The light cannot be borrowed from another. Each has been furnished with a divine torch whose wick burns from the oil of the eternal and ever renewing substance of faith in oneself and in others.
Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

There is a fire inside of us. It is a flame of creativity and infinite possibility seeking to ignite. Once it ignites, you are set free in a way impossible to imagine in our moderate life of living and dying. Most of us exist under a blanket of fear—the kind of fear that tells us we are not good enough or that we better watch out or “all Hell will break loose.”

If we willingly keep our eye single upon God, continuing in our pursuit to “know thyself,” we step into a life that is uniquely ours. No one else is here to do our life the way we came here in physical form to do it. Only we can do it the way our destiny has proclaimed. It is our natural state of being—so easy, so effortless, so perfect in every way. Once we accept and love ourselves, our heart softens and we can see differently. We accept ourselves, and we accept others as well. We are no longer fighting against being big or being small; the shoe fits so we wear it.

The flame is pure passion. It is pure joy. It is pure love. It is acceptance and allowing. It is glorious and filled with grace. The flame is the unspoken within us that is no longer afraid to speak and to love. It is the creator of miracles. It is the real you, unencumbered by the fear of living and loving and even dying. It is compassion and beauty of all kinds, wisdom and truth, and joy unbounded.

That is the nature of the flame within you. It has been there since the beginning of time. It is seeking all that you have desired and it is ready now to be fully ignited, to be seen and heard. Happy Fourth of July!

Affirmation
I am set aflame with love, joy and happiness! I have everything I need!

Rev. Karen Wylie

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.
Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Antagonize any situation and you give it power against yourself; offer mental nonresistance and it crumbles away in front of you.
Emmet Fox

I’m so grateful! The more I clean up my interior landscape, the more beautiful the world around me. The more I heal the places of darkness inside of me, the more light I perceive everywhere. The more I can see the goodness in someone even when they are behaving poorly; and the more I can forgive what I now perceive as the ignorance of another, rather than their real intention to hurt me. As I clean up all that negative stuff inside myself—the shame, blame, guilt, fear, anger—you name it, the more beautiful the world and all that is in it!

I had no idea that everything outside of myself would become so wonderful just because I cleaned my own house, but I will tell you, my joy is unbounded, and it is with me on a pretty regular basis. My ego stays in check. I’m not too concerned what you think of me because I love you so much, what you think of me doesn’t matter.

I’m so grateful to wake up every morning fully present to the beauty all around me. I don’t have to figure everything out; the spirit within me is in charge and knows exactly what to do and when. What I’m most happy about is that after all the years of spiritual work, this walking in the light is becoming rather habitual. I’m grateful to see beyond the world of appearance, to choose love over judgment of others or myself and to know that all is well no matter what story my little mind might try to conjure up.

It feels good to love God this much—to know that I (we all) live in a loving, benevolent universe, and our needs are met completely!

Affirmation
I behold the God within me and I am set free to love unconditionally.

Rev. Karen Wylie

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
Galatians 3:28

In a much more literal sense than people are aware, we are limbs of one Body.
Emmet Fox

Craziness goes on in this world, much of it in the name of God. If we really felt we were “limbs of one Body” as Emmet Fox says, would we cut off one of those limbs?

Jesus was saying in Galatians, there is no person, race, class, color or nation that is superior to any other in the sight of God. There must be a purpose to all this madness. Perhaps the gravity of the situation is what wakes us up in a big way. We cannot possibly stay asleep while the limbs are being cut off, and so we become conscious and strong in the clarity. We begin to see as never before how much we have damaged our mass psyche and the door is opened to the opportunity for redemption, healing and forgiveness within and without.

We pray not just for ourselves but for all mankind. We lay down our arms and stop the war inside of us. We let go of our sense of separation, our need to be right, our judgments and our anger. Little by little, we correct the wrongs that we’ve been committing inside ourselves, no matter how small, no matter how clever we’ve been about it. We seek that internal peace and love that we want to see in the world.

The heart softens when we begin to see that we have nothing to prove, nothing to fear. Our interior world is illumined by the light that shines within and then shines out from the core of our being. When we are free from our own internal war, our own bondage, we see differently and we can become a catalyst for change, the only agenda being God’s agenda.

So we pray for the healing within ourselves and for all mankind. We pray for peace, love and joy inside ourselves and all across this precious planet of ours, and our prayers shall be heard!

Affirmation
I see a new world; it begins with me!

Rev. Karen Wylie

Love is the perfect stillness and the greatest excitement, and most profound act, and the word almost as complete as His name.
Rabia

I used to think my purpose for being was to find the right guy, land the perfect job, own the finest home, and certainly make a ton of money.

