Child in the Kingdom…

Note:  This photo appeared in an unsolicited e-mail advertisement from Sutherlands Hardware. It is probably copyright protected – it is not my photo and I make no claim to it, other than to share the powerful energy feeling that came from the image of a child and dog playing in sprinkler.

Look at the photo. The child and dog are not worried about anything, just enjoying the moment, allowing themselves to be abandoned to the joy of trying to catch sprays of water on a hot day. Just think about them running around the yard, the child shrieking with delight, the dog barking with excitement. How well they will sleep tonight!

When is the last time you enjoyed something without worrying about how you looked, what you were wearing, what someone else might think about your behavior, whether anyone was looking at you, what time of day it was, where else you might need to be?

This image transports me instantly to those carefree hot afternoons when playing in the sprinkler was all that mattered, whether myself as a child or watching my daughter when she was a little girl as she dragged the hose around, watering the “thirsty holes in the yard.”

This is what it means to become like the little children, letting loose those binding thoughts, fears, and claims that chain us to a reality of our own making.

Challenge yourself today – go out and play in the rain, walk barefoot in the grass, glory in the feel of the sun, wind, air on your skin. Play with a sense of complete freedom with your children, pets, family, and friends. Laugh just for the sake of the joy that will flow out from you, for laughter is one of the most contagious experiences we can share – be the source of someone’s smile within the next hour if you can.

Get yourself a sprinkler and run through the jetting streams, catch them on your tongue, feel the trickle of cold water down your back, neck, arms, and legs while also feeling the sun dry the dampness on your skin. Hold the hose and shoot water high in the air and make your own rainfall, allow the glistening drops of liquid diamonds shower around you and create your own rainbow.

It does not matter where you live – look at the children, how they find ways to play and be at One with their environment. Be like them in the way that they allow themselves to feel whatever they feel, without restriction, opening to each other, offering to share their joy, offering to encourage another’s sorrow.

In Matthew 6:33, we are told, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Then, Matthew 18:3 tells us, “Verily I say unto you, ‘Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.’”

You don’t have to leave Planet Earth in order to experience Heaven on Earth right now. The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand now! Become as the little child who lives fully in the moment, open arms and open heart to all the joy flowing to you, just waiting for you to embrace your Blessed life now. There’s plenty of time to be a grown-up tomorrow.

Advertisements

Hope, if nothing else…

It is a blessing to be part of prayer circles and gratitude circles, yet it can be overwhelming when there seems to be so much need and crisis and fear in the face of trying to remain positive and upbeat. My natural instinct is to try to encourage others when they are facing obstacles that seem insurmountable. It is impossible to comment and respond to every post one sees on social media expressing such dire need and panic-stricken feelings of being out of control of what’s happening in life. And, certainly, there are circumstances going on that we cannot control, that put us in precarious situations often without notice. So how can I – or anyone – help these requests?

The overriding idea, thought, emotion, and feeling that comes to me is to offer Hope. I know that, when mired in the dark and hopeless muck of life, we don’t really want to hear some Pollyanna spout, “Just think positive and all will be well!” We want concrete answers to help us move out of the pain. Sometimes, it is as simple as finding something to think positive about, no matter how small. Sometimes, it is as simple as expressing gratitude for something small to begin with and then move to bigger things. But, sometimes, we can’t even reach up high enough to capture a positive thought – they all seem like lies, and to be grateful? Don’t make me laugh!

Almost everyone can empathize with the feelings of loss, pain, fear, anguish, hopelessness, and any assortment of tragedies. But there IS something more. It is called HOPE, which is the cornerstone of Faith and the foreshadowing of positive thinking and gratitude. It may be tenuous, it may hide in the shadows of despondency, it may appear to wear an invisible cloak, but it is ever present, with every breath. I know this because I live this. Hope for change, for advancement, for moving out of the pain and despair of conditions you can’t control. It exists. It is real. No, you don’t always know what it looks like, you may not be able to put a name or face/image to it, but it is right there in the middle of your blood, swimming between the red and white cells, pushing through with each beat of your heart to send signals to your logic-locked brain to just let go of the fear. If you don’t think it’s possible today, then just wait. If you wake up tomorrow, you will know it’s possible.

