Archives: July 2010
Fri Jul 30, 2010
In our book section, you can order Oprah Winfrey's favorite book ~ Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth"...Oprah's Book of the Month.
-St. Theresa of Avila
Dear Hearts,
As we move through this day, how comforting are St. Theresa’s words. No matter what situation or challenge maybe facing us let’s remember that eventually it will change or pass because this human life changes and passes. It’s easy to forget that problems and challenges change because we become so focused on them and they seem to loom so large. There is only one Absolute and that is God and God never changes. God is timeless, everlasting and perfect, all knowing and all-powerful, there is nothing God cannot do and God always reigns supreme. Remember, a promise has been made to you and me that God will always remain steadfast, never leave or forsake us and is with us always. When we can remember this, we will move into a peace filled day no matter what the extenuating circumstances. We will remember that we have a silent partner that walks every step of the way with us no matter what is taking place in our lives and that partner is with us always and in all ways. Let's commit to following St. Theresa's words and no matter what challenges are presented to us today, let's not allow them to disturb or dismay us. We have the opportunity to remember that we don’t walk through life alone and that whatever we may be facing in our lives, it will pass.
Today, I am surrounded by the love of God. I make a conscious choice to stand in the knowledge that all earthly situations will eventually change or pass. I have a changeless God leading, directing, guiding, sustaining and maintaining me throughout each moment of this day. Today is God’s day and I rejoice in it.
With love and blessings,
Rev. Barbara
Thu Jul 29, 2010
You can order Oprah Winfrey's favorite book, Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth" in our book section.
"...knowing that with God all the blessings are not just possible, they already are."
John Morton (From: "You Are the Blessings" (available on the New Day Herald website).
Dear Ones,
Do we sometimes wonder, "how can the blessings already be...when my life looks like a train wreck?" The truth is, that right in the midst of that seeming "train wreck", there are blessings just waiting to be discovered.
Every challenging situation that arises in our life is not an obstacle to bring us down. It is an opportunity to discover more about God, about life and about ourselves.
However, we are at choice, we can just throw up our hands and basically "give up", crying “it's too much for me”. The truth is that it's not too much for any of us, no matter how big the problem(s) may seem. God will never give us "too much" to handle. And…isn’t God bigger than any seeming problem(s)?
What if today, instead of focusing on our lack, or what's wrong in our lives, we focus on our blessings...and if we can think of only one blessing to focus on...focus on it.
Then ask to shown the blessings in our current situation. The Bible states that when we ask we receive. Our eyes will be opened to see those blessings, those opportunities for growth and the glorious opportunity to know God better and to love God more…right in the midst of what is transpiring in our lives. Today, let’s “blessing the mess” and watch the wonders of God’s grace.
With love and blessings,
Rev. Barbara
Wed Jul 28, 2010
In our book section, you can order Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth"...Oprah's Book of the Month.
Byron Katie
Dear Hearts,
How often do we fight against the facts of our life? We want the facts of our life to be different or we want the people in our lives to be different. We then go about engaging a battle of manipulation in our heads trying to figure how to change something or someone. And we waste an enormous amount of our precious life energy.
When we are up against a situation that we know is not going to change or a person that refuses to change, we have several choices. We can keep banging our head against the wall (with no better results than a bloody head!) or we can simply adjust our attitude and learn to love what is.
Life isn’t always the way we think it “should” be. Certainly people aren’t. However, we have a choice. We can choose to fight until our very last breath trying to achieve the impossible. Or, we can learn to go with the flow. We can learn to enjoy what is rather than focusing on what’s not. We can learn to love others just the way they are rather than focusing on what they aren’t.
Loving what is allows us to live productively, it allows us to live gratefully, gracefully and most of all it allows us to live peacefully. Is there a situation or a person in our lives today that we can cease fighting and begin to love just the way it is or they are? It’s worth a try.
With love and blessings,
Rev. Barbara
Mon Jul 26, 2010
In our book section, you can order Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth".
Don Miguel Ruiz
Dear Hearts,
What a concept that we are responsible for what takes place in our lives this and every day! We truly do create the set for our life. We, ourselves, collect everything and everybody needed to fulfill the script that we've mentally written for ourselves in order for our script to come to life. We even get to direct our own life's movie!
It's so much easier to blame everyone else for whatever states our life is in today...but not so fast!! Remember it is our life's story and we have free choice to create that story in whatever fashion our minds and heart decide.
