Category Archives: Nature

Do not Worry – Metaphysical Service

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Sunday service/celebration reflecting on why and how we can live in peace, free of worry, stress and struggle. Audio includes invocation, treatment for health, scripture (within talk), message, meditation, and affirmation. Approximately 30 minutes in length.

Remember to check out the companion song!

See also Daily Word for Sunday, June 9, 2013 – not included here.

Invocation

I call forth God’s presence, from the center of my mind. I release all negativity from the past week, and open myself to God-thoughts, inspired action, and peace of mind and heart. I allow God to work through me, and flow through me to others. I give thanks that at any time, I can bring my focus back to God’s presence, within me always. As I let it be so, so it is!

Excerpt from Teach us to Pray

by Charles Fillmore

Talk to the Father as if He were an entity present within you. He is visible to your soul, and when you have attained the particular inner confidence called faith, you will realize His presence as clearly as you realize visible things. When you have stilled the outer senses and have become quiet, you are in the mental realm where thoughts are obedient to the word. Error thoughts must be told to go, and true thoughts must be called to take their proper place.

. . .

Six-day Prayer Treatments

Fear, anxiety, worry, dread, and suspense–these thoughts cause the mind to become tense, thus shutting out the great helper, the Spirit of truth. Say silently:

I am now free from fear, anxiety, worry, dread, and suspense. I have faith in Thy Holy Spirit, and I trust Thee to protect me, to provide for me, and to bring all my affairs into divine order.

Matthew 6:25-34 (NKJV)

Affirmation

Treatment for Peace

I know that God knows I have needs. In this moment I choose to release all worry to the God within me. I allow peace and security to take its place. Whenever I feel worry, I turn within to experience peace. I let God supply my needs, guide my life, and lift my mind to the highest and best, for me and for everyone. For this I give thanks. I let it be so. And so it is!

The Butterfly Effect and You!

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Something awesome will happen through you today!

Try this. Go around looking for it, “Where is it? Where is it?” And you will find it, whatever it is. Remember too, that things do not happen to you – they happen through you, by the grace and power of God within you.

So look for the “miracle,” knowing as you do, that you are part of it. A drop of water on the sand is still part of the ocean. A grain of sand is a valued part of the beach. Each leaf, flower and fruit is just as important as the tree itself.

And you are a valued asset to your family, friends, community, the outer manifest Universe, and above all – the God-Mind that is the Source and Substance of all things!

Everything you say, do, think, feel, and believe contributes to the “rest of the world”. You’ve heard of the Butterfly Effect? Where a butterfly’s wings affect life on the other side of the world… Amazing, isn’t it?

But that’s not only true for our butterfly friends! It applies just as much to every person in existence now. Because we have the ability to think and to allow our thoughts and feelings to affect us, we also choose how they affect us. Our response, in turn, affects everything around us.

Will something good happen through you today? Yes, if you allow it! Choose positivity over negativity, not just in your thoughts, words and actions, but on a deeper level, for that is where it matters most and promotes lasting change.

This is not work! It’s pure joy and peace, found in contacting the God-Presence within you. Conjure up for yourself a feeling of oneness. Unconditional love, acceptance, and oneness with all things. Maybe start with the butterfly and feel yourself at one with it. This unity is the God-Presence. Then, meditate on – relax with, contemplate, be still with – this feeling, and when you’ve finished, take it back with you into your daily activities. It will color your thoughts and activities with a brightness and unity that can be yours any time, and all the time.

Enjoy this day and this eternal moment – because eternity is yours, right now!

Affirmative Prayer Class Week 4

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This is week 4/6 of Affirmative Prayer: What is it and why Should I Care? (Click to review previous weeks.)

To download this post in .doc format, right click this link and choose “Save target as…” or similar: Download Affirmative Prayer Week 4 Notes

Follow along as we cover section VI. of the class outline. Explanations begin with * .

VI. Right Attitude for Affirmative Prayer

* What is the attitude, or mental atmosphere, that makes metaphysical prayer treatment effective?

A. Positive – State prayer with positive words and feelings

* When we pray in words, we use positive ones. Affirmations, present-tense statements that declare the prayer in a positive manner. That’s why it’s called affirmative prayer.

