It’s Sunday morning and I only have a few minutes to write.
I woke up thinking about how sloppy I am with my diet, and that one aspect of my life shows me MY MIND. It doesn’t just mean I’m simply sloppy with my diet. IT MEANS I’M SLOPPY. PERIOD.
I have been vegetarian for 7 years, and for the past two years I have been getting instruction to stop eating dairy, cheese, and eggs. They make me sick. But I still continue to eat these things, using terms from the bible and A Course in Miracles to justify my actions. I say “nothing I see means anything” and “take no thought for what you should eat or drink” and “I’m under no laws but God’s.”
That is child’s play. Here I am receiving specific instruction – BE VEGAN – and choosing consciously to go against it.
This is only one example, personal to me. You probably have areas in your own life where you have been told what to do and are resisting.
I’m thinking of Jesus. He tells us exactly what to do. It’s in the bible, spelled out in black and white. Love each other. Love God. Don’t judge. Give.
Are you doing these things without exception?
Are you loving everyone you see and meet? Are you loving your enemy? Are you forgetting the grievances? Are you forgiving every situation, no exception?
There was a book published recently called: The Year of Living Biblically: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible.
I haven’t read it yet, but from the reviews I get the sense that the author A.J. Jacobs was not really living like Jesus. Rather, he was trying to LOOK like Jesus, rather than BEING like Jesus. Big difference. There was an article in Marie Claire magazine of a reporter living biblically for two weeks, and it was the silliest thing I ever saw. She wasn’t living biblically at all. She was trying to dress and act like she was living 2000 years ago. She stopped taking taxi cabs. She walked everywhere by foot. She went to bars dressed in a brown sack. The bible does not make you stupid. Come on folks. You don’t need to wear a brown robe and sandals and not wash your hair to “follow the bible as literally as possible.”
That’s mockery.
If you want to follow the bible as literally as possible read Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7, and do exactly as it says. It’s uncompromising.
No exception.
This is not a contest to see who is the most righteous or innocent or perfect.
The prize is that you will begin to see miracles in your life. Jesus is very specific. He gives rules for instruction and he promises that if you follow them, you will be in Heaven. There will be no more fear in your life. Life will be effortless and easy. You will be able to ask for things and receive them.
Love your enemy, love God, love yourself, love your neighbor … and life will be transformed into Heaven right before your very eyes.
Where do you begin? By looking with honesty at where you find yourself today. You don’t have to look at the past to dredge up old mistakes. Just look at where you are today. Find the areas where you are slightly off the mark. Look at where you are still trying to “have it your way.” See where you are making excuses, or justifying your actions.
The beautiful part is that you can’t fool yourself.
You can say to your friends and neighbors: Look at me! I am following Jesus exactly. I’m doing exactly as he says. I’m not judging anyone. I’m giving all to all. I’m the perfect demonstration of the message of A Course in Miracles. I’m living my life in perfect harmony.
But are you really?
Are you happy all the time? Does peace encompass every aspect of your life?
These are indicators that show you if you are really loving all and giving to all. Because when you follow the bible exactly, no compromise, there will be no fear. There will be only love.
There are the treasures that await you. These are the gifts that are given to you.
The best part is that you don’t have to count your mistakes or worry about how much time you have wasted. YOU CAN START TODAY. I’ve spent two years resisting a vegan diet. I’ve gotten better and better over the years, to the point where I eat about 80% vegan diet, but that’s not 100%. Do you see? There are still exceptions.
I’m not fooling anyone.
Rather than beat myself up for two years “wasted”, I can simply begin today.
Today is the new beginning.
Remember: THIS IS CHRISTMAS … THE BIRTH OF JESUS.
That’s a symbol for the birth of YOU.
The Christmas story is your story. Jesus’ birth is your birth. You are made brand new. Like a baby. Born into the world to bring light. It’s not 2000 years ago: it’s now.
Born again.
You come into a whole new moment, which is RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW. You need never reference your mistakes from the past. If you are born right now, you don’t have a past. There is no memory of regrets. How could there be?
