Namaste,

I have returned from South Africa. It is again my pleasure to recap my last live stream from March 6^th – Green Lights, Cosmic Clunks and Full-Body Yeses! All the same phenomena expressed in three different ways!

In my view, the very best way to live this life is from the inside out rather than from the outside in.  Every important thing in life is to be found within the inner landscape of you.  Everyone tries to find happiness, love, peace, joy, and fulfillment from the world and its activities.  Unfortunately, whatever emotional experiences come from the world are situational and conditional, thus temporary. But when you discover that what you are seeking is inside and independent of the world, you then can access, experience, and express freely and fully regardless of what is transpiring in your daily life or in the world at large. This means that you no longer assign your emotional well-being, or lack thereof, to circumstances.  This is the starting point for a life of spiritual power.

Last time we touched on the topic of intuition and the value of developing the capacity and willingness to listen to ourselves more than we listen to the world.  We explored how to recognize intuition and what to do with it when it appears.  Dr. Ernest Holmes said, “Intuition is God in man”.  For those who are queasy about ‘God’, go with intuition being your higher power or that aspect of you that is YOU but non-physical, eternal, and connected to the physical you as you navigate this earth-walk.  Intuition shows up for us as clarity, guidance, knowledge, and revelation.  In addition to ‘knowing that you know’ with certainty, the real presence of this extra-sensory guidance is the feelings you get in your gut.  Our higher power communicates directly to us through feelings and emotions.  Does it ‘feel’ good, right, whole, and true? Today, let us explore a way of thinking about these gut feelings and how to respond.

This topic is inspired by a book I was surprisingly deeply moved by called - Green Lights by Matthew McConaughey.  He writes a bodacious biography of living a full, big, authentic life. My take on this charming book leads me to this whimsical, yet mystical idea of green lights, red lights, and yellow lights. The green light being an affirmative intuitive hit which says, ‘follow me’. Green lights mean that everything lines up in a full body yes.  It is knowing that whatever it is, do it and pursue it. This kind of knowing is not of the ego, it is of the soul.  The full body yes always aligns with your values, your purpose, and your heart.  Even if you don’t know anything about all of that, it will simply feel right to you personally on every level. When you get a green light in life, push the accelerator, and go.  Don't stop to ask the advice of your mother, sister, friend, or guru.  A green light, full-body yes, or cosmic clunk – is about as perfect guidance as you can get.

On the other hand, “Red Lights” are a full body no.  They are the moments when your intuition and your gut is telling you that something is not a good idea, should be reconsidered, the brakes are to be applied.  Red lights are tricky because sometimes the ego doesn’t agree. Sometimes that cool party, that great-paying job, or marrying that person, simply has us over-ride the intuitive impulses we are given, meaning we ignore our gut feelings! Mischief almost always ensues!

Yellow lights of course are the moments we just don’t know what to do.  We just don’t know which way to go, or which decision is the right one.  Dr. Michael Bernard Beckwith, one of my valued teachers, said if it is a full body yes, it is a yes.  If it is a full body no, then it is a no.  If it is a maybe – it is a no.  His advice is to only travel the road of yes. This means waiting patiently!

It is good to add here that in the end, it doesn’t matter much if you ignore the red lights, go on yellow or slide through life making every green light. Ultimately nature has a way of using everything for a loving purpose and ensuring that everything will be transmuted for full value, benefit and meaning. So, though life will continue to have ups and downs, the ride is way more exhilarating if you are paying attention to the subtle communication you receive.

To move in the direction of living this way, keep checking in with how you feel in your gut.  Honor whatever that feeling is without making it too complicated.  Does it feel yummy or yucky?  It also helps tremendously to really want to be real and authentic more than you desire to be liked or approved of. The Christian mystic Meister Eckhart said, “you must want to know God more than anything else”.  I think this quote correlates to how much you really want the help when you are face down in the mud, sick and tired of being sick and tired, and urgently seeking a sign of what to do for relief.  Or you simply get inspired by a vision of a different kind of life, a different way of being.  As Dr. Michael Bernard Beckwith often says, “you can be pulled by vision or pushed by pain.” Either way works.

You are moving through life, living your green-lights and suddenly some dissatisfaction or unfulfillment begins to creep in. Is this a bad thing or a good thing? I suppose it could be self-sabotage or the rumbling of a bored ego, but from an awakened vantage point could also be a very good thing.  I call it divine discontent. It might simply be your higher power sending you some gentle nudges from the unseen sign of life.  Look to see if you need to change something.  Do something. Add something. Subtract something.  This of course might bring up the resistance we as human beings have for change. When things are going well, why does anything need to change?  Can’t it stay like this forever?  No. As spiritual beings on a path of evolving - change is the name of the game. We evolve the entire duration of our earth-walk. The really great thing is that the non-physical you, which is connected to you forever, knows you, loves you, has your back, and has the job of tweaking your journey along the way. Note that this is not a linear journey. Sometimes red lights become green lights.  Sometimes green lights become red lights.  The charge of a spiritual aspirant is to remain connected through meditation, contemplation, nature, attention, intention and listening so that you can move with ease, grace, and elegance as you navigate with the help of your higher power - the ‘super-hero-you’.

It is not easy to live a life of spiritual power because it requires you live in a way that most humans do not live or even want to live.  You must be your spiritual ‘super-hero-you’ to walk your own path, sing your own song or dance to your own music.  Every avatar, humanitarian, spiritual giant, or truly happy peaceful inspired person, has invited, listened to, and followed the guidance of his or her higher power – or inner super-hero.  The ego will inevitably lead you into despair and the spirit will lead you into fulfillment. Living life from a spiritual perspective does not mean there won’t be some despair along the way or that you are immune to the learnings of this experience called life.  But it does mean that you won’t be numb. You won’t be fake. You won’t live disconnected from the meaning and purpose of your life. There is a power, poise and confidence that comes from living awake and aware, in the present moment – listening to the still small voice within you.

Don’t make it complicated.  Simply take an honest look at your life as it is.  Your work, relationships, health, friendships, self-expression work and money.  Does it FEEL right and true and meaningful?  If yes, great.  If not, start looking for the green lights, full body yeses and cosmic clunks! Don’t be afraid to take a different road. It is okay to change your mind.  It is natural to follow your heart.

