Living Consciously September 17, 2009

Dear friends,

Like the chicken and the egg, the question of which came first is everywhere. Which is cause to a war, the people fighting it or a conflicted idea? Which cause unhappiness, watching the news or our interpretation of it? What causes our interpretation of anything, the event itself or an old unexamined belief?

Finding cause is a very worthwhile pursuit because it will always be found in the field of consciousness. This eliminates the need to feel victimized or to place blame outside of that realm. We have to accept that the human mind is creative. It is the cause of everything on the news with the exception of weather and natural occurrences. (Some spiritual sages believe there is a connection there as well.)

Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote that the great cathedral is nothing compared to the mind that conceived it or the human hands that built it. We would be liberated in deep and significant ways if we could see that that applies to disease and failed relationships and the economy and everything important to us. The perceiving mind is always the cause of what happens next and ought to be the first place we look for answers and creative ideas. We are always free to change our perception to one that produces more pleasing results.

Affirm this: There is nothing to fear knowing that Cause and I are one.

Peace and Blessings,

Rev Carol Carnes

Living Consciously Sept 18, 2009

Dear friends,

Are some things “meant to be?” It certainly can feel like that is the case but there is a principle involved that better explains those experiences. Our self awareness is creative; what we think about tends to come about and what we think about is inseparable from how we feel about ourselves. Therefore, as an example, if we feel unworthy, that we are victims of abuse, that we do not deserve to be treated well, we will attract the perfect person who has tendencies to abuse those they profess to love. Was the meeting “meant to be”? No, but without a change in our self regard, it was unavoidable! It was inevitable.

We cannot have anything in our experience that does not mirror our self esteem, good or bad. We cannot expect to live on a higher level than our deepest perceptions about what is possible for us. It does no good to pray for true love when we are not true in our love for our own being; when we are filled with resentment or fear or self defeating opinions.

Some of the most important spiritual work we can do is to begin a daily practice of looking in the mirror and announcing “I love being me!” “I love being loved!” “I love my life!”

The deeper work is to realize that this now moment is the one which is your real experience, not the past, not those old images of childhood. Those are irrelevant to your worth. You are a beloved expression of uncontainable joy, deep peace, ever-new love and pervasive intelligence. You are designed for personal happiness and success in this life. It’s meant to be. Claim that truth and let it have its way with you.

Peace and Blessings,

Rev Carol Carnes

Living Consciously September 19, 2009

Dear friends,

I spoke yesterday at the Body, Mind & Soul Expo here in town. It occurred to me that all of the products and services were the result of the evolution of awareness. We have become aware of our impact on the environment, the problem of toxicity in beauty products, the benefits of certain kinds of nutritional supplements. We have accepted the fact of the inseparability of thoughts and physical conditions. Our awareness has evolved from a sense of separation from everything that was not us, into the realization that we are entirely interdependent.

The only thing that truly evolves in one lifetime is awareness and is usually preceded by revolution. Not the armed warfare kind of revolution, but one of the mind. It requires going against the collective belief, risking ridicule and banishment from the group. It takes courage to think outside of the norm and to shake up the conversation. In some instances brave scientists have lost funding and stature to prove a new theory.

Rethinking God and all that it means is risky business in this world, but that is what we are doing. We are leaving behind the notion that we have been left behind (!) and are instead embracing the possibility that we are each a personalized expression of a universal Intelligence. This makes God both nearer to us but less of a Master and more of a Servant. Imagine what a different world this could be if everyone felt that immediacy of love, joy, vitality, peace and Creative Intelligence. What if everyone knew these qualities were inherent in them and available for our very own use? Oh my, that would revolutionize everything!

Peace and Blessings,

Rev Carol Carnes

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