Spirit is Calling | Science of Mind & Spiritual Living in Daily Practice

From the Books Cover: Spirit is Calling is an easy-to-read collection of powerful ideas that will activate spirituality in your daily life.

Even if you can't retire to a mountaintop or spend hours a day in devotional practice, you can spend a few minutes of every day with the straightforward and insightful ideas you'll find in Spirit is Calling. This interactive journal will become an important guide for self-inquiry, personal reflection, and spiritual growth throughout the year. Daily, you'll encounter thoughtful and specific exercises, along with revolutionary ideas to stimulate your thinking. At the end of the year, you'll have a record of your spiritual growth that you will refer to for years to come.

Click here to buy the Book - Spirit is Calling and follow along with me.

Spirit Lives in Me
Appreciating Me
Nurturing Myself
My Gifts
Spiritual Health
Vitality
New Practices
Healthy Choices
Emotionally Present
Examining Beliefs
Loving My Body
Prosperity
Harmony
Integrity
Circulation
Asking
Receiving
Giving
Spiritual Beings
No Chance Meetings
Right Speaking
Gifts
Namaste
I am Present
We are One
Spiritual Practice
Alone with Spirit
Daily Devotional
Sacred Space
Mindfulness
My New Life

Think about the word within. It is 2 treats in 1. Being With and Being In all at the same time. The book Spirit is Calling uses the word "Omnipresent". I don't know about you, but I find that word to be very daunting. Overpowering, Overbearing, OH MY.

I focus on the word within because it conveys a sense of connection and a feeling of oneness with the divine.

Thankfully, I was not just plopped on this little spinning marble in the Universe and left to fend for myself with no inner guidance system.

This inner guidance system is better than any GPS system on the road today...Provided that I read the manual and properly use it and listen to the direction that it is trying to give me through inspiration and thoughts and feelings.

Spirit is not some Santa Claus like Father Figure sitting in some far away throne room that I need to please with my thought and actions. Spirit is Within. All is Spirit and I am one with Spirit. Even when I choose not to be, Spirit is Within me.

So why fight it. I am going with the flow.

OOOOOOO My!

Science of Mind pg 419-5 "Since we see that personality is what one does with his individuality, we should turn within, as have all the great mystics who have blessed the world with their presence-we should turn within and FIND GOD; and we should have a sense of a Real Presence when we do turn toward the One and Only Presence in the entire Universe."

If you don't Value your own time, no one else will.

How true this statement is. Value comes from within. It comes from my viewing and sensing something and knowing that it is right and useful. Not from a place of ego, but when I come to my evaluations from a place of love and connection with Spirit. When Spirit is Alive, the true value of everything is revealed. False pretenses are washed away and the true essence of the Spirit in all is illuminated. This starts with working with myself.

Do you think that the Buddha sat around beating himself up by saying, "I only wish that I was more enlightened." I hardly think so. When we look at the examples that are noted in history, especially on this day that marks the start of the Season for Non-Violence (which marks the lives and works of Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.), we are shown people, that truly valued and appreciated themselves and what they had to offer.

Science of Mind pg 40-2 "The Universe is impersonal. It gives alike to all. It is not respecter of persons. It values each alike. Its nature is to impart, our to receive. When we stand in the light, we cast a shadow across the pathway of our experience. Emerson advises that we get our bloated nothingness out of the way of the divine circuits."

My value is just around the corner of my consciousness. I need to take the time to move towards it and recognize it and appreciate it, just like the master of old.

After a long period of consideration and coordination, (I am working on the decision making process) I booked a trip for my Wife and I to go out west in February. We are going to Portland, Seattle & Yakima to see my family and the sights.

We are going for a week so that we have enough time to visit and enjoy ourselves and the sights.

I am looking forward to making posting during our trip, which will be in mid February.

So here's to good weather and safe travel.

Speaking for myself, the contemplation of My Gifts is something that makes me really consider what is meant by the question "What value do you bring to the world?"

Who am I to bring Gifts to the World? This seems a bit daunting. Me? You have got to be kidding!

Then the book asked this follow up question "What am I doing when I am most happy?"

Now, to an external reader this may sound selfish, but I can handle the second question much better. Not that it is all about me. Rather because of the need to develop self worth in what I bring to the table and have to offer. The way I figure it, if I am operating from a place of happiness and joy, then the world will be a better place and that will be a great start.

I noticed that when I first made my short list of items that made me happy or created an environment of happiness, that the list was all stated in terms of not doing certain things or not being a certain way. This is where this passage from Ernest Holmes comes into play: Science of Mind pg 423-2 "To each is given what he needs and the gifts of heaven come alike to all. How we shall use these gifts is all that matters! To hold one's thought steadfastly to the constructive, to that which endures, and to the Truth, may not be easy in a rapidly changing world, but to the one who makes the attempt much is guaranteed.

So I shifted my list to a positive point of reference. One that allows me to be constructive, to create, to contribute, to give my Gifts to the world.

It almost seems easier to me to consider the prospects of working on my Spiritual Health as opposed to my Physical Health. I mean, inorder to get in shape I have to go to the gym everyday, to work out. In order to change my Spiritual Health, I just need to think differently. To think of everything that is going right and focus on it. While this may be a bit short sighted at first, because all health requires daily "practice and focus", it is a refreshing concept that I can remove myself from the ruts of life and be reborn and refreshed in a Healthy, Happy, Peaceful state.

The book, Spirit is Call talks about the following:"Spiritual health is created by focusing your attention on all that is good and well in your life."

Does this mean that we do not acknowledge when something is "not going right" in our life, not recognize our aches and pains. NO. We most definitely can acknowledge. The issue is whether of not I choose to dwell on the situation that is not good and well.