If we realize that we are directing, producing and starring in today's movie entitled, "Thursday, October 28, 2009, Story of My Life", what will we create? Will it be a melodrama (i.e., the soap opera "Days of our Life"?), or will it be horror story, where we are angry with everyone and find that everyone seems to be angry with us? Will we create a comedy, acting like the jester to keep others laughing...even though we may be crying on the inside? Will we create a story about a victim -- that everyone is always doing something to me?
Or...will we create a God driven day meaning that we will make certain that love will drive our motives, actions and words; that peace will be what we strive for in every exchange with others and ourselves; that harmony with ourselves and others will be our intention; that we'll allow abundance to fill our day, meaning that when we're offered something, whether it's a complement, or an offer of help, etc., we accept it graciously?
This day is still new - there are 15 hours remaining. Right now, if the movie of our life is not going as we'd like, we can clear the set of our mind and begin again. We can create a movie so loving and filled with such beauty, dignity and grace, that we will want to mentally file this day under the category, "September 21, 2008...one of the very best days of my life!"
Thank you God for this day....it is good...and so it is!
With love and blessings,
Rev. Barbara
Sun Jul 25, 2010
In our book section, you can order Oprah Winfrey's favorite book ~ Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth".
Holly Lebowitz Rossi
Dear Hearts,
Each day life presents us with a choice of two roads. One road is called the road of the advocate; the other...the road of the accuser.
The road of the accuser is well worn and easy to follow. If we choose to travel the road of the accuser we might find ourselves judging another by their outside’s without ever bothering to get to know who they are on the inside.
We might spend part of our day in the throes of gossip or we might be unkind and quick with biting retorts and comebacks. We might find ourselves living completely from our head…not allowing our hearts to open in love, compassion and empathy. The road of the accuser is a road that leads to unhappiness and eventually to spiritual death because it is a dead end road.
The other road that beckons us is the road of the advocate. It is a road lush in its beauty, however it is difficult to tread as this is road is less traveled. If we choose the road of the advocate, we chose to be here for God by supporting goodness, truth and beauty through our words and actions. Along this road, we choose to love and to see the best in others. Along this road, we walk in integrity in our professional and personal lives.
In his poem, "The Road Less Traveled", Robert Frost puts it this way:
Somewhere ages and ages hence
Two roads diverged in a wood
And I took the one less traveled by
And that has made all the difference.”
The advocate’s road is the road less traveled. If we choose this road it will indeed make all the difference…. in the quality of the lives we lead and the legacy we leave behind.
With love and blessings,
Rev. Barbara
Sat Jul 24, 2010
In our book section, you can order Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth and "The Power of Now".
Dear Hearts,
In the City of Bangkok, their greatest tourist attraction is the Temple of the Golden Buddha. Within the temple resides a 5 ton solid golden statue of Buddha. Several hundred years ago, during a war time, this statue was hidden beneath a thick coating of plaster to keep it from being stolen or harmed. Years passed and the truth of what lie beneath the plaster was forgotten. In the 1960s, as the Buddha was being moved, the plaster coating began to crack -- and underneath this false covering was the priceless Golden Buddha.
This is your story and my story. Underneath all the dust and grit we collect in this human journey and all the facades that we put up to protect ourselves there is a priceless Golden Buddha. It is the real Self of us that has never been hurt, harmed or injured in any way. Let's remember today that we are precious, unique and irreplaceable creations of the One Life of God. We are each the Golden Buddha.
With love and blessings,
Rev. Barbara
Fri Jul 23, 2010
In our book section, you can order Oprah Winfrey's favorite book ~ Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth".
Eckhart Tolle
Dear Hearts,
How often do we focus entirely on the situation of our lives? In fact sometimes we get so lost in the situation, that we forget that we have a life outside the situation.
Let’s remember that life situations are temporary – they come and go. They don’t define us…they aren’t who we are, even though at times it may feel like it. And one thing is for certain, in this human experience, there will always be some kind of life situation we’re dealing with.
Our job is to keep life in perspective. We are not our situation. We are Spiritual Beings having a human experience separate and apart from life’s situations. And within each of us is every tool we could ever need to deal with whatever situation arises. Let’s remember, it’s not the situation… it’s how we think about and respond to the situation that is important.
