Blessings to you!  It has been far too long since I sent out of a message and am quite happy to be sharing one with you now. 

I have created a new container for my work which I am calling “Spiritual Perspectives”.  As always, my primary purpose is to stimulate pragmatic conversations which explore a practical, meaningful, and spiritual approach to the art of living in the world today.

I have learned in my lifetime that every situation, condition, and circumstance is open too much more than a single perspective or interpretation. Most perspectives, regardless of who’s it is, comes from the ego which embodies our personal views based on our human conditioning and the influence of other people’s ego’s – which almost always is a perspective based on fear and separation. It is the perspective you hear on the news, around water coolers and usually the family dinner table.

There is always a second option which is to view (and live) life from a spiritual perspective. A spiritual perspective does not necessarily mean a religious perspective. It simply is a perspective which acknowledges we live in a unified and connected universe, created by love for the purpose of loving AND that there are principles and laws which govern how things work around here.

This perspective will always be one of personal responsibility and empowerment. Science, religion, and philosophy are all traveling towards the same conclusion – which is that our world is weaved from the genesis of love and that physical reality is relative and comes to be as a function of consciousness, mind, or thought.  Consciousness precedes form and forms flow from consciousness.  This was said much more eloquently by the founder of New Thought, Phineas Quimby who said that; “Mind is matter in solution; matter is mind in form”.

Rev. Charles Barker, a well-known Unity Minister said in his wonderful book, the Power of Decision said, “We accept the testimony of our five senses as being the reality of life.  Yet every mystic and teacher, every religion and philosophy, have explained with care that the factual world should always be questioned. Because a thing is a fact does not mean it is a reality.”

We live in a universe that is intelligent. You and I are points of intelligence in that universe.  Once awakened from the mesmerism of our early years, we can participate in partnership with this love and intelligence intentionally to architect lives that we not only love, but which has meaning and purpose and ultimately fulfills the mandate of our soul.

This provides the background for our spiritual perspective this week on the importance of making decisions and exploring how to make good ones!

Life is a never-ending decision-making endeavor.   For the first decade or more, other people make most of the decisions for us. Then suddenly we are thrust into adulthood asked to decide about money, love, our career, cars, friends, and vacations. For some of us decisions come easy and for some of us decision making is torture.   This level of responsibility can be paralyzing. Some people simply refuse to make decisions and live out their whole lives letting other people continue to do it for them.

What I know is that the Creator of everything, created us in Its image and likeness therefore we are intelligence personified by Infinite Intelligence.  Because of that we have the authority, the autonomy the ability and absolute permission to have, do and be whatever it is we are inspired to have, do, and be - limited only by our imagination and ability to decide.

Life made you.  Unlike a lion, fish, rock, or flower, you are a conscious decision-maker. You have already been given permission to create, to choose, to act and decide.  Though as children we might have needed some adult supervision and help in deciding basic things, as adults we have autonomy over our affairs. Autonomy means self-government. Because we think, we already have the skills and the ability.  There is a question whether our normal state of consciousness is creative thought or simply the thoughts of humanity thinking through us.  Ernest Holmes once said that it is not particularly important that we teach children what to think, but how to think.

Rev. Barker says, “As a thinker, you determine your experience. There is nothing to oppose you but your own subconscious patters of inferiority and frustration. Make mental note of your alibis and excuses for your mistakes or wishy-washiness.  If you are honest, they will reveal to you the patterns in your subconscious mind which need to be negated by you on a conscious level.”

 The universe contains all the ingredients necessary to create an infinite number of forms – not unlike a well-stocked pantry.  The ‘kitchen’ of life is always accepting recipes provided by your consciousness.  You are the master chef of your own life. Our choices and decisions determine the conditions, situations, and content of our lives on a day to day, year to year, basis.

Any great gardener knows that if they want a great crop of carrots, they need to plant carrot seeds.  No gardener will plant tomato seeds expecting to get carrots. So, it is with our thoughts. You can’t plant seeds of poverty and expect abundance. Once you understand that you are the cook in your kitchen, the gardener in your garden and the artist sitting in front of the canvas of your life, I am hoping you will deduce that it is in your best interests to begin to think with intention and purpose. 

None of us is immune to the questioning of our choices and decisions.  What if it is the wrong one?  What if people think you are crazy?  Or even worse stupid?  It is not possible to move through this lifetime without decisions being made and it is far better for you, if you make your own.

First, check in with your physical body.  A good decision should feel good in your belly.  Sometimes fear and excitement can feel similar so an impactful decision might create some flutters, but overall, you should not be feeling dread!

How I manage my own big and small decisions is with what Rev. Dr. Michael Beckwith called a ‘full-body-YES”.  A full-body-yes means that your mind, your heart, and your body all agree that you want what you are choosing, and that the fulfillment of the choice will bring to you life-affirming results such as happiness or peace. The opposite is a full-body-no which is where dread can sneak in as well as sleepless nights and confusion.  Pay attention and put on the brakes.  In my world, a “full-body-maybe” is equal to a full-body-no so the brakes still go on.

Once you begin to identify yourself as a loving and intelligent Spirit, your values and priorities will begin to change.  Often these values and priorities are much different than when the ego was in charge.  The ego is all about winning and whining, being right, being better than everyone else, afraid, confused, arrogant, and aggressive.  None of these reflect the inclusive and compassionate countenance of the Spirit which is the Truth about who you really are.  There may be a period where you will have to be diligent about discerning where your choices are coming from. Will the fulfillment of the choice you are making be life-affirming for you and everyone around you, or life-denying? Will they be Love-affirming or Love-denying?

Finally, don’t be afraid to go for it because you can change your mind any time you want to.  You really can.  We are all grown-ups so have no obligation to please our parents, society or our children.  It is not easy to rise above the mediocrity of the masses.  I have long loved the quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson from his amazing writing, “Self-Reliance”.  He writes, “Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members. Society is a joint-stock company, in which the members agree, for the better securing of his bread to each shareholder, to surrender the liberty and culture of the eater. The virtue is conformity. Self-reliance is its aversion. It loves not realities and creators, but names and customs.”

Go forth and plant those seeds! Be decisive, bold, and confident. You really can’t get life wrong.  Just as the gardener can desire a carrot and not get it right for the 10 times she planted tomato seeds, the moment the carrot seed is planted, the desired result will be achieved, and the past will be understood and put to rest.

I close with a final quote from The Power of Decision by Rev. Barker; “God can only do for you what you do for yourself.  You may be one of the people who thinks she cannot help being what she is.  Wake up right now to a great fact of life.  You and you alone are responsible for your life.”

This concludes our Spiritual Perspective for today.

Join me this coming Sunday on Facebook Live and You Tube for our next episode of Spiritual Perspectives - Dealing With Conflict

Love, love and more love,

Rev. Denise