But, before we can say and mean positive words, we must feel them to be true for us. Consciously or not, the feeling always comes first. It may be a subtle feeling, but it still comes before physical manifestation in words.

When we consciously allow the feeling to create the words we use in prayer, our prayers become much more authentic, aligned with our Higher Self, and effective.

Often when we speak in daily life, we say what we’re expected to say, what we “should” say, and the kicker – we say what we really believe is true about ourselves.

For instance, you grab a second piece of cake and say, “I know I shouldn’t eat this.” And yet you eat it. So, the question is not, why am I eating this cake? It is, why did I say I shouldn’t eat this cake? Well, probably because others’ personal ego opinion of you is that you shouldn’t; you know that and respond accordingly. But deep down, do you believe that, too? The answer is often, yes, you believe you shouldn’t have the cake. That belief is what makes you say you shouldn’t have it.

Now you understand why adopting a positive attitude from the inside out, rather than through empty or habitual words, is the most authentic, effective, and real way to pray.

Feel first. Then speak, in prayer and in life. Feel the Truth, and speak from it.

B. Acknowledgment – God can, will or has – it’s already yours in the Mind of God

* God is infinite. Universal Consciousness is Life itself. You can’t ask for anything that isn’t already yours!

Think about that. The Universe is within you. That’s why the Bible says, “The Kingdom of God is within you.” That Kingdom is the entire Universe. So, in this Universal God-Mind, what you’re asking for, already belongs to you, right now.

You may not see it yet; but as we said, believing is seeing and not the other way around. Ultimately, in a spiritual, universal sense, you own and have unlimited access to everything you desire!

“Reality” is no more real when you see it, than it was as a picture in your mind. That is, nothing is more real than anything else; the sports car you visualize is no more real when you drive it, than it was in your visualization.

However, if it does not seem real in your mind first, it will never be a physical manifestation. That’s what makes fear so powerful – the fact that it seems so real. How much more quickly could our prayers be made manifest if we let goodness seem that real to us?

C. Realized – feel that what you want is real and true for you now, adding details to strengthen mental picture and belief

* Taking this further, this reality is Ultimate, not just a mental picture or visualization. We can actually live in that reality now; and we must in order for it to manifest.

I often create what I call a feeling picture for myself. How do I feel in that reality? How do I feel within myself? Happy? Peaceful? Free? Financially prosperous? Creative? Blessed? And what do those things mean to me – i.e. how does that feel? My feeling experience won’t be the same as yours; you will have the joy of creating your own.

If I want to live on a farm, how does that feel? What do I do? What do I smell? What activities are my responsibility now that I live there? I see, hear and touch the animals. I bake bread, and make that a real experience to me. That’s helpful because I’ve baked bread before.

But what I’m doing, and what you’re doing with any visualization or meditation you choose, is bringing your personal conscious awareness into that reality. You’re moving, so to speak. You’re moving from one “house” (reality) to a new environment. The more real that new environment seems to you, the less you’ll struggle to get there.

Focus less on the visualization of specifics, because that could be limiting. Go more for the sense of well-being in this new place, situation, relationship, state of health, etc. The picture will fill in itself; the God-Mind will never short-change anyone – as long as you allow yourself to receive its best.

The key is to live that feeling now; not to wait for the manifestation. Not to say, “I’ll be happy when ___.” Be happy now and the ___ will fill in, usually better than you imagined!

D. Thankful – your prayer is already so and is becoming physical reality

* Even as you ask, your prayer is taking psychic form. Really think about that, not intellectually, but feel it to be true. Is that powerful or what?

Now, before getting specific about your desire, give thanks! Because as we’ve said, in Spirit it’s already done.

Before you form a prayer into words, already the Universe is moving to fulfill your desire. We cannot, and do not live in a vacuum. God gave you a desire. If, when you meditate or pray, you release personal attachment (This is how it must look…), then that desire will be fulfilled. The more positiveness you feel around it, the faster it will appear.

Yet long before that, like a seed in the ground, it exists in full. You don’t plant an acorn and return to the store to get a pear seed, because didn’t you know an oak tree can’t grow from an acorn, it needs a pear seed too? You don’t see the full-grown, majestic oak in that acorn. You don’t see a fully grown adult human in a baby. But it exists, and in time, we see it fully formed.