My work and passion is to do my part to raise consciousness in the world. Personal transformation is the only that the world can become a better place, a more loving place. An awakened life is a life of exquisite possibility.  A sleep-walking life is a life of endless predictability. Through the raising of personal consciousness, we can make a difference in the landscape of the entire world.  And the world really needs some landscape architecting!

Welcome to your life, your purpose, your passion, your vision, and the release of all apologies for being who you are. You and super-hero-you are an amazing team, built for success. Enjoy the ride!

Until next time,
Love, love and more love, Rev. D

Blessings all,

My schedule is a bit off as I am currently in South Africa completing two weeks of a four week stay.  I am not easily able to stream but I thought it time to check in and share some of the current photos of African wildlife. My last unexplored topic had to do with beginning the shift from using the world to guide our lives to learning how to use our intuition or our inner compass. I originally titled the stream quite incorrectly, “Don't talk to the world, Listen to yourself." The correct wording is; “Don't Listen to the World, Listen to Your SELF."  A big difference!

We often interact with the world in a way that ends up not particularly meaningful in either direction - talking or listening. We often look to the world for validation and evidence that we are okay and that we fit in.  Are we smart enough, successful enough –what do others think about us? We ask other people for advice and guidance to make decisions which is often pretty crazy because most people you ask are not grounded, centered or clear enough to be able to dispense sage advice. Until we feel comfortable in our own skins, it is fairly normal to determine who we want to be like and then to mold ourselves so that they will like us.  Alas, it is a flawed system because you really aren’t supposed to be like anyone else.

It is far better to understand that you are a spiritual being deeply connected to the infinite source of all wisdom, intelligence, and knowledge.  There is an invisible energetic field in which you live, move, and have your being.  In Science of Mind, we would say that the individual mind and the mind of the Infinite (God) are ONE mind. Abraham-Hicks has a beautiful way of speaking about your higher power which I like very much! They speak of a “non-physical” you that adores you, knows everything about your journey in this earth-suit, and through some golden thread of connection is available to guide you, counsel you and direct your every step. This non-physical you is the equivalent of your higher power.

Thus, if you want to live in an authentic, powerful, and peace-filled way, you must learn to meditate, contemplate, and ask this invisible, yet potent and real force for answers and guidance. Most people are still under the dictatorship of the ego which is always coming from its own individual perspective and often not a particularly healthy point of view.  That is not the place to hope for good advice or counsel.  So, talk to your SELF!

When you know that you know that you know, that you really are a deity in blue jeans and a t-shirt,
you will give your self permission to live your life with a level of spiritual authority
which enables you to trust your self completely and love the world unconditionally." ~me

Prayer and meditation are powerful tools for opening the door to that level of guidance. I believe this is to be our "intuition".  We connect by means of intention and then we listen with a spiritual perception and then FEEL the answers in our 'gut'. We turn within, ponder the question, decision, the path, the choices -- and then allow yourself to feel what happens.  Often people ask me; "how do you know if it is intuition or the ego you are listening to?" I am not sure there is an easy answer to this.  Each person must discern this inner voice for themselves.  But what I would say is that the voice of your inner divinity will never cause you to feel bad or wrong.  This inner guidance will never guide you to harm yourself or anyone.  In the spiritual universe, every solution is a win-win and will always leave you feeling good about yourself. The advice gleaned from your intuitive faculties will always be spot-on and will always "FEEL" right. As a note, sometimes what your intuition advises will not be what you 'want'.  Once you get good at listening, then you might also have to get good at following the advice.  But no worries, if you obtain the guidance, you want and don't follow it – the universe has a way of persisting until you do.

The movement from listening to the world to listening to yourself, first and foremost requires faith and trust that it exists. You are spiritual. There is a higher power of you that is personal. This awareness and acceptance is usually preceded by an amplification of self-love, self-respect and massive forgiveness of everyone and everything.  When you know that you know that you know - that you really are a deity in blue jeans, you will give yourself permission to live your life with a level of spiritual authority enabling you to trust yourself completely while loving the world unconditionally!

It is from that place of authenticity and self-sufficiency that we can get into right-relationship with our higher-power and our fellow travelers.  We absolutely and definitely need to be talking to the world.  The world Is in desperate need of our words of love, peace and forgiveness.

Listen and then talk!

Until next time,
Love, love and more love, Rev. D

Blessings all,

As many of you know I am streaming "Sunday Night Alive"  on Facebook and YouTube Sunday evenings at 6pm EST. My program  is dedicated to Practical Spirituality - topics which provide the tools to walk and talk our spiritual journey with power, poise and confidence. I am happy to synthesize and broaden these topics for you each week on this blog.   Enjoy this topic from Sunday, February 12th.

Claiming Contentment

This past week on Sunday Night Alive we explored the necessity to personally claim contentment as our chosen way of living and being. Contentment is defined as a state of happiness, peace, and fulfillment. I would add that it is the experience of moving through life knowing that you have enough, you have done enough, and you are enough.  Can you imagine putting your head down at night feeling that way?

Some might argue that contentment and happiness aren’t guaranteed in this life or perhaps even to go so far as to say that happiness is not even the point of life. I fervently disagree. We do not suffer the pain and hardships we experience locally or globally because people are overcome with happiness. Sad, angry, discontented, unfulfilled people lash out. First because they are unhappy and secondly because they believe it is the world’s fault that they are not happy. On the other hand, contented happy people are generous of heart, loving and compassionate.  They don’t harm themselves, others, animals, or the earth. Contentment leads to a state of generosity, cooperation, and peaceful co-existence. I know we need a lot more of that!

This is a challenge because we live in a mental environment that is rigged for unhappiness and dissatisfaction. We are born and raised to believe that something is always missing or broken, something or someone is always wrong and even if it is good, not to get too comfortable because the other shoe will drop at any moment. Most of us were given a list of what isn’t working or imperfect about us personally rather than a list of what is good or great. We were not praised for our gifts but criticized for our shortcomings.