Right now in this very second that you are reading this blog post, you can make a decision that everything is going to be radically different for you, starting right now.
THIS IS THE BIRTH OF YOU.
Welcome to the world, little child.
I’m reading Joan Crawford’s autobiography “My Way of Life” and it’s excellent. It was published in 1971 and I’m learning a lot.
Joan Crawford is someone who had a vision and went after it. She didn’t let anything slow her down, and she was always cheerful. She felt that if you are going to be in the world, you should always be at your best. You should always put on a smile. You should always be helpful. You should not gossip.
Here’s Joan:
“With a little organization a woman can excel as wife, homemaker, mother, career woman, and gracious hostess, be lovely to look at and to be with – and still have time left over to be a good friend to a lot of people. And a HAPPY friend. Of course, we all have our problems. But I don’t inflict mine on my friends. At least I try not to.
“How many people call you saying, “Oh, I woke up so tired this morning … I had such a terrible weekend … the day’s awful outside.” Being cheerful on the phone is part of giving. Sure we all have our problems, but why inflict them on our friends? I think I can count on the fingers of one hand the people who call up with a cheery, happy voice – and keep it that way.”
“People with problems seem to find the telephone irresistible. When they’re happy they just don’t think about sharing it with other people.”
Ha. Isn’t she incredible? I love it. How these books drop into my life is a complete mystery to me. It’s like God ships them in from Heaven specifically for me. I mean, what other explanation is possible that I’m reading a 1971 autobiography of Joan Crawford??
It looked interesting on the library shelf. It gave me a chuckle and thrill when I randomly opened a page … and that a good enough reason for me to read a book.
I like this part also:
“I do desperately regret not having had a formal education. I tried to make it at Stephens College in Missouri, but I was completely unprepared, and when midterms exams loomed up I ran away. I knew I wouldn’t be able to answer a single question. In the short time I was there, though, I made one of the dearest and most valuable friends I’ve ever had – the president of the college, Daddy Wood. He understood why I had to leave, but before I left he gave me 3 rules for living that may have helped me more than four years of classics would have done.
They’re very precious to me:
1. Never quit a job until you finish it.
2. The world isn’t interested in your problems. When your problems are the greatest, let your laughter be the merriest.
3. If you can find you can do a job, let it alone, because you’re bigger than the job already, and that means you will shrink down to its size. If the job is impossible, you may never get it accomplished, but you’ll grow in trying to accomplish it.
I love rule #3 the best. If you find you can do a job, let it alone. That’s so great. Go for the big problems that are impossible.
Good advice.
Stretch your mind a little.
Do you ever wonder what you are doing here?
Do you you wonder about the meaning of life? Do you question what you are supposed to be doing?
You feel like you are destined for something larger, but you don’t know how to align your vision with the “reality” that is your day-to-day life.
It used to plague me constantly. I was constantly searching to have a meaningful experience. I wanted something BIG to occur. Like angels appearing out of nowhere. Or plane tickets to exotic places dropping from the sky. When this didn’t happen, I would distract myself with alcohol & activities. Once those “highs” wore off I was right back to where I started, questioning: what is my purpose here?
Life must be more than being a mouse in a wheel, spinning round and round and round, traveling the same route day after day after day … and going nowhere. It must be more than working to pay bills.
There must be more.
The real Ah-Ha moment for me occurred when I realized that I never seemed to go anywhere, despite all my hard work and all the distance traveled. I seemed to always be right back where I started – alone, worrying about money, worrying about my health, searching, waiting, bored.
Do you notice? You work hard, you save money, you find a relationship, you start to settle down, you feel like you are finally building a life, and then in a moment it is all gone and you are back to Square One again.
And then the whole process starts again.
The only way you can disrupt this cycle is by being in the present moment, in this day, now. Come squarely into this day. Focus all your attention into this moment. Forget everything else. Stop trying to “build a life.” Life is this moment. Step off the wheel. Stop striving. Realize you’re going nowhere. Forget all your goals.
