You Are My Sunshine

This is a true story. Like any good mother, when Karen found out that another baby was on the way, she did what she could to help her 3-year-old son, Michael, prepare for a new sibling. They found out that the new baby was going be a girl, and day after day, night after night, Michael sang to his sister in Mommy's tummy. He was building a bond of love with his little sister before he even met her. The pregnancy progressed normally for Karen, an active member of the Panther Creek United Methodist Church in Morristown, Tennessee. In time, the labor pains came. Soon it was every five minutes, every three, every minute. But serious complications arose during delivery and Karen found herself in hours of labor. Would a C-section be required?

Finally, after a long struggle, Michael's little sister was born. But she was in very serious condition. With a siren howling in the night, the ambulance rushed the infant to the neonatal intensive care unit at St. Mary's Hospital, Knoxville, Tennessee. The days inched by. The little girl got worse. The pediatrician had to tell the parents there is very little hope. Be prepared for the worst. Karen and her husband contacted a local cemetery about a burial plot. They had fixed up a special room in their house for their new baby but now they found themselves having to plan for a funeral. Michael, however, kept begging his parents to let him see his sister. Iwant to sing to her, he kept saying.

Week two in intensive care looked as if a funeral would come before the week was over. Michael kept nagging about singing to his sister, but kids are never allowed in Intensive Care. Karen decided to take Michael whether they liked it or not. If he didn't see his sister right then, he may never see her alive. She dressed him in an oversized scrub suit and marched him into ICU. The head nurse recognized him as a child and bellowed, 'Get that kid out of here now. No children are allowed.' The mother rose up strong in Karen, and the usually mild-mannered lady glared steel-eyed right into the head nurse's face, her lips a firm line. 'He is not leaving until he sings to his sister' she stated. Then Karen towed Michael to his sister's bedside. He gazed at the tiny infant losing the battle to live. After a moment, he began to sing. In the pure-hearted voice of a 3-year-old, Michael sang: 'You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are gray.' Instantly the baby seemed to respond. The pulse rate began to calm down and become steady. 'Keep on singing, Michael,' encouraged Karen with tears in her eyes. 'You never know, dear, how much I love you, please don't take my sunshine away.' As Michael sang to his sister, the baby's ragged, strained breathing became as smooth as a kitten's purr 'Keep on singing, sweetheart.' 'The other night, dear, as I lay sleeping, I dreamed I held you in my arms'.
Michael's little sister began to relax and rest, healing seemed to sweep over her, 'Keep on singing, Michael.' Tears had now conquered the face of the bossy head nurse. Karen glowed. 'You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. Please don't take my sunshine away...'

The next day, the very next day, the little girl was well enough to go home. Woman's Day Magazine called it The Miracle of a Brother's Song. The medical staff just called it a miracle.

Karen called it a miracle of God's love.

I say NEVER GIVE UP ON THE PEOPLE YOU LOVE. LOVE IS SO INCREDIBLY POWERFUL. Life is good.

Pura Vida!

Make Your Burden Light

If we make every day a day of praise and thanksgiving, a day in which we recognize the Divine Bounty and the Eternal Goodness, and if we live today as though God were the only Presence and the only Power there is, we would not have to worry about tomorrow.

For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.--Matthew 11:30

We are all human, and we have all made mistakes. The starting point for creating a better future for ourselves is to deliberately free our minds from the mistakes of yesterday and feel that they need no longer be held against us; they need no longer be a liability.

Too often our minds are so burdened because of the mistakes we have made that we do not take time to forgive ourselves and others and to start over again.

We cannot go back over the past and relive it. We cannot make adjustments in the past. We have to make them in the present.

What is your Desire?

An eye witness account from New York City, on a cold day in December, some years ago:

A little boy, about 10-years-old, was standing before a shoe store on the roadway, barefooted, peering through the window, and shivering with cold. A lady approached the young boy and said, 'My, but you're in such deep thought staring in that window!' 'I was asking God to give me a pair of shoes' was the boy's reply. The lady took him by the hand, went into the store, and asked the clerk to get half of a dozen pairs of socks for the boy. She then asked if he could give her a basin of water and a towel. He quickly brought them to her. She took the little fellow to the back part of the store and, removing her gloves, knelt down, washed his little feet, and dried them with the towel. By this time, the clerk had returned with the socks. Placing a pair upon the boy's feet, she purchased him a pair of shoes. She tied up the remaining pairs of socks and gave them to him. She patted him on the head and said, 'No doubt, you will be more comfortable now'

As she turned to go, the astonished kid caught her by the hand, and looking up into her face, with tears in his eyes, asked her,

'Are you God's wife?'



Affirmation: Today and every day it is my desire that what Life has given to me so abundantly shall be shared with others. I desire to share this realization of the indwelling Presence with everyone. In this consciousness I say, Bless you, my friend. I desire for you health, happiness, and success. I desire for you love, peace, and joy.