We don’t even think about those things. So if we let our prayers be fertilized with thanks, that they already are fully answered, that is allowing the Power of God to work in our lives.

Be thanks-giving before you see “something to be thankful for.” Be thanks. Make it your attitude, and you’ll have an overabundance of things to be thankful for!

E. Faithful, allowing it to be so – “seal” with “And so it is”

* Be faith-filled. Know within yourself that God is working for and through you. Cultivate a sense of thanks and faith. Give thanks from the faith that your prayer is heard, and what the Universe hears, it must answer!

Repeated prayers are not wrong. They are continual positive treatment of consciousness. So if you choose to repeat a prayer, do it with the faith that it is already so – you’re just repeating it for the benefit and focus of your personal mind.

This is why in metaphysics we say, “And so it is!” sealing our prayer with faith and letting it go, as it already is so.

5-finger Activity

1. Trace your hand on a piece of paper and cut it out.

2. Writing one on each finger, make yourself a reminder of the right attitude for affirmative prayer:

* Positive

* Acknowledge

* Realized (or real now)

* Thanks

* Seal of faith

P*A*R*T*S.

3. Decorate the hand as you see fit. 🙂 Carry it with you or hang it on your refrigerator or computer monitor where it will be a positive reminder.

As always, if you have any comments, questions or feedback, please feel free to contact me!

Self-sufficiency + Independence = Impossible

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In the U.s. today, many communities have Earth Day celebrations. They focus on living in harmony with nature, cooperation, environmental responsibility, and the general idea that we are one with this planet. Which means, whether we like it or not, we’re also one with all the others, including people!, who live here too!

So I ask you: If this is true, how can we also push for self-sufficiency and independence?

Answer? We can’t! There is no such thing as self-sufficiency as we understand it. And there is no such thing as independence.

Even if you are self-sufficient, growing your own food, raising your own animals, spinning yarn, dying it, and weaving it into cloth… Even if you live in an intentional community, even if you’re a monk in a spiritual community. You are not self-sufficient.

No matter how much you appear to do for yourself, something else is always living out its purpose. And that helps you live out your own.

Spiritual communities like convents, monasteries, and ashrams exist because there are also “other worlds”. That is, some people realize that what exists doesn’t serve them, so they create other structures and communities. However, if they hadn’t experienced the contrast of the secular world, their outward, spiritually-oriented society would not exist. It wouldn’t need to. Without contrast, the desire for such a world wouldn’t have been born.

Yet, as cloistered as some communities are, and as isolated as many more people are within themselves, there is still no such thing as independence!

Everyone is interdependent. On a physical level, you have a house because you own it. You either have or had a mortgage, and the only reason you had that is because of the bank that “gave” it to you.

Or, you have a rented house. It’s yours to live in because you pay someone rent. Or you live with someone else. In any case, if you have a house, it’s your house. Yet yours is not the only ego involved here! Someone built your house. Had it not been for the builders, there would be no house.

Whatever exists in your life, comes from somewhere. That “somewhere” is God, Spirit, Source, The Universe, Life itself. In its infinite wisdom and joy, this Energy sees fit to use circumstances, other people, thoughts, feelings, and tangible and intangible things, to manifest your desire.

So whatever you have, is from, and because of, God. That’s why in metaphysics we sometimes call God “First Cause.” Our own thoughts are cause too. They create things with the same creation process as God does. But even behind our thoughts, is the First Cause, the ultimate reality, that is God.

So, the “bad” news is, no matter how self-sufficient you think you are, you will never, ever get there!

And the good news is, no matter how alone you feel, you are never, ever alone!

Source is with you always. God is there, even if you deny it. And no matter what you experience in life, you are never independent. There is always someone, or something working to fulfill your desires. It may be unconscious work on their part, and yours! But it’s God’s universal work–work meaning action. Through the universal, good action of God-Mind, your desires are fulfilled.

The means of fulfillment, the “how”, often comes through other people, events, circumstances, a piece of paper here or there, or a process of some kind.

So you cannot be independent or self-sufficient on this beautiful Earth Day, or on any day!

But what you can be, is gratefully interdependent on your Source, God-Power, and all the other creations (children of God-Light) who live here!

