"Spiritually Speaking" by Rev. Carla Golden

Prayer for Right Employment

For those of you who may be looking for a job or who are making a change of career, I share this "Prayer for Right Employment" written by Unity minister, Terry Lund.

God is love

And that love expresses through me as service to others.

There is perfect employment for me.

God is abundance

And this abundance is my supply.

As I serve life,

Life rewards me generously.

I trust God to meet my every need.

God is infinite intelligence

And this intelligence expresses through me as guidance.

As I turn to the perfect intelligence within me,
I am guided to do the right thing in the right way.

My perfect employment is seeking me now.

My desire to work is my prayer answered.

As I take the human footsteps which are presented

To me as ideas from within,

I become unified with my perfect employment.

In the one mind I am one with my new employer

and my perfect position right now.

All anxiety is removed from this situation

For I trust God to provide the perfect way

To express Its perfect life through me.

I give thanks for the abundance that is mine.

And so it is.

Amen.

Spiritual Economics

There has been a lot of talk lately about a "recession". The news media interview one financial guru after another and each one says something different.

Eric Butterworth wrote a book called "Spiritual Economics" back in 1983, and it is just as pertinent and on target as it was back then. According to Butterworth, what we believe about the financial situation in the country largely determines what we experience. If the consensus is that "something awful is happening," says Butterworth, "then something is happening right there." He goes on to say that the economy is a barometer that registers the highs and lows of our society's consciousness. It is the spread of negativity that leads to a downturn in the economy.

If our thinking can send the economy into a downward spiral, then it also makes sense that our thoughts can also do the opposite. The Wall Street Journal once ran an article on its front page that said, "Positive thinking is the way out of our economic malaise."

Yet even a recession cannot impact our own abundance if we stand firm in the prosperity principles. What are these principles?

1. Know that God/Spirit/Divine Mind is your source. Not your job, the economy, the government, your spouse, or your parents.

2. Believe that it is your divine right to live a prosperous life, with all your needs met and your dreams fulfilled.

3. Take time every day to read your goals and visualize them manifested in your life. What does it look like? What does it feel like?

4. Forgive and release negativity. Let go of grudges, unforgiveness of others and yourself. Release old ways of thinking that have not worked for you in the past. This creates a clean consciousness which is receptive to good.

5. Give. Be generous at every turn. Give to your church, to charities. Donate your time and volunteer to organizations that you believe in or your church. Whatever talents that you have, use them in service to others and not just to make money. Commit to becoming a tither and give 10% of your income to where you are spiritually fed or see God expressing in your life. This is the law of circulation. What you put out there into the universe comes back to you multiplied.

6. Live in a perpetual state of gratitude. Always be aware of all that you have to give thanks for, even if you are without many things that you need or desire. Start with the weather, if need be. Give thanks for a sunny day. There is always something to be grateful for. It is the law of the universe that what we focus on expands. So if you want to experience more prosperity, be thankful for what you have right this minute.

As you listen to the news today, don't let any negative information pierce through the faith that you have that "with God all things are possible." Trust that all things are working together for good and that God as our source will always provide if we stand firm in our faith and reject any negativity that we may encounter.

Does this mean that we just sit in our home and wait for the prosperity to flow? No. We must take positive action. If you're without a job, go out there and talk to people, send out resumes, and search the Internet. As the Quakers say, "Pray, but move your feet."

The White Stone Ceremony & The Burning Bowl

The first Sunday in January is often designated as "White Stone" Sunday at Unity churches. What is "White Stone" Sunday? It is the day when we set our intentions for the rest of the year. I'm not talking about resolutions, because in the White Stone ceremony, we don't make a list. Usually, we come up with one or two words which represent the changes we wish to make or what we want to see expressing in our experience.

Generally, the way it works is that each person is presented with a white tile upon entering the church and a pencil or pen. During the course of the service, a meditation is done that helps the person connect with their divine essence, Higher Self, Divine Mind--whatever we call God. We are invited to ask for guidance on what our word or words will be for the year that will represent our highest intention or it may be a name that we hear for this new spiritual identity. That name is then written upon the white tile. We keep the white tile as a reminder of our intention. 

