Spiritual Solutions

 Our thoughts and words are very powerful and go to make up our world reality. Here are some quotes from powerful thinkers to support that idea:

“With our thoughts we make our world” - Gautama the Buddha.

“God’s greatest gift to man is the power of thought, through which he can incorporate into his consciousness the mind of God.” – Charles Fillmore, Keep a True Lent.

“Energy follows thought.” - Annie Besant, Thought Power: Its Control and Culture (1903/1979).

“We become what we behold.” - William Blake.

“Man is a thinking being. The very word ‘man’ comes from an ancient Sanskrit word which literally means ‘to think.’ Through thinking, man has the possibility of knowing God and expressing the wisdom of Divine Mind.” – Eric Butterworth, Discover the Power Within You.

“Man creates his own disharmony”- Hazrat Inyayat Khan.

Let’s have a closer look at some of the words we use and some of the nuances and deeper meanings of them.

When you state something to someone, their first response may be “yes but.” This is their way of negating the opinion or idea that you have expressed. Listen to yourself as you speak. Do you use this phrase? It blocks good communication.

Instead, you can acknowledge what the other person says and state your own opinion by using “yes and.” This will improve the energy of the communication. It acknowledges the person’s point of view as valid for them and secondly it keeps the flow of the conversation in place.

We use disempowering words much of the time. For instance “got to,” “have to” and “must” usually denote a feeling of no choice. Again, listen to your own self talk and the speech of others to get a sense of what is going on at an inner level.

The word “should” is a good one to be aware of, as there is usually some feeling of guilt behind it. Do you ever find yourself saying, “I should go and do so and so”? In back of this is the idea that if I do not I will feel bad.

Then there’s “never,” “forever” and “always.” These come under the heading of gross generalizations. The first thing that can be stated is they are generally “never” true all the time. For example: “She always gets that look on her face when I come home late” and “You never buy me anything nice any more.” These statements reflect the perception of the person generalizing, not the reality of the matter. Again, use awareness with regard to what is going on in any given communication situation.

The word “try” is another interesting little word. You may have seen a demonstration of this when someone is asked to try to pick up a pen. You do not “try” to do something. You either do it or you do not. Another example would be if you ask someone to do something for you and they reply that they “will try” to do whatever it is you have asked. You can be pretty sure with that sort of comeback your request will not be honored.

Watch what words and phrases you use. You will be surprised and delighted at what a difference changing your words can have on your communication with others and your life in general. This really can be quite transformational.

Go ahead and have some fun playing with words. And watch your thoughts behind those words – they are filled with power!

God is Blessing You, Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham
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“Spiritual Solutions” is produced by The Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for thirty-seven years, and is offered free of charge to anyone who wants to receive it. To be on my newsletter mailing list and have access to other articles, please go to Spiritual Solutions.

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We talk a lot about actual thanks-giving, about giving thanks, but we don’t talk a lot about praise. We understand about giving thanks and we talk about building an attitude of gratitude, but there’s something about praise too that makes a difference in our lives.

In Psalms 34 it says this, “I will praise the Lord at all times. His praise shall be continually in my mouth.”

The word praise is mentioned over a hundred times in the psalms, and so praise is obviously very important. The Israelites used to praise with song and music and dancing, with instruments. You can picture them with their harps and lyres, probably tambourines and drums, and dancing and singing. They really rejoiced in their times of giving praise to God. They didn’t have a day of Thanksgiving, but certainly they sang praises to God.

Charles Fillmore, in his little book The Revealing Word, said this: “Praise is the quality of mind that eulogizes the good, one of the avenues through which spirituality expresses.”

Again, he said this; “Through an inherent law of mind action, we can increase what we praise. One can praise a weak body into strength, a fearful heart into peace and trust, shattered nerves into peace and power, a failing business into prosperity and success, want and insufficiency into supply and support.”

Why is this so? Well, praise helps us to focus on God’s good and it brings increase. When we praise the plant, the plant grows; when we praise our children, their true self begins to unfold. Anything we praise begins to increase in our lives.