One areas where this directly applies is consciousness and how I allow it to be impacted by external forces.

Have you ever notice how you can feel yourself being swept up in the collective negative feelings of others. Sometimes it can be just the "oil spill" of another person that can pollute your bay, if you let it. This clouds our Spiritual Health and leaves us feeling like one of the ducks or waterfowl that is covered in goo. This applies to TV, the media, the consciousness of the economy, the outlook and forecast of the weather, etc.

To be spiritually healthy, we must ask if we are stopping to gauge our reactions or are we feeding the fire that is sometimes presented to us from a external source or from the peculation of our own thinking?

Are we reacting or are we creating? Is the truth of our Spirit filled nature being allowed to show or are we blaming our health on external events and sources.

Stopping and gauging takes practice. I also is a great area for prayer, treatment and release.

Doing so may reveal the true source of our spiritual un-healthiness. Science of Mind pg 336-4 "There is a great difference in our reaction when we believe that evil is an entity and when we understand that we merely have the possibility of experiencing it. The Universe doe not demand suffering! Suffering is man-made, through ignorance. It will continue until man learns how to make it negative in his experience. Someday we shall decide that we have had enough suffering.

Spiritual Health is directly tied to our learning, our studying, our acknowledgment of the true source of happiness, joy and health, our inner self and our peaceful relationship with our self.

Decide that Spiritual Health is worth the exercise and practice. Ignore it no more. Be Healthy and Prosper.

When I saw that the topic was Vitality, I thought that I would have a little fun.

For those of you that don't know who Dick Vitale is, bear with me, please.

Dick Vitale's website

Dick Vitale is a basketball announcer with ESPN. He is always on. Not always on TV, but always on with his energy and his persona. He has made a living out of his Vitale-isms, his unique contribution to explain the game of basketball in a colorful way.

Things like, calling a player a "Dow-Joneser" because the player is up and down and inconsistent, or "Diaper dandy", a term used for freshman on the team, a "P.T.P'er" = a prime-time player.

So I ask myself, what would it be like if I had the Vitality of Dick Vitale for just one day. What if I brought that level of passion and spirit to everything that I did.

In one phrase, It would be Awesome Baby!!!

Dick Vitale will be back on the airwaves on February 6th calling a game between Duke-North Carolina. He has been out of action for a few months following a surgery he had in December (For Vitale, the past month hasn't been awesome, baby) to his vocal cords.

Dickie, get better and get back.

What a vision, sitting and admiring the flame of a candle and noticing that even within the few minutes that I observed it that the flame is never the same, never steady, always ebbing and pulsing and radiating light.

My direct reflections:
- The candle has to be lit for it to really shine. I must let my light be lit and shine inorder to truly glow.

- I don't need to compare my flame to anyone else. My light is just fine, thank you very much.

- Spirit feeds the flame, I don not understand the mechanics or how. I just know it works and I enjoy it.

Science of Mind pg 430-2 "Man is the candle of the Lord. How important then that this light be kept trimmed and burning with the oil of pure Spirit, though the wick of peace and joy. In this way do we glorify that Indwelling God who is the Heavenly Father and the Cosmic Mother of all."

The book speaks of a guiding force within that will lead you directly to healthy choices. Ernest Holmes also spoke of this concept. Science of Mind pg 272-3 "People often say: "I don't know what to do; I don't know how to make a choice." We must realize, that there is an Intelligence within us that does know. This "guidance" is just as true in India, where people are Buddhists, as it is in America where people are Christians. It was just as true ten thousand years ago, before the advent of Christianity, as it will be ten thousand years hence."

When I first read about this, I thought, great, I can just go about my business and make choices and I will be guided. Well, yes and no. I will be guided, but I will have to tune into the broadcast frequency of the "Choice Voice." The Choice Voice operates at first like an older AM transistor radio.

I remember being a kid growing up in the Seattle area, laying in my bed late at night trying to listen to the radio, slowing turning the knob to different channels. If you are old enough to remember the radio before them came pre-set with station you know exactly what I am speaking of. On the old radios you would dial ever so slowly, gently, until you heard the faintest of sounds. In some cases, as soon as I took my hand away from the dial, the station would go away. And some of the stations that I was trying to dial in to where in San Francisco or Salt Lake City, (now that got my mind thinking bigger, but that is another story). So I fine tuned the station, trying to pick up a ball game or a clear music station or a talk show, so I gently, carefully moved the dial until the signal came in.

This same mechanism is true with the operation of our "Choice Voice" at first. The good news is, that as you begin to listen to the "Choice Voice" channel more and more, the channel, like a modern radio, gets pre-set. It become much clearer to listen to, less crackles, less static, less dropping in and out. More like a clear digital channel that is being broadcast just for your listening pleasure.

And then, like radio, we have another choice. We can actually take the information being transmitted by the "choice voice" and listen and APPLY it to our thoughts, actions and deeds, (This can also apply to external transmission and our ability to tune in, but again, this is another topic for another time.) or we can ignore it and go along our happy way, sort of like the husband driving along, never asking for directions. And we all know how well that ends up working out, don't we.

So, like the ads say, Sign up today for your "Choice Voice" subscription. Act now, operators are standing by. Best of all, it is God given, Spirit powered and absolutely FREE.

I remember being in school, way back when, and the teachers would call roll for attendance. For some reason, maybe because of being raised around a military environment, (My Dad was an Air Force Kid, his Father a career in the Army Air Corp / Air Force, traveling the world) I would always answer "Present" when my name was called, while everyone else would answer "Here." Reflecting back on that, It got me thinking.

How many of them might of been "here", but sure were not "present"?