Your time cycle must be interrupted in order for something new to occur.
There is no other way.
You must disrupt your routine. You must scrap all your plans.
You must get still for an instant. Simply be present.
Breathe.
Here’s what Jesus says in A Course in Miracles:
“To turn hell into Heaven is the function of God’s teachers, for what they teach are lessons in which Heaven is reflected.”
I love that.
This makes perfect sense since you are the light of the world.
Light ends darkness.
It transforms hell into Heaven.
If you are still in hell – agonizing over relationships, worrying about money, struggling to find your place in life – you are unaware of the light that you are.
I am here to tell you: YOUR NAME IS WRITTEN IN THE STARS.
You are all light.
Perhaps you have seen glimpses of the magnitude, but then you revert back to darkness.
Come into this moment. Forget what happened yesterday. Forget what happened a week ago. Forget your terror and your fears. Trust me long enough to hear what I am saying to you.
You are the light of the world.
Wipe the slate clean.
Let today be a new beginning. You are a bright star. You have the power within you to light up someone’s life.
You have the power to heal someone’s pain, sorrow and sickness.
You absolutely can transform hell into Heaven.
Do this, and you will realize you are off the wheel, no longer spinning. Life suddenly becomes thrilling – WITH MEANING & PURPOSE – when you let every moment be the only moment in time for you.
Stop treading carefully. If there is something you want to do, do it today. Call up a friend. Tell someone you love them. Paint. Write. Express yourself.
Go for it.
Today is all there is.
Why wait for Heaven. It is here now.
I love you.
My mother sent me the most perfect Christmas card yesterday.
It’s a photo of the boardwalk leading to the ocean in Saco, Maine where she has a summer cottage. We spent almost every summer vacation for my entire life in Maine and so I am biased. I love Maine. I think she took the photo herself. It’s taken in winter and the boardwalk is covered in snow and there is a green wreath with a red bow. In its simplicity lies its perfection.
Since I don’t have a scanner, I went searching for a similar photo on the internet (of images of Christmas in Maine) and I hit the jackpot.
This photo is almost identical to the one my mother sent me:
CHRISTMAS WREATH IN OCEAN PARK, MAINE. CLICK TO SEE IT.
This website is amazing. Bill Edmund’s photos are available to buy as cards or prints:
Here are images of both summer and winter:
Be transported for a few minutes to another place in time.
Okay. I’m laughing. This question is one of the search engine terms someone used to find my blog. I am curious to know what prompted someone to type this in a search engine. Who is Lisa? What did she do? Is it me? What’s the story behind the question?
I love it.
I love that people type in personal questions on the internet hoping to find an answer … because I’ve done it myself.
One time I got a message from someone named Lisa who said she googled “Lisa God” to see what God had to say her and she found Gorgeous for God.
Here is the answer to the above question:
Lisa thinks she is God’s gift because SHE IS GOD’S GIFT.
And so are you!
This is the way you should think about yourself. Always.
I think too many people in the world have been sterilized-dulled by all the politically-correct thinking. Everything nowadays is packaged nicely, and we’re taught not to upset the balance. We’re told to “behave” in order to be liked. How blah. How bland. How utterly boring. I think a lot of people are afraid to shine at high voltage for fear it will upset someone, or they will be called arrogant.
You are God’s gift to the world.
You are the light of the world.
Put that light on a candlestick and shine bright.
You are God’s treasure.
Quite honestly, I love people who know they are “God’s gift.” They are like a breath of fresh air. They are not carefully rehearsed. They don’t hide behind appearances. They don’t put up a fake wall. I love a diva. I love a man who thinks he’s God’s gift to women.
Be bright.
Be God’s Gift, and don’t worry about what other people have to say about you.
Life is more interesting this way.
I’m always learning something new, practically every day. I just learned on Sue’s By the Grace of God blog that The 12 Days of Christmas was written as a code because of religious wars in England. The Roman Catholics in England were not allowed to openly practice their faith (from 1558 to 1829) so they wrote this song, which includes hidden meaning.