The cornerstone of our  philosophy, faith and way of life is an awareness that the content of our lives is determined by an unseen operating system within our sub-conscious beliefs which ultimately is the cause of all of the circumstances or conditions in our lives. What actually shows up flows from what we believe at our deepest level. The big idea comes first and from that over-arching idea flows circumstances and conditions.  Said another way, consciousness precedes form and form flows from consciousness. Unfortunately, if the operating context in you is one of chronic discontentment, then only discontentment can come forth or be experienced. Context is decisive. To take responsibility and experience a contented life, you must do the work of re-creating and creating the source code for contentment.

This atmosphere of not good enough, of being fundamentally discontented, arises at the level of collective consciousness.  You and I didn’t make it up, we merely accepted it and once an idea lives in us subconsciously, it cannot help but determine conditions and circumstances. Because we are powerful creators and have the ability and responsibility to think for ourselves and to design our life, we can consciously with intention and commitment create a new context, a big new idea which will, by virtue of how the universe works, begin to form new conditions and new circumstances for us.

As a practicing metaphysician, you create your life through vision, commitment, and declaration.  You will live from an inner assertion rather than an outer reaction.  It isn't possible to expect to live a happy life by expecting the world to provide you with reasons to be happy. This is true about contentment as well as joy, happiness, abundance, health, and all other qualities of being. These innate qualities are to be discovered and expressed.

“You are one thing only. You are a Divine Being. An all-powerful Creator.
You are a Deity in jeans and a t-shirt, and within you dwells the infinite wisdom of the ages
and the sacred creative force of All that is, will be and ever was.” 
~Anthon St. Maarten

This does not mean it's easy because we are all conditioned by the past and the world. We are all conditioned by our cultural influences. So there comes a moment as a mature human and spiritual adult when we must embrace the truth that life will be to us what we are to it. That we do have the capacity, the responsibility, and the power to bring into existence new paradigms and new contexts. Why? Because we are made in the image and likeness of supreme intelligence. Thus, we either believe we are  puny insignificant beings or that we are endowed with the intelligence, wisdom, and capacity to change, to begin again.

I say that the first step is to merely give yourself permission to be happy. We can’t wait for our family or friends to give us permission. Nor can we wait for society to decide that a contented population is ultimately a far healthier option for our world; mentally, physically, or spiritually. Ultimately it is a decision we make and then stand for that decision with all our might. The single decision to be contented will re-orient your life. It will re-prioritize your life. You will make different choices, have different friends, do different things, and ultimately live a far superior quality of life.

Choosing happiness does not mean we care less about the world.  It is not an either/or option.  Being contented does not equate to apathy. Choosing happiness is not selfish. The reality is that in your happiness, you will offer the world happiness.  That isn’t possible when you suffer. In your unhappiness you will offer the world suffering.

The creation of a new context or a new idea is quite easy. Right where you are, today, regardless of the circumstances simply say something like this:

• I will practice contentment and happiness from this day forward.
• Today, I give myself permission to be a happy and contented person.
• Regardless of my past and present circumstances, I choose contentment.
  
• What would a contented person do or say right now in this situation?

You know yourself better than I do, so from that self-knowledge, write your perfect affirmations. And then do them faithfully 100 times a day!

Have fun with it. There is truly nothing to lose.

This concludes today’s message for Living A Life of Spiritual Power
Next week – "Don't Listen to the World, Talk to Your SELF" February 19th 6pm
Until then, Love, love and more love, Rev. D

Blessings all,

As many of you know I am streaming "Sunday Night Alive"  on Facebook and YouTube Sunday evenings at 6pm EST. My program  is dedicated to Practical Spirituality - topics which provide the tools to walk and talk our spiritual journey with power, poise and confidence. I am happy to synthesize and broaden these topics for you each week on this blog.   Enjoy this topic from Sunday, February 5th.

Color Outside the Lines
(In Search of Real)

Do you remember as a child how fun it was to get a brand-new coloring book and a box of crayons?  I clearly remember my mother’s instructions. “Color inside the lines!” The picture with the neatest lines always received praise and made it onto the refrigerator door.  The others?  The messy, ugly, sloppy ones, where the lines were not neat made it into the trash. It is here we might have learned to live life in the ‘right’ way, the ‘neat’ way, the ‘controlled’ way.  We live inside the lines of life, established by ourselves or the norms of society primarily to assure that we are liked, respected, and praised for following the rules and playing the game of life properly.

Unfortunately, this indoctrination to how life should be lived, may have affected your life in such a way that you find yourself trapped inside those lines. Traveling from birth to becoming a functioning adult, the coloring book of life got created in an unconscious agreement between you and whoever the people in your life happened to be.  In those first 20 years the rulebook of life according to you got written.  The problem is that the coloring book you call your life may be at a minimum causing you some unwanted consequences like boredom, depression or addiction, and at maximum, completely suffocating the brilliant and beautiful, difference-making, world-loving BEING that is the real you.  You get enough of us who are living lives that are inauthentic, and not a true representation of what is inside, the consequence would be, and is, a dysfunctional and symptomatic society.

In my work, what is most important is the discovery and restoration of authenticity. This is an experience of feeling ‘real’ and of knowing that what is inside is being reflected appropriately on the outside.   To me, it is the exhilarating experience of being untethered from the erroneous ideas and false beliefs that ran my life for many decades. More of us need to become untethered.

From existential philosophy the word authenticity is defined as  ‘relating too or denoting an emotionally appropriate, significant, purposeful, and responsible mode of life.’

This is an interesting perspective because it points to the idea that an inauthentic life would be emotionally inappropriate, insignificant, without purpose and irresponsible. For the most part when I look into what people do in life, I would agree that inauthenticity is reigning supreme!

Another definition, “made in a way that faithfully resembles the original.”

I like this definition because in our faith tradition I would say to anyone, “You are a unique and individualized representation of the Divine. Because of that fact, you are whole, perfect and complete already.” Thus, if we were all moving through life resembling the original self before the world messed it all up - love, peace, compassion and all of the other Divine qualities would be expressed and experienced. Just like when you buy a Rolex watch in Central Park, you want the real thing, not a knock-off.  We want to be the real thing and not a lesser version of ourselves - right?

We are not on earth to compete, accumulate, struggle or suffer.  It may seem like that is what life is about and what is important, but it is not.  We are here to revel in the awe and wonder of the beauty of our environment and to ‘play’ with each other for the purpose of growth and experience.  We are here to love.