Many of them, you could just tell by looking at them or interacting with the were a million miles from being present in the room. Sure they were physically taking up a seat, but present - no way!

One of the things that I have found by taking the time to do this daily writing is that it requires me to be present and focus upon what it is that I want to say, what it is that Spirit is saying to me through the book and my writing. I can't just mail it in, I have to be attentive and Present.

Not just mindfully and not just intellectually present, but emotionally present as well.

The book ask us to "Feel your feelings! Don't judge them--just let them come and go, as they are supposed to. How true and what a good focus.

I add this quote from Science of Mind pg 497-3 "Quench not the Spirit." We are not to be ashamed of our trust in God, nor are we to deny the Inner Light that lights every man's reason to the ultimate reason of all. Spiritual emotion is common to all people, and is one of the ways through which the Spirit works. when this emotion is blocked, it hinders the currents of life from flowing and the result is stagnation. In psychology, we learn that congested emotions are disastrous to health. If this is true of the physical emotions, how much more must it be true of those higher emotions which are altogether spiritual!"

"Quench not the Spirit" - 1 Thessalonians 5:19, just 3 verses after "Rejoice evermore" and "Pray without ceasing."

Rejoice, Pray, Flow, Quench not, be happy and be Present.

The question and focus for the day had me consciously thinking ALL DAY. Asking, is this really fun? The response was usually just that, a response. And the answer was no. Why, because most of what I was doing was the task required to get to a desired result. The act in and of itself was rather repetitive, mundane, frankly - boring. Or at least that is what I initially thought.

Then, I changed my question. HOW CAN I MAKE THIS FUN?

Now that is a new twist, Change your Questions, Change your Life, I can see the PBS special now, you know, the one starring me. :-)

One Shift, One slight adjustment, One similar, yet entirely different question shifted myself, my spirit and the entire day.

Science of Mind pg 137-1 quotes the Bible and Shakespeare on this subject, "From the Bible we have the assurance: "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he" ...And Shakespeare is accredited with the saying: "There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so." It is one thing to know a principle, another to apply it.

I was not going to and am not going to allow my labels and compartments stop myself from having a good time. I am here and I might as well make the best of it.

In that one shift, I reaffirmed that Success, truly is, an inside job.

Here to you showing the world how to be happy!

Wow, what a topic. I was just getting settled into the concepts surrounding prosperity and boom, we are asked to Love our Body. In front of a mirror no less.

I faced this exact prospect in November of 2007.

Just after Thanksgiving I took inventory by taking a true look at myself in the mirror.

I DID NOT LIKE WHAT I SAW STARING BACK AT ME.

I was beyond fat, I was truly obese. Sure I am 6;5" inches tall, but I was not in very good shape. How bad was I? Of the 60 football players on the New England Patriots, only 17 weigh more than I did. I mean, these guys are big, huge 300 pound football players. They are supposed to be big. I am not supposed to be that large.

I weighed in at 288 lbs. I did not like what I was seeing in the mirror. I was not Loving myself. At least not physically. I knew that something had to change before I got one of those bad new wake up calls.
(The scale that I had at the time did not show me to be as heavy at 288, but upon getting a new scale about 2 weeks later I was able to calculate the difference between what I was and what I started at. Even though the scale was off, I knew that I needed to do something, sooner, rather than later.)

What did I do next? I prayed, submitted a prayer card with one simple statement on it, "I want to weigh 225 or less" at church for others to pray for me, and then I went online and visited Nutrisystem.com. From that day on I made some radical changes. I used to drink 4-8 cans of soda a day. I have not had a soda since November 27, 2007. I started the Nutrisystem plan with my first food delivery from them in the first week of December.

My weight today, 247. Just be sticking to the plan and a minimal, I mean minimal amount of exercise.

That is 41 pounds in 58 days.

Today the next phase began. I went to the gym and will be going to the gym or working out everyday

#8, #10, #33, & #42 on my "Ask List" mean that much to me.

According to the Body Mass Index calculator on my Nutrisystem Program Portal, the weight of 247 give me a BMI of 29 for my weight and height. 30 and above is considered obese. 25-29.9 is considered overweight.

To get to the BMI of 24, I need to get to the weight of 206.

My original goal when I set out on the program was to get to 225. I am now considering moving this to 206.

Why? Because I am LOVING WHAT I AM SEEING and HOW I AM FELLING. I have more energy, am clearer in my thinking and do not have the cravings for food that I once had.

Also, since I have been watching what I have been eating, I have only had to take 6 or 7 doses of Prilosec OTC, a drug for heartburn. I used to take this every single day for over 5 years.

I am fabulous, and getting better by the moment.

I hope this inspires you to Love Your Body. You can do it.

Science of Mind pg 253-2 "To mentally free yourself from avoirdupois (being overweight), declare that you are an offspring of God, that you are Spirit, that both your appetite and the assimilation of your foods are functioning in divine order, and that your body is manifesting symmetry and perfection."

Everything that is not of my pure body is now washed away by every drink of water I take. Each time I eat, it is to fuel the engine of my body and the metabolism that is in perfect order to burn away that which is unnatural and not what I want to see, not what I wish to be. I am supported by those around my and by Spirit Itself with right thoughts and right actions. I Love my Body and I am committed to take care of it.

PS - My wife is also on the Nutrisystem program, and I am truly loving the results. :-)

If you want a $30 coupon off of your first order with Nutrisystem, just let me know.

The lake behind my condo, Lake Earl, as I like to call it, (if Thoreau can have Walden Pond, I can have Lake Earl) was very interesting this morning.

