Through God's Eyes

W. H. Murray was a Scottish mountaineer whose love of mount climbing is evident in his life.  One of my favorite quotes comes from his book, The Scottish Himalayan Expedition. In it he writes:

 " ... but when I said that nothing had been done I erred in one important matter. We had definitely committed ourselves and were halfway out of our ruts. We had put down our passage money -- booked a sailing to Bombay. This may sound too simple, but it is of great consequence.

Until one is committed, there is always hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness.
 Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation),
 there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, the Providence moves too.
All sorts of things occur to help the one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favour all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance,
which no man could have dreamt would have come his way.
I learned a deep respect for one of Goethe's couplets: 'Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.'" 

This quote contains a little more of the original quote than I had read before. Up until researching this, I thought Murray had scaled Mount Everest, but I came to find out that he could not get acclimated to the altitude. However, I also found out that he had been a prisoner of war during World War II, and that he had demonstrated the power of commitment there. While he was imprisoned, he wrote his first book, Mountaineering in Scotland. He wrote it on the only paper he could get -- toilet paper. The Gestapo found it and destroyed it and much to the disbelief of his fellow prisoners, he wrote it all over again! For Murray commitment wasn't just a great idea; it was a way of life.

I am so glad to have more details of this remarkable man's life. It has been helpful and instructive to me.

I must admit that I have become indecisive about my life. I have been feeling discouraged about the diminishing attendance in our Center. I have been wondering if it was time to retire. (Although I did not know how to do that!)

So I got clear! I reminded myself of what I am and why I am here.

I am committed to growing my own consciousness, to elevate it so that I am worthy of what one of my practitioners calls, "the best job in the world."  Indeed, it is an honor and a privilege to be in service as the senior minster here at the Center for Spiritual Living.

From that elevated consciousness, I am committed to growing our community to a place in which we  care for each other's well-being, we celebrate each other's successes and we are a place of safety and love, encouraging all who choose a path of oneness and compassion and forgiveness. My commitment is to live from possibilities, no matter what! Our community is about the people in it. It is not about where we are physically located.

We have not been working together toward a shared vision. Nor have I been clear about casting that vision. Of course, I cannot do this by myself. I will need the support and help of our members and friends.

 Just as the finale in the musical Les Miserables states:

"Will you join in our crusade? Who will be strong and stand with me? Beyond the barricade Is there a world you long to see? 

The world I long to see, is one in which we love the life we are living and live the life we love. In it we see each other through God's Eyes, with compassion, tenderness and conviction. Each one of us can live the life he or she came here to live.

Honoring the Students

I love teaching the principles of the Science of Mind. This week we completed ten weeks of study on a course entitled, "The Essential Ernest." This class is one of my favorites because it invites students to explore the ideas that excited and intrigued Ernest Holmes. It is based on a book compiled by Rev. Dr. Jesse Jennings of the same name. Dr. Jennings organizes the material into logical pieces and organizes it all around our Statement of Principles. I love seeing students have personal insights through committing to spiritual practices and awakening to being the directors of their own lives.Today I am going to share some of the amazing creativity that sprang from that class. Our class ranged from a college student to retired  people.

One of the assignments was to create a one-page paper on the distinction between a diagnosis and  a prognosis from both a medical and a metaphysical viewpoint, and how and why you would explain this to a friend suffering from an unwanted condition -- or otherwise communicate your sense through a musical, visual or poetic representation. We received some lovely answers including from Robert Welch:

"Medical works with appearance in the world; metaphysical works with spiritual world.

Medically a diagnosis is the art of identifying a disease from its signs, e.g. finding arthritis. A prognosis is a forecast of what will happen. Looking again at a person's arthritis, medically the prognosis is the forecast is going to be on the illness. This is the world of appearance. 

Ernest Holmes, (Page 134 of The Essential Ernest) relates diagnosis to facts or present situation. This is relating to the appearance of the condition arthritis.Now there is a great distinction between medical and metaphysical. Prognosis metaphysically means seeing the truth or anticipated reality coming from a field of external reality. 

The condition of arthritis can be explained to another person as a condition that does not have to be accepted but can be seen beyond the present. There instead is wholeness, wellness and love which are greater. The worlds of medicine and metaphysics work together to create wholeness and wellness. This is for a better vision of life."

College student, Kay Allen wrote this beautiful poem about her friend, Pamela. You will see by Kay's words that she paints a picture of wholeness and beauty, always the spiritual Truth.

