Thoughts on the Way

Early memories

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Thinking back, my spiritual journey began at a very early age… but it would only be much later in my life that I realised how significant some of those moments were. My parents weren’t particularly spiritual, and apart from a couple of weeks at Sunday School (I hated it!) I used to get dragged along to church once a year on Remembrance Sunday. My uncle had been killed in the war so my father used to take us along in memory of him. It was cold, it was uncomfortable, and it was boring.

The earliest event I can recall that had some sense of the magical to it was when I was left in my pram outside the local post office. Now they had a milk machine there (this was before the days of Coke vending, guys) and I just started to press the buttons. Incredibly, milk cartons started landing in my pram. It wasn’t until much later in my life that I realised the link with how interconnected I was with machines – a kind of modern day shaman, if you like – someone who has such a tight affinity with technology and machinery that it responds almost magically to me.

Another event I didn’t understand the significance of was at junior school. Every year at the Christmas party, we would have a fancy dress parade. I chose to go as Mercury, the messenger of the Gods, with my winged hat, my winged boots, and a toga. Probably best that you don’t try to imagine it. Now, local kids being who they are, they simply didn’t ‘get’ it and laughed me out of the parade. It took me a long, long time to lose the story of being laughed at because I’d tried to be different, because I had tried to stand out.. because I had tried to be true to my identity. I suspect that somewhere in my being I decided never to stand out in the same way again – never to risk being the subject of people’s jokes, never to risk ridicule… and so, like so many of us, I began the journey towards shrinking down and settling for second best.. of not letting my true awesomeness out.

But somewhere in my heart I knew who I was. I knew the job I had to do. I knew, deep down inside, that part of my role on this planet was to be a bridge, to be someone who would look to stand in the gap and help to bring God’s presence into people’s lives – someone who would, eventually, seek to be a man who wanted to bring one simple message… “Remember Who You truly Are”.

My learning

You know, it actually doesn’t matter whether you believe any of this stuff. In fact, it doesn’t matter to me whether this stuff is real either. When I was doing my NLP training, my trainer said something that really made me stop and think. You see, we as humans seem obsessed with ‘truth’. We want to seek out the genuine ‘truth’ behind something. And maybe that’s important and maybe it isn’t – and here’s why.

In NLP, we learn a whole series of ‘Presuppositions’ – principles on which NLP is founded, the core precepts of you like that lay the foundations for everything else. Things like ‘the meaning of communication is the result you get’ and ‘there is no failure, only feedback’. (There are some truly lifechanging presuppositions that are the core of NLP, and if you want to know more, book on an NLP course – in fact, I’m considering running one myself, probably called “It’s NLP, but not as you know it”).

Anyway, what my trainer said was “I don’t know if this is true or not, but what I do know is the effects that believing it produce in my life”.

So, I have no real way of knowing if God exists or not. I have no real way of knowing if the things I do in pursuit of God are the best or not. But what I do is to look and see if I like the effects they are having. Does believing this make me more positive (yes). Does believing this make me more loving (yes). Does believing this give me more hope (yes). Do other people like the person that I am (yes).

So, in the end, if my beliefs, and my values, and my behaviours produce these sort of results in my life, it doesn’t really matter if it’s true or not, does it? And, sure, I believe that God is real. I believe that we are all ‘God’. I believe that there is no ‘death’. I believe that we can change the world around us. I believe so much – and in so much magic and wonder, power and freedom – and much of it we will explore in the coming weeks and months in this blog.

And yet, provided that what I believe is helping me be more loving, more able to help people, more able to help myself, making me more confident, more capable, more full of hope, and life, and joy, and freedom – then, in a sense, whether or not it is ‘true’ isn’t the important thing. Because I like the effects that it produces.

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Observations

Do we need teachers?

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I’ve spent a lot of my life in some sort of ‘religious’ organisation of one form or another, mostly within the Christian Church. Some of them felt more ‘religious’ than others, sure… but all of them had one thing in common – adherence to doctrine.

Each group had their set of core beliefs, and to stray outside them could lead you to either being reprimanded or excluded… or at the very least, people would worry that you were ‘not quite part of the church’. Sometimes it was amazingly trivial things that caused the greatest fuss – smoking, for example, was definitely frowned on, although I couldn’t find an admonition against it in the Bible!

