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I have challenges every day!

For the majority of the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims, jihad is a word that literally means “to struggle.” It’s a concept within Islam that represents a commitment to serve God, to be good to yourself and to your neighbors.
~ Carol Kuruvilla Associate Religion Editor, Huffington Post, 03-28-16

clip_image002I have challenges every day!

Struggling or having challenges in life is something we all face. We struggle with writing papers and articles, with taking tests, with driving in traffic, doing our jobs and many other tasks and relationships.

Just because we find ourselves in these very human modes, doesn’t mean we are going to go berserk or crazy. Sometimes it does, but in most cases we turn to a friend, or our version of God for help. We oft times turn to a higher sense of purpose within ourselves to give some perspective to our struggles. And, isn’t that key to our healing?

I joined a Medical Mission to Tanzania in Africa in 2007, and did a little research on the area and Africa in general before I embarked on the mission. I found the average earnings in Tanzania annually is $365. That’s a dollar a day. How many of us could live on a dollar a day in this country, or even $5 a day? Few of us I would guess. I remember being in my teens and reading all these articles of exploring Europe on $5 a day. But $1 a day, and many with families!

Muslims and Christians live together in peace in Tanzania, and religion is a large part of life. Yet, when I got there, while I saw dirt roads, and simple structures, I was amazed that the majority of the people that we treated were only grateful. Grateful for everything in their lives. I some cases their clothing was thread bare, but their spirits were always high. They were loving, warm, and outgoing, and the children were always curious. It didn’t seem like they even knew the word poor. They were living life! And, they addressed their challenges one at a time.

Are you grateful for where you are? Would you be willing to reach out to God when you are challenged?

~rev jim starke
www.spirit-edu.com
#aworldthatworks

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I Move in the Direction of Living!

drive-fast-1-1255947It is through your exposure to life experiences that your expansion is born. And once expansion is born within you, you only feel good when moving in the direction of your expansion. That’s why holding yourself in opposition to your own expansion feels so bad.
—Abraham, Excerpted from: Phoenix, AZ on February 01, 2014/Daily Law of Attraction Quote from Abraham-Hicks.com (March 8th, 2016)

 

When I read this quote, I thought back on my life and all that brought me to where I am today. . . and I know that I am where I need to be in this moment. In, through, and as me, Spirit moves me. I quiet my mind and the space I create allows the inflow of God. As my breath slows and I begin to feel the pounding of my heart, I know I am present, and I am One with my creator, and I know that whatever you choose to call it, It is The ONE.

Knowing this, I know that all is well with the world, and I am Grateful. Thank you, Spirit. Thank you is my prayer, my request and my manifestation. I know that this is already done in Spirit, and as I AM One with all, and everyone with me. Thank you Spirit. I allow it to just flow in Its perfect way.

Amen . . .

rev jim starke
Spirit Education
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Are you happy where you are?

balanceThere is a lot to be said for finding a new place to live. The problem, many times, is that we are moving to get away from something, and as Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Wherever you go, there you are.”

What this meant for him was, when his wife died, he lost his faith and ran away from the truth of his wife’s death rather than confronting it, blamed it on God, and left his church, moved to France and found that his issue was still there with him. It was then that he realized he needed to not only allow himself to grieve, but to also confront the demons of his own making, in order that e could once again be happy and live his life as the uplifting, productive person he had always been before the tragedy.

I can understand where he’s coming from, because I have been on the same boat trying to get away, but I haven’t been able to get the boat to move, because I wasn’t dealing with life changing event. I wanted it to just go away, and of course it wouldn’t because I kept giving it life.

That realization alone is life changing.

If you can somehow be happy where you are, you can be happy anywhere. It will be at that moment that your life and location may reveal itself to you.

~rev jim
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Celebrate!

