Awakening JOY Ministries

Lately, people are sharing their concerns about money with me. Some are expressing future concerns – feeling they have enough money to take care of themselves now, but worrying whether they will have enough down the road. Others are feeling tired because earning the money they do have is hard work, so hard that their bodies ache. Then there are those feeling they do not have enough money right now – not enough to pay for the offices they rent to earn their livelihood.

 I relate to all of these folks. I am wondering lately about how hard my husband and I work – for my husband, its physical and his body hurts. For me, its mental and sometimes fatigue sets in from all the multi-tasking and juggling. We do not live extravagantly nor do we have debt from irresponsible spending. But we work hard, often really hard, just to provide ourselves with healthy food, keep our older cars on the road, feed our animals, and pay our modest mortgage. Then, if there is a little left over, we treat ourselves to a local happy hour. Our life is that basic. I do not know how to reconcile my feelings about how hard we work with a life of peace and ease. Are we supposed to work this hard? Is that how God set it up? Or, can I see this differently?

I bring these questions to Holy Spirit; praying, my praying is actually listening for answers. Holding this prayer in my heart for several days, Holy Spirit speaks to me about my perceptions of lack, reminding me that, “A sense of separation from God is the only lack you really need correct.” (T.-1 VI. 2:1). Holy Spirit leads me in seeing how I am choosing to fragment myself into levels with different needs and creating conflict within myself. (T.-1 VI. 2:3).

 I admit to Holy Spirit that some of the work I do, I do not enjoy, that I do it because we “need” the money. I admit that the bliss-work is when I am doing spiritual counseling, officiating ceremonies, even writing this article right now! I admit that I am not letting go of the fatiguing work because I want the bliss-work to be financially supporting; that I want the flow of support to come first and then I will let go.

 You need to learn how to Let-Go and Receive - You need to learn how to Let-Go and Receive. 

 The lack I am perceiving is not really about money or sustenance. No, the core issue is co-dependent self-reliance – ‘I must be in charge of earning money because it’s all on me. I am alone in providing for my family. I cannot let go because without my control there will be no sustenance to receive.’ In truth, I am running myself ragged trying to do it all. In this separated state of lack, I feel scared, fatigued, and isolated.

 Holy Spirit tells me in A Course in Miracles that, “The real purpose of this world is to use it to correct your unbelief. You can never control the effects of fear yourself, because you made fear, and you believe in what you have made.” (T.-1 VI. 4:1-2). Yet, in Truth, “All aspects of fear are untrue because they do not exist at the creative level, and therefore do not exist at all. To whatever extent you are willing to submit your beliefs to this test, to that extent are your perceptions corrected. In sorting out the false from the true, the miracle proceeds along these lines:

 Perfect love casts out fear. Then there is not perfect love. Only perfect love exists. It produces a state that does not exist. 

 My praying with this will continue. I am opening my heart, my mind, and my soul to Holy Spirit’s lead in unravelling every tangled thread of co-dependency in me. I will be reminding myself daily that “unified needs lead to unified action” resolving all conflict. (T.-1 VI. 2:5). God is offering me freedom from dis-ease infested core beliefs, calling me to let-go of codependency and its false shield, to receive an even deeper knowing of what God is. My response is,

 I am willing to learn how to Let-Go and Receive.

In the rushed pace of the modern world, I notice many people "pushing" their days from task to task, sacrificing JOY to deadlines - getting the estimate to the client, taking the dog to the vet, making the town hall meeting, ushering the kids to school then soccer practice and dance class and time with Grandma and Grandpa... hopelessly tread-milling, day after day driven by an endless task list. Although getting through a daily list feels somewhat gratifying, I hear about so much anxiety, exhaustion, fatigue, and sometimes diagnosable depression. So, what is missing; what can be done differently?

When it appears that Life cannot be done differently, it is very common to feel imprisoned by the very life you desperately want - that you worked so hard to create! Because after all you have to work at the particular job, have certain kinds of friends, live an approved life-style, shuffle the kids to every growth-promoting opportunity; or, well, maybe not. Maybe you do have a choice about how you live, even in the modern world, and your choice can be a full life with JOY.    