I can remember one day at University when we found out that (horror) someone was sleeping with someone else – immediately one of the leaders was despatched to talk to the culprit and gently lead her back into the flock.

It seems that the distinguishing factor of all these faiths is that we need a teacher. Someone to set out the rules. Someone who tells us what to believe. Someone to follow. And then we find out that these people have feet of clay. They lose their temper. They make mistakes. They forget things. Or ‘worse’….

I remember when the pastor of a church I had been a part of for many years ran off with a member of the congregation. The stunned congregation stumbled on for a while, but eventually the church fell apart – because its leader had gone.

And I have been struggling with this one for a while now.. looking for a teacher, a leader, someone who can tell me what I should be doing, someone to guide me, someone to tell me what was important, someone to advise me. No-one seemed to appear. I was pretty aure that the student was ready… but the teacher didn’t appear!

And suddenly I realised…. I don’t need one.

You see, there’s a new world coming – a new freedom, a new truth. The amazing thing is that God is speaking to us individually. It used to be that revelation came through the religious leader, through the voice of the chosen one. But it was never meant to be like that. We each have our own personal connection to God, to the Divine, to the Universe. We don’t need a mediator. We don’t need someone to interpret. We can hear God ourselves. And, yes, I meant that. ‘Hear God’. Prayer isn’t just us talking and God listening…. it’s a conversation. Expect it, and God will speak.

So, we become our own teachers. We hear the voice of God ourselves, speaking into our own circumstances. We hear God’s voice through the books we read, the teaching we hear, the TV we watch, the newspapers we read. I hear God speak through the lyrics to songs, through the words of movies… and often I publish the ones that really seem significant on my other blog, Touching Zero.

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My Story

An Unexpected Encounter

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More and more over the recent weeks and months I have found myself being drawn back to my roots – back to a world that I thought I had left behind a long, long time ago. Over the last few years I have felt my relationship with God becoming deeper – I have felt the liberty to explore a relationship and a friendship that I thought had disappeared long ago. Through many of the deeply uncomfortable experiences of recent years – relationship pain, financial difficulties, crises of confidence – I have been brought face to face with my God again in a whole new way.

Through studying and learning from many of today’s teachers, visionaries like Neale Donald Walsch, Marianne Williamson, Esther Hicks, Rev. Julie Wilbourne and many more, and through walks by the river, in the park, around the streets of the city, through walks in the rain and the storm, through conversations with friends, I have come back to a new and clearer relationship with a God that I thought had vanished from my life – but who I am certain is alive and in charge of what’s going on on this planet, in this universe, and in my life. I’ve learnt to surrender to God in so many ways – to hear his voice, to sense his directing me in a certain way. And for that – well, I am truly grateful, and really blessed.

And yet over the last few months, I have found another relationship calling to me. Another part of my spiritual walk that I thought had been left behind, something that I had grown out of, that had served me in my youth – and yet I had seen through the myth and the legend, and had moved on.

And yet, still, this voice continued to call to me. This name continued to pop up, continued to face me at every turn. In everything that I studied, everything I learnt, there seemed to be a common thread… a common factor. Sometimes explicit, sometimes standing in the background – and yet ever present, continuing to challenge me to face that relationship again – to re-open a conversation that I had thought long past.

And yet, as I continued to pray, to meditate, to learn, I realised that this was the route to power, the route to love, the route to freedom. While the relationship with God was core to who I was, I needed a model, someone who would show me how to live that life – what it truly meant to be in a relationship with God. And for me, that brought the presence of Jesus back into my life.

I didn’t expect that. I left the Christian church in despair and despondency. I had become a Christina aged around 17 following a dramatic encounter with what seemed to be very real supernatural forces at a Methodist retreat. I had fallen in love with a beautiful Christian woman (who I later, to my eternal regret, broke up with as her path deepened and mine didn’t). I studied as a Methodist lay preacher, and became increasingly trusted as a ‘leader in training’. During university years, I became part of the ‘charismatic movement’ – a grass roots movement that believed that the power of the Holy Spirit still moves on the earth, and that wonders and signs were available to all who were ‘baptised with the Spirit’. I was baptised by full immersion in a church in London (strictly speaking, twice – a little old lady at the back shouted “his head’s still dry – it’s the mind that’s got to go under”… so they threw me in again).

