In our book section, you can order Oprah Winfrey's favorite book ~ Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth".

“The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing that you will make a mistake.”
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

In our book section, you can order Oprah Winfrey's favorite book ~ Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth".

"A year ago, I was the biggest has been."
Terri Hatcher after receiving a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress

Dear Hearts,

What a beautiful example Terri Hatcher gave to all of us. How many times
have we felt like "has beens"? Our life as we have known it seems to disappear and we feel washed up. What do we do when this happens?

We begin saying, "yes" to the smallest opportunity that comes our way. Often when some seemingly insignificant opportunity presents itself, we immediately qualify it and say "no", thinking what possible good could that do us? Well our job isn't to qualify; our job is to do ~ to say, "Yes" to what Life offers us. Every time we say "yes", it becomes an opening for Life to present another step and another opportunity and before we know it, we're in a whole different place and space in our lives.

Terri Hatcher commented that the previous year she was in her pajamas eating popcorn watching the Golden Globes, perhaps dreaming of what could have been. But she kept doing her work, saying yes to each small step presented to her, showing up for every audition and 365 days later, she was on the stage of the Golden Globes with a hit TV show and accepting an award for Best Actress in a comedy series.

This is an impersonal Universe...meaning Life plays no favorites. What happened to Terri Hatcher can happen to us. Maybe we don't want to be on the stage of the Golden Globes, but saying "yes" to life brings us to whatever stage of life our heart truly desires. Let's try it and see where life takes us. Remember the secret of life is a three-letter word, "Yes"!

With love and blessings,

Rev. Barbara

In our book section, you can order Oprah Winfrey's favorite book ~ Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth".

“Give Up Your Personal History.”
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*. And 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

In our book section, you can order Oprah Winfrey's favorite book ~ Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth".

“Today is the first day of the rest of your life.”
Anthony Robbins

Dear Hearts,

The second day of the New Year! Wow, how blessed we all are to be able to celebrate the beginning of 2009!

We can look out at 2009 and see nothing but a steep and slippery mountain that we “must” climb, though inside we feel as though we would rather be doing anything else but having to make this ascent. Or, we can look at this New Year as the beginning of some new and wonderful adventure.

What if we make this a year where we commit to taking God as our partner? What if everyday we ask God’s guidance and strength to fulfill our potential for the day? What if we ask God everyday to use us, to lead us to where we can be of most service? What if we made a commitment to be here for God…no matter what? What if every single day we express gratitude for something in our lives? If we choose to live our lives in this manner…our lives will grow and glow beyond anything we can currently imagine and we will become God’s representative to all we meet.

Let this year not be about you and me. Let this year be about you and me partnering with a God so great, so mighty and so powerful that all things are possible to us...a life beyond our wildest dreams. As the scripture tells us there is no mountain too high or no valley too low when we take the Infinite as our partner.

Happy New Year and Life’s richest blessings to you and yours!

With love and blessings,

Rev. Barbara

In our book section, you can order Oprah Winfrey's favorite book ~ Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth".

"Just Do It!"
Nike

Dear Hearts,

As we move closer to the end of this year, we have the opportunity to contemplate the 2008 columns of our lives….one column for positives and one column for minuses. They are both equally important to observe. We can relish what's in the positive column and be grateful for all of our accomplishments and for all the gifts that life has so generously bestowed upon us. Then we get to look at the minus side. The trick, when looking at the minus side, is to ask ourselves only one question, "What have we learned from this?" Then, let's formulate our answer, and move on. Let's not get trapped into "why", "what if" or "if only". The past is just that -- passed! Let's learn from it and move on!

Life is now beckoning us forward. As we move closer to this brand new year, we have the opportunity to create it anyway we choose. We have the opportunity to complete anything left undone in 2008. Such as; Couldn’t find enough time to spend with our loved ones? Didn't say, "I love you" enough to those we truly love? Didn't give our personal best? Didn't take good enough care of our body? Forgot to take those art lessons? Never set the time aside to meditate? Too busy to join that exercise class? Forgot to watch our diets?

Well, today is a whole new beginning, a brand new year has begun. We get to create this year anyway we choose. We don't have to fall slave to past behavior. In 2009, we have the opportunity to figuratively join hands with all those individuals who have accomplished great things with three simple words ~

"JUST DO IT"

And...we can!


With love and blessings,

Rev. Barbara

In our book section, you can order Oprah Winfrey's favorite book ~ Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth".

"All endings are also beginnings."
Mitch Albom

Dear Hearts,

Many times it's difficult to see beyond the endings that occur in our lives. It might be the ending of a relationship, the ending of a job, the ending of our year. It might be our children going to college, thus the ending of an era. Yet, when we attend a graduation from high school or college, while it is a seeming ending, it is never called "The End", instead it is called "Commencement", because it is seen as a beginning or start.

Behind every door that says "The end", there is another door marked "The beginning" just waiting to be opened. It's always our choice. We can place our focus on "The end", or we can move forward and open the new door marked "The beginning".