Just thinking about Hope will give you some relief, because if you are thinking about Hope – even in a fanciful, disbelieving way – then you are not thinking about your problem. There is magic in it. Its power is subtle yet stronger than sunlight breaking through darkness, much like the power of unconditional love and forgiveness. It can make you feel breathless with anticipation, headily expectant because once you allow Hope to take root and sprout, you will know Answers will come. Maybe not in the way you think you want them; maybe not in the way you think they should. But Hope is your permission for the energy to change directions. With Hearts Open, Peace Emerges, that wonderful healing feeling that things can change and healing can happen, and acceptance of things as they are is the first step to the stairway upward to something better. Even if you have to crawl up the stairs, clutching the handrail, Hope helps you do it, because you know that, at the top of the stairs, the light is brighter, the air is clearer and sweeter, and you will be able to see in all directions, not just into the dark corners of your fear.

So, for everyone experiencing heart-wrenching experiences, or even milder inconveniences that pile on top of each other, know that you are not alone, and that HOPE is alive and well within you. Feel it stirring, feel it trying to reach up and out – allow it to move through you! You will find inspiration, you will make connections, or you will overhear the exact information you need, whether in person or via television, radio, or otherwise. You will meet the right people, you will get the promotion, and if you don’t get the promotion or the job, then you will get a better one! If you don’t get that house, that car, that school, or that partner, you will get a better one! Hope will never leave you but you must allow it to be real in your life. Don’t accept anyone’s criticism that Hope is in any way weak or paltry. Hope is greater than any fear that can come against it. Hope is the container of Faith, and when you have Faith, you have everything because it allows you to lay down your worries and know the sweet freedom of relief and release. Your evidence and witness through Hope can be the inspiration someone else needs to find their own strength to make it through. You have no idea how many people you could help just by expressing Hope. Some call it letting go and letting God. If that works for you, then go with it, but you don’t have to call it God if that doesn’t feel right. Just call it Hope, and never give up.

Let go and Hope.

Thursday’s Prayer is Full of Grace: The Circle of Wholeness

In this New Year, this New Beginning full and ripe with potential and possibility, let me be Aware, Precious Spirit, of the Wholeness that already exists in life. It’s easy to believe something is empty, missing, or incomplete when I focus on the absence of it; however, when I step back and look again, I become filled with Awe at the rich texture of life around me. It fills the Air, teeming, spilling over with an Aliveness I can feel, if I allow it. Help me to relax and allow my natural ability to receive to be Activated so that I become a Channel of all good things. I may perceive a certain need in my life, yet if I allow my Faith full reign, I have no fear, no worry, for I know that every need shall be filled, everything already in place for the perfect unfolding according to my understanding and willingness to let go and allow Your Perfect Timing to make all the arrangements. I take inspired action, propelled not by fear or anxiety, but by delight and excited joy to be on the Receiving end of Your Grace.

I cannot be outside the Circle of Wholeness, for that is the fullness of life and I know I can never be separate from it.

Thank you, Precious Spirit, for the Flow of Your Grace through me, above, below, around, and from me. I surrender the rush, let go the fear, release controlling need, and relax into the sweet, gentle embrace of the Circle of Wholeness that is my Life.

And so it is.

“Faith, not fear. Walk your Talk.” ©

(Grace logo above created by Barbara Quin, God’s Eye with Buddha image flagged as free to share and use via Yahoo Images by http://www.philosophicalanthropology.net.)

Walking the Talk…

I try to make sure that the material I post online is positive and constructive; however, once every year or so, I am compelled to make a similar observation, thus:

I am increasingly astonished at the number of “Christian” and “New Thought” people who repeatedly bash, belittle, and berate other people, groups, and organizations over some action or behavior (that the people probably did not personally witness) that they don’t approve of by posting comments and sharing links that promote judgmental viewpoints and fault-finding finger-pointing.

I ask you, what purpose does this serve? Is this how you think you should spread Light and Love? We get enough negativity and bad news from the networks – personal acquaintances and social-media friends don’t have to keep spreading it around like the intensity of the six o’clock evening news anchor. I have seen more than one post – and actually more and more! – with “Peace, Love, Hope – our prayers are with you” as the ideal theme, yet punctuated (ended) with a profane exclamation (some abbreviated curse word, which totally negates the idea of Peace-Love-Hope and any form of prayer!!), with a mob following of comments affirming the profanity instead of the prayer!

Please, Please, PLEASE…
I encourage you to THINK before putting your name to a public declaration that will follow you to cyber eternity:

If you want to post something, post something Positive, something Hopeful, something Uplifting. What the world needs now, is LOVE, UNCONDITIONAL LOVE, something there’s just too little of in expression. Imagine ALL THE PEOPLE sharing Good News, sincere condolences, Affirmative Prayers, Random Acts of Kindness, and doing whatever they can to IGNITE THE LIGHT WITHIN!

