Spiritual Solutions

It is through the images in our lives that we really begin to tap into the truth of our being and to give expression to it. Even in times of challenge or loss we can move on through it to the healing, because as we tap into the truth of our being we connect with our Divine self and know the truth of God’s presence in our lives. We know that no matter what is happening, the love is there, the life is there and is streaming forth through our loss whatever it may be.

But we don’t often start with that; we have to go through the process. We have to first acknowledge our loss, whether it’s the loss of a loved one, the loss of a job, the loss of a relationship, or perhaps a child has gone off to school somewhere. When we begin to identify and accept what it truly is that is our loss or challenge we can move through it.

We have certain images that we carry in our minds about the situation. It may be an empty nest; it may be a chrysalis. Sue Monk Kidd, in a book called The Heart Still Waits, relates how when she was going through a mid-life crisis finally came upon an image in her mind of a chrysalis, of a caterpillar that had formed a cocoon.

She realized she was going through a time of incubating the darkness and that she couldn’t rush the process, that even when moving toward new life she had to incubate within that darkness and couldn’t force the chrysalis to open. But she recognized that out of that chrysalis would emerge the new life of the butterfly. And she knew that if she focused on the butterfly, the representation of her true self, she would be lifted out of the pain and darkness.

Sometimes it’s in the familiar images of life that we are nurtured and begin to reorient ourselves to the truth of ourselves and that life goes on; we must release and let go of the things that have held us, of the things that have bound us to them. There comes a time to move on, to let go.

It was really not until after Pentecost that the disciples were able to understand and look back and value the experience that they had gone through. Then they were able to take the riches they had shared with Jesus and apply them in their own lives. They recognized that the Spirit was alive in them also and they had a sense of new vitality and new enthusiasm and began to look forward toward life.

We all have our Pentecost moments. We get to that point of awakening, of opening our eyes to the truth of our being that we hadn’t really seen before. We move beyond the thoughts we had about what happened to now feel and know that new life within us. Love’s great presence is always with us, lifting us up, healing us and moving us through the limiting experience.

An image that really speaks to me is contained within a quote by Rabindranath Tagore. He says, “When old words die out on the tongue, new melodies break forth from the heart. And where the old tracks are lost, new country is revealed with its wonders.”

Think of those new melodies, think of that new song that is waiting to be sung in you. It’s there, new roads, new ways are being revealed to you, new country is opening up to you. God in you is saying, “I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” It’s always there for you, if you will let go.

In the book of Lamentations there is a wonderful quote of how we can move through this process of recovery. It says, “This is what I shall tell my heart and so recover hope: ‘The favors of Yahweh are not all past. God’s kindnesses are not all exhausted. Every morning they are renewed; great is God’s faithfulness.’”

There is new country waiting for you, there are new melodies that yearn to be sung in your spirit. Even in the most desolate times the season of springtime, of new life, is always awaiting you.

Remember, God is Blessing You, Right Now!

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Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over forty years, invites you to subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, Spiritual Solutions.

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(Note: This article is composed of adapted excerpts from The Healing Flow, an article by the former Unity minister and author, Eric Butterworth, which I have also made into a 9-minute audio meditation for your use and enjoyment. You can scroll down to the bottom of the article to access the audio.)

If you feel the need of healing of any kind right now, begin to envision your whole body enveloped in God’s radiant health. See your body as a “temple of the living God,” the perfect dwelling place of the Infinite. No matter what you are going through at the present time, you can be sure that God is with you, and that the healing flow is manifesting through you.

Let your mind be open to the activities of life. Let go of any thought that there is any condition beyond help, beyond relief. “Come unto me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). Enter the stream of wholeness now, the free flow of divine life, and flow along with its current. Fill your heart and mind with thoughts of the activity of the divine process, knowing that no power on earth can in any way dim the light of life that shines eternally in you and through you. See your whole body glowing in every atom, coursing through every artery and vein; see your body as the perfect dwelling place of the creative life of God.

As John says in Revelations 22:1, “Then he showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal . . .” This cleansing river of life is right now flowing through you, dissolving every condition of imperfection, renewing every cell of your body with abundant life. Consciously banish every tense or anxious thought about your health. Think of every cell of your body being filled with the pure life of God; think of every organ, cell and nerve as blessed and harmonized by God’s presence in you as healing life, and know that you are one with God, that through this oneness you are part of an unbroken flow of life, circulating constantly, steadily, regularly through you, healing, flowing, healing, flowing, for “in Him we live and move and have our being.”

If you could envision your life as a tapestry and yourself as the weaver, you could begin to see how every experience has added something to the picture of the whole. Even the experiences that you have resisted and resented have added to its depth and strength. You cannot see the complete design, but by knowing that the experiences of today will blend with the experiences of tomorrow, even as they blended with the experiences of yesterday, they will form a beautiful and satisfying pattern of good. Let each day, each experience, in the spirit of a creative artist with faith in yourself and the pattern of life that you are weaving in ways perhaps you cannot completely understand, let it be that all things work together for good.