If we are here for God, then it is up to us to bring God qualities to our life situation. It is up to bring Love, Peace, Joy, Harmony, Compassion, Wisdom and Clarity…for each of these qualities represent the Power and the Presence of God. Therefore we are anchoring the Power and Presence of God in the midst of whatever situation we may find ourselves.
When we see our life situations from a spiritual purview, then we will understand that we are so much more than any situation, and no matter what the situation is we will know that this human experience has come… only to pass.
With love and blessings,
Rev. Barbara
Thu Jul 22, 2010
In our book section, you can order Oprah Winfrey's favorite book ~ Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth".
An interview with Mister Rogers by Holly Lebowitz Rossi
Dear Hearts,
The statement, “Love your neighbor” is woven throughout all great spiritual teachings. Many people have asked, “Who exactly is my neighbor”? Fred Rogers of Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood, gave us the perfect answer. Our neighbor is whomever we happen to be with at the moment. It sounds so simple, love whoever is with us in the present moment…simple, yes… easy, no. Loving each individual we encounter throughout our day is high spiritual practice.
There are those we encounter in our day’s travels that we want to love and are easy to love. However, loving these individuals isn’t where our spiritual growth lies. Our spiritual growth lies in loving those individuals who annoy us, who upset us, who rub us the wrong way.
The difficult individuals in our lives are really the gifts in our lives. It is through them that our hearts get to expand. It is through them that we have the opportunity to be more loving, more compassionate, more understanding, more accepting, more gracious.
We can all love the one next to us who is generous and kind, but it takes great spiritual character to love the person next to us that may not look like us or smell like us or act like us or who pushes all of our “buttons.”
Today, can we recognize each person we come in contact with for what they are…another expression of God? When we encounter difficult “neighbors”, it is as if God is saying to us, ”Can you love me even in this disguise?”
With love and blessings,
Rev. Barbara
Wed Jul 21, 2010
In our book section, you can order Oprah Winfrey's favorite book ~ Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth".
Standing Bear
Dear Hearts,
One of the ways to know God is through beauty, for beauty is a quality of God. Let’s take time to reconnect with that beauty this weekend by spending time in nature. That might look like a walk or spending time in our garden or simply standing outside and taking in the breathtaking beauty of this Universe.
Nature is here for us not only to enjoy, it is here for our renewal. Perhaps instead of thinking we don’t have time to spend outdoors this weekend, let’s realize the truth, we don’t have time not to be outdoors. When we’re outdoors and focusing on our surroundings (not our thoughts and/or problems) the answer we’re seeking or the clarity needed often comes to us out of the blue and we’ll find peace instead of mental upheaval.
When we’re out in nature, we get to see God’s handiwork in the myriad shades of green. We get to catch God’s glorious fragrance in the scent of the flowers. We have the opportunity to hear God’s symphony as we listen to the bird’s serenading us and we have the opportunity to feel God’s gentle breath in the form of the breeze in our hair and on our face. We have the opportunity to feel God’s warmth as the sun smiles down upon us.
Most of all we have the opportunity to feel connected once again to the majesty, the beauty and the glory that is the face of God. Today we get to feel God’s deep and abiding love for us by knowing that this paradise of nature is God’s gift of love to you and to me.
With love and blessings,
Rev. Barbara
Mon Jul 19, 2010
I know that I can
From the Little Red Engine
Dear Hearts,
We all know the childhood story of "The Little Red Engine" that always ran on time. Then one day, the little red engine was running late because it was confronted with a steep hill, and didn't know how it was going to climb up that hill. As the little red engine slowly started up the hill, it continually said to itself, "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can" until it climbed to the very top of the hill.
If today we seem to be confronted with a steep hill, whether in our personal or professional lives, how will we handle it? Will the hill loom so large to us that we give up before we've even begun? Will we try half heartedly but stop before we've reached our goal? Or will we have the courage of the little red engine and proceed up that hill by continually saying to ourselves, "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can", and as we get closer to the top of the hill, whatever that hill looks like in our lives, perhaps we will then say very confidently, "I know I can, I know I can, I know I can."
With love and blessings,
Rev. Barbara
Sun Jul 18, 2010
Ask your friends to visit www.expectgood.com!
The Gospel According to St. Matthew
Dear Hearts,
In the last year, we have witnessed some great loss in various geographical areas of our world. What is the lesson for all of us? Perhaps the greatest lesson is that of becoming more compassionate and merciful.
