish, but at least the essentials were put away in the cupboards. Who should walk in at the start of the service, but two very bright kids, ready to participate in our Youth Service. We learned about kindness, and how it is often sparked by a smile. We handed out smile cards to some of our members, towards the end of service. All of this shouted, "If you build it, they will come!" There is more to come in the decorating of the room, but it has been blissfully blessed with love. laughter and learning! Share the word; kids, grandkids, neighbors with kids, all are welcome! "An interesting question to ask is, Do we find God, or does God find us? When we are ready, I think  the voice of God speaks to us. Just...

STEP OUT OF THE HAMSTER WHEEL  "I don't have to be perfect, I'm doing the best I can, I give myself permission to be just who I am." Karen Drucker Do you ever find yourself fixated on something that went wrong in the past 24 hours? Over and over again you replay the situation?  When that happens, cut yourself some slack, long enough to remember all of the hundreds of other things that went right the same day. The past is indeed the past, and you may let it go. In the present moment, move on with mindfulness and know, that you don't have to be perfect, and that you are doing the best that you can. On the occasions that I find myself worrying about something that has happened or is going to happen in the future, I have found that the best solution is to journal about it, and then conclude it with an affirmative prayer treatment. For example, a week ago today I had a tooth extracted by an oral surgeon. My regular dentist  referred me to him because of the position of...

FIRE AND WATER " Living things have been doing just that for a long, long time. Through every kind of disaster and setback and catastrophe. We are survivors. " Robert Fulghum While watching "The Weather Channel" last week, I look at all the places where a fire was burning. I remarked, "wouldn't it be easier to show where a fire wasn't burning?" Then I look at the pouring rains and floodings  that are occurring as well, and I wonder why the storm water couldn't occur  immediately where the fires had started; but weather isn't always logical. All weather is very unpredictable, and very often devastating damage takes place. Tornados, raging fires, flash flooding may be forecast so many times in one area, that people become complacent about the fact that the warnings have happened, and the event never actually occurred. Sort of like the story of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf". Climate is changing, and weather predictions are becoming more a...

 THE POWER OF BELIEF "To think only the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best." The Optimist Creed,                     -- Christian D. Larson In Science of Mind, there is a message that is quoted often. "Know, and know that you know." This is a saying that means, know what you desire, and follow it with your belief, pray about it, until you know it is so. Give substance to your affirmative prayers! Now, doing this may seem like your desire may never happen, and if that is what you truly believe, it will probably never happen. Just like you plant your plants, you know you must fertilize them and water them, tend them with love. Positive attention to them makes them grow vibrantly. The very same thing applies to individuals, care must be given to your desire. If it's getting in shape, start imaging all that you can do when your habits change to support you. For some of my own siblings, they thought about how wo...

 LIVE, LAUGH, AND BE WELL "Love, laugh, and be well speaks to the idea of seeing the good in each and every situation. When we can find the good. shift happens." Sandra Lindsey Smith,               --Life's Garden of Weekly Wisdom" It is said that laughter is the best way to improve a person's mood. fearful, lonely, unhappy, going through a difficult situation, all can be helped with a little bit of laughter. I have a friend whose husband died, and she said what turned her around from reliving that fact, was sitting down and watching reruns of I Love Lucy. S he said it felt healing to be able to laugh, and take her mind off of the painful sadness. If you are anything like me, something may happen, and I feel that my life is crumbling around me; but after a little time has passed, I can look back to see the reason why that event happened. I went through a divorce at 48, and I realized that it opened a path for me to discover my wonderful new f...

 DON'T LET LIFE PASS YOU BY "The power of the One  Mind creates for us." Ernest Holmes Are you a part of your own life? Or do you let life pass you by? Are you awake, aware and focused on what is happening in the world around you? Do you have something you enjoy doing? I am retired, and I don't drive as much as I used to, but every day I rise and write a little. It's something I enjoy doing. Writing in my journal helps me to focus, and then I write a prayer treatment, remembering what I am thankful for. This starts my day off right. I feel blessed by the things I still love to do, reading, writing, talking to friends and family over the phone. These may seem like little things, but they help me to feel connected. When opportunities present themselves, I travel. Being retired for a few years now, I still get out and walk, and I love to read books and take classes. I love to treasure each moment and to shine light wherever I go. Events that happen around me seem unb...

