VISION MISSION PURPOSE

 

Dear Friends,

I received the new August ‘Science of Mind’ magazine with the theme of        “Passion and Purpose.” The articles are excellent, informative with delightful stories
of people finding their purpose and passion when everything seemed to come to a stand still. I want to share some of the writers’ insights with you.

Rev. Sally Robbins, interviewed Cory Booker some years ago and asked him if he wanted to be President of the United States. His answer was enlightening.
He said, ” Most of us focus on a position when we say what we want. That is not a calling. When you say, ‘I want to serve children or the community ,
the country or create a better life for…., that is a calling, a VISION. That is a mission.”

“Living a life on purpose requires us to ask ourselves whether we are living the life we want.“(Sally Robbins) For instance if you decide to take a new job,
is it aligned with your vision, mission, higher purpose or just a job? Will you feel you are joyfully serving? Does it ping your heart strings?
If you have not found the ideal “job” or place of work , then you are probably in, what we call, ‘divine discontent”. It is a good place to be for it allows you to PAUSE a moment, be still, and begin listening to God within you. It is time to think about what you LOVE, what you really want to do and the gifts God has given you: talents, skills, abilities and a vision purpose before you came into this lifetime. It is all there within you, just ready
to burst forth.

Rev. Karen Russo says, “Do what you love and the money will follow.” Attune deeply into what you love, what lights you up. What is your unique passion?”
Life is not about a JOB, Life is about a purposeful vision which becomes your mission. Once you are clear, the opportunities arise out of the blue.

 


Ernest Holmes said, “There is an irresistible potential pressing against everyone for
self-expression. If we listen, we shall hear it, not as a voice, but as a FEELING, as a divine urge to express.”

 

 

Affirm: “I confidently declare and claim that I unfold my highest potentiality and purpose. I live in the flow of my passion – everything that lights me up,
brings me joy and makes my heart sing from the rooftops!”
(Rev. Karen Fry)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Doing What Lights Us Up,
Abigail and Steve

COFFEE with GOD

 

 

Dear Friends,

I really look forward to my morning cup of coffee. It is the only one I have all day. Lately I have been bringing it out to our balcony to watch the sun rise
over the hills. It is so peaceful and calm. I enjoy reading spiritual material that focuses my mind on all the GOOD/GOD there is. I put on my prayer beads and
sit with my amethyst and clear crystals. I pray for our family, friends, those who are experiencing hardships or health issues and even those who have gone
on to the other side. Inspiration comes to me from multiple sources, scripture, spiritual material, whispering thought and quiet meditation. I sit there realizing
I am being infused with Spirit, with the Divine Presence. I am uplifted and energized. I am clear headed and filled with purpose for the day.
I am so happy during this time, being near, and close to God’s Presence.
One of my favorite verses to ponder is:

“Be still and know that I Am God…(Psalm 46:10)”
Ernest Holmes continues with these words:
I am still in Thy Presence.
I am quiet and peaceful, for I put my trust in Thee.
A great stillness steals over me and a great calm quiets my whole being,
as I realize Thy Presence.
My heart knows of Thee, O Most High within.
It is still in Thy Presence, and it puts its whole confidence in Thee alone.
In Thy Presence I am still.

These beautiful words remind me I am always in the Presence of God for God is always within me. All this with just a morning cup of coffee. 🙂

Take time in the mornings before the busy-ness of the day grabs you or the news on TV and the papers distract you from the truth of your being.
BE the presence of God as you journey through the day. Be confident God has the day handled! Trust, release and let go.

 

Enjoying my Cuppa with God,
Abigail

LOVE and ONENESS Core of All Religions

Steve and I have been busy creating a “History” of the Poway Interfaith Team which includes a PowerPoint, video and audio tapes of various members of POINT, past and present. We have a great professional videographer who is spending time to make this a wonderful video in order to archive our interfaith history. I have a 45 second piece and I want to share it with you. It is my story of our first “Interfaith Summer Nights” event in 2006.

 

“Interfaith Summer Nights was a highly successful program where a faith leader was invited to speak about his or her faith, and share cultural dances and/or music as well as food with the community attendees.

 

After each of the first two or three speakers, I kept nudging my husband Steve, saying, I must be Hindu, Baha’i, Buddhist or Jewish.   I believe all that they are saying. What I heard and realized was the commonality of all faiths in values, virtues and the compassion for human kind. Each one was also saying how they believed in the ONENESS of humanity. I believed all that as well.

 

The ways in which we celebrate our faith, and belief in God, Allah, Jesus or how you wish to call the Source and Creator of all life may be different in rituals, prayers and even dress, however the Unifying golden thread of LOVE weaves into and through all religions. That is the most important virtue of all!”

