My One,True Source

This morning I’ve been listening to some inspirational videos.  I think I’ve mentioned here that along my life’s journey I’ve learned that in order to change a mindset or experience a mind-shift, what has worked for me is saturation.  Putting that one thing out in front of me until my brain ‘gets’ it and a new pathway is formed.

So, I listen, read, and learn, on an almost daily basis.  Because, well, knowledge and change excite me. I don’t know how else to put it!

But sometimes,  as I listen to or read about some of these stories, my still, small voice interrupts my thoughts, to remind me not to forget that One who is my true source.  Too many of these stories I read about miss this one most important factor.  As I listen or read, their success seems to gravitate to all that they did to get there.  And while I understand that yes, we do have to work hard to get to where we want, and that yes, God has given us a creative brain with which to create many wonderful things for ourselves and for others…….I believe there is a real danger is us taking all the glory.

There are a few verses in the Bible that have really spoken to me over time.  One of  them says “If I am to boast, let me boast that I know and understand my God”

And:  “All things come from God”, and “It is God who gives us the ability to get wealth”.

I do think God is completely ok with us being successful in our lives.  But taking all the glory for the things we have created, well, that’s a slippery slope, indeed.  In my humble opinion.

The one thing that I find missing in all these audios I listen to, in all the books I read, is, to me, THE most important thing.  The acknowledgement that God Himself gives us these abilities.  They may feel like something we ourselves have created, but it’s dangerous to remain in that way of thinking.  God gives, and God takes away, and the danger in believing we created it all ourselves, the danger in believing we are gods, (yes, I have heard this! 😦  ), or believing that God is some impersonal being that is spread thin across the universe, creates some pretty thin ice to stand on, I think.

The God I know is a very personal God, whom I am in touch with moment by moment.  Who cares about me and my life, and who has my absolute best interests at heart.  He/She is a being I can ultimately put my trust in, and have, over and over again, countless times, and will, countless more times in my life.

In all my quest for knowledge, success, even better health and wellbeing, it is my humble prayer that I never, ever forget the One who has made all of my life, all of my successes, possible.  One verse that sticks in my mind is this: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you”.  And sometimes, like today, that God-voice inside me reminds me I don’t have to work so incredibly hard……what is required of me is to seek His face….and things will be added…

Today that voice of inner knowing inside me is reminding me to come and be with God…to put every concern into His/Her hands and leave those things there…that He/She is, ultimately, in control.

Thank you, God, for reminding me of these things today.

Happy Easter! He is Risen!

I hope everyone is having a lovely Easter weekend.  Easter has always been my favorite holiday of the year.  It’s THE most important Christian celebration.  A celebration of Christ conquering death – that we may have life, and life more abundantly.

I have had the most lovely three days, so far.  And I haven’t even done anything very ‘special’.,,whatever that means. For the past few days, I have been experiencing such a lovely calming feeling that all is right in my world.  Have you ever felt it, yourself? It’s hard to describe, actually.  Yesterday I went for a walk by the ocean with a friend, and as I waited for her to arrive, I leaned against the railing and looked out over the ocean and felt such a feeling of wellness. And the same feeling washed over me the other morning as I woke up to see the sun shining through my window.  And  as I  str-et-ch-ed…like a cat, and rolled over and snuggled down into my blanket and pillow to doze for awhile longer.   Peace.  And……joy.  Joy – full.

I’m sure part of it was the luxurious sunshine we’ve had all weekend.  Wow, it’s been pretty amazing here in Victoria.  But some of it has been because I’ve taken the time to shower my body with love in all kinds of different ways.  With Reiki.  With walking.  With listening to some uplifting audios on women’s health.  With meditation…and with prayer.

I’ve been feeling amazement that something has shifted in me this past month.  I’m really beginning to feel what it’s like to be in my body!  Just typing that brings tears to my eyes, because you have no idea how far from my body I have been all these years! And it feels really, incredibly wonderful!  It’s such a new feeling for me, and I’m languishing in it….