"I picture your rosy smile when I hear the name Pamela. I see your tiny body wrapped in sepia braids and love awards. It is not the bandanna covering your forehead, or the hospital gown, or the Hodgkin's Lymphoma. It is simply the high, pink cheekbones, squinty blue eyes, and that wide smile that I see. I only wish you could see the golden dust on your fingers, the electricity pumping your blood, instead of the anger. Your diagnosis carries no gun. And, you are in no danger. Instead, you are branching out, growing leaves, reaching with your roots, and allowing yourself to be. With a prognosis in development, you are out there, lighting the fires for the stars to see, and dancing with the embers."

A person who decided to write a song to answer this question is the amazing Rick Dale, RScP. Rick demonstrates both his musical skill and his skillful use of language to encourage the person who is afraid of dying. "All Things Right," is a tender ballad  about fear, disease, God's love, and the power of faith.


For our last project, students were asked to write about what they thought Ernest's  Cosmic Illumination experience was about. We had a wide range of answers. Two people wrote about having a felt  sense of Presence. Both examples were about the Peace that accompanied the confirmation that life is eternal.Both about their own parents who had made their transitions. It was very sacred as they both revisited a special time in their lives. Three people wrote stories which were accompanied by their own photography. Toni Sparks made a beautiful key to consciousness, based on Holmes' idea that the whole key to consciousness is "It is done unto you as you believe." Kathy Storey shared the dramatic effects from the question, "Am I Seeing Rightly?" Kathy showed us a large poster board that seemed to be blank except for a large pair of glasses. When illumined with black light we saw all the qualities of the Divine. Her point was simply, when we see with the heart we see rightly.

Dena Hart Van Slyke wrote a long narrative poem titled "Cosmic Illumination"  It follows:

While on a recent mountain vacation/ I took some time for relaxation
And sat in silent meditation/ Observing creek side animation.
Sometimes I kept a gaze fixation, / Then watched as bubbles in formation
Created foam in swift flotation/ Which slid to the next elevation.

I sat in deepest contemplation/ Of all the breadth of God's creation.
I sensed a head to toe vibration. / Then came a bright illumination!
My heart and body felt elation/ While hearing my heart's palpitation -
I felt a cosmic inspiration.

I don't recall the time duration/ But, when it came to culmination
I had a really strange sensation/ Of shelter and emancipation.
And thought I heard, a congregation/Of all the souls in Syncopation
The sang a song of sweet flirtation...Was All this just hallucination?

I prayed in full anticipation/ While standing on my God's foundation
I said, "Right now, here in our nation,? We see an increased circulation,
We end all hunger and starvation, / No victims of discrimination." 

Then just as if taking dictation, / I channeled cosmic conversation/
(I swear this is no fabrication.)/ Or was it my imagination?
InSpired by that Holmes' quotation/ About his cosmic revelation? 

So then, fluid fascination, / I wrote, "God, should we seek salvation?"
Before I reach my destination/ What is my real motivation? 

God answered with this declaration,/ There's no such thing as termination.
When you let go of 'separation' / You are assured a transformation.
You'll be reborn at full gestation. 

I asked "Can we have visitation/ Is death our final limitation?
Or is there life's reincarnation?".../ My hand wrote without hestitation,
"Though some may have the inclination/ Upon further examination
You'll find, it's mostly simulation / or, just a good impersonation. 

Well, I was filled with exaltation!/ Then after further rumination,
The writing seemed an ordination:/ "There's no such thing like pre-destination.
Your life comes from your orchestration,/(with focus and determination)
and your assertive integration/ Of your thinking's cogitation
With your loving heart's pulsation. 

Then I asked for an explanation/ "Are we equipped for transmigration?"
Or multiple space incarnation?" / Or is that future speculation?
The answer came without flirtation/ "I'll give you this one confirmation
there's no such thing as your damnation/ Or burning in hell and conflagration
Or even 'death as termination. / I'll make this simple proclamation:
"Reliable as gravitation,/ Just one thing's sure, -- and that's Taxation." 

So class, I offer this summation, / and say, without humiliation
This is my final class's obligation. I thank you for your concentration.
And take my bow at your ovation. 

Kay Allen wrote an experimental prose piece titled "THE POWER OF I IN A LAND CALLED HOME." Until she read it to us, I had never heard of an experimental prose piece. It reminds me of the genius of Jason Silva's "Shots of Awe."Enjoy:

