Where is our attention?

"Attention! May I have your attention, please!"
Kathy Ridpath

Dear Hearts,

The eager American, seeking spiritual enlightenment, traveled to India to study with a famous guru. Each class consisted of the teacher writing only one word and class was over. The word was "Attention". By the end of the week, the young man was so frustrated he confronted his teacher and asked him to impart some real wisdom before he had to return home. The teacher, smiling at the young man, wrote three words, "Attention, Attention, Attention".

Where will our attention be placed today...on the positive side of life or the negative? Our attention and where we choose to place our attention determines the quality of the life we lead. Will our attention be focused on lack, limitation, criticism and judgment...or will we choose to focus our attention on abundance, joy, peace, love of self and others, creativity and beauty? Will we place our attention on the fact that we are children of God, the Creative Intelligence of the Universe? Will we focus our attention on the fact that our lives have meaning and purpose? Will we place our attention on gratitude for all we have been so freely given? Where will we choose to place our attention today?

With love and blessings,

Rev. Barbara

Right in our own backyard...

Dear Hearts,

In Russell Conwell's best selling book "Acres of Diamonds" he tells of a man living in Africa who sold his farm when a friend suggested he go out in search of diamonds. He searched in vain for years and finally committed suicide. In the meantime, the man who bought the farm started to discover large "rocks" which turned out to be diamonds, in fact the farm had "acres of diamonds". The story is true -- the farm turned out to be the Kimberly Diamond Mine - the richest the world has ever known.

Today, let's consciously remember that no matter how green the grass on the "next farm" may seem, each of our lives is a priceless diamond farm. We don't have to look on the next farm for our good. Within each of us is love, joy, peace, wisdom, clairty, beauty, compassion, abundance and the ability to bring each of those qualities forth. Our lives are God's life in expression, therefore the gifts we have are infinite and can never be depleted. Everything we need to live successfully is within. Let's take a moment, acknowledge all that we have - the very breath we're breathing is a gift, and give thanks for the diamond mine that is our life.

Love and blessings,

Rev. Barbara

Home sweet home...

"Surely the presence of God is in this very place."
Suz Ogden

Dear Hearts,

Haven't all of us entered someone's home and couldn't wait to leave because it simply didn't feel good being there? Yet, we've all had the experience of entering into a home and it felt so good to be there we didn't want to leave.

A feeling tone is anchored within every one of our homes....without a word ever being spoken, we can feel the predominant tone within that home.

A blessing I use in my wedding ceremony is...

"May your home so radiate an environment of love that all who enter are blessed and inspired by the love they feel dwells within."

Think about your home today. Does love live there? Do harmony and peace reverberate within? Is your life lived in such a way that all who enter your doors are blessed? If love lives within your dwelling place? (home?), then the presence of God is felt there, for God is Love. And all who dwell in love, dwell in God.

With love and blessings,

Rev. Barbara

The power of our thoughts...

"What you think upon grows."
Phillipians 4:8

Dear Hearts,

How many times do we spend the better part of our day thinking about all the things and events we don't want to have or we don't want to happen. Yet, we know that what we think about expands and grows and eventually by the Law of Attraction will become our reality. Let's think about what it is we really do want in our life and direct our thoughts to those things. If we want something different in our life, think about how that would look, what it would sound like and how it would feel. We have to take charge of our thoughts or our thoughts take charge of us.

So today, allow our thoughts to take us down the road of all the things our heart really desires...of all the things we really want to have and to have happen in our life and think on these things. Henry Ford said "If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." Today, let's focus our thoughts on the "can do" side of life. It's all a choice.

With love and blessings,

Rev. Barbara

On keeping our house in order...

“Everyone is a house with four rooms, a physical, a mental, an emotional and a spiritual.”
Indian proverb

Dear Hearts,

What a wonderful metaphor for our lives. As we observe our day to day living, in which room do we spend the most time? We may become so focused in one room we don’t want to leave it – or we become so busy in one room that we don’t have time to leave it. Yet, the other rooms in our house become musty, dusty and filled with neglect. Today, let’s spend time in our physical room, taking care of the body temple so we have the strength, energy and vitality to be productive in our lives; time in our mental room allowing our wonderful minds to think thoroughly and clearly of daily undertakings; time in our emotional room checking to see that our hearts are open fully to loving ourselves and others; time in our spiritual room doing those things that nurture and revitalize our soul in order for us to give the gifts that are uniquely and wonderfully ours.

If we are willing to take the time to visit each room on a daily basis, our lives will be balanced and we will work more energetically, more efficiently and lovingly ~ finding that we are filled enough to give to... and bless those whose lives touch ours.

Love and blessings,

Rev. Barbara

Turning our scars into stars...

“That one man scorned and covered with scars
Still strove with his last ounce of courage to reach the unreachable stars: and the world was better for this.”
-Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote

Dear Hearts,

At times in our lives, haven't we all felt like Cervantes describes Don Quixote "scorned and covered with scars”? We feel beaten down by life's circumstances and wonder… “why keep trying?”. However, if we don't try, if we don't continue to get up when we feel our circumstances have knocked us down, then the fullness of our unique and individualized gifts and talents will never be given. Each of us plays a vital part in the weave and fabric of this magnificent Universe. Our lives have meaning and purpose and our job is to keep on keepin’ on, to step up to the plate of our life every day to be all that we can be. Today let’s give the gifts of our beautiful and unique spirits, knowing that the world will be a better place for this, in fact, the world will indeed be blessed by this.

Love and blessings,

Rev. Barbara

On being centered...

“How Good it is to Center Down!”
Howard Thurman

Dear Hearts,

When is the last time we simply took a deep breath and became centered? During our incredibly busy days, we’re pulled in so many different directions. We give so much of ourselves that we get “off center” feeling exhausted, irritable and depleted. Edna St. Vincent Millay reminds us that if our “…candle burns at both ends; it will not last the night.”
Today, at various intervals, let’s simply stop and take several deep focused breaths knowing that with each breath we take we’re revitalizing and restoring ourselves. Then, centered once again, we can return to the traffic of our world. This is truly a holy pause renewing us so that we may once again go forth to give our gifts within our daily realm.

With love and blessings,

Rev. Barbara