"What Can Heal The Heart?"

Hello EZosophists,

Once upon a time, when I lived in Memphis, my neighbor's son came over to ask if I had seen or heard anything strange the preceding night. "No," I replied. "Why do you ask?" "My car was stolen," he said. "I have a steering wheel lock. I didn't use it. Last night when I got home, I thought of putting it on but I didn't, because I didn't think this would happen in a nice neighborhood like this."

He was proud to be living in the neighborhood. It was a big step up for his family. He thought he had moved from a bad neighborhood into a better one.

There is no line of demarcation where crime is concerned. My heart filled with great compassion. Not only was he going to be greatly inconvenienced, because he worked and attended school, his life would be a little harder than before, with his innocence assaulted, his heart hurt, and the pride he felt for his neighborhood diminished.

The mother rose up in me. I touched his arm, looked straight into his eyes, and said, "I am so sorry you had to go through this." I really wanted to hold him in my lap and rock him. He looked so hurt. He recounted another incident: he and his brother had been approached by two men who put guns to their heads and robbed them.

The injured look in his eyes haunts me. This child was too young for life's war-zones, but war doesn't stop even for the young.

This is not a doomsday message to say that the world is spiraling down into the cesspools of corruption. We have turned the corners on many issues. Still, the winds of positive change do not diminish the shock of overwhelming situations like the one my neighbor encountered. The sins of our fathers visit our children. The past tides of fear resurface until healed. Our children learn to protect themselves against situations that didn't exist in the fifties and sixties.

As metaphysicians, we know that we create reality. A simple solution would be to dismiss this incidence by saying, "A mind that believes that it will be robbed, will get robbed -- whether it is in a good neighborhood or a bad one." This young man created and drew this as a part of his spiritual learning experience, as a part of karma. Perhaps the robbery materialized from his fear.

This kind of explanation works for the mind, but thoughts of metaphysical logic can't heal the heart. Could you imagine me telling this young man that he had created this experience? Even if he were a seasoned spiritual warrior, such a response would be unwise and heartless, when the wound is fresh. Often spiritual travelers respond to trauma or heartache with an unconscious remark such as: "I wonder how you created that." That line of thinking discounts the feelings of one who has been through a recent ordeal. It is not a heart response. It is a response designed to dissolve feelings.

What can heal the heart? How can we respond when our neighbor's hurt, when our children are gunned down, and when violence meets us face to face? … There is a plan within that allows us to meet destruction and horror with forgiveness and tolerance. How can we get to that space?

For starters, we can listen. We can empathize, and we can be there.

Once, due to a legal misunderstanding, my friend was unjustly thrown out of her home. I received her voice message at the end of my work day. I was hungry and tired. I called and asked if she wanted me to come over. She pleaded, "Yes." My tired body screamed, "No," but everything in my heart was on go. I arrived and found three other friends consoling her. The remains of her possessions were strewn on the floor. Many of her valuables were stolen. She talked and cried, we all cried, and we held our friend. This went on for hours. The crying subsided and before we left, we were all laughing. I could see how the support and love had formed arms of love that helped her through the event. We knew we would all be available for her in the future, if she needed us, and she knew it too.

Recently I was going through a tough time. My friend Tomi reached out and circled me with her arms. "Anne, we are not meant to go through these things alone." I sobbed and parted, feeling lighter and at ease.

Years ago, I was robbed at gunpoint. The day before the occurrence I received a letter from the late Barbara Varley, a teacher of A Course In Miracles. I considered her a friend and mentor. The letter said that she and her husband, Robert, recently experienced a robbery. She felt led to write about it and to send a letter to certain people telling about the event. I was on the list. The first thought that came to mind when I read the letter was: "Oh no, I wonder if I am going to be robbed and this is preparing me." The letter talked about some item being stolen from their van. And quoted A Course in Miracles that says people are either saying, "I love you" or they are calling for love. The Varleys took this to heart. When they saw the damage done to their van, Dovie (or maybe it was Lovie), and the theft of their tape player, they responded from a higher level of awareness: "Someone came for our blessing; they came for our love." They joined hands with the minister who was with them and blessed the robbers.

In my case, by the time the initial shock of the robbery was over, a crowd of friends, neighbors, and policemen had gathered. I asked them to join in prayer. We held hands in a circle and we prayed for the robbers. "We pray for these two young men who were driven to this kind of life. We ask for guilt removal from their lives and that they be set free in their hearts so they can seek a spiritual solution to their pain rather than trying to harm others." I never denied the feelings that occurred as a result of the robbery. I went in for a few therapy sessions to help me process the situation, but, ultimately, for my sanity, I surrendered to God and prayed for my enemies. I prayed for my release and theirs for a long time.

We can heal the heart by not creating enemies. In First Corinthians 13 we read that, "love hardly even notices when others do it wrong."

When we lose our ability to feel compassion for the victim and the victimizer, we lose ourselves. Even in the best of us there lurks a shadow capable of acting out in ways that we can't imagine. Years ago, during meditation, I experienced the Hitler archetype within myself. My prior self-image was that I was such a good person. It was a shock to meet that part of myself. But here I was; I knew violence lived in me as a potentiality. I was grateful that I was not acting out our culture’s violence, but that my brother Hitler was the one to act out the collective shadows of the times. Each of us has the potential to commit all kinds of wrong acts, although that tendency is hidden deep within our psyches. When we judge someone's behavior with bitterness and self-righteousness, we become what we hate, and we harden our hearts.

We all face the challenge of supporting our loved ones who have been harmed, forgiving our enemies, and admitting that the capacity to do harm is like the sun -- it shines within us all. Although we may never act on those tendencies, we can and do send out hateful violent thoughts. Jesus says that what we hold in our hearts is just as real as what we do. Only when we become one in love with all people, when we can claim all parts of the human family, will we become as God. When we rest in that state, unconditional with our love and with compassion for others, our lives become easier and easier.

Anne Sermons Gillis

_____________________________

"If You Want More Time, It's Up To You"

Hello EZosophists,

A few years ago I conducted a workshop for the management of many different businesses, including hospitals and non-profit organizations. The topic was taking control of your workday. I asked each person to introduce himself or herself and to speak of their biggest problem at work. The same words came from almost everyone. "I have too many things to do. I get interrupted constantly with things that have to be attended to. These interruptions take me off task, and then I fall more and more behind."