Why, because my little weather bug reading on my computer said that it was only 18 degrees outside, yet the lake was not frozen over. Why just yesterday, the lake had a layer of ice on it. A layer that melted in the afternoon sun. A cold front had moved in overnight, dropping the temperature into the teens. So why if it was so cold, was the lake not frozen?

I thought of this question and this illustration because of a imagery that was presented by Ernest Holmes in Science of Mind pg 141-4 "Let us suppose, for illustration, that the Universe is nothing but ware, permeated by an Infinite Intelligence. Imagine that every time this Intelligence movers, or thinks, ice is formed in the water, exactly corresponding to the thought. We might have countless pieces of ice in different form, color, and size, but these pieces of ice would still be water!"

Our words and our thoughts are taken by the Infinite Intelligence to create an exact form that resembles our thoughts and word. These forms are like water that has been frozen into the corresponding ice block. It has to freeze as the corresponding outcome...OR DOES IT.

I am not doubting the law and the illustration that has been presented. NO WAY, NO HOW.

I am re-examining the words and the thought and the conditions that were put into the law, into the process.

You see, in my description of the condition of Lake Earl, I failed to mention a ever so slight, yet important factor. There was a gentle wind blowing, causing a constant ripple across the surface of the lake. A breeze that was steady enough to never allow the water to still and be effected by the 18 degrees of natural law.

I see an exact parallel to what was happening to Lake Earl and the subject of PROSPERITY.

Many times we want to believe that we are thinking good thoughts about be prosperous and are speaking prosperity affirmations and words and yet, the outcome that we are looking for, the ice form if you will, does not appear. So we doubt and turn to our mental feelings of separation and lack.

We feel, that because there was not giant wave or disturbance on the water of our life, that the law is failing us. Failing to act the way that it should.

The law and the process never fails. It always works.

It does not need to be a giant wave of disturbance. It could just be a gentle breeze that is causing the water of our words and thoughts to be rippled, an unrest, that never allows the desire result to form. The problem is not with the process, it is with the conditions that we are bringing to the table.

So, as I focus on Prosperity. Am I being calm and allowing the process to happen? Am I allowing the water to be acted upon by the natural laws to be frozen? Or, am I constantly poking at the water, causing ripples? Am I like the story of the customer in the restaurant that is always changing their order and then they wonder where there food is at, or am I having faith in the process and trusting that the process always works?

The choice is mine. To be calm and to allow prosperity to take place. To put clear and concise desires into my words and thoughts. To trust spirit as the provider. Spirit is the creator of the natural laws, and all natural laws are truly spiritual laws in the physical world.

Prosperity is mine. I claim it. I am committed to being calm, removing the ripples, and allowing the process to occur and for Spirit to provide.

May your lake freeze when they are supposed to! May you allow the winds of disturbance, that you are creating, stop and the water be still and may you be prosperous and free.

Harmony: Being in agreement, in concord with the creative effort.

Not forcing the issue. My, how I have found in my experience that this so applies to money and the pursuit thereof.

How many times have I found myself trying to force things to occur, especially in the area of trying to make money. I have been hearing the message for years, "You have to slow down to speed up."

Being around auto racing at a young age, this term was used by the top drivers and for the longest time I did not have a true understanding of the term.

The concept in auto racing is that when a driver tries to run into the corners too fast and hard, he or she will wear out the car and tires quicker than the other drivers. While this may produce a short term result of quicker lap times, the end result begins to show after around 7-10 laps, when the overall lap times drop off as compared to a driver that is going hard, but steady.

After 50 laps, the one that slows down will actually speed up to such a point that they will pull away from the other competitors by seconds, which in racing could mean the difference between winning and a poor finish.

I intellectually know this concept as well as any other concept on the face of the planet.

Yet the application of it has been challenging.

The philosophy of Science of Mind is that all I have to do as a practicer is to be in HARMONY with Spirit, to believe in my mind, and the universe will provide, particularly in the areas of money and prosperity, along with health and well-being.

So why don't I truly believe? Why am I of two minds? Why does the urge to "try to make something happen" so overtake me that I find myself not being, just doing?

This process, this journal allows me to refocus and recommit on a daily basis. I ask why and find answers. Spirit speaks to me, passages are revealed. I slow down and the answers speed up and life is more abundant.

Science of Mind pg 187-3 Never Limit Your View of Life. During the process, many things may happen that appear to be destructive. We may pass through good fortune and bad, but if we can come to the point where we are not disturbed by "things" we have found the secret. If, as Jesus said , we "judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgement," remembering that "things which are seen are not made of things which do appear;" if, I repeat, we can judge in this manner, OUT OF ANY CHAOS WE CAN PRODUCE HARMONY."

Don't be afraid of being Spiritual. Lean not on thy own understanding. Unite with the unity of the Spirit and the Law of Love and Prosperity and all of thy needs will be met. I seek that unity, I seek that spirit, that harmony - regarding money and all matters of the soul.

I will sing my song with Spirit in Harmony.

Integrity can not just be the harmony between words and actions!!!! If I tell you that I am going to take something, and then I go ahead and take it, is that Integrity. My words sure did match my actions. NO, Integrity has to be something deeper, something that activates the innate spirituality within us and allows that which is right and good to show through into action.

When I think of true integrity, I think of a actual story that took place in the early nineties at a golf tournament. I will let Washington Post Columnist - Thomas Boswell tell the story.

"Grant Waite was leading the Kemper Open in Washington, DC with Tom Kite one shot behind. At the fourth hole on Saturday, Waite got relief from ground under repair. However, when taking his stance, his heel was still touching the white circle marking the spot-a potential two-shot penalty.

"We don't need any penalties, that's for sure. At least I don't," said Kite-then the top money winner in tour history-to Waite who was, then and now, a marginal journeyman.