The whole presence and power of God lives within you, and would have you rise and walk in pleasantness and peace. When you become completely immersed in the sea of healing and renewing life, you feel waves of vitalizing energy radiating in your entire being, you feel the warm, radiating life of Spirit flowing through you as it floods your consciousness with peace and joy. It vitalizes your body temple, making it every whit whole. No matter where you are, no matter what challenge you have to meet or situation to undergo, you are never in any way separated from this divine flow. No matter what you are going through right now, you can be sure that God is with you as a guiding hand, a healing influence and flow.

Don’t ask yourself why things are the way they are. Rather than ask why, face the fact that any need for harmony or healing reveals the need for a closer attunement with the divine flow, the need for a greater realization of oneness with all good, the need for an increase of faith, the need for more time in quiet reflection and prayer.

Healing comes through oneness with the divine flow. Open your consciousness to this flow. Turn all of your mind and heart to this healing flow that is moving from within your being. As you lift your thoughts to this consciousness, feel your body temple being filled with health and harmony, feel every nerve and cell being charged with glorious life that continually rebuilds and revitalizes after the pattern of perfection that is in the divine plan for you.

Be still, and consciously feel life tingling within you, in every nerve, cell and organ of your body. Feel the warm, soothing, adjusting, cleansing power of this flow of life bubbling up within you. Open your mind and heart to the healing flow of God-life. Clear away any obstruction of thought or feeling or belief in anything that would accept something less than perfection by quietly, persistently affirming that you are an open channel for the healing flow of life.

Gently know that the life and peace of God permeates your entire being right now, and quietly rest in the assurance that you are healed no matter what the outer condition seems to be. Take firm hold of the promise and belief, “I will restore health to you and your wounds I will heal.” (Jeremiah 30:17) Rejoice that the Spirit in you is the activity of God in you and that you are one with this divine flow. Right now, know that God’s infinite life and wisdom is permeating every part of your being and every part of your life and affairs. Give thanks that God’s wisdom and intelligence are constantly guiding you, that His love is harmonizing you and blessing every detail of your life. You are now established in the divine flow; you are healed, renewed and restored.

Remember, God is Blessing You, Right Now!

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

Feel free to share this article in its entirety with a friend. You may also reproduce and publish this article if you also include this reference box. Thank you!

If you’d like to receive “Rich Words,” featuring weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at www.alanrowbotham.com
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There is an ancient scriptural Truth that should be pasted on the medicine cabinet of every home: “Thou dost keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee.” (Isa. 26:3) This could be altered to read: “Thou dost keep her in perfect health whose mind is stayed on the idea that God is the healing power of nature, that God is ever with her and in her as the limitless healing and sustaining influence.” You see, LIFE is the gift of the infinite to you. You can’t get away from it. It has hold of you and it will never let you go.

Life itself is whole, complete, perfect. Life never gets sick or tired. But you can mobilize and use this gift of life in the way you choose. If you think you are weak and sickly, then that is the way you will draw upon, and use, life. You live in a world of your own making. Much depends upon what you give your mind to think about. Paul said, and I paraphrase, “Whatever is good and pure and lovely, think on these things.” (Phil. 4:8)

It requires a lot of real discipline and self-control to meet the challenges of life with peace and poise and with a positive attitude of mind. But you have no other choice. A healthy mind is essential if you would have a healthy body. It may well be more important what you give your mind for breakfast than what you give your body. Interestingly, I just received an email from fellow Unity ministers Lauren and John Mclaughlin to say that, for the past 90 days, both of them have been experiencing what John calls “opportunities to heal.” They said they accepted many of those opportunities as they worked their way through their challenges.

It’s good to remember that you have a built-in capacity for health and for the healing of the ills that have intruded their way into your system. But you must cooperate with God and also with the physical body. There are certain built-in control mechanisms that determine the needs of the body, either the need for rest or for nutrients. When functioning properly, this mechanism will lead us to desire sleep or this or that good through which the needs may be filled.

It is well to have faith in the innate perfection of the body, perhaps even to declare that the body is the temple of the living God, and then to let the inner spirit guide us in the right and wise use of mind and body. There is a wisdom within that will keep us balanced in wise action, if we believe in it and act upn the belief.

There is probably nothing more effective than the healing therapy of joy. Happiness is something too many people take for granted. Either you are happy or you’re not, and there is nothing you can do about it – so the thinking goes. But there is so much more involved. Joy is an instrument we can learn to play, like the violin or the piano. If we studied happiness and delved into it the way we do the various disease symptoms that are in vogue today, we would have less discontent – and we would find it easy to release the free flow of life.

A happy heart, a cheerful countenance, and a smiling face – all are concomitants of health. We need to have the liberating, harmonizing currents of love and  joy awakened within us. The key is to get the mind lifted up on a new level of consciousness. Start the day with a song – even when you don’t feel much like singing. Make joy your way of life.

Did you ever notice that when a person does something that is relaxing and enjoyable, he or she may say, “Ah, this is the life!” Remember, the potential for abundant life is always within you. You must express it. So, every day of your life, no matter what lies before you, declare with enthusiasm, “AH, THIS IS THE LIFE!” And feel good about it.

Begin every day with a song. Know that the body is the temple of the living God. Give thanks with joy that an Infinite intelligence within you guides you in what you eat, how you exercise, and in the complete and whole expression of life itself.

