Peace, everywhere, peace today!
Peace in lands of scruffy trees and pine,
Peace in lands of olives and wine,
Peace in lands where peaks are white,
Peace in lands where fields are bright.
Peace in lands of oasis and sand,
Peace in lands where people band,
Peace in lands where children play,
Peace in lands where people pray,
Peace in lands in the thick of the fight,
Peace in lands ruled by force and might.

Everywhere, everywhere, peace this day!
Peace in lands where moral people stand tall,
No government too great, no nation too small.

Joseph T. Renaldi

Notes from the Universe

You could never spend all the abundance that's yours to spend. Your supply is truly limitless.

Of course, of course, you already know that. The size of your supply isn't the issue, finding it is.  You know it's there, you know it's yours, and you know you deserve it. But how to get your hands on it?  That's the challenge.

Ah-ha, "how". Did you just ask "how"? You did.

Oh dear, never ask how. Never think about how, let go of the how's.  If you wonder about how, it means your consciousness is not dwelling in spirit, it means you're trying to manipulate matter, and it means you're gonna be searching for a long, long, long, long time.

Steer clear of the "how's", dear heart, and simply dwell on the end result.

Got it?
 

A Return To Love
Marianne Williamson

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?  Actually, who are you not to be.  You are a child of the Universe.  Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are born to make manifest the glory of possibility that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone.  And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.  As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others"
 

Transcending The Levels of Consciousness
Dr. David R. Hawkins

1. Be kind to everything and everyone, including oneself, all the time, with no exception.

2. Revere all of life in all of its expressions, no matter what, even if one does not understand it.

3. Presume no actual reliable knowledge of anything at all. Ask God to reveal its meaning.

4. Intend to see the hidden beauty of all that exists - it then reveals itself.

5. Forgive everything that is witnessed and experienced, no matter what. Remember Christ, Buddha, and Krishna all said that all error is due to ignorance. Socrates said that all men can choose only what they believe to be good.
 

Spiritual Tests
Dr. Joshua Stone

Every single thing that happens in life is a Spiritual Test. 
 
One of the most important understandings of the entire Spiritual Path is the understanding that Earth is a Planetary Mystery School, and that every single thing that happens in life is a Spiritual Test.

Planet Earth is a Spiritual School to teach Souls to become "Integrated Ascended Masters and/or God Realized Beings."

Every single thing that happens in life is a teaching, lesson, challenge, and opportunity to grow. Most people do not realize, or they forget that each and every moment of our lives, we are being Spiritually Tested. Every thought we think is a Spiritual Test. As Edgar Cayce said, "Thoughts are things." The Course in Miracles states in the lesson book, "There are no neutral thoughts."

What this means is that every thought that enters your mind from within or without is of GOD or is of the negative ego. Every thought that you think stems from the Christ / Buddha Consciousness or lower self consciousness. Every thought you think stems from oneness or separation. Every thought you think stems from Love or fear. All day long, even when we think, we sleep, and dream, thoughts are coming to us from within and without. Every single moment of life is a Spiritual Test to think only GOD Thoughts.

The same is true, my beloved readers, with every feeling and emotion you create. This is a Spiritual test. Your feelings and emotions are caused by your attitude, perception, interpretation, and belief system. This is an indisputable fact and law of the Universe. We each cause our reality by how we think. If we think with our Melchizedek / Christ / Buddha Mind, we will create only Spiritualized, positive feelings and emotions. If we think with our negative ego/fear based/lower self mind, we will create negative feelings and emotions. Every moment, even when you are by yourself, is a Spiritual Test to see if you can keep your emotional body in a  God Consciousness and positive state, at all times. Every word you speak, every moment of your life is a Spiritual Test. Are your words coming from the negative ego or are they coming from the Heart of GOD?

What is the mental motivation of your words? Are they Sourced from the selfish, self-centered negative ego, or were they motivated from true God Consciousness? What is the feeling tone of every word? Is there any attack energy, anger, or criticism, or do they carry the feeling tone of unconditional love and nonjudgementalness. Every moment of your life that you speak is a Spiritual Test.

My beloved readers, every action you take no matter how small or infinitesimal is a Spiritual Test. Is that action coming from and motivated by GOD and God Consciousness, or by negative ego and separative/fear based consciousness? Is that action adding to your Spiritual Path or decreasing it? Is that action a waste of time or a good and balanced use of your energy? My beloved readers, every use of your energy, no matter how small and infinitesimal is a Spiritual Test. Is your energy helping self and others, or hurting self and others? Is the use of your energy adding to your Light Body or decreasing it? Are you wasting energy or are you using every particle of your energy for a greater Spiritual purpose, for Love, for balance in a larger perspective and for healing self and others?

Every moment of your life is a Spiritual Test to see if your can use your energy to only serve GOD and not to serve the negative ego, fear, the lower self, lower self desire, the carnal self, separative thinking, and victim consciousness. My beloved readers, in every situation of life there is an appropriate response or an inappropriate response. Every moment of life is a Spiritual test to learn to respond appropriately from the way GOD would have you respond. Who gives us the guidance on how to respond? This guidance comes from our Higher Self, our Mighty I Am Presence, the Holy Spirit, and our own Melchizedek / Christ / Buddha ideals that we have taken on consciously and programmed into our subconscious mind. Every moment of life is a Spiritual test to see if we can respond in a balanced manner instead of an imbalanced manner.