Saved from the two-shot gaffe by Kite's unnecessary but gallant sportsmanship, Waite kept his poise. For the rest of the Kemper, Waite and Kite battled head-to-head with the memory of Kite's good deed hanging over them. On the final holes, Kite played well, putting intense pressure on Waite. Yet Kite kept looking at his foe with a bemused half-smile as though delighted that he had not, by some cheap stab with the rulebook, kept such a diligent craftsman from having his finest hour of honest work. In the end, Waite won. By one shot, of course."

What a great story of someone in a position to win hundreds of thousands of dollars, the difference between the first place check and the runner-up prize, along with all of the prestige of being the champion, doing the right thing with Integrity.

We are called to something deeper, more eternal than the superficial definition of integrity that has found its way into the collective consciousness of society. The collective consciousness in which a corporation makes a quarterly estimate of their projected profits, then reverts to shady and sometimes illegal tactics, just to be able to keep the integrity of what they promised and hit their quarterly profit margins. A higher calling where a home run is actually a home run, not just a human growth "Hormone Run." The prevailing belief in the existing of evil, one that allows people to blame actions or events on a separation from the One True Spirit, has taken such a hold, that even the application of the term integrity is under fire.

Mine is a higher calling.

What is ours to give, what is ours to receive, what is ours to circulate, if we are up to Spirit's Calling is the calling to spread the example of true, Spirit Led Integrity. Even one that is higher than the potentially superficially uses of the Law of Attraction, where the user says, well I ask for it and I got it, even at the harm of others. Spirit is still there, still speaking to us with that still small voice, asking us to be the shining example. As Ernest Holmes wrote, "In other words, to correct all the evils of the world, would be but to have the positive faith, faith rightly placed, a faith that lay hold to the integrity of the Universe, the beneficence of God and the Unity of all Life." Science of Mind pg 156-4 All is Love, All is Law, and I am called to live in integrity with these pre-established God given gifts and let this example be a light of hope to others.

Spirit is Calling. Integrity is ours to model with positive faith.

What a great topic to follow up on Asking and the Law of Attraction with the Law of Circulation. These two laws have to work hand in hand. Without the Law of Circulation, then the Law of Attraction might be called the Power of Having to go out and get what you want with brute force. Not a very catchy title.

Ernest Holmes wrote, "When the law of circulation is retarded, stagnation results. It is only when we allow the Divine current to flow through us, in and out, we really express life. The law of giving and receiving is definite." Science of Mind pg 440

Imagine how much more powerful of a message the movie The Secret would be if it included a special section describing and activating the Law of Circulation. It didn't and that is where our own Spiritual Practice come into play.

That being said, most talks on the Law of Circulation are so focused on money and prosperity that they miss the true point. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with the money aspect, true Spirit is activating a cause and being open to the actual receipt of GOOD. Now that also includes money and such, but the root that is behind all of it is Good and Love and Spirit.

When I thought about the subject of circulation, two images came to mind. One was of the Oceans currents, a naturally occurring event that causes the currents to ebb and flow on a continuous basis. This is all going on without us even having to worry about it. It just happens. Because of this, no storm last forever in any one location.

The other image that I got was one of dominoes. The meaning being that I, like the first dominoes in a row can trigger an action that can spread out to more and more and more. The two videos below talk about how a Dutch team set the world record for toppling dominoes. Over 4 million to be exact. It took them 8 weeks to set it up and over 2 hours for all of them to fall. WOW.

Consider that Spirit has already established the right pattern, so that we can trigger something and the exact law will be activated and fall right into place. Mind you, we have to trigger the right domino to get the correct effect, but if we do, things will fall right into place.

So here's to triggering good and receiving good and for spreading the good that is me and you.

The Journal today asked us to write down everything we ever wanted. Yes, Everything. I was first posed with a question like this by My wife, Debra, (Check out her site on Love & Peace) back when we were first dating. She asked me something like, "If you had 10 million dollars, no strings attached, what would you do with it?" I proceed to take the next 5-10 minutes explaining how I felt that the question was not realistic, was truly a hypothetical question and one that I would address if the opportunity every presented itself. She must really love me, because she let me get away with that lame answer and justification.

I was then presented with the same question in a slightly different format about a year later during my first reading of the book - The Alladin Factor by Jack Canfield & Mark Victor Hansen - You know them, the Chicken Soup Guys. In the book they ask the reader to create a list of wishes that you would ask for if your met your Genie in a bottle. (Realizing that by this time, I had already met my genie and married her, I thought this was a good sign. This question came up again, this time in another form. (Sometime I need to spend some more time exploring the concept of - whatever we resist / persist.)

Looking back on the question, and seeing that I was evolving, I got out a journal and started in making my list. Here is my time for another confession. I got to about number 6, 7 or 8 and couldn't go any further. Why? Did I run out of things to ask for? Hardly. What did occur was amazing. I realized, with deep, heartfelt gratitude, how good I already had it. My life was truly bless and I saw that my list of what I already had was going to be much longer than the list of what I would ask for. Reflecting back, I probably took 2-3 days before I picked up the list again and started the "Ask List". The results of that encounter

I must still have it down because here is this question again. And as I write this line, I am going to stop at the end of it because I have to go look for where I put my list. BRB

Alright, Alright, I was not right back, it took me a few minutes to find it, and from that I again saw part of the reason why this question keeps coming up. What good does it do to make a list and then not be able to find the list?

So I got the list back out. The List was created in November of 2006 and I even have a message and autograph signature from Jack Canfield on the page facing the list. He signed it when I was about halfway done creating the list.

The message states "Robert, You are on track with this work you are doing to make all your dreams come true!" Nice message, time to get back on track.

