Tag: love

The Heart of the Matter

YouTube: The Heart of the Matter

When a challenge disturbs me—sparking anger, fear, resentment, or resistance—I try to pause long enough to ask two productive questions:

  • Who is this “me” that is responding in this way?
  • What obligates me to maintain and reinforce this version of myself?

I admit that this kind of spiritually grounded response is not usually my first reaction. My human self often wants to send the problem packing and get on with the day. Yet these moments are invitations. They reveal not the truth of who I am, but the part of my self-image that feels threatened.

It is rarely useful to attempt to answer the first question in the heat of reaction. In that moment, the temptation is to blame the appearance and try to remove it. A better approach is to take the response into a quiet, private place and observe the one within me who is doing the reacting.

This “me” feels threatened because it sees itself as separate from the fullness of its spiritual resources. The corrective step is not necessarily to eliminate the outer problem, but to release the identity that feels endangered by it. The goal is simple and freeing: the appearance may still be present, but I no longer have to be ruled by it.

This leads naturally to the second question: Am I obligated to keep defending this limited version of myself? The answer is no. I am free to rise above that level of response.

This practice does not avoid action. I may still need to seek clarification, offer an apology, set a boundary, or take a practical next step. But I can do so from a larger, steadier place within myself rather than from fear or resentment.

If an issue is pressing upon you now, ask these two questions thoughtfully and honestly. You may discover that the path forward clears—not because everything outside has changed, but because something within has become freer.

Capture the Moment

YouTube: Capture the Moment

The phrase, capture the moment, is often associated with photography. When the shutter snaps, a fraction of a second is instantly frozen to be viewed and relived for years. If it weren’t for the camera, that fraction of a second would be gone forever.

How many fractions of seconds have passed that we’ve forgotten? In one of my songs I wrote, “The moment is eternal, but it slips away so fast, we rarely seize it.”

From a spiritual point of view, it should not be our objective to build an impeccable memory capable of retaining every moment. Our objective is to be present, as free of the past and anticipated future as possible. Greek philosopher, Heraclitus, said, “You cannot step twice into the same river.” The problem is not memory or anticipation of the future. Problems arise when we pollute the river with negative emotions from the past or anticipated fears of the future.

Many people live as prisoners of what has already happened or what might happen tomorrow. Regrets replay endlessly in the mind. Old wounds are reopened again and again. At the same time, imagined futures create anxiety that steals the peace of today. While the body exists in the present moment, the mind drifts somewhere else. In doing so, we miss the simple beauty directly in front of us.

Life is not experienced yesterday or tomorrow. It is experienced now. The laughter of a child, the sound of rain on a rooftop, the warmth of sunlight, or the quiet stillness of an early morning are all sacred moments waiting to be noticed. Most of life’s treasures are not hidden in dramatic events but in ordinary experiences we are too distracted to see.

To capture the moment spiritually is not to hold onto it, but to fully enter it while it is here. It is learning to listen deeply, love fully, and notice the holiness woven into everyday life. The present moment is the only place where peace can truly be found. Yesterday exists only as memory, and tomorrow exists only as imagination. But this moment—this breath, this heartbeat, this unfolding instant—is where life is actually taking place.

The Courage to Disappoint

YouTube: The Courage to Disappoint: Breaking the Approval Addiction

Many of us may agree with the scriptural idea that human beings are made in the image and likeness of God. Yet living from that belief can feel difficult. What makes sense intellectually does not always translate into daily experience, and we may sense a gap between the potential we affirm in principle and the reality we live day to day.

That gap is one reason it helps to distinguish between the soul and the self-image. The soul—your true Self—is an expression of God. The way you see yourself (your self-image), however, is shaped by many secondary, body-centered influences such as family, culture, gender, education, and social standing. Spiritual education is the process of closing the distance between this conditioned self-image and our true ground of being: the soul.