The word "multi-tasking" came up frequently. "There are so many different projects that pull me in a thousand different directions." Most of these people had too much work. I told them so. "Multi-tasking or not, you have too much to do." I told them to quit. After my well-given advice, I asked them how many were going to quit. No hands. I could tell many of them wanted to quit, but when it boiled right down to it, all of them were going to stay exactly where they were - for now.

That was the expected response. "If you are not going to quit, then you are going to have to recreate the way you see your job. You must find the answers that lie deeper than learning how to organize your day. You will need to know more than how to become super efficient. You can learn these skills, but unless you shake the foundation of your reality, moving a few bricks around will not bring the desired results."

There was some agreement, some skepticism. Everyone came to learn how to do three things at a time and to do them efficiently, effortlessly, and simultaneously. They wanted to know how to get more done. "If that's what you want, then take one of those day-planner workshops," I commanded.

These people represented many people. I hear the same things from my clients, and I battle with the same demon…Too many tasks, too many interruptions, and too little time... But do we really want out?

I suggest that in this time of quantum living and high technology, we love our hurry, worry, and scurry (HWS), our too manys and our not enoughs. It is not unusual to hear stories from people who go on vacation to get out of the HWS. The stories sound like the third chapter of life at work in the coal mines, not recounts of pleasurable timeless relaxation and fun. We recreate the dynamics of HWS wherever we go. We are in the age of the drama lama. Our helter-skelter lives are not only familiar; they are sacred. We value jobs and careers that feed our need for drama and high busy-ness. What we value, we attract. People who really value peace, work at creating it. People who live out drama, but want to change, must learn to want peace and then learn how to create peace.

Creating a healthy and workable relationship with time is a great place to start. Metaphysicians (those who know life is more than just physical; literally, meta means beyond) know that what we think about expands. One of the cornerstone beliefs that creates havoc in our lives is the belief that we don't have enough time. If we believe that we don't have enough time, if we incessantly chant, "There's not enough time," we will create "not having enough time." If we want to have a sense of endless time in our lives, or at least more than enough time, we must give up the thought of not having enough time. Most people will not give that thought up. It's a popular thought, and we conversationally try to outdo others to prove that we have more to do and less time than others.

We think if we had more hours, then we could get everything done. This is not true. We don't need more time. If we had 24 more hours in a day, we would fill them up just as we have filled our first 24.

The following prayer is found in my book, Offbeat Prayers For The Modern Mystic. If you work with this prayer for 30 days, you can change your relationship with time.

Affirmative Prayer for Time

I have all the time I need. The present moment stretches before me like an endless, timeless carpet of light. I have more than enough time to do all the things I need and want to do. There is Divine timing in all that I plan and in all that I do. Every event in my life is designed by the Divine Architect, and I can trust the Design.

I no longer need to feel driven and restless. These are feelings left from my need to control, to perform, and to earn my space on earth. I am valuable and worthy because of whom I am - not because of what I do.

I am free and safe to release all hidden payoffs from the intensity of driven-ness and restlessness. I now release the feelings of driven-ness and restlessness and I am free. I free my self to take time for deep, refreshing, nurturing moments of stillness. I live in a timeless universe and I claim infinite timelessness in my life.

I am an eternal being, therefore I need not hurry. I refuse to respond to life as if there could ever be any urgency about anything. There is nothing urgent in life. Swift response does not have to be accompanied by the demon of debilitating urgency.

My timing is perfect. I am always in the right place at the right time. Because I know that there is Divine Order in my life, I can relax and let go as never before. I rest in the timeless moment of the now. AMEN.

If you want more time, then make one small change in the foundation of your core beliefs and the whole structure of your life will changes. Do it now, so that your lives will become Easier and Easier....

Anne Sermons Gillis

_____________________________

"The Golden Age is Now"

Hello Easy Disciples,

In today's changing times we are faced with new dilemmas and unlimited possibilities. We can replace body parts. We can produce children in litters of seven, a feat formerly reserved for animals. We can wash our cars without touching them. We can buy kiwi fruit anytime of the year. When I was young, I had never even heard of kiwi fruit. Yesterday, I bought kiwi jam!

The shadows that have lurked in the secret, unspoken places are coming out. I speak of shadows in the Jungian way. Our shadows are the secrets: alcoholism, incest, and family violence. Our shadows are the issues that have never been faced and never been dealt with. The demons of today's culture are showing their faces. There are teenage mass murderers. There are crackpot spiritual leaders who invent Armageddons in order to lead their followers to the promised land. There are bombs going off in the heartland of America. There are children who are stoned out of their gourds.

When looking at the surface appearances, one might be tempted to think that humankind is going to hell, metaphorically speaking, or maybe not so metaphorically speaking. The families of the Oklahoma bombing victims have been to hell.

The turbulence and moral decay we see today were not born in one generation. It took generations of dysfunction to sprout the seeds of violence and pain that flourish today. The sins of our fathers have not only passed down from generation to generation, the sins have multiplied like a virus.

Historically, wars have been the place that collective wounds have been projected. Nothing rallies a group of people like a good war. Suddenly, the war -- or war-related issues -- are the source of all problems. We'll stop those commies; we'll save those children. America has finally learned to stop killing its political enemies. At the least, the country is no longer fueled by the fight against communism. Our enemy no longer exists. The cold war ended and we started building McDonald's in strange places. Can you imagine waiting seven hours in line for a hamburger? Those enemies have become an integral part of our global community. More importantly, to a country whose eyes are riveted toward our GNP (gross national product), our enemies became woven into our economy. We woke up and recognized that we could no longer be isolationists. If you can't beat them, join them.

When we stopped killing our enemies, we started killing ourselves. Previous generations may seem to have been more well behaved, but the children who were beaten into submission now issue a cry of rage heard through their descendants. The time of psychological and emotional reckoning has arrived. I suggest these strange and perilous times are not the signs of decay -- they are the signs of healing. When a tree falls, it rests on the ground. This is not the end of the cycle of life, it is just one part of the cycle. The bugs and worms eat at its foundation and the wood becomes lunch for millions of life forms. Finally, the tree turns into mulch and becomes the rich soil for new seedlings to take life.

America is like a tree that has fallen. Our roots were rotten and could no longer stand against the winds of time. We had to let the weakness fall in order to allow the strong to grow.

We are not dying, we are shedding. The mystics and seers of ancient times have told of a time called the Golden Age, when we would flourish as a people. It was prophesied that the time would be at the end of this century. That time is now. The visions of the past seek reality in the present. Who will be the visionaries that bring these possibilities to life? It won't be the media people. They are too focused on the blow-by-blow fall of the trees. They can't see the new seedlings and the birds that make the nests dotting the new horizon. It won't be the typical politician, who wheels to cut one more deal. It won't be the money changers who rule the markets of finance. Who will they be? Who will have the courage to see and create a new world order? We must take back the power we have given to others to see for us.