A few days ago on this blog I wrote: who wants a partridge in a pear tree?
Well, if it means Jesus … I do!!!!
I want a partridge in a pear tree! I do! I take it back! I want a partridge for Christmas!
Click on this link to find further description:
This is from their website from Dennis Bratcher:
On the 1st day of Christmas my true love gave to me…
A Partridge in a Pear Tree
The partridge in a pear tree is Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, whose birthday we celebrate on December 25, the first day of Christmas. In the song, Christ is symbolically presented as a mother partridge that feigns injury to decoy predators from her helpless nestlings, recalling the expression of Christ’s sadness over the fate of Jerusalem: “Jerusalem! Jerusalem! How often would I have sheltered you under my wings, as a hen does her chicks, but you would not have it so . . . .” (Luke 13:34)
On the 2nd day of Christmas my true love gave to me…
Two Turtle Doves
The Old and New Testaments, which together bear witness to God’s self-revelation in history and the creation of a people to tell the Story of God to the world.
On the 3rd day of Christmas my true love gave to me…
Three French Hens
The Three Theological Virtues: 1) Faith, 2) Hope, and 3) Love (1 Corinthians 13:13)
On the 4th day of Christmas my true love gave to me…
Four Calling Birds
The Four Gospels: 1) Matthew, 2) Mark, 3) Luke, and 4) John, which proclaim the Good News of God’s reconciliation of the world to Himself in Jesus Christ.
On the 5th day of Christmas my true love gave to me…
Five Gold Rings
The first Five Books of the Old Testament, known as the Torah or the Pentateuch: 1) Genesis, 2) Exodus, 3) Leviticus, 4) Numbers, and 5) Deuteronomy, which gives the history of humanity’s sinful failure and God’s response of grace in the creation of a people to be a light to the world.
On the 6th day of Christmas my true love gave to me…
Six Geese A-laying
The six days of creation that confesses God as Creator and Sustainer of the world (Genesis 1).
On the 7th day of Christmas my true love gave to me…
Seven Swans A-swimming
The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: 1) prophecy, 2) ministry, 3) teaching, 4) exhortation, 5) giving, 6) leading, and 7) compassion (Romans 12:6-8; cf. 1 Corinthians 12:8-11)
On the 8th day of Christmas my true love gave to me…
Eight Maids A-milking
The eight Beatitudes: 1) Blessed are the poor in spirit, 2) those who mourn, 3) the meek, 4) those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, 5) the merciful, 6) the pure in heart, 7) the peacemakers, 
those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake. (Matthew 5:3-10)
On the 9th day of Christmas my true love gave to me…
Nine Ladies Dancing
The nine Fruit of the Holy Spirit: 1) love, 2) joy, 3) peace, 4) patience, 5) kindness,
6) generosity, 7) faithfulness, gentleness, and 9) self-control. (Galatians 5:22)
On the 10th day of Christmas my true love gave to me…
Ten Lords A-leaping
The ten commandments: 1) You shall have no other gods before me; 2) Do not make an idol; 3) Do not take God’s name in vain; 4) Remember the Sabbath Day; 5) Honor your father and mother; 6) Do not murder; 7) Do not commit adultery; Do not steal; 9) Do not bear false witness; 10) Do not covet. (Exodus 20:1-17)
On the 11th day of Christmas my true love gave to me…
Eleven Pipers Piping
The eleven Faithful Apostles: 1) Simon Peter, 2) Andrew, 3) James, 4) John, 5) Philip, 6) Bartholomew, 7) Matthew, Thomas, 9) James bar Alphaeus, 10) Simon the Zealot, 11) Judas bar James. (Luke 6:14-16). The list does not include the twelfth disciple, Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus to the religious leaders and the Romans.
On the 12th day of Christmas my true love gave to me…
Twelve Drummers Drumming
The twelve points of doctrine in the Apostles’ Creed: 1) I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. 2) I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. 3) He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. 4) He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell [the grave]. 5) On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. 6) He will come again to judge the living and the dead. 7) I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, 9) the communion of saints, 10) the forgiveness of sins, 11) the resurrection of the body, 12) and life everlasting.
