Living Consciously September 9, 2009

Dear friends,

Have you ever tried to put shoes on a baby? They will curl their little toes under and it is almost impossible to get the job done. With some gentle insistence on our part they eventually relax their feet and allow it to happen. It is almost a given that soon they will be up walking and will have their favourite pair of shoes.

It is a given that creative power is an aspect of Intelligence. We are creating whether we are aware of it or not. The quality of our lives depends on how we use that creative power, consciously or subconsciously. We do not have to verbally abuse ourselves for our negativity, that will do no good at all. We do have to gently insist that the thoughts we entertain begin to reflect the Good we seek in the world and not the fear we find in ourselves.

It takes practice to learn how to use power in a life supporting way, to turn away from negativity and to cultivate a cheerful and loving inner life. It is in our best interest to do so, however, since what we consistently think about tends to come about and will soon be wallking around in our shoes. Many people live their whole lives allowing subconscious impulses to create the thoughts they are thinking, which become their choices and actions. When we train ourselves to be conscious about what we are thinking, we are actually directing the creative power in a new, more constructive way. The great spiritual teacher, Ernest Holmes had a little sign on his desk. It read: Do you think you can bear the consequences of what you are now thinking? Good question.

Peace and Blessings,

Rev Carol Carnes

Living Consciously September 10, 2009

Dear friends,

Having just viewed some stunning photos of our universe taken by the Hubble telescope, I am once again struck with the unanswerable question: Where are we? It is a paradox that here on planet earth we can fix ourselves in time and space, yet when we see the larger context, it becomes impossible. We do not even know what this universe actually is: a place, an event, an illusion? No wonder humans have made up all manner of stories to make themselves feel safe in this living mystery.

It is a paradox that we each have a very local perception but that we can also use our minds non-locally. We can observe the rate of speed of an object travelling in our direction, and we can also be awed by the immense distances between ourselves and the stars in the night sky. We can use our minds to create beautiful objects but we still aren’t certain how we came into being. Living in uncertainty is rather thrilling, it keeps us in discovery mode, but it is also a challenge.

Faith is the invention of fear, but not entirely without merit. If we can prove to ourselves that in some way our minds are shaping our personal reality, then we ought to have faith that we are involved in our own destiny. Furthermore, the nature of consciousness is such that it indicates a pre-existing awareness, a saturation of consciousness which we partake of and individualize. It seems unlikely that self awareness could arise out of a vacuum. In any event, there is something uplifting and even healing to the mind when we allow it to play in the field of imagination; when we give it breathing space, as it were, from the demands of the time space dimension.

In the busy-ness of maintaining a life, let’s not ignore the mystery of it. Look up and out into the heavens. Let’s place ourselves in this universe as one of its amazing creations. We are not separate from it but are immersed in it and arising out of it. Is the universe friendly? The way we answer that one is the foundation for all other thoughts.

Peace and Blessings,

Rev Carol Carnes

Living Consciously September 14, 2009

Dear friends,

Whenever I get bored with such things as regular flossing of my teeth, I hear the dentists voice in my head. She is reminding me how important this little task is and that I should not miss doing it at least twice a day. Seriously, it is like having a personal trainer inside. Since I agree with her and understand the effects of good dental care, I would never stop flossing!

The same thing is true of spiritual thinking. Once we understand the power of the Mind and how our habitual thoughts tend to become our experience, we take charge of the quality of our perception. Everyone has negative ideas, fleeting thoughts of condemnation and judgement about others. It is when it becomes a bad habit that we must pay attention because underneath that kind of thinking is a sense of unworthiness in ourselves. We put others down to raise ourselves up. This is the problem, not the thoughts themselves. The cause is always where the power is, a thought is an effect.

A person who feels blessed by life, who sees everything in nature as a gift, who praises the beauty and intelligence of Life, is someone who perceives abundance and supply all around her. She will live prosperously no matter the size of her bank account, which likely will always be exactly the amount she needs to facilitate her choices.

Meditation is widely known to be beneficial to the body as well as the mind. It promotes health by giving us a deep rest that cannot be obtained in sleep. Meditation takes the mind to a place of peace and floods it with a sense of well being. Like flossing, it prevents the decay caused by the slow erosion of our natural joy due to us ignoring the quality of our consciousness.

Taking care of the Self is about more than brushing our teeth. It is also the care and feeding of the body, the mind and the soul. Which one of these, if any, could use some of your loving attention?

Peace and Blessings,

Rev Carol Carnes

Living Consciously September 15, 2009

Dear friends,

Everything has an inner life. We see the appearance or the effect of what is internal. It is as if all physical form were a culmination of the activity within itself. A dear friend can tell by how our face looks what the mind is doing on the inside. “Are you okay?” they may ask. “You seem different today.”

A house plant that is happy will be green and strong and upright but when it is undernourished it droops and sheds leaves and becomes pale in colour. Physical illness is an internal experience, is it not? It changes the tone of our skin and our eyes look dull and watery.

Most of our therapies, whether they be nutritional, or psychological are an attempt to set the internal mechanism to rights. We manipulate the energy with vitamins and good food but also with affirmations and positive self talk. We know that what engages our attention tends to affect the body at the cellular level. Imagine what real prayer does. The simple declaration that I am inseparable from the Source of all; that Intelligence and Love are the creative powers at work in my life; that abundance is natural; that health is the norm; that all is well.

Imagine what silence could do as we sit in the presence of our own inner being,without directing it in any way, merely observing our own aliveness, which is on the job all the time. Imagine how peaceful we would be. Imagine what that would do to how we appear in the world.

Peace and Blessings,

Rev Carol Carnes

Living Consciously September 16, 2009

Dear friends,

When you were little and they asked what you wanted to be when you grew up, did you say a goldfish, a rock on the beach, a cactus in the desert? Of course not. None of those things have the ability to choose, to influence the environment, to love, to consciously create and to exercise the free will that is a human trait. We innately knew that we were capable of all that and more. Have we lived up to our vision for ourselves?

Sometimes we act like we have the creativity of a gold fish or the loving nature of a cactus. We forget who we are! We mistakenly conclude we are the victims of the world, the economy, the weather, each other. We make choices that do not seem like choices at all because they are the same ones we made yesterday and the day before that. We wonder why nothing ever changes, why we do not have more fun or friends or money or health.

Spiritual teachers have long advised us to awaken to our magnificence. Does that not mean to our potential? They are telling us to wake up and remember what we sensed as children. That the gift of being human is the ability to extend the gift! We are meant to wake up to the realization that life proceeds from the inside out. Yes, of course we are dealing with a group creation and the projections of others, but the power has always resided in the awakened individual. One person alive and claiming their natural intelligence and creativity can change whole systems.

When my grandson was three I asked him what he thought he would be when he grew up and he replied “older.” He was so right! At any age we are the potential, the possibility, the promise of all that would make life worth living. That never changes.

Peace and Blessings,

Rev Carol Carnes

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