Spiritual Counseling is your path to a life balanced in Body, Mind and Spirit - balance in caring for your Body, allowing peace to Be your Mind, and nurturing your Spirit.  

It works like this... Let's say a woman wakes many mornings feeling unenthusiastic about going to work. She doesn't love her job, but its not the worst job either. Day after day she goes to work, performs well, and counts time until its the weekend. At some point, she notices she's gained excess weight and this frustrates her. She goes to the doctor and finds out her cholesterol and blood pressure are elevated. When the doctor asks her about her weight gain, she realizes she's been eating more than she used to; sitting nightly in front of the television mindlessly munching.  

In a situation like this, the doctor might prescribe medication for the physical issues and encourage the woman to exercise. But would these remedies heal the woman holistically, in her Body-Mind-Spirit?  No.

For this woman to have a complete and holistic healing her physical issues - the Body aspect, need to be addressed along with her Mind and her Spirit. At Awakening JOY Ministries this means partnering with the woman using Spiritual Counseling to cultivate her relationship with her Inner Wisdom and empower her to trust It's gentle knowing guidance.

In Spiritual Counseling, you connect with your Inner Wisdom while in peace and deep relaxation. When your body is at ease and feeling safe and your mind has let go of worrying about the past or the future, you connect with the  ever-present knowing of your Inner Wisdom. People experience Inner Wisdom communicating with them in many ways. Some receive images and pictures, others feel sensations in their heart and body, sometimes the communication is verbal like having a conversation within yourself. As you use Spiritual Counseling to build a relationship with your Inner Wisdom, you become familiar with how It communicates with you and you receive more and more guidance. You learn to trust that you will receive guidance and that you can count on this guidance to lead you to JOY in every area of your life - your health, relationships, career, creativity, finances, and more... Awesome!    

Click this orange link and learn more about the transformative power of your Inner Wisdom.

"There is no order of difficulty in miracles. One is not "harder" or "bigger" than another. They are all the same. All expressions of love are maximal."

"Miracles are natural. When they do not occur, something has gone wrong."

"Miracles are everyone's right."

quoting from A Course in Miracles, Text p.3, The Meaning of Miracles

Well then, What Exactly is a Miracle?

I am asked this a lot when people know that I work with the text, A Course in Miracles. Some ask if the Course will teach them how to walk on water, or turn water into wine, maybe even part the sea. Now wouldn't that be cool!

Yesterday I was trail-running in the mountains with Bella, our great red-heeler mix. Its been raining more than usual so there are lots of little gnats in the air that we don't usually have. For some reason, they like to fly around my mouth and often right into my eyeballs when I'm breathing hard and heavy. Gross when they end up in my mouth!

I've tried wearing a hat, then sunglasses, then breathing only through my nose or exhaling heavy to blow them away, many many things to keep these oh so irritating bugs away. Because really, they have the entire forest to fly around, why pick me to harass?

Feeling into my irritation, I wanted it to go away. I wasn't enjoying my run and the amazing wildflowers - so many colors! - also here because of the rains. So, I asked myself - Can I have a new perspective about this? Is there a way I can see this differently? I wanted a way, a "seeing," that freed me from the irritation I was experiencing.

And it came, the new perspective, to this - Their buzzing into my face wasn't about Me. They weren't "harassing" me. I wasn't under some kind of attack from this little creature who more than likely was just zooming about its business in the forest as I came crashing into It. Maybe, I'm the irritating one - Ha! Imagine that!

Continuing with my run, I "seemed" to notice fewer gnats flying into my face. When one was near an eyeball or my mouth, instead of angrily swatting it away, I felt more gentle, just closed my eye or mouth, and lightly waved It away.

So, what's the miracle, the Course in Miracles "miracle?"

My shift in perception and how it moved me from feeling irritation to feeling peaceful and gentle. Because truly that's all I want or ever have any control of - my feelings, my responses - to all the life buzzing, flying, and crashing around me everyday in oh so many ways.

Enjoy your day. Enjoy the miracles waiting for YOU!