Remember, God is Blessing You Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

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

Feel free to share this article in its entirety with a friend. You may also reproduce and publish this article if you also include this reference box. Thank you!

If you’d like to receive “Rich Words,” featuring weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at www.alanrowbotham.com
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Today, Thursday, March 31, is the twentieth day of Lent. Lent is the period of time during which we can prepare ourselves for the Easter experience. 
 

Assignment 20
 
Your body is a precious gift of God. It is your most prized possession. Through your body you express the thoughts and ideas and ideals of your mind. We are to love and cherish our bodies, for not to be privileged to express in the outer is real hell. Many people live in a hell of frustration.
 
Frustration is to live in vain, and to be defeated in bringing about our purpose. We have been given our bodies and lives to fulfill a special pattern.
 
We have belittled our bodies, talked against them, been ashamed of them, condemned them and subjected them to the power of ignorant thought. We have believed our bodies were evil and that in order to have freedom, we must cleanse them, or change them. In this cleansing and changing of that which was created perfect and for a special purpose, we have shut off the free flow of life, and sickness and disease run riot.
 
We must set our body free in our minds, we must teach ourselves the beauty of the body temple, for it is the outer expression of the “temple not made with hands, for God made everything good and we are curiously wrought, fearfully and wonderfully made.” Healing is not seeing and treating a so-called illness. It is a natural function of the body, like breathing.
 
With worry, fear, anxieties, apprehension, and loneliness plus our beliefs in the body being possessed of the devil, we have interfered with the true action of life. It has caused pressures, stoppage, and partial paralysis of the natural functions and even caused people to go out of their minds.
 
“You body is the temple of God and the Spirit of God dwells in it.” (I Cor. 3) To know this is to ensure health and freedom. The body is wonderfully obedient to a happy, joyous, carefree mind. To “care” for the body is not just in exercise, eating, and sleeping. The greatest healing power is the letting go of the body mind.
 
Take up new ideas, new interest, new love, new effort, and “take no thought for your physical life.” Leave the pain and discomfort, and trust the wisdom of your body to renew and recreate. Forget your body in the joy of living!
 
 
(This series of Lenten messages was first developed by Unity minister Dr. Sue Sikking, founder of Unity-by-the-Sea, Santa Monica, California, author of God Always Says Yes and Seed of the New Age.)
 
 
God is Blessing You, Right Now!
 
Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham
 
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Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over thirty-nine years, invites you to subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, Spiritual Solutions, at www.spiritualsolutionsblog.com
 
To subscribe for free weekday inspirational quotes, Rich Words, go to www.alanrowbotham.com
 
Feel free to share this article in its entirety with a friend.
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This article, Praying for Others, is one that I wrote and published on my blog in March, 2008, as part of a series on Prayer, but I thought it worth reviving and revising a little to bring it to you again for your consideration:

Sometimes we are inclined to try to change one another. We want the other person to become what we would like them to be. We even do that in prayer too. We want to change the other person, to give them our wisdom, and to have them to see it our way.

Whenever I pray for other people, I notice that when a change occurs in me then a change often occurs in the situation I’m praying about. If we are to pray for others we must first pray for ourselves, putting ourselves consciously in God’s presence. When we make that contact within ourselves, within our own hearts, then the situations in our lives are affected in positive ways.

There’s a wonderful story that’s told in three of the gospels. It’s the story about a woman who came pushing through the crowd toward Jesus just to touch the hem of his garment.

Given the crowd around Jesus, many people must have touched him; but he felt the woman’s touch and turned around. He said, “Who touched me?” The woman hid at first; they couldn’t find her. Then she came forward and he told her, “Your faith has made you whole!”

Until that woman touched him Jesus hadn’t been aware of her. He was focused on the consciousness of God’s presence. And out of that consciousness the power came through him to bring about healing in the woman who touched him.

He was a conduit, or contact, for healing.

When we pray for ourselves and feel our oneness with God, we too can be that kind of contact for someone. But the first thing is to pray for ourselves, to put ourselves in a consciousness of God.

Our purpose in prayer is to unify ourselves with God, to become one with God. Then we can be a conduit or contact for others as well. Imagine a wire, a light, and the power. We are like the wire. The wire cannot do anything of itself but it is the contact for the power to come through to bring the light. So my work, and yours, as the “wire,” is to seek to know God’s presence.

As I make that contact, then the power flows through me to bring light into my world, into the situations in my life, and into the lives of others for whom I pray. And those who are in contact with me are touched by the light.

I must first be in a consciousness of oneness with God before any effect is felt, before any power is transferred through me. It is not through the power of my thinking, because there is no power in my thinking; the power is the power of God.

People often talk about how we influence others by our thoughts, and in prayer they try “to send” their thoughts to others. That is a wrong concept of the role of thought, especially the role of thought in prayer. We do not “send” our thoughts to others; there is no power in our thoughts that we send to others to try to influence them.

The power is the power of God; that’s the only thing that can bring about change. Our work in the role of thought is to get ourselves in the right consciousness, in the right place; to elevate our thoughts first. Then we are able to enfold those for whom we pray in the realization of God’s presence.

There is a role of thought, that is for sure, but it is for us to bring about change in ourselves.