Now surprisingly I find that the whole purpose of this life long journey of mine has been to realize the Love—the Christ Presence—within me. From that, everything else unfolds. Nothing else can bring the lasting satisfaction of living with the inner awareness of who I truly am. The realization of the Love within somehow provides the means to access everything else in an easy and effortless way, and the fear we live with, which is subtle and not so subtle, dissipates. If we are constantly striving for things outside of ourselves, there is an underlying fear of what will happen to us if we don’t get the things. What we discover in time is that this profound Love will trump fear in every instance.

When we approach life from the outside in, we will constantly be disappointed in our attainment. It will never be enough. It’s only enough when you are filled up inside. The amazing grace of it all is how God, the Universal Oneness, supplies the means to this end for our desired self-discovery. Where, by your will, you wish to know it, it shall be revealed to you. Nothing is held back from the true seeker.

In the end then, one feels great gratitude for the generosity and givingness of Divine Spirit, which ultimately turns out to be the generosity and givingness of the Christ Presence within you!

Affirmation
I rest in perfect peace in the love I am.

Rev. Karen Wylie

Joy does not come from what you do; it flows into what you do and thus into this world from deep within you.
Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth

A New Year filled with causeless joy—that’s what I want—to experience joy just because I’m alive. It means I will be willing to work things out no matter what so that I can experience the exhilarating feeling of joy. It means I will forgive over and over again. I will see from the other person’s point of view. I will stop my mind mid-track when it starts on its journey into dark, brooding thoughts. I will stay in my own business and not project my assumptions and negatives onto others.

I will give myself a break and love myself right where I am; then it will be easier for me to love others right where they are. I will be more compassionate and understanding with myself and others. I won’t need a reason to be happy. I can just decide to be happy no matter what. I will love my body into perfect health. I will focus on all the ways it has always functioned so perfectly in so many ways.

Causeless joy—that’s my New Year’s resolution. I shall love and honor myself as never before, remembering that I’m a divine creation as are we all.

The good news is there is no room for fear in the midst of causeless joy—only unbounded happiness. I will remember who I am and the genius within me. I will love myself unconditionally just as God has always loved me. That’s my New Year’s resolution—a New Year filled with causeless joy!

Affirmation
I allow the love of God to flow through and as me, moment by moment and day by day!

Rev. Karen Wylie

Everything which you can conceive and accept is yours! Entertain no doubt. Refuse to accept worry or hurry or fear. That which knows and does everything is inside you and harkens to the slightest whisper.
Uell Stanley Andersen

The great one who was Jesus knew that the creative Source of the universe is in the words “I am that I am.” He knew God as the Source of all good and further that the Spirit of God is within each and every one of us. Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do….” (John 14:12)

I’ve come into a new and deeper awareness of just how powerful I am—how powerful we all are as Divine Creative Beings of Light. Most of us do not use that power, however; we give it away, not knowing that in the realization of that power, miracles become an every day occurrence. Rather than praying to a God outside myself who is gong to answer my prayers, I realize that the power for answered prayer lies within me. I am the prayer and I am the answer.

How can we claim that much power? Perhaps it is easier for us when we realize that God is Love. We are Love. Further, this Source I know is delighted by the deepening of the awareness of the Spirit within. I and my Father/Mother God are one—it is a holy sacred union as is all of life.

Do not think it blasphemy to love God that much—to become Love Itself—to become that powerful. We are to rejoice in the celebration of the Christ Presence within! I am that I am!

Affirmation
Thank you Divine Source that I may love myself enough to see the sacred and holy in me!

Karen S. Wylie

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above……
James 1:17

I thank you, Dear Spirit, for loving me even when I cannot love myself. I thank you for guiding me when I’ve lost my way. I thank you for all the miracles, seen and unseen, that have brought me back into alignment with my true nature. I thank you for placing before me so many opportunities to learn love for myself so that I could learn to love others.

I thank you, Dear Creator, for the outstanding beauty of nature that makes me so appreciate life. I thank you for the wisdom to make the right choices for my good. I thank you, Dear God, for the vigor and health of my body that allows me to experience such a joyful, active life. I thank you for the sunrises and sunsets, for the vastness of the ocean and the beauty of its many moods and colors. I thank you for the roof over my head and the delicious food I get to eat. I thank you for all the loving beings that surround me.

I thank you for the quiet moments of self reflection, for the peace in my heart when I realize how much I am loved. Thank you for the clothes on my back and my faithful car that takes me wherever I want to go. Thank you for the people and books that inspire me, for roses that smell heavenly, for kindred spirits that understand me and support me in my life’s journey.