Relax

A four-year-old child, whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman, who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his mother asked him later what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy just said, 'Nothing, I just helped him cry.'

Today I relax in the Peace of God. We often wonder if peace really exists anywhere. In a world distraught with so much confusion, chaos and sense of loss, we deeply need an inner, abiding sense of calm and tranquility. Peace of mind really is what the world is searching after because without it we have only a sense of insecurity and loneliness. Without peace, deep and abiding, there can be no happiness or contentment, no sense of security, no confidence. And yet Jesus said, “My peace I give unto you.”

When we truly embrace the Presence of God in our lives we are not met with confusion or doubt or loss, we stand before an unruffled body of water reflecting the Divine images of peace and perfection.

Affirmation: Today I enter into the Peace of God. My mind is stilled from all confusion, and I feel a deep and abiding inward poise. I keep my mind stayed on this Divine inner Presence, and let every thought of discord slip away. I am one with God forevermore, there is no separation, there is no apartness. Here and now, within me, there is a voice that says: Peace. Be still and know that I am God!

The Life Within Me

Whatever is true of God is true of our life, since our life and the Life of God are not two, but One. There have been many enlightened, including Jesus, who have proclaimed this unity of good, this oneness of human beings with God. For this reason many have spoke of this Life within us as both personal and impersonal; impersonal from the standpoint that It is universal; personal from the standpoint that this Universal Life Principle is personified in us as it was also manifested in the life of Jesus. I'm probably making some of you uncomfortable with that statement, but hear me out! This Life within us, being God, did not begin and It cannot end; hence, we are immortal and eternal. When the Life of God leaves our life in this human body, what is left? A pile of decaying skin, bone and body tissue that has no life of it's own. We can never be less, but must forever be more ourselves as this Life within us unfolds through our experience, through our gathering of knowledge and our accumulating of wisdom. Evolution is the drawing out of the God-Principle already latent within us. It is this God-Principle within us to which Jesus referred when he said, “Before Abraham was, I am.”

Affirmation: I believe that the Spirit within me, which is God, makes perfect and peaceful the way before me. In this faith and knowledge I discover a great peace of mind, a deep sense of belonging, a complete realization that God is right where I am. I put my whole trust in God and feel an intimate relationship with the Presence and Power that controls everything.

Joy

Joy is the realization of the truth of one-ness, the oneness of our soul with the supreme love.—Rabindranath Tagore

Joy has come to live with me. How can I be sad? I do so love Thy presence, which is joy within me.—Ernest Holmes

Be like the bird
That, pausing in her flight
Awhile on boughs too slight,
Feels them give way
Beneath her and yet sings,
Knowing that she hath wings.—Victor Hugo



The picture above is actually a flower called a parrot flower. The beauty of this creation in nature should give us a tiny glimpse into the Mind of God and the beauty that is made manifest in our lives as in all of nature by God's Spirit. I realize that I am formed in the spiritual image and likeness of God and that it is the desire of god to be manifested and expressed through me always. I know, too, that my spiritual body is now perfect, capable of perfect expression at all times—perfect expression of love, peace, poise, confidence, assurance, and power.

Now that I realize my true nature, every negative thought has left me. I have no fear, no dread, no feeling of inferiority, no feeling of tension. Every cell, tissue, organ, and function in my body is in complete harmony. Only good can be manifested through me.

Affirmation: I love everyone and know that everyone loves me and is interested in me and in my work I am doing. I go about my work today with ease and relaxation. I work quietly, without strain. My nerves are strong, quick, steady, with abundant reserve power for any emergency. All the Power of God is surging about me and through me in perfect peace and harmony. Perfect assurance is mine. I believe that I am one with God and I ask that in my life this day that only Good and Perfect things be made manifest: love, joy, peace, harmony, happiness, good health, wealth and prosperity, creativity, wisdom, understanding, money as I need it, generosity, kindness, passion. I receive these Good and Perfect things into my life with gratitude.

Never Give Up

Several centuries ago, the Pope decreed that all the Jews had to convert to Catholicism or leave Italy. There was a huge outcry from the Jewish community, so the Pope offered a deal. He'd have a religious debate with the leader of the Jewish community. If the Jews won, they could stay in Italy; if the Pope won, they'd have to convert or leave.
The Jewish people met and picked an aged and wise rabbi to represent them in the debate. However, as the rabbi spoke no Italian, and the Pope spoke no Yiddish, they agreed that it would be a 'silent' debate.
On the chosen day the Pope and rabbi sat opposite each other. The Pope raised his hand and showed three fingers. The rabbi looked back and raised one finger. Next the Pope waved his finger around his head. The rabbi pointed to the ground where he sat. The Pope brought out a communion wafer and a chalice of wine. The rabbi pulled out an apple. With that, the Pope stood up and declared himself beaten and said that the rabbi was too clever. The Jews could stay in Italy.
Later the cardinals met with the Pope and asked him what had happened. The Pope said, 'First, I held up three fingers to represent the Trinity. He responded by holding up a single finger to remind me there is still only one God common to both our beliefs. 'Then, I waved my finger around my head to show him that God was all around us. He responded by pointing to the ground to show that God was also right here with us. "I pulled out the wine and water to show that God absolves us of all our sins. He pulled out an apple to remind me of the original sin. He bested me at every move and I could not continue."
Meanwhile, the Jewish community gathered to ask the rabbi how he'd won. "I haven't a clue," the rabbi said. "First, he told me that we had three days to get out of Italy, so I gave him the finger. Then he tells me that the whole country would be cleared of Jews, and I told him that we were staying right here."
"And then what?" asked a woman.
"Who knows?" said the rabbi. "He took out his lunch so I took out mine."