Whenever the “hem of the garment” has been touched, whenever that contact has been made, then we know. It is as though God leaves His footprint, and flowers spring up. Someone is healed, or a situation changes, or a poem is written, or a new insight comes. It comes out of the contact we make within ourselves. We come into that place as we begin to take right thought within ourselves, as we reach for God’s presence within.

When I say “reach,” I don’t mean to say we have to “reach out” somewhere. God’s presence is right there within us all the time. And God’s presence is also right there within the other person for whom you are praying.

So we reach inward for God’s presence, and we think of the things that are of God.

The apostle Paul said it in a very appropriate way, recorded in Philippians 4:8:

“Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” These are the things we are to think about as we raise ourselves into the consciousness of God.

So we build our consciousness first. That’s what thought is for.

Prayer is an act of thought, yes. But more than that, prayer is an act of love. Love frees, love does not bind; love does not possess, love does not say “I wish you to do things this way” or “I want you to do things the way I want you to do them.”

Love doesn’t do that. Love frees you to the law of growth in your own uniqueness.

True prayer is a prayer of the heart, isn’t it? It’s a prayer of love.

In the Buddhist tradition, there are several stories where the savior is represented as a steed that soars across the skies over the ocean of life rescuing shipwrecked sailors.

In one story there are some sailors that have gone on a journey to the Island of Jewel and they have stopped at another island. On this island there is a band of seductresses, and the sailors get caught up with them and stay there.

The problem is that these seductresses are sirens; they are man-eating monsters and consume the sailors.

Every once in a while in the story the steed, which is called Cloud, appears over the island and calls to the sailors to mount upon his back. He flies off and takes them to safety, but they must not look back or else they will fall off.

So Cloud, the steed, does not save the sailors by sending his thoughts to them. He may extend compassion and love to them, but he really saves them by perfecting his own flight.

That’s what Jesus meant when he said, “I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto myself.”

We must perfect our flight. Then, as we are lifted up, we also lift up others.

If you want to pray for someone, to help them, to heal them, to bless them, then first reach for God’s presence within you knowing that same presence is in the other person.

Realize that God’s perfection is everywhere present, as much in you as in the other person. God’s perfection is there, God’s abundance is there. It is not absent, it’s already present. Get in a consciousness of that perfection. If you wish, see the person in your mind’s eye as enfolded in God’s perfection.

Then feel the person in your heart, in love. Because it’s the love that really makes the connection. And love does its perfect work. It casts out fear. When we are in love, we are one with one another.

I was reading an article by Bill Moyers about a retreat place for people who have cancer. The place is called Commonweal, just north of San Francisco, on the Point Reyes National Seashore.

He told about his experience there. He said that people were coming together and just loving each other, sharing their stories and being recognized as a person. Not as a person who has something wrong with them, but simply as a person.

They loved each other, massaged each other, touched each other, and told each other their stories.

Bill Moyers said there was such a feeling of love there and healings were taking place there, because of the love and caring.

The prayer that heals is the prayer of the heart, the prayer of love.

When we pray from the heart then we are one with the other, and one with God. When we pray with the heart then we are in the “secret place of the Most High.” Only love can enter there, because God is love.

It is the mansion of miracles.

Remember that Jesus said, “In my Father’s house are many mansions.” It is the creative house of life, the creative house of the Spirit within you; it is that secret place of the heart where we are all one and where there are no differences.

So if you want to pray a prayer that will help someone, pray the prayer of the heart, pray the prayer of love.

“In my Father’s house are many mansions.” No one is left out; that’s what Jesus meant.

No one is ever left out of our Father’s heart. When we pray the prayer of the heart, no one is ever left out. No one is shut out in prayer. I never pray only for myself, even when I pray for myself.

Whenever you pray, whether it is for yourself or another, no one is ever shut out. You always lift others. You always make contact, if you pray the prayer of the heart. And something changes. The hem of the garment is touched.

As you lift up your life, you also lift up the lives of others.

Remember, God is Blessing You, Right Now!

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

Feel free to share this article in its entirety with a friend. You may also reproduce and publish this article if you also include this reference box. Thank you!

If you’d like to receive “Rich Words,” featuring weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at
www.alanrowbotham.com

Special thanks to those of you who have sent tithes or love offerings for “Spiritual Solutions.” I am very grateful for your generosity.
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The following is an excellent article by author Louise Hay that highlights the very important principle of forgiveness. The article has some very simple yet effective exercises you can use. I encourage you to put them into practice.

 Held Back By Your Past? – By Louise L. Hay

Many people come to me and say they cannot enjoy today because of something that happened in the past.

Because they did not do something or do it in a certain way in the past, they cannot live a full life today…

Because they no longer have something they had in the past, they cannot enjoy today…

Because they were hurt in the past, they will not accept love now…

Because something unpleasant happened when they did something once, they are sure it will happen again today…

Because they once did something that they are sorry for, they are sure they are bad people forever…

Because once someone did something to them, it is now all the other person’s fault that their life is not where they want it to be…

Because they became angry over a situation in the past, they will hold on to that self-righteousness…

Because of some very old experience where they were treated badly, they will never forgive and forget…

Because I did not get invited to the high school prom, I cannot enjoy life today.

Because I did poorly at my first audition, I will be terrified of auditions forever.

Because I am no longer married, I cannot live a full life today.

