PRAY FAST LOVE GIVE

February 28, 2023

Dear Friends,

We are in the midst of the Christian Lenten Season. Forty days and 6 Sundays before Easter our Christian brothers and sisters follow three pillars:
Pray,
Fast
Give Alms.
It is interesting to note our Muslim brothers and sisters Pray, Fast and Give alms to the poor during their Holy month of Ramadan.
Our Jewish brothers and sisters during their High Holy Days Pray, Fast, Forgive and Give alms.

People in each religion look at their lives, repent and repair any outstanding debts, wrong doings and move forward to becoming a better and more faithful
person in their faith tradition. There is deep prayer, reading of scripture and communing with God

It is wonderful to look at different religions and learn about their beliefs and Holy Days. We begin to have a greater understanding and realization of
how similar we are. We all have a deep faith in our Creator, Source, God, however you wish to call the ONE.

Many People in the New Thought tradition acknowledge the LENTEN Season. New Thoughters tend to focus on Consciousness by giving up judgement, negative words,
thoughts and habits. We focus on forgiving ourselves and loving others as a daily habit. We also focus on gratitude for all areas in our lives.
Gratitude Journals are often a part of our Lenten expression. We are grateful for both the good times and the hard times, because hard times move us forward to
greater good, a new path, and a new understanding of our life.

I was thinking about this concept in Steve and my life the other day. We were so grateful to find a new and extremely competent CPA to do our 2022 taxes!
A friend of ours recommended him. This new “good” in our lives came after our 2021 taxes were poorly done. It was a year we had to have an extension and we
didn’t know we would need to pay extra penalties. That particular tax preparer was never available to talk with us. We understood due to the death of her father,
she dropped the ball, and just had a hard time completing his work with his clients. Long story short, without that experience, we would never have moved forward
with a better and more competent CPA. We are grateful for entire experience.

We PRAY to know our ONENESS with and as God.. We know the Universe will line up all the scenarios to accomplish the Divine outcome of our prayers.
We FAST from doubts, anxieties, ill words and thoughts that will interfere in our knowing of our Oneness in and as God. All is meant to bless us.
We focus on LOVE, Forgiveness, Gratitude, Understanding, Compassion and Grace.
We GIVE to the person or place where we are spiritually nourished (church, center, person) and to those who are not as fortunate as we are.

Although a concentrated effort of PRAY, FAST, LOVE, GIVE happens more at this time of year, these pillars of faith are important to be followed throughout the year. It becomes who we are and what we do on a continual basis all through our life.

Happy Lent. Love your faith and actively participate in it.

Praying, Fasting, Loving, Giving,                                                                                      Abigail and Steve

Dear Friends,
I start with prayer in the morning and find my day flows easily. I just seem
‘to know” which street to take on my errands. I just seem “to know” to go left rather than right when needed. My “to do” list rearranges itself
and becomes God’s “to do” list. People call me at the right time when most needed. I speak my word in grocery stores and post offices for divine order
and timing when I am in a long line. I am then, either called to a new open cashier or a new post office worker steps in to help. When I am in the God Zone
it is easy and effortless. I think about why that is, and I realize it is because I BELIEVE my word has power to create my life.

I was reading an article in the Science of Mind Magazine called
“The Prayer That Gets Results,” by Ernest Holmes. The article talked about a man’s prayer for his wife’s health. Deep within him,
he believed his prayer would be answered. Even in the midst of her illness “a deep conviction came to him, a complete faith and confidence that his wife
would be restored to health. He got down to a deep fundamental cause underlying everything…
God is life and he was praying for more life;
God is love, and he was praying for a deep love;
God is peace and he was more completely entering in that peace.
He merely said: ‘God, make perfect the life you have given me, restore my wife to health because I know everything is possible to YOU.’
There was THAT within him that knew his prayer would be answered. Jesus the Christ asked, before He healed anyone, ‘Do you believe?'”

This morning in my own prayer time, I wrote down what I REALLY believed about God. I truly know that answered prayer happens because
the person who prays believes it will happen. My question for you is, What do you Believe about God? I love the analogy of the drop of water in the ocean.
The drop has all the essence, properties and qualities of the ocean because it is the ocean (see Rumi’s quote above.) It is part of the wholeness of the ocean
and is the ocean. The ocean cannot be, without all its parts. We are a drop of God in the GOD WORLD. We have the essence, properties, qualities of God because
we are God. God cannot be or exist without ALL ITS PARTS, you, me and everyone. God is Source and we are the expressions and emanations of God. God knows Itself
through Its creations – US. I BELIEVE when our conviction of this truth is so strong, prayers are Divinely answered.

Once our prayer is complete, we must release the prayer to the Divine Will.
As a God Drop we see only a small part or parcel of the God World. When we release the prayer saying “this or something better,” we are
allowing and BELIEVING in the immensity of God, the GOD WORLD, GOD MIND, GOD HEART, to answer the prayer in the HIGHEST Way.

