“Use your intellect, imagination and feeling for the purpose of seeing and sensing freedom instead of bondage, joy instead of unhappiness, plenty instead of want, health in place of disease. The very denial of your good keeps that good from you.” —Ernest Holmes
Every year around election time, I pull out Ernest Holmes “Prayer for My Country.” I pass it around to friends and social media and pray it feverishly in hopes that people who think like me will step up and vote so that my candidate will win.
When I read the prayer recently, I realized that what I was doing was based in fear. I slipped back into my childhood ways of beseeching God — please bring me the bike I want for Christmas or please help our team win the football game.
Ernest’s prayer has nothing to do with elections, politics or winning. The prayer is acknowledging a vision of our country where “success, prosperity and happiness are now operating in the affairs of every individual in this country.”
In his recent talk (October 9), Dr. David Alexander stated the importance of embodiment. He said we are missing the point if we are trying to GET something. We already live in a divine flow of life. Ernest Holmes states, “God’s Creative Power of Mind is right here. We have as much of this power to use as we believe in and embody.” It is our work to align, believe and embrace this good.
I realized Ernest’s Prayer for My Country is an opportunity for me to stand in agreement with this vision, to heal my places of unforgiveness, release resentment and fear. My work is to surrender my belief in separation and my belief that my way is the right way. My work is to be of service to my community, take responsibility for my actions and speak with good purpose.
My work is to vote with a loving heart for our country and embody the vision “…this spiritual democracy shall endure, guaranteeing to everyone in this country personal liberty, happiness and self-expression.”
If we look for validation from the outside world, our worthiness may seem elusive at times. Worthiness is not based on your financial portfolio, career achievement, or the car you drive. Worthiness is an inside job. It is a conscious connection we make knowing we are an extension of the creative energy of life itself. We are loved unconditionally just as we are.
When we make that connection with worthiness, we are lifted into a sense of well-being. We know that each aspect of self— spirit, mind, body and emotions— is an intricate part of our wholeness. We have an awareness of this holistic nature and have an appreciation of how it all works together for our highest good.
When our worthiness is in alignment with our sense of well-being we feel a deep appreciation which lifts us into the powerful presence of love. Love opens us to Infinite Wisdom available to us at every moment. Divine Wisdom is the creative spark, inspiration, illumination that shows up just when we need it. It can appear as needed information, project support revealed or simply a connection from a friend. Wisdom is inner knowing that all is well.
Yet this can all feel elusive when we are stressed, worried and hurried in life’s busy world. It takes conscious effort to stop, listen, and allow ourselves to be nurtured and nourished.
Take time to step away from your calendar, computer and commitments. Schedule a time and place where you can renew and replenish. Hone your spiritual practice in on your sacredness. Celebrate your Oneness with the Divine.
Warning: Shameless plug here!
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You are worthy. You are powerful. You are amazing. You are loved.
“As I become conscious of my Oneness with God, I am filled with enthusiasm and a sense of energy and vitality.” – Ernest Holmes
Feeling tired lately? You are not alone! Vitality seems to be in short supply these days. There are so many challenges that drain our energy and can leave us sleepless and exhausted.
Vitality Is defined an exuberance; living with purpose. But some days it can be quite a feat to move from exhausted to vitality. It takes practice to take a breath, take a pause, and let go of our self-imposed demands. It often takes courage to ask for help and compassion to release our need for perfection. When we practice letting go we open the heart to more love, and we naturally feel more enthusiasm and vitality for life.
I feel vitality when I am in nature, at the ocean, forest, or desert, I feel a newness and freshness. My friend feels it when she is with her granddaughter. The world seems to stop and she is completely in the moment and in a state of unconditional love. Another friend feels exactly the same way when playing with her dog, feeling immense love and joy.
When we tap into vitality we are tapping into our connection with the divine and the life force energy. We feel an aliveness and appreciation for life itself. Eric Butterworth describes vitality as “All the the attributes of the Infinite are in focus as you, flowing forth through you. You are this flow.”
Pay attention to what makes you feel energized. You may not feel it every day and that’s okay. If we are willing to recognize vitality and pay attention, it happens more frequently. To some it may show up as an abundance of energy and to others it may be a quiet sense of purpose and gratitude. Wherever we are, we are connecting with the frequency of love.
“You are not asking that a force outside of you magically change external circumstances; you are asking that a Divine Guide within you change the nature of your thoughts.” –Marianne Williamson
How easy it is to fall into the black hole of ‘what if?’ The mind immediately leaps to the worse case scenario imaging the suffering in tribulation of what might happen in the future.
Imagine instead that we took dominion of our thinking. Imagine if we claimed the highest and greatest good for ourselves and humanity. That my friend is the true power of prayer.
I invite you to pray for yourself to know the highest good. Pray for our country and see that success, prosperity and freedom are the divine inheritance of everyone in our country. Pray for our neighbors around the world seeing peace, wholeness and harmony for all.
When you find yourself falling down the rabbit hole of despair, STOP, shift your attention to the power of prayer. Breathe in and give thanks. And know that you are loved.
“If confusion comes, take your intellect and dive deep into your pool of peace. Through an act of faith open your eyes and you will see there is no confusion.” Ernest Holmes, This Thing Called You
I was visiting friends on the Oregon coast and I walked a few blocks down to the beach. The fog was so thick once I got there I could only see a few feet in front of me. I left that location and drove a short distance to another beach that was fog-free, where the sun was shining brightly.
There are those days when I feel an internal fog. Confusion, doubt, turmoil. A feeling of being stuck. In the past I would fight with it, as if playing a tug of war to see who is going to win and have dominion over my thinking. It can feel exhausting.
I have to consciously step out of the fog to find clarity. Clarity is always there, I have to be willing to step aside and let it through. Finding compassion for myself I can choose to step through fog. Going for a walk, taking a nap, meditating, chanting are a few of the practices that bring me back to center, back to clarity.
Clarity is not only freeing the fog but tapping into the Divine Wisdom. When I make that God connection something greater is being revealed. Something greater than I could ever imagine is waiting for me.
I can see clearly now, the rain has gone
I can see all obstacles in my way
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind
It’s gonna be a bright, bright sun-shining day.
– Johnny Nash
Affirmation: I live my life with clarity and wisdom.