Because I was hurt by a remark once, I will never trust anyone again.

Because I stole  something once, I must  punish  myself forever.

Because I was poor as a child, I will never get anywhere.

What we often refuse to realize is that holding on to the past, no matter what it was or how awful it was, is ONLY HURTING US.  They really don’t care. Usually, they are not even aware. We are only hurting ourselves by refusing to live in this moment to the fullest.

The past is over and done and cannot be changed. This is the only moment we can experience. Even when we lament about the past,  we  are experiencing our memory of it in this moment, and  losing  the  real  experience  of  this  moment  in the process.
 

Exercise: Releasing

Let us now clean up the past in our minds. Release the emotional attachment to it. Allow the memories to be just memories.

If you think back to what you used to wear in the third grade, usually there is no emotional attachment. It’s just a memory.

It can be the same for all of the past events in our lives.
As we let go, we become free to use all of our mental power to enjoy this moment and to create a great future.

List all the things you are willing to let go of. How willing are you to do this? Notice your reactions. What will you have to do to let these things go? How willing are you to do so? What is your resistance level?

Forgiveness

Next step, forgiveness.  Forgiveness of ourselves and of others releases us from the past. The Course in Miracles says over and over that forgiveness is the answer to almost everything.  I know that when we are stuck, it usually means there is some more forgiving to be done. When we do not flow freely with life in the present moment, it usually means we are holding on to a past moment. It can be regret, sadness, hurt, fear,  or guilt, blame, anger, resentment, and sometimes  even  the  desire  for revenge. Each one of these states comes from a space of unforgiveness, a refusal to let go and come into the present moment.

Love is always the answer to healing of any sort. And the pathway to love is forgiveness.  Forgiveness dissolves resentment. There are several ways in which I approach this.

Exercise: Dissolving Resentment

There is an old Emmet Fox exercise for dissolving resentment that always works. He recommends that you sit quietly, close your  eyes,  and  allow  your  mind and body to relax. Then, imagine yourself sitting in a darkened theater, and in front of you is a small stage. On that stage, place the person you resent the most. It could be someone in the past or present, living or dead. When you see this person clearly, visualize good things happening to this person, things that would be meaningful to her. See her smiling and happy.

Hold  this image for a few minutes, then let it fade away. I like to add another step. As this person leaves the stage, put yourself up there. See good things happening to you. See yourself smiling and happy. Be aware that the abundance of the Universe is available to all of us.

The above exercise dissolves the dark clouds of resentment most of us carry. For some, it will be very difficult to do. Each time you do it, you may get a different person. Do it once a day for a month, and notice how much lighter you feel.

Exercise: Revenge

Those on the spiritual pathway know the importance of forgiveness.  For  some  of  us,  there  is  a  step that is necessary  before  we  can  totally  forgive.  Sometimes the little kid in us needs to have revenge before it is free to forgive. For that, this exercise is very helpful.

Close your eyes, sit quietly and peacefully. Think of the people who are hardest to forgive. What would you really like to do to them?  What do they need to do to get your forgiveness?  Imagine that happening now.  Get into the details. How long do you want them to suffer or do penance?

When you feel complete, condense time and let it be over forever.  Usually at this point you feel lighter, and it is easier to think about forgiveness. To indulge in this every day would  not  be good for you. To do it once as a closing exercise can be freeing.

Exercise: Forgiveness

Now we are ready to forgive. Do this exercise with a partner if you can, or do it out loud if you are alone.

Again,  sit  quietly  with  your  eyes  closed and say, “The person  I  need  to forgive is ___________ and I forgive you for ___________.”

Do this over and over. You will have many things to forgive some for and only one or two to forgive others for. If you have a partner, let him say to you, “Thank you, I set you free now.”  If you do not, then imagine the person you are forgiving saying it to you. Do this for at least five or ten minutes.  Search your heart for the injustices you still carry. Then let them go.

When you have cleared as much as you can for now, turn your attention to yourself. Say out loud to yourself, “I forgive myself for ___________.”

Do this for another five minutes or so. These are powerful exercises and good to do at least once a week to clear out any remaining rubbish. Some experiences are easy to let go and some we have to chip away at, until suddenly one day they let go and dissolve.

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About the Author
Excerpted from You Can Heal Your Life, ©1999 by Louise L. Hay. Louise L. Hay is a metaphysical lecturer and teacher and the best selling author of 27 books, including You Can Heal Your Life and Empowering Women. Her works have been translated into 25 different languages in 33 countries throughout the world. Since beginning her career as a Science of Mind minister in 1981, Louise has assisted thousands of people in discovering and using the full potential of their own creative powers for personal growth and self-healing. Louise is the owner and founder of Hay House, Inc., a publishing company that disseminates books, audios and videos that contribute to the healing of the planet. To learn more, visit Hay House: www.hayhouse.com
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Remember, God is Blessing You, Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

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Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over thirty-eight years, invites you to subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, Spiritual Solutions.

Please feel free to publish this article in your blog or newsletter or share it with a friend, as long as you include this resource box.

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When I think of healing I my thoughts go the example of Myrtle Fillmore, co-founder of Unity, and her experience of healing.