Then again, maybe a new world order isn't necessary. Maybe we need the ability to see the order that is here now, not in the future. We should know our minds by now. The future that promises everything delivers nothing, because when it arrives, we look to a newer future as the place of perfection and delivered dreams. We never stop in the present long enough to experience those dreams. The future is like the apple dangled before a race horse. Although we keep chasing it, we can never get the future; we can only get the now.

No one who has put down the mind and its interpretations for even a few moments can fail to see the order that is already here. It is a divine order that runs through everything in the universe. This order conducts our physical harmony. It cleans up the earth's pollution through storms, earthquakes, and volcanoes. This order is personalized as the friend who calls at just the right time and the intuition that convinces us to avoid a dangerous street.

The Golden Age is here. It was never reserved for us by linear time because it is a space in consciousness, not a place in time. We no longer have to wait for things to get better because they already are better. When? In what moment are they better? Now is the moment they are better. The best is not yet to come; it is here now waiting for the opportunity to be seen. Will you be its perceiver? Will you put down your personal agenda long enough to tune into the cosmic order? Will you forget about a New Year and join the Now Year that happens in every moment? Is it your destiny to receive the gift of life offered now or to stay mired in the same drama that has been rerun for centuries? When you receive what is here and now, you immediately break the chains that have traveled through your ancestors and make your life -- and the lives of those around you -- easier. Now is the time to do this. Waste no time. Stop; be here now. See who you are and what you have, because when you do, you will find life is easier and easier...

Anne Sermons Gillis

_____________________________

"Harmonic Convergence"

Twenty-one years ago, I visited Hong Kong. I loved the city and made a pledge to revisit it before it was returned to Communist China. Now it is too late. The turnover is here. Just an instant ago I was posing for a picture with Chinese border guards and today I am faced with one more broken self-promise. How could I predict that I would get divorced and that my life would take so many different and unusual turns? What events have marked the swift passage of time?

One event stands out--the Harmonic Convergence. For those who may not know, it was a grass roots celebration. It was a time when some would send a message into outer space signaling that planet earth was ready to become a planet of peace, rather than a barbaric place of war and chaos (Of course most of us didn't know anyone in outer space, and those who claimed to were considered somewhat suspicious, but we all were romantic and full of hopes for miracles). Our galactic message was "Another planet for peace." It was a time foretold by the Mayans when their calendar would complete a cycle. It was the time when the condor of the south would meet the eagle of the north (meaning that North and South America would join spiritual forces). It was the time of return for the mythical figure Quetzquoatl. This god was a representation of the return of the higher awareness. He was the restoration of the divine. We all expected great changes. Connection hosted a daily event for more than thirty days preceding the convergence which climaxed in a multi-cultural event held at dawn atop the Peabody Hotel. Over two hundred and fifty people attended the event (It started at five AM!) Reports of our activities were heard around the world as we received news from friends in California and many other states about the events at Connection. We were on the local, national, and international news. Thousands of gatherings sprung up at what were considered to be the sacred places on the earth. It was the media event of the year.

With all the flurry and expectations, we were uncertain of how our lives might be after the great confluence of universal energies. Shades of Armageddon crept into our thoughts, and we were ready to face any changes bought to us by the times. What we were not prepared for was no change. We wanted enlightenment dished up to us with the expedience that we had learned to demand in an instant society. We were not prepared to return to ordinary life. Yet that is what happened. We were euphoric over the possibility of change, yet found that our change of mood was the greatest change created by the event. We were like those who left Woodstock. What now? Maybe I was not spiritually mature enough at the time to understand the nature of the divine.

A Course in Miracles says that miracles are natural occurrences and the miracle is a change of perception. In the story of Jesus and the fish and the loaves, some say that the miracle was how the people opened up to share what they had. The fish and loaves that were already present appeared after an invocation of love.

It was the passion and the fire of the possibilities of a universal blessing that gave us the courage to reach deep within to plumb the resources of our souls. We became inspired, delighted beings of truth. When the big day came, August 17, 1987, we rose up in joy and power. We stretched our ceremonies a few more days beyond and met daily at sunrise. Then came the time to return to our daily lives. Rather than be joyful over the creative adventure spurred by the ingenious spontaneous birth of dreams, some of us retreated into ordinary reality.

We were much like the devotees of Jesus who expected him to led them into battle. He told his followers not only to stop warring and go home, he told them to forgive, and then, ultimately, to love their enemies. We had readied ourselves for a transformation, not knowing that the change was to take place in the very heart of our society.

Ten years later it seems so easier to see the hand of God at work. There have been no swords of light, but there have been breakdowns of oppressive governments and systems. We have begun the journey that has changed us from narcissistic egotists to that of being connected by technology, finances, and love. The Internet connects us; the media connects us. We have become a global village. When tragedy strikes one side of our planet, the other side now mourns. We may not be perfect in our response and compassion, but we have come a long way in the past ten years. We are living in the future that Alvin Toffler predicted would be shocked. Future Shock is now. Yet somehow, in this rumbling chaotic upheaval of life, we are becoming family. It is said that we are only ten people away from knowing anyone on the planet. Of course, we are much closer to knowing many people. How many "Do you know somebody?" conversations have you had when you could immediately find friends in common?

Maybe spiritual revolution is ongoing and events such as the Convergence give us the opportunity to have a global party. So it looks as if there is going to be another party on August 17, 1997. It's the Harmonic Convergence Reunion. Many communities are celebrating again. Where will you be? What will you do? Whatever it is, remember to have fun, to take it lightly, and to make it easy. It is with this approach that you fully become a member of the spiritual revolution.

Easier and Easier,

Anne Sermons Gillis

_________________________________________

"Forgiveness Offers Everything"

Hello Easy Disciples,

The holidays are over. I had an Easy Disciple holiday. It is so Easy to eat. It seems much Easier to eat a lot than it is to eat a little. An independent eater's survey not only confirms that it is Easy to eat a lot, it also confirms that it is Easy to over-eat.

I call the time between Thanksgiving and New Year's day the "eating season." I usually start eating about two days before Thanksgiving and eat until I get the sugar shakes around the first of the year. It's so Easy.