Affirmation: Today I am realizing that all my thoughts are formulated in the Divine Mind; all of my actions are sustained by the Infinite Energy of God; all the Power there is and all the Presence there is is right where I am. I embrace this Presence, this Power and Energy as One. I sense its feeling and imagination in my own thinking. I see it operating through all my actions. I believe it animates all the events of my day. I surrender this day myself completely to that One Power, that One All-knowing Mind, that One Presence, which is God who is beauty,love, peace and joy.

Made Whole

When we let the love that is within us go out to the God who is in all people and the Divine Presence that is in all things, then we are loving God with all our hearts and with all our soul and mind, because we are recognizing that the Spirit of God within us is the same Spirit of God that we meet in others. This is loving our neighbors as ourselves. Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, and with all of your soul, and with all of your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” (Mark 12: 30-31)

Affirmation: The love that is within me goes out to the god who is within all people. I recognize this day the Divine Presence in everything and everywhere. I know that this Presence responds to me and I know that there is a Law of Good, a Law of Love, a Law of Attraction, forever giving of Itself to me. This Divine and Perfect Law is circulating through me now. Its rhythm is in my heartbeat; Its perfection is manifest in every organ, action, and function of my physical body. This Love and Perfect Life circulates through everything. This same Love, this same Presence, this same Law of Good, I recognize in others. It is a Divine Presence, a Holy Presence, and a Perfect Presence. This is the Law of my life and yours. It is this Law that heals and makes whole, that prospers and makes happy. There is no condemnation, no judgments, and no fear in me and I am no longer anxious about anything.

Fear and Doubt

I surrender all fear and doubt because I know that it does not exist in the Life and Mind of God, therefore it does not exist in my life.

We should always keep in mind that we are beneficiaries of Life. We do not put the chicken in the egg, nor the oak tree in the acorn. Rather, we take them out. We did not create the Divine Presence nor the Law of Good; we commune with Presence and use this Law. Therefore, Jesus said, “it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” It is our business to receive it. And in doing this we follow the same method that any scientist would, for the scientist knows that he did not create the laws that he uses or the principles that he employs.

Affirmation: Today I accept this kingdom, and I accept it in its fullness. Because of it, the day contains joy and happiness and is filled with peace. Running through it all is the silent power of spiritual Wisdom and Love, harmoniously and happily governing my thoughts, decisions, and acceptances so that everything I do is done with ease. I lay all weariness aside and accept the life-giving, invigorating, dynamic activity of the Spirit of God, knowing that it vitalizes every organ of my body; it flows with power and strengh and purpose through everything I do. Today is the day that God has made, and I am glad in it.

Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. (Luke 12:32)

Love: The Greatest Emotion

Love: The Greatest Emotion. There is no greater power in the Universe than the power of love, either expressed by God in creation or by you in your life. If you could wrap every thought in love, if you could love everything and everyone, your life would be transformed. In fact, some of the greatest thinkers of the past referred to the law of attraction as the law of love. And if you think about it, you will understand why. If you think unkind thoughts about someone else, you will experience those unkind thoughts manifested. You cannot harm another with your thoughts, you only harm You. If you think thoughts of love, guess who receives the benefits—you! So if your predominant state is love, the law of attraction or the law of love responds with the mightiest force in the universe, because you are focused on the Life of God which is love in it’s purist form.

Affirmation: It is a Good and Perfect day. Any illusion of self, ego, fear, lack, doubt or uncertainty is removed from my thoughts this moment. There is One Mind, One Spirit, and the Life of God is all that exist. I embrace the Life of God living thru me and in all creation. I see the beauty of God's Spirit in everyone and in everything. In this moment, this day, only Good and Perfect things are coming into my reality: love, joy, peace, happiness, good health, wealth, prosperity, money as I need it, wisdom, knowledge, understanding, creativity, compassion, laughter, generosity, kindness and harmony. I focus on these Good and Perfect things that are being made manifest in my life this day and I give thanks! This is the best day of my Life!

Faith is Attitude

Faith is most certainly a mental attitude. Now you may disagree. A person approached Jesus and from the inspiration of the moment, exclaimed, “I believe!” This was a simple, sincere, and enthusiastic response to the consciousness of one who had faith. But no sooner had he exclaimed, “I believe!” out of the enthusiasm of his will to believe, than old thought patterns arose to block his faith and he said, “Help thou mine unbelief.”