One common self-image is the “people-pleaser”—a pattern marked by an intense need for approval and validation. It often shows up as:

  • Difficulty expressing personal needs and desires
  • Overthinking and worrying about what others think
  • Minimizing achievements and brushing aside compliments

From a spiritual point of view, the goal is not to make the self-image more pleasing or acceptable to others. As Jesus observed, it does little good to gain the world at the cost of losing sight of the soul (Matthew 16:26). In other words: what do you gain by winning others’ approval if you lose self-acceptance in the process?

This is not an invitation to trade low self-esteem for an “in-your-face,” bulldozing personality. Rather, the most substantial catalyst for positive change is soul-level self-discovery. The need to please others is often the result of trying to live a meaningful life while making that life contingent on others’ approval.

When Jesus taught, “Seek first the kingdom, and all else will be added,” he was pointing to the importance of being true to yourself. Notice when you drift from that aim, and gently return to the truth of who and what you are. You may not please everyone—but you can become a steady presence and a genuine pleasure to yourself.

New Beginnings

YouTube: New Beginnings

Life unfolds in cycles. If you observe these cycles closely, you will notice there are times when things seem to be falling apart and other times when they are falling into place. We are often confronted with the familiar question: Is the cup half full, or is it half empty?

This question points to an important truth. The answer is not determined by the condition of the cup, but by how you are feeling at the moment you are viewing it. If you are optimistic and full of expectation, the cup appears half full. If you are feeling weak, vulnerable, or worn down by circumstances, the same cup will appear half empty.

Many spiritual teachers have embraced a simple principle: life is consciousness. The condition of the cup does not need to determine how you feel. When you determine how you feel, the condition of the cup often takes care of itself.

Have you noticed how, during a low moment, a single encouraging word—a phrase from a book or a line from scripture—can suddenly inspire a new way of seeing? A cup that looked half empty moments before now appears half full… and filling. Do not be discouraged during emotionally low moments. Refuse to set your course by these brief seasons of diminished vision.

Always remember that in the twinkling of an eye everything can change, simply because you allow yourself to change the way you see.

Each new moment holds the potential for a new beginning. It does not matter how negative you may have felt just moments ago—you can begin again now. Set a new energy in motion. Create a positive, encouraging affirmation and begin speaking it with joy and expectation, for these emotions lay the groundwork for transformation.

Refuse to see yourself as a victim of circumstance or personality. And when you slip back into a half-empty way of thinking, remember that life is dynamic. There is always reason to hold even the smallest glimmer of hope, affirming that the good you desire is already coming forth.

As we stand at the threshold of a new year, choose to see it not merely as half full, but as brimming with possibilities—many of them still unimagined.

Life that Flows, Love that Balances

YouTube: Life That Flows, Love That Balances

Jesus said, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” Abundance, in the mystical sense, is not measured in years or possessions but in awakened awareness—an inner recognition that the same vitality moving galaxies into being also breathes through us. Life is not something we possess; it is the universal energy expressing itself in every form. Stars, stones, and souls are all waves rising from one eternal ocean.

This field of life never begins and never ends. Forms appear and dissolve, but the underlying current remains untouched. What we call “death” is simply a change in expression, not a loss of life itself. To live abundantly is to recognize that the Eternal is present here and now, breathing through everything that exists.

Yet life alone does not complete the picture. The energy that animates creation also guides it, balancing and renewing all things through the law of divine love. Love is not sentiment or emotion but the active intelligence that draws to us what belongs to our wholeness and dissolves what does not. Jesus named this the greatest commandment—not as a moral burden, but as an invitation to trust the very nature of reality.

To love God is to trust the movement of divine order within our lives. To love our neighbor is to acknowledge this same movement in them. Love is always at work, even when unseen, restoring balance where confusion once held sway. When we stop resisting this flow—through forgiveness, humility, or simple willingness—we discover that love was already healing what we thought we had to fix.

Life gives us existence; love gives that existence meaning. One is the vitality at the heart of creation; the other is the intelligence that shapes it toward harmony. To awaken spiritually is to perceive both at once—to sense the living field beneath all things and to trust the love that continually renews them.

When we recognize that everything is alive and held in love’s eternal balance, we move gently, speak kindly, and live with the quiet confidence that we are part of something endless and whole.

