Divine Intuition

On Saturday, December 19, we dedicated the permanent labyrinth that we built at the California Rehabilitation Center at Norco, California. The events that led up to this blessed day, began over four years ago when I heard Rev. James J. Mellon claim that a labyrinth would be built in the small classroom we were standing in located in his Spiritual Center in North Hollywood. He spoke about the room being lit with candles and people walking the labyrinth. Immediately, I was called in Mind to accomplish that. And so, using masking tape, we taped the shape of the Classical 7 circuit labyrinth on the floor and had our very first labyrinth walk at the NoHo Arts Center for New Thought. This event was one event on a time line that has no beginning or end, that connects the dots of thousands of lives coming together while still expressing their unique individuality.

Since that time, my fellow practitioner and friend, Lynn Klein and I have traveled throughout Los Angeles from cemeteries to hospitals to the beaches facilitating labyrinth walks with our community.

Then in September of 2008, I asked Lynn to come with me to CRC in Norco, where I had already conducted theater workshops. It was time to introduce the labyrinth to the inmates of CRC. She jumped right in and off we went.

For the past 11 months we have conducted labyrinth workshops once a month and witnessed profound change in the hearts and minds of the inmates that we work with. It has been a testament to the power of the labyrinth as a tool for personal insight, inspiration and transformation. It has also been a testament to following our divine intuition when it beckons to us to follow its bidding. As Michael Beckwith said in a talk, "The entire Universe is conspiring to release its energy through us."

Spirit is intuiting through each of us for the greater good. We all have claim to this intuition in our own unique way. We all have a gift to give; we only need to listen and then act on it. The Law makes the way possible even when we do not know how.

The permanent labyrinth at CRC Norco is a demonstration of that. Lynn and I just knew that we would have a permanent labyrinth there. The inmates wanted it. We claimed it and just continued to do what we were doing, which was conducting labyrinth walks. Before long, Violette, the Arts Facilitator was moved out of our regular meeting place. We were disgruntled at first, but then finally gave into the change and opened up to our new space. Lo and behold, there it was...a courtyard to build our permanent labyrinth in. Lynn and I say the labyrinth found its way on its own to Norco. Yes, it had always been there, but it took us opening our minds to it to see it and then put the paint on the ground.

When we conduct labyrinth walks, I always bring meditation cards with me. These cards are just little slips of paper cut into 1" squares with inspirational words written on them. Words like 'peace' 'joy' 'forgiveness' 'gratitude', etc, are some. They are meant to be picked up on the labyrinth if you feel the called to, and they might or might not add some inspiration to your walk.

The night before the dedication, I was writing cards and a word came to me that I found rather strange. It was the word 'helper'. I almost passed over the thought, because I couldn't imagine how that word meant anything. However, I said, well I Spirit said it, so I better write it and I did.

On the walk during the sharing time, a very young inmate raised his hand. He was very emotional. It was his first weeks in prison. He missed his daughter and felt awful about having left her. The first word he picked up on the labyrinth was that card 'helper.' It was the translation of his daughter's name, which meant 'angel helper.' Oh...I forgot to mention, there was a picture of an angel on each of the cards. This inmate received this as the knowing that his daughter was with him.

All I can say, is I know we are all here to allow Spirit to intuit through us. We are here as part of a big picture called LIFE. All of us matter. We are each an integral part of the picture. We must never underestimate the power of what Spirit can do through us. We are definitely conduits. I am grateful.

I AM In Body!

Last night in ministerial class, we had a discussion about where our International Church is going now that we are getting ready to unite---Religious Science International and United Church of Religious Science. We will be one international church called "International Centers for Spiritual Living."

The leaders are reviewing all the standards, rules, tenets of both churches and deciding what they will embrace, what they will let go of and what they will combine. As this is happening, the question that comes up for us all is "What do I believe?" and that question is what we discussed last night in class.

I was so quiet in class. I just wanted to sit back and listen and digest, but today my thoughts are ready to be dealt with.

What do I believe? I believe that all of me is God. I believe I live in a Universe of Love, Law, and Order. I believe this is true for each of us.

So, I can recite what I believe, but until I embody it, they are merely words to me. To embody means to act as with total surrender. Notice, I said "as" not "as if". There is a big difference to me. When I am acting "as" God, then there is not one ounce of doubt in me. I am merely moving forward in my divine evolution.