Faith is more than an objective statement. Perfect faith cannot exist while there are subjective contradictions that deny the affirmation of your words and thoughts. It is only when the intellect is no longer obstructed by negative emotional reactions arising out of the experiences of doubt and fear that the word of the mouth can immediately bear fruit. As long as we cling to the identity of self and to the idea of fear, which both are actually illusions in our mind and in our true existence in the Life of God; we will never have Perfect faith. Be childlike in your faith.

Affirmation: I believe with a deep, inward calm that my word of faith is the execution of spiritual Law in my life. I have absolute reliance upon the Law of Good (God). I believe that the Law of Good (God) will bring everything desirable into my experience. Today I proclaim my Divine inheritance. I am blessed with the richness of God; I am strong with the power of God; I am guided by the wisdom of God. I am held in the goodness of God, today. As Jesus said to do, I ask that only Good and Perfect things be made manifest in my life this day; love, joy, peace, happiness, good health, wealth, prosperity, wisdom, understanding, compassion, generosity, money and perfect faith.

The Kingdom

Tyler took this picture at these falls near the Brazilian border. I can't remember the name of the falls but he said that the rainbow is permanent and displays all the time or at least when the sun is shinning. Cool picture!

Realizing that all action starts in, and is a result of, consciousness, prepare your mind to receive the best that life has to offer. Jesus said that the Kingdom of God is at hand. The riches, power, glory and might of this kingdom are yours today. As you become increasingly aware of the one Presence, the one Life, and the Spirit, which is God, this kingdom that Jesus spoke of is being revealed to you. If you will try to drop all sense of lack or limitation from your thought and understand that the Spirit of God works for you through your belief. All things are possible to this Spirit; therefore, everything is possible to you in such degree as you can believe in and accept the operation of this Spirit of God in your life. There is something within you that is completely aware of its oneness with power, of its unity with life. Loose all thoughts of discord and fear and permit the true pattern to come to the surface.

Affirmation: I allow the Divine Wholeness of God to flow through me in ever-widening circles of activity. Every good I have experienced is now increased. Every joy that has come into my life is now multiplied. There is a new inflow of inspiration into my thoughts. I see more clearly than ever before that my divine birthright is freedom, joy and eternal goodness. The Divine Presence of God interprets itself to me through love and friendship, through peace and harmony. Knowing that life gives according to my faith, I lift my mind, I elevate my faith, I listen deeply to the still small voice speaking from the center of my soul.

Law of Attraction

This is my son, Tyler, in Peru or maybe Bolivia, I'm not sure. He is obviously having a mountain-top experience as he was finishing up a solo backpacking trip through South America. This had been a goal of his for several years and I'm very proud of him and how he has learned to focus on the things that make his life fuller and not just ordinary. In my humble opinion, you can't have too many mountain-top experiences in life, so you should seek them out whenever possible.

Today I want to talk about Law of Attraction. I believe you are always either attracting or repelling according to your thoughts and mental attitudes. You are either identifying yourself with lack or with abundance, with love and friendship or with indifference. You attract love into your life by loving yourself and others. Jesus understood this law perfectly when he stated that the greatest commandment is to Love God with all your heart and Love your neighbor as yourself. If you want to experience love, joy, peace and happiness in your life, then you must focus your desire for love, joy, peace and happiness and these things will be made manifest in your life. If you want to attract money, focus on wealth. It is impossible to bring more money into your life when you focus or dwell on the lack of it. Give more of your money away in order to bring more of it into your life. When you are generous with money and feel good about sharing it, you are saying through your conscious mind, “I have plenty.” Your thoughts become things. Your current thoughts are creating your future life. What you think about the most or focus on the most will appear as your life.

"All that we are is a result of what we have thought."--Buddha (563 BCE-483-BCE)

This law of attraction and repulsion works automatically. It is like the law of reflection—the reflection corresponds to the image held before a mirror. Go back and read the blog from August 10, 2008, titled “Life is a Mirror.”

How careful, then, you should be to guard your thoughts and words, consciously refuting and denying the existence of self-doubt and fear that you may feel. Accept only the good that forms in your mind and consciously refute and repel every thought that denies or questions the reality of good.

Affirmation: Today I know that my word penetrates any unbelief in my mind, casts out fear, removes doubt, clears away obstacles, permitting that which is enduring, perfect, and true to be realized. I have complete faith and acceptance that all the statements I make will be carried out, as I have believed. I do everything with a sense of reliance upon the Law of Good (Law of God); therefore, I know that my word shall not return unto me void. I accept this word and rejoice in it. I expect complete and perfect results from it.

I Am Inspired

A little girl, dressed in her Sunday best, was running as fast as she could, trying not to be late for Bible class. As she ran she prayed, "Dear Lord, please don't let me be late! Dear Lord,please don't let me be late!"While she was running and praying, she tripped on a curb and fell, getting her clothes dirty and tearing her dress. She got up, brushed herself off, and started running again! As she ran she once again began to pray, "Dear Lord, please don't let me be late...But please don't shove me either!"

