Thursday, March 15, 2012

Faith and Being More of You

Faith! You Truly Can Have What You Want... And More! by Mari!

There comes a time when our Faith is tested and we really wonder if there is something out there greater than ourselves to lean on. The answer is "yes, sort of." When we say "Greater than ourselves" we are actually referring to the "Greater Part of Ourselves that is connected to God, Spirit, "All that IS", "Source Energy" etc. We actually are not throwing ourselves down to be at the "mercy" of something outside of who we are. We are instead giving permission to another portion of ourselves to guide us!

We are all a vast ball of energy that extends infinitely out into the far reaches of the universe. Some like to say we are "Infinite Beings." If you envision yourself as a big ball of energy the size of the entire planet earth (you are actually way bigger than that), your physical body really just holds a thimble's worth of you within it. The rest of you expands way beyond and guides your physical body along its way. That Infinite Portion of you is actually what interconnects with all things, the energetic grid and all of the knowledge, wisdom and creative energy that is available.

When we recognize this Infinite version of ourselves and how its job is to bring what our embodied "physical selves" require and desire, "Faith" takes on a whole new meaning! Because that huge part of you that is outside of your body is working around the clock to support, inspire, guide and protect you. It sees and knows every possibility and has access to every answer. When you turn over your desires to "Faith" you are actually igniting the power of this portion of YOU.

Doesn't that feel better than feeling like you are jumping off the "faith cliff?" Hoping that some big thing outside of you will grant you a wish or two and wondering if and when it will ever come to pass?

The best way to communicate with your "Infinite Self" is to learn Its language of Intuition. That is how the Infinite Self provides you with information. First you ask a question. Then It gives you an energetic answer through your intuitive senses like clairvoyance, clairaudience, claircognizance or clairsentience. Second It will signal your body to give you a physical response to let you further sense the truth of the answer. This can be goose bumps, butterflies, a hot flash, or the feeling of a slight breeze. Finally your Infinite Self will send you signs, symbols and synchronicities in your environment, and dreams to give you the action steps you should take. Take each step as it comes and more will be revealed!

It's as simple as that! When you recognize how you have the built in power of your "Infinite Self" doesn't the idea of having "Faith" become a lot more exciting?

And how does it get any better than that?!

If you liked this article and want to learn more, be sure to listen to the podcast of this weeks Aha! Moments Radio Show on Faith! Go to www.blogtalkradio.com/ahamoments and click on the Archives button! And remember to always Trust Your Aha!

Author: Mariana M. Cooper, ("Mari!"), Aha! Moments, Inc. Marketing & Manifesting Strategist For Enlightened Entrepreneurs. For more information, products and services visit our blog at: www.ahamomentsinc.com
I liked this article because it reminds me that God is both transcendent AND immanent, that I am not the entirety of God, but that God is not totally external to me either. There is a larger, more conscious, aspect of my being that is plugged into God and that what Mari! calls the Infinite Self we can call our inner being, or our spirit, or our soul--that wiser self. I have asked the angels for a message related to this lovely article and they kindly obliged. In fact, it was Archangel Michael who stepped forward:

You, each of you reading this, are the Beloved of God. Not the you who makes up grocery lists or worries about finances or flips off other drivers in anger--no the You who is kind, who is radiant, who is love and light and infinite beingness itself. Who? ME? Yes. You, the perfect you, that existed before your body and to which you will return after your "tour of duty" is over. The You, the perfect you, the inner you, that has never been afraid or angry.

That perfect aspect that isn't the part of you that does anything "wrong." Think about all the times you've wanted to, or actually did, lie... Odds are that you chose that behavior because you were afraid someone else wouldn't like you if you told the truth--or you were feeling hurt and unloved, or you were otherwise not connected to the TRUE you--the part of you who is connected with God and knows it. Often in day to day life, you simply forget. Does a radiant, infinitely loving being lash out at others and say or do harm to others? No. Does an inifinite being connected to that wholeness, fear anything so that they lie? No.