She had been told that she had tuberculosis, which was then considered an incurable disease. She was given just six months to live. Her husband, a Kansas City realtor, took her to attend a metaphysical lecture. At that time, the Fillmores knew nothing about the power of thought to heal, but were desperately willing to consider any constructive technique that might restore health.

At the lecture the speaker said, “You are a child of God; therefore, you do not inherit sickness.” This statement came as a revelation to Myrtle, who had been told she had probably inherited the tuberculosis, and led her to start thinking about her body in a different way. In the pamphlet, How I Found Health, Mrs. Fillmore said, “I have made what seems to me a discovery. I was fearfully sick; I had all the ills of mind and body that I could bear. Medicine and doctors had ceased to give me relief, and I was in despair when I found practical Christianity. I took it up and I was healed. I did most of the healing myself, because I wanted the understanding for future use.”

She said she was thinking about life, and she was led to this realization: “Life is simply a form of energy, and has to be guided and directed in man’s body by his intelligence. How do we communicate with intelligence? By thinking and talking, of course. Then it flashed upon me that I might talk to the life in every part of my body and have it do just what I wanted. I began to teach my body and got marvelous results. . . .

“I went to all the life centers in my body and spoke words of Truth to them – words of strength and power. I asked their forgiveness for the foolish, ignorant course that I had pursued in the past when I had condemned them and called them weak, inefficient, and diseased. I did not become discouraged at their being slow to wake up, but kept right on, both silently and aloud, declaring the words of Truth, until the organs responded.”

Her health improved, and within two years Myrtle Fillmore was completely well. She lived another forty happy, active, years.
In Letters of Myrtle Fillmore, responding to her correspondents she wrote:

“First of all, in seeking a way to health we need to see clearly that God is omnipresent, as omnipresent as the very life in which we live and move and have our being; as the very substance out of which our body is formed and nourished; as the very intelligence that is within us, in every nerve and brain cell and structure of the body; as the very love that draws together and holds in perfect harmony (if we will only allow it) all the elements of our being; as the very light that radiates through us to bless and help others, the light that enables us to understand ourselves and others and all God’s creation, so that we may always think the Truth, the true state of all the creation.”

“In seeking the way to health we are to pray for an understanding of our oneness with God, to claim it. We are to study this relationship so that we may know how to lay hold of the abundant life and intelligence and substance and love of God, and build these into our soul and our body, that we may perfect our expression.”

“The way to healing is first of all to re-educate the mind and establish the Truth in all the faculties; then to see the reality of the body and its functions and to stamp every part with the perfect pattern, which is God-given and known as the Christ man, the out-picturing of the Christ ideas in individual consciousness; then to study the living habits and make them conform to the truth that good only is real and abiding and truly active.”

The power that heals is God. But what does that mean? The insight that is slowly being revealed through all the remarkable work being done in the various fields of experimentation is that the power that heals is the power of the whole. Back in the sixteenth century, Giordano Bruno had this realization: “Nature is a living unity of living units, in each of which the power of the whole is present.”

The activity of the whole is always seeking to bring wholeness to the part. It is the power that heals . . . and it is God; it is God as Spirit that is omnipresent as a process. The power that heals is always present as a dynamic Presence. The power that heals is the power of the whole within the person.

Father Symeon Burholt, master of novices at St. Mary’s Monastery, a Catholic contemporary community in Massachusetts, who has made study of the Greek fathers and C. G. Jung, says, “. . . the belief that God has overflowing life and energy is vital not only for a right understanding of God but also for knowing what it means to be a human being, since the human person is seen as made for participation in the divine energy. . . . We become and manifest who we really are to the extent that we realize our potentialities.” And “The world is radiant with God’s presence, with divine energy. He is dynamically present in all things as their creator and all things participate in the divine energy . . .”

Keep reminding yourself that the power that heals is the power of the whole that is present in every cell of your body. Take charge of your life by keeping control of your mind. Commit yourself every day to keeping your mind stayed on God, that power that heals that is always present.

The power that heals is within you, and it is always present, regardless of the appearance of things. The healing prayer is simply to acknowledge the power.

Remember, “Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily.” (Is. 58:8)

God is Blessing You, Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

—————————————————–             

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over thirty-eight years, invites you to subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, Spiritual Solutions.

Please feel free to publish this article in your blog or newsletter or share it with a friend, as long as you include this resource box.

If you’d like to receive weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at Rich Words.

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You have a healing power deep within your soul!

You are a child of God, a child of the Universe, an individualized expression of the Most High. In God you live and move and have your being; in the Universe you live and move and have your being. God dwells within you; the Universe dwells within you. The whole Universe walks with you; you do not walk the path of your life alone. The Universe is dynamically involved in you; its dynamic flow is always expressing as you. Thus you are always in touch with the flow of healing power.

Once you capture the idea that you are a whole creature, a child of the Universe, the very expression of the Universal stream of life, you will not be satisfied until you find improvement in health. As one example of this dynamic connection, Myrtle Fillmore, co-founder of the Unity movement, after a medical verdict that she only had a few months to live from terminal tuberculosis, got in touch with the flow of healing life and went on to live a full life for more than forty years.