"There's a globe around my head, spinning on a fixed axis of generous proportion. I drift with the seasons, alive with the warm breeze, a recluse in the snow. I memorize the ebb and tidal splay of my inner volume and reel in nets full of both useful and dull thoughts carrying silver moon water and flashing eels. This planet of a head, still showered in whispers of passersby, hotdog stand vendors, or crying infants, can still manage to hear the ballad of Pluto, ringing Saturn, and swiveling comets slicing up the dark blue. Inside my head, there's boiling magma which churns and folds, neon and flamboyant. It circles around like koi in a pond, rippling outwards a magnetic field and setting off lights in my atmosphere. The glory in my world is something I wish to share, with cousins, godfathers, professors, and ministers. And as I make my revolution around the home star, I see the faces of other globes, other hemispheres and continents of intricate blueprint, glowing cloud-forests, glittering leaves, and a chameleon river.Each, uniquely designed by the individual globe. And, I see there are more constellations still to discover with all of them, a one-on-one show-and-tell of each thriving and radiating light. Still, I sometimes envy the moon, for its gray quietness, the lack of voices murmuring about kitchen appliances and Machiavelli's The Prince. But, I find that my breath slows when I see my northern lights, and know that the gravity of my spinning is the same force which makes those other globes spin. It is a force of nature which allows stars to implode and sprouts to surface, and it is a force that I nor anyone has ever parted with."

I feel honored, privileged and blessed by every person who studies these principles.

Losing My Peace

Recently, I was nudged backwards in time to my mid-twenties. Although I treasured how smart I was, I was undoubtedly very unenlightened. I have never been much of an athlete, but I was exceptionally good at jumping to conclusions. Many of them were false, some were potentially harmful, and for some of those opinions, the harm was done fifty years ago and is still perpetuating all manner of negativity. I may have worked through the stuff personally, but what happens when strong words affect someone else? Those ideas may still be in someone's subconscious mind.

Let me try to explain.

The other night my younger sister called, very happy that she had finally seen a psychologist for counselling. She sounded so hopeful and free. She said that she had spilled her guts, revealing secrets that she had never told anyone.

She did have some terrible secrets. She had some heart-breaking experiences. 

So she wrote about the two major secrets she had been keeping and sent them to her four siblings. She began the letter by saying that we all had had different parents and she knew that we would not have seen our family the way she saw it. Metaphysically this is true for all families. We each have our own experiences and our memories will reflect our world-view.

I thought I knew about the secrets but was shocked to see that I had played a big part in one of them!  Me--her biggest supporter!         

Right when she needed my love and compassion the most, I made assumptions about the situation that were only partly correct. I judged her.  I scolded her. I belittled her. I probably made her feel worthless. (Hold on a minute, no one can make you feel anything.) My self-righteous words acerbated her feelings of low self-esteem. They helped her feel ashamed and guilty.

It reminded me of one of our core concepts that we can use by examining our motives with the question: "Would you rather be right or would you rather be  healed?" Now I know I would rather be healed.  I know I was not completely heartless. If I had known her whole story, I would have been kinder and more compassionate. But at the time, I was pretending to be Don Quixote, wanting everyone to be respectful and wise. These qualities are great qualities,but maybe disrespect was the perfect way to be in  those circumstances.

This is not the first time I have had to look at how my judgmental, critical self has gotten in the way of deeper intimacy.  However, seeing my actions through the eyes of an injured heart-broken child has given me a gift of self-reflection.

There are three questions you could ask yourself before saying anything. These questions have been attributed to Rumi, Sai Baba, the Quakers, poets and many others. I could not determine who said them originally but they are: "Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary?"

In my case, I was not yet self-reflective. The world seemed pretty black or white to me then. I could only have answered yes to the first question and then I only had part of the facts.

When I read her email, I lost my peace. I felt regret and sadness. Then I remembered the power of self-love and self-forgiveness. I remembered that given who I was at the time and what I knew, I did the things that would have been typical for me. If I had known better, I would have done better. 

Now is the time to accept what is. Now is the time to forgive myself. Now is the time to choose to see through a peaceful heart and a quiet mind. Right now I choose to feel hopeful and filled with Divine Guidance.

This was a perfect week to begin our Peace Meditations. I needed it.

This is what I know for certain. It is never too late to make a new decision. Consciousness is always demonstrating itself. Life is good. The Universe is for us, even when we don't know it. Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.

Part of our Peace Garden

Unexpected Good

Many years ago our spiritual center gave away an "Expect a Miracle" pin. It raised questions about how could something that was expected be called  a miracle and if you expected it then it wasn't unexpected. What was it then? An ordinary?

I believe what those pins did was to make us aware of the good that is constantly around us. 

If good is already around us, why do we see it so infrequently?

I think there are several answers to that question.

First, you may not be vibrating or resonating at the frequency of good. For instance if you have a grievance against a neighbor, you may be blocking your good.

Recently a friend, whom I will call Sharon told me a wonderful story of forgiveness, cleaning things up and acceptance of prosperity. One evening after a trash pick-up day, she noticed tat her trash bin was up beside her door, not down on the street where she had left it that morning. She had not spoken to her neighbors for several years because they had had disagreements about their children playing drums at night. Now the drum player has long ago left home, but still there was friction between Sharon and her neighbors. On impulse, she went up to her neighbor to thank them for moving her trash can up closer to her home. The man answered he door loudly declaring that he would never touch anything of hers. Just then his wife came up, pushed him aside and thanked my friend for thanking her. They had a lovely thirty- minute conversation. A healing had taken place.