Compassion & mercy call for the opening of our hearts and minds. When we open wide our hearts, we begin to see when tragedy hits, it’s not happening to “them”, it’s happening to all of us. When our hearts are open, we feel our connection with all mankind. We begin to grasp at a very deep level that we are all one. There’s no separation. There is One God that is the Life of all of us and we are all united in that One Life. The Quantum Physicists tell us that there is One Underling Force that unites all things. So when a tragedy strikes, it’s not happening to “them” it’s happening to us.
What can we do? We can certainly give of our money and we can give of our time and prayers. We may not be able to physically go to the affected area, but we can do enormous good in our own home, simply praying. Praying for healing, praying for peace, praying that life can be quickly restored to some semblance of normal.
When we have compassionate and merciful minds it means we stop all judging and blaming. We simply move to the next level of consciousness by taking action and doing whatever it is we can to be of service.
We are all in this life together. While we may not be the ones suffering today, who knows what tomorrow will bring?
With love and blessings,
Rev. Barbara
Sat Jul 17, 2010
Not me, but you...
~ Bhagavad-Gita
Spiritual Book of Hinduism
Dear Hearts,
Wouldn’t it be interesting if we were to wear a meter throughout our day that registered each time we said, “I” “me” and “mine”? At the end of our day we might be shocked at the results!
When our words revolve around “I” “me” and “mine”, it’s often because we’re living a small, egocentric life. But our whole life’s purpose is to break out of the ego driven chains of “I”, “me” and “mine”.
The more evolved spiritually we become, the more we’ll find ourselves using the words “you” and “yours” instead of “I” and “mine”. When we begin to shift our words to “you” and “yours”, it brings us into a whole different consciousness. Instead of a narrow focus on ourselves and our needs and wants, we begin an expansive focus on others and what their needs and wants might be. When we shift our words from “me” to “you”….our thinking paradigm changes.
We’re here to live big lives that express the glory of God through our words, actions and service to others. We’re here to make a difference on this planet, so our thinking cannot stop with “I” “me” and “mine” and what "I" need and what "I" want. Our thinking and actions are to reach out to “you” and “yours” and what “your” needs are. Let’s join with all the great souls that are working to make this world a better place…by focusing on “you” and “yours”.
Today...may our motto be, "What can I do for you?"
With love and blessings,
Rev. Barbara
Fri Jul 16, 2010
In our book section, you can order Oprah Winfrey's favorite book ~ Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth".
-Kahlil Gibran
Dear Hearts,
Oftentimes we view religion and the lives we lead as two totally separate entities. Perhaps there are some of us who think religion is about going to church on Sunday and then living the rest of the week anyway we choose.
However, what good does religion do any us if we don’t integrate it with our daily living? If we never stepped into a Church again, yet our daily lives were filled with love, joy, kindness, acceptance, compassion, etc. we would be living the religion that all great saints and avatars taught.
So let’s be clear…religion is about what we believe and it’s also acting upon that belief. Scripture tells us that faith without works is dead.
We want to live our lives in such a manner that the very lives we lead act as our church temple. We want to use time daily praying and being grateful. We want to live our lives is such a way that love is always our first response, no matter what the question. We want to be able to look at others and see the face of God looking back at us.
We want to live the commandment, “Thou shall have no other Gods before you.” Meaning the qualities that God represents such as love, joy, beauty, peace, compassion, etc. become the primary focus of our lives and that nothing comes ahead of our practicing these qualities.
This is not to say that we don’t go to Church…but it is to say that what we learn in Church we put into practice in our daily living.
With love and blessings,
Rev. Barbara
Thu Jul 15, 2010
In our book section, you can order Oprah Winfrey's favorite book ~ Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth".
Mallika Chopra
Dear Hearts,
Haven’t we all at sometime confused the term “holding”…with “holding onto”? During our lifetime, we've all held someone in our arms or perhaps promised to hold them in our prayers or we’ve promised to hold another in our hearts. Perhaps we've held another’s hands in time of trouble or need. Some of us have taken marriage vows where we’ve promised “to have and to hold”. We've all had the privilege of holding a baby.