And yes, you can do it without profanity!

When people are struggling, the last thing they need is another negative story, another bashing of some system (which actually only gives it more power!). Everybody is doing the best they can under the circumstances in which they find themselves – this, I believe – whether we agree with their political or spiritual philosophies or not.

There is ONLY ONE GOD, One Presence, One Power, in the Universe and in our Lives, God the Good, Omnipotent – no matter where we are or what we are doing – the Presence is with us. Shall we honor it by condemnation of something so that we can feel superior, smarter, more spiritual?

We are all made of the Same Spiritual Stuff. We get to choose how we express our Individual Stuff, but I always want to remember, “There, but for the Grace of God….”
We all have challenges – it’s what we do with them that determines the quality of our True Character.

Remember what Wayne Dyer said, “When given the choice between being right or being kind, choose kind.”
Does it not behoove us to be kind, to choose peace or unconditional love?

In sum, also remember what Thumper said:

“If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothin’ a’tall.”

(end of rant, with my apologies, or as the kids say, sorry not sorry – I am more discouraged by what I am seeing online lately than encouraged and felt the need to speak my Truth, since I am trying to live Faith, not fear, and to Walk my Talk)

many paths

I hope you enjoy this excerpt from the Preface of my new book, BLESSINGS BY DIVINE DESIGN, now available on Amazon…

blessed-b

“There are many paths on a journey. There are many books in the library. Not every path or every book is going to work for everybody. Children and teens often listen to their friends or other adults before they listen to their parents, even if they tell them the same exact thing. There are as many ways to make dreams come true as there are people on the planet, but not every person is going to write a book about it. If you are seeking to understand how creative energy works and, specifically, how you can use it to create what you want, then getting lots of information about different techniques can help.

Social media is another example of many voices sharing the same message. If you participate in any online groups where information is freely shared, you no doubt have seen lots of the same stories, photos, and jokes passed around from time to time. Some are the same, some have been personalized by the sender.

 But what makes you look at it or read it one time and not another? Does who sends it to you make a difference? Possibly. Then there are those days when it doesn’t matter who sends it or says it, you won’t be in a receptive mode; and other times, you will see a quote or statement that perhaps you’ve seen a hundred times before, yet it will be like the first time you ever saw it – it’s message will strike a chord in your Awareness, like an arrow hitting a target. Sometimes, it just depends on the delivery and your level of receptivity, and if something can be expressed to you in a new or different way, even if it’s saying the same old thing, you might get a new understanding of it; kind of like finally fully hearing the words to the lyrics of a song that you’ve hummed along with for years without actually knowing what it said.

Will every technique in this book help you? Perhaps. Maybe not. But hopefully there will be some ideas expressed in unique and interesting enough ways that will inspire you to keep working on achieving your dreams, or at least set you in the direction of coming up with your own ideas. Don’t let past failed techniques or advice stop you from reaching upward in your life. No matter how many times you have tried something, if you keep trying (thereby refusing to give up), you will eventually find the technique or method that works for you. While Thomas Edison didn’t invent electricity, he devoted much of his life to inventing ways to harness its tremendous power. If he had stopped his efforts after a few failed attempts, you might not be enjoying electricity and all its accoutrements the way you do today. He did not admit failure, merely acknowledged identifying ways that didn’t work! Most importantly, he tried again and again, perfecting his technique, learning how to use the energy yoked in his hands, until he met with success.

This book is written with that idea in mind. There are several different presentations offered on some traditional processes that may help you to look at the way you’ve been creating in a different way. You haven’t been doing it wrong, but if you don’t have what you want in your life, maybe you need to fine tune and hone your skills. The first stone wheel probably didn’t roll out of the cave perfectly round and already aligned. It probably had some square angles and chunks on it that made for a bumpy ride. But the craftsman with a chisel and a dream kept working at it until he or she created the first stone wheel that rolled smoothly. And the rest of the wheel-creating industry was born. Each additional craftsman or creator, made his or her own improvements on what was once a good enough but potentially incomplete vision. But because that first caveman or cavewoman dared to create their vision to the best of their ability at that time, we now have wheels that make tracks on other planets. The caveman may never have conceived that idea – or even had the understanding to conceive it – but because he acted on his dream, it set the “wheels of creation” in motion for all future Creative Extensions.