The next day, a prospective buyer came to look at my Sharon's home. While her realtor was showing her husband a different part of the house, Sharon complimented the woman on a unique pair of  antique gold earrings that she was wearing. The woman, a complete stranger until 10 minutes earlier, took them off and gave them to Sharon as  a gift.

I believe the two incidents are related. We live in a conscious mind that is universal, everywhere present. When we have something big or small against anyone, the possible and even probable good that might have been ours has no way to get to us.

On page 299 of  The Science of Mind, Ernest Holmes writes:

"From selfish reasons alone, if from no loftier reason, we cannot afford to find fault, to hate, or even to hold in mind anything against any living soul! The God of love cannot hear the prayer of the one who fails to love."

Another reason you may not be seeing more good could be you have not been clear about what you consider "good." For instance if you are more fascinated about what is going wrong than with expanded good, the Universe doe not have a clear order to fill. Is your television on a great portion of the time? Are you tuned in to sensationalism? The Universe can only give you what you want. It can't give you what you do not want. The Universe cannot read the word "not." 

This is a good day to let the past be past. Make amends. Be thankful for all the good in your life right now. Be thankful for your neighbors and watch the Universe say yes to you. Today is the best time to start.

Start Today to Let the Good In

Good Friday Re-Imagined

This blog will post on Good Friday, March 25, 2016, the day that Christians around the world will be mourning the brutal death of God's son, Jesus. His family and friends were in deep morning on the Friday. And we mourn for all beings brutally murdered knowing that each one is made in the image and likeness of the Perfect Life of God -- we are all God's children.

Although Christianity has kept the cross as its symbol, the true symbol should be the empty tomb! The true meaning of Easter is rebirth and eternal life. The good news that the women shared that Easter morning is: "He lives! He lives!"

It came to pass.  

These are profound words of wisdom. Things come into our lives, difficult things, challenging events, disappointments and betrayals and all of them came to pass. Not only did it come about but every current situation will change. It must change for that is the nature of life.

If you are going through a time of challenge, open up to the message that "it came to pass." If you are going through a betrayal, remember Jesus' powerful words from the cross, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do."

Can you forgive the unforgivable? Jesus taught us how. So did the Dalai Lama. So did Viktor Frankl. Let's practice opening our hearts to those who have broken them. 

Good Friday is a great time to remember to forgive deeply.

In my life remembering that the people who have hurt me, abandoned me, disappointed me or left me, did it because they did not know who they were. They did not know that whatever they did to another, they did also to themselves. This is the beauty of living in oneness. There is only one of us. "I am you, you are me, We are one."

Have a profound and sacred Good Friday and Easter.

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No Shades of Grey

Today my ex-husband of twelve years called me to chat. I knew he was going to call because he had tried to connect with me earlier in the week and I left him my cell number.

It really was a pleasant conversation; we caught up on each other's families and where we were living etc. He is still an avid golfer and lives on a golf course. He told me that he had developed a love of writing, had taken some writing classes and was quite good at it.

Then he told me that he was writing a novel in which the hero ends up living in Arkansas; his new home. I suspect this novel will be somewhat autobiographical and wondered if and how I would be represented in it. Figuring that he certainly had the right to show his point of view of our years together and the end of our marriage.

The truth is that when we decided to separate, it was more my idea than his. Also, I did not behave or speak as the kind, compassionate and loving person that I would have liked to have been or as I presented myself as being. Before he left the area but several years after our divorce, I made an appointment with him to apologize for my unkindness. It felt good to ask for forgiveness which he willingly gave.

Most of my early years, before any spiritual work, I lived in an "either-or" world. For me people were either good or bad; I recognized no shades of grey. (Never mind fifty shades.) Living in an either-or world makes life very small indeed.

Learning to see through the other person's eyes, is a great tool for resolving conflict in relationships. An even greater tool is to see a third way and a fourth way.

You can use this tool for resolving conflict with others, and you could also use it to resolve issues within yourself. In the case of a couple ending a marriage: she has one point of view, he has another, his friends have another, her friends have another, and the children have yet another. So many ways to see anything. Ultimately the only thing that is necessary is to be true to yourself, say "say what you need to say."

When resolving your own issues, you can look at the situation from the perspective of those closest to you, not by directly asking them but by asking yourself what advice would my three closest friends give me? If all three would give the same advice you have tapped into your intuition. If, on the other hand, even in your imagination, there are three or more points of view, you are free to choose. Wow! How liberating is that!

Today is a great day to practice living in an expanding universe. Get out of the box of your habitual thinking and try something new on. You might like it.