Jesus, in utmost simplicity, proclaimed, “I and the Father are one.” What do you suppose would happen if you believed his declaration, not as a mere intellectual concept, but with deep inward feeling and an expanding sense of its meaning? Would you not sell all that you possess for this single pearl of utmost worth and receive this mountaintop of revelation? If the wisest person who ever lived proclaimed this truth, should you not accept it, simply, directly, sincerely?

Perhaps what Jesus taught seems too good to be true, and yet, all Nature is a living example, a continuous reminder, that there is a Spirit animating everything, a Presence diffused, a Law governing, a Unity sustaining, a coordinating Will binding all of us together, a unifying Principle holding everything in place.

Affirmation: I cleanse the windows of my mind that it may become a mirror reflecting inspiration from the Most High. Today I walk in the pathway of inspiration. There is an inspiration within me that governs every act, every thought, with certainty, with conviction, and in peace. The key that unlocks the treasures of the Kingdom of Good is in my hand. I unlock the doorway of my consciousness and gently open it that the Divine Presence may flood my whole being with light, illumine my being with Its radiant glow, and direct my footsteps onto the pathway of peace and joy.

Spiritual Eyes

This picture was taken on Fathers day soon after my father died a few weeks shy of his 93rd birthay. It hit me harder than I expected and my children standing with me in the picture and my wife and brother and sisters rallied around me and helped me overcome the despression that I struggled with at the time. I now had lost both parents who I had identified my life with and suddenly that identity was gone. I now realize that the experience of losing a loved one was the catalyst that begin an awakening in me to a new identity. Jesus spoke some powerful words when he said, "I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother...Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me" (Matt. 10:34-37). Most people respond, say what! This is a very difficult concept to fathom, but I begin see these words in a different light. The things we identify with most in our life experience, our job, our profession, role as a spouse, father, son or daughter soon becomes our sole identity and as a result we grow to identify less and less with the true Life of God which is our only true life. Anything we begin to identify with other than the Life and Mind of God where we have our true existence is an illusion of self and what Freud, Jung and others have called ego. I believe this is what Jesus meant. When we correctly identify ourselves with the Life of God and the Spirit that creates us and sustains us first and foremost, then the love we have for our parents, siblings, our spouse and children will be greater than before. Henry Blackaby called it a Crisis of Belief, I like to call it a Crisis of Identity.

The time has come to open our inward vision and look out upon a newer and broader horizon. You are at that place in your growth when there is complete certainty before you. You shall continuously expand and experience more and more of that Life that is already perfect. There is no reason why this awakening will not come now, for you are not waiting on God—God is waiting on you. All nature awaits your recognition and the Divine Spirit of God must await your identifying and cooperation with it.

Realizing that you may, in your ignorance, have been using the power of your mind negatively, you are not going to condemn yourself or anyone else for this. If the light has come, the thing to do is to use it, forgetting the darkness. How can darkness have power over light? It cannot.

Affirmation: Today I realize that my good is at hand. In this breath I draw, I enter into a larger concept of life. I now see the rosy hue of a new dawn. The Spirit of God refreshes me. I am covered completely with the pure essence of God’s Life. My body is a vehicle for Its expression, my mind an instrument. My eyes are open to the depth, breadth and height of that Life that is God. Today I will endeavor to feel this Presence as a living reality in my life. I will see It everywhere. As I see by my Spiritual eyes, I ask that only Good and Perfect things be made manifest in my life this day and every day. Love, Joy, Peace, Happiness, Good Health, Wealth, Prosperity, Wisdom and Understanding and I receive these Good and Perfect things with a truly grateful heart.

Live In The Moment

It is not the particular negative experience we have gone through in the past that destroy our happiness, but rather our emotional reaction to those experiences carried in the reservoir of memory. Many people suffer complete defeat without having really been defeated; others succumb the first time anything goes wrong. It is one of the aims of psychosomatic medicine, analytical psychology, and psychiatry to drain out the negative and emotional reactions to previous experiences. There is just as real an infection of the mind as there is of any part of our physical body.

Almost invariably our negative reactions to life, our unhappiness, and perhaps most of our physical disorders are based on unhappy experiences that are buried, but buried alive, in our memory. But yesterday can have no reality to us other than as our reaction to it. It can have no real existence of its own in today other than as the lengthened shadows of yesterday. And so it is that as the impulsions of yesterday are carried over into today, making today happy or disconsolate, so the reactions of today are prophetic of what we will experience tomorrow.

Affirmation: Yesterday is gone, tomorrow has not arrived, and I live in an eternal present filled with an everlasting good. There is nothing unhappy or morbid in my consciousness. I have no fear of yesterday nor do I anticipate tomorrow with anything other than enthusiastic expectation. Everything good in my experience will create my future. I have no fear in looking backward or forward, but realize the eternal day in which I now live. Today is big with hope fulfilled, with love and life well lived. Tomorrow will provide its own blessings.