Every interaction with another person is a Spiritual Test to see if we can remain in unconditional love, forgiveness, nonjudgementalness, patience, service, oneness, and egolessness at all times. Every interaction with an animal, plant, or mineral is a Spiritual test to stay in harmony with GOD with His three lower kingdoms. Now, my beloved readers, what happens if we do not always pass these Spiritual Tests every moment. The answer is nothing in the sense that everything is forgiven and everything always remains in unconditional love.

Mistakes are positive not negative, and every mistake can be turned into a positive if you gain the golden nugget of wisdom from that mistake. GOD always forgives and it is just necessary for each person to forgive themselves. I will add here however, that every moment of life is a Spiritual Test and Spiritual Opportunity to realize GOD or not realize GOD. When you think a negative thought you lose your realization of GOD on the mental plane in that moment. When you allow yourself to feel a negative emotion, you lose your realization of GOD in that moment on the emotional plane. When you behave inappropriately you lose your realization of GOD in that moment on the physical plane.
 

The Spiritual Life
Lloyd J. Thomas

The French philosopher, Teilhard DeChardin, once wrote: "We are not physical beings having a spiritual experience. Rather we are spiritual beings having a physical experience." If you define "spirituality" as any experience that is not available to our five senses, then the majority of our life experiences are spiritual. Concepts like peace, joy, love, truth, beauty, connection, surrender, bliss and fulfilment are all spiritual in nature. Indeed, life itself is a spiritual experience.

Spirituality may have nothing to do with "religion" or "religiosity." It is not the same as "morality" or the "right way" to live. It rarely has anything to do with "doctrines" or "ethics."

Spirituality can be described, however. Some aspects of spirituality  may include: an expanded self-awareness, particularly of your true  nature; the experience of joy, inner peace and love; and the realisation of your essential unity with all of the universe/creation.

The evolutionary growth of your spirit follows some known principles. It usually begins with an "awakening" to the awareness that there is more to being alive than we can ever know. This awakening can be sudden or gradual. It can be a sudden flash of insight ("a light bulb moment") or a slow "dawning" of what being alive really means.

This awakening of consciousness leads to an intense desire to know more. This desire is often referred to as "spiritual hunger." We long for more. More experiences. More awareness. More knowledge. More of spiritual unity.

Then we usually let go of all previously held ideas, habits and behaviours. We lose our old "self." We let go of Mind and Ego. This loss evolves into a sense of emptiness and is often called "the dark night of the soul." From that darkness emerges a new awareness, a new identity, a new sense of self that feels more "real" than the one we lost. People often refer to this as a spiritual "rebirth."

Following the experience of being reborn, we then integrate our new self into a new lifestyle or "new way of being in the world." We reach "spiritual maturity" when the search for knowledge is replaced with living from the centre of our being; when we no longer seek the truth, rather we live in it; when we always love rather than fear; when we realise our essential unity with the Universe, or Universal Intelligence, or Life Force, or God (whatever you prefer).

You can identify spiritually mature persons by some of the following qualities. They function on the principles of love, rather than the habits of fearful defence. They respond from within themselves, rather than react to the people and events that are outside their skin. They live as they consciously choose, usually very simply. They are graceful in their responses to others. They experience "bliss" on a regular basis, not just when meditating or praying. They maintain internal equanimity and calm. They are often delightfully humorous. They are non-hostile. They relate to others in healthy and beneficial ways. They reflect their true nature in all they do. They are insightful, quick to learn, open to new experiences and eager to make themselves, others and the world more loving and peaceful.

The benefits of developing your spiritual life can include: getting long with others much better; contributing positively to all your relationships; bringing your healthiest and best to your service; acknowledging the true nature of others as the same as yours; experiencing more belonging, vitality, joy, inner peace, and love within your experience of being alive. Are not such benefits worth the risk of growing spiritually? Perhaps your own spiritual growth is the primary purpose for your being alive in the first place.

Lloyd J. Thomas, Ph.D. has 30+ years experience as a Life Coach and Licensed Psychologist. He is available for coaching in any area presented in "Practical Psychology." As your Coach, his only agenda is to assist you in creating the lifestyle you genuinely desire. The initial coaching session is free. Contact him: DrLloyd@CreatingLeaders.com. If you found the above column useful, feel free to share it with friends.
 

Ganesh - Remover of Obstacles

God of Domestic Harmony and Success - The most beloved of all Hindu
gods and is always invoked first to prepare the way.

What obstacles do you feel need to be removed to experience greater peace?

What obstacles need to be removed for a deeper, fuller, life?

What obstacles do you wish to release to prepare the way for what you want?
 

A Pocketful of Miracles
Joan Borysenko

December - Kindling the Light Within

December is the month in which all the forces of nature are aligned to  help us give birth to the Light within.  Midwinter has cast a spell over the land, and all of nature sleeps.  Members of the human tribe gather by the fire to hear the old stories by which the soul awakens and finds its way back home.  As you listen to the stories of the Christ Child, remember they are timeless reminders of the heart's true light - compassion and forgiveness.  Listen to the voices of the Ancient Ones who call from the deepest core of your being.

Guided by the Northstar and the Archangel Michael the great festivals of Light - Solstice, Hannukah and Christmas beckon us to gather round  and witness the birth of love within one another.  The earth turns,  and a mantle of peace falls ever so gently over the land blessing all  creatures great and small.