Maybe in Reality with a capital “R” there are no hard lines, borders, or rules?  Maybe all of the restrictions, limitations and borders aren’t really there, and you can choose to live in any way that you wish providing you harm no-one, including you.  Go wherever you want to go. Just because your mother made you make your bed every morning before you left the house, doesn’t mean that you have to do it. The making of that bed is not tied to your worthiness. Try coloring outside the lines and do not make your bed and then watch what happens inside you. 

This week, we are exploring  what it might mean to begin to color outside the lines in your life. Divine discontent describes the longing of the soul to be more, express more, have more.  Sometimes coloring inside the lines of our life, may make your life pleasing to others, comfortable to you personally but nonetheless lacking in peace, joy, awe, the wonder and fulfillment that comes from singing your real song.

Our lives do become habitual.  We do establish patterns of behaviors that become ruts in our road - personalized hamster wheel of life. We are not taking about anything being bad.  Living a mediocre uneventful life because you are afraid to take a chance, afraid to aggravate your loved ones or afraid of rejection –is a predictable life, the antithesis of a life of unlimited possibility. This has nothing to do with any external measuring stick.  It has to do with your answer to the question, “Are you happy, satisfied, fulfilled and pleased with your life?” or an even better question, “If you were on your deathbed tomorrow, are you satisfied with how you have chosen to live --  or would you do something different? I think the ultimate point is to do that something different now.

The mandate is to feel brave enough and safe enough to be your true self.  To compromise less.  To create a life where you are celebrated rather than tolerated.  To live in such a way that you are a positive and generous force for good in the world. And to take care of your body temple so that you have a vehicle suitable for the joy ride.You can start out with small declarations of independence.  Small ways of coloring outside the lines you think you have, and the lines others have imposed on you.

1. Do something different today
2. Respond to a situation differently that you or others expect
3. Surprise yourself in some new way
4. Change how you look
5. Stop trying to get people to like you
6. Tell the truth to yourself and others
7. Stop doing things that bring you no joy or happiness
8. Start doing things that do
9. Get your nose out of other peoples business (NOMBA means ‘none of my business anyway’)
10. Go on vacation someplace you might have never gone

“Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.
They somehow already know what you truly want to become.
Everything else is secondary.”
~ Steve Jobs

These are just some ideas of actions.  Add your own - you do know what they are! The "T"ruth is that with all things, you ultimately are empowered to create a context of authenticity for your life simply through a powerful and committed declaration. “I will be authentic and true to my self all of the time, no matter what”.  This is how we co-create. We bring forward  the "whats" in life. The job of the quantum field of unlimited possibilities is to work out the  “hows’. It actually works that way no matter whether by default or by intention.  We have an opportunity to get out of the rut, get off the hamster wheel and color something new for ourselves and the world.  Have fun with it!

This concludes today’s message for Living A Life of Spiritual Power
Next week – "Claim Contentment" February 12th 6pm
Until then, Love, love and more love, Rev. D

“Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers.
The round pegs in the square holes.
The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules.
And they have no respect for the status quo.
You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things.
They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius.
Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”
~Rob Siltanen

Namaste,
As many of you know I am streaming "Sunday Night Alive"  on Facebook and YouTube Sunday evenings at 6pm EST.  I am happy to synthesize and broaden these topics for you each week.  the program is dedicated to Practical Spirituality - topics which provide the tools to walk and talk our spiritual journey with power, poise and confidence.  Enjoy my topic from Sunday, January 29th.

Love Life and Let Life Love You Back

It could not be a better time to have a meaningful dialog about loving life and allowing life to love us back.  It may sound like an easy thing to do but nothing is easy about love and there is ample evidence that we  aren’t doing a particularly good job at loving - which is crazy given that we are made by love for the purpose of loving.

In 2022 there were 633 reported mass murders in the United States.In January 2023, we have had more mass shootings than we have had days in the month. Add to this the brutal beating and murder of Tyre Nichols this past week and the bombing of the mosque in Pakistan, my heart says there must be something we can do. These are examples of what happens when we are living a life without enough love. These are extreme examples of what happens when the leaf on a tree believes itself to be alienated from the other leaves and not sourced by a deep and loving root system. There are less extreme consequences of this lovelessness affecting millions of people.  Though not everyone decides killing people is a good thing to do, many  suffer from life-style illnesses, depression, addiction, suicide, abuse, hunger and many other behaviors indicative of an under-loved culture. I think that the thing that we can do, and must do,  is to love more and let ourselves be loved back. We need a miracle!

"A Course in Miracles defines a miracle as “A Shift in Perception, from Fear to Love.
Miracles Occur naturally as expressions of love.
When miracles aren’t happening, it is said something has gone wrong.
We have leaned into fear and blocked ourselves from the healing love and light of Source energy.”

In our philosophy, faith, and way of life, we believe and teach that God is a God of all. No exceptions! We believe in a God of love, and only love.  When we speak of God, we are not talking about a super-man made in the image of humans, passing judgment and punishment. It is an impossibility that the creator of love and beauty could give love to only some or be arbitrary in Its dealings.  We are talking about a living and loving presence that is absent nowhere, present in all things and all beings.  In the end this means that love is the true nature and identity of Tyre Nichols as well as the men who killed him.  Thus, the charge to all of us interested in miracles and the ending of the madness, is to live this truth in ever expanding radical and bodacious ways.  Why?  Because it is the only way out of the mess that lovelessness creates.

I am a lover of love but above all else, a dedicated teacher of spiritual principle and possibility. I believe in the laws of Spirit just as I believe in gravity.  I believe in what Jesus taught us when he said, “It is done unto you as you believe.”  We cannot separate ourselves from how life appears before us personally or collectively.  These spiritual laws and principles say that the world will be to us what we are to the world.  They say that what you say and see is what will be.  These spiritual laws are eternal, immutable, and exact, just like the physical ones.  They include the law of cause and effect; reciprocity; mental equivalents and the law of change - to name a few of them.

One of my favorite quotes is this one by Albert Einstein. It addresses the role we play in how life rolls ..

