Always Calm

"In quietness and in calmness shall be your strength" Isaiah 30:15

I was reading this morning from one of my favorite meditation books, God Calling, about how being calm will build good and at the same time destroy evil. The reading says in the face of difficulty or evil..."always first be still and know that I am God. Then act only as I tell you. Always calm with God. Calm is trust in action. Only trust, perfect trust can keep one calm." It also says to not be afraid of the circumstances that help us cultivate calmness. I know that in my own action(s) I can do nothing, but if I am quiet in stillness I am guided into the right action...fear dissolves and calmness overcomes the storm.

For me..."to be still and know that I am God"...is usally all I need in times of difficulty or fear and it gives me a great feeling of calmness and peace knowing that I am with God, trusting and knowing, that he will give me the right direction.

Today I am grateful to know the strength of quietness and calmness.

Awakening

I watched the video (shown below) about awakening and I was given a powerful message that reminded me that each day is a time to awaken to the Christ spirit that is within each of us. A new day to let go of what you thought you were and to allow the Light of Christ within to shine on a new day...a new love, new joy, new peace...to guide you into new awakenings of the Divine Spirit that dwells in each of us.

My everyday experiences and memories of the past can affect my inner love, joy and peace in negative ways if I allow them to and many times I do. But each day I am given the opportunity to 'drop the armor' of yesterday and awaken to great and vast new experiences of who I am meant to be...the Christ image within reflecting love, joy and peace to all. If I allow myself to breathe in new life and exhale old life; new experiences surround me and I am given new opportunities be me!

Today I am grateful for being able to breathe...and for that I am grateful.


youtube.com/watch?v=V8bZGLSbFaI

Perfect Light

I read and meditated today, again from a reading by CS Lewis, 'The Joyful Christian', about perfection. He talks about when we ask God into our lives for something specific He will grant it to us or cure our ailment. Although that may be all we ask of Him, He will give us "the full treatment"...He will make us perfect unless through our free will we push Him away. In His effort to render us into absolute perfection, and whatever it may cost us in our earthly life, He will not rest or let us rest until His Father can say He is well pleased with us...this He can do and He will do nothing less.

For a long time I was afraid to commit myself unto the Lord for fear of failure. Today I know that I can never achieve perfection through my own will. Only through him will I achieve absolute perfection...and nothing less. Yes I will stumble and fall, but He will always pick me up and only I can prevent my progress into the Perfect Light.

Spring Is In The Air

Although it is still about four weeks until spring is officially here, I am looking forward to new growth in not only the trees, grass and flowers, but also in myself. I read this morning from CS Lewis, "The Joyful Christian", about how we sometimes long for the first fervor of our christian conversion and are disappointed and sometimes remorseful that we do not feel that way anymore. In essence, he said that they are simply memories and if we only except them as that they will nourish us. He says the bulb is planted and if we leave it alone the flowers will bloom; but if we dig them up and fondle and sniff them hoping to get last year's bloom nothing will happen.

I have been guilty of this in the past...wondering why I don't feel that same awesome warmth and joy I have felt many times in the past. Today I realize that as long as I feed and water the seed, great "new" flowers will bloom! For that I am grateful

Keeping The Peace

'First keep the Peace within yourself, then you can also bring Peace to others.'
-Thomas A. Kempis

I have been sitting here for a couple of hours contemplating God's Love and a great sense of peace came over me. It always does when I really take the time to experience how infinite His Love is and what He has done not only in my life but in the life of others. I think about all living things in His universe and I am truly filled with awe...He cares for every living thing and sees that all are taken care of...the birds are fed, the flowers and trees are watered, the earth is renewed by the leaves that fall...He does it all! His Universe is at Peace and through it we finite human beings are given the opportunity to find Peace within ourselves.

Today I am grateful for the leaves that have fallen in my life...for they have renewed my soul!

Sunlight

I love days like today...with lots of sunlight and somewhat of a chill in the air. I love to just sit outside in the sunlight and feel it warm me all over. As a young teen I used to love to go in our backyard and lay in the swing, eyes closed and swinging only slightly, and feel the warmth of the sunlight. I would feel this great sensation. Winter can be harsh on my spirit because of the lack of sunlight and I struggle with depressive moods. A day like today reminds me of His Light and how when I am chilled with loneliness His Light will always warm and guide me into wonderful reflections of love. Today I know that His light, like the sunlight, fills me with love, peace and harmony and I am so very grateful for His Light.

Missing Laughter

Today I was missing my friend Petey. It just seemed to come suddenly...I had the urge to call and hear her laughter...but then I could not because she has gone. Oh how I miss the wonderful laugh, the talks we used to have and the light that shines from her eyes. She always told me that laughter heals as does the light. Some days are just harder to realize that she is not physically with us anymore. But I, and all that knew and loved her, know her presence is here and that her light will always shine on us. Today I missed her laughter.

My Deepest Fear

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that
most frightens us." Nelson Mandela

When I read this quote this morning, I was astonished! I have always
been a fearful person. Several years ago I began looking at my fears to
help me better understand myself. I found that fear touched every
aspect of my life and that self reliance was the problem. When I read
the above quote this morning the revelation was astonishing--why didn't
I realize this before? It is that inner light--the Light of
Christ--that I fear the most! Now I can breathe...as long as I allow
the Light to shine from within me, that awe..ful fear does diminish. I
have known for along time that as long as I allow the light within me
shine the darkness cannot enter. Today I realize my fear is not because
of my inadequacy, but because of the power of the Light within me.