Month: September 2013

F is for Faith or Fear… Spirituality A to Z

Posted on by cmryan

A wise friend once told me, “You can’t have Fear and Faith at the same time – choose.”

Yes, you get to choose. And to the degree you focus on one or the other, your choice determines how you will fare through any situation or decision.

What I’ve discovered as I contemplate this equation is that it takes very little Fear or Faith to tip the scales in the other direction, depending on the situation.

Fear-Baby-2The seed of Faith is and always has been present, waiting to be nurtured, cultivated, and allowed to grow to fuller expression. The weed of Fear has always been with us, too, although it was initially in our infant make-up only as the fear of falling and loud noises. All other fears developed as we grew, coming from those around us and society in general, especially through the media. Fear is a learned characteristic.

It takes a concerted effort to not get caught up in the hysteria of news events and tragedies that bombard our psyche on a daily basis. Yes, sad things happen. Yes, some of those acts are brutal, senseless, and unforgiveable. As long as we continue to view and share and repeatedly talk about such cruelty, that is what will continue being created in our minds and our world… and Fear will maintain its foothold in our race consciousness. We need to stop replaying the tapes or teaching these fears from one generation to the next. There is another option.

Be selective with what you fill your mind and thoughts. Be informed and be objective, yet learn to be non-attached to the form of negative experience. If the acts of violence you see projected through the media are too much, then turn off those programs!

Let me clarify, learn to separate your awareness from the act itself…to look beyond it…and focus on the person or people behind it. While it may take some effort and a change in your own beliefs to accept it, that person or those people are just like you and me – human, God-beings in physical form.

For whatever reason, they are coming from a place of Fear, brought on by misguided information, erroneous instruction, habitual cultural or religious teachings that have gotten off-track at some point. When you react with Fear…rather than responding with understanding, love, objectivity, non-attachment, or forgiveness – and a Faith in the God within …then you and I only perpetuate the cycle of Fear and it becomes stronger in everyone involved.

While this level of Fear may describe a global situation or local tragedy, and be perhaps a most difficult challenge to address with Faith and Love, you can apply the same awareness in your everyday life. For example, a toddler has complete Faith that his parent or grandparent will catch and protect him from falling when he throws himself backward in their arms. The only time Fear may eventually appear is if no one catches him…time and again…and trust is broken with that person and caution takes precedent in future behavior.

You move from Fear to Faith when you try again after a failed relationship. No matter how bad it was before, you believe and trust that it MUST be better next time. There’s a time for healing and renewal, eventually leading to a rebirth of Love.

There might also be Fear about changing jobs or starting a business. Previous experiences of non-success (AKA mistakes or failures) may slow your decision-making process to the state of paralysis, making NO decision for long periods of time…until, finally, you MUST listen to that voice of Faith and take at least one step in the direction of your dream simply because the voice of Creation won’t be quiet.

When properly recognized, Fear can be a useful tool as an early warning system within our psyche. Acknowledge it. Look at it. Reveal the love-floating-heartssource causing it and resolve to move beyond it through Faith in a Higher Power, Unlimited Intelligence and Eternal Love.

Grow within you a belief that everything DOES eventually work out for the Good of Life overall. You can stay in Fear…or move forward in Faith and watch your world change. You choose.

E is for Effect… Spirituality A to Z

Posted on by cmryan

Once more, here we go…Ask, Believe, Choice, Decide and then comes the Effect, the result of the first four Spiritual Principles. We can go from A to E in a matter of seconds or take years to see our “asking” come into manifestation or form. The process is known as the Law of Cause and Effect.

Effect does not make itself and always follows Cause (the first four steps, A-D). Effect is created through the power behind it, bringing it into fruition. As stated in the Science of Mind textbook, “Everything which we see, touch, taste, feel, hear or sense with the physical senses is an effect.” Effect, that which shows up in our physical, visible world, is a result of our intentions (conscious or not) powered by the invisible, Divine Intelligence of creation. The invisible into the visible…what we see comes from what we do not.

While this process is often identified with things we can see and use in the physical world (stuff), the same steps can be used for those intentions and goals that are not so concrete… such as a healthier relationship, a new attitude, a different job, and the like. Such “things” are very real to us and yet they are not made up of anything we can put our hands on, nothing of the material world.

For example, I heard the story of a young man who moved from one state to another, looking for a fresh start. One of his intentions (Cause) in the new location was to work a retail job that was unique to anything he’d done before, but something he’d always wanted to do. He established an intention before moving. Within 48 hours after arrival to his new address, he was working in his field of choice (Effect).

Recently, I had the opportunity to visit family members I hadn’t seen or even talked too much in a few years. I went with the intention (Cause) of experiencing a healing of the angst that had existed between us far too long. While I pride myself with being able to communicate with nearly anyone, I was unable to say anything without getting a defensive or angry reaction from this person. What little I said was based in Truth, Principle and a desire for greater understanding and cooperation. Alas, such was not going to happen.

As I listened to the tidal wave of emotions spewed in my direction, I saw the deep fear of a wounded ego behind the words. In that moment, realizing it was not really about me (I was just the target of choice for that day), I felt a deep, loving compassion for this person. All the frustration I had held, up until that moment, just slipped away like black ooze down the sewer drain. And I smiled as my heart opened to allow a greater understanding to enter my being. I experienced a healing in an unexpected way and my soul filled with joy (Effect).