"I think the most important question facing humanity is, ‘Is the universe a friendly place?’
This is the first and most basic question all people must answer for themselves.”

The reason the question is important is because of the efficacy and operation of these spiritual laws and principals exact for each depending on how the question is answered by each. We might want to think carefully before we answer. Einstein continues,

"For if we decide that the universe is an unfriendly place, then we will use our technology,
our scientific discoveries and our natural resources to achieve safety and power
by creating bigger walls to keep out the unfriendliness and bigger weapons
to destroy all that which is unfriendly…”. 

If you and I decide the universe is unfriendly, then we will live from a foundation of fear doing all the things that perpetuate the idea that we are threatened by the violence and the insanity.  We will cope with the consequences by building walls, buying guns, installing safes – all to make sure we are protected from the unfriendly influences all around us.

"If we decide that the universe is neither friendly nor unfriendly and that God is essentially
‘playing dice with the universe’,then we are simply victims to the random toss of the dice
and our lives have no real purpose or meaning.”

This second option is interesting in that Einstein postulates that if we believe there is not a Divine direction,  we will live in a state of perceived powerlessness which leaves us ‘victims’ of whichever way the wind decides to blow. Friendly one minute and unfriendly the next minute.  Safe today and in danger tomorrow. This would be a challenging way to live!

This third option offers and acknowledges the truth of Universal Intelligence and love and affirms our role in creation which is as a collaborator and co-conspirator.  We are co-creators as a function of the laws given to us by a God that I am sure never dreamed we would use them the way we use them. It is like knowing about gravity and then walking off a cliff. Einstein concludes;

"But if we decide that the universe is a friendly place,
then we will use our technology, our scientific discoveries and our natural resources
to create tools and models for understanding that universe.
Because power and safety will come through understanding its workings and its motives."

If you believe, really believe, that the Universe is undergirded by a foundation and fabric of love; that these powers are for you and not against you, that the “stuff’ of the universe is conspiring for your greater good, then you will live a much different existence on earth than if you are afraid.  Not only will your material existence be better, but you will draw to yourself love in the form of a tribe, friends, and community, money, and vibrant well-being.  You will contribute to the mental, emotional, and spiritual health of others.  If enough of us will take the ‘no-trespassing’ sign off our hearts, and trust love, we will make the work of miracles welcomed.

I am sure that you share my heartache at what the lack of love continues to do to our relatives - human, animal, and plant. Some of us have never known what it means to let love out or let love in.  Some of us have forgotten as a result from the dirt and grit of the human journey. This not knowing or forgetting that we are loving and lovable, beautiful, and worthy is the source of every atrocity large and small.  I pray you will join me in the persistent and committed practice of seeing good everywhere. It is hard to not lean into fear when so much has and does go wrong.  I don’t know exactly how to make miracles show up, but I do know that we just move into action because ultimately, if you and I can’t do it, why would we think anyone can?  Here is our mandate - Forgive all.  Love, honor, and respect yourself.  Try not judge and condemn others because of their actions.  Those of us who haven’t been shown love or are in a state of forgetting, cannot be restored to their spiritual identity and nature without compassion.  God gives it, so can we!

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another."
~Jesus

This concludes today’s message for Living A Life of Spiritual Power
Next week – “Color Outside The Lines" February 5th 6pm
Until then,
Love, love and more love,
Rev. D

Blessings everyone,

As many of you know I am streaming live every Sunday on Facebook and YouTube "Sunday Night Alive".  I am happy to be synthesizing and broadening these topics for you.  Sunday Night Alive is dedicated to Practical Spirituality - topics which provide us with the tools to actually walk and talk our spiritual journey.  Enjoy this topic from Sunday, January 22nd:

Un-Clutter Your Space, Body, Calendar and MInd

Last week we explored the value of un-cluttering your house, body, calendar, and your mind, in service of course to a more spiritually motivated life and a world that works for everyone!

As a verb ‘clutter’ means “to crowd something untidily and fill with stuff”. As a noun it means “a collection of things and stuff lying about in an untidy mess.” Humans, notably American humans, have a lot of clutter in their houses, garages, closets, and storage units.  We are over-extended and under-rested. Our bodies evidence too much of the wrong stuff going in and our minds if mental health is the evidence to which we look – could use some expert Feng Shui!

Feng Shui is an ancient Chinese practice which harmonizes individuals with their surroundings.  The term feng shui literally means “wind-water”. The entire point of accepting our spiritual identity is to harmonize with our natural surroundings and to align with the Divine Presence – within and without.  Perhaps we can begin to think of the rest of this article as an opportunity to ‘feng shui” our entire life.  In terms of wind and water, a cluttered life is very much like a raging ocean, replete with turmoil, conflict, drama, confusion, and high winds blowing us every which way.  A life that has been purged of all the excess, all the unwanted and unloved items, activities and ways of thinking is the opposite. That life, rather than a raging ocean, is a calm and serene lake.

Why do we have so much stuff we don’t want, need, or love?  I think there are many reasons including the leftover thought patterns from the great depression which is now about 85 years ago. The experience of fear, lack and limitation still lingers in the collective sub-conscious. Why not have 3 toasters, 4 coffee pots and 3 sets of checkers?  You never know when the ones you have might break. 

Others possible reasons for the clutter:

• The belief it is wrong to throw things out. This includes your great-grandmothers dishes that nobody uses, your size 3 clothes just in case, and all the spare items you picked up at garage sales because they were such a bargain.
• The belief that it is a sin to not clean your plate. Even though obviously not eating your dinner did not feed any hungry people.
• We believe that the one with the most stuff at the end wins. You can’t take anything with you. Some poor soul will have to do something with your stuff after you are gone!
  
• We never learned how to appropriately process our feelings. So instead of doing that, we shop, drink, eat, etc.
• We never learned how to put periods at the end of experiences. So rather than each new day being an opportunity for a new experience, our lives end up an endless accumulation of stuff and stories.
• We don’t know how to live in the moment.
• The task is just too daunting, so we procrastinate or we are just too lazy to do it!

There are more.  I am sure you could add one or two to the list.

Henry David Thoreau believed that we cared too much about the things that don’t matter and not enough about the things that really do. I assert this misplaced focus leaves our souls hungry for truth and simplicity.

