Archives: July 2004
Fri Jul 30, 2004
An invitation to grow!
Dr. Edmund Cohen
Dear Hearts,
On a daily basis we are called to grow, to become, to step into a larger way of being. Every day the Universe issues us countless invitations to grow and expand our life.
Can we go the extra mile for another today?
GROW beyond our own need to be right ~
Can we use those magical words today --
You may be right?
GROW beyond the need to carry a grudge ~
Can we be more forgiving in our hearts today?
GROW beyond our need to judge ~
Can we be more compassionate today?
GROW beyond our self serving ~
Can we be of service to others today?
Grow beyond the desire to exclude another ~
Can we be more loving in our hearts to all we come in contact with today?
So the invitation to us today is to grow and expand and to experience how wonderfully good that feels because when we are growing and expanding spiritually we get to experience God at a whole different level.
With love and blessings,
Rev. Barbara
Wed Jul 28, 2004
God is good...all the time!
Dr. Robert Schuller
Dear Hearts,
We live in a very human world where things can and do go wrong. In this human world, accidents, crimes, birth defects, heartaches happen. This is the human realm, the human life, peopled by individuals that have free will who do not always choose to use this free will wisely, thus doing harm to themselves, others and our environment. That has nothing to do with God. We were never promised a pain free life. What we have been promised is that God will never leave us or forsake us. This means that right in the midst of whatever we are going through in our lives, God is there. When God is there, God's qualities are there....meaning peace is there, love is there, comfort is there, compassion is there, right action is there. The good news is...we can access these qualities whenever we choose.
So today, we can know that life is not fair ~ that's a certainty, but in the midst of it all....God is Good ~ and that's a guarantee.
With love and blessings,
Rev. Barbara
Tue Jul 27, 2004
God is with us always
Psalm 23:4
Dear Hearts,
For all the times that I have read the above verse of the beautiful 23rd Psalm, I always thought it referred to the time of physical death. I recently had a different understanding that the "....the valley of the shadow of death" meant those times we go through, what St. John of the Cross termed, "the long, dark night of the soul".
The long dark night of the soul takes many forms and often feels like a living death. It may be that a dream of ours has died or our greatest hopes dashed, a close relationship or friendship ended, a diagnosis or prognosis that bears grim news, a financial set back, the death of a loved one or close friend, etc. These all have the capacity to make us feel as though we are walking in the shadow of death. But the 23rd Psalm continues, assuring us that goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our life.
Today, if any of us are in that long dark night of the soul let's remember, we're not alone. That the love and mercy of God is with us and will carry us, sustain us and bring us comfort until we emerge from the "valley of the shadow of death", into the sunlight of life that is always awaiting us with arms outstretched.
With love and blessings,
Rev. Barbara
Tue Jul 13, 2004
God's Original
New Thought ~ Ancient Wisdom
Dear Hearts,
How many of us heard that we were born into original sin? And only through a ritual of Baptism by a priest or minister was that Original Sin eradicated from our soul. Well, in the tradition of New Thought ~ Ancient Wisdom, what we believe is that we are born as Original Blessings. We believe that there will never be another quite like you or me again. We are unique individuations of God and each of us is here, at this time and in this place, to allow the glory of God to express Itself through the uniqueness of our personalities. We come as an Original Blessing to this world and we get to be that blessing every day by choosing to anchor love, peace, compassion and harmony. We get to glorify God through our everyday thoughts and actions. Our lives have a high and mighty purpose.
Today, we get to bless and uplift ourselves and each person that is put on our path -- we get to live our lives as God's Original Blessing.
With love and blessings,
Rev. Barbara
7/13/04
Mon Jul 12, 2004
Let the Universe handle the details...
Dr. Wayne Dyer
Dear Hearts,
Don't we all have times when we get so involved in the "how" of our dream that we talk ourselves right out of the very thing we want to do or accomplish? It isn't our business to know the "how" of our dreams or desires. We are simply to know the "what". What is the dream that we really want to have or to accomplish? When we get clear on that dream, then our job is to keep the picture of what that dream looks like in front of us until the picture of that dream becomes so real to us that we can feel it, smell it, hear it -- to the point that it almost feels as though we're living the dream already. Each day we set aside a portion of time and do what we would do if we were now living the dream - we act "as if". How would we dress, what would we do, who would we speak to, where would we go?
When we have the picture of our dream firmly planted in our mind, the Universe will start giving us clues and signals. Our job, is to become available to these clues and signals and when they appear, to act upon them. People will show up that have the exact right information to help us achieve our dream or goal. The right book falls into our hands, an innocent conversation yields the contact we need. And before long, our dream has become our reality. Our job is to be clear on what the dream is - stay out of the "how" and allow the Universe to handle the details ~ and know that the Universe will handle those details perfectly on time and in time.
With love and blessings
Rev. Barbara
Fri Jul 09, 2004
Coming home...
This is the finest of suppers, I think;
When I'm grown up and can have what I please
I think I shall always insist upon these.”
Christopher Marley
Dear Hearts,
The great American author Thomas Wolfe cautioned us that we can't go home again...that's true, we cannot return to the home of our youth as children again. But we can take care of ourselves and nurture ourselves as though we were children that have come home.
As we begin this weekend, let's come home to a house filled with kindness and love and comforting words...to a house that as Christopher Marley says, serves us animal crackers and cocoa to drink. That house resides within us and we get to create it anyway we choose. Let's invite ourselves home and nurture and care for ourselves. We are the beloved children of God, the beloved children of this Universe. Let's take time this weekend to care for ourselves and to treat ourselves as though we truly are our own beloved child.....that has come home again.
With love and blessings,
Rev. Barbara
Fri Jul 02, 2004
No place like home...
The Talmud
Dear Hearts,
One of the final blessings in the wedding ceremony I perform is this; “May your home always radiate an environment of love and peace and may whoever enters your home be inspired and uplifted by the love and peace they feel dwells within.”
Each home has its own feeling tone and we can sense that tone upon entering the front door. If there is a great deal of tension or arguing done in a home, we can feel it. On the other hand, if there is joy and laughter in the home we can feel that energy and when love and peace are present in a home we also feel that. Haven’t we all been in homes where we enjoy being there so much we just don’t want to leave and other homes where we can’t leave soon enough?
If we were to walk into our own home as a visitor, what tone would we feel? If it’s not the feeling tone of peace, love and joy let’s change it. Where there has been anger, let’s sow love, where there has been depression, let’s find something to laugh about, if wars have taken place within our own walls, now is the time to anchor peace so that as we begin this long holiday weekend whoever enters our doors is blessed and inspired by the love they feel dwells within.
With love and blessings,
Rev. Barbara