When Myrtle Fillmore discovered she had tuberculosis and she heard the words of Dr. Weeks saying, “You’re a child of God and you do not inherit sickness,” she began to realize and to use that idea of praising, praising all the cells in her body. And she praised them into health. She became healthy again and lived many years after that time.

So the praising is important. Sometimes instead of praising, we put ourselves or others down, or we demean, or even curse. But if we’ll praise the good that we find, what happens? The good begins to increase. And the important thing is not only that the good increases, and when we praise other people they begin to blossom, don’t they? Everybody blossoms through praise.

That’s one thing that happens, but that’s only half the story because we get a blessing too. As we praise, we begin to see more good within ourselves and we begin to open the gateway of good within ourselves. We open the channels to receive more good as we give praise and blessings to others.

It says in the Psalms, “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works, that I know very well.”

So why do we praise God? Does God need our praise? No, God doesn’t need our praise, but we do. It doesn’t affect God, but it affects us. When we praise God, it affects us. What does it increase? Does it increase God? No, but it increases our spiritual awareness of God’s good when we praise and give thanks to God. It opens the gateways of our soul so that the imprisoned splendor of our own being can escape; and the love that we are can move into our world.

So, this Thanksgiving, remember that praising God and praising others is really key to experiencing more good in your own life.

Praise opens the gateways of our soul and love escapes into our experience. Sometimes praise has a way of making tears form when you realize you are in touch with the Spirit of God, and in this you are truly alive.

God Bless You – and I give thanks for you.

God is Blessing You, Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham
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If you would like to publish this article or forward it to a friend, please include this resource box.

“Spiritual Solutions” is produced by The Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for thirty-seven years, and is offered free of charge to anyone who wants to receive it. To be on my newsletter mailing list and have access to other articles, please go to Spiritual Solutions.

To subscribe to weekday inspirational quotes, go to Rich Words.
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(Enjoy another great post by Karl, from www.karlblog.com)

Are you feeling happy right now?

If so, hurrah!

Spread some of that happiness into the world around you. Smile and lighten up those dark corners in the world.

If you’re not happy, then ask yourself why.

What is stealing you from happiness and what can you do to be happy again? Maybe you can just decide… to be happy?

Remember, happiness is quite simply a choice.

You can choose to be happy at any point.

Happiness isn’t conditional. It isn’t attached to anyone or anything. It’s free and represents the joy of living.

Your natural state is happiness, so seize it right this moment.

And do what makes you happy … live fully; fill each moment with beauty; love; and offer kindness.

HH the Dalai Lama said…

“When we feel love and kindness toward others, it not only makes others feel loved and cared for, but it helps us also to develop inner happiness and peace.”

No matter what else is going on in your life right now, you can still have happiness at your heart’s core.

You can use the positive energy of your inner joy to resolve other feelings.

So, embrace happiness.

Live your life with happiness.

Be the happy, beautiful being you were born to be.

God is Blessing You, Right Now!

The Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

Mind is the Master-power that moulds and makes,
And Man is Mind, and, shaping what he wills,
Brings froth a thousand joys, a thousand ills –
He thinks in secret, and it comes to pass:
Environment is but his looking-glass.
(From As a Man Thinketh, by James Allen)

Attention is the key to life; you tend to become whatever you give your attention to. Rudyard Kipling wrote of a Newfoundland fisherman who seemed to have the appearance of a great codfish. We must look where we are going, because we will most certainly go in the direction in which we are looking.

When the Israelites of old looked toward God, they prospered; when they looked away from God, they came to know want. We are told, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, mind, and strength.” To love God is to give our attention to the transcendence in life. God has much in store for us, but He can give to us only when we give Him our attention.

Victor Hugo, speaking of the tremendous power of concentrated attention, wrote:

“There is neither fog nor problem in algebra which can
Withstand in the depths of the numbers or the skies
The calm and intense fixation of the eyes.”

When we grasp this idea, we feel as the child does when he discovers that a magnifying glass held to the rays of the sun will cause paper to burst into flame.