JUST BREATHE "The last of the human freedoms--to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."       Victor Frankl Yesterday at The Las Vegas Center for Spiritual living, Rev Cheryl gave a wonderful talk, on remembering to breathe. She shared that pausing to breathe, brings our body and mind to the present moment; that fear, anger, or anything that brings us angst, can often be lessened, by taking a calming deep breathe. Another key point that she reminded us of, is that we don't breathe alone, Spirit and community are always there, if we take a deep breathe to remember that. As a young child, I was very shy. I often had things I wanted to say, but I wasn't always brave enough to share my thoughts. Somewhere along the way, I grew into finding what I enjoyed, theatre. I found other people who enjoyed some of the same things that I enjoyed doing. That's when I found my family of loving friends, and then it became hard to ...

 JULY IS BUSTING OUT ALL OVER💥 "When I think back into my life, I know that I did what I had to do at the time I was doing it. Would I have changed some of those things? Probably yes, but I also know that everything I have done in my life has brought me to the person I am today." Sandra Lindsey Smith,            Life's Garden Grows Out of June into July, the year is officially half way over; but there is still a half of the year to go. Time to think of the new possibilities for being kind and helpful to the myriad of people who need our love and compassion at this moment in our history? We need to  concentrate on what we can do, and trust that what we are doing will be mirrored by others. Helping at homeless shelters, creating food banks, providing school supplies to those who need them; and keeping these United States in our prayers, to remember that liberty and justice for all really means just that, "Justice for all" . I was delighted to hear ...

MAKING A DIFFRENCE AND IMPACTING THE WORLD "You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make." Jane Goodall  I love this quote by Jane Goodall. Jane was always a curious person. When she was a young child her mother was looking all over their property to find where Jane had gotten to. She was finally found inside the henhouse underneath the chickens to see how an egg was laid. This curiosity has continued through her experience, observing life, and becoming a zoologist, primatologist, and anthropologist. She is probably is best known for her work with primates in Africa. Roots and Shoots is a program she founded for children to learn more about plants and animals. She was named a United Nations Messenger of Peace. I speak of her today, because she is an inspiring difference maker in this world. At 91 she is still growing strong. When she was in h...

 LIGHT DISPELLS DARKNESS There is no better way to thank God for your sight than by giving a helping hand to someone in the dark.  --Helen Keller                     Through my younger years I was afraid of the dark. My parents bought me a lamp that had a reading light on the top, and a nightlight on the bottom. That helped to calm my fears. Through the years I discovered, that, as Raymond Charles Baker said, "Fear is the dark room where negatives are developed."  In my forties I discovered New Thought, and Ernest Holmes', The Science of Mind. It taught  me, that God is Light, and Love and Peace, and Kindness. Now it seems to me that we need to remember and practice what Spirituality means. If it means, Justice for all, loving our neighbors as ourselves, caring for others who can use our help when they are sick or in need of human assistance, then we are not going about it in the best possible way. Exercising our...

 THE GIFT OF LISTENING Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. Leo Buscaglia Can you think of someone  who is a very good listener?  I feel gifted for having quite a few of them in my life. One of my favorite listeners was Rev. Dr. Jane Claypool. She was an amazing minister, teacher and friend. I studied with her to be a practitioner, and then to be a Religious Science Minister, along with Rev. Dr. Heather Clark. What a gift I was blessed with, having these two individuals as my teachers. I remember Rev. Jane listening to me as I gave a prayer treatment, or had a long-winded answer to a question. She would listen, and then share her wonderful rendition of what I had just said, along with  a few pearls of wisdom. Rev. Heather was also a good listener, and teacher as well (she still is). She would listen and then as...

 GET STARTED-OR PUT IT OFF? Within you is a divine capacity to manifest and attract all that you need or desire." Manifest Your Destiny                                                     - -Wayne W. Dyer,                    When an important project lies ahead of you, do you start in right away, or do you put it off while you mull it over for awhile? Is it procrastination, or is it allowing your mind the time to germinate new ideas? Whether you jump right in, or allow the percolation process, know that the words and action steps will flow when you are ready.  There are many times in my life that I have written books or articles, and sometimes I spend time worrying about how they will ever be published, and what steps I need to take to accomplish the task. So, I take it to prayer, and I realize ...