Imagine a big, beautiful empty room with nothing in it other than sun-streaming windows, white walls, and a beautiful clean floor. Imagine yourself in that room. There is so much unimpeded space, and the energy is so light that you can run around, dance, sing out loud, lay on the floor, gaze up at the ceiling, do cartwheels, or simply look out the window and daydream.  Imagine adding things that you would love to have in the room with you, whether a piece of furniture, art, music, a treasure.  And that over time you can take things out and bring new things into the room, but the room remains a simple place for running, singing, dancing, and daydreaming. The goal is to have our real life feel like this!

Most of our spaces and places are filled with too much stuff we don’t use, need, or care about. Too much clutter affects our energy and freedom.  I have known many people who would never consider moving to a new location simply because they have no idea how to dig themselves out of the house, they are in. Too much of what we don’t care about and don’t love in our space, minds, calendars, or bodies creates imbalances and lack of ease (or dis-ease). Un-cluttering these areas WILL aid in your quest for spiritual fulfillment, human purpose, happiness, prosperity, and health.

There are at minimum, three spiritual principles at play in this exploration.

Law of Circulation
This principle is about the flow of everything. Every single aspect of the natural world needs to circulate.  The dead sea does not support life because the water is toxic and polluted in the absence of an inlet and an outlet.  For us to have ‘stuff’ in a closet, storage bin or garage that hasn’t been seen, used, or cared about for years, is a violation of this principle. We live in a world where many people don’t have the things they need. I guarantee that your unused and unloved stuff will make other lives better and happier. The size 3 dress you are holding onto ‘in case’ you lose that weight someday, will fit someone perfectly. The payoff for creating empty space is that something you can use and love can show up!

Law of Growth
The law of growth simply states that everything must expand, grow, evolve, and change.  So much of our clutter has to do with the past -both good memories and challenging ones.  Too much of that kind of mulling over in our minds, thwarts future growth and potential.  A huge part of the experience of our spiritual awakening is one of learning to live in the present moment.  NOW is the only time we will ever experience wonder, magic, miracles, grace, or possibility.  So many of us have ‘freeze-framed’ our lives on a tragedy or an ecstasy and life has become a monument to the event rather than a life being lived. This is not the way of nature. The tree drops its leaves, the caterpillar turns into butterflies, and everything marches forward. So must we.

Law of energy
Everything is energy. If the room is full of clutter you don’t want, use, or love, you can’t dance, sing, do cartwheels or daydream.  As an intentional spiritual being, you have a sacred assignment on this earth, and the more you are tethered to the mental or physical clutter, the less time and energy you will have to generate aliveness and pure positive possible energy toward the fulfillment of that assignment.

It takes vision, commitment, and integrity to move out of a cluttered existence and into an inspired, energetically spacious, and spiritual one.  It will take work!  It will take standing your ground with relatives, friends, and the agreed upon ‘normal’.  Clutter may be the norm, but you and I are not ‘normal’ – we are spiritual warriors.  We are designed to sing our song. We want to dance and daydream.  We want to fulfill our purpose.  So let us begin.  In addition to my comments below, let the wisdom, intelligence and love inside of you, guide you. And be patient, compassionate and gentle with yourself.  It doesn’t really matter where you start. Everything is related.  Un-clutter one area and the others will follow.  Develop a taste for simplicity and calm, and all your life structures will become that way.

What To Do With The Stuff?
The thing with “stuff” is that if it isn’t being used by you, and it doesn’t have any meaning for you, then why hang on it?  Secure some boxes and begin.  Room by room, drawer by drawer. If you aren’t using it, if you don’t care about it, if it doesn’t belong to you, consider releasing it into a universe that needs it.  Give things away.  Sell things.  Donate things. This actually feels really good once you start doing it!

The Mind
Un-cluttering your mind is not much different than uncluttering a closet. Most people have the idea that we can’t help what we think or what we feel which is not true at all. One of the things that we do have some say in, is how we watch, guide, and control our thoughts. Go through everything in your mind and choose to keep it, throw it out or change it.  Use the same criteria we used for the closet – do you use it, does it serve you, do you love it? Of course, the clearing of the mind requires letting the past be.  If you can let the past be, it will let you be. Is the resentment in service to your life’s purpose?  Does the anger contribute to the world?  Does your obsession over your first truelove bring you joy? Does the worry about money, politics or war add anything to the health of your organs and functioning of your body.

Another aspect of the clutter in our minds is worrying about the future. If you don’t already know this, you will at some moment. You really don’t have to worry. You are maintained, sustained, guided, guarded, protected, and prospered by a Universe that Is for you and not against you.  You will always have what you need when you need it.  You need to remember this when your energy is blocked by worry and doubt and congealed with fear. The source of our peace of mind is stillness. Put a period on the past.  Put your faith to work for the future. Tune into your inner landscape by meditating. A primary benefit of clearing the clutter everywhere is to establish and strengthen your interconnectedness to all things.

The Body
The goal is to treat your body like a temple and only put in it what serves your purpose and what you love. Instead of taking the antacid so that you can eat pizza, don’t eat pizza.  There isn’t too much more to say here. Clean water, wholesome food, appropriate exercise, and deep sleep.  Appositive attitude works as well!

The Calendar
For most of us our schedules are over-stuffed and over-cluttered. We spend too much time doing things that aren’t useful and activities that we don’t care about. We end up with not enough time for rest and reflection.  Check to see if you are saying yes when you should be saying no and saying no when you should be saying yes.  Make sure your heart is connected to the places you go and the people you see. Make sure you make self-care as important as everything else. 

Spiritual Fulfillment rests on your capacity to connect with what is inside of you.  What you will find there is real love as well as the true source of your happiness and peace.  Free of the clutter of being human, you can tap into your inner guidance and the innate wisdom of the Universe which not only surrounds you but is deep within you.  It is a thing of energy, attention, and stillness.

Remember an overly cluttered life is like a raging ocean. We are all a bit addicted to the drama.  The highs and lows of the stormy sea. The work of trying to get enough sleep, making ends meet, dealing with not enough time, money, love, and stuff.  But there is another way. Un-clutter your life. Only keep what you love and what serves your life and your purpose.  Create a life that makes you happy and one which gives you room to dance. An uncluttered mind, home, body, and calendar will turn your life in a calm, serene, golden lake.