The idea of the White Stone ceremony comes from Revelation 2:17: "Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. To everyone who conquers (who overcomes) I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give a white stone, and on the white stone is written a new name that no one knows except the one who receives it."

In most Unity churches, White Stone Sunday follows a "Burning Bowl" service held at the end of the year. At this service, there is a symbolic releasing of what we wish to let go of before we move into the new year. It is written on a piece of paper and then dropped into a large bowl or container which contains fire. Participants let go of such things as feelings of anger, unforgiveness, unhealthy habits, relationships, etc.

You can create these rituals at home if you have not had the opportunity to participate at a church. I have found both rituals to be very powerful and have seen differences in my life, and the lives of others, as a result of taking part in these ceremonies.

What Will Matter

Ready or not,
Someday it will all come to an end

There will be no more sunrises
No minutes, hours or days

All the things you collected
Whether treasured or forgotten
Will pass to someone else

Your wealth, fame or power
Will shrivel to irrelevance

It will not matter what you owned
Or what you were owed

Your grudges resentments, frustrations
And jealous will finally disappear

So too your hopes ambitions plans,
Your "To-do List" will expire

The wins and losses
That once seemed so important
Will fade away

It won't matter where you come from
Or on what side of tracks you lived,

At the end
It won't matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant.
Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant

So what will matter?
How will the value of your days measured?

What will matter is not what you bought,
but what you built

Not what you got
but what you GAVE

What will matter is not your success
But your significance

What will matter is not what you learned
but what you taught

What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage or sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example

What will matter is not your competence
But your character

Living a life that matters doesn't happen by accident
It's not a matter of circumstance but of choice
Choose to live a life that matters

(The author is Michael Josephson whose web site is "Character Counts" which can be reached by clicking http://www.charactercounts.org .)

The Answer to Our Prayers

A woman once told someone that what she wanted more than anything was to be a good mother--the best mother she could be. She was pregnant at the time. Several months later, the woman gave birth to an autistic child.

"Why?" she cried out. "Why did I have an autistic child?" she wanted to know.

Someone said to her, "What better way to learn how to be a good mother than to have a child with special needs."

And may I add, who is more in need of a loving and attentive mother than a child with autism?

When we put a request out into the Universe, the answer that comes back to us is not always what we would want or expect. But we have to trust that the Universe knows what is best for us and what we want and need at the deepest level of our being.

If a situation has come into your life that is painful or seems unfair, ask yourself what you have been asking for? What has been your deepest desire? Then consider the possibility that this situation or challenge is God's way of providing you with the tools, lessons, knowledge or wisdom necessary to achieve your goal or desire. Maybe it is part of the plan for your long-term, greater good.

A Thanksgiving Message

I was impressed with this message from Oprah Winfrey and wanted to share it with you. She is a wonderful example of what an "Attitude of Gratitude" can do for a person...

THANK YOU

By Oprah Winfrey

I live in the space of thankfulness - and I have been rewarded a
million times over for it. I started out giving thanks for small things,
and the more thankful I became, the more my bounty increased.

That's because what you focus on expands, and when you focus on the
goodness in your life, you create more of it. Opportunities, relationships,
even money flowed my way when I learned to be grateful no matter what
happened in my life.

"Say thank you!" Those words from my friend and mentor Maya Angelou
turned my life around. One day about ten years ago, I was sitting in my
bathroom with the door closed and the toilet lid down, booing and ahooing
on the phone so uncontrollably that I was incoherent.

"Stop it! Stop it right now and say thank you!" Maya chided. "But
You don't understand," I sobbed.

To this day, I can't remember what it was that had me so far gone,
which only proves the point Maya was trying to make. "I do understand," she
told me. "I want to hear you say it now. Out loud.

'Thank you.'" Tentatively, I repeated it:

"Thank you - but what am I saying thank you for?"

"You're saying thank you," Maya said, "because your faith is so
strong that you don't doubt that whatever the problem, you'll get through
it. You're saying thank you because you know that even in the eye of the
storm, God has put a rainbow in the clouds.

You're saying thank you because you know there's no problem created
that can compare to the Creator of all things. Say thank you!"

