When you realize that everything springs only from yourself, you will learn both peace and joy.
~ The Dalai Lama

And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
~ Matthew 21:22

For so many of us, we have thought that life was about getting the goods—the job, the money, the man or woman, the home, the fame, the glory. Now I realize that life was and is never about the “stuff.” Life is about the learning along the way, and the learning is what finally gets us to the peace, joy, freedom, love and abundance that we always thought the “stuff” would provide.

Now that’s something to think about, isn’t it? It’s kind of backwards to the way we were taught. In other words, it’s what happens to you in your experience during the ups and downs of life, the information gleaned, the new awareness derived, and the choices you make that have the potential to bring you what you’ve always wanted. It’s what you learn along the way and what you then choose to do with what you learn.

We are all on a spiritual soul journey whether we know it or not. The more we learn about understanding, forgiveness, compassion and love, the freer we become. We begin to see it was never about the “stuff.” We can be happy even before we have the goods. Once we are living from the fullness of our divine essence, it’s that very fullness we desire more of and then the goods flow to us with ease and grace.

It’s never too late to take serious thought about our priorities in life. We can open up instantly to our divine potential and set ourselves free from worry and fear. We can truly live and love fearlessly with an undefended heart.

Affirmation
I am the creator of my good and I am fearless in my living.

Karen Wylie

If God said, Rumi, pay homage to everything that has helped you enter my arms, there would not be one experience of my life, not one thought, not one feeling, not any act, I would not bow to.
~ Jalaludin Rumi (1207-1273)

In a meditation recently I recalled myself as a young girl, lying on my belly watching red ants go in and out of an ant hill. In that moment, I saw the wonder, innocence and beauty of my childhood. I saw how many times I was happy and carefree and all the wonderful experiences that I had. It surprised me to be seeing my youth in such a positive light. The truth was that other things happened to me in my youth which were not beautiful….far from it. Regretfully, those were the things that I chose to spend the majority of my life focusing upon.

In my willingness to forgive and let go of all that seemed hurtful and destructive to me at the time, I can now look back on my life from a new perspective and see all the many blessings. The negative experiences no longer have power over me. Rumi said it so beautifully….everything is sacred. In our awakening, we remember who we are as precious innocence. We claim our divinity. We embrace everything and everyone as part of the whole and we can see, perhaps for the first time, our complete life as a masterpiece.

Now I see my past as precious and exciting and filled with possibility and I claim that for my present and for my future as well. As Rumi so beautifully says “there is no experience of my life, not one thought, not one feeling, not any act I would not bow to.” All of it brought me to my Self……God, and for that, I am forever grateful.

Affirmation
My whole life is a blessing and I am grateful!

Rev. Karen Wylie

Man, by thinking, can bring into his experience whatever he desires—if he thinks correctly, and becomes a living embodiment of his thoughts.
~ Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind, page 30

The great resurrection is happening within. We move into the becoming and we do it trusting that we are always expanding into the greater. It happens through our dedication to the inner work. We pray, we meditate, we study, we trust that there is a power greater than we are that loves us and supports us unfailingly. We strive to see the better, truer view in all our interactions. We strive to see the perfection even in the imperfections. We forgive because we can. Being in conflict with even one person strains our relations with everyone.

What we perceive as being outside of ourselves is really our own internal creation. Whatever happened yesterday or last year or forty years ago can be forgiven in an instant. Forgiveness is a choice and we can make it today. The absence of peace knows no bounds, and we are here to experience the great peace within, the great love within, the great wisdom within. We are here in this physical dimension to experience the Divine Resurrection into the light of our own being. That was the wonderful message Jesus gave to us. We can overcome all.

It’s our lesson to learn, and then practice, in every opportunity that’s available, acceptance of ourselves. When we do, we’ll begin to feel total acceptance of others too. When that happens, we are free in a whole new way. We live from the I AM, the Christ Presence within and we celebrate our oneness with everyone and everything.

Affirmation
Who I see is who I AM today!

Rev. Karen S. Wylie

Surrender is the simple but profound wisdom of yielding to…the flow of life. The only place where you can experience the flow of life is in the Now, so to surrender is to accept the present moment unconditionally and without reservation.
~ Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now

Do you understand that you are never done? You never get it done! So rest and enjoy the journey. That, more than any other awareness, will bring you back to living each precious moment in the Now. There is no end goal, so breathe and relax. Take a look around you and really see where you are and whom you are with. What are you waiting for? It is here now. You are a living theology. Sometimes we become as goal-oriented about our spiritual work as we are about our jobs or other areas of our lives, but the time to smell the roses is right now.

We spend so much of our time either regretting the past or preparing for the future. We are imprisoned by our own faulty thinking. The past is no more; it is over. Today is a brand new day that truly has nothing to do with the past in terms of how you choose to live your life right now. And the future either may never come or won’t come in the way you’ve planned, so give it up and start living today. It is just a choice away. It is so much easier to live for Now, to take care of the business at hand today, to be fully present in each moment. What a gift you then bring to the world and to yourself.

There is nothing more wonderful than to be seen and heard or to really see and hear another. All the pressure is off and what remains is devotion to the moment at hand. You are then truly God’s precious servant in every breath you take; so right now, stop, breathe and love.

Affirmation
God is my life! I am filled with delight! I shall not be moved from my devotion! I am richly blessed and a rich blessing!