I became leader of the University Christian Union – a surprise to me, and even more of a surprise to the rather stuffy governing body for university Christian Unions, when I and my precious group of fellow leaders transformed the CU into something full of light and joy rather than a bible study group.

After university I found a lively spirit filled local church and became part of the leadership team, throwing myself into creating a new way of living a Christian life – following the Master, Jesus, and seeking to live by his love and his example.

And then it all fell apart. My marriage (which had been the first in that church) fell apart. I felt lost, alone, trapped, afraid – and disconnected from God, from the Spirit of God, and from Jesus. Everything that I had followed for years crumbled around me, and I walked quietly and sadly away from the faith that had fed me – convinced that it was untrue – or, at the very least, that I would never find the way.

Although my marriage did eventually fall apart, I found success in work and in friendships – and in my love for my children. I continued to work on myself, and after a while I began to seek a new spirituality – one that left behind the traditions that I had rejected, yet was fresh and new. I began to study the world of self development through seminars and books, workshops and in private conversations – until I decided to go it alone to create my own business. And yet, that too failed after a few years, leaving me in debt, lost, alone… and brought back, face to face with my God. As I walked in the early hours of the morning, wrapped up against the cold and drinking coffee to keep warm, I learned to put my trust in a God who loved me and cared for me – I learned to to have faith that I was being cared for, and that everything would be OK.

But still no sign of the mysterious Jesus that had been core to my early beliefs. No sign of a demand that ‘no man comes to the Father but by me’. No indication that ‘only through Christ Jesus may you be saved’. In fact, much of the content I had read, the learnings and teachings that had been part of my new spiritual life, seemed to show that all spiritual paths led to the same God. I could not believe in a God who would reject people and ‘cast them into everlasting darkness’ simply because they had never heard of Jesus. I couldn’t believe in a God who would make the entry requirements to Heaven so strict that few could find them.

Even so, there was still this presence in my life. Still this knowledge that Jesus was there. Waiting to be acknowledged. Waiting to stand by my side. Waiting for me to follow him again.

Over the last few weeks I have been certain of the presence of Jesus in my life again. I’ve found that he has been restored as a teacher in my life, as a supernatural being, and as my friend. Through working with Julie Wilbourne and through messages and through teachers that I have encountered, it has become clear that I need to pay attention to the man from Nazareth again – to sit at his feet, to welcome his friendship – and to allow myself to follow his path. And as I do that, then the Holy Spirit of God will fill me in new ways – restoring the years the locusts have eaten in my financial affairs, and in my relationships – but more importantly in my gift, in my faith, and in my power and presence as a man of God.

Now, there’s so much I don’t yet ‘get’ about what that means, yet, but I know I’m learning. I’m not about to walk back into the traditional Christian church – whether with the traditionalists of High Anglican and Roman Catholic, or the family focus of many of the younger churches. I don’t believe that the only way to God is through Jesus. And I know that I have to find my own belief, my own understanding of the nature of Jesus – not simply to cling blindly to someone else’s dogma.

So that seems to be the path that I am on – to renew the relationship with Jesus that I thought was long behind me. To follow in his footsteps, to become, as Julie put it, a ‘registered disciple’, ready to learn, and follow – to look to Jesus’ example of how to live his relationship with God every day. It’s not really for me to know what that means in terms of a ‘ministry’ – although I believe it will be part of that. It’s not for me to know what it means in terms of what I create, what I write: although I suspect that much of my gift to this world will be to reveal a new way of walking with the Son of God. I don’t want to ‘reveal the historical Jesus’. I simply know that I want to love him, to follow him, to understand him – and to live by his example.

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Learnings

LEARNING – exploring Huna

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The world of Huna

For years I have been interested in the Hawai’ian shamanism of Huna, the traditional belief system of Hawai’i. Part of that has been the fact that many NLP trainers like me went on to look at Huna – largely because of its similarity to the NLP model of conscious – unconscious – superconscious minds. A more important part has been a calling to explore this tradition. I’ve been reading on the subject for a while, but also travelled to Austin, Texas, to hear Dr Joe Vitale speak about his experiences with Dr Iheakala Hew Len and the Hawai’ian practice of Ho’opono’pono – and then to spend a weekend in Cork with Dr Hew Len himself learning Ho’opono’pono first hand. And that in itself is a series of amazing stories!