This concludes today’s message for Living A Life of Spiritual Power

Next time – “Love Life and Let Life Love You Back”

Until then,
Love, love and more love,
Rev. D

P.S.  16 more sleeps before I am in South Africa.  I will exchange much talking for more pictures of amazing animals.

Blessings everyone,
As many of you know I am streaming live every Sunday on Facebook and YouTube what I call "Sunday Night Alive".  I am happy to be synthesizing and broadening these topics for you starting today.  Sunday Night Alive is dedicated to Practical Spirituality - topics which provide us with the tools to actually walk and talk our spiritual journey.  Enjoy this topic fromSunday, January 15th

Exchange Because with BE-CAUSE

All I really ever want to talk to you about is how we can live a Life of Spiritual Power which is a life we architect, design, and bring forward which ultimately is, from our point of view, a great life.  This great life, in my valuation, is one which is authentically you, meaningful, purposeful, and innately one which brings you happiness, peace and satisfaction. I would categorize this life as one which, when compared to the norm, or compared to a prior time in one’s own life, has awakened to an expanded state of consciousness and is living primarily in the present moment, unfettered by past regrets, guilt, or un-forgiveness.

I believe there are three important knowing’s, experiences, or awareness’s which are helpful in the establishment of this expanded or awakened state of consciousness:

1. An understanding that you are personally more than your body or body of affairs. That you are essentially a spiritual entity which occupies a physical body and that in Reality (capital “R”), you are timeless; an eternal being made by that which created all things. This would include the awareness or understanding that this is a spiritual universe and that there is a power, intelligence, love, and presence greater that we are.
2. You cultivate a desire, capacity, and commitment to living from the inside out rather than the outside in. This would translate into your attention on inner impulses rather than outer reactions. You naturally identify and relate to the source of your happiness, pleasure and even pain, as emanating from within thereby relinquishing, blame, judgment and victim thinking.
3. You learn about, study and practice spiritual laws and principles ultimately regarding them as self-evident in your life. This knowledge moves you firmly out of victim consciousness and allows you, through forgiveness and non-judgment, to take ownership for the life you are creating and living every day.

Achievement of this awakened state does not mean you don’t continue to walk through life as it is.  Your awakening will not change your mother, your children, or the world for that matter.  (Ultimately, enough awakened beings will alter the nature of the world we live in, but that is of no concern to us. It will happen as a natural consequence). Though many if not most of the conditions, circumstances, people, places, and things will continue to surround you, your awakening will give you true choice for the first time in your life.

There is little to no choice when you are living in the world from merely an ego perception. The ego will always choose winning, being right, being first, being best – at any expense.  From this way of living, relationships will always be conflicted, and your life structures will always reflect the default beliefs and patterns which have developed over your life.

When you awaken, you will have choice. 

Your option at any given choice-point every day, is to choose to be an ‘ego’ or choose to be a ‘Spirit’.  From here, the word ‘because’ has an interesting meaning and effect and deserves to be examined for its worthiness to remain in our vocabulary.

The word ‘because’ belongs in the realm of the ego.  As a word it is used to explain why something is the way it is. “I can’t sell my house because the real estate market is bad.”; “I don’t have good relationships because my parents were divorced.”.  It doesn’t really matter the context in which the word ‘because’ is used, it always leaves the one saying it feeling powerless and ineffective.  If you are the manager of a team or the owner of a business, that word ‘because’ will always mean that the result did not get produced fully.  And it won’t matter if it all seems reasonable, there will still be results OR all of the reasons why not.

It may well be that the real estate market is appearing to be bad or limited.  But that appearance is an effect or the result of collective thinking and believing. The ‘real estate market’ is being used as secondary causation -which is confusing an effect or a result for primary causation.Primary causation is a declaration, a contemplation, an act of deliberate creation. And is supported by the spiritual laws and principles which undergird and support the physical dimension we are living in.

“Cause” is a word that resides in the domain of Spirit.  It arises from the knowing that we live by the power of our word, commitment, intention, vision - all in harmony with spiritual laws and principles.  The laws of attraction, cause and effect, growth, expansion, attention, circulation, and many more, are how ideas are translated into things and circumstances. An awakened individual maintains belief and faith in the truth and power of these laws and lives in accordance with them. This person will have different outcomes than a person living in an unawakened state of victim-consciousness.

God has never thought, “I can’t create a zebra because it is Tuesday” or “I can’t create light because I am depressed today.”  There is no “because” in primary causation or creation. There is just creation.

Your power to create from the realm of imagination and possibility – requires you recognize within yourself the part of you that is a part of Spirit.  The conscious, creative, willful, directing aspect of you – is God within you.  When I say you and God are one – I mean that the creative principle that created all that is, created you.  The Spirit of you merges with Universal Spirit. 

Every ‘because’ you have for not living a free, powerful, authentic, bodacious, meaningful, extraordinary life --- is holding you back -it is the law. My suggestion is to simply practice losing every “because” you have or have ever expressed in your life ---- stand where you are in your wholeness, your worthiness, your deservingness and your power – and then design and architect your life.

One support tactic is simply to not verbalize the limiting language of “because”. Become good at observing your inner conversations and counter any limiting idea with an expansive one.  Rather than, “I can’t sell my house because of the real estate climate”, say something like, “With the power of my intention and commitment, I know that the perfect buyer is even now being moved to come see and buy my house at a fair price and in perfect timing.” Can you feel the difference?  Don’t worry that this might be magical thinking.  It is not. It is the law.  It is a principle. 

Consciousness precedes form and forms (or results) flow from consciousness.  The one who believe this the most, is the one who demonstrates results in life the most!

This concludes today’s message for Living A Life of Spiritual Power

Next time – “Un-clutter your Consciousness”

Until then,
Love, love and more love,
Rev. D

P.S.  I continue to thrive here in Southwest Florida. I will be in South Africa at Bush Baby Haven from Feb. 11 to March 11. I will continue to stay in touch while away!