Now I am past the eating season and into the fitness season. The fitness season starts Jan. 1, unless I go to a New Year's day party, then it starts Jan. 2. I start a new eating and exercise program. It is Easy to start new behaviors.

The next season could be the forgiveness season. I spoke with a friend this morning. He has worked for many years on his emotional and spiritual growth. In conversation he shared his latest: "I've discovered forgiveness. I thought that I had forgiven everyone. I haven't." His voice was filled with awe. He has discovered the potency of forgiveness. As A Course in Miracles says, "Forgiveness offers everything." What is the truth about forgiveness, and what can it offer in the way of recovery? Forgiveness is a tool that allows one to let go of the upset around a certain person or event. I work with forgiveness almost daily. Forgiveness offers release from judgement and restores my peace of mind.

Many a night I have started coming down with a cold. I begin forgiving. I start the process by dealing with anyone whom I feel any discomfort about. "God, let me be willing to let go of these feelings of anger, hurt, or fear. I do not want to judge this person for what I think she has done to me. I can't stand who I am when I hate her or feel superior or inferior to her. Give me a way to see what would change the way I feel about her."

Next, I work with the feelings I have about the people who are closest to me. I forgive people for not wanting to do things the way I want them to or for any actions they have taken that I disapprove of. I pretend that they are guilty of the crime that I have charged them with. Then I forgive them. This way of looking at them allows me to see that the problem was always mine, not theirs. I made up the problematic reality in my head, and it is my decisions that must be overturned. Letting people off the hook of my judgement gets me out of my self-made prison, because forgiving them is actually returning my mind to sanity. All I really want is to love and be loved. My need to be angry at someone who has harmed me keeps me from feeling love in my heart.

Judgement is a way to stay separate from a person. It is the way a wounded person says, "I will hold you away from me by thinking of you as a broken person, someone beneath myself. I am smarter (wiser, kinder, more patient, more logical ..more anything will do) than you." I forgive everyone whom I think has ever hurt me through word or deed.

Next I begin the process of forgiving myself for all my mistakes. I go back as far as I can remember and then my subconscious mind starts unlocking hidden thoughts. This process goes beyond the intellect, into the realm of the heart. The heart gives me the comfort and support I need to be able to look at my imperfections. One forgiveness session might last several hours. I have felt a painful sore throat healing almost instantly when the process is completed. With each release I feel lighter, sometimes moving into a state of ecstasy. It is a soul-searching process because I have to admit to myself what a judgmental ego that I can have.

When I speak with enlightened people about forgiveness, they always nod, and confirm, that it is a very necessary instrument in their spiritual tool kit. When I talk to people whose self-esteem is low, the typical response is, "I don't have anyone to forgive" or "I did that three years ago when I went through the twelve steps." When I think that all my forgiveness has been done, I know that I am in denial. Forgiveness is on-going process, not a done deal. It takes great courage to see what jerks we can really be. I am still reaching the point of understanding when it comes to forgiveness. A part of my mind wants to believe that I don't hold grievances against those who don't like or love me. What a joke. Loving our enemies means loving ourselves, because our enemies represent projections of what we deem unlovable within ourselves.

Years ago I was so sweet. I had no one to forgive and I loved everyone. I am much clearer now, and I understand that I was too full of self-criticism to admit that I needed to forgive. I hid my judgements from myself. Today I ask my higher self, "Who or what do I need to forgive." Forgiveness is not about excusing behavior; it is saying that in spite of your behavior, I am going to see the essence of who you are, rather than focus on what you did wrong to me. I know who you are. Living with a vindictive, adversarial agenda does not create the space for a peace filled mind or life.

As metaphysicians we can take forgiveness a step further. We understand that, "...everything that seems to happen to me, I ask for, and received as I have asked." (A Course in Miracles) This means that if people treat me without respect, it is because I don't respect myself. If people abuse me, it is because I think I deserve abuse. All we perceive in the outside world is the reflection of our inner beliefs. Consciousness teachers attribute weight loss and financial restoration to forgiveness. Forgiveness makes life Easier and Easier...

Anne Sermons Gillis

___________________________________

"Make it Easier"

Hello Easy Disciples,

We all want to have easier lives. People quest for easy, simple, and prosperous lives. The problem with having an easier life is that most people are not willing to give up the drama and juiciness of their present situation in exchange for peace and ease.

Buddha said that there will be pain in life, but that suffering is optional. Buddha would be disappointed if he walked today. He came to teach spiritual disciples to live in a state of peace and non-attachment. Buddha knew the mind as a point of pain and sorrow for all those who could not master it, so he taught his followers to master the mind.

Christ taught love and said that if we would follow Him, the difficulties would melt away, for in Christ the yoke is easy. Christ would be surprised to see how the truth and simplicity of His message has been rerouted into a religion of suffering and sacrifice.

We have been told to take no care for tomorrow, to look to the lilies, to see the indefatigable, supportive nature of the universe. Even with the potent words of the Creator fresh on our minds, we are swift to recite thoughts of lack, over and over, until we are self-hypnotized into an internal world of doubt, poverty, and mistrust.

Maybe these words seem harsh. The tough teachings of Buddhism are sometimes referred to as the black and blue teachings. Often we have to be kicked in the rear in order to move forward. These words are aimed at the part of the mind that will not let go of the Ego Driven Suffering.

All people have pain in their lives. Sometimes the pain is caused by the ancient words of the ancestors that render a person hopeless about life. Sometimes pain is around a loss or about a seemingly unresolvable problem. The point is that everyone has circumstances in their lives that are less than desirable.

I think there are two categories of people. One group complains about their feelings and circumstances. They seem to be angry and self-righteous about their current problem. They talk about the same problems over and over again. They focus on others as if they were the problem.

The other group can discuss their problems without whining about them. They don't believe that they have been set up by the evil step-mother of life. They have learned to share their pain, with honor and dignity. They do not blame others for their difficulties. These are the people who take responsibility. They have moved from the realm of Hardaholism to that of being an Easy Disciple. All of us have been in both the groups at one time or the other. In order to have an easier life, it is necessary to move into a position self-responsibility rather than one of blaming people, groups, political parties, and the government for their problems.

Many people were dissatisfied with President Bush. When Bill Clinton was placed into office, none of the ego-driven complainers felt a difference in the quality of their day-to-day lives. Those who now complain about the Democrats will still be complaining when the Republicans win in the future. Those who complain about the outer circumstances by habit will be complaining, regardless of the changes in circumstances.

