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Showing posts with the label faith

Being a Beneficial Presence

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This morning when I awoke, I prayed for God to speak through me. I prayed that I would be a beneficial presence today and I set my intention to be love wherever I went. I was scheduled to speak at a community center in West Los Angeles at ten. When I arrived at about fifteen minutes before I was scheduled to speak, I met the activities director. She was a warm woman from Vienna and as we waited in the conference room for the attendees, we started talking. She was studying hypnotherapy, pursuing a master's degree online, and working full time. She spoke of how although she has lived here for eight years, living in Los Angeles was difficult to get used to. While seniors enjoyed breakfast in the next room, we talked about the importance of community and the difficulty some seniors face in creating one for themselves. We discovered that our birthdays are one day apart (mine January 17th and hers the 18th). By ten a.m., I was certain that I would not have an audience to speak to--...

God Jar

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This week I was asked to contribute to the creation of an altar representing release. I struggled with what to bring. Then I remembered a God jar I'd created. Two years ago, I was taking a spiritual course and learned about a ritual of using a jar to release any problems that I was facing to God. So I created a God jar, wrote all my problems on Post It notes and sealed them in the plastic jar. On top of the lid, I attached another Post It note which read something like, "These problems are being handled by God. My highest good is done now." I did not stop thinking about those problems right away; however, two years later I can honestly say that I do not remember the problems that seemed so overwhelming that I chose to give them to God by placing them in that jar. That is grace. Have I been tempted to open the jar and take a peek? Yes! Of course! I even imagined that someday I'd add more worries to the jar at some point. Yet, somehow I've come to think of that j...

The Power and Beauty of No

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Last year I was faced with a "say no situation". I was working full time, but my job was not being funded for the next year. I could choose to interview for a full time position in a context that didn't appeal to me or I could accept a part time job which required no interview and involved work I knew I'd love. In addition, the part time job was a step down from the position I had. I chose to accept the part time job. My mom, who is the most supportive person in my world, questioned my decision. She didn't see the wisdom in trading a full time job for a part time one. "How will you pay your bills?", she asked. I'd asked myself the same question. My intuition told me to take the part time job, but just to be sure I consulted my body as well. I sat in meditation, closed my eyes, and said aloud "I have accepted the full time job." I noted that my stomach juices started gurgling. Then I said, "I have not accepted the full time job" an...

You Can't Keep What You Won't Give Away

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A few days ago, I woke up grateful for another day. Within seconds, however, gratitude turned into worry. I had been working a consulting job for two months and had not yet been paid. I had also been expecting another check for over a month that had not yet arrived. All that I could do on my end had been done. I had made the appropriate phone calls, "dotted my i's" and "crossed my t's". It was a "hurry up and wait" situation. The facts were that I hadn't yet paid the mortgage, I had ten days until the grace period ended, and just a few dollars in savings. But what was the truth? I decided that when I got out of bed, I would turn my attention to how I could help and be a resource for others. I had a colleague who had requested an article from me that she needed for a presentation. I decided to search for the article amongst the piles of paperwork in my den. I searched through file cabinets, egg crates, and binders looking for this one page artic...