Epiphany, January 6
You can search inside the book!
I have a super big surprise for you today … behind Door 3.
New York City Christmas 2007! It’s a slideshow. Thank you Peter!! Click the giant Christmas bulbs:
You’ll see the tree at Rockefeller Center being put up, which is insane. They have to use construction workers to put on the lights (in case you ever wondered how THE HELL they put lights on a tree that size). Strangely, those are my favorite photos. Then there are images of all the Holiday Windows this year 2007 – Sak’s Fifth Avenue, Lord & Taylor, Tiffany’s , Bergdoff Goodman. The Fendi building wearing a lit-up sparkle belt with buckle.
I love the Lord & Taylor Windows. They did a Dutch motif this year:
Lily will love the Bergdoff Goodman windows the best. In fact, this kind of looks like Gorgeous Lily, except she’s much more animated:
If you’ve never had a chance to see NYC at Christmastime, this is your chance.
For those of you not familiar with New York, those first photos in the slideshow are the skating rink at Rockefeller where they put the tree up every year. In the summertime, this area is a restaurant with tables and chairs and brown umbrellas:
In the winter, they transform the area into a skating rink. You’ll recognize Prometheus.
And if you have seen NYC at Christmas, I hope this slideshow delights you as much as it did me.
“You don’t have to work at being in the high vibration that is natural to you, because it is natural to you. But you do have to stop holding the thoughts that cause you to lower your vibration. It’s a matter of no longer giving your attention to things that don’t allow your cork to float or don’t allow you to vibrate in harmony with who you really are.”
- Abraham-Hicks
Looking for something good to read??
I just finished reading “Enough About Me: A Jersey Girl’s Unlikely Adventures Among the Absurdly Famous.” IT IS SO FUNNY.
I laughed out loud. Jancee Dunn is a staff writer for Rolling Stone, and a whole bunch of other magazines. She grew up in the 70′s & 80′s, with 2 sisters and an awesome family (just like me) and practically everything she writes in this book was like a walk-down memory lane, with the added bonus material of her hilarious adventures interviewing celebrities.
Jancee Dunn is an amazing writer, in her total simplicity and honesty.
She doesn’t put on airs and she tells it like it is.
The best part about this book is to see the difference between the famous people WHO CAME BEFORE the 90′s and the young “celebrities” of today.
With the young new celebrities everything is about image, and the “integrity of the music” and “no comment” and entourages and publicists saying “don’t ask anything about their personal life” and these young people saying how grateful they are for their fans, and how much they appreciate what a difference they are making in the world…
COMPARED TO …
Old School celebrities like Cher, Madonna, Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn and Stevie Nicks who invite Jancee into their private homes, private offices and basically open their lives up like a book and tell everything. It’s so refreshing.
Here’s an excerpt:
“Interviewing people who came of age in the sixties or seventies is so much more rewarding than talking to today’s bland, p.r.-schooled youngsters. During one week, I chatted with Justin Timerlake and Grace Slick. Timberlake, so cautious, so eager to not offend, weighed and measured everything he said. As a former Mouseketeer, he was trained from a young age in how to handle the media. As a result, he was pleasant, but mostly stuck to such safe fare as how it’s not about the fame, it’s about the work, and his appreciation of his fans and that being on the cover of Rolling Stone was really cool. Slick, meanwhile, cheerfully talked about how she couldn’t fully participate in an orgy that sprang up on Jefferson’s Airplane San Francisco office because she wasn’t good at mulitasking, added unapologetically that her lungs were “two black bags” from smoking, and mused her only regret in life was that she never nailed Jimi Hendrix or Peter O’Toole.
haha.
Makes me want to always be myself, to keep my heart open, my house open, to embrace you when I meet you, and to not put on a false show to create a false image.
