charity
Love Your Neighbor As Yourself
I read an article recently that brought my attention to the hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, tsunamis, and earthquakes happening on our earth, which said this was all prophecy and that it is God’s way of cleansing certain parts of our world. The article quoted scripture, from the book of Job, however it was used to the benefit of the author.
Why would one area be cleansed over another? I pondered this for quite a while, especially after seeing recent reports on extreme natural events in the Caribbean Islands, Florida, Texas, Mexico and Japan. Why just those areas? Why not the entire earth’s population? Surely, none of us are without fault? Every community has a dark side, every nation a history of wrong-doing. Continue reading
The Real Rewards Of Paying It Forward
What does it mean to ‘pay it forward’ from a spiritual perspective? On a simple level, paying it forward means we take a gift of kindness and pass it along to the next recipient, almost like a karma chain. We’ve all probably experienced such a gift, whether it was a cup of coffee, or a new car. But why do it in the first place? We’re all told that humanity is selfish, not selfless.
If we look at paying it forward beyond the superficial ‘it feels good,’ we see that it really does make us feel better on a physical and psychological level. Stress and depression rates are much lower for those who regularly volunteer, or perform acts of charity and kindness. Our brain experiences a ‘happiness boost’ almost immediately. Life expectancy is also higher for those who volunteer, compared to people who don’t. Doing selfless things simply does make us feel good. Continue reading
Do Unto Others
Do unto others as you have them do unto you. It is also known as the Golden Rule. A simple and wise rule to live by, but something humanity struggles to adhere to.
It is also very close to another age-old axiom, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Again, this sounds easy enough. And what if you are one of those people, as many of us are, who are not in the habit of treating yourself very well at all?
How do you typically treat yourself? Do you like yourself? Do you love yourself? Do you approve, care, and not judge yourself harshly? Are you kind and encouraging to yourself? Or is your internal mental chatter and expression riddled with thoughts like: Continue reading
Spiritual Guidance On Organized Religion
Sitting at a local café, drinking my smoothie, I couldn’t help but overhear a conversation behind me. They were talking loudly and were not really going out of their way to be discreet by any means. The one girl was talking about how her mother had passed. She spoke of chemotherapy and did not want the same ordeal for her friend, who is obviously going through something similar.
She then shared a story of how her aunt called her a few weeks ago and told her about a dream she had. In this dream the aunt was visited by the girl’s departed mother, who told her that if she could do it all over again, she would do two things differently when she was alive. She would not have taken the chemotherapy and she would not have spent so much time in church. Continue reading
What Brings True Happiness?
Sitting in my meditation room, I set my intention. I wanted to connect with my guide and through doing so ask a few questions I have been pondering with my earthly mind. Sitting quietly, spirit approached.
This energy was all too familiar, it was my guide, my main guide, the one who promised me in life he would reach out to me once fully transitioned. Yes, just like all the times before, like a big ball of love with a wonderful loving smile, my Grandpa came to me. Sitting without words, as our communication is always telepathic, he was resonating pure white light and love. Continue reading
We Are Not All Raised The Same Way
When dealing with those who don’t show kindness, or people who are not civil towards others, it’s important to remember that everyone is not raised the same way.
I speak to several clients every day. Being an empathic, intuitive person, I can tell when someone has not been told that they are loved. Some folks never enjoyed special family time growing up, and some never even connected with at least one parent. It is really sad.
This is when I give self-care advice, which my clients love. The great feedback I get from my clients about this is that self-care empowers them to become less critical and judgmental of themselves and others. They just feel more free to be themselves, and allow others to be who they are. They learn to accept those who see things differently from themselves. Continue reading
Thinking Of Yourself Less Often
The very first, and rather touching description of humility that I ever heard was during my earliest days of following a Twelve Step Program of Alcoholics Anonymous. I was read out by a man with 16 years of sobriety:
Humility is perpetual quietness of heart. It is to have no trouble. It is never to be fretted or vexed, irritable or sore. To wonder at nothing that is done to me, to feel nothing done against me. It is to be at rest when nobody praises me, and when I am blamed or despised, it is to have a blessed home in myself where I can go in and shut the door and kneel to my Father in secret and be at peace, as in a deep sea of calmness when all around and about is seeming trouble.
My mentor in that program told me to try kneeling in prayer. She told me this humbling posture would strengthen my intention of any prayer I was reciting. Continue reading