It has been said that God is a circle whose center is everywhere. Know that God is a circle that is centered in you. All the attributes of the Infinite are in focus as you, flowing forth through you. You are in this flow right now. Indeed, you are this flow at the point where you are. Thus you are a child of the Universe, a Son or Daughter of God.

Meditate on this tremendous insight. It means that you are created in the image-likeness of an infinite idea. No matter what other influences may have left their mark on you from the outside, there is that of you that is begotten only of God, which is forever the divine flow from the inside.

You can be healed. You can be healed because you are whole! You have a healing power deep within your soul. Appearances may limit your judgment and your faith but the fundamental Truth remains: you are a child of the Universe, and spiritually you can never be cut off from the stream of life, what Solomon (Song of Sol. 4:15) and Jesus called “living water” and “a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:10, 14)

Early in the morning, take a few moments to “wait on the Lord,” to get yourself plugged in as it were. You can even do this while you are still in bed, before you get involved in the day’s activities. The current of life is within you as always, but you need to consciously get your thoughts on the right side. First, focusing in on your breath, affirm for yourself, “With every breath I breathe, I breathe the breath of God, and I am healed.”

Then you can also affirm something like this: “I am in the flow of life itself, and I move easily with the flow. I am free from tension, stress, and strain and I go forward in the flow, unhurried and unworried. I am radiantly and enthusiastically alive.” Finally, affirm, “I am a child of the Universe, established eternally in the healing stream of life. I am strengthened, renewed, restored, and made whole in every way.”

You can be healed! Remember that the healing stream is constant, not present only when you affirm that it is working. The need is not to overcome illness, but simply to open up the way whereby you get into the eternal flow of life. You have a healing power deep within your soul. You have a healing power ready to unfold, right where you are.

Remember, God is Blessing You Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

—————————————————–             

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over thirty-eight years, invites you to subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, Spiritual Solutions.

Please feel free to publish this article in your blog or newsletter or share it with a friend, as long as you include this resource box.

If you’d like to receive weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at Rich Words.

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Are you bogged down in the belief in sickness and impotence? Then right now bring yourself to the present moment, and become aware that you can use your God given dominion over all things. God’s spirit of life, dynamic energizing life, dwells within you. It is there, and you have only to call it forth, put it into action, and you will begin to manifest perfect health in spirit, mind, and body.

Perhaps you have allowed yourself to be handicapped by fear and indecision. The first thing to do is to take your mind off the problem and perplexities and fix your faith in God. When you place your affairs in the Father’s loving care, all anxieties cease. Worrying incapacitates us for meeting life’s crises.

Use your faith, declare your dominion now. In II Corinthians 6:2 we read, “Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” And Jesus said, “Do you not say, ‘There are four months, then comes the harvest’? I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see how the fields are already white for harvest.” (John 4:35)

Instead of having faith that sometime in the future your healing might take place, you can exercise your faith now, give thanks that your healing is already taking place and accept it now. “This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” (Ps. 118:24)

God is ever with you. Let Him quicken your mind, put the proper tools in your hands and lead you in the right decision. Through the guidance of the indwelling power of God you will be able to say the right word and do the right thing in every situation that may confront you.

If you seem to be weighed down by some circumstance, a steadfast faith in God will help you to lift up your head and to face the situation unafraid and confident. God’s omnipotent power is yours. God’s love surrounds you. His light is within you to guide you.

Perhaps you’ve allowed yourself to be fettered by hatred, resentment or suspicion. Turn your eyes instead upon the blessings of life and the blessedness of other human beings. If you feel that you’ve been treated unfairly, misused, or abused, it‘s time to exercise forgiveness. Then put it out of your mind. The only reality in any situation is the thought we have concerning it, the way we feel about it. This is the law of life.

“Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honorable, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely . . . think on these things.” (Phil. 4:8) Put the unpleasant thoughts right out of your mind by thinking of God’s goodness and greatness and love. Bless the person who has seemingly injured you. Behold the Christ in him or her.

Could it be that you have neglected the power of prayer? Prayer is the open sesame to the joys and riches of the kingdom, and yet we fail to use it.

Many marvelous answers to prayer have been outlined through the spontaneous faith of persons utterly unlearned in theology, psychology or metaphysics.

Remember the woman who came to Jesus for healing, hoping to push through the crowd to touch the hem of his garment without speaking or even being blessed by him? She probably knew nothing about the working of faith, but she had the secret of prayer. She had absolute faith, the courage to act, and the simplicity to accept. She used the necessary means. She believed if she could but touch the master, the healing would follow. And, confident in that faith, she pressed on, touched him, and was healed.

Simplicity of faith is the thing that always gets an answer, sometimes in the form of immediate, even seeming miraculous results. Sometimes, it may come slowly. Sometimes we lose patience and our faith grows weak. If we become faint hearted and fall back in our faith, then we must try again. Long years of wrong thinking, of imperfect practice, have often made deep grooves in the brain. It takes effort and continued practice before change.

Don’t be discouraged. Never give up. Keep faith in the latent powers within you. Remember those who have overcome insurmountable handicaps, and keep constantly in mind that you too can overcome. And you don’t have to wait. Whether your faith is small or great it is the key to riches of which you never dreamed. Remind yourself that “now is the acceptable time.”

Remember, God is Blessing You, Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

—————————————————–             

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over thirty-eight years, invites you to subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, Spiritual Solutions.