This Matter of Life and Death

YouTube: This Matter of Life and Death

My fascination with near-death experiences stems from the insights they provide into the nature of the soul. Although these reports are primarily anecdotal, they reveal common themes. Two strikingly consistent themes that emerge are the advanced and immortal nature of the soul. It’s the closest we can come to eyewitness accounts of what it means to be a spiritual being.

Physical trauma, surgical complications, disease, and suicide are among the commonest causes of death. Of these, suicide is perhaps the most controversial. Some religions consider it a sin. However, those who survive it and return with a near-death experience, tell a different story. They’re not judged for their action. They are greeted with the same unconditional love all report. And, they are sent back, or choose to come back, to complete their reason for incarnating in the first place.

The impression we are given is that those who do not come back continue their journey in absolute love. Those who do come back are adamant in saying that suicide is not a viable option. Many will actually go into suicide counseling to help others consider alternatives.

Though life can be a struggle, those who have faced death, accompanied by an NDE, often experience a childlike rebirth. They gain a new perspective, shedding many of their self-imposed limitations. Most find a renewed zest for life. Nearly all lose their fear of death, which in turn, eliminates their fear of life itself.

In her New Thought classic, The Game of Life and How To Play It, Florence Scovel Shinn points out that life is not a battle of us against the world, but rather a game of giving and receiving. What we give to the world we receive back―whether that be the dark weight of fear and inhibition or the freedom of joy and empowerment.

This segment of our life that we are living now is our opportunity to discover how to do it well. If we have descended into a rut of the mundane, it may be time to give to the world a new message. It may be that our purpose for incarnating was to prove to ourselves that we could do it successfully. The good news is that the only time we can deal with this matter of life and death, is in each moment. Do that one right, and you’ve got it!

Embracing the Divine Masculine

YouTube: Embracing the Divine Masculine

For Mother’s Day we focused on the Divine Feminine, so it is good that we consider the Divine Masculine this Father’s Day.

As a reminder, with masculine and feminine references to spiritual concepts, we’re not talking about gender. We’re talking about the functions of mind. We associate the intuition with the feminine and the intellect with the masculine aspects of our being. I think of our intuition as the inlet to God and the intellect as the outlet. It is our primary interactive faculty with the material realm.

It’s probably fair to say that most people spend the lion’s share of their time engaged in intellectual activities. By this I don’t mean we’re drawn to doing crossword puzzles or spending our time working out math problems. I mean we devote a great deal of our attention to the world of the senses. When Emilie Cady said the intellect and intuition are meant to travel together, but with the intuition leading the way, she was reminding her reader of the importance of remembering our larger connection with God.

Imagine standing in the open, front door of your home. You are facing inside the house where you live. To your back, a vast world opens up. If you spend all your time inside the house, your life will get smaller and smaller. Your view of the world is that which you see through the windows. It’s important to get outside and retain your connection to the larger world. Doing so inspires new ideas and a greater appreciation for your home.

The intellect allows us to translate spiritual inspiration into books, music, cinema, art, acts of love, and reminders to others that we’re thinking of them. It is our ability to give form to intuitive feelings that have no form and would not otherwise be conveyed. For me, writing on spiritual subjects is a therapeutic exercise of capturing, as in a literary photograph, insights that I can hang on the walls of my house; reminders that on the other side of that front door there is a very large world.

The intellect without the intuition can become a house with the drapes drawn and the doors shut. The intellect can also throw open the doors and pull back the curtains to let in that intuitive light of God ready to illuminate our world.

The Prospering Power of Love

YouTube: The Prospering Power of Love

For our loved ones, we want to know that love is drawing to them that which is for their highest good and dissolving that which is not. If we hold this principle as the action of love, we can apply it to virtually every area of our life.

When we think of prosperity, we tend to think of finances. While a prosperous life certainly includes finances, we should not confine prosperity to just one area. Freedom from fear and worry, for example, is a prosperity demonstration. If we want to resolve a fear, we affirm love draws to us that which lifts us above our fear and dissolves all negative emotion that feeds the fear.