Seeing God Everywhere

Last night in Foundations class we were talking about the spiritual practices of Oneness and Forgiveness. Very easy concepts to understand and often difficult to apply to our lives. Starting a discussion seemed impossible. Then one man courageously said that the topics were difficult to talk about. His courageous disclosure gave the others permission to speak about their difficulties seeing oneness everywhere and in forgiving (especially themselves.) That kind of sharing is sacred and profound. Voices hushed and people spoke honestly about their experiences.

Each student was asked to bring a news story, one positive and one negative. then we read them and chose one about a couple who abandoned their three children in the woods and were later arrested for possession of crystal meth. The children , who like Hansel and Gretel, found their way out of the woods safely, were placed in protective custody. were found a couple of hours later. We then looked at how God showed up as all the characters in the story. The last part of the exercise was to brainstorm ways that this story could be something that was the best thing for our world. Ideas such as the children, now living in loving, safe homes, could become advocates for drug abstinence. the couple could get sober in the penitentiary and change their ways forever advocating better choices. Then we looked at our own biases and how they influenced our interpretation of the story. It was a great exercise which helped people see when they are judgmental about something it narrows their perception. 

One of the women, who has worked with the Zen Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hahn, was moved by the loving, respectful energy in the room. She said our process reminded her of being in a similar circle with him.
When we truly see God everywhere and in everyone, our lives are lived in peace.

The following is his poem, entitled, "Call Me By My True Names."

Call Me by My True Names

Do not say that I'll depart tomorrow because even today I still arrive.

Look deeply: I arrive in every second to be a bud on a spring branch, 

to be a tiny bird, with wings still fragile, learning to sing in my new nest, 

to be a caterpillar in the heart of a flower, to be a jewel hiding itself in a stone.

I still arrive, in order to laugh and to cry, in order to fear and to hope. 

The rhythm of my heart is the birth and death of all that are alive.

I am the mayfly metamorphosing on the surface of the river,

and I am the bird which, when spring comes, arrives in time 

to eat the mayfly.

I am the frog swimming happily in the clear pond, 

and I am also the grass-snake who, approaching in silence, 

feeds itself on the frog.

I am the child in Uganda, all skin and bones, my legs as thin as bamboo sticks, 

and I am the arms merchant, selling deadly weapons to Uganda.

I am the twelve-year-old girl, refugee on a small boat,

who throws herself into the ocean after being raped by a sea pirate,

and I am the pirate, my heart not yet capable of seeing and loving.

I am a member of the politburo, with plenty of power in my hands,

and I am the man who has to pay his "debt of blood" to, mypeople,

dying slowly in a forced labor camp.

My joy is like spring, so warm it makes flowers bloom in allwalks of life.

My pain if like a river of tears, so full it fills the four oceans.

Please call me by my true names, 

so I can hear all my cries and laughs at once, 

so I can see that my joy and pain are one.

Please call me by my true names, 

so I can wake up, 

and so the door of my heart can be left open, 

the door of compassion.

Forgiveness Walking the Walk

Today I forgive everyone and accept forgiveness by everyone. I know the eternal Spirit harbors no malice toward me or anyone else. Forgiving and being forgiven, I have an inward sense of peace and tranquillity. There is no anxiety, no sense of guilt, no fear of judgment. All mistakes of the past are now wiped out in my consciousness and I no longer carry any burden from them. I look forward to the future with joy, in peace and gladness, and live in the present day with an inner assurance of being one with all life. - Ernest Holmes

Put your hand over your heart and repeat after me, I am a modern day mystic, I sense the divine in me, I sense the divine in others. I practice the radical act of forgiveness. It is mystical, it fills me with light. It is good. And So It Is! - Rev. Dr. Heather Clark

The Mystical Ernest Holmes

Forgiveness is the Ultimate Untapped Super Power

“Holding onto anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one getting burned.” ~Buddha

It's hard to dodge that topic of forgiveness. It doesn't matter what spiritual tradition you follow someone is asking you to be forgiving. If you are searching for healing, mental, physical or spiritual you are going to run headfirst into the concept of forgiving.

If you are looking for greater success and abundance there is going to be forgiveness work involved. If you are trying to improve your relationships or searching for world peace some spiritual leader is going to remind you that you need to forgive.

You need to forgive the large and the small. There is simply no escape.

Forgiveness is the spiritual work to be done. It's the push up your sleeves and "get 'er done" stuff. It's where we feel resistance. And it seems so illogical to resist the very spiritual practice that promises so very very much.

Forgiveness is something you do for yourself. Forgiveness frees you to live life more fully and more joyously. Forgiveness adds power to your prayers and unleashes your creativity.

What's not to love about forgiveness! 

Geez ... it's like a freekin' super power. 

