From the Minister's Desk

As usual, I am writing this column for the January newsletter right in the midst of the Christmas season with all of its accompanying flurry of activity. Yesterday I was on the brink of losing it all. Can you relate? But when I got home I decided to turn to the principles that have always gotten me through the good times and the not so good times.

First I had a good cry releasing a whole bunch of energy that I was trying to hold back. I originally was going to say releasing negative energy, but no it was just energy, period. Then I sat down and got centered and asked for guidance, clarity and peace of mind. It’s amazing. When you ask, you receive.

It really was a mystical experience. I could feel everything, my body, my mind, time, just slow down and a feeling of great peace came over me. This is what I needed, to be nurtured by the peace that is an awareness of the Presence of Spirit. That peace is always available to us, but we have to be receptive to it.

During the next few days I found myself quietly using the affirmation, “nothing can disturb the calm peace of my soul.” I was participating in creating an environment in which peace could flourish. Then a friend at church gave me a wonderful set of music CDs. My daughter called just to chat happily about what she was doing and excited about seeing me for Christmas for the first time in many years. And even though I got aggravated with computers and printers slowing me down, I did breathe and finished all that was mine to do. I even found something important that I thought was lost. Nothing is lost in Spirit.

The guidance I got? Stay plugged into the source of your good. I got up just a little earlier so that I didn’t rush through my quiet time. I accepted the fact that perhaps some of the “negative energy” was self-inflicted. If our thoughts and emotions create our reality, then I was creating something I didn’t like. And if you don’t like what is showing up, it’s up to you to make a shift in consciousness.

So much of our thoughts and even our feelings are habit, an automatic response to circumstances that show up on a regular basis. Ask yourself, “Is this way of showing up a habit?” If it is and if you don’t like it, make a conscious decision to respond differently.

January usually signals new beginnings. Instead of making New Year’s resolutions that we break within two weeks, let’s quietly agree to be present to the moment. And in the moment, let’s quietly agree to be open and receptive to our highest good, whatever that may be. That may mean being honest with ourselves and facing a habitual response with a new way of thinking. It may mean asking others for help. It may mean being courageous and stepping out with a talent we have been too afraid to share. Being present to the moment, open and receptive to our highest good (which is God), is a wonderful way to start each day. And one day at a time, our lives will unfold as a beautiful divine appointment with Spirit, if we let it. Blessings on the New Year!

In the One Love We All Share,

Rev. Lisa