Please feel free to publish this article in your blog or newsletter or share it with a friend, as long as you include this resource box.

If you’d like to receive weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at Rich Words.

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We can use our power of awareness to bring about healing in our lives.

Awareness is all-powerful. We create our universe through our awareness. We think of the universe as being out there and that’s what it is, that’s the reality. But the reality is that you create it from within yourself, and the universe is different for different people. You may see a friendly universe, another may see a universe that is not so friendly, and yet another may experience a terrible universe. It all starts within you.

There are two components of awareness. One is attention. When we give our attention to that which is negative, critical, or judgmental, then we tend to bring about in our world those negative situations that confirm our views. We see our world in a negative way, and then we have a bad experience in our world.

However, if we are purposeful and positive in our attention, and we give our attention to good outcomes and a sense of joy and friendliness in our universe, we tend to bring about in our experience health and wholeness, peace, joy, and harmony, all of the good things we would like to experience.

So the attention is an important aspect of awareness. As we become conscious of the power of our awareness, we can use it consciously to bring about that which we would want to experience in our lives.

By opening to an expanded awareness of the underlying reality of your life, which we call God, you become more fully aware that this reality is continuous and ever-present, equally present at all points in time and space. You give attention to that, and your intentions move to bring about right outcomes.

Years ago – in 1969, when Kathryn and I were first in ministerial school, there was something going on in a town close by there that was very significant in our understanding of the mind. It was at the Menninger Clinic, in Topeka, Kansas, where Elmer Green was performing experiments with an Indian spiritual adept called Swami Rama. Swami Rama had the ability to be able to voluntarily control the involuntary processes within his body, such as his blood pressure, his heartbeat and the rate of his heartbeat. He was able to raise the rate of his heartbeat or lower it just by giving attention and intention to it.

Elmer Green came to the ministerial school on more than one occasion to work with the students, and Kathryn will remember this. We were wired up with very primitive biofeedback equipment; that was the very beginning biofeedback equipment. We were wired up with electrodes on our hands and on our temples and we were invited to let our right hand become warm. And as we let our right hand become warm, we could see on the indicator scale that we were wired up to that temperature in our right hand going up as we voluntarily paid attention and intended to let the temperature rise in our right hand. In our left hand we were invited to let the temperature reduce, and on that indicator scale we could see the temperature going down. There was a difference of as much as five or six degrees from one hand to the other.

Why is this important? It’s important because this is the way the universe operates. As we give our attention and intention then we are able to affect how our universe works for us, because results follow upon intentions. The slightest intentions we have, the desires we have, bring about results. All desires bring about results.

So this is important for us to realize. That which we thought was involuntary, we can accept as being voluntary. Not only for the inner processes of our bodies, where we can focus our attention on that which needs healing and help to bring about that healing, but also in our outer world – which is connected to us. Remember that the underlying reality is everywhere and equally present in its entirety at every point in space and time.

So every part of God is present, meaning that all infinite intelligence is present where we are. So you can say, “Wherever I am, God is.” Wherever we are, infinite intelligence is also; and infinite intelligence responds to our attention and intention. As we expand our awareness, then we are able to bring about a more beneficial world for ourselves, for our loved ones and for our world in general.

What are you giving your attention to? The attention is first, and then the intentions follow that attention. The intention is the active part.

I’d like to suggest seven steps for you to take and apply to yourself:

1. Sit quietly and relax your mind, calm your whole being – because this doesn’t happen if you get anxious about it. Your intentions are interrupted by your anxieties, worries, and doubts. We have to be relaxed in mind and in a very natural way just focus our attention.

2. Intend the outcome that you want. Be specific about it. What is it you want? And do it in a natural way, in a gentle way, such as visualizing it or maybe verbalizing it through an affirmation (I have more vigor, more energy, greater health, etc.) You are intending an outcome.

3. Don’t get bogged down in the details of how it’s going to come about. Don’t force it or concentrate too hard. Just let it be very natural as though you were getting a glass of water or lifting your arm or whatever, just a natural movement of intending that outcome.

4. Expect and believe in the outcome, know that it is certain.

5. Realize that doubt and worry and attachment interfere with the process, interfere with your success. Those are the three biggest obstacles in us achieving our desires: worry, anxiety, and doubt. So we need to eliminate those.

6. Let go of the desire. Let go of it once you’ve identified it, you’ve put it out there. It’s like mailing a letter; you don’t have to do it twice. Just let it go, and wait for the result to come back.

7. This is a very important step. Be open to the feedback you receive. That’s where your awareness comes in again, because sometimes feedback comes in unexpected ways and can come either from within us or from our environment. But remember that any feedback you get, it is you who has elicited that feedback. It is coming because of the intention you put out. 

These are the steps, and that last step is really important.

This awareness is one of the healing secrets of the universe. One of your highest purposes is to be clear in your awareness of your oneness with the underlying reality of your life, the very presence of the living God. Be aware of that, and be aware of what you are giving attention to; then follow that by giving your intention to what you want to have happen in your life.

“Every good desire of the heart shall be fulfilled, either in ways we anticipate or in other ways that in God’s sight are even better.” – Ernest Wilson

God is Blessing You, Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

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