Oh but how, but how, but how??? What if I am just not feeling it? And how do you know when you are done? What if you recognize all the great gifts of forgivenss but you still can't bring yourself to do it? Where do you start?

Do you have a Forgiveness Practice?
You gotta practice to get good at anything. Why not practice forgiveness? What would a Forgiveness Practice look like?

Search your heart every day and honestly ask yourself "did I close my heart to anyone today?" You can use some of these tools to antedote yourself a little every day.

Oh and don't forget yourself in all this forgiving. It may be the most important work of all.

• Try a Forgiveness Meditation. There are meditation tapes out there for the very purpose of forgiveness. Here is a Forgiveness Meditation from Jack Kornfield.
• Trade resentment for gratitude. Did you know you can't feel both resentment and gratitude at the same time? Make a litany written or spoken of all that you are grateful for regarding the situation.
• Write a forgiveness letter, you don't have to send it but start writing it now.
• If writing isn't your thing use your imagination and set that person in a chair before you and talk to them. Work it out in your own heart.
• When all else fails ask for help. (I always forget this one for some reason, it's not like it isn't for a good cause.)

Forgiving isn't forgeting. In fact remembering all that transpired and no longer being "hooked" by the memory is your indication that your forgiveness work is complete. Sometimes it takes a few rounds but with all that's promised you know that it's worth the effort.

Valentines for the Fullerton Police Department?

Can you find the love?

I was all excited for our Living in Love project this month. I chose to create Valentines and to add spiritual messages of truth on them. The kind of things that people need to be reminded of.

I started to really listen and write them down. "This is gonna be great. Spirit is going to guide these messages to just the right people at the right time." Some will go into "blessing bags" to be handed out to the homeless, some I will stick in random books in the library, I'll sneak some into unlikely places so that some anonymous person will find them.

Talking to Kate about my project I even started to get a little choked up myself. "Sometimes people forget who they really are and they need to be reminded." I reflected on all the people out there hurting.

Kelly Thomas, I couldn't stop thinking about Kelly Thomas. His last moments were not filled with love and acceptance. Kelly Thomas was lying on the ground being brutally beaten by a group of Fullerton policemen as he screamed for mercy from those hired and trained to "serve and protect."

And I started to get really mad ... and all those peaceful, loving little messages that we post on Facebook and retweet on Twitter and share ad naesum started to come back to taunt me.

I know they are truth but the enormous chasm to leap to the side of unconditional love seemed so very vast.

Do you want to transform the world? 

Do you believe in the transformative power of unconditional love? 

Can you forgive the small stings as well as the epic violations? 

Sometimes it's the person who gossiped behind your back or criticized you for a very real failing that is the hardest to forgive. Sometimes it's even the one who has been the most generous to you.

Human beings have done some horrible, horrible things thoughout the history of mankind. People have poisoned the earth, beat a homeless man, raped and killed children, committed genocide.

Can our hearts open large enough to truly forgive? To find love where we once wanted to only seek revenge, to demand justice, to make them pay for the damage they have done?

"From selfish reasons alone, if from no loftier reason, we cannot afford to find fault, to hate, or even to hold in mind anything against any living soul! The God of love cannot hear the prayer of the one who fails to love. In our meditation for friendship, let us make our unity with all people with all life"

~Ernest Holmes 

To Hell with Forgiveness, Hold a Grudge!

A shameless plug? Maybe.
A prime example of what forgiveness can do?
Definitely.

Sometimes the thought of forgiving someone who hurt you may make you want to throw up.

Why should I forgive him/her?  She hurt/wronged/betrayed/scarred me for life!  I will NEVER forgive, you might think.

For the month of October, Dr. Heather is leading a workshop-based Sunday service called the Commitment Experiment.

Each week, we explore principles that are catalysts to a Divinely-inspired, abundant life.

This past week we focused on forgiveness.

I was taken back to a time in my  life, only 5 short years ago, when I was faced with a devastating betrayal.

It hurt like nothing I had ever felt before.

The image was seared into my mind.  I thought I'd never get rid of it.

Only days later, I was almost watching myself, as if I was an observer, as I was Divinely Guided to see my part in that devastating moment in my life.

As the days, weeks and months went on, I worked to heal myself.

What I realize I was doing was, instead of healing, I was going through the phases of forgiveness.

Only last year, was I so comfortable with that experience in my life, that I decided to write a book about it.

This post isn't about promoting my book, but it's about the transformational catalyst that ONE, devastating night was, and how I didn't think I'd survive it with my family in tact.

Five years, almost exactly, after this event, I look back on that time as a pivotal shift in my life....for the better!

The process of forgiveness brought me closer to God.  

I was not in a consciousness to heal myself, or even forgive.