Our faculty of imagination is a wonderful tool that allows us to see beyond appearances, to dream our dreams, and accept that greater good is unfolding even when we do not see it. The imagination can also blow things way out of proportion and create imagined problems that, in reality, exist only in our own mind. A prosperous life is one that is free of the terrors generated by our negative imagery. We apply the principle of love by bringing our imagination under control. Regardless of what seems to be going on, we affirm that love is now drawing to us that which is for our highest good, and dissolving that which is not. What greater prosperity affirmation could we make?

To add a bit of intrigue to our prayer, we imagine the all-knowing mind of God as love is doing this perfect work. Solutions we have not even considered are set in motion. We not only visualize greater good unfolding, we do it with the anticipation of pleasant surprise. My imagined solution may be good, but what if I let God do the choosing? As Jesus said, it will come back,

“…good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For the measure you give will be the measure you get back.” Luke 6:38

Though we use the month of February to focus on love, we know the principle is working through us at all times. This moment is the time to tap the prospering power of love.

The Love Dynamic

YouTube: The Love Dynamic

Love, expressed as understanding, is our topic for this second week of Advent. As we consider the love dynamic, it should become clear why new understanding for a word so familiar is important.

Most of you are probably aware of the statement I make concerning the action of love:

Love draws to me that which is for my highest good, and dissolves that which is not.

When asked about the greatest commandments, Jesus said to love the Lord your God with all your mind, heart, and soul. The second is to love your neighbor as yourself.

God is love (1John 4:8), drawing to us that which is for our highest good and dissolving that which is not. To love the Lord our God is to recognize this is happening now and always. This is the ultimate affirming attitude toward God. To hold this same thought for others is the highest, most freeing form of prayer we can utter. To pray, Love draws to you that which is for your highest good and dissolves that which is not, is freeing both to you and to the one for which you speak it.

Think of love, not as a thing that can be given or withheld but as a perpetual action. At this very moment, as you read or hear these words, know that the action of love is drawing to you that which is for your highest good. Do there appear to be obstacles to your peace, success, health, prosperity, or harmony in relationships? Then know that these obstacles are being dissolved right now. If we are tempted to feel undeserving, we let love dissolve this feeling. Love is not a thing we earn. It is the very nature of the creative life force that is loving us into existence. All feelings of undeserving are based on our misunderstanding of the unconditional nature of God as love.

Affirming this love dynamic is active in us and in our life right now is key to experiencing the spiritual birth we celebrate during this Christmas season. With this understanding, we open our minds and hearts to the more abundant life that we know can be ours.

The Gift of Life

YouTube: The Gift of Life

The energy that we call life is a mystery. When materially based science attempts to trace life to its origins, they look to the fossil record. The earliest life forms were apparently single celled creatures that inhabited the oceans. Through billions of years, more complex forms developed. What is not known is how the energy of life began animating these biological forms. Science says, it just happened.

However things started, this living energy is, as John says, the light of each one of us. I believe this life that is our essence predates all organisms, that it has no beginning and no end. As I think about this, I’m struck with a sense of awe that this eternal gift is given to me, as me, the same realization Jesus may have had when he said, “Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58).

When we describe a person as being full of life, we are usually referring to their enthusiasm for living. If we feel a lack of enthusiasm, it may be good to contemplate this ageless energy that we are. It’s easy to bottle it up in restricting perceptions, affirmations of being too old and too tired. The life that we are does not age and it does not wear out. Yes, the organism does both of these things, but we are not the organism. Before Abraham was, we were too. That thought alone is energizing.

If this sounds farfetched, consider that science tells us our body is about 60% water, and that water is one of the oldest substances on earth. So, 60% of the physical body could actually be billions of years old. Can we not imagine our life energy having even more resilience than water?

Though this kind of thinking can be fun, we really don’t need to get this exotic to recognize and affirm the creative life force of God enlivens our mind, energizes our body, and constantly creates new opportunities for greater expression through every facet of our existence. The gift of life will never wane. It is as alive now as ever. God is life and you and I are expressions of God. Keep this thought on the front burner of your thinking and watch it stir up creatively new possibilities.