What you create may not be comparable to the first wheel, but this analogy is meant to inspire you to go after your dreams! Starting with something simple will give rise to something greater in you, something you may not have conceived of before, but if you will give your dream a chance to be born, it will carry you forward into a life you have previously not imagined. If someone has created something similar to what you want, then there’s your proof it can be done. Now, create your own version of it!”

Check it out here:  https://www.amazon.com/Blessings-Divine-Design-Visionization-Mapping/dp/1441422846/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1485715861&sr=8-1&keywords=blessings+by+divine+design

if you want…

 

If you want more Love in the world, be more loving to yourself and everyone else around you, even if you disagree. Being in disagreement or opposition might make it more challenging but it does not make it impossible to love others. Love includes respect. Respect includes knowing that others may have different ideas, values, or opinions, but it does not make them less than you (or you less than them).

If you want more Peace in the world, be more peaceful within yourself and around others, even when chaos reigns. Being peaceful within yourself does not mean you are ignoring what is going on around you; it simply means you are making a choice about not adding fuel to fire. Even when others are being less than peaceful within their own lives, you can give a good example of Peace by the choices you make leading to a peaceful existence.

If you want more Compassion in the world, be more compassionate with yourself and others around you, even when they are acting in ways that defy compassion. Being compassionate does not mean you condone what they are doing, but it does provide an avenue for the expression of unconditional love, which everyone needs more of. Through the act of compassion, you detach from judgment and relate to others as humans, as spiritual beings just like yourself.

If you want more Faith in the world, be more faithful with your own beliefs and tolerant of others. When you remain in faith, you cannot also be in fear, judgment, anger, resentment, unforgeivness, Being in faith means you are willing to let go of the chains of negativity flowing around you. The way to be a lamp unto the world is to live by Faith, not fear: Walk your Talk.

Your World According to Should

 

(when trying to create a Vision for your life)

It may be necessary for you to relax your ideas about what you think a vision should be.

As you’ve probably realized by now, “should” places a heavy burden upon the shoulders of the person wearing its cloak, a burden that will never be lifted because the wearer keeps allowing things to be added to the pile. One thing to realize about all the “shoulds” in your life: they always come from a source outside your True Self. Your “Still Small Voice” will never tell you what you should do – it’s much more direct than that (if you’re listening to it). It tells you what TO DO.

If you have lived your life according to the “shoulds” of society, family, friends, co-workers, and peers, how might you be feeling right now? A bit overwhelmed? At a loss where to turn or what to do next? Out of control? Anxious? Depressed? Like, if it weren’t for the awesome responsibility your “shoulds” have created, you would just hang it all up (either by just walking away or perhaps, drastically speaking, suicide)? “Suicide by Should” is not the way to go.

You hurt yourself and limit your real abilities when you take on the responsibility of “should.” It creates an expectation you can’t possibly live up to, and then, when you don’t quite measure up, you have “failed.” Is there anything worse than the sense of failure instilled by an unfulfilled “should”? Family and friends are disappointed. Grade cards and annual reviews are not quite as glowing as they “should” have been. Even worse is that deep sense of regret, shame, and guilt – perhaps even anger – you may feel inside when you realize you just can’t cut it, according to “should.”

Then someone comes along and informs you that you “shouldn’t” let this or that have control over you. I trust nowhere in this book will you find a sense of you “should” do this or “shouldn’t” do that. No expectations are being imposed upon you from this side of the page – hopefully, only practical advice and guidance as to how to regain control of your life.

Anytime you feel “out of control” or unable to handle the things happening in your life, it’s because you either haven’t created a vision for your life that you’re committed to, or you’ve lost sight of it somewhere along the way because of some sense of “should” that you’re trying to follow. No matter what kind of trouble you’re having in your life, you can probably trace it back to the basic concept of a vision, or lack thereof. This brings you back again to “visionizing” your life.

But where do you begin?

It may be helpful as you pursue or peruse this vision concept if you simply suspend judgment for the duration. Let go of the “shoulds.” Let go of your expectations and preconceived ideas. It matters little how far you are on the spiritual path compared to your neighbor or your Sunday school teacher or your dad when he was this age. Refrain from judging yourself by any standard. Simply let loose and let go of all the inflexible ideas you’ve held about where you “should” be by now.

(This is an excerpt from the book, Blessings by Divine Design, by Barbara Quin, to be published in 2017 by Great Spirit Publishing.)