Read the rest of this entry »

1. My hands are small. Please don’t expect perfection whenever I make a bed, draw a picture or throw a ball. My legs are short. Please slow down so that I can keep up with you.

2. My eyes have not seen the world as yours have. Please let me explore safely. Don’t restrict me unnecessarily.

3. Housework will always be there. I’m only little for such a short time. Please take time to explain things to me about this wonderful world, and do so willingly.

4. My feelings are tender. Please be sensitive to my needs.

Don’t nag me all day long. (You wouldn’t want to be nagged for your inquisitiveness.) Treat me as you would like to be treated.

5. I am a special gift from God. Please treasure me, holding me accountable for my actions, giving me guidelines to live by and disciplining me in a loving manner.

6. I need your encouragement and your praise to grow. Please go easy on the criticism. Remember, you can criticize the things I do without criticizing me.

7. Please give me the freedom to make decisions concerning myself. Permit me to fail so that I can learn from my mistakes. Then someday, I’ll be prepared to make the kind of decisions life requires of me.

8. Please don’t do things over for me. Somehow that makes me feel that my efforts didn’t quite measure up to your expectations. I know it’s hard, but please don’t try to compare me with my brother or my sister.

9. Please don’t be afraid to leave for a weekend together.

Kids need vacations from parents, just as parents need vacations from kids. Besides, it’s a great way to show us kids that your marriage is very special.

10. Please take me to worship regularly, setting a good example for me to follow.

God is blessing you, right now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

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Rev. Alan Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over thirty-five years, invites you to enjoy more articles and/or subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, “Spiritual Solutions,” at www.spiritualsolutionsblog.com

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When Samuel when he was very young and was in training with the priest Eli, the scriptures tell us that Samuel was asleep and he heard a voice calling him, “Samuel, Samuel!” He rose up and said, “Here I am, Lord.” He went to his teacher, his priest Eli, and said, “You called me?” Eli said, “No, I didn’t call you. Go lie down, go to sleep.”

So Samuel went back and lay down again. The voice came again, “Samuel, Samuel!” Samuel got up again and went to Eli, saying, “Here I am. You called me.” Eli said, “No, I didn’t call you. Go and lie down.”

So Samuel went back and lay down again, and the voice came again, “Samuel!” He jumped up again and went to Eli. This time Eli perceived that the Lord was calling Samuel, the voice of God was speaking to him. So he said, “I want you to go back and lie down, and if that call comes again, just say this: ‘Your servant hears. Speak, Lord.”

So Samuel went back, lay down, and the voice came again, “Samuel, Samuel!” He said, “Your servant hears, Lord. Speak.” And God showed him a vision of what his future was to be at that time.

When the prophet Isaiah was young, he had a vision and he heard a voice saying “Whom shall we send? Who will go for us?” And a voice within Isaiah prompted him and he said, “Here I am, send me!”

In other words, “Count me in, God, count me in!”

Read the rest of this entry »

In this economic climate it’s important to stay focused on God as our source, and this article by Alan Cohen reminds us of that in a wonderful way.

The Divine Payroll – By Alan Cohen

One of my seminar students was a man of great faith that he built through overcoming longtime alcoholism. When Dan came out on the other side of his addiction, he embodied a remarkable blend of strength and sensitivity.

“Sometimes I feel embarrassed,” Dan told me privately. “I spend most of my time sponsoring people trying to beat their addictions. I’m on the phone and at meetings constantly. I love it and my people are doing very well.”

“Then what’s the problem?” I had to ask.

“My income comes from car sales – I used to be in the business. Now I buy and sell cars on a small scale from my home. I turn around a couple of cars a week, which provides me with enough income to spend the rest of my time supporting people. I feel guilty because I work for just a few hours a week. Shouldn’t I have a real job?”

I laughed and told Dan, “You have the realest job in the world. You are helping people improve the quality of their lives. You are on the Divine Payroll.”

If you stay true to your purpose of healing, no matter what form it takes, universal sustenance will keep you on the payroll. Your income may derive from your healing work or it may come through another door. It doesn’t matter. The deal is: you heal, life supports you.

