There are times in our lives when we just need to “Let Go and Fully Rely on God.” In some of my past newsletters I have mentioned difficulties with a family member. No matter how hard I try to restore and reconcile our relationship, he ignores all attempts of communication. One morning I drove up to his office, however he was not there. He found out I drove up and sent a very nasty note about not EVER coming up again. I believe this was the message I had to “hear.” “Of myself I can do nothing. It is the GOD within me that does the work.” I FINALLY Got It! Time to Surrender to God within. My trying to “fix” a relationship is like adding fuel to the flame.

In the Science of Mind magazine Rev. Christian Sorensen writes, “The time you might spend worrying about an undesirable issue, you might instead try spending time on the contemplation of the Divine. When you make Spirit and the blessings in your life bigger, your difficulties become smaller. MAGNIFY and SANCTIFY your good!”

So today I am committed to ‘Magnify and Sanctify my Good’ and my God. I have a beautiful family, grandchildren, friends, co-workers. So I release any need to fix anyone or anything. Total surrender has led me into the best times of my life! Total surrender led me to my first Religious Science (New Thought) church. Total surrender led me to a conference where I met Steve.

There are many more times where magnifying and thinking about the Omnipresent, Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omniactive, Omniloving God has brought the Highest Good into my life. Why stop now!?

If any one has a cute frog statue or hears the bull frogs at night croaking.

Let it remind you to Fully Rely On God!

Magnifying, Sanctifying and Fully Relying on God,

Abigail and Steve

Dear Friends,

People who have animals very often call them their “fur kids,” or winged children.” Animals are loved deeply and become part of the family. People who love their flowers and plants also feel they are a part of their family. Many love them and talk to them. It has been proven plants and flowers respond to loving words and kindness.

I have a hanging kitchen plant who I call “Rapunzel.’ I believe it is a Pothos variety and believe it or not, I have had this plant since 1990. I have repotted it several times and it always comes back and grows and grows just like Rapunzel’s long braids. I say good morning to her and tell her how lovely she looks. It is the only plant that has survived that long in our house. “Rapunzel” is part of our family.

What if we thought of all the beautiful plants, flowers, trees, bushes as brothers and sisters, as family. In truth they are part of our family, God’s family. We are all made up of the Divine essence and energy. Where else would we come from? If we believe in ONENESS, we believe not only every human is our brother and sister, every animal, rock, mineral, plant, earth, water is our family too. We are all here together living and supporting one another. Mother Earth has done, and it still doing a superb job in providing ALL that we need to live and survive. Unfortunately we as children of the earth need to step up and care for our Mother by being ecologically minded.

“The earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood that unites us all. Man did not weave the web of life, he’s merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.”

-Chief Seattle.

Everyone can recycle, reuse, conserve water and stop using plastic bags. Discover ways to save and support Mother Earth.

“Protecting Mother Earth is not just a choice; it’s a responsibility we all share. By understanding the importance of sustainability and conservation, we can safeguard our planet for generations to come. As we reflect on Earth Day, let’s remember that our planet is a precious gift that sustains all life. By protecting nature, reducing waste, and living sustainably, we ensure a healthier and greener world.”

–United Religions Initiative

Let us make EVERY DAY EARTH DAY!

Spring is here which means the flowers are blooming, plants are growing, and the grass will soon need to be cut. It is the time I love to replant and/or replace flowers and plants outside. I love going to Home Depot and Andersons Nursery to look for new, fresh plants with lots of color. Years ago when I lived in Illinois, I used to have a flower bed just waiting for new seeds every year. I loved trying out different varieties of plants and flowers. I always knew what seed I planted, is exactly what would grow and bloom. Never a doubt.

God’s Law of Mind is always in effect. Whatever you plant you grow, whether it is a flower, a tree, a bush or new grass. One never questions the outcome.

God’s Law of Mind works not only for planting seeds in the ground, it works when we plant thought seeds in our minds.

These grow and manifest according to our beliefs and feelings. Simply put,

“What we think about we bring about.”

As the quote in the picture above says we have a choice to plant good thoughts or weeds in mind. Weeds of course are those negative thoughts about ourselves and/or others. When we think about a person who has “rumbled our ground, rattled our cage” or was completely rude and hurtful, we still have a choice in our response to them.

I watched an incident unfold at Home Depot the other day. A man was in line ahead of me and was insisting and arguing that the clerk “should have known the price was lowered on an item.” On her register it did not come up as a price change. After going back and forth a Home Depot manger stepped in and said, the cash register clerk was not responsible for knowing all the price changes that happen on a daily basis. Once it is in the system it comes up on the register. This change apparently happened a few days ago and now was back to the original price. This man was “fighting” for the sale price which amounted to a dollar off. The clerk gave him the discounted price anyway and instead of being grateful he continued to argue “YOU SHOULD HAVE KNOWN.” Finally the Home Depot manager asked him to leave and stop harassing the clerk.

He finally did. If the manager had not stepped in I would have. After the heated back and forth arguments and the man left, all I could do was sooth the situation by saying how well she handled the customer. I thanked her for doing her job graciously. She was visibly upset and I said a silent prayer for her day to brighten with appreciative customers.

Now, we could all be angry with the gentleman who kept insisting he was in the right, or we could say a prayer for whatever was happening in his life that may have caused such a flareup. Maybe he just got fired from his job or a situation at home was in turmoil. We do not know the experiences of life he is dealing with. I sent this man a silent prayer of love and comfort to help plant seeds of peace in his mind and heart.

When in doubt, plant words of good, uplifting, encouraging, gentle and loving thoughts in mind. For those thoughts go out as energy and vibration to all and will come back to you 100 fold.