Do you have a health challenge? What do you believe?
GOD is perfect health and wholeness. That is YOU, now and always. Can you believe that? If not say it over and over again until that Divine spark
of belief fills you up.
I BELIEVE I am whole, in perfect, health, feeling alive and happy.
I am God, God is Me.

Are you looking for a job? What do you believe?
GOD wants you to be successful and happy in your chosen field of work.
God has the right and true job for you that brings out all your talents, skills
and abilities. Can you believe it? If not say it over and over again until the Divine spark of knowingness and belief fills you up.
I BELIEVE I am in my right and true job which brings be joy, happiness, and success. I use all my talents, skills and abilities and even learn more. The people I work with are ethical, fair, uplifting and compassionate.
I am God, God is Me.

Have a deep conviction, a complete faith and confidence in the power of your word in prayer.
BREATHE, Release and let go and let God be God in you, as you and for you!

February 14, 2023

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY

Dear Friends,
I looked up meaning of Agape Love, the highest form of love/Unconditional Love to share with you today.
Valentine’s Day usually is about romantic love which is wonderful, however real LOVE or Agape Love is more than that.
Agape Love is the love GOD has for all of us, pure, whole, unconditional and forever. That is the LOVE we as human beings strive for in our own personal lives for God and with our family, friends, colleagues and even strangers. Before we know what unconditional love is, we need to know what it is not.

Conditional love is about control. We are happy when a person does what we want or meets our expectations. This is similar to when our computer
runs well and we can do everything we need to do. However, when it shuts down or the mouse stops working etc. we get frustrated and possibly angry
because it isn’t doing what we want it to do. This type of relationship with people is damaging, hurtful and unhealthy.
It is a ‘I love you when you do what I want’ relationship.

What is unconditional love?
“The term unconditional love does not mean love without limits or bounds. It means, “I offer you my love freely without condition.”
This means that when we offer our love, we offer it without expectation of return or repayment. It is important to offer this type of unconditional
love in our relationships, otherwise, we are offering love with “strings attached.”
This creates power and control imbalances.
Unconditional love means loving someone through hardships, mistakes, and frustrations. In fact, it is what every meaningful, lasting relationship is made of.
When we enter relationships with other people, we are entering relationships with another human being—a person full of quirks and flaws and challenges.
And we also show our own quirks and flaws and challenges.
One of the most beautiful experiences in human life is learning to lean into the tension of those challenges by offering connection, love, and understanding
and by accepting influence, creating compromise, and moving forward in a way in which both people win.”
https://www.mindbodygreen.com/articles/understanding-unconditional-love

I would also like to add, Unconditional Agape LOVE means loving those who “hate and despise you.” Jesus the Christ says in Matthew 5:43-45:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. ‘ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that
you may be children of your Father in heaven.”
This is the most challenging LOVE of all. When we can FORGIVE others for what they may or may not have done to us, we are experiencing Agape Love.
Forgiveness is beneficial not only for the person we are forgiving, but is absolutely beneficial to us.
“Research tells us that the parts of the brain that light up during unconditional love are similar to those involved in romantic love and maternal love and are
linked to the brain’s reward system. This suggests that unconditional love may be rewarding without receiving anything in return.
Research has found that giving and receiving love plays a vital role in psychological well-being.”
https://www.verywellmind.com/does-unconditional-love-make-for-healthy-relationships-4165457

Loving You,                                                                                                                       Abigail and Steve

Dear Friends,
One of my favorite vegetables is the artichoke.
I discovered them many years ago and loved to dip the leaves in butter and mayonnaise. One day I decided to cook one myself. It was a process.
After washing and rinsing, I first took a knife and cut the top off, then cut the pointed and very sharp tips off each artichoke leaf with a scissor.
After steaming the artichoke, I still had to peel away each leaf layer to get to the heart of the artichoke. The inside of the leaf is good to eat too.
Just before the heart, there is a fuzzy layer to peel away. After everything is cut, snipped and peeled away, the delicious delicacy of the heart is left and ready
to eat. It was a process to cook, however well worth the effort to enjoy this delicious vegetable.

I have often thought how the artichoke is a metaphor of life. We are all spiritually discovering that inner delicious part of us,
our loving HEART, our God/Christ nature. In human life it takes work. We need to cut away the blocks that may be holding us back and then snip off the rough edges
and peel away the negatives, doubts, anxieties and worries that intrude upon our journey to our REAL Selves, our Inner Divinity. It is a process, and well worth it.

Where are you on this spiritual process? Have you clipped off the sharp edges of your personality? Have you peeled away worries and doubts?
How close are you to opening up, releasing the negatives that hold you back, and allowing your Spiritual Essence of Divine Love be activated and known in your life?

For a wonderful artichoke life analogy, enjoy this YouTube by Jean Houston.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxVWl3sYJZE

“An artichoke is a mirror of yourself. Like Life, the artichoke gains richness and savor by being combined by many flavors of sweetness, salt, pungent, bitter, and spice. After it is braised, the stuffed artichoke becomes a hologram, each part containing the whole. It symbolizes how each aspect of life has the potential for a full relation to the totality…”
-Jean Houston ” A Mythic Life.”

Peeling Away,  Abigail and Steve