So when I found out that Serge Kahili King, author of (amongst others) ‘Urban Shaman’ was in Tamworth (about 30 minutes down the road from me now!) I knew I had to go… partly because of a deep inner knowing.. and partly because if I hadn’t gone, my friend Jackie would have had something to say about it.

And it was like coming home. So much of Huna ‘made sense’ based on what I already knew – or could be integrated into my existing belief set. The idea that we are all one, the concepts surrounding energy, the importance of flow, all started to fit into place. I found I was automatically extending the concepts, building new processes and adapting others, coming to deeper understandings of my own model of life – and of power.

I discovered new models for workshops and courses appearing in front of me – new ways to teach what I had known for years but lacked a framework to explain. I found new healing pathways that made more sense, worked more effectively and were simpler than what I had been experiencing. I found gaps in what I understood being filled in. And I found myself connected to nature, to other people, to God and to the universe in a new way – without all the shamanistic trappings of other worlds, of drums, rattles, arcane belief systems and so on. (And if those things work for you, that’s great, really – it’s just that they never did work for me, somehow).

If you’re interested in Huna at all, then read ‘Urban Shaman’… but the best definition I found of shamanism was from that book:

“I define a shaman as a healer of relationships: between mind and body, between humans and nature, and between matter and spirit”. I also loved Serge’s distinction between the warrior shaman, based on development of power to deal with illness, fear and disharmony, and the adventurer shaman, including Huna, tends to deal with these things by creating love, co-operation and harmony. Those who know me well will understand exactly why Huna appeals so much as a pathway to healing.

So, expect more Huna stuff from me over the next few weeks as I integrate all this. I’m profoundly grateful to Serge and to Pete from Urban Huna who brought Serge over to the UK. For more, take a look at www.huna.org and www.urbanhuna.com.

In fact, I am already planning some events based on this stuff – it’s released a new excitement and a background on which to teach – something to say and a framework for saying it. Exciting!

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From My Journal

Waiting for the power of God

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I got kinda frustrated today… I looked at some of the folk that I trained with in my platform skills course, and looked at how successful they had become… the houses, the cars, the holidays… and wondered what it was that had stopped me doing that. Why hadn’t I made it big? Why hadn’t I produced the results that the courses said?

Now, I’m not actually envious – sure, I’d love to have some of the trappings of success, I’d even love to be a little bit financially free. But there’s a reason why it’s not happened for me yet.

Ages ago, when I was part of the Praise Community charismatic church, the leadership team recognised my prophetic gifts… and along with that went a warning – that for those called to be visionaries, to be pioneers, to truly lead God’s people… they would find it really hard. And I struggled through a painful marriage that eventually fell apart… and I found myself far from my God, lost in a wasteland…

Later on, I found the echoes of that voice from my teacher, who told me that if I demanded to grow – then a storm would start. I’ve said that I want it all, to be alive, to be humble, to be grateful, to be overwhelmed – and God would answer that prayer. I set my stall out to want God at the deepest level – and God would answer that prayer – but it would hurt.

And she was right. It’s been painful, not just because of what I have been through, but because of the gap – because I have been waiting for something to happen… longing for it, longing to see what my place in the world was. Longing to see a bit of success, a little bit of light in the painful process.

I’ve been wondering why things haven’t been happening in my life – why, despite a new connection to God, a new understanding of what the Christ means in my life, and a new openness to what I don’t understand, that nothing seems to be moving for me.

And I think it’s this. Throughout the history of God’s dealings with men, there have been wilderness experiences. Moses was in the wilderness, a humble shepherd in the service of Jethro the priest when God came to him in the burning bush. Jonah fled from God and found himself in the belly of a whale, before he stepped up to what God had for him. After Jesus’ departure, the disciples were told to wait in Jerusalem for the power of God to come upon them.

It seems that every true prophet, every true man of God, has an experience where God doesn’t seem to be speaking, where they feel separate from the Divine flow, where it seems as if nothing is happening. And then the spirit and power of God comes upon them. And then God moves in – and nothing is the same again.

I’ve been looking round at the nature of this planet’s spiritual evolution, and I have to say that although we are looking at Love in a whole new way, we are considering care for the planet in a new way, and we’re seeing things like our unity with God in a new light… there seems to be one thing missing. And that is the power of God.