Wouldn’t you want a gentle encouraging word in times of strife?

Planting Good Thoughts,

Abigail and Steve

Dear Friends,

God’s Grace is Gentle.

In my morning reading, I found several writings based on Gentleness and Grace. These are such beautiful virtues to embody and share with others. Have you ever met someone who is huge/tall in body and yet gentle in spirit? Sometimes we call them “Gentle Giants.” I love the idea of being a gentle giant. One does not have to be tall or large in stature to be a giant of gentleness. Who have you met or known over the years who has treated you with extra kindness, compassion and caring. That person is a gentle giant. Giant in heart, mind, soul and body.

God is that Giant of Grace and Gentleness, and God lives and moves and has ITS being within us, as us. Therefore we are the giants, grace and gentleness of God. It is our true Self. We can choose to display Gentleness and Grace everyday of our lives. Every action and thought is a choice we make. We can get angry with ourselves and others or we can gently listen and speak words of graceful kindness.

I am presently teaching a class on “Beliefs, Comparisons and Customs of the World Religions,” through Emerson Theological Institute. I have one student and we are beginning to zoom our class. We met twice to get to know one another and to go over the syllabus to be sure everything was understood. Last week was our first class with a paper due that day. My student is a gentleman in his 50’s who immigrated to the U.S. 25 years ago so English is his second language. After talking with him and getting to know him, his background and faith I was impressed with his cheerful disposition and excitement about taking this class. I read his paper before our class and it was excellent. I was impressed his writing in English was so good, however there was a problem. As good as his writing was, he had not included “cites” where he got his material. Most of it was from Steve’s Interfaith Manual (IM) and our Interfaith Workbook(IW.) These are the text books, however I know he must have looked at other references, which I encourage. I also found two sentences taken directly from the Interfaith Workbook, without quotes or cite. In a normal college class, it might be considered plagiarizing.

I thought, how do I handle this situation? I reflected on God’s Gentle Grace. When I talked with him I immediately told him his paper was excellent! I was impressed with how well he wrote in English. I could tell he was happy with the complement. I asked if he got all his information from the IM and IW. He said no because he went on line to find out more information. I told him I love it when students go above and beyond what reading is expected of them. I applauded him for his initiative. Then I said, “For the future, would you please give the cites in your paper, so I know where you got your information. If it came only from the IW or IM you can just put that down. I said, “I also noticed a couple sentences taken directly from the IW.” He said he couldn’t write it better than that. I laughed and he laughed too. I said “Thank you, I appreciate that,” and it is important to put quotes around any sentence that is not yours.

I said, “I am glad this came up, because I will also include this information in the syllabus to remind students to always cite their references. I told him he helped me. I told him I would send him an email with examples on how to cite references. And them we went on to discus other relevant ideas pertaining to the first class.

I believe I handled the situation with Grace and Gentleness. I really wanted my student to enjoy the class as well as write papers correctly. I kept watching his reactions and I felt he was able to receive my comments without feeling demeaned. To me this was a teachable moment. Before the class I had said a quiet prayer knowing all was in Divine order and kindness. And it was!

I will continue to strive to speak gentle words with grace in my comments and interactions as I teach. Today, remember, ALL situations are teachable and can be handled with GOD’S GRACE AND GENTLENESS.

“Only the weak are cruel. Gentleness can only be expected from the strong.” -Leo Buscaglia

Gently Teaching, Abigail

“There is a wave of new expression coming in with our children. They are coming into the world with different vibrational patterns. There is something calling our attention. These children use aspects of their awareness and brains not typically accessed prior to their arrival. They demonstrate a wide and varying array of gifts, which range from deep intuitive and empathetic awareness to swift and incredible mathematical exactness. and profound compassion. Since God makes no mistakes, are these children of light demonstrating what is possible for us all?”                                                Rev. Dr. Christian Sorensen, ‘Science of Mind’, April issue

Dear Friends,

Today has been declared World Autism Awareness Day by the United Nations. So many of our children and adults have been diagnosed with this way of living in the human world.

“There is often nothing about how people with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) look that sets them apart from other people, but they may communicate, interact, behave, and learn in ways that are different from most other people. The learning, thinking, and problem-solving abilities of people with ASD can range from gifted to severely challenged. Some people with ASD need a lot of help in their daily lives; others need less.” (grantagift.com)

Many of you may have watched the TV show, “The Good Doctor.” The young doctor had to overcome many autistic behaviors in order to be the top notch surgeon and precise diagnostician he plays on the show. Communication and dealing with his and other people’s feelings is a challenge for him. The wonderful thing is, the other doctors have accepted him and his behavior. Challenges are worked out with patience and dialogue. It is a credit to the show to bring to light the challenges people with Autism face in their daily life.

Everyone who has any kind of “different ability” face challenges we can not even fathom. It is up to us to be the person who takes the time to assist, help and support those who are living and seeing the world in a different way.

We all have different abilities. The mentally disabled man who packs my groceries, does it with ease and expertise. The person who is in a wheelchair has learned how to be extremely self sufficient, getting into and out of cars, into stores, on buses, trains. I am awed by their persistence and courage to live in a world that has not fully made life easy for them. People who have hearing and sight challenges have developed other abilities while still operating in a hearing and seeing world.

After all is said and done, I believe ALL people on earth are GOD Beings, Individualizations of the Divine. Each Soul has chosen his or her earth body and life experiences. Who ever you meet, who ever you know, and who ever you do not know, is and always has been the Fullness and Expression of the Divine.

Grateful for Who I Am and Who You Are,                                                                    Abigail and Steve