Thank you for the way my vibration is lifted when I speak of my blessings. Thank you for the fact that more blessings come to me when I appreciate the ones I have. Thank you for this benevolent universe. Thank you for my life!

Affirmation
I shall make every day a day to give thanks!

Karen S. Wylie

You shall be free indeed when your days are not without a care nor your nights without a want and a grief, but rather when these things girdle your life and yet you rise above them naked and unbound.
~ Kahlil Gibran

The unconditional love of God is flowing through and as us in every moment of every day.  It is we who put the conditions on that beautiful unconditional love.  We do that by judging ourselves or others, by resisting the very thing we say we want, by ideas of lack and limitation, by focusing on the negatives rather than the positives in our lives.  Our active minds get in the way of experiencing this incredible love seeking to express fully through and as us.  We doubt ourselves, restrict ourselves and deny the very thing we say we want.

To experience this great gift of love that is sourcing through and as us in every moment, we must yield and surrender into it.  We must turn off the negative mind chatter and feed our minds a steady flow of beautiful declarations of peace, love, joy, abundance, light, and all the good things that we wish to experience.  We must reprogram our minds to see only good and infinite possibility.  Then we must be in a constant state of gratitude, which will not be hard because the more we program our minds to see only good, the more good we will experience.

This is successful, joyous living.  This is the recipe for having what you want in life.  It works every time.  Is it easy?  No, not for those of us who have spent a great deal of time living in doubt, fear, worry and confusion.  But it is the formula for success in this physical world.  We chose this incarnation to practice this very truth.  So do not waste your life denying the love of God.  Take up your bed and walk.  You will be supported in ways unimaginable by the very Source which created you.

Affirmation
I am the unconditional love of God.  I allow that love to flow through and as me!

Karen S. Wylie

Be a light unto yourself.
~ The Buddha

Have you ever considered that everyone who comes into your life is there for a reason? When we begin to see everyone as the teacher we’ve been waiting for, it sheds a whole new light on our experience. Ah….we can say this one, or this experience, is here to teach me something about myself. It doesn’t mean we won’t feel the barbs, attack and insults, but it gives us a whole new perspective. What am I to learn about myself in the face of this situation? What does the insult I feel tell me about myself? It doesn’t mean I won’t feel the hurt inside myself, but it is the great gift given to me in order that I might learn my next great lesson. Believe it or not, this person or experience is here to help me on my journey to awakening to the divine essence and the love within me.

Nothing and no one has the power to control us or destroy us. We may resist the lessons we are here to learn; it takes us whatever season it takes to learn the lesson, but it gives us another way of seeing a situation. Gratefully, in addition, our new perspective automatically brings us back into our own power. We learn to be more detached from the particulars of the situation and able then to focus on healing that part of us that has been in the dark for so long.

This is the nature of this loving universe in which we live—always giving us exactly what we need at exactly the right time. I am so grateful for all my teachers throughout my life who have helped remind me of the truth of my being!

Affirmation
I will accept today’s journey as the one I’m ready for. I will make a contribution on behalf of love today.

Karen S. Wylie

Mastering others is strength. Mastering yourself is true power.
~ Lao-Tzu

Staying calm when the river’s rising—that’s the key. We live in a world of ups and downs and inside outs….births, deaths, illness and miracle healings, all happening simultaneously. This is the human condition. Our spiritual work does not make us immune from that. What it does do is make the living easier. It enables us to see the greater Truth when those around us cannot see it. It provides an inner strength and resilience that can and will weather any storm. It enables us to see infinite possibility when others see despair. It fortifies us in clear knowing when others are ready to give up. It reminds us of our loving compassionate nature when we are ready to give up. It calms us in the storm and sustains us in the peace.

Relying on Divine Spirit, we can stay calm when the river’s rising—that’s how we become a beneficial presence. It’s not about fighting against anything. It’s not about resisting anything. It’s about living from the inside out. It’s about living from the Divine Knower within. If I can see the good, I can help someone else see it. If I can believe in the healing, someone else can begin to believe it.

That’s our main job—to stay in our loving and it is not easy because we get triggered when someone does something or says something that touches an unhealed place inside of us. We do our spiritual work to heal those places so that we may stay anchored in truth no matter what is coming our way.

The river may rise, but I shall not be moved. I remember who I am and whose I am. Because of that, I can see you clearly too.

Affirmation
I trust myself completely to say and do the right thing. My heart is pure!

Karen Wylie