“The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.”
~ colorfull-ballons-2-1385006-mOprah Winfrey

Remember how when you were little, how much you loved birthdays? It was such a special time. A time to celebrate you. A time to celebrate life. Celebrations are such fun and a wonderful acknowledgment of the wonder of spirit. There are so many things to celebrate, the first day of spring, the first snowfall, little or big accomplishments. . The rain after a drought. The first time doing something, Of course birthdays and holidays, and whatever else make your heart sing! Ernest Holmes states,” There is a direct law responding to condemnation and a direct law responding to praise and appreciation.” So celebrate and the law will give you more to celebrate! Take out a bottle of champagne or sparkling cider bring along a special treat, wear something fun, stand under the stars toast the Universe, say thank you thank you thank you! Rejoice in the bountiful ways of God!

~ Suzanne Squires, RScP

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The Joy really is in the Journey!

People say, “The joy is in the journey,” but they rarely understand what they are saying. You are in this focused time/space reality with goals and objectives that call you because as you identify a desire it literally summons life through you. Life summoning through you is what it’s all about —it’s not the completion of anything.
—Abraham, excerpted from the workshop: Chicago, IL on November 01, 1998

Wow! This has so hit home for me as developed my website for my first focus ministry., Spirit On The Road. And, literally it was a journey all over the eastern United States.

What I found out though, was that success isn’t always measured in dollars and cents. There are many facets to success. I experienced many of them along the way. There was a lot of travelling, which I did enjoy. I shared what I was doing with all the CSL communities along the way, and I met many wonderful people along the way. I cherished those years in my motor home. Ultimately, I was able to help a couple of spiritual seed groups get started, and introduced Science of Mind to a few communities that had been previously unserved.

As for it paying for itself, that never happened. It turned into an act of SEVA. That was ok, because I was fortunate enough to have a job that didn’t require a great deal of work during that period and still brought me a decent income.

I learned through this experience that the joy IS in the journey, not in the destination. Along the way I made many like-minded friends, and gave support to many who otherwise may have not been supported as they were. I visited a lot of new places to me, and experienced the diversity those areas offered.

~ rev jim
Spirit-Edu.com
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Ego is…

Our  egos don’t have to control us bu,t in fact, they are within us to guide us, to keep us safe from harm and to help us move forward toward whatever goal we may have n the moment.

~rev jim
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Spiritual Growth

In my early 20’s, I walked into a funky, little bookstore on the main street leading to the capitol building in Madison, Wisconsin. I was really missing college and looking for some mind stimulating reading material. “A Handbook to Higher Consciousness” by Ken Keyes, jumped out at me and I decided it was interesting enough to take it home and get a closer look. I soon learned that this was advanced stuff. In fact, I didn’t know anyone who even came close to living like this. I quickly disregarded it because I couldn’t believe that anyone could ever attain such a high state of consciousness. Surely I knew of no one in my circle, which was pretty limited now as I look back. It remained on my bookshelf for another 15 years before I would pick it up again. Having matured some, it now began to make more sense to me. I read it cover to cover hoping that my familiarity with the material would assist me in learning how to live in such a high-minded way. Another 12 or so years later, I picked it up a third time and I finally began to see that it really was possible. This book has truly been a guide and handbook for me…priceless.

Having a fascination with books since my early beginnings and being an avid reader, I was inspired to be a writer. I always knew there was a book in me early on. The only problem is when I decided to sit down and start it, nothing came. I realized I hadn’t had enough experience yet to write about. What I needed was some real life experience and boy did I get it. With that under my belt, and a new way to look at life, I knew it was time. Now I had something to share that would help others who were struggling out there as I had been. Finally, a way of thinking and seeing clearly that could make a difference gave me the inspiration to start. The title, “I Can Do This Thing Called Life and So Can You!” came to me 8 years before the book was published. During that time, the title served me as a mantra and the writing, itself, further reinforced everything I learned, so much so, that now I could pass it on. I wanted to create a book that could provide a lifeline or handbook to others just like Ken Keyes. And so I did!

 

Guest Post by:
Rev Cath DePalma, Central Florida CSL
www.Spirit-Edu.Com/learn
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What were you thinking?

I sometimes want to say, “What were you thinking?”

Then again sometimes I do say it, and I say to myself, “Oh my God, did I say that out loud?”

I am prone to saying things out loud that I don’t mean to, because I spend so much time in my own company.