It is in your smallness and disconnectedness from your Source, your God, your Holy Spirit, that you do what in religious life is called "sin." Sin isn't who you are. It's the consequence of forgetting your connectedness to God and to one another.

Yes, intuition helps hone one's guidance and one's ability to connect to that more expansive Beloved, that whole, infinite, spiritual self of yours. But first you have to REMEMBER to connect and form that intention--many times in a day. So I suggest that your first prayer not be to enhance your intuitive ability, but for the knowing from minute to minute, hour to hour, that you require a "reset"--that you need to get plugged back in to the larger Self of who you really are, to reconnect with God all around you, within you and as you. It's a journey you will be making every day of your life. Enjoy it.

 ***

To contact Sue to get angelic guidance, to contact your animal companions both here or beyond the veil, to schedule a shamanic healing session, or simply to say "hi" and give me some feedback on my blog, please click here to email Sue. Please go to http://budurl.com/grcn to follow my Twitter feed. My rates are in the "About Me, My Rates and What I Offer" section in the Links Section to the right of my page. Many blessings and thanks to you!

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Cat Falls Asleep

Time for another cute video--ever start falling asleep while meditating? You'll identify with this kitty...

Enjoy!


Thursday, March 08, 2012

The Ultimate Prayer

I felt a prayer a few weeks ago. I had reached out to friends and asked for prayer and I was having a conversation and I stopped and said "oh wow, someone just prayed for me." How did I know? It was like something punched me in the stomach, but not painfully--it was like GOODNESS punched me in the stomach, infiltrated my solar plexus and filled my heart and stomach and belly with a sense of release and relief from troubled thoughts and feelings.

That's the energy of prayer. I asked the angels for some words on praying for others and they said:

Of course there is an energy from being prayed for. There is an energy to everything. So some people will hear that you are troubled and without being into a particular belief system, wish you well--and that will send some energy your way. Some people ask for prayers from friends, and from the saints and from the angels--and we willingly pray for you. Why not pray for yourself? Well, when you are feeling low and down or ill, sometimes it's difficult. So you will have prayers from your friends on heaven and earth--and you will feel those as an energy as well. So when you ARE feeling well enough to pray for yourself, please include prayers for others knowing that they make a difference.

But the most potent energy of all comes from your own prayer, where you don't focus on words or particular requests or anything concrete. The most potent energy is praying THROUGH God rather than to God, to just surrender. "Let go, let God" sounds trite. But when you let go of particular outcomes or particular timings, when you just ALLOW God to sweep through your pain and your messes and your despair and you just turn it over, then your openness creates an opportunity for God energy to penetrate your being. You as a Christian would probably call it the Holy Spirit. Others might call it something else.
 But it's the palpable presence of the divine, in the midst of your situation. Nothing has changed, and everything has changed. Where hopelessness was, is now possibility. The energy of the Infinite is now there, right in the middle of your life because you've invited it. Particulars limit the expression of God energy. Open up to the bounty of God energy... you might not feel it like a gentle punch in the stomach--you will more likely feel it as an all encompassing feeling. Some people perceive it as joy, or love, or peace. Your perception will be unique--but know that when you fully open to God and say yes, that God energy is there.

The most powerful prayer is a YES to God.

***
To contact Sue to get angelic guidance, to contact your animal companions both here or beyond the veil, to schedule a shamanic healing session, or simply to say "hi" and give me some feedback on my blog, please click here to email Sue. Please go to http://budurl.com/grcn to follow my Twitter feed. My rates are in the "About Me, My Rates and What I Offer" section in the Links Section to the right of my page. Many blessings and thanks to you!

Wednesday, March 07, 2012

Labels and Beliefs

I’m not sure I want to claim the label “Christian” anymore. With presidential candidates running around questioning whether other candidates, or the President himself, is a “real” Christian.