No one could have taught me the right way to forgive or to heal...

...except the one Infinite Intelligence that KNEW how to teach forgiveness and healing from within.

What I have come to realize is that no book, no person, or no workshop can teach forgiveness. 

It must come from within and it is guided by a Love that loves like no other.

When we co-create forgiveness with God, we co-create a different path for our lives, we become healers, and we become more evolved than we were prior to the event.

Holding a grudge for all this time would only hurt me.

It would hurt me emotionally, which would lead to energy being "clogged" up in my Chakra energy centers, which would eventually lead to physical pain of some kind.

I had a choice to cling to the hurt and betrayal, or to forgive with Spirit's help.

I chose the later and I will say,

...Forgiveness put me on my life path, it allowed me to reinvent my life altogether, it allowed me to let go of a past that no longer exists and create a whole new present moment.

What can forgiving lead you to?

The possibilities are endless. 

What if you simply let all the anger, hurt, resentment, etc. go.

How different would your life be?  How would it feel?

You can do it.  You have the choice.

Forgive? Or hold a grudge?

The saying, "Be the better person," to me, comes from the ego.

Don't be a better person to feel better than the person, institution, or organization who wronged you, be the better person by choosing to forgive and truly becoming a better person.

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Learn more transformational principles by joining us this Sunday for the third installment of the Commitment Experiment. 

Forgiveness: Finding Freedom from Past Hurts

Forgiveness is all about freedom from the binds of the past.

I consider myself a rule follower and I try to live by the golden rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. But, I've noticed, we are all here, on this planet, together, doing the best we can do in the moment. Sometimes we make choices, conscious or unconscious, that hurt other people. Occasionally our own feelings get hurt. We feel slighted, judged, abandoned, shamed. 

What we do with these hurts, resentment and guilt, can offer us a prison of our own making or a life of freedom.

For Azim Khamisa the opportunity to hold onto resentment far exceeded what most of us have endured. In 1995, a gang member gunned down Azim's only son, Tariq, in San Diego while he was delivering a pizza. 

His son was an innocent, un-armed college kid. The murder was a random act of senseless violence perpetrated as part of a gang initiation. Instead of fighting for justice insisting an "eye for an eye," Azim found a path to forgiveness and compassion that he generously shares with others through his speaking engagements, workshops and books.  

This Memorial Day weekend, world-recognized speaker and humanitarian, Azim Khamisa offers us a path to freedom. He will be in San Clemente speaking during the Sunday service at 10:30 a.m. and teaching a mini forgiveness workshop from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Center. During the workshop Azim will teach and lead the group in releasing resentment and guilt, resulting in a more fulfilled life. Attendees will participate in guided meditations to facilitate real forgiveness at the "soulular" level, a term Azim created to explain the spiritual release of past hurts. Suggested cost for the workshop is a $20 donation.

The workshop sounded interesting but I wanted to know more. Recently I had the opportunity to interview Azim to explore what forgiveness healing is really all about.
            

Who could benefit from a workshop on forgiveness? Is it only for people who have experienced tragedy?

Holding on to hurt is typical and the things people keep locked inside can range from little slights to life-altering tragedies. Many of us live in resentment for what's happened or feel guilt for the things we have done. It's very common. We all have a story. We've all experienced conflict. It can be husband disappointed wife, father wronged son, daughter won't speak to mother, siblings don't get along, or ex-wife hurt her former husband. Forgiveness is about letting go of all of these hurts not just tragic events.

Why is forgiveness beneficial in leading more fulfilling lives?

People get stopped by resentment or hold onto guilt creating debilitating emotions that prevent many of us from living at our highest potential and giving the world 100 percent of our best selves. Sadly, forgiveness is not a well understood concept. In our society, we are conditioned to be judgmental. But, what I have come to know through experience is this: I have my journey and he has his.

My son's killer has his own journey. He has to live his life in prison knowing he killed a unarmed innocent person. And, I have my new path. Before my son was murdered I was an investment banker, but today my work is about saving children's lives and teaching about nonviolence. I had a very full life before my son was murdered and then I had no life. I realized that if I stayed in resentment who am I hurting...me. Unless I forgave, I would remain a victim and I didn't want to go through life on crutches. I'm no longer a victim. I leave all judgment to God.

What are the steps of forgiveness that workshop participants will experience?

I take workshop participants through three milestones for releasing resentment: expressing grief, letting go of resentment and reaching out to the offender.

It's important to grieve and we do not promote grief in our culture, which is unfortunate. Those who hide their grief do not find a remedy. In my workshop, I teach how to grieve. It's a painful process but very necessary and healing.

Next I use a guided meditation to promote the second step: letting go of resentment. Forgiveness requires developing a high level of empathy and setting a clear intention. The meditation helps workshop participants move through the hurt to compassion.

