Dear Friends,

Steve and I attended a wonderful one day virtual ANTN (Affiliated New Thought Network) conference last week. The theme was “A World Rooted
in Love.” We heard inspiring words, spectacular music, and participated in many interactive breakout sessions.
Here are some inspiring thoughts:
Recognize the Living Spirit is within each person.
All journeys are unique and needed. Yours too!
There is nothing separating me from you. We are ONE.
Turn your attention to the Inner space within you. That is where you live.
30% of what we say, think and do influences the world.
BE the Living, Shining Example.
Keep raising your Consciousness to grow and spread your wings.
The most important relationship is with ourselves. – Nurture Self Love

Steve and I brought INTERFAITH into the mixture. We shared ALL faith traditions are Rooted in Love. That is where each one began. Each avatar, prophet, messiah, holy man was the living example of LOVE. Every word expressed came from LOVE (gratitude, joy, compassion, kindness, oneness.) These faith teachers were NOT of the faith. They taught the Universal Principle of LOVE.
Christianity began with the worship of Jesus, who was a Jew.
The Lutheran Faith began with Martin Luther, who was a Roman Catholic.
The Methodist Faith began with John Wesley, who was an Anglican.
Baha’u’llah was not a Baha’i, Buddha was not a Buddhist, Confucius was not
a Confucian, Krishna was not a Hindu, Mahavir was not a Jain,
Lao-Tzu was not a Taoist.
If humankind had only taken the teachings which emphasized LOVE, not doctrine or dogma, we may not have so many wars between religions and countries.
GOD created us out of LOVE.
We all need to return to LOVE..
LOVE is the Highest Power and Good in the Universe.
Love for our family, friends, and people we do not know.
“Love turns strangers into friends.” _ Rev. Jacqui Lewis
Love for those who hurt us.
Love for all humanity.
LOVE sent out, always comes back around.
Let us ROOT our lives each day in LOVE. Let us be mindful of our thoughts and actions. When a challenge comes up, ask yourself…
How can I be loving in this situation?
How can I be loving to this person?
How can I be kind and speak gently?
We do not have to love the person’s actions. We can love the GOD in each person. For it is the essence of GOD within all that connects us, and roots us in LOVE.

Rooted in Love,
Abigail and Steve

Dear Friends,
“Tammy Loya organized 14 of her friends to go to breakfast and each agreed to pay $100 for the bill in order to leave their waitress a sizable tip. When their server saw the 15 $100 bills, resulting in a $1,335 tip, she burst into tears. What the breakfast group didn’t know was their server’s husband had just been diagnosed with cancer, and the couple had medical bills to pay. The tip allowed her to pay their bills and buy a few Christmas gifts. The waitress planned to use the leftover money to help someone else.”
(Science of Mind magazine April 2022)

I loved reading this story which reminded me of times I gave more than the 20% tip at a restaurant. Some years ago, Steve and I were having lunch at a well known restaurant, and we were engaging our waitress in conversation. This particular young waitress shared how she was looking forward to the summer when she could spend time in the Peace Corp. Steve and I decided we wanted to help, so we gave her an extra $100 to use in this selfless endeavor.
Of course she was stunned and started to cry. We both felt so good to be able to help this lovely young lady. To this day, we do not know what happened and it doesn’t matter. At the time it was the right thing to do.

Just recently I had lunch with two friends of mine and we always go to the same restaurant and our favorite waitress always serves us. We just love her. She knows us and welcomes us and always remembers our favorite food and drink choices. Her happy face and sweet personality always makes us want to come back there. As we engaged her in conversation, she told us it was her birthday that day. When she finished taking our order, we decided to pool our money and give it to her in addition to a tip for her birthday. It was my turn to pay the bill and I chose to give her a 40% tip as a birthday bonus. I did not tell the other ladies I did that. Needless to say our sweet waitress was a bit overcome and appreciative, with tears in her eyes. She kept saying, “You don’t have to do this…” And of course we did! And we were happy to do it!

There are times in our lives we just want to help another person out by monetary means. When called to do so, do it! We (Steve and my friends) never thought of gaining anything in return.

Our purpose in life is to love, serve, give and forgive others. There is the Karmic saying, “What goes around comes around.” The more you give, the more you receive. My mother always told me, “When you do good things, you get good things.”

We all want to give to world wide organizations like the Red Cross, humanitarian organizations, and especially now to help the Ukrainian people, which is wonderful and needed. For today, think about how you can give generously to those in your community.
BIG TIP for your favorite waitress/waiter at a restaurant.
Bring clothes that no longer serve you to the Good Will, Salvation Army stores. Be sure the clothes are in good condition and think about how the person will feel wearing it. Homeless and those who are in financial crisis want to feel good about what they are wearing just as you do.
Check out the organizations that provide clothes for those looking for jobs after being incarcerated.
Have a bag ready with non-perishable food and cash in your car to give to those who are asking for help on the streets.

There are so many ways to GIVE. When an idea comes forth from your heart and mind, give generously. Not only are you helping others, you are helping yourself.
Give with JOY
Give without strings attached.
Give without knowing the outcome.