To Be Free

So you can stay cool behind
Your window
And choose the view
You want to see
But as long as there are
Others held captive
Do not consider
Yourself free. —Embrace (lyrics)

We all wish to be free, but at the same time we should realize that liberty is not license. To say that we are free with the freedom of God does not mean that we are free to do that which contradicts the Divine nature. We are free only in that freedom that God is—the freedom to be alive, to enjoy living, to enter into the activities of everyday living with enthusiasm and interest. We are free to love and to be loved. We are free to give full and complete expression to every capacity we possess, provided this freedom harms no one and hurts no thing. This is freedom enough because if we were free to do that which is destructive we should ultimately destroy ourselves. And, in so doing, we would not only deny but would defame the true nature of Divinity Itself.

Affirmation: I am free with the freedom of God. Today I manifest this freedom in joy. I think of it with deep gratitude to the Giver of all life and with a deep inward sense of my union with the Whole. In my own will and imagination I see myself free, complete, and perfect. I feel back to the center of my being, which is God, and affirm that God’s freedom is my freedom. And I include my own physical body in this freedom as well as every activity in which I am engaged. I invite new experiences, knowing that they shall be created for me by the same Power that makes everything exist. I enter into this freedom with complete abandonment, and the feeling that all things are working out to my good, and with the deep and sincere desire to live so that my freedom will be imparted to others, that we all may feel that we are in partnership with the Infinite.

Harmony & Diversity

We do not all have the same gifts because no two any things are ever alike. Nature never reproduces anything identically. There is much diversity in life and we are all engaged in different types and sorts of activities that express the unique individualization that each one of us is. But it is the same God, the same Spirit, the same Power and Energy working in and through all of us. This is one of the most terrific concepts we could entertain, that out of all the variations of life, the infinite variety of color and form and people—the rosebud, the elephant, the snow-capped mountain, the tiny mouse in the field—One Power is working, One Life is being expressed, One Energy is animating, One Presence flowing through, and One Law controlling. The One Mind is working in and through us now, not as big or little, or hard or easy, but merely as spontaneous self-expression. Back of our smallest act is the strength of the universe. Behind all our thoughts is Infinite Mind of God. Diffused through every human activity is the Divine Presence of God creating.

Affirmation: Today I am realizing that all my thoughts are formulated in the Divine Mind; all of my actions are sustained by the Infinite Energy of God; all the Power there is and all the Presence there is is right where I am. I embrace this Presence, this Power and Energy. I sense its feeling and imagination in my own thinking. I see it operating through all my actions. I surrender this day myself completely to that One Power, that One All-knowing Mind, that One Presence, which is beauty and love and peace and joy.

Living Without Fear

Fear robs our memory of happiness because it dwells upon the limitations and disappointments of the past. Fear casts it’s own shadow of the past into our future. How much better life would be if we could think as a child thinks, abandoning ourselves to the integrity of the miracle-working universe in which we live or just having a fun bubble bath with your favorite rubber duckie, with no care in the world. This is one of my favorite pictures of 1 year old Maeve beginning to really express her personality and spirit to her mother. But I digress. My point is,if the warmth of the sun can melt an iceberg, why should it not follow that there must be something in us or operating through us that can dissolve any difficulty, remove any obstruction, or renew any human relationship that has been impaired. We should consciously practice having faith just as we would practice to become a musician. Prayer and affirmation is a form of exercise building up our faith in Good. The process is simple enough since it finally resolves itself into very simple affirmations of conviction, but there must be persistency until finally old thought patterns melt and give way to new ones. In other words, change the way you think and you will change your life.

Fear, lack and limitation are all illusions born in the mind of man made manifest from our experiences. If we truly exist in the Mind and Life of God, as I believe we do, then no fear, thoughts of lack or limitation, anxiety, doubt or uncertainty exist in this Reality. Even death is an illusion as Jesus once demonstrated for the entire world to see.

Affirmation: Today I cultivate the practice and art of having faith. I affirm the reality of the Divine Presence of God in my life and deny everything that refutes it. As a child turns to its parents, so do I turn to that infinite Presence whose creative Power can do all things, and I accept the influx of all that makes for richer living. Because nothing is impossible to God, I believe that nothing is impossible to me through God’s Power in me. I am daring to believe in the greater good. I am forsaking all that has held me in bondage, and, uniting myself with faith, with expectation, and with the joy, I now live without fear.