What good would a topic on Asking be without some inspiration from Ernest Holmes? Not very. From Creative Mind pg 79 "We have a right to have and should expect to have in this world all that will make for the comfort and for the luxuries of life. What matter how much we have, if we rob no other soul to get it? Shall not the Power that so lavishly spreads Itself out into nature give to us Its highest expression, all that we can ask? We dishonor God when we claim less than all. Until we can expand our thought so that we shall be able to say also, "I am," we need not expect to get great results."

Talk about a word that gets a bum wrap. I stopped and thought about this for a moment or two and realized that I could not recall a famous song that had been written or performed about receiving. Sure there are the Karen Drucker songs or the other Christian or Gospel ballads, but no real mainstream song about receiving.

When I did a little search I came across a song from the 1940 performed by Helen Humes entitled "It's Better to Give that to Receive." How appropriate that one of the albums that this song was released on was called, "Today I sung the Blues."

So this got me thinking and realizing - If we did not receive, what would there be for someone to give? Nothing. And at a level of activating Spirit - If I do not receive the gifts and the giving of God / Spirit in my life, then what good is it for God to keep on giving? It is only a completeness if someone completes the equation. If I ask you what two plus two is, even if you mentally said four, you completed the equation. It existed in its entirety only because of your choice to fill in the missing part of the equation.

I imagine this same is true with the gifts and giving of Spirit. We have to receive and complete the equation. I also remember that these gifts do not come from far off God sitting on a throne in some far away ether, no, they come from those closest to me and the gifts and giving that they are outpouring to me on a continually basis, especially when I am awake to the process and receiving the gifts. The gifts of Love, compassion, understanding, support and comfort.

My, what a convoluted, missed up, twisted understanding we have of certain phrases and terms and passages. Those that take a concept such as receiving and giving and twist the meanings and applications to fit the needs of the individual speaker, thus forgetting the true essence and spirit of the words.

In Matthew 15 8&9 Jesus spoke of words that came true that had been prophesied by Isaiah

THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS,
BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME.
BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME,
TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.

Pretty powerful stuff, even applicable for today's zero-sum mentality.

In Science of Mind - pg 449-6 thru 450-2, Ernest Holmes takes on one of the examples where a twisted understanding has been allowed to take root in many a soul, to the detriment to those involved.

The section cover the biblical verse of Matthew 13:12 "For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him."

In the way that Ernest Holmes does on countless occasions in his writing and teaching, he delivers a powerful, concise statement to set the consciousness and the spirit of the receiver straight. on pg 450-2 he wrote "Unless one conceives of himself as possessing good things, he will not possess them."

Receive the gifts with me today, and make the world a better place, one receiving and one thank you at a time.

Again, a reaction. A reaction of taking, taking, taking in a defensive posture because we interpret everything else and everyone else around us as taking, so we kick in and figure we better get our "fair share".

This feeling of separation and lack percolates up in the feeling of working with a zero-sum game, that in order for someone to get, something must be taken for someone else. If they get, I might not.

The nature of Spirit and the nature of Nature is that of growth and re-birth. As I look out the window I see what appear to be bare, dead trees, I have to quickly remind myself of the cycles of growth and giving that these majestic creatures go through on a continual basis. The shade that they gave in the summer. The leaves that they gave in the fall, leaves that now provide food for the dormant grasses that will sprout again in the spring along with the flowers of the field. Leaves that provide shelter for the birds and squirrel that stick out the winter.

Our true nature is to give, to be part of the flow of life and to prosper from the experience. When I let my true nature be in the foreground, and not something that makes an occasional appearance, I too can prosper and grow.

The journal asked, among other things (your really need to get the book, to follow along) to notice the feelings associated with giving. Giving is truly what it is all about. For now that giving is self prompted giving. As I go forward, I am seeking guidance on dealing with the take, take, take mantra of others. To recognize the divinity behind all and to know that giving is the answer, not taking. Those trying to take are trying their best. (not trying their best to take, but trying their best to do what they know, until they are ready to answer the door and let their true nature show) Mine is to do, to experience, to give.

"We need spiritual experience. We shall never know peace until we embody it, we shall never know Truth until we become Truth, and we cannot know God unless we sense Him within our own being. The Spirit is ever giving, but we must take. What life does for us must be done through us." Science of Mind pg 445-6

Came across a little online calculator that told me the number of days that I have been alive. It told me that today is day number Fourteen Thousand Five Hundred and Three (14,503). Wow. Then I read todays Journal Subject about All of my values coming from inside, not what is visible on the outside.

You see, I use the term I am a.... quite a bit. The next string of words that follows the "I am a..." have such an impact on myself and those around me. To realize that many of the tags I either claimed by default or claimed by feeling of lack, yet I never the less claimed them was sort of an awakening.

Some tags do not serve me, the core of me. Others serve others more than me, yet they still sorta serve me, so I have kept them around.

NO MORE.

Today is my Spiritual Birthday. Day ONE (1). I am Spiritual. That is the tag that truly matters.

All others need to flow from this core recognition. If they don't, they are gone.

1 Peter 2:5 (New American Standard Bible)
you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God...

I claim this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to express who and what I really am, A SPIRITUAL BEING...and I am claim it, and claim it and claim it.

"You are a unique creation of a Perfect Intelligence and your life is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to express who you are!" - Chris Michaels - Your Soul's Assignment

Part of Activating my Spirituality in 2008 involves participating in the Nutrisystem Program I started Nutrisystem on November 27th, 2007, just after Thanksgiving. The results have been nothing short of spectacular if I don't mind saying so myself.

Here are a couple of charts that I have been using to track my progress.