The final step is reaching out to the offender. Reaching out to the offender can be a tough last step, but  the first two steps makes it easier. Usually the resentment you are holding is against someone you used to love. It helps to remember that.

Khamisa will also take participants through steps to release guilt, the other side of the forgiveness equation.

Give yourself the gift of forgiveness and freedom this Memorial Day weekend and join us at the Center for this life affirming workshop.

Can Prayer be Taught?

Today I received a telephone call that made my heart sing. Someone very dear to me called me to ask me how to pray. She explained that she knows that she needs to take classes to really learn it, but her friend and sponsor, prays to Jesus and she doesn't feel this fits her beliefs.

I was overjoyed to be asked but had only 20 minutes before an appointment. So I explained it this way. Affirmative prayer is built in five stages. If you spend enough time really contemplating the first two stages, the prayer will unfold in perfect right order. If you rush through the first stage you will build a prayer that is unbelievable and cannot be answered, just like a poorly reinforced foundation of a building will not hold the building which stands upon it.

The five stages are recognition, unification, declaration, gratitude and release. 

The first stage of recognition is an opportunity to contemplate the Divine, where It is, what It is and what It does.  

The second stage is unification and follows logically from the first stage. Once you realize fully that this mighty moving power is everywhere present, you naturally conclude then not only must it be in you, but also It must be in your creativity, including "the words of your mouth." 

The thirdly you come to declaration. In this stage you declare what you desire as if it is already a fact. 

The fourth stage is gratitude. Again it is logical. How will you feel when what you are seeking is already yours. 

The last stage is to release the prayer to Divine Mind, to let go and let God. 

Let's say you wanted to experience more connection with your family. The God quality that you might build upon is Love. If you are really expressing love then you would feel a greater connection, a willingness to give of yourself and an equal willingness to receive from others.

This is a sample prayer for greater connection.

There is only One LIfe, the Life of the Divine. This One is all-knowing, everywhere present in Its entirety. It is the Creative Process both in the Universal and in the individual. This mighty moving power is the power of Love and knows nothing outside itself. It is a perfect unity always expressing in perfect peace and harmony. The nature of this Mind is Infinite Intelligence. In the stillness of the Wholeness, all form comes into expression. Thought thickens into things.

Right here and now, I remember that I am one with this Power, one with this One. I remember that the creative process within me is the same process as in the Universe. It is naturally responding to Itself as me and through me. I am that which Thou art. I am one with all-power. I am one with Divine Love. I am made in the image of this One.

I declare that Love is my birthright. Love flows through me and connects me with my family and friends. Knowing I am always safe in God's Love, I tell the truth and ask for what I want.  The same Love that is moving through my conversation, moves through my friends and family. In the oneness of life we are inseparably connected. Any belief in separation or disconnection is now eliminated from my consciousness. If I need to make amends or ask for forgiveness, the Divine Presence guides me to do so now. My relationships are naturally filled with peace because the Peace that passes understanding indwells them.

I am so grateful for the love that surrounds me and connects me inextricably with my loved ones. I am so grateful for seeing things rightly, trough God's eyes.

I then place this prayer in the hands of God. I let go. It is complete. And so it is.

When you get the hang of it, it isn't as rigid as I have indicated. These are guidelines. 

If you haven't tried this before. Now is the time. I believe every prayer is answered. I would love to know how you do.

My First Painting, April 5, 2013

Learning Forgiveness

Forgiveness. This word carries so much weight and meaning. It's said that forgiveness is one of the hardest lessons for human beings to learn. And one of the most important lessons as well.

I thought I knew all about forgiveness. All you have to do is pick out all the character flaws and shortcomings of the wrongdoer. Once accomplished, you feel so sorry for the individual with all these pathetic shortcomings you take pity and forgive them. After all, you are nothing like them so its a good thing you've drop kicked them out of your life. Right?! Isn't that the way it's supposed to work?

The old me would've stood up and screamed, "that's right sister!"

Alas, the new me has become enlightened on such self serving notions. It's challenging and freeing all at the same time. The challenge being I now have to look at every person in my life and how they mirror back to me. Whoa this is scary stuff! However, freeing because now I'm learning how to break the bonds of fear and anger which contribute to unforgiveness.

I'm learning  how to avoid judging other people because what I'm really doing is judging myself.

I'll leave you to contemplate this powerful quote from Lewis B. Smedes. I read it daily.

               " The only way to heal the pain that will not heal itself is to forgive the person who hurt you. Forgiving stops the reruns of pain. Forgiving heals your memory as you change the memory's vision. When you release the wrongdoer from the wrong, you cut a malignant tumor out of your inner life. You set a prisoner free, but you discover that the real prisoner was yourself."