However, instead of holding, it’s easy to get caught “holding onto”. We hold on to our ideas of how another person is to act or behave. We hold onto our thoughts of when is the time for another to leave or to stay, we hold unto many beliefs and ideas about what another should or shouldn’t do. Sometimes, we want to hold onto another and keep them close rather than letting them go free thus allowing them to fly. The truth is…holding onto another is never about the other person, it 's about our needs and our neediness.
God is the perfect example of how to hold another. For God holds each of us in deep and abiding love. However, God does not hold onto us...as God, in God’s infinite wisdom, has given us free will to find our own path, to grow our own wings and the opportunity to fly at our own speed and to our own destination.
Today, let’s remember that our job is to hold others in thoughts and actions of love, peace and harmony. Our job is to daily hold others in prayer. Our job is to remember to exercise the wisdom to “hold”… but never “hold onto” another.
With love and blessings,
Rev. Barbara
Wed Jul 14, 2010
You can order Oprah Winfrey's favorite book, Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth" in our book section.
~ Mary Antin
Dear Hearts,
There is a great difference in living our lives when the past belongs to us as opposed to living our lives in such a way that the past owns us. When we belong to the past, it’s as though we’re in the grip of something that continually pulls us backward. It’s as though we’re on a merry-go-round, continually going in circles…never progressing forward.
However, when the past belongs to us…there is great freedom. Then, we have the option of enjoying our memories without allowing them to hold us hostage. We no longer beat ourselves up with such words as “why” or flagellate ourselves over past actions.
When the past belongs to us, we’re free to visit our past when we so desire…but we don’t get stuck. We realize that life takes place not in the past, but in the present moment.
If we feel that we are held prisoner to our past, it’s as simple as refocusing our thoughts. When we find ourselves continually reliving a past memory or berating ourselves for some former act, we can simply change our focus to the present moment, with words such as “that was then…and this is now.” Mystics often refer to God as “the Eternal Now” because we find God in the present moment.
The past does indeed belong to us and we belong to this present day. Today, with all of its beauty, promise and opportunity is beckoning us. The British poet Chaucer said, “Time and tide wait for no man”.
MONDAY'S AFFIRMATION:
Today I sieze the opportunity to move on with my life. I accept this opportunity for me and mine. Thank you God and so it is!
With love and blessings,
Rev. Barbara
Tue Jul 13, 2010
In our book section, you can order Oprah Winfrey's favorite book ~ Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth and "The Power of Now".
Victoria Osteen
Dear Hearts,
Aren’t there times, when we wish people would treat us better, perhaps with more love, kindness, patience and respect? Perhaps today, we might give thought to how we treat others. Are we acting and responding in a loving, kind, patient and respectful way? It’s a reciprocal universe and what we give is what we get.
So often it’s our human nature that wants to give exactly what we get. If someone isn’t treating us well, why should we treat them well? And yet, when we behave in this manner, we perpetuate the same old behavior…and nothing changes if nothing changes!
It’s easy to want the other person to change, to be different. Let’s remember, it’s really never about the other person, it’s about how we choose to live our lives. We can stay on the same level as others or we can choose to interject a new dynamic, a more loving dynamic and take the relationship to a higher level.
When we interject loving kindness and loving actions into our relationships we are setting the stage for others to treat us with kindness and love. Then we’re raising the relationship to a spiritual level. On the spiritual level, transformation occurs, miracles take place and our once mundane relationships have the opportunity to change into something greater than we could ever foresee.
With love and blessings,
Rev. Barbara
Mon Jul 12, 2010
In our book section, you can order Oprah Winfrey's favorite book ~ Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth".
23rd Psalm
Dear Hearts,
As we look back over our lives, we may feel that we have not always lived in such a way that goodness and kindness have been the qualities that have followed us. The good news is that as of today, we can start to live our lives in such a way that by our thoughts, words and deeds we can leave a trail of goodness and kindness, which in turn follows us, wherever we go, whatever we do.
There is a powerful promise made to us at the end of 23rd Psalm, saying,
Meaning if we live our lives in such a way that we are consistently sewing seeds of goodness and kindness, we begin to live in the house of the Lord We are then elevated from the human qualities of worry, doubt and fear into a God filled life of peace, joy, love, beauty, creativity, wisdom and clarity.
No matter what the circumstances of our life bring, when we dwell in the house of the Lord, we get to look beyond circumstance and see the blessing; when there is upheaval, we live in peace; when confusion is thick and dark, we have clarity.