Embrace wholeness as your true nature. Embrace your connection to Earth and all things. Honor your connection to other beings, not just Earth, on this day we set aside to celebrate the divine harmony and order of God-Nature itself.

Something *closer* this way comes!

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Not just a paraphrase from Shakespeare, but something I think we all need to hear now and then. 🙂

You know that feeling, when you’re *this* close to something, but it’s not here yet, or you don’t have it, can’t touch it, and yet you feel like you can taste it?

It’s a lot like that feeling of discontent I talked about before. Again I use the analogy of the pearl. It’s bugging you! You’re saying, “Get it out! Make it go away!” And at the same time, “All right already! Let me see it!” You want the thing in your hands, in your life, right now thankyouverymuch. Can you tell I know the feeling? 😮

So what do you do? I mean, what do you do, if you’re tired of it bugging you and you want something else? You do want to feel better rather than worse, right? Because if you’re happy feeling bad, stop reading now because we’re not on the same page.

What to do, to feel better and flow with the river already bringing your demonstration to you? How to work with it rather than against it? That is the question… Or 2 questions.

And I say, visualize your goal already done. Of course, you’ve already done that at some point, or you wouldn’t have gotten this far! But this is a journey, and journeys have steps. And now, it’s more important than ever to see the thing completed.

Why? Because the alternative, which you may be feeling now, is frustration, impatience, being all fed up with the blasted goal, and what possessed me to want this in the first place? That’s also the reason some people say, or people unfortunately say about others, they never finish anything. That can’t possibly be true! But we say it, and worse, we believe it. When really, all that’s happening is that we lost focus of the thing already done.

Which do you want? You want to see the goal accomplished. You know you do. So that’s where you need to shift. Do what you did when it was just a dream, because it’s still just a dream, and when it’s done and you can see it, guess what! It will still be just a dream!

So be happy about it now. Imagine it done. See it. Feel it. Smell it if it has a smell–which it does, even if you can’t conjure it up. Imagine what you do now, with this accomplished. Now live your life that way, today.

Yes, I’m saying, visualize the goal. But it’s much more than that. Live like you have it. But there’s still more. Know in your heart, in your gut, that it’s yours. Because the Spirit that gave you the desire is the same Spirit that makes it tangible in your life. For you and for itself.

“Whatever you do for the least of these, you do also for me.” ~Jesus Christ

This means, whatever good you do in seeing the Truth of any situation or any goal accomplished, you’re doing it for Christ, for that Spirit within you that wants only to manifest itself more and more! And you, co-creator that you are, are the vehicle that brings forth your unique life.

So do it for you and do it for God/Spirit. Live your life, now! Don’t wait for a better time, “because everything will be great when I have ____.” Why can’t life be great now? It can, and it is, if you allow it to be.

What is your reality? The frustration and lack that comes from the personal ego? Or the Truth and abundance of the Christ-Mind? St. Paul said, “Let the mind be in you that was in Christ.” The key word is “let”. Let it be so, this day, for this goal, and any day, for everything. And so it is!

Easter Poem

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To Aaron with love;
To anyone who has ever been a child…

In Spring the Easter Bunny comes
And everything is new.
The flowers bloom just like the love
That grows inside of you.

Oh, you are special! You are light!
Your heart is full of love.
So, let it grow, and let it bloom
Like flowers in the sun.

Have a blessed Easter, because it’s just celebrating the new life we can choose at any time!

Star – Relaxation Music

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I wrote this instrumental on the ukulele, in November, 2010. In December it naturally became a harp piece, as you find it here. It’s called Star, after my favorite shape, something to shine, look up to, and be comforted by.

Full Snow Moon Meditation

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This month’s full moon is called the Snow Moon, because traditionally the heaviest snows fall in February. Even those of us who live in warmer climates can draw on this moon’s resting energy, in its sign of Virgo.

Goddess Mother Holle is a northern archetype who shakes and shakes her featherbed, creating all the snow!

In both hemispheres we’re preparing for a harvest. Up north where the snow falls, we work with the moon to choose the right time to plant new seeds. In the south where weather is warm, you prepare to reep what you’ve already planted.

In this ritual we honor Mother Holle and Her knowing when to blanket us in quiet and waiting, so that when Spring/Harvest comes, it may be full and prosperous.