When Jesus, the Master Teacher said, "My Father's house has many mansions", he was telling us that there is never just one door..but many doors of opportunity. We have to choose, do we linger in remorse, regret or rage? Or do we move on to the next phase of our life?

As the doors are closing doors on 2008, let this be the time we release the shackles that bind us to any closed doors in our lives and look ahead to the doors that are even now beckoning to be opened.

With love and blessings,

Rev. Barbara

In our book section, you can order Oprah Winfrey's favorite book ~ Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth".

"God is good....all the time"
Dr. Ernest Holmes

Dear Hearts,

We are about to leave 2008. For many of us it has been a good year, for some of us it has been a year of of loss of grieving and of heavy hearts.

Perhaps we were wondering, "Where is God through all of this?" Well, it's key for us to remember that God is always right there, working through the tireless efforts of God's people. Working through you and me as we allow our hearts to break wide open and allow the love of God to pour through us to others. We get to let God shine through our generous acts, through our prayers, through our donations and by doing our part, small as it might seem to help, to assist and to aid others.

As we go into 2009, it's key for us to remember that God is good all the time. Why? Because in the worst situations there is always good or God to be found. So the question isn't, "Is God here?" The question is, "are we here?" Are we willing to show up in this New Year and be a place for God's love, peace and compassion to flow freely and generously? We get to choose how we will live our lives in '09? No one makes that choice for us.

Perhaps our mantra for this New Year will be,

"God is good all the time".

And

"If it's going to be, it's up to me!"

Wishing all of us a holy and joy filled New Year.

With love and blessings,

Rev. Barbara

In our book section, you can order Oprah Winfrey's favorite book ~ Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth".

"You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Dear Hearts,

How quickly this year has passed by! However, before we wrap 2008 up with a beautiful bow and place it in the memory of our minds, there is still time to do a little extra. There is still time to leave our world in particular and the world in general a better place. Between now and Wedmesday midnight how many kind deeds can we do -- perhaps some anonymously? How many uplifting words can we utter? How many sincere complements can we give? Are there words of forgiveness we need to say? The time is now! We will never have these final precious moments of 2006 again. How well will we use these moments for love's sake?

Now matter how this year came into our lives, let's allow it to exit with a bang of compassion and loving-kindness. Years from now as we think about this year, may we be able to know that this was the year that our heart space broke wide open. There is still time left -- let's not waste one precious moment.

With love and blessings,

Rev. Barbara

In our book section, you can order Oprah Winfrey's favorite book ~ Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth".

"Life isn't a matter of milestones, but moments."
-Rose Kennedy

Dear Hearts,

How often do we put milestones in front of us – whether it’s a special holiday, a vacation or even an upcoming weekend. Our focus is set on that particular time in the future and it’s as though we willingly bypass our moments to get us to the milestones. In the meantime, we have missed the gift of the moments that are the fabric of our daily lives. We begin living in the “when”…when this or that happens, instead of living in the moment.

It is often said that God is the "Eternal Now", meaning that we only find God in the present moment, for once we leave the present moment, we're off into a fantasy of our own perception - either how we perceived the past or our perception of how the future will be. Only the moment that we’re living is real.

As we find ourselves in the midst of this holy season, let's not wish one precious moment of it away. We all want to live a more spiritual life, however spirituality is not living for “when” something happens. Spirituality is living, appreciating and enjoying each and every moment as it occurs as each and every moment is a very special bead in the circle called our life. It's in each moment that we meet and greet our God and our God is always in the Eternal Now.

With love and blessings,

Rev. Barbara

In our book section, you can now order Oprah Winfrey's book ~ Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth".

"Come to the edge." "We can't. We're afraid."
"Come to the edge." "We can't. We will fall!"
"Come to the edge." And they came.
And he pushed them. And they flew.
- Guillaume Apollinaire

Dear Hearts,

There is something within all of us that is urging us on, urging us to try the untried, urging us to grow ~ to always be more and never less of our true selves. However, sometimes we barely hear a faint echo of that voice because we've grown so accustomed to ignoring it. Life continually offers us a myriad of opportunities. These opportunities may take the voice of something within saying, "go for it," "try it," "ask for it" "just do it," etc.

Change and growth frighten us because we're afraid to fail. We might think it's easier to remain as we are ~ it's not. We are here to change and grow and that's our charge until we take our very last breath. The truth of the matter is that when we make a decision to grow and live a life that is larger than the present life we're living, a myriad of invisible forces come to our aid. When we agree to step out of our comfort zone, we become in fundamental harmony with an ever expanding, ever growing Universe and so much more becomes possible for us.

Talmudic wisdom proclaims that over every blade of grass there stands an angel whispering, "Grow! Grow! Grow!" That same voice is becoming us forward. Will we say, "yes" to that larger life that is calling us? What will our choice be today?

With love and blessings,

Barbara