Walking Through the Storm

Oct16

I was having a particularly challenging morning today and it was triggered by the news that I read on the internet. I was just browsing my emails and not guarding my sensitivity level because it was early and the brazen and aggressive news hit me smack dab in my heart and my head. I immediately felt restless and nervous about what is happening to the our beautiful planet, our country and the many innocent souls who are the hardest hit by greed and ignorance.

When circumstances, people or situations hit us over the head because we were caught off guard, it is very useful to have a few time tested tools available to apply to our current mind set or we will be drawn into the energy, emotional drama or the dominant attitude being expressed.

I was suddenly feeling anxious and my plan for the morning had been ease and grace, doing my meditation, staying centered and calm and the opposite came forth because I had been triggered and had no healthy screen in place.

Once again, God brought me to a challenge that was going to stretch my inner life skills to work through the feelings of fear and insecurity that came up when I read a few of my emails.

I realized that I was barely alert and I needed to be kind and accepting of myself where I was at, in the moment. Not that I should pamper myself and play out “poor me” scenarios. I was aware that I needed to be compassionate and conscious and I needed a healthy strategy to find a way to gently shift my gears.

I went for a short ride with my dog to Masters Market at Ananda Village and picked up one of my favorite breakfast sandwich and then went to share some extra fresh tomatoes I had with a friend. If we are too absorbed in our own suffering it is time to give more generously of ourselves. I had to break out of self concern and give my energy to help someone else. Giving of ourselves when we are challenged or moody, frustrated or upset is the best way to utilize our misdirected energy. Be generous with our lives and we simply can’t out-give God or the universe. With a loving and empowering attitude the energy will shift and change and the thunder storm will pass.

Know that You are Loved, Rev. Barb

Look more deeply Within…

Sep17

“I’m like the fog – you’re the Infinite Sea – everything about you is a Mystery. Your love is always free… like the birds in the air, children everywhere, the winds blowing fair on the sea.” c1981

Choose to be Free

What is important to you, right now, in your life? I have seen how easy it is to get caught up in shallow or temporary distractions. When I get hooked, I find it is far too easy to forget to look more deeply into my heart and soul and see what is more important to me and what is a minor interest competing for my attention.

Recently a couple of friends came over for a visit. Our conversation reflected our past and what brought us to our spiritual paths. Even though we’ve been friends for years, I had not shared a deep part of myself, my passion and journey as a song writer and some of the more meaningful experiences that I had in the entertainment industry.

I shared a couple of the early devotional songs that I wrote in the 1980’s. The songs were inspired by my study of the “The Course in Miracles,” reflecting some of the moments of amazing grace and an ever deepening relationship with God. The songs emerged through me in a very magical way and everything about them came forth mysteriously.

One of the lines in a song said, “Everything about you is a mystery. Your love is always free, like the birds in the air, children everywhere, the winds blowing fair on the sea.”

Today, the wind is blowing fair on the sea. What is still true for me is the “amazing grace” that comes through those most precious times when I am in attunement with Spirit. It changes my consciousness, it shifts my heart and awareness and my spirit is lifted out of the mundane.

Learning to deepen my spiritual relationship to my Source through daily spiritual practice helps me keep my heart open and connected to the Divine and my higher self. The magic is much more subtle than my song writing days were and the vibrations last longer than the intensely short and sweet resonance of a song. The power of Divine Love opens my heart and lifts me up without setting up an ego trap to reel me in – one more time.

Know that you are Loved, Rev. Barb Walley

Is your Ego your friend? Part 3

Sep11

DSCN2500 I grew up thinking that developing a strong ego was a good thing. What my spiritual journey has revealed is that it is really about how I protect myself from what I fear. All of the many ego identifications are often about what we like or what we dislike. Whatever we identify with will always create fences that define our limitations and block others out. We all have oodles and bundles of self definitions. We just do not recognize them as that.

The ego takes sides and expresses the color, shape and size of the conditions or boundaries that we feel that we need or choose. It might not be very obvious that we are doing our best to be safe from whoever or whatever is in control. It is what sets us apart from the other souls on the planet who have more or less than we do. They might live in other countries, cultures or economic realities. We create fences with so many of our thoughts, beliefs and current comforts.

We construct brick fences, or thick concrete fences, or high barbed wire fences, or electric fences, and even glass or clear transparent ones. What they all do is say “do not enter” or “stay away.” They are all constructed to block others out. They are all how we limit ourselves and convince ourselves in believing we are “safe”. It is what we imagine or think will keep us safe. It is our fear that is actually triggering us.

The fences can be economic, social, cultural, racial and they often translate into divisions. They invoke feelings that mask the Soul. In our souls we are one. In the heart of God we are one.

When the hurricanes head into an area of the world – they come to everyone regardless of the economic or social circumstances. It blows its ravaging winds upon everyone in its path. The rich might be able to escape more quickly if they have the means available to them, and sadly the poor and sick are not as easily served.

Only Spirit within us can set us free. When we identify with God and choose that energy that lifts us toward our higher self, we have an opening to possibilities

The great Spiritual Master – Paramhansa Yogananda said that limitations are like putting on a heavy coat on a extremely hot summer day.

All of these fences are “agitations of the heart.” This kind of thinking can only mislead ourselves. It does not help and only disturbs the mind and body with the conditions and beliefs that we fool ourselves into believing.

Lets keep working on healthy thoughts, beliefs and actions. It takes more work when we are caught in fear but the outcome is so much better in the long run. Do not give up. You are doing so much better than before you realized what was blocking your higher good.

Know that you are Loved, Rev. Barb Walley