Supplies

Blankets, pillows or cushion (whatever you need to create a comfortable nest)

Darkened room

one candle of any color

Candle-lighting tools (lighter, etc)

Ritual – A Meditation to Mother Holle

Go to a comfortable place where you will not be disturbed. Create a nest for yourself, using pillows, blankets, or whatever feels right to you. If you can see the full moon from a window, so much the better.

Darken the room if possible, placing the unlit candle safely in a holder in front of your nest.

Make yourself comfortable in the nest for meditation.

Silently: ground and center. Cast circle, call quarters, and in your own words ask Mother Holle to be present.

Meditation

After calling Mother Holle, feel Her presence within and around you. She creates the blankets of snow in the North, and makes time for you to be blanketed in quiet and rest.

Thank Mother Holle for Her blanket. Accept Her blanket in your own way. Let your daily responsibilities, obligations and activities fall away for now. Release what others need or want from you, choosing this time to be peaceful and calm within yourself.

Feel the wisdom of nature enfolding you. Know that blankets serve an important purpose, covering and protecting things until they are ready to emerge.

Feel yourself being loved and protected. Know that Mother Holle’s wisdom, Her knowing of when and what to cover in quiet, is within you.

Bring to mind the things you want to manifest, or harvest in your personal life. Ask Mother Holle, who you have summoned from within yourself, to uncover those things in their time. Accept that timing, though it may be slower than what your human senses might like. Know that when you are truly ready, your harvest will appear. You will reep the seeds of desire you’ve sewn, and Mother Holle’s blanket will be thrown back to reveal your beautiful new life She has cradled in this season.

When you feel this truth, leave the nest and light the candle.

Say aloud:
Thank you, Mother Holle, for your blanket soft and white.
Thank you for the dark, that you bring into the light!

Stay with this joyous feeling of renewal for as long as you feel comfortable.

Then, in your own words, thank and release Mother Holle and the quarters, and open the circle.

Put out candle safely.

Yuletide, New Era, Rebirth Celebration

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I celebrate Yule, though not with ritual as some Pagans, Wiccans and others do. My celebration is one of personal meditation and music.

Come this Yuletide, I’ll be adding thoughts. As 12/21/12 approaches, I feel excitement! Since “the end of the world” is not an option for me, I ask, “What is being born now?”

What do I want to see in my personal life? How do I want to feel? You notice I’m not saying what do I want to change? … No. Instead, I’m looking at the positive, from a standpoint of “it’s already done!” as we do in metaphysics.

I’ve said before that I sometimes combine Goddess and metaphysical spirituality. My foundational beliefs are metaphysical. The way I choose to relate to them, in song, ritual when I choose that, and symbols, is sometimes Goddess-centered. I have the form of a woman after all; so that makes sense to me right now.

On 12/21/12 I will sing songs by Ruth Barrett, celebrating Yule, the rebirth of the Sun, and the joyous turning of the wheel.

I’m also attending a virtual retreat by Brenda MacIntyre, Medicine Song Woman, to anchor more sacred feminine energy into my life and business.

I will meditate using the ZPoint process, to release resistance to change. And I intend to write a song or two myself!

I write, read, weave, speak, meditate, sing and celebrate to externalize and at the same time amplify, the spiritual connection I feel. Some of these things may work for you, too! If not, I ask you to enjoy this celebration in whatever way feels best for you!

As Brenda says, we can approach 12/21/12 with fear or with love or with anything in between! I choose love and excitement!

And you?

Celebrate Light – Winter Holidays Song

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Instrument: Lady – tenor Flea ukulele

Refrain:
Come! Join our festivals of light and song
Shining through the darkest night and singing all day long!
Join our celebrations of great love
Singing all in unity,
With candles lit for you and me,
We stir up joy and faith and peace
For all that is below, touches above!

1. Celebrate the Yuletide,
The returning of the light
Once more days grow longer
The sun’s becoming bright again
Oh
Refrain:

2. Celebrate Hanukah,
The miracle of faith
We don’t think we have much
But blessings make it stay and grow
Oh
Refrain:

3. Celebrate Kwanzaa
The unity of all
One people and one nation
May we spread peace to great and small
Oh
Refrain:

4. Celebrate Christmas
The birth of Christ in you
The symbol of a baby
As love and life in all you choose
Oh
Refrain: (twice)