So I did - and still do. Only now I do it every day. I kept a
Gratitude journal, as Sarah Ban Breathnach suggests in Simple Abundance,
listing at least five things that I'm grateful for. My list includes small
pleasures: the feel of Kentucky bluegrass under my feet (like damp silk); a
walk in the woods with all nine of my dogs and my cocker spaniel Sophie
trying to keep up; cooking fried green tomatoes with Stedman and eating
them while they're hot; reading a good book and knowing another awaits.

My thank-you list also includes things too important to take for
granted: an "okay" mammogram, friends who love me, 25 years at the same job
(and loving it more than the first day I started), a chance to share my
vision for a better life, staying centered, having financial security.

I won't kid you, having money for all the things I want is a
blessing. But as I look back over my journals, which I've kept since I was
15 years old, 99 per cent of what brought me real joy had nothing to do
with money (It had a lot to do with food, however.)

It's not easy being grateful all the time. But it's when you feel
least thankful that you are most in need of what gratitude can give you:

PERSPECTIVE. Just knowing you have that daily list to complete
allows you to look at your day differently, with an awareness of every
sweet gesture and kind thought passed your way. When you learn to say thank
you, you see the world anew. And as Meister Eckhart so eloquently stated:

"If the only prayer you ever say in your whole life is 'Thank you
God,' that would suffice."

Unlimited Potential

"It is our duty - as men and women - to behave as though limits to our
ability do not exist. We are co-creators of the Universe."

-- Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

How would you live your life if you knew that you could not fail? You would move forward with confidence, wouldn't you? You would not lie awake at night worrying about failure or the lack of money.

That is the way that we were meant to live our lives, friends. We are co-creators with God. God is the creator and the substance of all things. This substance, the root of which means to "stand under" is our support. With God as our support, what more do we need?

As a co-creator, we utilize our God-given ability to manifest out of substance, or God-energy. We mold substance through our faith and creative thought. As we focus our energy and thoughts on our goals, we attract to us more of what we focus on.

If you focus on past perceived "failures", fears and concerns, you will continue to draw to you that which you channel your thought energy into.

Sit for a few minutes in the silence today visualizing your desires having already manifested. Imagine your mind as a powerful laser beam of God-energy projecting this creation out into the universe, drawing to it all that is needed for it's completion in physical expression. Then, give thanks, knowing that it is done.

The True Source of Our Prosperity

Bob and I have worked for companies and corporations over the years and we have also been entrepreneurs, doing our own thing. For the last 1 1/2 years, we have been writing, working out of our home. It has provided us with glorious freedom to work when we want and the ability to spend lots of time together. As a married couple who are also best friends, that has been a big benefit.

Striking out on your own can be scary. It requires courage and a spirit of adventure. For seven years, Bob and I traveled around teaching a seminar on success and prosperity. The principles that we taught in this seminar changed our lives; and even when we weren't seeing a consistent, abundant flow of money in our lives, we knew in our hearts that these principles were true.

The main principle that we needed to understand was that regardless of where the check comes from--a company, trust fund, government agency, or whatever--the ultimate source is God. Whether you see God as Divine Mind, Infinite Intelligence, Spirit, or Father/Mother--it doesn't matter. But it is that universal energy that transcends space and time, that is everywhere around us and at the core of our being. That is the one true Source of our good. When we get that, it changes how we view our lives, our jobs, and what we do every day to "bring home the bacon."

How would you live your life if you knew that this powerful force within you was willing to provide all of your needs and your heart's desires if you were just willing to receive and to give back? Wouldn't it take some pressure off you and give you a sense of freedom?

If you haven't read the book, "Spiritual Economics" by Eric Butterworth, you can order it on Amazon by clicking on the Recommended Books link on my blog. It is one of the best books on the spiritual principles of prosperity that I know. Also, "Ask and It Is Given" is another highly recommended book on prosperity, and it is available using the link.

And check out my friend Pamela Slim's new short (it only lasts a couple of minutes) cyber movie "My Declaration of Independence." If you're thinking of striking out on your own in business, this may be the motivation and inspiration you need. Pamela is a consultant who provides guidance to those starting their own business. Click on the link and enjoy: http://ganas.com/mydeclarationofindependence/

Making New Choices

I read a story recently about a researcher who studied chimps and children and found that there is a difference in how they think. In each case, the chimp was shown a box that had a reward in it. A number of steps (some unnecessary) were taken to get into the box and then it opened to reveal the treat. This was repeated several times and then a new transparent box was brought in. The chimp could see the treat and realized that some of the steps were unnecessary to retrieve the food. He skipped those steps, opened the door and went right for the food. When the child was given the same test, he continued to repeat the same steps even when the regular box was replaced with the transparent one. He went through the same ritual time and time again.