Instead of making decisions based in fear, we make decisions based in faith and wisdom. Instead of struggling through our life, when we live in the house of the Lord; we find ease and grace guiding our path.
To commit to a life lived in goodness and kindness is high spiritual practice. Our reward for living this kind of life is that our lives actually become the living house of the Lord and goodness and kindness do indeed follow and bless us for the rest of our lives.
With love and blessings,
Rev. Barbara
Sun Jul 11, 2010
In our book section, you can order Oprah Winfrey's favorite book ~ Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth".
-Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
Dear Hearts,
Don’t we all want to experience a joyful day? Let’s remember though that joy isn’t something we shop for. Often we think that if we bought or owned this or that, we’d find joy. What we might experience is happiness, and we are all wise enough to know that happiness is fleeting. While we can’t buy joy, we can access it… we can bring it forth. Joy is with us forever because joy is a quality of God.
We might even feel guilty about feeling joyful. We see sorrow around us and might wonder who are we to feel joyful? Let’s release those thoughts now…remembering that joy is not about circumstances…whether our circumstances are good or bad.
Feeling joyful is about our connection to God. It’s about feeling close to a God so magnanimous that God’s promise to us is, “I will never leave you or forsake you. Lo, I am with you always.”
Joy can be found in many ways…. by praying, spending time in the powerful silence of meditation, living our life in gratitude, listening to beautiful music that stirs our soul, reading something inspirational that uplifts our heart, finding community with others, doing a kind deed for another (with no expectation of anything in return), spending time with children (ours and others), walking in nature, going to the beach and seeing the force and the majesty of the water, etc. All of these things help us to unleash the joy within us.
Joy is part of the fabric of who we are and when we experience joy, we experience God.
With love and blessings,
Rev. Barbara
Sat Jul 10, 2010
You can order Oprah Winfrey's favorite book, Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth" in our book section.
~ Karen Armstrong…“The Spiral Staircase”
Dear Hearts,
It’s wonderful to have heroes. Jesus is a great and mighty hero, as is Moses, the Buddha, Ghandi, Mother Teresa, Dr. King, etc. The mission of all great heroes isn’t just to inspire and uplift us, the mission of all great heroes is to show what’s possible for us.
The great saints and avatars throughout the ages have all issued us an invitation… not to worship or copy them but to walk the path they have tread spreading our unique talents and gifts along the way.
We have the opportunity to walk the path of the blessed peacemakers and we are invited to bring peace to others and to our surroundings. We have the opportunity to walk the path of the compassionate hearts and are invited to bring compassion into the lives of those we encounter. We are invited to walk the path of the great lovers of this earth and we are invited to anchor love in all that we say and do as only we can say and do it.
The hero resides within each of us. It is up to us to call forth the hero that we are and go forward in our own world doing heroic acts of love, compassion, forgiveness and kindness. We are here to leave our own heroic legacy… and we are invited to begin our very own hero’s journey today.
With love and blessings,
Rev. Barbara
Fri Jul 09, 2010
In our book section, you can order Oprah Winfrey's favorite book ~ Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth".
~ John Holcomb
Dear Hearts,
How often do we hear (or even say), “I don’t want to get involved”! And we become content to simply drift along.
None of us are here to be bystanders as the game of life is played. We’re here to get on the field and get involved in life. And yes, when we get involved in life sometimes we get dirty and sometimes we get bruised up and sometimes we cry...and sometimes there’s so much joy we feel like we’ll burst! But it’s only when we’re involved in life that we’re really living and that we really get to savor the wonder of life.
We’re here to make a difference in this beautiful process called “life” and no one has ever made a difference while sitting on the stands watching life pass by. Every day our job is to get involved whether it’s with our job, our marriage, our children, our friends, our God.
How often have we shown up for work, doing just barely what was necessary to keep our jobs, but never really getting involved in our work? The same with our relationships…are we really involved or just skirting the fringes? We profess we want a relationship with God, but are we actively involved in that relationship?
There’s an old saying that tells us if we don’t stand for something, we’ll fall for anything. Today, what will we stand for and how involved in this beautiful life will we be? We get to choose.
With love and blessings,
Rev. Barbara
Thu Jul 08, 2010
In our book section, you can order Oprah Winfrey's favorite book ~ Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth".