Be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil with Good. —Romans 12:21

Greater Love

Love is more than a sentiment. It is a need, a hunger, a thirst that is perfectly natural. Anyone who thinks he can live and be happy without it does not know what he is talking about—psychologically, emotionally, or spiritually. Love is the beginning and end, the impulse in nature that will not be denied. Think beyond the individual to the only source of all life. I believe that the whole of creation is sustained by the giving nature of the Creative Spirit of God—to the delight of God’s own being. Love is the principle of that Life, for it is the nature of everything to give. Only the one who loves so much that there is no longer any room for hate will ever arrive at the place where, if there may be hate, he will never know it. Jesus knew of this place, few others have found it. We are afraid of greatness because we are so tied down to littleness. None of us is as perfect in expression as we ought to be. So the challenge to each of us is to be great enough to rise in love, in charity, through understanding and compassion, not allowing hate in any form to enter our thinking.

Affirmation: I respond lovingly to all persons. Recognizing that the spiritual life is my real life, I surround myself with love and with people who love. I believe this is the key to joyous living. As I live and have my being in the Life of God, I ask that only Good and Perfect things be made manifest in my life this day: Love, Joy, Peace, Happiness!

Love, Truth and Beauty

I believe it was Plato who said that God is love, truth, and beauty. It has always seemed wonderful to me that one of the world’s greatest thinkers should have included beauty as a necessary part of describing the Divine nature of God. How evident this beauty is everywhere we look! How wonderful is the landscape, the sunset, or the color of the desert at dawn. How beautiful is the daffodil or the iris (my favorite) in its delicate and simple design. And what majestic beauty and strength we find in the mountain and ocean wave. There is the beautiful sound of a simple melody played on an accordion by my mother when I was a child. Everything in our life is rooted in beauty. Beauty is harmony and right proportion. It is symmetry and charm and grace. Surely we should identify ourselves with this terrific beauty that pours its warmth and color over everything and seems to be at the very root of our being.

Affirmation: I see beauty in everything, every person, and know that God is the very essence of this beauty. I shall no longer think of myself as separate from this beauty or different from it. Therefore, today I will not judge by appearances or deeds but will see Divine Beauty in everything and in every person. In this beauty I am beautiful. In this infinite warmth and color I live and have my being. I am speaking into the Mind of God when I ask that only Good and Perfect things be made manifest in my life this day: Love, Joy, Happiness, Peace, Good Health, Wealth and Prosperity. I receive these Good and Perfect things with a grateful heart.

Life is a mirror

When Jesus stated that “If God be glorified in him(humanity), God shall also glorify him in Himself.” Perhaps this is one of the most profound thoughts Jesus ever gave to the world, for it really tells us that when humanity is glorified in God, then God is glorified in humanity. And it means exactly this: life is a mirror to each one of us, and as we see the glory of God in this mirror, so shall this mirror reflect back to us that same glory. Jesus is explaining that as the image in the mirror and its reflection become one even as the Father and the Son are one in glory and in power. No more exalted concept of Divine union could possibly be given than this.

Affirmation: I glorify myself in God and I glorify God in me. For I am in the Life of God and God is my life. And as God is glorified in me, so am I glorified in the nature of God. I do give thanks for this intimate and complete union of my soul with its Center and its Source. And may I always recognize in myself and in others the glory of beauty of the incarnated God. Realizing the One Life without and within, consciously uniting with It, I proclaim God’s presence in everything. Knowing that there is no great and no small, I proclaim God’s presence in the smallest as well as the greatest. All my affairs shall reflect the glory and the power and the majesty of the Infinite Spirit of God. In everything I do my reflection shall proclaim God’s love, God’s life, and God’s light in me. God is glorified in me today.

The Infinite Sustains Me

As a child turns to the parent for comfort, so every one of us is relying on God, whether or not we realize it. This concept is so universal that it has been present in every age, with all people, throughout human history. Jesus dared to place his hand serenely in the Hand of the Invisible. His works justified his words; his faith was manifest through his acts.
Nothing has happened to change the Reality of existence since this glorious figure walked the highways of human experience. With equal confidence you should believe in the protecting Presence of the ever-available Spirit of God. Today you are to hold your thoughts steadfast in the realization that God withholds nothing from you. Therefore, prepare yourself for a life of joy, love, happiness, and well-being.

Affirmation: I know that the Law of God surrounds me with love and friendship. I let it radiate in my environment, bless everything I touch, make whole that which is weak, turn fear into faith, and accomplish the miracle of healing through love. I welcome the opportunity to love fully, completely, and joyfully. I believe in myself because I believe in God. I accept life fully, completely, without reservation, holding to the conviction that good is the eternal Reality expressed through the Life of God, which is my life this day and every day. My life is complete today.

I am Rich

How beautiful was the thought of Jesus when he told us to “consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin; And yet I say unto you, that even King Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” Jesus was telling us to identify ourselves with the abundance of nature, that is, the nature of God, the constant outpouring of the Divine Life and Spirit of God in goodness, in riches, in everything that makes for happiness, wholeness and success in our lives. God cannot fail to do this for us because this is the true giving nature of God. The Divine will never fail us as long as we have implicit confidence in the Life and Mind of God to always sustain us and provide what we need, when we need it. But we are so deceived by the elusion of self, doubt, lack, fear and uncertainty, that it becomes necessary for us to take time every day to reaffirm our union, our oneness, with the great out-flowing of this gift of Life. This is the purpose of prayer and meditation. It is natural that we should wish for the more abundant life. It is right that we should accept it. God has already made the gift; it is up to us to receive it. Where the soil is most fertile, the lily of the field will grow, spread and multiply in abundance. Make your mind fertile and open to these simple seeds of truth and then prepare to receive blessings and be amazed.