 

After all these years working in the Interfaith World, I still come to the same conclusion. Every faith is valuable, with TRUTH at the base of each religion. Love at the core is meant to weave through each one’s life and reflect this love to others, regardless of faith belief. This idea meshes so easily with New Thought. For we believe in LOVE at the core of our being and the ONENESS of Humanity as well. We are not separate even though on this earth plane we each have a unique body in order to live here. In TRUTH we are all God Emanations and Emissaries, here to honor and respect each other and all beings.

 

Please remember to mark your calendar for Interfaith Awareness Week,

August 8-10. POINT’s Program which will include the History video, will be Monday, August 7 from 4:00-5:30pm.

Blessings,

Abigail and Steve

4th of JULY


Today we are celebrating our country’s freedom! Freedom means many things, and most importantly it means each person has a right to live, love, laugh and pray
the way he or she chooses. I am grateful I live in this country, rather than in any of the war torn countries around the world. The United States has its faults,
and because I feel free, living here, I have the right to speak up when I see something wrong or actions hurting and/or harming another being. I do not have to
worry about police arresting me because I spoke against any actions our government takes. We are free to speak, use our words and write our opinions.

Freedom comes with choice and choice comes with consequences. Our laws are set up to protect the vulnerable. If we choose to hurt another person physically our
consequence may be jail. If we hurt someone verbally, the consequence may be a loss of friendship or the karma of being hurt by words from another person.

Sometimes, a person’s freedom is falsely interrupted due to hate and prejudice.
We hear of racial profiling. We hear about graffiti on churches, mosques, temples, synagogues. We hear of shootings due to hate and prejudice. T
hese actions must be stopped and those committing atrocities against another human must have his or her freedom revoked!

The Declaration of Independence was originally only meant for white people. In 1776, although we were free from British control, black and brown slaves were
not free from the early white American’s control. On July 5th, 1852, abolitionist Frederick Douglass gave a significant keynote address at an event in Rochester,
New York. In his speech, Douglass also challenged the hypocrisy of Independence Day by asking “What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer;
a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim.”

From the Perspective of Black Americans

“The Declaration of Independence is probably the most hypocritical document,” said Dr. Rick Warren, President and Founder of the Black Expo
and RW Media Enterprises. “At one point, they’re declaring freedom and, at another point, they’re enslaving people. It’s an interesting dichotomy.
So many Black people in America have always had an interesting view on the Fourth of July. In our culture, it’s become one of those holidays used more
as a family get together. It’s an opportunity for us to come together rather than a celebration of freedom.”

“The Fourth of July is a national holiday to celebrate this country’s freedom from Britain,” said Rory Kaufman, Chair of the Black American Political Association
of California, Sacramento Chapter. “But, Black people were never free or equal. We were still Three-Fifths in the Constitution of the United States. We were not
considered whole.”
https://www.abc10.com/article/news/community/race-and-culture/what-is-the-fourth-of-july-to-black-americans/103-ef8477c0-66e1-44ad-b82f-1a470cc85b87

Although this may not be enough to compensate for the cruelty done to African Americans, the USA has declared Juneteenth a federal holiday because
on June 19, 1865, enslaved African Americans in Texas were told they were free. A century and a half later, people across the United States continue
to celebrate the day as Black Americans Independence Day.

From the Original People’s perspective.

“In the 1880s, the U.S. government developed what has come to be called the
Religious Crimes Code—regulations at the heart of the federal Office of Indian Affairs’ Code of Indian Offenses that prohibited American Indian ceremonial life.
Enforced on reservations, the code banned Indian dances and feasts, disrupted religious practices, and destroyed or confiscated sacred objects, under threat of
imprisonment and the withholding of treaty rations.
The Secretary of the Interior issued the regulations in 1884, 1894, and 1904, and Indian superintendents and agents implemented them until the mid-1930s. For
50 years, Indian spiritual ceremonies were held in secret or ceased to exist.”

“In response to this policy of cultural and religious suppression, some tribes saw in the 4th of July and the commemoration of American independence a chance
to continue their own important ceremonies. Indian superintendents and agents justified allowing reservations to conduct ceremonies on the 4th as way for Indians
to learn patriotism to the United States and to celebrate the country’s ideals.”

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/blogs/national-museum-american-indian/2020/07/01/do-american-indians-celebrate-4th-july/

 

 

 

Our United States of America has come along way and has a long way to go before ALL people are free of hate, prejudice and ill will towards black and brown people, immigrants, refugees, Asians, Native Americans, people of different religions, the LGTBQ+ community and any other group that “appears” different. For in reality we are ALL different and unique in our own way. Our spiritual journey is to REALIZE our ONENESS, CELEBRATE our UNIQUENESS and UNDERSTAND our CONNECTEDNESS in and as the WEB of GOD.

In Oneness, Abgail and Steve