An Artist's Prayer

O Great Creator,

We are gathered together in your name

That we may be of greater service to you

And to our fellows.

We offer ourselves to you as instruments.

We open ourselves to your cereativity in our lives.

We surrender to you our old idea's

We welcome your new and more expansive ideas.

We trust that you will lead us.

We trust that it is safe to follow you.

We know that you created us and that creativity

Is your nature and our own.

We ask you to unfold in our lives

According to your plan, not our low self worth.

Help us to believe that it is not too late

And that we are not too small or too flawed

To be healed~

By you and through each other ~ and made whole.

Help us to love one another,

To nurture each other's unfolding,

To encourage each others growth,

And understand each others fears.

Help us to know we are not alone,

That we are loved and lovable.

Help us to create as an act of worship to you.

~Julia Cameron

This prayer is in the book, Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. I think it ia a prayer for life. Blessings!

Sandy

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Coming into the Sacred...

This week I heard soneone talk about an interview that Dan Rather had done years ago with Mother Theresa. He asked her, when you pray, what do you say in your prayers? She replied, nothing... I just listen. He again asked her, what does God say to you? Again she replied, nothing...I just listen.

Surely one might think that a woman who unselfishlly gave of yourself to the poorest of the poor might have diect line to God. I would have guessed that when she prayed she may have asked for the suffering of those she served to be eased. Perhaps, she might hear His voice as clear as her own when he talked to her, guiding her days. But she insisted that the answer to Dan Rathers question was nothing...I just listen.

This idea has been in my thoughts most of the day as I wondered about its meaning for me. I can picture her in my mind, kneeling in prayer to God and His arms outstreached to meet hers, with only sacred silence between them. It is a place of surrendering the daily cares and stepping into the sacred communion with the deepest part of ourselves and something much greater than we can know. It is a place of oneness with ourselves and spirit that helps us know more than we can see and feel the enourmous possiabililttes that surrounds us.

I'm not sure what you might make of this story or what insights you might have, but as I write this I can't help but feel what it is like to put everything aside and be present with the sacredness that forms the connection between me and the spirit that guides my days. May this be a reminder to you to find the time to surrender the cares of the day and come into the place that is holy within you. May your days be blessed and your life abundant.

Sandy

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The Blessings and Peace

Several years ago a friend of mind gave me a deck of Angel Cards. The cards are beautifully done and have a wonderful inspirational messages to go with them. Tonight when I was having trouble finding just the right topic to write about, I pulled a random card from the deck. The card I pulled was about finding the blessings in your current situation. I had to laugh because the idea of Blessings was the theme of this last week. It started with a women I met who said that she wanted to have a Internet site just for the purpose of wishing everyone Blessings and Peace. What a simple and powerful thing to do...just sending Blessings and Peace to everyone we know. So now just for a minute close your eyes and begin to send Blessings and Peace to everyone you know... now include all the people you are having difficulty with...how does that feel.

I carried this idea around with me for the week and it made me wonder what change might be created if we all did that each day. I know we don't always feel like we are blessed, often we feel lost and discouraged. So how does one make that shift from feeling discouraged to feeling blessed. I think it is a conscious decision to look for the blessings despite the circumstances. For me it is getting out of my head and into my heart...most often I have found that I have stood in my own way to receiving the blessings that are already there. Sometimes I have to gently push aside the fear and trust that I am exactly where I am supposed to be and God has richly blessed me.

Each day in my early morning meditation I send Blessings and Peace to everyone and to all parts of the world to bring about understanding and harmony in this world. Will you join me? I will end with this beautiful prayer ~

May the blessing of God go before you.

May her grace and peace abound

May her spirit live within you.

May her love wrap around you.

May her blessings remain with you always.

May you walk on holy ground.

~Miriam Therese Winter

Blessings and Peace,
Sandy

Saint Theresa's Prayer

Saint Theresa' s Prayer

May today there be peace within.

May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.

May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.

May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you. May you be content knowing you are a child of God.

Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love.

It is there for each and every one of us.

This week a friend sent this to me and it could not have been more timely. We all reach times in our lives when we reach down deep to find faith and courage and it is our ultimate call to remember that "infinite possibilities are born of faith" . Remember this prayer this week and as you go about your day and don't forget that you are a vehicle of grace and love.

Blessings to you~

Sandy

A Celebration of Light

If you follow the church calendar, this is the season of Epiphany which means celebration of light. I think it is interesting that we celebrate light during one of the darkest and often coldest months of the year. January is also the first month of a brand new year that lies ahead of us. We might think if only we could see what is to come, but as we all know, that is not how it is.

Elisabeth Kubler Ross says, "It's only when we truly know and understand that we have limited time on earth ~ and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up ~ that we'll begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it was the only one we had."