Loving and Giving
Abigail and Steve

Dear Friends,

Easter Joke:
“Fr. Richard Carton, associate, pastor of St. Catherine of Siena Church, Mountain Lakes, New Jersey, was speaking to a group of second graders about the resurrection when one student asked, ‘What did Jesus say right after He came out of the grave?’ It was a question of great theological importance, but Fr. Carton had to explain, in words suitable to his young audience, that the Gospels do not tell us just what He said. The hand of one little girl shot up.
“I know what he said Father,’ she insisted.
‘And what was that?’ asked Fr. Carton.
“TAH-DAH!” the girl exclaimed. (Holy Humor- Any Fisher, Denville,
New Jersey)

I loved this story because of the sweet enthusiasm of the little girl.
Who knows, maybe in Jesus’s consciousness he did think “TAH-DAH!”
Here I AM, Risen, and Alive! We are in the midst of the Holy Easter Week. Christians all over the world are celebrating the original story from Palm Sunday through Easter Sunday. New Thought people also celebrate with a different perspective.

Jesus the Christ is a man of God Consciousness, the Great Way Shower, the Great Example, not the great exception. We do take to heart his words,
“What I do – you can do also,” and “Ye are Gods.” The Divine lives in as, as us, moves through us because we are Divine. We are spirit first, birthed from the essence of God, Universal Life Energy, the Source, by whatever name you wish to call IT, the ONE Who Began it all!.

Easter Week, in a nutshell, from the perspective of New Thought:

Sunday, RISE IN HUMILITY
Jesus makes his way into the city of Jerusalem riding on a donkey modeling humility.

Monday, RISE IN CLEARING OUT OUR TEMPLE
Jesus cleared out the temple where all kinds of seedy transactions were going on. It was not a sacred place to worship. This represents the clearing out of fear, hate, greed, gossip, ego, unworthiness from our Temple/Consciousness.

Thursday, RISE IN FOLLOWING OUR PURPOSE
At the Passover supper with his disciples, Jesus knew Judas was going to betray him and told him to go and do what he needed to do. Judas thought if the soldiers came, Jesus would show his true powers to stop them. Jesus would not and did not. He remained true to the Divine Plan for his life.

Garden of Gethsemane – RISE IN LOVE
In time of sorrow or trial it is always a time for prayer and contemplation. When the soldiers came to arrest Jesus, Peter cut off one of the soldier’s ears. Jesus healed it saying, “Love your enemies and pray for those who
persecute you.”

Friday – RISE IN FORGIVENESS The Trial and the crucifixion.
On the cross, Jesus said “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” Even betrayers push us forward to do what we came here to do. Everyone is part of God’s plan.

Sunday – RISE IN KNOWLEDGE OF ETERNAL LIFE
The Resurrection! “TAH-DAH The moment of Truth, there is no death.
How would the people in ancient times know, unless someone came back to show them.

The Easter Cross in New Thought also means we RISE IN CONSCIOUSNESS
The vertical piece of the cross represents our Consciousness Rising.
The horizonal piece represents us crossing out our negative choices, low consciousness and poor behavior.
It is a time for NEW Beginnings, better choices, and greater understanding.
Life is Everlasting.

Easter Reminds us to:

Rise in Humility
Rise in Clearing Our Own Temple
Rise in Following Our Purpose
Rise in Love
Rise in Forgiveness
Rise in Knowledge of Eternal Life.
Rise in Consciousness and New Beginnings.

The SUN Rises in the East
The SON Rose on Easter.
We are sons and daughters of God, we are here to RISE too!

Rising in Consciousness,
Abigail and Steve

Dear Friends,

“The answer to every problem already exists in the Mind of God, and you are in the Mind of God, and the Mind of God is flowing through you this minute.” Ernest Holmes

I loved reading this quote in the Science of Mind magazine this month. In my early meditation and prayer time I reflected on its meaning and how true it is.
Every problem or challenge I have had in my life, when I turned to God within, the answers appeared, not always in the way I wanted or even in the time frame
I imagined. However my prayers were always answered!!!
Emmet Fox in his booklet “The Golden Key,”
says the answer to all prayers is:
“Turn away from the problem
and think about God.”
This seems like such an easy solution and yet our human minds cannot always comprehend the simplicity of such a statement. Our Master teacher, Jesus the Christ,
said to be as little children in order to enter the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom meaning the Consciousness of God. So when we turn away from concerns such as ill health,
challenging finances, toxic relationships…. we think about the Wisdom, Intelligence, Love, Compassion, Truth of God. We enter into God Consciousness, the Kingdom.

Years ago when Steve and I had the “Child Centered Church” a mother and son would always attend. After a Sunday lesson on “The Golden Key,” the mother called me a
few days later and said her son really remembered the lesson. He was playing in a park sandbox with many of his little trucks and cars. He would bury them, then find them. When his mother said it was time to leave, he began gathering his trucks and cars, and one was missing. He looked and dug for awhile and his mom said they really had to go. Apparently he closed his eyes and ‘thought about God.’ When he opened his eyes, he knew exactly where the car was. He put his hand in the sand and pulled it up! His mother was amazed.
He said, “I just thought about God, and I found my car!”

I loved this true story and know no matter how little or BIG we think our issues are, GOD is BIGGER, Wiser and All Knowing. Today, think about God, keep your mind on God,
see God in all people, places and things.
Remember:
“The answer to every problem already exists in the Mind of God, and you are in the Mind of God, and the Mind of God is flowing through you this minute.” EH

I guarantee you will have a Beautiful, Mindful, Divine day!”

The Mind of God in me, as me, is me,
Abigail and Steve