 CLOTHES PINS AND SUNFLOWERS "As long as space endures, as long as sentient beings remain, until then, may I too remain and dispel the miseries of the world."     --Dalai Lama Growing up for ten years in the Midwest, two things remain in my memory about summer, hanging laundry on the clothes line, and seeing those bright yellow sunflowers in the yard. Both of these things remind me of warm summer days. I try to forget the humidity, but it still brings a fond memory of the whole family sleeping in the living room in front of the screen door, for a little cool air. Clothes pins connect people, and sunflowers put them in a cheerful mood.  Now I live in Las Vegas, Nevada. The summer is hot, very hot; but clothes dry a little quicker on the line. I still feel that I am connected; but this time, I feel it is connection with my Spiritual family. Sunflowers remind me of what I want to share with other people. Sunshine, cheer, light, love, and peace, are all  things...

WINNING AN ARGUMENT BY REFUSING TO ARGUE "Meekness is that strength appropriated when you do not argue, when you do not become angry or boastful and proud, when you do not insist upon having your rights in a quarrelsome manner....Meekness is the strength by which you win an argument by refusing to argue." Raymond Holliwell,                              --Working With the Law Do you every find yourself arguing with someone and you know that whatever you say will never change his/her mind? Did it take a long period of time? Did it every change another person's mind? It was very often like that with my Mom, up until the time that I discovered The Science of Mind, the argument could go on for hours. Post Science of Mind, when she made a statement I disagreed with, I learned to say, "I never thought about it that way." Then, I could change the subject. How often do we continue to argue over some trivial little thing?...

CHILDREN ARE OUR FUTURE "I believe that children are our future, teach them well and let them lead the way."                             Music by Michael Masser, and Lyrics by Linda Creed. Made popular in 1985 by Whitney Houston, with a new title, "The Greatest Love of All". I just returned from Camp Buckhorn yesterday. Jennifer drove me all the way to Pine Grove Idyllwild, and together we spent three days going through teen advisor training. It was a blast of information and inspiration. The weather was chilled, there was fog and a little bit of rain; but the warmth of everyone we met made even bad weather seem pretty darn nice. This trip made me wonder about how youth of all ages, are attracted to attend Youth Church. Maybe it is just word of mouth, or inviting grandparents to invite the grand children to a center near you, or letting parents know that there is a place to bring kids for a Sunday for fun and learning...

 JOYFUL CHANGE "Place your attention on the attitudes, situations and people who will add to your well-being." Raymond Charles Barker,                        --The Power of Decision When I first attended a Center for Spiritual Living , it was called, The Center for Joyful Living. I was attracted to the idea of living joyfully. I was going through the process of releasing my first husband, and was not very joyful. I attended the Bonita Church of Religious Science (as it was called at the time). The first day there I discovered my new Spiritual Family. For the first time ever, I discovered my true faith teaching. I learned that there were many pathways to God, and that each person resonates with one. Sort of like pictures in a museum, some works speak to you and some don't. I got involved in classes, became a Religious Science Practitioner, and then went on to become a Minister. My life changed when I found a Spiritual Tra...

RELEASE HESITATION  "Sometimes it takes several similar experiences before we take the blinders off our eyes and wake up to our own magnificence." Sandra Lindsey Smith,        Life's Garden of Weekly Wisdom Are there times in your life where you want to do something, but you are not sure if it would work or not? You ruminate on what steps it would take to move ahead with an idea? What would I need, would I have enough money, how long would it take to accomplish? Perhaps hesitation then turns into procrastination. There you are with an idea that was never allowed to happen. There have been many times that this has happened to me. I have often just let the idea pass without ever finishing it. Then I discovered Science of Mind, and I started pursuing my ideas. The outcome has been very different. Currently the Practitioners at my Center and I are working on a project, writing a prayer book for kids. The project is written, and I was worrying about how it could be f...

SPIRIT IS KINDNESS, PEACE, AND TRUTH  How do we create a life of harmony, laughter and love? It's an inside job. It starts on the inside and spirals out. We must express it in our own individual lives, and then send it out into the world." Life's Garden of Weekly Wisdom,                          Sandra Lindsey Smith There are many paths to God, but they are all paths to the same ideals. Love, Wisdom, Truth, Light, Prosperity and Joy are all very specials things that all faiths possess. Any Spirit loving soul wants the best life for their family and friends; all want to be treated with fairness and kindness; most would agree that stealing, and killing are not anything to take lightly. There is a Creative Intelligence behind all things created; humans, animals, plants, our Earth's gifts, and the solar system that surrounds them all. Life is a real life miracle that we are born into and out of. "Each day is a gift, that'...