She is right, none of us know when our time is up but we also don't know where our path this year might take us. We may not get a choice in where we go, but we always have a choice in how we go. In the flurry of our everyday living we often forget to open ourselves to the wonder that is part of even the most ordinary day. Opening ourselves to wonder helps us recognize the sacred in the ordinary.

I picked this picture because I have loved stained glass since I was a child. When you see a window at night it looks nice, but in the light of day with the sun coming through it, it is extraordinary. That is no different for us, when we light the light that is in us shine forth we see how wonderful we are. When we let our own light shine we are opening ourselves to the wonder around us and the joy each day brings.

Decide for yourself to celebrate the light that is within you and the joy and wonder of living, regardless of your situation. Wishing you the light of the season.

Blessings,

Sandy

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You Are Holding the Key

Salvation happens every time someone with a key uses it to open a door he could lock instead. ~Barbara Brown Taylor

This quote has been with me since I read it a few weeks ago. I'm not really sure why it has stuck with me other than I must need to explore it for myself. My guess it if I need to hear it, maybe you do too. Instead of salvation, I think the beginning word of the quote should be grace. Salvation suggests that there is a deliverance from sin and grace suggests an unmerited Divine intervention that happens. I believe that it is a better fit for the quote.

We are both the person who can open a door and the person who can lock it. We do it all the time to ourselves and others. How often do we lock ourselves out of our own life? The life I am talking about is the life that is there waiting for all of us. It is where we can move into our dreams and aspirations; the place inside us where who we are, aligns with what we do.

Sometimes it comes in the most unusual ways, barely recognizable to us. Other times it may be pretty clear if we stop ourselves long enough to reflect. What are the thoughts going through our head's? That is a good place to start. What we think about is what we create in our life. One of the things I always teach the people I work with is, you have to create it in your head before you can hold it in your hand. I know it takes conscious thought to do this ,but I believe it is very important since you hold the key to your heart. That's right...you hold the key to your heart, not anyone else. There is no lack of opportunities where we can choose to either open the door or lock it.

We also hold the key in our relationships with others. Relationship is about allowing ourselves to give and receive from each other, bringing out the best in the other person, while staying true to ourselves. In a relationship, when have you locked the door by what you have said or done? When have you opened it?

Regardless of where you may be in this, the important part of this is the idea of extending grace by opening a door. When you know how you want to be in your life and relationships, you can move past the thoughts that keep you hostage; you open a door. It opens the perspective to encompass more than what meets the eye. When we can do this we open to the power of Spirit that is all around us. That is grace...it is what happens in us when we open the door to our heart and to our relationships. It allows us to feel what we may not be able to see. Grace may be one of the most important things we can do for ourselves and for others. Rather than letting our fears get in the way, I would invite you to extend grace to yourself and to someone else today. You hold the key to peace and joy, use it to open doors to a grander vision for yourself and others than you ever imagined.

Peace and Joy to you in the New Year!

Sandy

Beholding the Miracle...

Beholding the Miracle

I have always known that the month of December is a special month. For most of us that idea started when we were children with the Christmas Story and the idea of a Santa that delivered in such a mysterious way, what we wanted most. There were other miracles too, an unexpected and undeserved gesture of kindness, or a strained relationship that just seemed to heal. All seemingly miracles of the season. Sometimes as we grew older we become too busy with the "have too's" of the season and the miracles passed us by without much acknowledgement at all. Last night my son that is in college in Georgia came home for Christmas break, and of course there were a few tears of joy...one or two. After a late dinner we settled in to watch a movie...The Polar Express. Many of you know this about me; I love children's books and this movie is based on this book. It is about believing in yourself and the miracles of the season. In the story, a boy rides the Polar Express to the North Pole and receives the First Gift of Christmas which is a bright shiny sleigh bell. He is told that is will always ring for those who truly believe. I'm telling you this because I realized in a heart centered way, that the gift we are all to behold is in us, and when we feel it in within ourselves, we can extend the gift to others. Watching the movie last night reminded me that when my sons were little, I always gave them a gift on December 1st, which was the First Gift of Christmas. It was always a book that held a miracle of spirit. I know it is long past December 1st, but it is not too late to give yourself the First Gift of Christmas. Early this morning I came across the quote by May Sarton..."There is only one real deprivation...and that is not to be able to give one's gifts to those one loves most." This Christmas behold the miracle that is within you...the gift of you. For sure there are beautiful things to buy, but they are just that, things. The most wonderful gift comes from within and is extended out to others. This gift becomes precious because of what is held in your heart, the intentions you hold for the miraculous to be reveled and the mystery of it all embraced through our relationship with those close to us. The time is now to behold the miracle that is within you, a gift more needed and precious than you may ever know. Peace and Joy to you as you go about your day.

Sandy

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