Recently I told my partner, "I am afraid that because you don't take good care of your body, that you will be sick when you are old." He looked at me with a grin and answered, "Well, I guess you're happy." I scrunched up my face and replied, "What do you mean?" He responded, "I know you are happy when you have something to worry about." I laughed because he had busted my act. What he said was true. I was operating from that part of my mind that seeks out problems. I dropped the subject and we hugged.

Unfortunately there is no fairy god-mother around to thump us in the head to place us back on course. Most of us wait on life to treat us right. Those who never see the fallacy of this approach will die a hard death. Life will not become easier from the outside in; it must be made easy from the inside out.

The famous story of the rain-maker illustrates this point. There was a village that had no rain for a long time. They sent word to the rain-maker to come and make rain for the parched earth. The rain-man received the message and journeyed to the village. He was given a private tent. He gave instructions not to be disturbed. His food was to be left daily outside his tent door. One day passed. There was no rain, and the townspeople heard all kinds of noises coming from the tent. There was wailing, groaning, laughter, and grunting. The second day repeated the pattern of the first. On the third day the clouds grew dark and there was a downpour of sweet rain.

The people ran to the rain-man to thank him for making rain. They asked him what he did to make the rain come. The shaman smiled and related that he had not even began the rain ceremony yet. "What were you doing? We heard strange sounds come from your tent day and night," replied the town people. "I was cleaning up my personal stuff. I was forgiving and releasing and making my heart clean."

The message conveyed is that when we do our inner work, the outer world falls into balance.

This is the great secret of having an easier life. We have to approach everything we plan to do as if it will be easy. We must expect our lives to be easy. We must be willing to give up our interpretation of life as hard. When the mind is tamed, and the inner world is quieted, life becomes

Easier and Easier,

Anne Sermons Gillis

_____________________________________

"The Witness Protection Plan"

Hello Easy Disciples,

Have you ever heard of the witness protection plan? I don't know how often people go on the witness protection plan in real life, but on television it happens frequently. The witness testifies in court about a crime, and because of the testimony, the life of the witness is put in jeopardy. The witness then goes under the witness protection plan. To ensure her/his safety, s/he might be moved to a different town and set up with a new identity. Everything possible is done to keep the witness from harm.

We all need to go under the witness protection plan.  As we become more and more in touch with the truth, our ego (I am using the term ego as defined in A Course in Miracles, not the Freudian concept of ego) goes on the defense, trying to create Ego Driven Struggle. The ego is a part of our minds that tries to kill the truth. When we have a new realization, feel more at peace, and grow happier, then boom, the ego drops a little bomb. The ways of the ego are insidious. It often looks as if the ego's voice is informing us for our own good, but the true mission of the ego is to return us to our original state of chaos.

A thermostat is used to keep temperature constant. If a room becomes too cold, the thermostat kicks the heat on and then the room warms up. When the room reaches the desired warmth, the heat clicks off. The ego is the thermostat of our lives, and when we deviate from our temperatures of depression, lethargy, and hopelessness, the ego turns on the mind to bring our lives back to normal. The ego uses such methods as illogical logic, intellectualism, drama, and physical illness to bring back our minds to their previous state of gloom. The ego is like a fox on the run — it won't settle down. It just keeps running around our minds, using people, places, and circumstances to keep us trapped in mental hell.

We need a witness protection plan for our minds. When the light of our truth begins to shine, we must provide safety for the new, tender ways of perception. It is these tender, new ways that form the foundations of our delivery into the promised land of our being.

The witness protection plan would be something like this:

Don't share a new truth with a known skeptic. When a truth is new, your mind is too vulnerable to try to defend it. A good skeptic can shoot down almost any new truth. Let the seeds of your new truth grow from a seedling into a tree before you go against a cynical mind. It is hard to knock down a tree, but it is easy to trample a seedling. Your ego wants you to share with someone who will shoot you down and return you to the ordinary. Don't do it. "Do not cast your pearls before swine." It hurts your faith and doesn't benefit the skeptic. Hang around people who can support your new way of being. Hanging around depressed people is just as dangerous as sharing a new truth prematurely. If you want to be happier, then you must hang around happy people. If you get happier and stay around the same old depressed folks, without a break, or a haven, you will return to your earlier state of unhappiness. New ideas are like logs in a fire: one log removed extinguishes, while logs burning together feed each other's flame. Finding a spiritual group, who can support your growth, is like keeping the log on the fire.

Continue to feed your mind on the light of truth. Find inspirational literature, pray, and meditate. These practices shine light into your mind. We need light to become cognizant beings of truth. Without light, or spiritual inspiration, we are like an interior decorator who tries to decorate a house when the lights are out. Not only is it difficult to move around in the dark, it is impossible to create a pleasing room or home without light. If you asked a decorator to operate under those circumstances, s/he would think that you were nuts. Shining light in our lives is like the decorator turning on the light: the light won't decorate the room, but it will allow you to see how to do it. The light won't live our lives for us — God doesn't makes our choices for us — but the light nurtures our new truths so we can see how to make mighty leaps into a new way of living.

These are just a few ways to begin to protect the truths that appear in our minds and lives as we seek to live lives that are easier, more peaceful, and filled with joy. Find your own witness protection plan, because on the heels of any new step you take in a positive direction, there is an ego that drags you back to being the old you. In Christianity, it's called the devil. Regardless of what it is called, the adversary of the mind has little power over the possibilities found in an enlightened mind and heart. Feed and protect that precious new truth, and eventually the ego will starve to death. Life is easier when you protect and nurture your truth.

Easier and Easier, Anne

Thanks, Anne

________________________________________

"Easy Money"

Hello Easy Disciples,

Do you believe in easy money? When you think of money, do you feel peaceful? Do you feel comfortable discussing money or asking people to pay you or to repay you?

Money is rarely a public topic of conversation. People usually avoid conversations about money. We just put them off or pretend the need to talk about money doesn't exist. Talking about money is considered gauche and even unspiritual. Most people will self-disclose about sex before they will talk about money.

A Course In Miracles calls money "green paper strips" and "round metal discs." The Course tells us that we give everything the meaning it has for us. Many people in our culture have agreed upon the same meaning: Money is bad. Money is often associated with greed and giving people power over others. This negative definition of money will indeed be true — if that is what we believe. The mind always seeks to prove what it believes to be true. The real truth is that money has no meaning. We decide what it will mean to us.

Money is a usually a forbidden topic in social situations and certainly a "no-no" in the business world (some companies will fire you if you reveal your salary to others).