 THE PRESENT MOMENT "Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference." --Winston Churchill Living in the present moment is such a gift. The past has gone by and there is no way to change it. The future is yet to come and we may plan for it, but it doesn't always turn out as it was planned.The only time we can knowingly change something, is in the present moment. You may think that something terrible has happened in your life, that you can't do something, or that your life is one mistake after another. My answer will always be the same, "up until now". It is a real life miracle to think about what can be changed in your life, and not worry about the past. If you feel you need some help in making a change, ask someone at Las Vegas Center for Spiritual Living to listen to you, and then have a practitioner do a Spiritual Mind Treatment for you. You could also sign up for Rev. Frannie's Power of Decision class starting Saturday, April 27th, 9:30 to n...

 SPRINGTIME, A REMINDER OF RENEWAL "No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world."  Robin Williams This time of year reminds me of resurrection, or more simply put, renewal. Each day when we wake from our slumber, we resurrect to a new day. Every day as I awaken, I treasure another day of seeing what life has to offer for the new day. As I look at all the events  that I have been blessed with in my life, I can see the positive renewal that has occurred. From acting in plays at an early age, through gaining a degree in Theatre Arts, and then teaching Drama for thirty-two years; to going through a divorce, discovering Science of Mind, becoming a minister, surviving colon cancer, remarrying; and along the way, moving to new homes eighteen times. I have been resurrected into a new experience each time. Every time we get a new job, find a new home, release an old relationship, get married, have a baby, or recover from an illness or accident, we are bein...

 SPRING HAS SPRUNG "The best way to garden is to put on a wide-brimmed hat and some old clothes. And with a hoe in one hand and a cold drink in the other, tell someone else where to dig." Texas Bix Bender,                    - -Don't Through in the Towel This is the season of flowers and fresh clean air, of jumping and enthusiasm, and knowing that positive change is in the air. Growing up for me, when Easter was around the corner, I got a new dress, new shoes, and it was a time when family got together to celebrate. Today I still look forward to seeing friends and family during spring. Yes, there are things happening in the world that are not to my liking; but there are still things to be thankful for and to celebrate, relax and remember the blessings. Just as we tend to the garden during springtime, be it vegetable or flower, the love and kindness we put into its care is reflected in the type of harvest we reap. This is true with p...

 NOW IT'S UP, NOW IT'S DOWN--NOW IT IS, NOW IT ISN'T "Relax into the knowing that inspiration brings ideas that allow us to be on purpose, to love, to help, to serve."                           --Raymond Charles Barker                                                                           Are you as disoriented as I am? Will normalcy ever return? Does Truth seem a bit hazy? Is it starting to look like an everlasting April Fool's Day. Let us pray, every day for our Nation to get back on it's regular democratic course. You have probably heard the old Indian tale of a young Indigenous boy talking to his Grandfathers and he says, "Grandfather, in our world today it seems as if two wolves are fighting. Which one finally wins?" A...

 LET WISDOM LEAD THE WAY “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”                                                                               ―  Maya Angelou I read a wonderful blog by an old friend from Kennewick, Washington. She spoke of the Wisdom that comes from aging gracefully. She said something that I totally agree with, "They are not grey hairs, they are wisdom highlights."  Something that I have always said, is that as I age, I find that I have less to worry about. Things I worried about in my twenties and thirties, seem to drift way as I enter into my forties, fifties, sixties, and now seventies. It seems that the really important things rise to the surface, friend...

 ONE SMALL  LIGHT DISPELS THE DARKNESS "To think only of the best, to work only for the best, and expect only the best." Christian D. Larsen,                               --From " The Optimist Creed" Another morning dawns and I still keep America in my prayers. I pray for all who have been displaced; for all people who have lost their jobs; and for those whose lives are threatened. May there be a wake-up call to release the chaos and and replace it with Love and Humanity and Understanding. May we practice Kindness and Compassion, creating a contagion of Goodness and Justice and Unity. Many of us have friends, neighbors and relatives that are touched by the conditions in our nation today. Shower the world around you with kindness and compassion. Write some postcards to share you views with local politicians. Remember it is a wide variety of cultures, ethnicities, genders, who are the human beings w...