Life's Loving Memories

  You Are a Light "It's impossible for you to connect with someone else's heart if you haven't connected first with your own."  Carolyn Reynolds ,                    --Spiritual Fittness Donna Michaels is a manificent Mystic of Music In Centers for Spiritual Living, as well as  being an ordained minister. She has a song that I have sung many times, usually at Christmas or New Years, but it can really be sung at any time. The verses contain the following words, I am a Light in this world (repeated three times), You are a Light in this world (r epeated three times), and W e are a Light in this world (repeated three times) . The chorus between each verse goes, And I shine, and you shine, and we shine so brigh t (respectively for each verse). I love this song because it really resonates with the the idea that when I have happiness in my life and shine it out, I recognize that, like a mirror, that happiness comes back to me. W...

  DIVINE DISCONTENT Discontentment is a gift. It's the stuff that changes the world.   Shane Claiborne Do you ever get a feeling at times, that somethings needs to different; do you have the urge to do something different in your life? I think of it as a sort of Divine Discontent, something bubbling inside you that needs to surface as a new experience: it might be a new and rewarding job; letting go of a relationship that no longer serves you; or, deciding to live a healthier lifestyle. Whatever it may be, it may be a pulsing idea you feel compelled to follow. For me it was a progression of different work experiences. In college it was working in a sandwich shop, the library, and the theatre department's costume shop; in my mid-thirties, it was teaching high school drama, selling Mary Kay Cosmetics;  in my forties I focused on, contecting to my spiritual calling, taking classes, becoming a practioner, a staff minister, and eventually finding my own center to lead. In look...

 BEING BRAVE "There is a trap door in your mind. When you open it, knowing yourself as I am cosciouness , new perceptions enter your way of thinking." Raymond Charles barker,        The Power of Decision What does it mean to be brave? To me it means to follow your intuition, to realize you don't have to do something just because other people are doing it, and to follow your dream without being talked out of it. My nephew had a group of friends that he went places with and did all sorts of adventurous and crazy things, but sometimes his friends wanted to go to far, and he would say, no, you'll have to do that without me. People often said that he was the voice of reason within the group. So, being brave doesn't mean you do things haphazzardly, but sometimes you may do things a little out of your comfrot zone. Think of all the brave people in history. Joan of Arc was burned at the stake because she would not renounce her spiritual convictions. Norma Rae, who stood...

ON THE WINGS OF SPRING "Meditation draws us close to the Divine Reality so that we sense Its atmosphere and feel It's presence. When we think about Peace we become peaceful. And, it is in our feeling of Peace that we speak our affirmation of Power. It is from this Peace that we affirm  the presence of  Love and Truth and Goodness."                                               Ernest Holmes,    -- Living the Science of Mind  What are the signs of Spring that make you feel especially Joyful? For me, one of the biggest things that sparks my delight is watching humming birds at the feeder on my patio. I sit in the sunshine and sip my coffee, watch the birds and the tiny blue lizards that climb the surrounding the walls of my patio.  Life is peaceful and sitting in silence allows me to drink in the goodnes and peace of Spirit. Absorbing that sereni...

INTO EVERYONE'S LIFE A LITTLE RAIN MUST FALL "Every man/woman is a nation unto him/herself, a nation inhabited by many thoughts, feelings appetites, and talents. Every man/woman is a nation of consciousness." Ernest Holmes,                     -- Living the Science of Mind  A few sayings that are related to spring are, "April Shower's bring May flowers" and "Into everyone's life a little rain must fall." Both are a way of saying "God never gives us anything we can't handle." Challenges may come up, and they may seem like obstacles, but after we have resolved them, we can realize that they were stepping stones to something new and improved. A divorce, followed by a wonderful new relationship; losing a job, resulting in a magnificent new one; thinking that life has nothing more to offer into, finding a splendid new Spiritual Teaching that truly speaks our language of mind and heart-all of these allow a shift to a new life. I look...

  FORGETFUL or LACK OF FOCUS? Wasn't the meeting today? “Forgetting happens. If you stress about it, it'll happen even more.” ―  Lisa Genova,  Remember: The Science of Memory and the Art of Forgetting What happens if you forget something? Are you just not thinking straight? You know you wrote the information down, but where did you write it down? You are sure you placed the meeting on your phone, but was it in notes, or on your calendar? For me, it is more that I am hyper-focused on something, and not present enough to know what time it is. I try to set the alarm on my phone to remind myself that I need to move on to that meeting or phone call I need to make.  The point of all of this, is that when you have planned to be somewhere or do something at at certain time, you feel bad when you have missed it. Really all you can do is to try and do it differently the next time so that you don't miss out on meeting your time slot in the future. It wouldn't hurt to turn the f...

WRITE TO YOUR HEART'S DELIGHT  Books ARE a form of political action. Books are knowledge. Books are reflection. Books change your mind. Toni Morrison I find it very interesting that there is such a discussion about banning books floating around in the news. Just a few days ago was a spot in "Sixty Minutes " about Buford, South Carolina. They came up with a list of 97 books that should be banned in public schools. The discussion led to choosing a panel of  numerous readers, from librarians to mothers, church leaders to teachers. from all levels of education. They formed book reading circles and read all of the books. They narrowed it down to five that they thought should be banned. It is my belief that a well-rounded intelligent person should sink there teeth in to a wide variety of books to learn more about life and the history of all nations, countries and the accomplished people who live in them. This includes events and real live examples; real life histories of the pe...