You can buy the book, by clicking this link:
But Enough About Me: A Jersey Girl’s Unlikely Adventures Among the Absurdly Famous
Max is a genuis. My computer died last night and I couldn’t even shut it down. It wouldn’t do anything. It was stuck. I couldn’t even watch movies since I watch them on my computer. At first I was frustrated, but then I was laughing since just two days ago I wrote that I wanted to get away from the internet and all things electronic, and then my computer dies. I’m always getting what I asked for. What a cosmic joke.
So I spent last night reading A Course in Miracles. Chapter 27. Since I had nothing better to do. Ha ha. Amazing. I was reminded, once again, this is a dream.
I’m in the 2nd half the of the dream – the happy dream – but it’s still a dream. I’ve come to the point where I realize there is nothing outside of me. I know that whatever is happening, I asked for. There are no accidents. I realize I am the cause of everything that seems to occur and the effects are not real.
I’m looking at the reflection of my own mind. And here is where my devotion increases.
I wrote a contract with God this morning. More like a RENEWED contract. The old one expired. I like the new agreement. We’re working together, as always, but with a new dedication. A new beginning. I am intrigued at how differently my mind works away from the computer. It’s works in a whole other manner. It’s fun to witness.
Once the contract was written, I met up with Max at Starbucks and I told him about my crashed computer and he said: take out the battery.
I did that, and my computer started right up again, and here I am.
But with a new contract and new awareness.
I am here only to be helpful. To be the physical message of Jesus: the total demonstration of the Love of God and the Laws of Heaven on earth.
“Thy Will be done. On earth as it is in Heaven.”
Cool, huh? We’re fulfilling the prophecy of the Lord’s Prayer. We are Jesus’ disciples. Now the bible has become practical in our own daily lives. Not something that was written 2000 years ago, but A LIVING BREATHING LIFE-FORCE that is applicable today in our own lives.
Suddenly, we ARE the bible. We are the message. We are the words.
I was thinking, once again, how everyone is “tuned in” 24 hours a day/7 days a week. It’s astonishing.
People say: “you need a cell phone.”
I say: why?
People say: so you can be reached, in case there is an emergency or something. Or if someone is running late and needs to call you and let you know they can’t meet you at the appointed time.
And here’s where I shake my head and laugh. I need to get a cell phone so you can cancel with me? That’s marvelous. I’d rather make it difficult for you. I’d rather have you cancel your others plans and have your reason be: “I have to go meet Lisa, because she doesn’t have a cell phone and I can’t reach her. I guess I have to go meet her in person.”
I read recently that the way we interact with people is changing because of technology. People cancel more, and people are late more because they can text message on a cell their excuse. And usually their excuse is that they were delayed because of some other electronic device.
If I was to meet you in a restaurant and you needed to cancel, and I didn’t have a cell phone, what would you do?
You’d figure out a way to reach me. Or you would simply show up as planned.
Ten years ago, how did we manage without cell phones? Fifteen years ago, how did we manage without the internet? Fifty years ago, what did we do in our spare time without television? Without the telephone, how did we communicate?
You say: but that was then, this is now.
I say: I don’t want to live in a world of text messaging when I can walk down the street and see my friend in person (thank you Ankie, for that story!)
I don’t want to live in a world where we communicate through voice-mail messages, without ever actually speaking to a person.
I don’t want to live in a world of pre-packaged sound bytes, and photo-shopped images. Come on. Time to put away our toys.
I want to stay continually focused, with constant reminders, in order to not be sidetracked or distracted. I am asking for help.
Jesus asks: “How willing are you to escape effects of all the dreams the world ever had?”
I say: VERY.
How willing are you to see that you are the cause of EVERYTHING that is happening in the world?
How willing are you to take responsibility for every person, place, situation, event?
VERY. VERY. VERY.
It’s gets simpler once you answer the basic questions. Do you want to be happy? How willing are you to see things differently? How willing are you to let all things be exactly as they are?
Nothing bothers me. My computer dies. Who cares? I must have asked for it.