For an inspiring demonstration of this principle, watch the film Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill. This touching documentary chronicles the life of Mark Bittner, a gentle soul who nurtured a flock of wild parrots in San Francisco for over 25 years. Bittner spent most of his time feeding, nursing, and caring for this large flock, and did not do any other “work” for two and a half decades. Yet, because people recognized his devotion, he was given free rent, meals, and whatever else he needed. Bittner was on the Divine Payroll.

One of my coaching clients is a radio announcer who hosted a highly successful all-night show. He had a marvelous undercover ministry, sending positive messages through words and music to people awake during the night – folks who felt too troubled to sleep, graveyard shift workers in prisons and mental institutions, and creative spirits. Yet there grew a parting of ways between him and his producers, who were more interested in adhering to a commercial radio formula. Finally his show was cancelled and he was out of radio work for an extended time.

One of the gifts of this period was his opportunity to use the time for spiritual growth and inner healing, which he did quite successfully. As time went on, he became concerned about sustaining himself in the absence of his former income. Then one day during a coaching session he casually mentioned to me that he had received a large check as an inheritance from the passing of a distant relative.

“Why didn’t you tell me this in capital letters and an exclamation point?” I asked him. “Can you see that you are on the Divine Payroll.?” Indeed he was.

Some people formalize their contract with God, which you may wish to do as well. Charles and Myrtle Fillmore founded the uplifting Unity Church movement back in 1889. Like many spiritual leaders, the Fillmore’s began with a leap of faith. To formalize this, the couple literally wrote a contact with God, stating that their part would be to carry out their ministry with love and integrity, and practice the principles to the best of their ability. God’s part would be to sustain them in finance, health, and peace of mind. They signed the contract and lived by it. Well, more than a century later Unity continues to thrive and grow, and has helped many millions of people improve their lives. The Fillmore’s kept their end of the deal, and God kept God’s.

The same contract is available to you if you choose to exercise it. Whether you identify your source as God, Spirit, life, love, or universal sustenance matters less than that you recognize a loving intelligence that provides for you. You may record your contract on paper or in your heart. The truth works if you work it.

Do not try to dictate or force the avenue through which your paycheck comes. Spirit has ingenious ways to pay your due salary. It may come directly from your clients or in a roundabout way. A friend of mine wanted to live near the ocean, and a friend of hers bought a million-dollar home on a Maui beach and asked her to be caretaker of it when he was not there – which is nearly all the time. If you translate the value of living in that home to dollars, the number is huge.

You, too, will be sustained if you are true to your trade. Just remember the formula: You heal, life supports you. It’s a done deal.

 
About the Author:

Alan Cohen is the author of many popular inspirational books, includig the best-selling The Dragon Doesn’t Live Here Anymore and the award-winning A Deep Breath of Life. Alan offers Living Prosperously, a home-study course in creating greater abundance, and the life-transforming Mastery Training in Maui. For information on these programs and a free catalog of Alan’s books, tapes, and seminars, phone 800-568-3079, visit www.alancohen.com, email info@alancohen.com, or write P.O. Box 835, Haiku, HI 96708.

Copyright © 2006 Alan Cohen. All rights reserved worldwide.

“Spiritual Solutions” is produced by Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for thirty-seven years, and is offered free of charge to anyone who wants to receive it. To be on my newsletter mailing list and have access to other articles, please go to Spiritual Solutions.

To subscribe to weekday inspirational quotes, go to Rich Words.

Thanksgiving Day is almost upon us, so I’d like to offer you a way to make this Thanksgiving season even more special, with a new and different way of celebrating our traditional Thanksgiving.

Recently a woman told me of a wonderful demonstration of prayer that she had experienced and how very, very thankful she was feeling. But she admitted that she wasn’t sure how she could truly express her thankfulness to God. She said, “It somehow doesn’t seem enough just to say ‘Thank You’ to God.”

Have you ever had a tremendously wonderful answer to prayer? Perhaps a loved one who was very ill suddenly had what the medical profession calls “an instantaneous remission,” or had an exceptionally fast recovery to complete wholeness and health?