When topics are excluded from conversations or spoken of in hushed tones, they take on a dimension of secretness. Secrets make us sick. When we know something in our guts, but we can't talk about it or express it as we see it, we begin to feel crazy. The process is called "crazy-making." When it comes to money, we have plenty of crazy-making training. Parents rarely reveal their salaries to their children and do not include young ones in discussions of family expenditures. Children are raised with a poor money-minded consciousness. They are not taught how to use it, how to value it, the problems that can be solved by money, and the ones that can't. They are not taught how to share money. We actually suffer from abundance abuse. In a land of plenty, we have lost our ability to see what is before us; infinite wealth. People who have plenty continue to struggle to make more money. Our minds operate through the eyes of lack rather than through the eyes of prosperity.

I wanted to avoid money secrecy with my daughter. I began letting her make her own purchases when she was young. She handled her birthday money and Christmas money. She had a checking account when she was in high school. I was frank with her when she wanted to buy something I could not afford. She also received the tools to manifest things for herself. When she was about seven, she asked for her own toothpaste. We both used one tube, since we shared the bathroom. I told her that she could have her own. She could pay for it or attract it. Then came a short lesson in metaphysics. "Form a mental picture of the toothpaste. See it as if you already have it. Do this several times a day." Within two days she had attracted three tubes of toothpaste. The lesson was: Having money is not the only way to get what you want. One of the tubes came through the mail, the next from her school, and the last one came from her dentist. Today my 24-year-old daughter is a good money manager. She is good at attracting money. She is not hopeless or helpless when it comes to money issues. She also knows that she can get what she wants without money.

Money has become like a drug in many peoples' lives. Financial anorexia is flourishing. People are either starving for money or they worry about money so much that they have no peace of mind. People use the power of money, the spending of money, the accumulation of money, or the worry about money as a medication for feelings. In other words, the processes around money have, in many cases, become an addiction. If this news is not bad enough, then add the following idea: We manage our relationship with money much like we handle our special love and special hate relationships with people.

Amidst the incorrect perceptions, unholy thoughts, and addictions about money, there must be a vantage point for the perception of money as neutral. I believe all problems and addictions can only hope for complete healing through spiritual resolution.

Try this solution: The Money Relationship Blessing. It addresses the problems we face in our unfit attitudes about an unhealthy relationship with money.

Today I am blessed with a sense of well-being because I acknowledge myself as precious and valuable. God sends me all the information I need take to care of myself. I place all feelings of abandonment and enmeshment in the arms of the Divine Nurturer for healing, because I know that those feelings give me an unhealthy relationship with money. I openly admit that I want money. Money simplifies my life. I can trust myself with money because I am a trustworthy steward of God's resources. I open my consciousness and heart to the guidance of my Higher Power in all areas concerning money and prosperity. I am learning that it is safe to want money, talk about money, and have money. I am no longer ashamed to have, want, or need money. All money is God's money. God's money flows to me. God's money flows from me.

I can trust abundance. By repeating this blessing on a daily basis, I set up circumstances that move me into right relationship with money. My financial worries dissolve, and my life becomes a financial celebration. I give thanks for my financial healing and accept my perfect relationship with money.

When it comes to money, life can be Easier and Easier.

Anne

___________________________________

"Know Thy Self"

Dear Easy Disciples,

In September, I went to visit my daughter, Elizabeth. She lives in Charleston, S.C. The historic and charming city is situated on the ocean. It is filled with rows of colorful, unique townhouses. Tiny shops line the streets, native artisans sell hand-woven baskets, and scrumptious, fresh seafood is available everywhere. Even though the town is captivating, my heart is always taken by the water.

I love the ocean. I went to the seashore every summer while growing up, and during these visits, a haunting question formed in my heart. "When can I go back to the ocean?"

As an adult, that question has caused me a good deal of heart ache. While growing up, I lived only eighty short miles from paradise. My father owned a significant amount of beachfront property. The "beach," with its beach music, cold undulating waves, and fresh seafood, was a way of life. Memphis, however, is land-locked. In spite of the majesty of the Mighty Mississippi, this North Carolina girl needs more. I need salt in the air, sand, and shrimp fresh from the trawlers.

This summer I had the privilege of going to the seashore three times. While in Charleston, I visited the beach at Sullivan's Island. We went to my beloved beach three days in a row. On the last day with the ocean, the longing started. "When I will I come back again?" My mind began to devise all sorts of plans to allow me to return. Then the mind kicked into high gear and began the get away. This is the plan to live at the beach and to get away from my life. The fantasy consists of daily walks on the beach, fresh seafood at every meal, and a beachfront cottage. In this cottage I will write a best-seller and lounge by a roaring fire to abate winter's bite. The dreams go on and on. They are laced with a sense of abandonment. A mournful sigh is felt within: "The sacred is out of reach for me. It is reserved for those who live at the beach." This fantasy has followed me to the beaches of South America, Europe, the Philippines, California, the Gulf of Mexico, the Bahamas, the West Indies, Bermuda, and to many other tropical nirvanas. No kidding. The longing and the fantasy kicks off whenever I am near the water.

Finally the voice for sanity kicked in: "Anne, in the midst of longing for the beach, you overlooking the fact that you are at the beach. If you can't feel and sense the magic now, what makes you think you will be able to experience it if you live there? You have carried on this misplaced sense of longing too long. You have what you long for, and you are missing it."

With that change of perspective, I was able to return to the beach and to enjoy the day.

The mind is tricky. Within it lies the keys to our freedom and to the experience of that for which we long. The mind is a gateway. Too often we use the mind as if it were the promised land. The promised land has no use for the mind. The promised land is the land of the Void, where there are no hopes, no wants, no desires. The promised land is the land of the Self and in this space lies complete fulfillment.

The mind constantly busies itself with new ways for self improvement, goals, and dreams to ensure the safety and pleasure of the body and the ego. The mind concentrates on getting what it thinks it wants, and then when it gets what it thinks it wants, it works on getting more of what it thinks it wants. When the mind finally figures out that more will not help, then it goes for better. "Maybe if I improve on how I get this thing, everything will be OK." When the mind gives up on improving the situation, it goes for changing. "I'll move; I'll change the color of my hair. I'll get a new car, house, computer. I'll go online. The Internet is the hot thing. It's the wave of the future. I'll get off-line. I've become an Internet maniac. Yes, things will be better when I..." On and on go the mind schemes. The mind is a wish-fulfilling machine. When the mind is left unchecked, it will continue to generate wishes and grant them. The wishes the mind generates and pursues are never ones that will lead to fulfillment. The wishes just lead to more wishes.