Robert Earl

I have gotten to the point where I don't go anywhere anymore without first mapping out the directions on Mapquest. That got me to thinking. Am I ever taking the road less traveled, the road led by Spirit?

I love the phrase in the Book Spirit is Calling that we should trust there is a "Higher Way" that you may not be able to see right now.

I am going to put the phrase "Higher Way" next to my phone and remember each time that it rings that we are all part of the one Mind of God, brought together by the GPS system of Right Action. Am I open to it, can I embrace the possibilities. I accept the challenge for the day and for the time going forward.

In mental work, we must realize that there is One Infinite Mind, which is consciously directing our destiny. Declare every day that: "No mistakes have been made, none are being made, and none can be made." Declare "There is One Supreme Intelligence which governs, guides and guards, tells me what to do, when to act and how to act." ..."Everything necessary to the full and complete expression of the most boundless experience of joy is mine now." Science of Mind pg 290-2

I remember being brought up in a church environment where we were told in Sunday School that God was keeping track of all of our thoughts, words and actions at some time in the future, so we better watch what we thought, said or did. Talk about alot of pressure. (That is why I love the picture) I remember that every time that this was brought up, I was so worried. He, what about this forgiveness thing you were all excited about last week? What happened to that?

It is true that our word do have an impact. I understand that and understand that many time I do stand in judgement for the words that I speak. Not at some far off pearly gate, but in the following seconds, minutes, hours, days, months and years.

The journal asked us to write something you said today that made you feel proud. For me it was something that I said multiple times to myself and to my wife. It was "You can do it!".

I recommit to uplift and inspire others, especially those closest to me, with my words.

Some of the ways that I feel that I can do this is to stop reacting and allowing a moment for reflection and consciousness before speaking.

Another is to slow down the overall pace of my life.
Go, Go, Go is a No, No, No!!!

I want my words to be the creative force that I know that they can and will be.

"The starting point of all creation is the Word of Spirit. The word is the Concept, Idea, Image, or Thought of God. It is the Self-Knowing Mind, speaking Itself into manifestation. The Word back of everything is its Initial Cause." Science of Mind pg 69-1

Science of Mind pg 280-3 - Lowell said, "The gift without the giver is bare," and it is just as true that there can be no gift without a receiver. It is said, "To as many as received him, to them gave he the power." (Photo is James Russell Lowell - 1819 - 1891, an American poet and abolitionist from Massachusetts - Quote taken from the poem entitled - The Vision of Sir Launfal)

Retraining my view and seeing the true gift that others bring to each and every situation is, in and of itself a gift. Taking the time to reflect on the many gift that I have been granted is a true treat. This study and daily time is causing me to dig deeper, or look higher, each would be accurate, in my own spirituality.

Spirituality is not just something for the weak or for the pius. It is something that I myself can take the time to embrace and discover the truth of myself and that of all that I encounter.

This activation of spirituality in my life can be likened to a river. It allows the spring within me to flow out into the rest of the land, the rest of my soul.

In the area that I lived when growing up, the entire area was sustained because of an irrigation system that was built to divert one single river into a complex system of channels and canals, each feeding numerous fields, orchards and vineyards that all bear the sweetest of fruits. Areas that are not served by the irrigation system are brown and barren. Where, for years, something had not even had the possibility for growing, this introduction of the irrigation, makes life & abundance possible. This barren land of my soul is feeling the quenching, life sustaining essence of Spirit, feeding the seeds of prosperity and joy and happiness that I have planted and am tending to.
(Picture showing the brown areas, not served by the irrigation system)

What a gift. To see that in myself and sense it in others.

See them as God does, as God Incarnate. Now, if that is not something to ponder, I don't know what is.

See All, not just some, now that is a beautiful thought. To understand that others, like myself, are doing the best that they can in the state that they find themselves in, whether consciously or by default.

To understand and accept. To give and receive this gift of spirit.

To greet and to bless. To allow. To attain this place, this state. Truly a path worth Activating.

So to you and all that follow: Namaste!

Ernest Holmes - Science of Mind 330-2
It is also "That Whose Center is everywhere and Whose Circumference is nowhere." (In my research I found this quote to be attributed to Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902) - you may read more about him at: wikipedia - "Jiva is Shiva " (each individual is divinity itself))

All of It is present as any and every point within Itself. It is not approaching a point nor receding from it, but is always at the point. The whole of God is present at any and every point within God. It was to this Indwelling Spirit that Jesus prayed, for God is within man as well as throughout all creation.

On a note about the Science of Mind Textbook. This is twice within 1-2 weeks that I have researched a section of text in the textbook that has contained a quotation and found that that quotation came from a source of Greek Philosophy or a Hindu Swami. WOW, what a powerful collection and a powerful book.

I am Present, and I am being the truest form of God-Like when I am Present because:

I am there and therefore everywhere - versus the daily living of trying to be everywhere and ending up and being NOWHERE.

So I will sit for a bit, being present with myself, being God-Like and listening to Spirit speak directly to me.
Not pulling me this way or that way, just speaking and I will recognize that being present is A PRESENT.

My time today - I realized that the reaction to others as not being one is just that, a reaction. It is something akin to cheap accessories that are added on to a nice Cadillac, You know, the cheap chrome or the old curb feelers we used to see in the 70's. Sure they were there for protection, but, truly, they didn't belong. The original, standard equipment was that of peace, love, harmony, understanding and Oneness.

I recently got a new windshield for my car. Boy, I couldn't believe how much better I could see the road and the scenery when I got the new one. When the collective years of road grime and dead bugs were removed from my sight, the world sure did look a whole lot better.

I am treating for the consciousness of We are One and that this oneness becomes the immediate, standard reaction, just like when I rolled off the assembly line, before I collected years of road grime and cheap accessories.