Affirmation: Today I receive this gift, this goodness. Today everything that I am and have is increased by it. I identify everything I do with success. I think affirmatively and in all my prayers I accept abundance. Whatever I need, whenever I need it, wherever I need it, for as long as I need it, will always be at hand. I no longer see negation, lack or limitation, delay or stagnation in my affairs, but rather, claim that the action of the Living, Loving Spirit of God makes prosperous everything I do, increases every good I possess, and through me brings gladness and joy, happiness and success to everyone I meet this day and every day. I ask this day that only Good and Perfect things be made manifest in my life: Love, Joy, Happiness, Peace, Good Health, Wealth, Prosperity, Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, Friendship and Kindness.

Mind and Life of God

There is nothing that is real but the Reality of God. You are part of the Universal Mind of God, one with God. You live, move and have your being in pure Spirit. All the wealth, the power, and the goodness of Spirit exist at the center of your being. You will experience this good in such degree as you accept, believe in, and feel it. You have only to be still and listen, for it is always there. Since the only life you can have is the life of the Spirit of God within you, you need but permit that Life to flow freely through your thoughts into self-expression.

Affirmation: Knowing that the loving Presence of God is always closer to me than my very breath, I have nothing to fear. I feel this loving protection around me. I know that the song that I hear in my heart is a song of Joy, of Love, and of Peace that is forever being played so beautifully at the center of my being; therefore I tune out of my mind all unhappy and negative ideas. I refuse to hold to any thought of lack or limitation. I lay aside all anxiety, all striving, and let the wonderful law of the divine love of God operate through me and into all of my affairs. Joyfully I anticipate greater abundance, more success, and deeper peace than I have ever known. I feel such great gratitude in my heart for all the blessings I am now receiving.

I live fully today

The wisest man who ever lived said there is a truth that can set you free from fear, want, unhappiness, and death itself. He said that this truth is already within you. Suppose you accept this spiritual wisdom, since the one who gave it was able to prove his claims. Don't you think that this great and glorious person was telling you that the Kingdom of God is here today?
Now, this means that evil--no matter what face it wears, or what form it takes, or how many people believe it--is never a thing in itself. Jesus did not say that evil has no reality as an experience. He did say that you should not judge according to appearances. He said that you are to live as though the Kingdom of God was at hand and was already yours. Think about this, there is no other power greater than the power of God, creator of all things, there is nothing else that exist outside the life and mind of God. Would you find fear, thoughts of lack or limitation in the mind and life of God? I don't think so, therefore, we should never fear anything, evil or death, or have thoughts of lack, limitation or doubt of our existence or abundance in the life of God. No matter what the negations of yesterday may have been, your affirmation of today may rise triumphant over them. Cease weeping over the mistakes of yesterday and, steadfastly beholding the face of the great and divine Reality, walk in that Light wherein there is no darkness. Gandhi said, "I can see that in the midst of darkness light persists. Hence I gather that God is Life, Truth, Light. God is Love. God is the Supreme Good."
Affirmation: I know that every negative condition of the past is swept aside. I refuse to see it or to think about it. Yesterday is no longer here; tomorrow has not yet arrived. Today is God's day. God's day is my day. Today, bright with hope and filled with promise, is mine. I am alive, awake, and aware--today.
I ask this day that only good and perfect things be made manifest in my life: love, joy, peace, happiness, good health, wealth and prosperity. I receive these good and perfect things this moment, this day with a grateful heart.

Be Energized

You know that the Life and Mind of God cannot withhold itself from you. All that Life is and has is fully given to you to enjoy. The Life of God is perfect and eternal. It is the essence of everything that is. Life is God's gift to you. It is always ready to manifest Itself through you.

You are a self-choosing mind that is created and energized by the Life and Mind of God. The Spirit of god permeates everything that is. You are always in the midst of Life, a Life that lives eternally and lives through you now. Therefore, you need not be disturbed by the passage of time, the movement around you, nor the variations of your experience. There is something within you that remains unmovable, that always speaks directly to you, saying, Be still and know that I am God.

Affirmation: Consciously, I draw upon the Life of God that is mine. I know that the fullness of Life, which is Divine in it's origin and eternal in it's presence is forever mine. I fully embrace this presence. The Life of the eternal Spirit of God is my life. The infinite riches of God's creation and being is mine to enjoy. The vitality, the wisdom and the peace of God are mine. I accept them in fullness, in joy, and in peace. My thought is a gateway to illumination and creativity. Therefore, I revel in the fullness of life this very moment and this day. I accept life as a glorious experience, a spiritual adventure.