The result of living in the unquestioned mental world is a deep layer of suffering that undergirds the experience of life. Frequently the pain is covered with so much business that the pain is not apparent. One of the favorite greetings in our culture is "Are you staying busy?" The greeting is meant to be life supportive, but in it lies the poison of a mind trained to confuse doing with being.

What is the medicine for the soul that is hopelessly enslaved to an unruly mind? The medicine appears in the Bible as, "Be still and know that I am God." The philosophers frame it as, "Know thyself." Even though the words are different, they present the same answer. God and Self are synonymous. The Self or God is the ground of our being and holds our personal identity.

When the restless mind ceases its rumbling and rambling, the Self emerges. God is there. There is no self-help book that can take us to God. Even the scriptures can only walk the mind part way to Self-Realization.

The complete surrender of the mind is the only way to our salvation. We must put aside all longing, planning, fixing, metafixing, analyzing, solving, and changing, and move our minds to a point of stillness. The stillness of the mind is the surrender. When the mind rests, when it is quiet and does not lead, enlightenment occurs. This search for our identity in and as the Self is the purpose of our life here. Our souls long to remember. All of our failures and frustrations serve as fuel to drive us closer and more rapidly to that which we seek. Enlightenment is certain knowledge of the absolute truth. As A Course in Miracles states: "Enlightenment is but a recognition, not a change at all." Enlightenment is the recognition of the Self/God. When this remembrance occurs, it comes in a flash, forever changing the beholder. Due to the loving and benevolent nature of God, this transformation from our perception of who we think we are, to the recognition of who we really are, is ever-present and available to all.

Now is the only time enlightenment can occur. You are encouraged to waste no time. Stop, be still, and know that I am God. ...And Make Life Easier and Easier,

Anne

___________________________________

"Freedom from Death"

"To be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that enhances and respects the freedom of others." Nelson Mandela – The quote appears on outside the wall of the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg, South Africa

We all face devastation. We experience physical and emotional pain. As we grow older, we pay a price. Aging is the price we pay for not dying young. As we age, we encounter loss of physical abilities and eventually die. We do not have to grow old, die, or even age, but most people do. Why? We die and age because we believe in death. A few spiritual beings have crossed over to the spiritual realm without going through the doors of death. They attained physical immortality. A physical immortalist can dematerialize his or her body. For most people, this is an outrageous idea. Yet in the Bible we find people who meet the criterion to be considered a physical immortalist. Melchizedeck and Elijah are physical immortalists because they never experienced a physical death. Jesus is a physical immortalist because he has the ability to be physical or non-physical. Remember doubting Thomas. The touch was real. The physical immortalist dematerializes when s/he no longer wants to be on this plane. The belief that death is inevitable affects our bodies. That belief commands the body to grow old and invent some way to expire. Until our belief in death is healed, we have a subconscious expiration date. That date is our death day.

Very few people heal the death urge or belief that we must physically die; therefore, most people experience aging, infirmity, and physical death. Some cultures honor the death day more than the birthday. They cry when someone is born and celebrate when someone dies. They believe the soul is encumbered by the physical body, and life with a body is an undesirable state. There are many perspectives of life with and without a body. Some people want to keep the body and others want to get rid of it. Moksha means liberation. What we believe is not as important as the effects of what we believe. What we believe is only valuable if the belief frees us. When minds are liberated from the incessant ramblings of the ego, freedom is possible.

For the sake of my peace of mind and freedom, I choose to believe that even if I get ill and age, the possibility of health and biological youthening still exist. This belief frees my mind and frequently I experience miraculous healings. I have also done everything I could to create healing through a mind, body, spirit approach and failed to have results on the physical level. In other words, I remain ill for a while longer. At these points, when feeling puny, I accept my physical limitation (illness) as a gift and see what the illness can teach me.

Along the road of faith and doubt, prayer has been a constant companion and an integral part of my healing process. The following prayers are offered for comfort in the process of living and dying that we encounter. We are spiritual beings having a physical experience. How can we make that physical experience have the qualities we desire? This question can only be answered at an individual level. The following affirmative prayers help me to find answers. The Healing Prayer appeared when I realized that I did not have faith that I could be healed. Affirmative Prayer for Athletes was written for a health magazine and the Love Song was written when I was in a state grace.

May these prayers bring liberation from the ego. May they permeate your soul and fill your mind with the light of awareness.

* Healing Prayer

God, give me the faith to believe that you have the power to heal me. Reach through this seemingly impenetrable maze of belief systems and take me home. Teach me to celebrate joy more and to worship fear less.

Teach me to pray with an attitude rooted in power. Help me to accept the authority of your word. Remind me that thinking about praying or assuming that you know my needs is not enough. Remind me that I must speak to you with an open, undefended heart and ask directly for healing. Then remind me to listen. Help me to make it a priority to listen to you. Make me understand the importance of our time together. I know that I need to make more time for our relationship than I do for any other relationship. Help me to act on that knowledge.

Teach me to eliminate the situations and beliefs that keep me stranded from your love. Dispel the delusion that I can personally heal my deepest wounds. Grant me the humility to ask for and receive your healing. Lead my mind into your love and away from my fear. AMEN.

** Affirmative Prayer for Athletes

My body is healthy. I love and appreciate my body. Every cell in my body radiates perfect health. I do not treat my body like a machine because it is the home of my soul. I stay alert to the inner wisdom of my body so that I do not harm it. I now have the wisdom to know when to push on and when to stop. It is through my body that I am able to perceive and serve the divine. I will not burden my body, but I will maximize the co-operation and performance of all muscles, bones, and organs. I use my mind to picture myself in perfect health and see myself as successful in all my physical undertakings. My body is operated by my mind and responds well to praise and adversely to criticism. I choose thoughts that support both my physical and emotional well being.

I breathe clean, fresh air. I eat foods that enhance my vitality. I exercise regularly. I am now reaping the benefits of vibrant health and passionate aliveness. AMEN.

A Love Song

The truth rings out in every cell of my body. The truth shouts itself into all my thoughts. The truth resounds in all that I speak. I hear only truth and see only love in all that I behold. The truth becomes the guiding point for all my actions.

I am not here to save myself, for I am not lost nor am I forsaken. I am here to live the love I AM. I am here to live love. Living love is the promise of my being.

My perception no longer interferes with the love of my soul. The Lord has spoken in my heart and I dwell in the resting place of the holy mind. The Lord puts my pride away and humbles my ego. I no longer have the need to be tricked by the illusion of separation. I cannot see the enemy of my thoughts as reality; rather, I can only see the love that undergirds all life. I know only the unity of all beingness.