If you have flash installed on your machine, enjoy this presentation that I found:

http://www.consciousone.com/wisdomflash/WFProduct/wisdomflashes/allisone.swf

Ernest Holmes refers to this quote/passage in Science of Mind 273-4 - A great reflection for me on being Alone with Spirit. "God is forever doing new things, and when we conceive new ideas, it is an act of the Divine projecting Itself into Creation. There we no flying machines until man made them. The Spirit did not have a lot of little flying machine models put away in a cosmic cupboard somewhere. But the mind that conceived the possibility of the flying machine is God. The mind we use is the Mind of the Universe. This is God in man and it is only through this Mind that we understand anything. This Mind in us, responding to us, "the flight of the Alone to the Alone," of the One to Itself," is God speaking and God answering."

When I looked this up and was doing some research on this subject I came across the following that relates to man and flight and the inspiration of Spirit. I hope you find it as interesting as I did:

Wilbur and Orville Wright had more than one career.

Their first, as writers, editors, publishers and printers has been overshadowed by their work with bicycles and their invention of man-carrying, self-propelled, heavier-than-air, controlled aircraft.

Three years before Wilbur and Orville opened their first bicycle shop and six years before their first active interest in flying, they had written, edited, published, and printed 52 editions of a four-page weekly newspaper, 78 editions of a four-page five-column daily, and had filled hundreds of orders for job printing.

Inspired by their father, Milton, who was a religious writer, editor and publisher as well as a minister and bishop of The Church of the United Brethren in Christ, they learned the challenges of writing and the fascinations of printing while in their teens.

Milton Wright and his wife, Susan, moved their young family to Dayton, Ohio in June, 1869 after he was elected editor of The Religious Telescope, the weekly publication of The Church of The United Brethren in Christ.

Since The Religious Telescope was printed by the United Brethren Printing Establishment at Fourth and Main Streets in Dayton, Milton had an office in that building and the children often visited there. The printing process fascinated Wilbur and Orville; they enjoyed free access to the work rooms.

I am sure that this environment left them much time to play and dream and be alone with spirit, with out the modern day distractions of technology and some of the effects of the items that they, themselves invented.

What a word and what a picture, Todays quote spoke of "...becoming strangely loyal to performing daily trivia until ultimately become enslaved by it."

I am also reminded of the quote by Emerson - "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds"

Daily Devotion, allowing focused thoughts to occur. Thoughts and Time devoted to not so much Activating Spirituality, but allowing it. (A true Enigma if you ask me, but a required balance between Activating and Allowing).

Ernest Holmes wrote (I added the parts in the ( ) "Because thought is made of the stuff that forms the universe into definite creation the Law is charged with the power that we give It. (to liberate us or Enslave us) No more and no less. It responds by correspondence. It is a mirror and a perfect one. It molds our ideas and beliefs into visible form and cast them back multiplied. It does not know that It is doing this, (as many times I do not stop to reflect on what I am reflecting) but It knows how to do it. This is one of the great enigmas of the universe." Science of Mind 396-1

Today I choose to devote myself to the rhythm of life and freedom and to be truly unshackled.

To Me Sacred Space has as much to do with Time as it does with a particular location or surroundings. Taking the time to focus, to be. Not having a deadline or something hanging over my head. This allows my voice to be the loudest voice in the room, and my voice becomes that of the spirit when I take the time to get out of the way.

Check out this site that I found (If you have the time) - cute presentation on the subject of TIME and taking TIME:

http://www.slowdownnow.org/

Spirituality Means "Waking Up" by Anthony De Mello
by Anthony De Mello

Spirituality means waking up. Most people, even though they don't know it, are asleep. They're born asleep, they live asleep, they marry in their sleep, they breed children in their sleep, they die in their sleep without ever waking up. They never understand the loveliness and the beauty of this thing that we call human existence. You know, all mystics -Catholic, Christian, non-Christian, no matter what their theology, no matter what their religion - are unanimous on one thing: that all is well, all is well. Though everything is a mess, all is well. Strange paradox, to be sure. But, tragically, most people never get to see that all is well because they are asleep. They are having a nightmare.

Last year on Spanish television I heard a story about this gentleman who knocks on his son's door. "Jaime," he says, "wake up!" Jaime answers, "I don't want to get up, Papa." The father shouts, "Get up, you have to go to school." Jaime says, "I don't want to go to school." "Why not?" asks the father. "Three reasons," says Jaime. "First, because it's so dull; second, the kids tease me; and third, I hate school."

And the father says, "Well, I am going to give you three reasons why you must go to school. First, because it is your duty; second, because you are forty-five years old, and third, because you are the headmaster." Wake up, wake up! You've grown up. You're too big to be asleep. Wake up! Stop playing with your toys.

Most people tell you they want to get out of kindergarten, but don't believe them. Don't believe them! All they want you to do is to mend their broken toys. "Give me back my wife. Give me back my job. Give me back my money. Give me back my reputation, my success." This is what they want; they want their toys replaced. That's all. Even the best psychologist will tell you that, that people don't really want to be cured. What they want is relief; a cure is painful.

Waking up is unpleasant, you know. You are nice and comfortable in bed. It's irritating to be woken up. That's the reason the wise guru will not attempt to wake people up. I hope I'm going to be wise here and make no attempt whatsoever to wake you up if you are asleep. It is really none of my business, even though I say to you at times, "Wake up!" My business is to do my thing, to dance my dance. If you profit from it, fine; if you don't, too bad! As the Arabs say, "The nature of rain is the same, but it makes thorns grow in the marshes and flowers in the gardens."

http://cultivategreatness.com/2007/08/01/spirituality-means-waking-up#more-586