You would feel very, very thankful to that life-giving Spirit which is the Source of all healing and that humankind calls God, wouldn’t you? So how are you going to express your thankfulness?

Would it be enough to go into a church and silently say “Thank You” to God’s invisible Presence?

Would it be enough to go out on some mountainside and shout “Thank you, God” into the air and hear it echo and re-echo back to you?

I certainly think that silently giving thanks to God in prayer is very good. I think going out on a mountainside or wooded place or seashore and shouting “Thank you, God” with a fervent feeling of gratitude is a wonderful thing to do.

But I think perhaps that this is not enough. This is consciously being grateful. This is accepting a blessing, what might indeed be a miracle, from God with gratitude. But it is not what we might call “Thanks-giving,” except the giving of your time and perhaps an overflow of your emotions.

So let me suggest to you how you can really give thanks to God in this Thanksgiving season . . . and all around the year.

Here is what you do . . .

You’re grateful to God for your many blessings . . . good! You say “Thank You” to God in a quiet time of prayer . . . good! Then, because in your heart you know God has done so much for you and through you, you arise from your prayer time and determine to be on the lookout for someone who has a need that they can’t fulfill themselves . . . then you fulfill it!

Then you are truly giving, to express your thanks. And you are giving directly to God, too.

How are you giving directly to God?

Well, as Jesus said to the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:24), “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” Spirit means “breath,” or Life. God is Life in expression through every person as their individual Being.

When you give something of yourself to someone who has a need, you are giving to God expressing as that person!

This is what the Bible is pointing out when it says, “Whatsoever you do unto the least of these, you do also unto me.”

Thankful prayer is “Thanks-feeling,” and it is good. “Thanks-giving” involves an action of giving.

Often in my years of ministry, people have done things for me that fill my heart with gratitude. And in my retirement from full-time church ministry, I have been overwhelmed by the expressions of love and appreciation that have come from so many, many people.

I thank God, and I try to thank persons with a note or a letter which includes everyone. But this never seems enough. So I figure the only way I can truly express the fullness of my feeling of thankfulness is to work diligently at doing the best job possible of teaching the Truth principles that have helped others, both today and in the future.

In short, you can express gratitude or “give thanks” by giving back more of yourself to the people whose lives touch yours.

There are Many Things You Can Give

There are many things you can give to express your thanks to God.

You can give a little time and understanding to your teenage son or daughter who needs to know that you love him or her.

You can give a happy attitude around the house that will brighten up the atmosphere.

You can give a little extra service to your customers, or do a little better job at work.

You can give a word of appreciation to the fellow who fixed your car instead of a look of suspicion that he overcharged you . . . even if he did! Then you are really giving something, and it costs a little more than just a perfunctory “Thank You, God” in prayer.

Do you get the idea?

Here’s an idea that could be better than a hundred Sunday school lessons for your children: When you sit down to your Thanksgiving table, what if you said, “Kids, we sure are grateful for all our blessings. We are grateful for this food, for our health, for your Mommy, for you, and for all the good things that we enjoy and sometimes take for granted. Tell you what we’ll do, we’ll say our Grace and acknowledge that God has given us these things, and then we will take an equal amount to what the dinner cost and we will send it to ____________ (you add whatever organization your family feels is doing a real good job in helping people).”

Later in life, when they imitate their Dad and Mom, they will find that you always get back, in some way or another, more than you gave when you give out of a feeling of thankfulness. It comes back to you, increased and multiplied!

Make this the most unique and rewarding Thanksgiving of your life. Give thanks to God in prayer, yes, but then start looking for needs that people can’t fulfill by themselves, and fill the need for them . . . and don’t tell a soul that you did it!

God is Blessing You, Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham
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If you would like to publish this article or forward it to a friend, please include this resource box.

“Spiritual Solutions” is produced by The Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for thirty-seven years, and is offered free of charge to anyone who wants to receive it. To be on my newsletter mailing list and have access to other articles, please go to Spiritual Solutions.

To subscribe to weekday inspirational quotes, go to Rich Words.
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