Chinese Proverb
Dear Hearts,
How often do we go through our days in fear of making a mistake? Living in fear of making mistakes is devastating to the growth and unfoldment of our lives. When we live in fear of making mistakes, we’re basically confining our lives to a rigid set of boundaries. If we live in fear of making mistakes, we’re never able to explore all the wonders that life has in store for us. No one ever achieved greatness without making mistakes (and many of them)!
Without mistakes, how would we ever learn? When we watch a toddler start to walk, how many times do they fall before they ever walk smoothly? Yet we never hear a toddler say, “Oh I’ve made a mistake, I’ll never try walking again.” They intuitively know that it’s only in taking a step and falling down, then taking two or three steps and falling again, etc., etc., that they finally learn to walk with ease. And so it is with us. It’s only by trial and error that we’re able to grow and make real progress in our lives.
Mistakes are a necessary part of our journey. Without mistakes, our lives become stagnant and our growth progress is thwarted. Mistakes are simply part of our learning experience.
In metaphysics, we learn that mistakes are opportunities to grow. Perhaps the best thing we might do is simply to rename any perceived mistakes we make and call them what they truly are…opportunities to learn and grow.
Let 2009 be the year we welcome all opportunities to learn and grow. If we make a mistake...well it's simply a GO (GROWTH OPPORTUNITY) and wE simply ”get up, dust ourselves off and start all over again”.
With love and blessings,
Rev. Barbara
Wed Jul 07, 2010
In our book section, you can order Oprah Winfrey's favorite book ~ Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth".
Eckhart Tolle
Dear Hearts,
Several years ago, a survey was done that asked individuals what it was they wanted most from others. The surprising answer was they wanted someone to listen to them.
There are many ways to listen. In the busyness of our society, and especially of our days right now, we often listen with only half of our attention on what the person is saying while the other half of our attention continue with the task at hand…and neither is done wholeheartedly.
Truly listening to another is spiritual practice that takes discipline. It is spiritual practice because in whole heartedly listening we get to validate another individual and the value of what they are saying and who they are.
Spiritual listening requires listening with our entire being. That means that we process the words through our mind while allowing our hearts to open in non-judgment. It requires stillness of body so that we listen in such a way that every part of our body is alert to what is being said. It requires the great discipline of a quiet mind that is not trying to formulate our response.
Each of us is here to allow the love, the compassion, the grace and the blessings of God to flow through us to others. There is no more noble a way to do this than in truly listening to another.
Today, if someone wants to talk to us…will we be able to answer the call by giving the gift of our precious time, our open hearts and quiet minds? If so, it is yet another way for us to show up for God.
With love and blessings,
Rev. Barbara
Tue Jul 06, 2010
In our book section, you can order Oprah Winfrey's favorite book...Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth.
Anonymous
Dear Hearts,
What is your mental image of yourself today? Perhaps for some of us, it's mid-way into a long week and our mental image of ourselves as successful is not quite as vibrant as it was. Perhaps others of us have had an extremely uplifting week so far and our mental image of ourselves as successful is brighter and more vivid than ever.
So how do we move into an arena where no matter what the days or weeks hold, we still see ourselves as successful? The poet Rumi said, "Beyond any right doing or wrong doing, there is a field, meet me there." What if we named that field "success" and all agreed to meet there at the end of each day? When we arrived at this neutral field and recounted our day, we could only focus on our success.
Whether that success would be getting through traffic, taking care of our children, standing firm in the middle of a challenge, acting in integrity in our business and personal life, making a commitment to ourselves to learn from our mistakes and not become victims of them -- this is all huge success. We are born for success...and success wears a vast array of faces.
Today, let's realize it's not what happens that determines our success, it's how we choose to think about and handle what happens that defines our success.
Love and blessings,
Barbara
Mon Jul 05, 2010
In our book section, you can order Oprah Winfrey's favorite book ~ Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth".
Lyrics by ELTON JOHN
Dear Hearts,
When I heard the title of Elton John’s new song, it struck me as such a profound metaphor for life! It’s so easy to allow ourselves to get stuck in the past. Instead of our life train moving ahead ~ our train begins to visit our past…bringing up painful events and memories that keep us from moving forward.
If we are still holding and perhaps nursing grudges from our past, then it is our job, as children of a loving God, to forgive what has taken place. If we can’t do the forgiveness work alone, then let’s seek out the help we need so we can move forward with our lives so that those past places within us become more and more distant.