In the revivals in the 18^th century, the power of God was clearly seen. Again in the 1960s and 1970s in the charismatic movement, the power of God was demonstrated through prophets and healers – men who stood before God and man.

I believe that time is coming again. I believe a time is coming when the breath of God will be breathed on us again… and the world will be moved in a new way. I have no idea what form that will take, because God delights in doing a new thing, in living in a new way.. and yet I am becoming increasingly certain that God is moving in a new way amongst those that love him – that she is finding a new way to demonstrate her power amongst all nations and all faiths.

So I draw courage and hope from the story of Jesus’ disciples, who were told “Do not leave Jerusalem but wait for the promise of the Father, which you have heard Me speak about. For John baptised with water but in a few days you will be baptised with the Holy Spirit.” And that’s what I am waiting for, because that’s what the world needs right now – the fire of God.

So for me, it’s not about success. It’s not about financial freedom. It’s about following in the steps of my God – it’s about waiting for ‘the anointing’ – for the power of God in my life. It’s waiting for a moment similar to the experience of Moses at the burning bush – who knew that he had been called by God when the glory of the presence of God came to him.

And at that point, I will know. Absolutely. And so I pray “God, please use me”. “God, please touch my heart”. And “God, please put your power and your anointing and your Spirit inside me – because I cannot, and will not do this without you”.

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From My Journal My Story

MY STORY – Freedom

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Yesterday, I got a whole new sense of destiny… and perhaps some of the reason why I have been going through so much crap lately.

You see, I have been trying to sell my house for a while – and have just been told that the building society will not let me sell as it is a negative equity situation. Now, I am really frustrated by this, and will have to take some very hard decisions about the future, and how to deal with this and the rest of the debt I have amassed. And I feel very guilty about what has happened – and although I have made mistakes, there are many things that I couldn’t avoid – like not being able to find a job for ten months.

And, while thinking about all this, I realised that from God’s perspective, the building society debt, the credit card debt, and the rest of the burden that I have been carrying is actually irrelevant. And, somewhere under all that I realised that God was saying ‘Set my people free’. God would rather see me free from the burden than see the building society get their money. Sure, I know that I ‘owe’ that money.. but in the end, it’s just money.

So this helps me look into the future with new eyes and with new freedom – and will guide some of the choices that I might make. I’ve been so burdened with all this, that actually suicide has been a possibility… and I realised that that is just stupid, when it’s possible to step free – when English law allows for us to claim our freedom from financial imprisonment.

Will I go bankrupt? I have no idea.

But actually, that’s not the point. What the point IS, is that freedom is our birthright as children of God. In fact, it’s actually one of my highest values, and I have been trying to work out why that is. Is it a rebellion against my marriage? Or do I feel shackled by my own beliefs, my perceived limits, my ‘story’? Did I feel restricted by my religious upbringing?

Maybe.

But what is more important is that this is part of my calling. In the same way that Moses was called to demand that the Pharaoh of Egypt ‘Set my people free’.

Moses had to encounter God in a new and unexpected way at the burning bush. And he had to give up his privileged position in order to step into the new. He had to leave his place in the royal court of Egypt in order to lead the people of God. And somewhere, deep within my being, I resonate with that.

I believe that part of what I am called to is to declare the same. Freedom from the lies and the rules that are woven round our lives. Freedom from the demands of the media, of society, of our financial institutions. It has been this way – and yet it doesn’t need to be.

And maybe I had to experience the crushing burden of financial debt in order to understand what freedom feels like.

I want to see people set free from the limits they place on themselves, to reach for everything they can possibly be. To be free from guilt. Free from the rules we place on our lives. Free from the words ‘should’ and ‘must’. Free from despair.

I have no idea where that leads me, where it takes me, where it could go next. But it is a new chapter of my life.. to walk both into freedom, and into my calling..

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From My Journal Observations

FROM MY JOURNAL – The Spirit of God

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This morning I woke, slowly…. and yet with longing burning in my heart. For some days I had been conscious of God calling me to a new place – and of a deep inner longing that wanted me to step into a new relationship with the awesome power of God.

Inside me there has been a hunger, a longing , almost howling, roaring, unstoppable desire for something to change. And it’s not in my personal circumstances.