Rev. Karen S. Wylie

As God’s beloved, I live in bliss knowing that my soul is never separated from Him, for I learn to know Her in all that I see.  God dissolved my mind, my separation.  I cannot describe now my intimacy with Him.
~ St. Teresa of Avila

Whatever the question, LOVE is the answer.  How can I see this situation beyond fear?  How can I live fearlessly?  How can I take the action I need to take and still stay in my loving?  The truth is you can.

It is in loving and honoring the Self that we become very clear about how to love and honor another.  It is not a place of weakness or selfishness, but rather a place of great power, clarity, integrity and intention.  It is YOU deciding you are tired of living with half a heart….tired of half-hearted actions and half-hearted words.  It is YOU stripped from the illusions of the story you’ve been telling about your life.  It is the magnificent YOU that has always been worthy and been enough.  It is YOU deciding to remove the blocks around your heart so you can actually breathe.  It is YOU in that very breath discovering that you have set yourself free in your willingness to live with an undefended heart.  Ah, the freedom!  It’s so simple.  I am here.  I am open and available.  I am clear.  I am undefended in my heart, yet ironically, the most powerful and fearless I’ve ever been.

So where are you?  Still protecting yourself from what?  Give it up.  It was never YOU.  It was never real.  No matter the question, LOVE is the only answer.  I love me and I love you (there is only ONE) and in that is my greatest power.  In that is my greatest freedom.  In that is my greatest joy.

Affirmation
I AM.  I AM all I need to be.

Rev. Karen Wylie

Most of us live half-unborn.
Stephen Levine, A Year to Live

This month is the month of my birth, and I am celebrating my own renewal.  It appears that I am in a constant state of renewal and expansion.  Stephen Levine’s words are powerful words spoken.  “Most of us live half-unborn.”  He says when people hear that they are dying, that something breaks free in them.  They no longer fear living—in fact, they begin to live as never before.  He suggests that we don’t have to get a prognosis of our imminent death to really begin living.  We can do it now.

As we enter this New Year of 2014, I suggest that we open up to our own great life as never before.  For all the things you’ve been putting off “until the right time,” the time is now.  I’m inviting you to soar in the year 2014.  Who would I be without my story?  Who would I be without the fear that’s been running my life?  Who would I be if I were to give my best to the world, and what untold joys might come back to me as a result?

We are here to sing our song, to love as we have never loved before, to dance as though no one is watching and to celebrate our existence here on this physical plane as though we did have only one year left.  We are not dying.  The truth is we are dying to live.  I say why not now?  Now is the perfect time to stretch your wings and fly!  The Source of all Life supports you in your own becoming!

The utter joy of living and loving fearlessly is awaiting your willingness to step into it.  If we do that, this year can become the Happiest New Year of all!

Affirmation
I joyously celebrate my own becoming!  I am fearless in my living!

Rev. Karen Wylie

I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.
~ St. John: 11:25

His destiny was to be our teacher. What can we learn from the life of Jesus? He was Jesus of Nazareth, son of Mary and, according to the present-day Christian belief, the Savior of mankind. In our teaching, however, Jesus represents the I in humankind, the Christ Presence, the embodied Spirit raised to divine understanding and power.

His story tells us that he faced the trials, tribulations and temptations of every man in his earth walk without falling under the influence of evil. We are to look to his life as an example and bring out the Christ Presence in ourselves. We are to accept the truth of our being and to live that truth in thought, word and deed. The Christ is the man that God created, the perfect-idea man and the true self of all of us. Jesus Christ was the Christ self brought forth into perfect expression and manifestation.

We are told to have “this mind in you which was in Christ Jesus” which implies that we can all demonstrate as Jesus did. This requires careful training of our thoughts. It seems an almost superhuman attainment, and it is. The human has to be put away and the divine expressed in its place. The human is transient and fallible; the divine is permanent and infallible. The temptation of Jesus took place within himself so we can see that the place of overcoming is within our own consciousness.

We can resurrect our body just as Jesus resurrected his. We resurrect our body by putting a new mind into it—the mind of Spirit. “Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.” So as we enter this holiday season, the celebration of the Christ, may we find that place within us of perfect peace and love. May we spread the Christmas joy that is our true nature. Merry Christmas!

Affirmation
This day and every day, I strive to be more loving in my heart!

Rev. Karen Wylie

Thanksgiving is one of the highest forms of prayer.
~ Emmet Fox

Every day I thank God for all I’ve been given and every day, more comes to me. That is because gratitude is an open and receptive state of being. The vibration is high and the vision is sharp. The world is a more beautiful place because I’m in a more beautiful place.

As I move into another great expression in my life…..always more, never less…..I realize that in this life I’m always moving from one blessing to another. No matter what circumstance we are in, there is a blessing in it when we chose to see it that way. Maybe it is an opportunity to learn something more about ourselves that we could not possibly have learned any other way.

The great joy is the awareness that we are constantly being guided and directed to exactly the next right thing for us to do. Sometimes it takes great courage to take the leap but when we do, we are rewarded mightily. A greater expression unfolds within us of light, love, peace and joy. Suddenly we realize that the place we were standing before was absolutely necessary for us to step into this greater expression.

This is the nature of our spiritual journey on the planet…..constant evolution, constant growth, becoming more like our True Self all the time. Ultimately, we see through the eyes of Love and witness it everywhere because Love is who we are.

So in this beautiful month devoted to gratitude, may you experience your life’s journey as one great ongoing blessing and be thankful for it!

Affirmation
I boldly and courageously move into the next expression of my life knowing that I’m becoming more, never less. Love shows Its face as me and I am grateful!

Rev. Karen Wylie