And now it’s working again. In the meantime, I wrote a contract with God which makes me tremendously happy and which I never would have done while I had the distraction of the internet. You see? You ask for something and you receive it, and often it takes the form of your life falling apart. Be grateful.
Whatever is happening to you, no matter how bad it looks, you asked for it.
Be exceedingly glad.
It is given to you to change your mind about what you want. To start speaking with the Holy Spirit. To start listening. To pause. To disrupt your usual routine. To pray. To count your blessings.
First day of Christmas Advent, and I cannot think of a better way to spend it than by writing & signing a renewed contract with God.
I feel like crap today. This rarely happens to me. I feel hungover despite that I’ve been sober for almost 7 years. I don’t feel like getting dressed. And I don’t feel like going outside. I’m sure this pleases some of you.
The other day I read that a super-glitzy, super-glamorous celebrity was getting divorced, and somehow this made me deliriously happy. We actually like it when people fail. We like it when super happy people crumble to the floor. It means they are one of us.
I AM ONE OF YOU.
When this happens to me – when I wake up in a funk – I know that something in my life needs to be changed. I might not know what that “something” is but it’s a BIG RED DANGER FLASHING ALERT SIGN to do something differently. There is no such thing as a “miracle” falling from Heaven. The miracle is a change of mind.
A Course in Miracles is the simple reminder that “a miracle is a correction.”
Even just remembering this now is restoring me to my sanity. It’s making me happy again. I’m considering taking a shower and putting on something besides sweat pants. That’s the miracle. I don’t have to try to fix anything, but I do have to look at what is going on in my life, and listen to new instructions.
So, here we are at the beginning of Advent.
You can click on the above image to get the music started … as the journey begins …
Even though today is December 1st, I just learned a fun fascinating fact. Advent does not start on the first of December. I did not know this. The Advent Calendar starts on the 4th Sunday prior to Christmas day, or the closest Sunday to November 30th. So this year – 2007 – it starts tomorrow – Sunday, December 2nd.
It lasts through Christmas Eve, December 24th.
Here is a great description about Advent from Mary Fairchild on About.com:
WHAT IS ADVENT?
Advent is a period of spiritual preparation in which many Christians make themselves ready for the coming, or birth, of the Lord, Jesus Christ. During this time, Christians observe a season of prayer, fasting and repentance, followed by anticipation, hope and joy.
This sounds great. Excellent. Fantastic. Splendid. Exactly what the good doctor ordered. Specifically what I need to get me out of this funk today. A new beginning.
COUNT ME IN.
More from Mary Fairchild:
“Many Christians celebrate advent not only by thanking God for Christ’s first coming to Earth as a baby, but also for his presence among us today through the Holy Spirit and in preparation and anticipation of his final coming at the end of time.”
DEFINITION OF ADVENT
The word “advent” comes from the Latin “adventus” meaning “arrival” or “coming,” particularly of something of great importance.
I love it. I used to get jealous of the Jewish holiday Hanukkah. I used to work in NYC in a largely Jewish office in publishing, and I would feel completely left out. Every day half the office would go out to temple in the afternoon. There would be food, festivity, and gifts, for eight days straight, while I would sit at my desk wishing I was Jewish. It didn’t occur to me that I could join in the fun at any time.
I have never in my life observed a whole month of well … observing the season … rather I’d spend the month in anticipation of THE ONE BIG DAY of Christmas.
So this year – 2007 – I am observing the Advent of Christmas. Total celebration of a whole month of remembering Jesus. I don’t even know traditionally what this means. I have to do some research.
This seems like an excellent beginning:
YOU WILL LOVE THIS WEBSITE. YOU WILL LOVE THE MUSIC.
It has a daily devotional for every day of the month (with 5 different messages!) to pause, pray and reflect on. Here is part of today’s message from Following the Star:
“It’s all about control. The one who controls is the one who rules. Some rulers have taken control by force, but with Christ it is altogether different. Christ offers to be our ruler and it’s up to us to decide, to give up control to the Holy Other. And it’s up to us every day. The offer is yours again today. Who will you choose to have control of your life, even in these next few moments?”