And, I cannot close without saying that this sense of wonder that I have has a lot to do with my personal relationship with God.  I don’t doubt this one bit.  My life is far from easy.  I rarely have enough money.  From month to month I’m unsure if I have a job to go to.   I’m moving in one month and my son needs to find a place to live, and a job, in that short amount of time.  I never quite know what my future is going to look like from one month to the next.  To be able to admit all this to you and still be able to say it is well with my soul... that is a testament to my faith and belief that Someone greater watches over me…

Now, I’m not trying in the least to convert anyone.  Rather, I’m wanting to say that this Easter weekend I have felt the presence of God in my life in such an amazing way…and I just want to say thank you, God.  You are the best.

Patient Trust (an important poem – and my take on it)

I’ve shared this before, awhile back.  This time, though, I thought I’d share what these words have come to mean to me.  This poem was sent to me a couple of years ago, at a time when I was ‘fed up’ with how slowly things were moving for me.  And I come back to it many times, to remind myself that change takes time…

Patient Trust by Teilhard de Chardin 

Above all, trust in the slow work of God. We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay. 

CHANGE – In  this society we’ve created, that wants everything immediately, we find it difficult to accept that real change takes time.  We want to be done, so we can move on to the next big thing…

 We would like to skip the intermediate stages. We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new. 

PERSEVERANCE – There can be many stages to change – not just a first and last stage, which is what we would greatly prefer!  It’s important for us to be able to accept each stage gracefully, and not lose faith in the process.

And yet, it is the law of all progress that it is made by passing through some stages of instability – and that it may take a very long time. 

PATIENCE – In our efforts to create change in our lives, we may take two steps forward and one step back.  This is normal!  We are trying to create something new, a way of being that we’re totally unfamiliar with.  We will stumble, we will fall, and that’s perfectly fine. We will want to quit, and, we might, for a time, have to take a break.  The only real failure is in giving up – in deciding you just can’t do it.

And so I think it is with you; your ideas mature gradually – let them grow, let them shape themselves, without undue haste. 

WAIT – Waiting  is sometimes exactly what we need.  In the waiting is where growth takes place.  In the waiting is where integrity and strength of character develop.  In the waiting is where our spirit blossoms…

Don’t try to force them on, as though you could be today what time, (that is to say, grace and circumstances acting on your own good will) will make of you tomorrow.

STILLNESS –    It’s easy to run around trying to force things to happen. It’s easy (but not fun!)  to live life from a place of anxiety.  Trying to be still and to allow things to open up for us, that is the hard part.

Only God could say what this new spirit gradually forming in you will be. 

TRUST – This speaks to me of trusting that my life is not just in my own hands…that I’ve been created by God for a greater purpose, and even though I might not be able to see the answers before me in every second, God certainly knows…

Give our Lord the benefit of believing that his hand is leading you, and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself in suspense and incomplete.

PEACE – I’ve intentionally used the opposite word to anxiety here.  Nowadays, I try to live my life from a place of knowing that because I believe in God and I know He/She*** has a plan for my life, that ultimately living in a state of constant anxiety is not going to be beneficial to me in any way. So I consciously try to chose peace – over anxiety, over desperation, over fear.

I assure you that I have not always lived this way…these are traits I have come to adopt over the years.  And I’m not always successful, either (as I’m sure you’ve already noticed in my previous posts)!  Developing and living with these traits is an ongoing life lesson.  But more and more, these things are becoming a way of life for me.  And more and more, I am able to accept that whatever is happening in my life at any given moment, has come to me to teach me, instead of to cause me to feel/live from a place of terror….

***Just a note about the He/She reference I make to God (because it may offend some)  I grew up with the notion that God has always been a He.  I believe differently, now.  God is a Spirit.  And I believe, nowadays, that He/She is neither gender, and both genders.  That is why I often refer to God as Him/Her. I believe that God can be for us a father, or a mother – whichever it is that we need.   Just my opinion, you  are free to believe otherwise! 🙂