I have for a very long time been aware, at least for me, that the things that I think about, that is, the things that I put my attention on, and desire to have in my life, actually do manifest for me. I learned that the hard way actually by dwelling on the thing that I didn’t want. You know how when you worry about something so much that it makes you sick. Or, you are getting ready for a job interview and you’re thinking that you’re not going to get the job. You just know that the other applicants have something going for them that you don’t.

Fact is, they probably did, if you’re thinking that way. They’re probably going into the interview thinking the job is theirs. 

Do you see the difference?

I’ve already given the job away to someone else by thinking, “I’m not good enough!” So,  what can I do about that? How can I be more competitive in the interview? I can start at home before the interview ever gets started by looking in the mirror and seeing myself in a different light. I can see myself as successful. I can see the job as mine. I can look at myself and tell me, “I am the perfect person for this job.” I can see myself in a new light.

“Everyone else, get behind me! This job is mine!”

In the beginning, the mind tends to revert back to the old mode of lack or inferiority, but if we work on catching ourselves, we can change that negative thought and  put ourselves into a place of greater expectations. 

We each have a unique gift. Whatever it is we do, we do it a little bit differently than anyone else does it. That unique approach can be a blessing, if we see it in that light. Each one of us has a singular way of doing something. Once we move beyond the protection of our ego, which has a tendency to say “No” or “Don’t do it” to anything it considers risky, which is pretty much everything we might think o doing besides sitting on the couch watching TV, we move beyond the fear of failure, or in spite of the fear of failure, and realize that what was so far out of the box for us, was the right and best thing to do.

It’s funny, how when we get out of our own way, everything unfolds perfectly.

When we’re speaking of ego and moving boldly beyond it, Ralph Waldo Emerson calls it, “getting our bloated nothingness out of the way.” That’s how much our ego thinks of itself.

~jt starke
Spirit Education
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You Create Your World

You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you.
-James Allen

Have you ever noticed in retrospect that the things that have brought you through your journey to where you are right now were of your own making?

Think back to your thoughts leading up to an experience or situation. Did you have reservations as to the outcome of the event? Were you bubbling with expectation of a grand result? Were you blazé as to how the event unfolded?

I know in my life that my thoughts and expectations tend to show up as the out-picturing of my life experiences or are instrumental in the creation of my experiences.

Thoughts create. while they may not create the exact experience, it will tend to create the experience of your dominate thoughts.

Sometimes, in order to have the experience you desire, you need to let go of the how and the why.

When I was a carpenter in Puerto Rico, I gave my crew a task and told them how I wanted it done. They said, “No, that’s not how we don’t it. I tried to insist, but I realized I just had to let go and trust and, it didn’t work, we would do it my way. Suffice it to say, in their environment they’re way worked, and probably more easily than mine. If I hadn’t let go of the idea that my way was the only way, I wouldn’t have achieved the results I did in the time frame of the experience.

I had to let go of the idea that I was right! When I did the universe delivered the expected result.

Works for me! How about you?

~rev jim
Spirit Education

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I Think I Can!

Have you ever thought about the change that can happen in your life by a simple change of attitude? Like the “little train that could” a simple change of attitude from “I can’t” to “I think I can” can make all the difference! can you say, I think I can?

Now, remember, the “little train that could” didn’t just say “I think I can” once, the trick is to repeat the affirmations again and again, so that it becomes the dominant thought in your mind, just like the “little train that could!” Say, I think I can, or better yet, I know I can, or simply, I can!

It amazing how these little children’s stories can take what seems like something surmounting adversity and reduces it to its simplest component. They usually work on one simple concept and offer anew possibility of how to conceptualize it. Isn’t that a kinder, gentler way to work through our issues anyway?

Think about the last time you told someone you can’t do something. Was that true? is it truth that doing that thing is beyond your mental or physical capacity or is it that you won’t do it. I’ve had friends who have said, “I can’t learn Spanish.” I said, “say, Buenas Dias ” and their response was “I can’t” when, in fact, they were saying “they won’t.” It amazes me how much we limit ourselves by our words. How are you limiting yourself?

~rev jim

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