Sure, I would love to move from my current financial situation to one of true abundance, prosperity and financial freedom. Sure, I would love to find someone to share my life with, discovering our destiny together. Sure, I would love a new car, a lovely house to live in, adventures, excitement, fun – all the things that are in my dream book.

And yet, continually threading through my mind is the longing for something to change, something to shift – and for me to step into true power, and the power of God. I feel a little like Jacob in the book of Genesis, when he wrestled all night with the angel of God: and finally the angel said ‘Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” ‘ (Gen 32:26)And the angel DID bless Jacob – and also touched Jacob’s hip, causing him to limp. And if there’s a price to be paid for God to touch my life, then so be it.

It all goes back to many years ago when I was ‘baptised in the Holy Spirit’ as a member of a charismatic baptist church, a church that believed in ‘the gifts of the Holy Spirit’. In the book of Acts, the disciples received the power and the gifts of the spirit of God – descending like tongues of fire.

It feels in some way like that’s what I have been called to do… to bring that experience back to others. To see the songs of God come into their inheritance. To move beyond the ‘nice’ world of New Spirituality into something that has power, that has dynamism, something that has ‘balls’, if you will pardon the expression. Not so that we can all sit around enjoying these experiences – but so that we can go out and DO something in the world. So that we can shake it up, bringing the power and the authority of the Creator into government, into social life – challenging our social inequality, the status quo, our lack of feeling…

And that’s what I am longing to experience right now. That’s what I want to see… to feel, to know deep in my gut – that God is with me to demonstrate the power of the gift of God.

And so I pray “reconnect me to the awesome gift and power of God. Touch me with God’s Spirit, and bring me to a new level of Her Divine creative energy”.

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From My Journal

FROM MY JOURNAL – Live mad from the heart

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The mind sabotages – stops you living in your heart. So find a way to connect to the heart.

It’s already happening – my heart is running a huge chunk of the show. But if my will is given over, then my heart WILL get me where I am going.

In my heart, I really just don’t care.

Let consciousness come from the heart area. Follow my heart. … the heart is more powerful than anything.

Ask the heart to teach me, give permission to my heart to lead me.

The heart is the doorway to the universe – when we hang out there, then miracles happen.

My heart is the connection to God (whereas the mind is the connection to Earth – we are the pivot point between heaven and Earth). It’s like a doorway – a space into infinity.

Take time to meditate on my heart.. and allow love to direct me.

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From My Journal

FROM MY JOURNAL – Restarting

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I found that I had come to a real ‘stop’ in my life… not sure what to do about the financial issues, about my career, about my relationships… I decided to take a few days out to decide who I was, and what I was about.

This morning I took a walk and found my favourite place, in the grounds of the local public school. I call it ‘The Place Angels Love to Dance’ – partly because I find it’s a place where I can hear God clearly, and because of the huge numbers of white feathers around.

This is what came through…

Firstly, I got clarity about bankruptcy… it remains a possibility, but the nature of Who I Am will not let me take that route – because it would be running away. So if someone chooses to make me bankrupt, then that’s OK, but I will not choose it.

More importantly, life principle#1 My life is surrendered to God. Life principle #2 My life is to be used in the service of others… to love and heal the world. I spent some time rereading ‘A Return to Love’ and it was so, so clear what I was about.

I’m a ruler in charge of my life… now I feel nervous and fearful because this hugely powerful being inside me is stepping out from being ‘ordinary’ and that’s bound to shake the foundations a bit! I want to demonstrate a state of Being in my life which is about Leadership and about Power – with Love.

And I know one thing… I am in pursuit of God. But my purpose became profoundly clear.. I am about bringing the presence of God to people… allowing God to flow through me so that they can experience that. Enabling power ot be restored to the children of God.

I know I will end up demonstrating that in public, on stage, giving to others – being in a position of leading others into what I am experiencing.

I realised that the key to power lies inside the heart – and that if we live from there then we connect to real power.

And then a thought came.. called ‘Shekina’. That might be a place.. or it might be an event.. ‘Shekina’ means ‘the dwelling or settling presence of God’ and is exactly what I want to create. I thought about building a retreat that was a place where people experience the holy, powerful, awesome nature of God, where they feel loved, and alive. Not just about peace and tranquillity, but about noise and laughter, fun & joy, happiness, power, excitement, energy, passion. I have no idea where that takes me – but it feels really exciting…. so watch this space….