I heard about another test that was done with rats in a maze. A rat placed in a maze retraced the steps to where the food was placed after it found it the first time. When the food was moved, it went back to where the treat was originally but then, after not finding it, began to seek out other routes until it found the food. In other words, the rat didn't continue to go down the same path that wasn't successful. The humans behaved differently. They continued to go down the same path several times when the reward was moved even though it had been revealed that it was no longer there.

Why is this? Why did animals learn so quickly to access their reward and humans choose to repeat old habits even when they knew it would not bring them what they were seeking? It's a good question for which there are no definitive answers. It could be because people have underlying issues with self-esteem that hold them back from achieving success. Maybe it's because humans tend to resist change or are unwilling to learn from their mistakes. Whatever the reason, it is something to consider when it comes to our own life experience.

Have you ever found yourself going down the same pathways in life and repeating the same patterns even though they have always brought you problems (cheating boyfriends, financial challenges, job frustrations, etc.)?  Do you ever find yourself wondering..."Why is this happening to me again?" Look at the experiences that you have had and really consider what the lesson was that perhaps you missed. Do you really want to be happy and successful or are you more comfortable being unhappy and struggling? It seems like a strange question, but even Jesus recognized this tendency. He would ask people who lined up for healing, "Do you want to be healed?" He knew that some people got great mileage from their afflictions and didn't want to be well. They preferred the drama of their current situation and the attitude of "Poor me...".

Have you heard the expression: "When you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always gotten." Are you ready to change your thinking and your actions? Because a change of one without the other will not work. If so, take one step at a time and don't be afraid to ask for help. Pray for the strength to resist the old familiar and comfortable behaviors and for guidance on making new choices. Enlist the support of your friends by asking them to tell you when you are going down the same path again in thinking or behavior. When you find yourself repeating old behaviors stop and choose to make new choices. You can do it! I believe in you!

(If you're serious about making new choices and changing your life, I highly recommend Michael Ryce's book Why is This Happening to Me Again? To order, click on the link in my Recommended Books list.)

Prosperity and Spirituality

When you grew up did you hear that money was the root of all evil? Did you hear that it is harder for a rich man to enter "the kingdom" than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle? Well, if you believed those sayings then chances are you are not a very prosperous person today. And you have been misled.

The Bible says that the "love of money" is the root of all evil. In other words, it's not money itself but the worship of money that gets us into trouble. Worshiping money means to make choices in life solely based on money.

It is not being rich that keeps us from the kingdom, but our attitudes about it. You may remember the story about the rich young ruler that came to Jesus and wanted to follow him. Jesus tested him. He told him to sell all that he had and give the money to the poor. The man could not do that. His money and possessions were too important to him.

Jesus had many followers and supporters who were rich. He himself owned a seamless garment, which was very expensive. Although he did not have a lot of possessions, he ate well and stayed with wealthy supporters. He was always provided for. He did not chastise the rich for being wealthy, but he made it clear that we must not focus on or worry about money or the material things in life. God would provide, he believed, and God did and still does.

If you are having prosperity challenges, consider your beliefs about money. What were you taught growing up? How did your family treat money? Did you grow up resenting rich people? Were you told that money is scarce or hard to come by? These beliefs could be part of your consciousness now and need to be released.

Write down all the negative messages that you remember getting while you were growing up about money or being rich. Acknowledge that they have not worked for you and in your heart and mind, give them to God for healing. You might even tear up the piece of paper that you've written them on as a symbolic act of release. Then begin to visualize yourself as a prosperous person. See yourself living in the home of your dreams, purchasing the new car or clothing you desire, and being generous with your money to those less fortunate. See yourself tithing. Know in your heart that it is God that is your source, not your job, your parents or your spouse. And lastly, give thanks. Feel gratitude for all that you have now and for all that God has for you as you open your mind to receive it.