I partake in the sweetness of life. I commune with the light. I tune into the universal song that sings in all things, manifest and unmanifest. I am free to live the call of my heart and to become one with God. This place is the dwelling place of the Lord of my Being. I rejoice and give thanks for the glory of this moment. I surrender. Let me Be. Let it Be. So Be it. Amen.

*Excerpted from Offbeat Prayers for the Modern Mystic: Making Life Easier Through Innovative Prayer, by Anne Sermons Gillis

**Excerpted from Memphis Health and Fitness Magazine, 1998

___________________________________

"Welcome to our Friends: Death and Illness"

"That which is not smaller than AIDS is larger than AIDS. Can you imagine my surprise when I awakened one morning to that thought? Taken aback, I searched my mind to make sense of the enigma. The thought seemed out of context since I don't have AIDS. Regardless, I listened as the following ideas rolled off my mind.

What is your relationship to AIDS? If you are smaller than AIDS, it will be your enemy. If you are larger than AIDS, it will be your teacher. We are accustomed to seeing everything that isn't joy-filled, healthful, and bright as our enemy. The medical profession fights disease. We seek to be positive thinkers by canceling negative thoughts. This perspective causes looming shadows in our culture. We seek to destroy the enemy rather than to embrace the light. We run from the things we view as harmful. The faster we run, the more we fuel our fear. Fear is the real word for enemy. What is not smaller than fear is larger than fear. If we are smaller than our fear, it runs us. On the other side of the fear coin, we cease running; we latch on. We identify with fear and think we are the fear. We hang onto others and try to get them to take care of us. We become helpless, immobilized, and powerless.

Illness is healing in process. Illness is the body clearing what harms us. Sometimes the process of cleansing is so radical we die, but dead or not, the emotional healing continues. Illness, as a teacher, gives us time to deal with our emotions and make amends to our bodies.

Belief systems harm us. Virus and bacteria can't harm us. They are neutral. We are not bodies; we are spirits. Who we really are is only affected by love or by the upsets that hold love out. We believe that health is a positive and that dying is bad. It has only been in the last 20 years that we began to build systems to support conscious dying, illness prevention, and the idea of illness as an alley.

When you are ill, ask these questions of your illness and see what you learn. It does not matter not whether you have AIDS, cancer, or a sore throat; all illness provides alternative learning perspectives.

1. What have you come to teach me?
2. What can I do to assist this transformation?
3. How can you help me understand who I am?
4. How can I treat my body with more love?
5. What can you tell me about living?
6. What can you tell me about dying?
7. What can you tell me about health?
8. What can you tell me about myself and how I view myself?
9. How can you help me heal the false concepts I have about myself?
10. What can you do to teach me about power?
11. What do you want with me?
12. What do I need to do?
13. Whom do I need to forgive?
14. Whom do I need to make amends with?

Dialogue with your illness and write down the answers. Let the illness be O.K. Judgment on top of being sick is the pits. Our mind serves as an inner barbeque pit that incinerates our well-being. Give up the guilt. Learning from death or illness does not mean you have to die; it contributes to your experience of living. I have been a student of a number of spiritual disciplines. I have looked at both ends of the death-life spectrum and checked out ideas from physical immortality to conscious dying. When it comes to the idea of illness, we are sick! We medicate, abdicate, and extricate ourselves from illness. Can we face illness, regardless of its magnitude, so that we can be bigger than the disease?

People die. Conscious people, nearing the time of transition, tend to be luminous. Facing death allows people to drop the mask, see what is truly important. Death gives us the chance to stop the running. I have been with people who are near death who refused to admit they were dying. It seemed tragic that they were not able to say good-bye to family members, clean the slate of their consciousness, and be aware of what was happening. They could not accept the gifts death brought with it.

It is common in Eastern cultures to prepare the consciousness for death. People are trained how to think and what to think when death, or Lord Yama, appears. The thoughts held at the time we exit the body are important and have great impact in what happens to us during and after death. Gandhi murmured God's name when he was shot. Martin Luther King called out to his Lord in the last seconds of his life. The discipline of Japa, or repeating the name of God, assures that when one dies, he or she focuses on the highest thought available. If you find yourself facing sudden or unexpected death, think of God. You can repeat "Om," which is the sound of God and known as the primordial seed sound, or call to Jesus, Buddha, or any of the saints. A favorite name for God is "I Am that I Am." The Bible says "Run into the name of the Lord." This means to let go of the mind control that figures and schemes to keep the body safe. Our minds must learn to surrender themselves to a power greater then itself. If one has not learned to surrender the thinking process by the time death arrives, it is a good time to start.

If you are ill or facing death, befriend not only your dis-ease; give a voice to the internal conflicts. Give up the need to be a spiritual worrier. Give up the drama about your illness or fate. Take responsibility for your perception and illumine your life with the love of your being. Illness and death are strange bedfellows, but they are not bad. They are opportunities, not punishments. Embrace the process and when you do, you will find that life will be easy or at least easier.

Anne Sermons Gillis is a speaker, coach and the author of EZosophy: The Art and Wisdom of Easy (or at Least Easier Living) and Offbeat Prayers for the Modern Mystic. You can reach her at 800-711-4580 or at www.annegillis.com.

"Declaration of Inner-Dependence"
I, a spirit of the United States of Consciousness, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure tranquility, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty for myself and others, and for posterity, do ordain and establish this Declaration of Inner-Dependence.

I, __________________, am inner dependent. I am fully dependent on the source within to provide me with a sufficiency of all things necessary to live a passionate joy-filled life. When I settle my mind down and release the thoughts that drag me down, I am immersed in the deep, quite place of fulfillment. I declare that this inner space is non-failing and all-providing. I am a part of this grand intelligence and choose to live my life in accordance with its provisions. I depend on the substance within to care for my every need. The unfailing spiritual activity within me provides goodness and mercy in my relationship with self and others, my financial affairs, in my career, body, mind and feeling nature.

I accept the inner presence as my instant, constant non-ending abundance of all good things. God is the source and the I Am of me is the resource. I am like my creator, Source and Re-Source. Furthermore, I hold these truths to be self-evident, that all people are created equal in spirit, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights; that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. Furthermore, I know myself to be the creator of life, liberty, and happiness in my world and as an inner-dependent, I know that I am richly blessed by everything, everyone, and every situation. So Be IT!