Happy New Year and welcome to 2023. I’m back from South Africa. Sorry it has taken me so long but it was a very windy landing! From the serenity and beauty of the African Bush replete with giraffe, antelope, warthogs and elephants – smack into the chaos of a Category 4+ hurricane named Ian. I remind you that the last time I went to Africa, Hurricane IDA followed me to Newark and shut down the airport causing a 2-day delay. Hmmmmm.  In my world, all people and houses came through relatively unscathed. Not so much for the 1,000 palm trees that toppled (sad face) and it t took  weeks before we saw birds. The most challenging aspect of the entire ordeal was being without power for 12 days.  With no electricity, water, internet and cell coverage,  I  felt like a cave woman.  Up and down with the sun and grunting with the tribe of people I moved through life with right now.  I am glad to say, things are back to normal. 

It seems that sometimes the world just keeps throwing it at us.  One thing after another.  Just when you think you’ve got it figured out, settled down and beat the odds –here comes another thing. I have witnessed so much worldly destruction the past few months – trees, houses, cars, boats, bridges. We still have hundreds of people living in shelters awaiting FEMA and insurance money to rebuild.  I have also witnessed by so much courage, hope, love, generosity, and faith.  A life-changing time for sure.

We have all been living our own version of the past few historically remarkable years.  For me it began with the loss of my job with the Open Path Retreat Center in 2020.The death of  both of my beautiful animal companions, Lily in March 2020 and Jasmine in March 2021.   A wonderful new opportunity with the Unity Church in Naples, a seemingly necessary new hip, and a seemingly unnecessary (maybe) stroke which curbed my driving thus forced me to release my job. My prayers were answered with indisputable instructions to divest myself of all of my material belongings and go to South Africa.  I returned from that 6-month journey, which I now know was for the purposes of resurrecting my body, renewing of my brain and revitalizing my indestructible Spirit. I am back. 

One powerful truth about living a life of spiritual power is that living life at that level requires that we take responsibility for our individual lives.  Every detail, nuance, and situation.  After all, it is my life and if I truly am what I say we are then there is no perpetrator, and I am no victim. We are not innocent by-standers, we are participants. We are co-creators with the All-That-Is whatever or however we think about that.  You could call it God or the Quantum Field of Unlimited Potentiality.  I personally really like Dr. Ernest Holmes descriptor best; “The Thing Itself”.

I am back and want to declare, announce and affirm once again, don’t give in to any of it. Not to hurricanes, strokes, pandemics, disease, aging, death, or fear. Why?  Primarily because you are a powerful, beautiful, and amazing being regardless of your age, bank account, condition, or situation.  Your faith in a better you, a better tomorrow and a better world is the thing that makes you, the future, and the world better.

Some of you ask how this outlook is possible given how awful things have been, are or can be?  I know how awful things can be. I have been the recipient of a grueling curriculum the past 36 months just like you.  I am no different than you. I have no special dispensation from God. What I do have is enough time, practice, and faith to know that there is always a greater good wanting and waiting to emerge through me if I will do the work of making it welcomed.  And sometimes, in fact most times, the work is hard. Moving beyond present facts and conditions requires a lot of positive self-talk, immersion in spiritual materials, meditation, prayer, discipline, will-power, faith – sometimes just sitting in the hopelessness face down in the mud not knowing when the phoenix will rise – but nonetheless knowing that it will.

I am aware of how much suffering many of us are experiencing and how difficult a new beginning can feel. Start from where you are and find things to be grateful for. They are there.  Look for happy, optimistic people to hang out with.  Find the inner discipline to do the right thing, make the affirmative life choices and practice radical self-care while you await the miracle of your own deliverance.

My phoenix has risen, and I am ready to get back to the work of raising consciousness in our world.   I am streaming “Sunday Night Alive” 6pm EST every Sunday Night.  My doors are open again to working with individuals desiring to change the trajectory of their lives from predictable to possible, from negative to positive and from victim to victorious.  A Life of Spiritual Power is a life that is for possible for everyone.  If you are looking for a Spiritual Life Coach, call me.

What I know is that ultimately life requires we choose happiness. Life eequires that we give ourselves permission to be happy regardless of the state of the world - regardless of what the particular influences are in life. Faith is not really faith when things are going along perfectly. Faith, in my understanding, is also not blind nor foolish. We do not have  faith in an external something who will cause it all to work out to our benefit – or who will smite our enemies or 'fix' our conditions. We are the captains of our ships.  If you don’t choose happiness; if you don’t think from a place of possibilities; if you don’t believe you have a right to be happy and pursue that happiness – then the results you experience in your life will reflect what you do choose, think, and believe. It can’t get any simpler than that.

My future? It has been 14 months since my hip replacement and stroke and I am completely healed. I can once again, walk, run and most importantly  drive.  An amazing manifestation is that I am renting a home in Del Tura from the people who purchased my jeep when I left the country in March.  The rental of their home, included the use of the Jeep.  Of course I sat in it and my butt fit perfectly in the seat and my phone synced automatically,  I asked, and they agreed, to sell me back my car.  How great is that! 

I am going back  to South Africa and Bush Baby Haven for a month starting February 11^th, and have been gifted with an even more beautiful house upon my return through October. Then we shall see what good Life has in store for me.

I have officially retired formal employment so am funding my way through my ministry and its activities, which include Sunday Night Alive, Spiritual Life Coaching and classes. If you are fed and forwarded by my work and wish to make a donation, I happily accept all love offerings, They make my return trips to Africa possible! All love offerings are appreciated and for a short time, if you make a $100 donation, I will send to you one of my photos in an  8x10 frame.    Visit my website for details.

Finally, many of you have expressed a desire  to go to Africa and have asked me to consider taking a group this year.  I believe that opportunity will be in the October/November time frame.  The details need to be created but I think it will be a 2-week trip to South Africa with a few days in Cape Town and the rest in the greater Krueger Park enjoying an immersion into the wild.  With airfare, lodging, food and safari experiences, I estimate it will be around $4,500. I will reach out to those of you that I Know for sure are interested but if this is tugging at your heart please get in touch with me.  You can do that either through my website or through email at revdschubert@gmail.com.

I am deeply looking forward to our continued work together. Stay tuned for more information.

Love, love and more love,
Rev. Denise