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Quotes

READING – A Return to Love

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One of my favourite books is ‘A Return to Love’ by Marianne Williamson. This is the book that contains the quote that is often attributed to Nelson Mandela:

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

Marianne is a student of ‘A Course In Miracles’ – which I have never managed to get into, but this is a real simplification of the key precepts from that work.

I love her book, and even if you don’t believe in God, it’s worth reading. What would the world be like if we actually dared to live like this. The chapter on relationships is amazing – and the one on work has been transformational as I consider who I am and why I am here. Here are some excerpts from that chapter….

Success means that we go to sleep at night knowing that our talents and abilities were used in a way that served others. We’re compensated by grateful looks in people’s eyes, whatever material abundance supports us in performing joyfully and at high energy, and the magnificent feeling that we did our bit today to save the world.

Put love first. You are in business to spread love. My real job is to love the world back to health.

When I do anything, how should I do it – “Kindly”

Avoid self initiated plans and instead surrender our plans to God

“Dear God, please give my life some sense of purpose. Use me as an instrument of your peace. Use my talents and abilities to spread love. I surrender my job to you. Help me to remember that my real job is to love the world. Amen”

“Where would you have me go? What would you have me do? What would you have me say, and to whom?”

Don’t ask God to send me a brilliant career, but rather ask him to show me the brilliance that is within me.

Once an internal stirring has occurred, external effects cannot fail to happen. We’re all capable of an internal stirring – we are coded for it. Achievement doesn’t come from what we do, but from who we are. Our worldly power results from our personal power. Miracles flow from the recognition that love is the purpose of our careers.

By touching my own depths, I touch the depths within others.

Instead of expanding my ability or willingness to go out and get anything, I expand my ability to receive what is already here for me.

Personal power emanates from someone who takes life seriously.

As I give my life to God, then things start coming together.

Even if I don’t yet consider myself successful, I can devote my work now to being used in the service of the healing of the world – and from that point of power, my career will take off.

When I fully live up to the opportunity to heal, then I achieve an energy that pushes me forward in worldly endeavours. Love makes me more attractive.

My power is a result of my decision to reveal it. I am powerful in whatever moment I choose to be.

It is guarding against our experience of who we really are, the brilliance of expressing it, and the joy that the expression brings to ourselves and others.

I don’t need to walk out on stage and make people feel I am special, because I am not. If the purpose of my career is to channel God’s love, then I’m only there to open my heart, open my brain and open my mouth. Don’t try to figure out my message, just ask God what he would have me say. Step back and let him lead the way.

If I wait for the world’s permission to shine, I will never receive it.

Do what I love – and never do it for the money. Do what makes my heart sing. Go to work to spread joy. Channel his love into the world.

We are poor because we do not work with love. God wants me to have whatever material support contributes to my greatest happiness.

Ask for a miracle. Miracles are everyone’s right but purification is necessary first. Purity of heart creates breakthroughs.

“Dear God, I surrender to you all my thoughts about money, I surrender to you my debts, I surrender to you my wealth. Open my mind to receive abundantly. Channel your abundance through me in a way that serves the world. Amen”

Our life is meant to be a story that mysteriously writes itself. Our purpose in this earth is to be happy.

“God, please use me” is the most powerful affirmation we can say for an abundant career.

When my energy is applied in the direction of co-creating with God, of a willingness to supply love where there was none before, new energy bursts forth from deep within.

Child of God, you were created to create the good, the beautiful and the holy. Do not forget this.

There’s only one work going on in God’s world, and that’s the preparation of his teachers, those who demonstrate love.

Don’t try and figure out your message, just ask God what He would have you say. Step back and let Him lead the way.

When we are motivated by the desire to serve, we are looking out for others. There is no more powerful motivation than to feel we’re being used in the creation of a world where love has healed all wounds. Be inspired by the vision of a healed world.

“I’ll do this because it serves, even if I’m not paid” is a very high beam. It says to the Universe that you must be very serious. And when you get serious about the Universe, the Universe gets serious about you.

Our willingness to give directs the universe to give to us.

Make peace your only goal. God is the only goal I have today.

Living out of my vision is more powerful than living out of my circumstances.

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