Our job on this earth is to be the hands, the eyes, the ears and the mouth of God. In order to accomplish this, we must move ahead. With each forward movement we meet new people, new situations, and we have the opportunity to grow and live better more productive lives than we ever thought possible.
Our lives have great meaning and purpose. However, we will let our lives literally slip through our fingers if we get caught in the web of the past. Today let’s imagine ourselves boarding a beautiful, new sleek train and when the engineer calls “ALL ABOARD”, we answer with a resounding “YES!” thus allowing ourselves to move into a future better and more powerful than we could have ever imagined. For this we were born.
With love and blessings,
Rev. Barbara
Sun Jul 04, 2010
In our book section, you can order Oprah Winfrey's favorite book, Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth".
Pledge of Allegiance
Dear Hearts,
On July 4, 1776, America claimed independence from Britain and a democracy was born. How fortunate many of us are are to live in an independent nation that allows us the freedom to choose.
As we celebrate and think about freedom today, let’s take a moment and examine our lives. Do we feel truly free and liberated?
If not, the only one thing preventing us from experiencing freedom is our old thought patterns and behaviors. On this July 4, 2010, are we willing to issue our own Declaration of Independence? Thereby doing whatever is necessary to free ourselves from the thoughts that bind us?
There’s a wonderful story of the farmer who finds an egg assuming it’s a chicken egg. He places the egg in the chicken coup. When the egg hatches, it’s not a chicken at all…it’s an eagle. However, the eagle grows up thinking its a chicken and assumes the mannerisms of a chicken.
One day an old eagle flies down and tells the young eagle that its not a chicken at all. It is a great and mighty bird…the most magnificent of all birds. But the young eagle has a hard time believing it because its so used to thinking of itself as a chicken.
Today, let’s remember we are children of a mighty God, fortunate enough to live in a country that allows us the freedom of choice. We are all eagles with the capability and the freedom to soar as high as we choose, free and brave.
With love and blessings,
Rev. Barbara
Sat Jul 03, 2010
In our book section, you can order Eckhart Tolle's book, "A New Earth".
Hebrews 11:1
Dear Hearts,
During this holy time of the year, perhaps it’s a time to reflect on our faith. Jesus had unshakable faith that with God all things are possible and that love is always the answer. Moses believed in a powerful and mighty God and he believed that eventually the Jewish people would get to the Promised Land.
Where do we place our faith? Do we have faith in the thinking that tells us, “everything always happens to me”? Do we have faith in “coulda, woulda, shoulda” thinking? Do we have faith that we really are life’s victims?
Or do we have faith that each day is fresh and new and we can create out of that day whatever we choose…not always our circumstances but always our response to those circumstances. Do we believe that we have a kind and benevolent God? Do we believe in our own possibilities? Do we believe that with God all things are possible? Do we believe that our life has meaning and purpose? Do we believe that this is a benevolent Universe working together for our good?
As we proceed into this glorious day and celebrate our life ~ let’s remember that we to can die to our old ways of thinking and rise up again in faith to a belief in a gracious and loving God and to the infinite possibilities that our ours by Divine Birthright.
With love and blessings,
Rev. Barbara
Fri Jul 02, 2010
In our book section, you can order Oprah Winfrey's favorite book ~ Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth".
Wayne Dyer
Dear Hearts,
Many times the only way we identify ourselves is through our history. Our history is simply “his story” or “her story”. We keep ourselves locked into the belief system that we are what our stories are.
The stories we identify with are stories that were told to us when we were very small by individuals who were probably retelling a story that was told to them. Often we allow these ancient stories to lock us into to a set pattern of behavior and a certain way of life. It’s as if we put neon signs across our forehead that say “This is who I am, this is what I have always been, and this is the way I will always be”, end of our story. It’s only the end if we allow it to be the end.
It may seem an overwhelming task to change the way we think about ourselves. It may seem that our history stands like a mountain in front of us to steep to scale or that because of our history we may be in such a valley that we feel there is no way we can climb out of it. But nothing is impossible with God.
A beautiful promise has been made to us, “Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth; and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed*. We can be made new again… free…free to create a new kind of history…one that reveals the truth about us and allows us to reveal the glory of God through our real story.
Let's affirm together:
Today I release any story of who I was and embrace the new story of who I am, a beloved child of God with infinite possibilities. I accept this for me and mine.
With love and blessings,
Rev. Barbara
*Isaiah 40:4,5