There is this incredible thing happening within each of us. It is our Divine Evolution, that wanting to be more, to express more to live more fully. We let it out in our own unique way when we are in action, when we are in unconditional love, when we are in service. We can say "I AM in Body." Oh, my God, I just got that Embody. I embody = I AM is Body, our individual bodies. But of course I Am Here!

So, what stops this total embodiment of Spirit. Are there two me's in each of us? No, not exactly, there is only one me in each of us with volition or choice. That is both our freedom and our bondage. We get to choose. Wow! So, why would we choose not to embody, when embodiment is total freedom. Could it be belief. Is there still a part in us that says "I am Less than that." We must each ask ourselves this question honestly. If that is true for us, then we must be willing to let go of it---the old worn out useless belief that we are less than.

This is what I know right now and you can say it with me...

I AM HERE and I accept it now. I embody It now. I AM is in Body now! And so it is!

What is the Meaning of Christmas?

I have come to believe Jesus was and is the great example not the great exception. He was the embodiment of Christ Consciousness. What is Christ Consciousness? It is the Divine Spark within us, our Divine intuition and connection to the highest part of our self. When one embodies Christ Consciousness there is no separation between God and self.

As a Christian website tries to determine the answer to the question of the “meaning of Christmas,” I am struck by the following passage and what it brought up in me.

“Perhaps for an answer (to what is the meaning of Christmas), we need to return to the biblical narratives…At the heart of the nativity narratives in both Matthew and Luke, is a simple fact: amid the struggle of a people who had longed for 500 years for God to act in the world in new ways, God came to be with them in a way that totally identified himself with them, as human beings. Amid the most unlikely of circumstances, to the most unlikely of people, God became a human being to reconcile all peoples to himself (2 Cor 5:18-19).”

So, here we are over 2000 years later still longing for God “…to act in the world in new ways.” I am witnessing amongst everyone I meet an intense longing for spirituality as a way of life not just a Sunday affair. I am witnessing an intense desire to express the true, creative self.

If as in the passage above, (change “him” to ‘her’ or ‘it’ if you want) “God came to be with them in a way that totally identified himself with them as human beings…” This message is as clear now as it has ever been? If we are still looking for an outside God or Sky God, a God that no one has yet seen, but only felt, could it be God is within us, expressing as us.

What is the meaning of Christmas then? Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus, reminding us that we, too, are being awakened to the birth of Christ Consciousness within us. This is what I believe. “Oh, come, oh, come Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel.” Emmanuel means “God is with us.” Need I say anything else?

QUESTION???

"The question! The question! Always live within the question!" Conversations with God

When things come to me in threes, I definitely know that a powerful message is coming through me. The above quote from "Conversations with God" came to me by email this morning, preceded by a talk by Michael Beckwith, "The Answer is You" where he said that if something keeps showing up in your life, you need to open up a dialogue with it because it is there so you can evolve, preceded by James J. Mellon challenging us, in a talk, to enter the conversation with thoughts that repeatedly come up that we might otherwise resist or bury.

This is probably one of the most powerful tools that has been given to me in a very long time, as it is allowing me to step out of resistance to things that might not be pleasing me and into expansion.

If everything is Good and if the Universe is always conspiring in my favor, then whatever is showing up is here to allow me to grow and expand. Everything, and I mean everything is giving me an opportunity to know who I truly am. So, as I am continuing to converse with any lack that is still showing up in my life, I am shifting powerfully.

On the heels of Self-Esteem week in Boot Camp, I have aligned myself with the knowing that self-esteem is linked to acting as "self-esteem" and not just being aware that "I am worth it!"

For me, my self-esteem shines when I am serving with all my talents. As I serve, I know that I have plenty to give. I am stepping into my highest self which is unlimited. Voila! As we know who we are and step into this knowing through action, we are telling the Universe, "Bring it on. I am up to it!"

In Michael Beckwith's talk, he gave us three things to ask ourselves each morning. "How can I grow? How can I give? What can I celebrate? Good questions, and, the answer is that the Law says, "yes, I'll show you." What a day unfolds!

I have so much to celebrate, so many more ways to grow, and so much to give.