I have seen and experienced how the Law of Cause and Effect works with unwavering certainty. What we declare in our thoughts, words or habits, especially those done repeatedly over time, will without a doubt manifest in our lives according to our declarations and beliefs.

  • If you think you’re never going to be successful in business, the Law agrees… that is what you will create.
  • If you say you’re never going to have a meaningful, loving relationship, the Law agrees… that is what you will create.
  • If you intend to be proficient at playing the piano or working a computer, the Law agrees… that is what you will create.
  • If you believe your life is filled with happy events and all you need for a satisfying and rich experience, the Law agrees…that is what you will create.

The longer you hold in consciousness, in your own mind and heart, what it is you want/intend to experience or create, and hold it with passion and clarity, the faster Law (God) can bring that into your life. But if you keep changing your mind, or don’t really know what you want, then what you will tend to experience are pieces, close-calls, or a hodge-podge of what the final result could be.

I think getting Clarity about what I really want to experience is sometimes the most difficult part of the formula. The Law of Cause and Effect works with amazing accuracy and perfect timing. It must bring back to you what you put out into the ethers, the energy, of creation. The Law has no choice but to obey your direction. It’s up to you to determine the intention (steps A through D), do your part of the creative cycle, and expect only the Good to show up in your life. Look for the Good and be Grateful when you see it.

God never fails me. God never fails you. We fail ourselves. But we can also correct that – at any moment…and the next…and the next. Start right now! What you focus on…in consciousness… with your words… in your daily habits or actions… what you focus on WILL grow into manifestation in the physical world. And so it is.

D is for Decide… Spirituality A to Z

Posted on by cmryan

I love how Universal Principles follow the alphabet in a natural and logical progression. Thus far we have looked at how we need to (A) ASK for what we want. Then, it is critical to (B) BELIEVE in what you have asked for; that it is already a possibility in the Mind of God. This abundant Universe will most likely provide you with (C) CHOICES from which you can select the best options…and usually better ones than you could have thought for yourself. However, until you DECIDE, take action, nothing happens. D…is for Decide.

“It does not take much strength to do things, but it requires a great deal of strength to decide what to do.” ― Elbert Hubbard

You can ask, believe, and review the choices in front of you, but until you act…until you make a decision …it’s as if you’re standing in front of an open refrigerator full of food expecting a meal to jump out at you – all prepared and ready to eat. It’s not going to happen! You need to select/decide what you wish to eat, prepare it or cook it, and put it on your plate.

The same is true in Life. The same is true about your thoughts and beliefs – you can and do choose them. And as a result of deciding what you think and believe the majority of the time, you create your world. Your beliefs, consciously created or absorbed through culture (race consciousness), become thoughts, actions, and eventually your life. Gandhi said it wonderfully:

“Your beliefs become your thoughts… Your thoughts become your words… Your words become your actions… Your actions become your habits… Your habits become your values… Your values become your destiny.” – Gandhi

Every step in this process involves making a decision. No one thinks for you. No one speaks for you. After you come of age, no one decides your habits or your values. You get to decide what you will keep as your own from childhood – or from ANY experience. It’s empowering! Each one of us gets to decide how we will respond to Life’s challenges. Each one of us gets to decide how we will serve or be in the world. And each one of us gets to be responsible for what we decide.

Whether we’ve been aware of it or not, these Universal Principles (and more) are how Life is created. Whether we acknowledge the Principles through using them – try to ignore them or work around them – they’re still in place responding to our thoughts, words and actions. Whether our experiences are of our own conscious creation or as a result of the world’s impact on us, these Principles, these Laws, rule. It’s so much easier to work WITH the Universal Laws than to keep getting knocked down because we refuse to acknowledge them.

“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo. “So do I,” said Gandalf, and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

Every day is your opportunity to Decide anew. You can continue on the path you’ve been traveling or take a new one, even if it’s only to test out something different for awhile – then Decide again. Perhaps it’s time to try a different approach in a relationship or a new attitude at work. You might be thinking about job options or an alternate living arrangement. Maybe you want to express your art or fashion choices with new designs. It might be time to go back to school or change careers or stop working altogether. Whatever it is that keeps coming up in your thoughts, it will not go away until the issue is addressed and a decision is made.

Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Then, once you make a decision, one based on that Spiritual “knowing” (intuition)… one that has no doubts about being the right choice… amazing things begin to happen. It’s the kind of decision where you know that you know that you know. There’s no sound of the ego voice debating in your head. Everything unfolds in absolutely perfect timing for your highest and best Good, and your life expands in Joy and Beauty and Love and Peace.

If one advances confidently in the direction of one’s dreams, and endeavors to live the life which one has imagined, one will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. – Henry David Thoreau

I have learned to trust Divine Power by starting with little decisions, witnessing the results, and gradually working up to grander ones as my “mental equivalent” has grown. As my trust grows, my choices and decisions have gotten larger, too. My confidence in Spirit has increased. My vision and life has expanded in wonderful and loving ways I only dreamed of years ago.

My challenge now is to ask and believe in ideas and endeavors that heal me, challenge me, and grow me in areas dear to my heart…maybe even make me a little nervous because they’re so much bigger than I used to dream. True, it can be about acquiring material things, and those are also in my realm of possibility thinking. Yet, they’re not the only areas of growth on which I must decide.

The decisions I make today are more often about the person I’m creating inside this human form. The focus is on becoming the highest expression of God I can envision. And just when I think I’ve achieved the best “me” possible…that this version is decidedly so much better than what I used to be…another choice presents itself and the A-B-C-D process begins anew. And so it is.