I shuddered at reading a news story about an exit poll where a woman said her deciding factor in voting for Rick Santorum was “I would like to have a true Christian in the White House.”

The Rev. Franklin Graham, son of the famous evangelical preacher the Rev. Billy Graham, said a rather frightening thing about Mr. Santorum: “I think so…because his values are so clear on moral issues, no question about it … I think he is, no question, a man of faith.”

On the other hand, the Rev. Franklin Graham states that most Christians don’t consider Mormons to be Christian. The interesting aspect of that is, that I have evangelical friends who don’t think Roman Catholics are Christian, or Mormons, or [fill in blank.] But the Rev. Graham thinks that Mr. Santorum, who is Catholic, is a Christian because he has values that are clear on moral issues. Would a moral person who doesn’t claim a particular faith fool the Rev. Graham? What happened to grace as opposed to works?

I don’t want to get into theological debates about baptism or faith or conversion experiences here. What concerns me is that someone else would claim to know 1) what a “true” Christian is, and 2) that it could be known by someone else, whether the person’s faith was genuine. Yes, we can use our intuition and have a good inkling of someone’s character, or even things about them. But to categorically know a person’s soul and heart and beliefs? That’s either relying on what they project, or an ability to invade one’s mind psychically to a degree that I wouldn’t want to go—or that I think is probable.

So I asked the angels about this situation. Not “what is a Christian” but how we could know anything about others’ characters:

You can always discern character. You can’t always discern particular beliefs, but you can discern whether someone has the energy of hiding something, of saying things that are inconsistent with what they appear to be saying energetically. You can discern whether someone seems to be very open and up front. You can discern whether someone is answering openly and honestly when asked a question, or stalling, or actually trying to avoid the question.


No one has any business labeling someone a “true” Christian, a “genuine” spiritual person, etc. Look at the televangelists who have been disgraced with revelations of their extramarital affairs, or gurus who have taken advantage of their followers in a predatory manner. Were these people insincere in their faith? Were they fakes? Or were they people who succumbed to temptation who felt that they had to be perfect in others’ eyes? We are not condoning what they did, but saying that most people reading these words have done something that goes against their religion’s teachings, or their spiritual values, and not been proud of it. Imperfection is human.


You don’t need to stop calling yourself a Christian just because you don’t like how the issues of who or what a Christian is, is being bandied about by politicians. On the other hand, you don’t need to call yourself a Christian at all to believe in Jesus, his teachings, in salvation, in the resurrection and all you affirm in the creeds.


You don’t need to have a label and you don’t have to be limited by one. The terms “Christian” or “Catholic” or “emergent” or “incarnational” or “sacramental” are descriptive and useful—but they don’t limit you and they shouldn’t. God loves you as you are, whether or not someone else sees you as Christian or not. The main thing is what do YOU believe? What do YOU do? What relationship do you have with your God?


Pray for the next President. Pray for the present President. Pray for someone who lives authentically, who is in touch with their heart as well as with particular ideas of what the country should be, and for whatever is the best thing for the country and for the world, for the people and the environment, for the plants and the animals, for the future of science, for the future of religion, for the future of the US and for the future of everyone. The world is interconnected. Pray from a sense like St. Julian of Norwich had, that all shall be well, and ask that energy to create a flow of the right person for the coming four years to be in the White House.


Don’t trust theology. Don’t trust what the candidates say, alone. Follow the energy. Pray for guidance… and all indeed will be well, even if you are personally horrified at what person is chosen—because all IS well. The details in the moment may seem to contrast that. But all IS well. It just doesn't seem that way from a particular finite point of view.

***

To contact Sue to get angelic guidance, to contact your animal companions both here or beyond the veil, to schedule a shamanic healing session, or simply to say "hi" and give me some feedback on my blog, please click here to email Sue. Please go to http://budurl.com/grcn to follow my Twitter feed. My rates are in the "About Me, My Rates and What I Offer" section in the Links Section to the right of my page. Many blessings and thanks to you!